Hi there, !
Fri 07/18/2025 Thu 07/17/2025 Wed 07/16/2025 Tue 07/15/2025 Archives
Rantburg
559820 articles and 1929989 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 55 articles and 73 comments as of 10:58.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Non-WoT    Local News    Politix   
Libya: Armed clashes reported in Najila between militia forces and Dbeibah's defense units
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 4: Opinion
0 [21] 
0 [23] 
3 09:41 Procopius2k [58] 
0 [60] 
1 00:44 Elmomoter Mussolini9149 [47] 
0 [36] 
1 01:58 Thing From Snowy Mountain [45] 
3 08:45 ed in texas [88] 
0 [34] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
2 08:59 Skidmark [49]
1 09:00 Skidmark [45]
1 09:34 SteveS [64]
0 [43]
0 [50]
Page 2: WoT Background
3 09:01 DarthVader [88]
1 07:51 Gloluns Turkeyneck4904 [47]
0 [21]
1 10:57 EMS Artifact [31]
3 08:13 Elmomoter Mussolini9149 [53]
0 [22]
4 10:56 ed in texas [79]
1 02:07 Grom the Affective [47]
0 [37]
0 [44]
0 [31]
6 09:36 SteveS [104]
0 [41]
1 06:58 Besoeker [66]
3 09:14 Mercutio [64]
1 09:16 Mercutio [48]
0 [32]
Page 3: Non-WoT
1 08:57 Skidmark [17]
0 [30]
4 06:51 DooDahMan [84]
2 08:54 Besoeker [44]
4 10:19 Jairong+Scourge+of+the+Gepids2435 [85]
2 08:53 Besoeker [48]
2 09:13 49 Pan [74]
0 [31]
1 02:43 Grom the Affective [56]
2 10:50 Skidmark [50]
10 10:54 Skidmark [103]
2 10:55 Skidmark [48]
Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
0 [59]
0 [28]
0 [31]
0 [30]
0 [24]
1 08:40 Gleng Whaick2262 [35]
0 [29]
Page 6: Politix
4 10:04 swksvolFF [90]
1 08:44 NN2N1 [59]
1 09:46 Procopius2k [44]
-Lurid Crime Tales-
Unhinged reason Democrat-run cities riddled with crime are now PAYING the meth addicts blighting their streets
[MAil] Liberal cities are using cash and gift cards as an incentive for meth addicts to maintain their sobriety - but these programs may be in jeopardy under the Trump administration.

Addiction treatment facilities in cities including San Francisco and Portland, Maine, have been implementing contingency management (CM) techniques to keep patients clean and on the path to recovery.

Contingency management is a decades-old strategy that positively enforces sobriety by rewarding negative drug tests with prizes such as vouchers, gift cards and debit card cash valued.

The longer someone is able to stay on the straight and narrow, the heftier the pay - though maximum payouts vary from clinic to clinic.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which is funded by taxpayers, allows patients to be awarded up to $750 each year through its vouchers.

Other programs, such as ones in Pennsylvania's Allegheny County, reward participants up to $1,000 annually.

Treatment plans generally span anywhere from eight weeks to a year in duration and are most commonly used for treating stimulant addictions.

While experts have praised the method as an effective way to combat drug dependencies, it has sparked fierce criticism for its transactional nature - with skeptics saying unhealthy habits re-emerge once the money stops coming.

Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/18/2025 07:01 || Comments || Link || [23 views] Top|| File under:


-Great Cultural Revolution
Why Is Modern Society Obsessed With "Incels" And Controlling Masculinity?
[ZERO] Since ancient times and the rise of the first empires and monarchies political elites have sought to manage and control what they sometimes referred to as the "warrior class"; groups of men with the skill and ability to topple governments and ravage nations.

For the Vikings, warrior prowess was directly linked to one's ability to lead. In other words, the Vikings simply stacked their governments with warriors rather than trying to suppress them. At certain periods in Medieval societies kings were tasked with leading their soldiers into battle, thus requiring them to take the same risks as the men they sent to the front lines.

However, in the vast majority of cases throughout history kings and politicians were not warriors. They feared the power of masculinity and what might result if it is left to its own devices. In other words, what they feared was the potential for rebellion and overthrow.

The most common solution was to send strong men to war (as often as possible) as a way to weaken the citizenry and keep them under the boot of the elitist class. Other methods included codes of honor and conduct such as Chivalry or Bushido; standards of male ethics meant to prevent rogue warriors from wandering too far away from society and acting outside of the common order. There was also marriage and family, which anchored men to the community and gave them something to lose should they step out of line.

Finally, in modern times, feminism has stepped in as a useful tool for the state; focusing more on the psychological neutering of men from childhood rather than more blunt efforts to keep them distracted. Feminism is far less about "empowering women" and far more about disenfranchising and controlling men.

Under feminism, the very idea of masculinity has been targeted as a threat to civilization. The natural, biological and inherent psychological framework of male behavior present since the beginning of humanity has been labeled "toxic". The solution? Feminists say that men must become "more feminine", more like women, otherwise their presence is like a nuclear bomb just waiting to go off.

Every man is a prospective terrorist that needs to be kept locked up in his own personal GITMO. Otherwise, men might one day organize around their own ideals (rather than the approved ideals of the elites) and change the world without the permission of oligarchs.

Over the past several years there has been a growing rallying cry among third-wave feminists and progressive governments to do more to keep men in line. They warn that the "rise of the incels" is upon us.

"You might be surprised to learn that the person who coined the term incel was actually a woman."
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/18/2025 06:28 || Comments || Link || [58 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The great apes have incels too. After adolescece, the tribe ostracizes them until they run away crying and die face-down in a ditch somewhere. Or they form their own mini-tribes of 4-5 other loser males and reproduce by catching a female and raping her.
These men have inferior genes that shouldn't reproduce.
That's why women are so repelled by them. The fact they're even around means they might get raped and have to carry the baby of an inferior man, and the baby would come out inferior itself, and hence fail to carry on her genetic line.
Posted by: Jairong+Scourge+of+the+Gepids2435 || 07/18/2025 7:10 Comments || Top||

#2  ^ you're very familiar with them.
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/18/2025 8:52 Comments || Top||

#3  Why Is Modern Society The Matriarchy Obsessed With "Incels" And Controlling Masculinity?

See - Hypergamy
Doing away with all that cannon fodder moves women much closer to the front lines. Be careful what you work for.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/18/2025 9:41 Comments || Top||


Avatar 3: Fire and Ash - Official Trailer

Continued on Page 47
Posted by: badanov || 07/18/2025 00:00 || Comments || Link || [45 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I keep hoping for the movie where the blue people get attacked by the Fire Nation.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 07/18/2025 1:58 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Belmont Club: The Red Sea Sharks
I didn’t realize it was this bad.
[PJMedia] Recent attacks by Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
’s Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
s on non-American-flagged shipping in the Red Sea have once again raised questions about the security of shipping in a so-called "global world."

For more than 48 hours, two merchant ships in the Red Sea tried to fight off repeated attacks by Houthi fighters who used rocket-propelled grenades, missiles, and drones to sink them both, kill at least three crew members, and take others hostage. No U.S. or allied warship was around to help.

What navies were supposed to come to their aid? While Biden-era and EU policy was ostensibly to keep the Red Sea open to everyone, the new Trump rules of engagement are only to respond to the Houthis if American ships are attacked. That left only the European task force Aspides to ride to the rescue.

But the EU task force Aspides needs a minimum of 10 naval ships plus land bases to cover the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, Persian Gulf, and northwest Indian Ocean. Only La Belle France, Germany, Italia, Greece, and Belgium actually provided a handful of ships to the freedom of navigation mission — and no land bases — while the rest provided only "support staff." With Aspides’ limited capability, it had no chance of covering its AO and could not sail to the rescue of the two ships, both of which were Greek-owned.

While the U.S. is expected to keep the Red Sea open to everyone for free, others took a narrower view. China escorts "unilateral convoys" of Chinese ships past the danger area. "Chinese state media and a shipping company have reported that China’s navy has begun escorting Chinese cargo ships across the Red Sea." Chinese ships often broadcast identifiers like "All Chinese" or "Chinese Ship" on their Automatic Identification System (AIS) in the same way some ships broadcast "All Moslem" to avoid Houthi attack.

This has historical precedent. After the American Revolution, the U.S. lost the protection of the Royal Navy, and in the face of attacks by the Barbary states, which attacked Christian nations, including the newly independent country, the U.S. protected its own ships. Hence, the origin of the Marine Corps hymn line, "From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
The naval hegemon of the day, Britannia, did not provide free passage for all. Only after the Napoleonic Wars did Britannia take a stronger stance against Barbary piracy, with the 1816 Bombardment of Algiers (led by Admiral Edward Pellew) weakening the Barbary states. This was driven by British abolitionist pressure to end the slave trade, which included the Barbary enslavement of Europeans, not by a desire to aid the U.S.

Piracy in the Persian Gulf, Barbary Coast, and Red Sea gradually diminished thanks to a combination of diplomacy and naval technology. British and French colonial control over Egypt, Sudan
...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans...
, and Aden (Yemen) from the late 19th century stabilized the Red Sea. The Suez Canal’s opening (1869) increased European naval presence, with Britannia’s Aden Protectorate serving as a base to patrol against piracy. For a time, governance expanded, and the writ of "international law" held increasing sway.

Perhaps most importantly, commercial maritime technology outpaced what was available to pirates — temporarily. Shipping adopted faster, larger vessels equipped with radar and communication systems, making them harder targets for small-scale pirates. For a time, these factors produced relative security.

Then, in the early 21st century, the pendulum swung again. State collapse in the Middle East and North Africa region created power vacuums and rogue regional powers willing to support corsairs. Today, great powers Russia and China support regional power Iran, which in turn supports the Houthis. Technology has also shifted in the Houthis' favor. Satellite tracking enables the targeting of distant ships with ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones. These are advantages that Western navies have yet to completely overcome.

The combination of chaos and new technology, plus its proximity to Europe, has made the region a dangerous place again. Italia and Greece are sounding the alarm: Libya is as great a threat to Europa
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
as Ukraine:

Migrant flows from Libya are spiking again, at a time Rome is increasingly concerned about Russia’s growing influence in the unstable North African nation, wielded through arms supplies and a potential new naval base in the northeastern port of Tobruk.

Right on cue, riots in Spain have broken out over an attack on an elderly Spaniard by Moroccan migrants colonists. Yet it appears that, like Aspides, Europe is constrained by weakness. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez recently said that he:

...has recently announced plans to make it easier for immigrants colonists to settle in Spain, arguing that Spanish society would suffer if immigration was to be halted: "Almost half of our municipalities are at risk of depopulation. We have elderly people who need a caregiver and can’t find one. Companies that are looking for programmers, technicians, bricklayers and cannot find them. Rural schools that need children so that they don’t have to close their doors."

But so great is Western complacency that the public is surprised and outraged that history is back. The simple reason the pirates sail the seas is that the relative weakness of Europe has returned. It will not go away until the West regains its confidence.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/18/2025 00:00 || Comments || Link || [60 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
'Let Them Raise the Price.' How Stalin Outplayed the West in Potsdam
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Oleg Shevchenko

[REGNUM] On July 17, 1945, the most heavily guarded train in Europe arrived in the Berlin suburb of Potsdam. The armored train, which had traveled 1,923 kilometers through the USSR, liberated Eastern Europe, and defeated Germany, brought a Soviet delegation headed by Marshal Joseph Stalin (he would receive the title of Generalissimo a few days later, on the 27th). The third and final meeting of the Soviet leader with the still allied leaders of the United States and Britain was staged as a real military operation with an amazingly complex plan of execution.

The operation to prepare and ensure communication between Stalin, Harry Truman and Winston Churchill "on home turf" (Potsdam was in the Soviet occupation zone) was codenamed "Palm". The speed and precision of its execution was intended to impress the partners.

The fundamental agreement on the meeting, which was to consolidate and develop the results of Tehran and Yalta, was reached at eight o'clock in the evening on May 28 following a conversation between Stalin and Harry Hopkins, the special envoy of the US president. Just 45 minutes later, two people responsible for organizing the Palma were summoned to the "master's" office: Stalin's head of security Nikolai Vlasik and deputy head of the NKVD Sergei Kruglov. No more than five minutes were allocated for the briefing, which was attended by Lavrenty Beria. The following morning, Vlasik and Kruglov organized an on-site inspection in Potsdam.

"PALM" OF SPECIAL SIGNIFICANCE
Potsdam was a symbolic place. It was here in 1933 that Adolf Hitler was confirmed as Chancellor at a meeting of the Reichstag (the parliament moved to the suburbs after a fire). It was here, at the garrison church, that the "historic handshake" between the NSDAP Fuhrer and Reich President Paul von Hindenburg took place. "Potsdam Day" played a major role in Goebbels' propaganda. In short, there could not have been a better place for the meeting of the victors of Nazism.

In addition, air raids and shelling barely affected the elite district of Potsdam - Babelsberg, the former home of artistic bohemia and high-ranking Nazi functionaries (by the way, according to the plot of "Seventeen Moments of Spring", it was in Babelsberg that Standartenführer Stirlitz rented a cottage). True, the streets and courtyards of Babelsberg were mined - and our sappers were the first to begin work here.

The Moscow "inspectors" found three well-preserved villas near Lake Griebnitzsee to accommodate Stalin, Truman and Churchill. A place for the conference was quickly found - the only suitable building was recognized as the Cecilienhof Palace, perhaps the last architectural masterpiece of the Kaiser's Germany. The palace was built by 1917 on the orders of Wilhelm II for the Crown Prince (who could have become Wilhelm III ) and Princess Cecilie.

In exactly one month, 37 of the 176 halls and offices in Cecilienhof were quickly (but thoroughly) repaired, and about six dozen houses for delegations, with all the necessary communications, were prepared, in addition to three personal villas. Needless to say, almost all of the premises in Cecilienhof (except Stalin's office) - ours and those of the allies - were equipped with eavesdropping equipment.

On July 2, Beria reported to Stalin on Potsdam’s readiness to receive guests.

A separate part of the operation was organizing the Moscow-Potsdam trip. Stalin preferred railways to air travel: both considering his advanced age and for safety reasons.

The domestic railway gauge is wider than the European one, both then and now. Regular trains make a technical stop for "changing shoes", but in this case, stops were excluded. The decision was made: to change over 800 kilometers of the European track to the USSR standard.

Along the tracks, in populated areas, at stations and near bridges, the situation was monitored by more than 1,500 NKVD operatives dressed in civilian clothes. Another 17,000 employees checked and patrolled the tracks.

It was decided to deploy NKVD troops according to the following formula: on the territory of the USSR - 6 fighters for every kilometer of road, in Poland - 10 officers, and in Germany - 15 fighters.

Ahead and in the rear of the special train movement at stations, on side and parallel tracks along the most difficult routes, eight fully equipped army armored trains, armed with artillery and machine guns, moved.

Stalin's train itself was guarded by 90 officers. But that's not all. Directly within sight of Stalin's train was a train with 40 guards. And right behind the last car of the special train was a train with another 90 NKVD officers.

The delegation took with them a supply of food and drinks for the top officials in order to minimize the possibility of poisoning.

Stalin was expected to be seen a day earlier, getting off the plane. But he arrived later than the announced date and by train. And his arrival itself was devoid of any fanfare. The leader demanded from Marshal Georgy Zhukov (at that time, the commander-in-chief of the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany) that there be no orchestra, honor guards, or other tinsel.

It was enough that the allies were convinced that the USSR controlled not only its own territory, but also the area from Brest to Berlin, and further west, to the border of the Soviet zone.

"TSAR ALEXANDER REACHED PARIS"
At the station, Stalin was met by diplomatic and military representatives of the allies. The Soviet leader's translator Valentin Berezhkov recalled: the US ambassador to the USSR William Averell Harriman asked Joseph Vissarionovich whether he was pleased to be the winner in Berlin. To which he received an answer that was analyzed at length in Washington and London: "Tsar Alexander reached Paris..."

The delegation then boarded the cars and took the leader to the residence chosen for him – a two-story villa of fur trader Paul Gerpich. The mansion with an open veranda and an attic contained 15 rooms with a total area of 400 square meters. The adjacent territory was a large green park. Nearby were two runways. The villa was equipped with long-range radio communications. A separate NKVD regiment provided security.

Operation Palma is complete.

SWORN ALLIES
The Potsdam Conference was planned as the final diplomatic event that would cement the alliance between the USSR and Western democracies, which still had to finish off Hitler's last ally, the Japanese Empire.

But it was in Potsdam that it became clear that the situation was changing.

A visible symbol of this was the change of the main characters. Instead of the "aristocrat" Franklin Roosevelt, who died in April 1945, the American delegation was headed by the son of a farmer with an unfinished university education, Harry Truman. And the British even had a "substitution on the field" right during the negotiations: Churchill was replaced by the leader of the Labour Party, who won the elections, Clement Attlee.

It is ironic that the democratic socialist Attlee became the first "Cold War Prime Minister". Truman, having barely settled into the White House, set a course for toughening relations with Moscow - this became obvious already in April-May 1945, at the conference in San Francisco to establish the United Nations. The new US president tried to replay the main result of the meetings in Dumbarton Oaks and Yalta - the principle of unanimity of countries in the UN Security Council and the veto power of each member of the Security Council. At the same time, Truman accused the Soviet Union of not observing the Yalta decisions on Poland.

But formally the three great powers remained allies, jointly determining the fate of the post-war world. The issue of defeating Japan and liberating China and Korea was unclear. The future of the USSR, whose economy, as the allies believed, was undermined by the war, raised big questions. London and Washington decided to play on all this.

"WEAPONS OF TERRIBLE POWER"
In total, there were nine meetings, which were remembered for the intense intensity of the debates, numerous mutual “barbs”, sometimes on the edge of what is acceptable in diplomatic circles.

Thus, during one of the discussions, Stalin asked why the American delegation was rejecting the Yalta decisions and showed the protocol of the negotiations signed by President Roosevelt. Truman, smiling, replied that this was not an official agreement, but only a protocol of the conversation. And therefore, the current US president is not obliged to fulfill the oral promises of his predecessor, not secured by legal procedures.

But arguments that might have worked in the Jackson County, Kansas, court (where Truman had made his career as a lawyer) did not work at the level of the Big Three leaders, where a word in a private conversation is sometimes more important than official papers. According to professional diplomats, the 33rd US president clearly "fell short of Roosevelt's standard."

A little later, Truman informed Stalin that the Allies had acquired “weapons of terrible destructive power.” He was referring to the Trinity test, the first nuclear bomb dropped on July 16, 1945, at the Alamogordo Proving Ground in New Mexico, two weeks before the first real tests of the new weapon in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In response to Truman's words, Stalin merely nodded. At first, witnesses to the conversation decided that the Soviet leader simply did not understand what was being discussed. Neither Truman nor Churchill returned to the topic of new weapons. In the USSR, we recall, the development of "product 501", also known as the RDS-1 bomb, was in full swing. Beria regularly reported to Stalin on the status of the project.

And according to Zhukov, on the same day Stalin "told Molotov about the conversation he had with the US President. Molotov immediately said: "They are raising their price." Stalin laughed: "Let them raising it. We will have to talk to Kurchatov about speeding up our work."

And the next day, Truman gave a secret order to prepare to drop nuclear bombs on Japanese cities. The nuclear era had begun.

WAR OF THE JAPANESE SUCCESSION
The discussion of the Japanese question was also accompanied by omissions on both our and the Western sides.

Earlier, in February 1945, Roosevelt proposed to Stalin to begin an operation against Japan, with which the USSR was neutral at that time (according to the treaty of April 1941), three months after the defeat of Germany was completed. The Americans were afraid of major losses in an attempt to occupy the Japanese islands with their own and British armies. In addition, dozens of combat-ready Japanese divisions remained in China.

Therefore, on the one hand, the US expected to quickly resolve the "Japanese question" with the help of the Soviet Union. On the other hand, with the advent of nuclear weapons, the Americans expected to push their Soviet allies away from participation in Far Eastern affairs. Roosevelt also planned to enlist the help of Chiang Kai-shek and, in exchange for support in the war with the communists, to place American military bases in China. The Americans bet on creating a controlled regime in Korea, which predetermined the split of the country into North and South and the war of 1950-53.

In the summer of 1945, Japan, which had not yet been defeated, made colossal efforts to prevent Stalin from taking the side of the USA and Britain. The Japanese even suggested that Moscow indicate its wishes for territorial concessions. Emperor Hirohito was convinced that only the entry of the Red Army into the war would be a critical blow to the empire.

In Potsdam, the Soviet delegation demonstrated its determination to put an end to Japanese militarism together with its allies. But in reality, Moscow acted based on its own interests. The USSR did not sign the collective ultimatum addressed to Japan (our country waited for the Japanese to officially refuse and only then joined the document). But the main thing is that the USSR did not limit itself to the defeat of the Kwantung Army in the campaign of August-September 1945. Soviet troops, having entered Korea, contributed to the establishment of a friendly regime in Pyongyang. The USSR provided assistance to Mao Zedong's communists in the war with Chiang Kai-shek.

In the end, the United States failed to use our help to reformat East Asia from Korea to Indochina at its own discretion. The logic of the Cold War (in which both sides had nuclear weapons since 1949) determined a completely different balance of power.

Our country was able to support with military (including nuclear) arguments those positions that were achieved in Potsdam by political and diplomatic methods.

RESHUFFLING THE POLITICAL CARDS
Following a 17-day marathon of continuous meetings, discussions and negotiations, Stalin, having weak “cards” in his hands – the demobilization of the army, the absence of nuclear weapons, an economic recession, the threat of famine – managed to achieve the maximum possible through diplomatic methods.

Thus, at the insistence of the USSR, it was decided to completely denazify and demilitarize Germany. Individual units of the German army and political structures preserved by the Allies were dissolved (the British were inclined to preserve the remnants of the Hitlerite military apparatus, the Americans were not so interested in this).

Stalin and his diplomats managed to push through the issue of compensation for the Soviet Union's losses. Our claims against Germany were satisfied by withdrawals from the Soviet occupation zone and from Germany's corresponding investments abroad - in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Finland and Eastern Austria (where our occupation zone was also formed).

In addition, the USSR received 15% of the confiscated industrial capital equipment from the Western zones in Germany. The agreement with the Allies was as follows: part of this equipment was transferred to us free of charge, part in exchange for an equivalent value in food, coal and other products from the Soviet zone.

The Allies also had to accept lists of valuables handed over by the Soviet side, which the Anglo-Americans had managed to take out of East Germany before the establishment of Soviet control there.

The USSR achieved the transfer of 50% of the military and merchant fleet to Germany; another 50% was given to Great Britain; the USA refused to divide the fleet.

The issue of restoring Austria as a state outside the blocs and the more sensitive issue of post-war Polish borders were resolved amicably.

The Allies recognized Soviet sovereignty over the former "eastern outskirts" of Poland (Western Ukraine and Western Belarus), established in 1939. At the same time, the country expanded at the expense of former German Silesia, Pomerania and two-thirds of East Prussia - one-third of this territory, including Königsberg, went to the USSR, which was also recognized by the Allies.

It was during the discussion of the Polish question that Stalin issued the historical aphorism, which is known from Truman’s words:

"We were discussing the question of the eastern part of Poland, and the British Prime Minister remarked that the Pope would not be delighted with such a state of affairs... The Generalissimo... leaned over the table, pulled at his moustache and, looking at Mr. Churchill, said: how many divisions do you think the Pope has?"

The Soviet Union had enough divisions in Eastern Europe to back up its case at Potsdam.

The international order that existed before the collapse of the USSR was called the Yalta order (after the location of the February 1945 conference). But it was during the July days in Potsdam that the contours of the post-war world were defined. The era of "atomic diplomacy" began, which required smoothing over sharp corners and finding compromises. That is, doing what the US is now forced to return to in its relations with modern Russia.


Continued on Page 47
Posted by: badanov || 07/18/2025 00:00 || Comments || Link || [36 views] Top|| File under:


Government Corruption
UN LAND GRAB ALERT: It's Official, Governor Newsom Is Stealing Palisades To Build a UN Smart City!
[WHATFINGER] Imagine waking up to find your neighborhood burned to the ground, and then hearing that the government might have done it on purpose to take the land and turn it into a high-tech "smart city" controlled by the United Nations. Sounds like a movie plot, right? But that’s exactly what some people are claiming about recent wildfires in California’s Pacific Palisades area. Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and thousands of social media users are shouting from the rooftops that Governor Gavin Newsom is behind a massive land grab to build a UN Agenda 2030 "15-minute city." Is this real, or just wild rumors? Let’s break it down step by step, using info from the internet and X (formerly Twitter) posts.

First, what happened in Pacific Palisades? In late 2024 and early 2025, huge wildfires hit parts of Los Angeles County, including the Eaton Canyon fire and the Palisades fire. These blazes destroyed homes in upscale areas like Pacific Palisades, a fancy neighborhood near the ocean with celebrities and million-dollar houses. One fire chief called it one of the worst in years, killing a few people and forcing thousands to evacuate. Governor Newsom declared a state of emergency and sent in firefighters from all over. But six months later, in July 2025, Newsom held an event with LA leaders to talk about recovery. He announced over $101 million for low-income housing in wildfire-hit spots, including Palisades and Altadena. He also worked with the EPA to remove debris quickly. Sounds helpful, but some see it as suspicious.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/18/2025 08:43 || Comments || Link || [21 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
Meet the new Gavin Newsom: Memelord and historical revisionist
[SDUT] America, meet the new Gavin Newsom!

He’s similar to the old one — same hair, hand jives while speaking — but this one oozes machismo and has a brand new backstory.

California’s governor is working feverishly to reinvent himself as he plods along on his never-ending campaign for president, apparently accepting that the old Newsom is limited in appeal.

In California, old Newsom is unpopular among the voters who know him best. His approval rating is underwater at 44%, according to the Public Policy Institute of California, and a majority of voters think he, at best, puts the needs of Californians over his own only "a little" bit of the time, according to a Berkeley IGS poll.

Old Newsom’s list of actual accomplishments is so small that he defaults to bragging about things for which he deserves no credit, like the size of California’s gross state product and the state’s population of Nobel Laureates, that also do little to affect the lives of most Californians (except those lucky Nobel laureates!).

In other words, Gavin Newsom needed a new Gavin Newsom fast.

Back in Newsom HQ, everyone must have been scrambling: What do voters want?

Someone manly, for starters. Democrats bombed last November, and they blame their repulsiveness to men and a rejection of popular male podcasts, like The Joe Rogan Experience. So this week Newsom went on the Shawn Ryan Show, a podcast hosted by a former Navy Seal.

There’s nothing more manly than Navy Seals, but Newsom could only steal so much masculinity. To prove he’s one of the guys, Newsom started swearing a lot and calling Ryan "brother." He unveiled an apparent love of bow hunting and skeet shooting (who knew?) and said he was a big Second Amendment supporter (again, who knew?).

The only thing Newsom could have done to be more manly would have been to gobble down a raw buffalo liver and then challenge Ryan, barechested, in arm wrestling. This is new Newsom, not the guy who railed against "toxic masculinity" and condemned as misogynists the same male voters he’s now courting.

At times, Newsom broke character and slipped back to the old, elitist self, like the Nobel laureates gaffe, but quickly moved on to Fortune 500 companies because men know Gordon Gekko was badass and had amazing hair too.

Newsom made clear Ryan was his bro, but don’t be fooled by the tone. Polling shows that Democratic voters want a fighter and Newsom is here to deliver.

An NBC News poll from March showed that nearly two-thirds of Democrats want their elected leaders to fight Trump, even if it means getting nothing done. And when it comes to getting nothing done, Newsom the man.

The swearing is not enough. Newsom’s social media game, complete with a team of towel whippers to hoot and holler, has the sass cranked to 11. The gang says it all, true or not, and Harry Potter fans will love the Voldemort memes. So tough.

These guys are brave. After all, J.K. Rowling is persona non grata with liberals and men don’t read a lot of books about teenage wizards. But the towel guys followed up with a particularly sassy post calling White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller a "fascist cuck."

In a different era, that post would be unbecoming from a taxpayer-funded account. But not this era. Not this moment. And certainly not this version of Newsom. Newsom said he would not apologize for the post. Men don’t apologize.

All of this is cosmetic. To finish the job, Newsom needed some distance between new him and old him, with his well-known and often touted (by him) record of ineffective, far-left policies.

Democrats abroad are leery of importing California policies to their states, as Newsom learned during a recent campaign trip to the early primary state of South Carolina. So he made up a whole new history.

Newsom brags about California’s strictest gun laws, but to Ryan, who said he carries a gun wherever he goes, new Newsom said he’s "deeply mindful and respectful of the Second Amendment and people’s constitutional rights."

During COVID Newsom ran one of the longest and most restrictive responses of any state. A year into COVID, he indicated he had no regrets (besides dining unmasked with lobbyists at the French Laundry) about the severity of the response.

But Newsom told Ryan this week that shutting down beaches and open spaces, which was widely panned at the time by me and many others, was foolish.

"What the hell are we doing shutting down the beaches and open areas and you know and not understanding that early on," Newsom said.

What the hell, indeed. The prevailing public health consensus at the time was that COVID was not particularly transmittable outside, but Newsom was thirsty for national praise (even back then) and worried about backlash from liberal hypochondriacs who saw a photo of people on the beach. The horror!

No detail is left untouched. In 2023, Newsom pushed San Francisco officials to clean up the city in anticipation of a visit from Chinese President Xi Jingping.

"I know folks say, ’Oh they’re just cleaning up this place because all those fancy leaders are coming into town,’ and that’s true because it’s true," Newsom said at the time.

But men don’t clean. So Newsom told Ryan this week that that story was "complete bulls—."

Tough talk, tough on COVID, Newsom cleans for no one. Be still my male heart!

There are countless other examples out there and surely more to come. This version of Gavin Newsom is here to stay — at least until polling says it’s time to pivot.


Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Frank G || 07/18/2025 00:00 || Comments || Link || [47 views] Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats

#1  It's as fake as putting cake icing on a fresh turd, but hey, at least the Ds are re-discovering masculinity.
I look forward to the screaming as they call him toxic.
Posted by: Elmomoter Mussolini9149 || 07/18/2025 0:44 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Massive 250,000-mile-long 'canyon of fire' erupts on the sun triggering fears of solar chaos
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] A massive explosion of solar plasma erupted from the sun on Wednesday, and scientists say this may be just the beginning.

NASA satellites caught the dramatic moment when a blazing arc of superheated material burst from the Sun's northeastern edge, large enough to stretch across 30 Earths.

The violent blast carved out a 250,000-mile-long 'canyon of fire', with walls of glowing plasma rising more than 12,000 miles high, roughly the height of Earth's diameter.

The eruption was caused by a solar filament, a thick ribbon of solar material, which snapped and collapsed, firing off a giant cloud of particles known as a coronal mass ejection (CME).

While this CME isn't expected to hit Earth, experts are warning that the sun is becoming more active, and future eruptions could strike our planet head-on.

If one does, it could unleash a geomagnetic storm, a powerful solar disturbance that has the potential to knock out power grids, satellites, and GPS systems.

The warning comes as solar activity ramps up during its current cycle, increasing the risk of Earth being caught in the path of a direct hit.

While astronomers feared the violent burst of energy could hit Earth, the space weather forecast shows our planet is in the clear of a geomagnetic storm.

However, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's space weather center listed a 60 percent chance of radio blackouts today and into the weekend due to solar activity.

NASA says the blast was so intense it twisted and tore the sun's magnetic field, leaving behind a glowing trench of charged particles where the explosion ripped through.

Similar outbursts from the sun have already wreaked havoc, including a May solar storm that sparked auroras across the US, lighting up skies from California to Alabama and prompting warnings about possible power outages and satellite disruptions.

The latest eruption was caused by a solar filament, a massive ribbon of dense material that floats above the sun's surface.

These filaments are held in place by invisible magnetic forces, but when those break down, the entire structure can collapse and explode.

Tony Phillips, an astronomer who manages Spaceweather.com, said: 'Debris from the filament flew through the sun's atmosphere, carving a 'canyon of fire' more than 248,548 miles long.

'The walls of the canyon are at least 32,186 miles high--a grand canyon, indeed.'
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/18/2025 00:00 || Comments || Link || [88 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And the Pacific rim is rumbling with swarms of seismic activity.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/18/2025 6:41 Comments || Top||

#2 

How will the Climate Changers use this to blame this on Oil, Coal and Mankind?
Posted by: NN2N1 || 07/18/2025 8:38 Comments || Top||

#3  I blame GlobalTrumpWarming.
(It's as good as anything else.)
Posted by: ed in texas || 07/18/2025 8:45 Comments || Top||


J6 Political Prisoner Troy Smocks Asks AI to Analyze His Civil Lawsuit Against the United States – Finds He May Have Grounds for Relief
[GatewayPundit] In 2022, The Gateway Pundit shared the story of J6 political prisoner Troy Smocks, a black man from Texas, while he was being held in the DC “Gitmo” with other defendants for the events that unfolded at the Capitol on January 6.

He was incarcerated with a diverse group of Trump supporters who were white, black, Hispanic, Arab, Christian, Jewish, straight, and transgender.

Smocks’ race, however, has not stopped the Left from accusing him of being a white supremacist.

He was not accused of any violent acts, yet he was arrested like a terrorist at gunpoint by an FBI SWAT team.

Troy spent a year enduring inhumane treatment by his jailers and defamation of his character by the media.

Troy recently shared his case with various AI platforms to show the breadth and depth of the disturbing treatment and coverage of the case and how a civil lawsuit against them might unfold.

Write a legal analysis based on the civil lawsuit case filings herein. Include all facts within the civil complaint with particular attention to Texas Code 2.122 and United States v. Di re. Consider all the arguments inclusive of the mailbox and admissions by the defendants. Consider federal enclave statutes and U.S. Constitutional exclusive jurisdiction and “like” authority pursuant to 18 USC 7 and 13.
The output of the various AI programs can be seen at the link. Before Mr. Smocks proceeds, however, he would be wise to have the output reviewed by a real, live lawyer, to make sure the AI did not hallucinate its references and the logic supporting its argument.

Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/18/2025 00:00 || Comments || Link || [34 views] Top|| File under:



Who's in the News
34[untagged]
3Govt of Syria/HTS
3Hamas
2Houthis
2Govt of Iran Proxies
2Narcos
1Devout Moslems
1Commies
1Human Trafficking
1Migrants/Illegal Immigrants
1Mob Rule
1Moslem Colonists
1Muslim Brotherhood
1Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
1Govt of Iran

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
Fri 2025-07-18
  Libya: Armed clashes reported in Najila between militia forces and Dbeibah's defense units
Thu 2025-07-17
  Iran ready to respond to any new attack, says supreme leader
Thu 2025-07-17
  Israeli airstrikes hit the Syrian Presidential Palace and the Syrian General Staff HQ in Damascus
Wed 2025-07-16
  Syrian Internal security with Ministry of Defense expelled outlawed groups from Suwayda, over 100 Druze dead
Tue 2025-07-15
  At least 30 people killed in armed clashes in Syria's Sweida, says interior ministry
Mon 2025-07-14
  IDF seizes 3 tons of arms from ex-Assad regime sites
Sun 2025-07-13
  ISIS-aligned rebels kill 66 civilians in eastern Congo
Sat 2025-07-12
  US appeals court cancels plea deal for 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
Fri 2025-07-11
  Iranian media reports that Iran’s Army Chief of Staff, General Abdulrahim Mousavi, has been assassinated... False a;arm
Thu 2025-07-10
  Lebanon strike that killed 3 targeted senior Hamas commander: Israel
Wed 2025-07-09
  Gunmen Hijack 33 Tons of Gold, Silver Concentrate in Truck on Mexican Highway
Tue 2025-07-08
  Leb: 10 hurt in Israeli strikes on South and Bekaa Sunday, 2 airstruck Monday
Mon 2025-07-07
  IDF reports Hamas’s north Gaza naval commander killed in strike on cafe last week as 130 targets hit in 24 hours
Sun 2025-07-06
  Supporters of Palestine Action, banned under UK terror laws, arrested at London protest
Sat 2025-07-05
  210 Boko Haram Members, Families Surrender as Military Tightens Grip in Lake Chad - BarristerNG.com
Fri 2025-07-04
  Hezbollah has agreed to hand over its heavy weapons in Beirut and other areas to the Lebanese government


Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
216.73.216.129
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (6)    WoT Background (17)    Non-WoT (12)    Local News (7)    Politix (4)