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IRGC launched solid-fuel satellite rocket into space
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Page 4: Opinion
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5 14:47 Bubba Lover of the Faeries8843 [1] 
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 6: Politix
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Africa North
Egypt is changing
Developing the theme of Egypt legalizing churches, not to mention the new capitol city they’ve built to take the pressure off Cairo. I very much hope President Sisi really is making permanent the changes Egypt has needed this century or longer.
[AlAhram] In order to renew my weapon licence, I was required to take a medical examination that had not been required previously. The Ministry of the Interior stipulated that this medical exam should be administered at its Security Camp in Medinat al-Salam off the Cairo-Ismailia Desert Road. I kept postponing going there, unable to face the prospect of confusion and chaos to which government departments have accustomed us for decades. Perhaps Egypt is one of those rare where dealing with the bureaucracy requires a fixer, a person who bears the brunt of the red tape, all those documents and stamps, journeys in and out of offices and convoluted procedures usually ending with "Come back tomorrow". You cannot send a fixer to take a medical exam in your stead, however.

That is how I ended up going to the camp in the Cairo-Ismailia Desert Road, come what may. But there was a surprise in store, starting at the camp gate where I found a decent man awaiting for me as if he knew beforehand of my arrival time, which he couldn’t have. I’d made up my mind to get rid of that weapon, which I inherited from my father and is of no use to me. I only ever remember once a year for fear of becoming the owner of an unlicenced weapon. The man asked for my identity card and handed me a receipt informing me that they would ask for it inside, then he gave detailed directions to the person who was driving me.

As for the second surprise, it was the medical building, which I found tidy and clean, and I was guided to go to one of the upper floors through an elevator in good condition. When I reached the intended place, I found a woman who seemed to be a nurse or doctor’s assistant. She collected everyone’s papers in an orderly way before leading us to a spacious, clean hall, clarifying that there was a cafeteria attached for those who might want to use it. She left us all in shock. A few minutes later the same nurse came to accompany me to the examination room where a qualified specialist examined me for internal, ophthalmological and psychological faults before asking me to go back to the hall where they would hand me the certificate.

In the hall I ran into a friend, Mahmoud Murad, the son of the late politician Mustafa Kamel Murad, with whom I have old family ties. I noticed he was accompanied by an acquaintance, a police general with enough official clout to ease the bureaucratic burden. But the whole process took less than an hour and went very smoothly — a very pleasant experience.

It may be argued that this camp is the exception, but in the same week I was similarly surprised at the Tax Authority in Maadi. An elegant venue that had me wondering whether I got the address wrong, a polite and efficient receptionist, and smiling babus government employees all confirmed my belief that Egypt is indeed changing. It is changing in silence, without hubbub but in gradual steps that some may not even notice. For the development that Egypt is witnessing right now isn’t confined, as some propagate, to constructing roads and bridges. Bridges are what everybody sees every day but we are also building the biggest solar power plant in the world and the biggest fish farm in the Middle East, and we are clearly modernising government services. I have no doubt that the new republic will see the same kind progress in every other aspect of life after ending emergency law, declaring a National Strategy for Human Rights and reorganising the National Council for Human Rights — not to mention the recent prison releases.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/14/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The degree of freedom you have under any government is tied directly to the amount of corruption, in inverse proportions. Inefficiency and high administrative headcounts (featherbedding, nepotism) are the breeding ground for corruption.

Yes, it is to be hoped Egypt is becoming less corrupt and more free. At the end of the day, the competitive advantages of low corruption are a benefit in the global economy that can't be achieved by any other means.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 01/14/2022 8:48 Comments || Top||


Economy
World's Largest Asset Manager: Central Banks Are Trapped As They Can't Fight Supply-Driven Inflation
[ZERO] Back in September, when the Fed was still lying to itself and to the people that inflation was "transitory", yet when the first hints the Fed would have to tighten soon emerged, we asked a simple question: "How Exactly Do Central Bankers Plan To Resolve Supply Chain Bottlenecks." It is a question that nobody has answered yet for the simple reason that there is no answer: the Fed can at best adjust demand-side inflation but when it comes to supply chain bottlenecks (which as we showed earlier today are about to get much worse), the central banks is completely helpless.

Fast forward 5 months when the same question appears to be bothering BlackRock Investment Institute’s global chief investment strategist, Wei Li, who said in a Bloomberg TV interview that central banks are in a "very tricky spot" this year as they try to fight inflation that’s driven by supply factors, and that at the same time, four rate hikes may not be enough to control price pressures.

As a result, she said that "it’s really difficult for central banks to stabilize inflation without destroying activity," which is precisely the point we have been making for weeks, when we say - over and over - that tightening into the current global slowdown will do nothing to address the supply-driven inflation and will instead send the economy into a stagflationary abyss, not to mention crash markets.

Or, as Li puts it, given inflation dynamics are supply-driven, "central banks should not lean too aggressively against inflation" as to not damage activity.

She also noted that the one silver lining is that growth is still "reasonably robust" but the economy is coming down from very elevated levels last year. As such the Fed may misinterpret continued slowdown with its policy working, when in reality it will only be making matters worse.

In any case, the Blackrock strategist expects "inflation to settle at levels higher compared with what we got used to, even as supply bottlenecks ease because of structural factors at play."

In terms of markets, the firm continues to prefer developed-market stocks to emerging markets through support from fundamentals with "okay" growth and earnings.

"We see a broader robust outlook for DM equities and this is where we’re having big conviction at the moment", although a few more days like today and we are confident that the world's largest asset manager will change its tune.

Posted by: Besoeker || 01/14/2022 01:17 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  supply-driven inflation

Supply-driven inflation is the big lie, a mask for the actual problem. Supply and Demand is a good thing, it drives a free market. Government debt and borrowing cause the value of the dollar to fall. Costs go up (commonly referred to as inflation) as dollars are worth less.

If it's manufactured in Texas, Georgia, or Indiana, might take a week or two to get it (due to demand), but I doubt it will be "locked down."

If we make it here, we have some control over it. It it's made in China, the Communist Chinese control it. What am I missing ?


Posted by: Besoeker || 01/14/2022 1:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Global Economy Heading For “Mother Of All” Supply Chain Shocks As China Locks Down Ports.
Posted by: Blackbeard Barnsmell6454 || 01/14/2022 1:48 Comments || Top||

#3  One thing we can be sure of: central bankers will put their interests ahead of our own, and will make sure we feel the pain before they do.

After all, they're the important people in society. The rest of us are just deplorable.
Posted by: Sheter the Lesser9291 || 01/14/2022 7:30 Comments || Top||

#4  The masking mandate has caused most the current troubles. Local Rocket center has just announced they will no longer require vaccine to work there. Truck drivers on strike so freight currently not moving because of vaccine requirement.Day by day hospitals backing off vaccine requirements because of severe shortage of medical personnel. The drum beat of media continues the news of mass hysteria of the unwashed un-vaccinated. The public is simply ignoring them now. Regarding China I welcome that. Their quality control stinks and has for some time now. My dad years ago said we needed cottage industries in every city. What a difference that would make. The powers that be will never learn. Short term fixes as always.
Posted by: Dale || 01/14/2022 7:33 Comments || Top||

#5  It's all fun, games, and weasel wordings until national economies collapse.
Posted by: Bubba Lover of the Faeries8843 || 01/14/2022 14:47 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Vaccine Passports, Food Insecurity and the Law of Unintended Consequences
[Last Refuge] The axiom of "the law of unintended consequences" has never been more appropriate than right now. In the background, as you are reading, there is a looming storm that is going to soon surface in the food supply chain, and the regional vaccine passports are going to make things worse.

To understand what is happening, it becomes necessary to give a more specific background on how the things work inside the supply chain that has been disrupted by government intervention. This is complex, but I hope to make it understandable for the average person.

How do we avoid supply chain chaos? My response seems counterintuitive to those who do not understand this unique issue.

Effective immediately, or at least as soon as possible, every venue that can provide food on a commercial basis must be removed from all COVID regulations, including vaccine passports.

Restaurants, school lunchrooms, cafeterias, industrial kitchens, hotels, bars, food trucks and every possible venue for the delivery of freshly cooked meals must immediately be reactivated, and all terms and conditions for visiting those venues, like "vaccine passports", must be cancelled quickly.

If they are not, and worse, if the restrictions expand beyond current status, there is going to be a worsening retail food crisis as the total food supply chain begins to collapse even further.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 01/14/2022 07:39 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Supply chains already collapsing and only going to get worse. China's major manufacturing cities are shutting down again before the Olympics, so no more cheap Chinese crap for you.
Posted by: DarthVader || 01/14/2022 9:13 Comments || Top||

#2  We saw the first examples of this in the Spring of 2020 - the shortage of toilet paper, but restaurants had excess and were handing out a roll of TP with your carry-out order.

So we should expect more shortages in the big blue states, with their increasing restrictions, not so much in Texas and Florida (etc.)
Posted by: Bobby || 01/14/2022 9:22 Comments || Top||

#3  I'm seeing the cascade reach the back end of the chain now. Got a postcard from my municipality this morning that said "Effective immediately, stop putting glass in your recycle bin. Put it in your trash." Glass recycling demand is down because packaging needs are down.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 01/14/2022 9:38 Comments || Top||

#4  You misspelled 'Intended'.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/14/2022 18:07 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Alkaline Hydrolysis - The downside
[Brighteon.com] Washington State legalized "flesh goo" liquefaction of human corpses before activating covid concentration camps

The State of Washington legalized the liquefaction and disposal of human corpses just one year before the state activated covid concentration camps, providing for an efficient, stealth mechanism for mass disposal of human corpses.

Washington's legalization of this "flesh goo" mechanism for liquefying human corpses -- known as "alkaline hydrolysis" -- went into effect on May 1, 2020. The law is RCW 68.50.110 and the passage refers to "alkaline hydrolysis" as the new, legal means to dispose of human corpses.

In 2020, after the covid pandemic exploded, Washington State legalized the practice as it began the launch its plans to build covid concentration camps run by "strike team" operators.
What Covid concentration camps? They have such things in Australia, but other than returning those infected with Covid to retirement homes in certain states, I’ve seen no solid information about Covid concentration camps in America.
Washington State has developed a way to dispose of large masses of human bodies without having to dig mass graves or run incinerators which would be detectable by drones or satellites.

They are planning to carry out large-scale genocide.

Get full details in today's bombshell feature podcast here.

Also see the 36 minute hard-hitting summary of all this in today's special report podcast, separate from the Situation Update:
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/14/2022 00:46 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The camps may or may not be a stretch. The soil and water contamination, probably not a stretch. This galloping human Gynandromorph and male hypogonadism business has me concerned.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/14/2022 6:59 Comments || Top||

#2  H.H. Holmes tried a similar method for body disposal using lye for a while.

It produced too much of a smell, so he opted for a large incinerator.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 01/14/2022 8:26 Comments || Top||


#4  Object lesson from Breaking Bad season 1: use the right material tub when dissolving bodies
Posted by: Frank G || 01/14/2022 10:31 Comments || Top||

#5  I understand there is currently discussion of a bill in Washington which would allow certain health officials to track down and detain those 'not current in their covid shot', allowing the commandeering of law enforcement elements to assist in the detention.

If so, the detained will need a place to be put, and because this is a super deadly yoko ono level scary disease, it should be someplace special. Like its own camp.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 01/14/2022 13:46 Comments || Top||

#6  deionizize and alkalize make it easier for them!
Posted by: Greng Black3494 || 01/14/2022 16:04 Comments || Top||

#7  Down $1.50
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 01/14/2022 16:09 Comments || Top||


COVID virus made in Chinese lab as bat vaccine, Marine researcher says
[Washington Times] A Marine Corps officer working with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency disclosed in a memorandum last August that his study of the virus behind the COVID-19 pandemic concluded that it was produced as part of vaccine research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, according to documents made public by a conservative investigative group.

Maj. Joseph P. Murphy notified the Pentagon inspector general that his analysis of the virus origin concluded the nongovernment organization EcoHealth Alliance, the National Institutes of Health, and the Wuhan Institute of Virology produced the virus known as SARS-CoV-2 through controversial gain-of-function research outlined in a Pentagon grant proposal.

"SARS-CoV-2 is an American-created recombinant bat vaccine, or its precursor virus," Maj. Murphy stated in an August 13, 2021, memo made public this week by Project Veritas. "It was created by an EcoHealth Alliance program at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), as suggested by the reporting surrounding the lab leak hypothesis."

Asked about the 24 pages of internal documents made public by Project Veritas, DARPA spokesman Jared Adams told Inside the Ring in an email that federal regulations prohibit the agency from commenting on DARPA programs or documents.

"We are precluded by Federal Acquisition Regulations from discussing who may or may not have bid on a DARPA program, and are unable to confirm the authenticity of the documents Project Veritas has published," Mr. Adams wrote.

Maj. Murphy and the Office of Naval Research did not immediately respond to an email request for comment.

According to Project Veritas, Maj. Murphy declined to discuss the document but told the group: "To those that seek answers I offer encouragement. There are good people striving for truth, working together in and out of government, and they succeed. ... Don’t let a lie be our legacy to posterity."

According to Maj. Murphy, now with the Office of Naval Research, details of the program were hidden since the pandemic began in Wuhan, China in December 2019. New facts were uncovered by Maj. Murphy from a grant proposal made to DARPA by the New York-based EcoHealth Alliance in March 2018 and "not publicly disclosed," he stated.

The proposal was made in response to DARPA’s Project Defuse, aimed at addressing what the agency called the threat posed by bat-borne coronaviruses. SARS-CoV-2 is a bat coronavirus.

The proposal lists several U.S. researchers who would take part in the work and included the Wuhan Institute of Virology, located in the city considered the epicenter of the possible pandemic.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/14/2022 00:33 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  you don't say?
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 01/14/2022 16:20 Comments || Top||

#2  /\ Mmmwhahahhaahaa, gasp, whahahhahahah.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/14/2022 17:33 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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2Pirates
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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.
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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2022-01-14
  IRGC launched solid-fuel satellite rocket into space
Thu 2022-01-13
  TTP spokesperson Muhammad Khorasani killed in axe attack
Wed 2022-01-12
  Lebanon’s currency has lost more than 15 percent of its value since the start of the year
Tue 2022-01-11
  FBI Refuses To Say How Many Informants Were Involved In Jan. 6 Violence
Mon 2022-01-10
  Turkish FM: Our Forces in Libya aren't a 'Foreign Power'
Sun 2022-01-09
  Gunmen kill 140 people in Nigeria: residents
Sat 2022-01-08
  Wannabe terrorist in failed bid to join Syrian jihad jailed for 12 years
Fri 2022-01-07
  Bandits Attack Five Zamfara Communities, Kill Many Residents
Thu 2022-01-06
  UN peacekeepers' convoy attacked in south Lebanon
Wed 2022-01-05
  Government falls in Kazakhstan
Tue 2022-01-04
  Iran Vows Revenge unless Trump Tried for Soleimani Killing
Mon 2022-01-03
  Bandits Kidnap 18, Kill One Along Kaduna Birnin Gwari Road
Sun 2022-01-02
  France: +800 carbecues on New Year's Eve
Sat 2022-01-01
  Arrests made in shooting death of Illinois police sergeant
Fri 2021-12-31
  U.S. Navy Seizes $4 Million Worth of Heroin in Arabian Sea

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