Like many, having noted a number of very popular local area restaurants having suffered "Accidental" gas leak-related fires between 2020 to Mid 2021. I became curious about what the National "Accidental" Restaurant, Business, and private property fire data looked like during the Pandemic.
Strangely I found that many typical collection sources (FBI, ATF, FEMA, USBDC, and even the International Fire & Arson Investigation Associations seem to only have data up to 2019.
Further checking shows the FBI has not published 2020 nor 2021 Crime Table Data??????
Side Note: The ATF did note that the state of GA - was in the Top 10 For Arson Fires During The Pandemic. But provided no numbers.
#1
I’d be curious how many/what proportion of these accidental fires happened to restaurants that had found themselves in financial difficulties as a result of Covid.
#4
"For a treat for the fleet, nothing beats a
Repeat pre-war movie with pizza,
And who makes potatoes
Taste more like tomatoes
Than cook here on dear Błyskawica?"
[usmadata] Army Officer Testing Decline. March 26, 2022 by usmadata
We’re far from the only ones to note that West Point has lowered its entry standards and that this isn’t good for the Army.
A group of authors studying officer accessions standards (Arthur Coumbe, Steven Condly, and William Skimmyhorn, two of whom are at West Point now) from the War College wrote in 2017 in "Still Soldiers and Scholars? An Analysis of Army Officer Testing" that West Point’s decline in standards and status is real.
Briefly: The Army’s mental testing standards for officers have declined. This is a problem because the modern battlefield is increasingly complex with commensurately higher demands on its officers. Further, the military cannot import talent—it must rely on accessions and development for its strategic thinkers. The talent required for top-level thinking cannot, despite wishful thinking otherwise, be taught. This puts a "premium on officer selection and on native intellectual ability, since... intelligence is the single most important factor in who does and who does not think critically and strategically. For many observers, this is an extremely uncomfortable and unpalatable fact."
The book goes on to describe the decline in standards at West Point (and using OCS and ROTC for comparison), the circumstances surrounding the reduced standards, and the series of pressures militating against raising them. It specifically refers to West Point testing in the 20th century and up into recent years (2010+). These circumstances include:
Increasing emphasis on non-cognitive measures and retention
growth of military competition for talent
high levels of overall college attendance
explosion of college financial aid and funding
Declining prestige and attractiveness of military careers
US population vs officer corps growth
achieving diversity goals
But this does not remove the need for finding, recruiting, and retaining top-flight talent.
The authors are thorough and the findings support what we’ve been finding in our posts: that the decline in standards is real; that "non-cognitive measures" are not as important to outcomes as cognitive measures; and that the Academy, far from remedying the situation, spends more time and money in a misplaced attempt to build prestige through diversity initiatives and football uniforms than it does upholding its responsibility to defend our children’s country with officer corps excellence.
#3
intelligence is the single most important factor in who does and who does not think critically and strategically
For example, if you're not clever enough to toe the woke line, kiss ass and get with the 'current thing' to keep your pips, that exhibits a glaring lack of key critical thinking capability.
#4
That image says volumes about the decline in standards at USMA. A political cartoon that trivalizes everything about the uniform, structure and traditions of Duty, Honor, Country. Shameful but I plan to send it to a few ringknocker friends who were often insufferable about the thin grey line...
[FOX] There are egregious examples of government-run school districts in all 50 states trying to assert themselves as Big Father and Big Mother.
But one district in particular has emerged as an early contender to be the ignoble Loudoun County of 2022: Eau Claire Area in Wisconsin. From "white privilege tests," to heterosexual privilege checklists, to teacher trainings that urge students to hide gender transitions from their parents, woke bureaucrats in the Badger State have launched an all-out assault on parental rights.
WI SCHOOL DISTRICT SAYS PARENTS 'NOT ENTITLED' TO KNOW CHILD'S SEXUALITY, PUSHES 'HETEROSEXUAL PRIVILEGE' LIST
Posted by: Cremp Champ4796 ||
03/28/2022 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11131 views]
Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
#1
This:
It is difficult to plumb the depths of cynicism that fires the Biden Administration’s motions with respect to Ukraine. On the one hand, we are being invited to join in a grandiose morality play in whichthe great white-hatted forces of the West talk endlessly about peace and democracy while waging or at least fomenting war.
On the other hand, the war drums drown out the cries of ordinary people, those millions of people Hillary Clinton and her ilk dismiss as “deplorable,” who acknowledge Putin’s crimes but also acknowledge Ukraine’s deep corruption and totalitarian leanings and wonder why we are strangling ourselves to intervene in that battle.
Posted by: Bubba Dark Lord of the Slytherins9217 ||
03/28/2022 9:33 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I live in a red state where we had comparably fewer Covid restrictions, but the ones we did have were accepted almost without any noticable fight. I don't share the writers assertion that there's a lot of fight left in the American people. In fact I believe it to be the opposite--a *significant* majority of the American people will do exactly what they are told to do.
[thesaker]We are broadcasting this simultaneously to all of you, which isn’t normally what we do, but I needed to send this message in the same format to everyone, so please accept my apologies.
As you may be aware, England is struggling existentially for the last few years and we are counting losses of around 100,000,000 pounds each year due to intolerance, slackery and laziness.
The circumstances have resulted into a very difficult but necessary decision: We must remake entire England in the image of London.Let us consider the facts. London today is 60% non-English and is doing better than in any other year in its 1,000 years of history. The rest of England, however, has fallen behind precisely because it is full of English.
My London government has consulted with the Prime Minister’s Office and Westminster Parliament and we came to the decision that the solution for going forward with entire England is through third country re-population, immediately, whilst nobody knows who’s who and what and why anymore in 2022.
It is alright that you may feel distress right now. I have been there, believe me. But I am assuring you it is for the best of our country, England, which we must always put first.
This means we are revoking your outdated first-came-first benefits and terminating your native vantages, with immediate effect, on the grounds of your redundancy.
I am in agreement with the Prime Minister that hundreds of millions of third country skilled workers are waiting overseas and are willing to work for jack diddly-squat or a fraction of that, and who have no problem making England a powerhouse again through Diversity, Innovation and Productivity.
The whole world is cheering our resolve. The whole world wants to come here. We are the best in what we do, and the best they ever gonna get, and they know: "England is for all of us!"
Previous policies ’Hire the Hungry People’ and ’Black is Bigger’ have scientifically proven, beyond all doubt, that third country populations are more valuable than gold.
Not only do we help those poor people escape genocidal war and hellish climate change, but we also invigorate our backward island with very fertile, competitive and sustainable new people.
We could never have achieved that if I was a white Englishman, obviously.
As a top player in the global market economy we must welcome half of Pakistan, three-quarters of Bangladesh, a tenth of India and 3 million Cantonese from Hong Kong who cost us nothing in formation and education, because they were well-trained abroad and will stupefy us with new ideas.
We will no longer tolerate English barbarism or cries from Yaxley-Lennon types who in the past demanded more and more pay for work that hundreds of millions of Arabs, Persians, Turks, Poles and Africans obviously can do better and cheaper.
Therefore, you English muggles, your final day of work privilege and native entitlement is today.
We have thought long and hard and are now offering you a handsome redundancy package which is well beyond what the natives in Sweden or Germany get.
Details you will find in the proceedings, including part and parcel for assisted relocation to the woods or highlands, and food coupons for a year, subject to you signing a replacement agreement [...] and compliance in full with our terms of conditions.
We do accept that there are no words to convey the situation any better today. I realize this will come as a shock to you. Please appreciate that because there are 30 million natives like you left, we can’t respond to all your grievance calls for obvious reasons.
Thank you for your understanding today. Thank you for your service to England, even though you were overpaid and often ungrateful.
We are expecting your full cooperation and support for the new populations to arrive and help them to settle down quickly in your old positions and begin this new Global England.
This is the Mayor’s Office. I am صادق خان Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London.
[via LegalInsurrection] So far, Russia’s conventional military forces have been waging the war against Ukraine, and for this first month many of the reports have been about seeming Russian failures or stalls or of the Russian military being "bogged down." However, since propaganda on both sides is also a large factor in this war, much of this was initially considered to be possible or even probable Ukrainian propaganda and exaggeration.
There’s almost certainly still some of that. And it remains possible that through sheer numbers and willingness to take and inflict heavy casualties that Russia will win militarily in the end. That’s the traditional Russian way of war. But over time I think it’s become more clear that the Russian military actually does have some grave problems.
Some people were well aware of those failings already, as this video makes clear: The video is the meat of the article
#2
I haven't seen the material, but I s'pect views such as these represent the difference between how the Russian Army is expected to behave by the west (a sleek modern mobile army) and how it operates (a bumbling colossus)
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[ColonelCassad] 1. Mariupol.
According to local reports, the enemy's defenses on the left bank are in a state of disintegration into separate pockets of resistance. Also, there are fights very close to Azovstal.
2. Ugledar-Marinka.
In Maryinka, the troops reached the waste heap dominating the area in the morning and fought with the retreating opponents. To the south of Maryinka, heavy fighting continued for Novomikhailovka.
3. Avdievka-Dzerzhinsk.
Fighting continued in the Novobakhmutovka area. The enemy front, after the defeat in the battles for Verkhnetoretskoye, caved in, but was never broken through. In Avdievka - no change. Translation note: For years Google Translator had spelled Avdievka as so. In my report writing days I spell it as such, but now Google Translator spells it as Avdeevka or Avdiivka. I am "correcting" it as Avdievka.
4. Lisichansk-Severodonetsk-Popasnaya.
Fighting continued in the south of Rubizhne and in Popasna itself.
5. Izyum-Barvenkovo-Slavyansk.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, having crushed the Ukrainian barrier at Kamenka, are accumulating forces on the southern bank of the Donets for further actions either in the direction of Slavyansk or Barvenkovo.
There is some progress along the Izyum-Slavyansk highway. At Barvenkovo, the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on the “capture of Gusarovka”, although no one had taken it before - the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation did not declare that they had taken Gusarovka, the battles were going north of it, east of Barvenkovo. Slavyansk is where the separatist movement/fighting began, then led by Russian reserve FSB Col. Igor "Shooter" Girkin. Slavyansk is in the direct path of Artemosk, where if that is taken will trap several Ukrainian combat brigades. The last time Ukraine allowed so many units to fall into a pocket was in Debaltsevo, the disasterous battle in 2015.
6. Kharkov.
No significant changes. The parties exchanged artillery strikes, plus continued strikes on the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Chuguev area.
7. Chernihiv-Sumy.
Chernihiv without significant changes. Sumy too. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation took control of Slavutych, where today they hung the Russian flag and began to rotate personnel at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The enemy, in turn, continued to press Trostyanets, claiming either fighting in the city or control of the city north of Akhtyrka.
8. Kiev.
Near Kiev, the situation has not changed dramatically. The troops blocking Kyiv from the west are trying to move south, the enemy counterattacks and blocks the advance in every possible way. To the east of Kyiv, fighting continued in various villages to the northeast and east of the city. Of course, there is no encirclement of Russian troops near Kiev.
9.Nikolaev-Odessa.
The situation has not changed fundamentally. The “offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Kherson” turned out to be the expected reincarnation of “Kim’s counteroffensive”. Positional battles continued on the border of the Kherson and Nikolaev regions.
10. Zaporozhye.
If the situation for the Armed Forces of Ukraine was stable on the Kamenskoye-Orekhov-Gulyaipole line, then to the east of Gulyaipole the situation developed more interestingly. The Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that they had recaptured Poltavka and Malinovka from the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the capture of which the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation did not report.
Moreover, Poltavka is generally located to the northeast of Gulyaipole, that is, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are hinting that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are trying to cover the group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine defending Gulyaipole. The Armed Forces of Ukraine also confirm that the RF Armed Forces control a number of villages east of Gulyaipol. The RF Armed Forces did not comment on this.
#2
^ That concentrated Zelensky's mind wonderfully. He is now on his knees and begging for peace "WITHOUT DELAY":
"Security guarantees and neutrality, non-nuclear status of our state — we are ready to go for it.”
Posted by: Slesh Spawn of the Sith7179 ||
03/28/2022 10:48 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Uncle Joe Strangelove's remarks about regime change got Zelensky's attention. He knows from hard experience what happens when you stick your finger in Vlad's eye. Scared the shit out of Zelensky no doubt
#6
Greta Zelensky has a hissy fit. He's exasperated! How DARE you?!"
LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the West of cowardice Sunday while another top official said Russia was trying to split the nation in two, like North and South Korea. Zelenskyy made an exasperated plea for fighter jets and tanks to help defend his country from Russia’s invading troops.
#7
Whoa! Where the hell did that come from? What's going on?
Are there midnight pallets of money being dropped somewhere behind the scenes? In Tel Aviv?
Zelensky said: “Security guarantees and neutrality, non-nuclear status of our state — we are ready to go for it.”
The Ukrainian leader has suggested as much before, but rarely so forcefully
#10
Gen. Jack Keane explains what's going on as Biden pressuring Zelensky to cave in to the Russians.
Biden was bullshitting as usual when he put on his tough guy routine last week and threatened Putin directly. Total smokescreen. The Russians have something on him and his son
#12
Zelensky cries uncle.
Yeah that's an amazing turnaround. Very strange. Makes you think there's something to the "Biden's been compromised" theory. What else could explain this?
#13
Yeah that's an amazing turnaround. Very strange. Makes you think there's something to the "Biden's been compromised" theory. What else could explain this?
#14
legerdemain on Zelensky's part
Please explain. Putin's taken over half his country, killed tens of thousands and is now blowing up his oil depots. Doesn't seem like Zelensky has any remaining cards up his sleeve
#18
Probably in the works since last week when Russia's debt risk was underlined. Someone I know who follows other news lines suspected the same thing, other than roll the credits.
If the whole last decision hinged on Joetato's Poland Rally, I would have picked up the phone right after the bite of pizza. That would make sense though, "Joe, need one more moment of your magic to get the people rallied for Ukraine." with him trying to be folksie and at one with the troops.
#22
I think Zelensky is finding that just because your folks bribe American politicians doesn't mean they will actually do much to help you when the time comes.
#25
#4 That was quick. Was it because Pootie blew up his oil depots?
Two oil depots and a cyberattack that took down nearly the entire national Ukrainian telecommunications network.
#27
So Shithead Biden gets roasted by the previously-fawning White House press corps. Big headline in the Official Mouthpiece, The New York Times: "Biden Says His Putin Comment Was Personal... "
The Shithead of the Free World flat out lied about what he said. Then he admitted he said it but mumbled that it was somehow "aspirational."
[JPost] For over a month now, the Western world has been very focused on Russia’s war on Ukraine. That makes sense for many reasons, among them that Ukraine is the EU and NATO’s next-door neighbor and that Russia has nuclear weapons and a very large — though, as it turns out, poorly-trained — army.
Though American officials have told their Israeli counterparts that they "know how to walk and chew gum," a crisis as big as Ukraine was inevitably going to distract from what Israel and moderate Sunni states view as their biggest threat: Iran.
The Iranian threat has not subsided just because Russia invaded Ukraine.
Negotiations between world powers and Iran to revive the 2015 Iran deal have been paused for weeks now, partly because of sanctions on Russia related to the Ukraine war, but mostly because of Iranian demands from the US, which Washington is seeking to resolve.
Meanwhile, Iran continues advancing its nuclear program, converting its highly enriched uranium into material that is hard to dilute or move elsewhere, and its proxies, the Houthis, are continuing to attack the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia are so disappointed in the American response to Houthi attacks — which escalated before Russia invaded Ukraine — that their leaders snubbed US President Joe Biden when he wanted help dealing with a possible energy crisis related to sanctions on Moscow and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a planned visit to Abu Dhabi and Riyadh.
While the Saudis and Emiratis play bad cop trying to direct Washington’s attention back to the Iranian threat, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid had an idea of how to be the good cop: A historic summit, bringing together Israel, Arab states and the US to show a united front for regional stability and peace — which everyone knows is code for "not Iran" — in Israel.
The Negev Summit came together quickly, in less than a week, taking place during Blinken’s visit, which had been planned for nearly a month, and after Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed. That meeting included discussions of working together on defense against Iran, and Lapid thought that the rest of the countries with which Israel has peace should join that conversation. Bahrain and Morocco quickly joined in. Jordan did not, officially because of a scheduling issue, but probably because canceling meetings with the Palestinian leadership for a summit with Israel would not go over well at home.
Almost immediately after the Arab foreign ministers’ arrival in Sde Boker, sources close to Lapid said there were already discussions of "a regional security architecture that will build deterrence against threats from the air and sea."
The historic nature of the foreign ministers of four Arab gathering in Israel is something that would be hard for Washington to ignore, and Blinken welcomed it and plans to play a central role.
Blinken called the Negev Summit something that "would have been unthinkable just a few years ago," and said the US is committed to expanding cooperation through the Abraham Accords.
The secretary of state will certainly hear a lot from all five foreign ministers concerned about the American position on Tehran, even if he continues to reassure them that the US opposes a nuclear Iran, and it seemed like he knew it.
Hitting on the exact reason and theme of the Negev Summit, he said that "a more stable, integrated region gives us a stronger foundation for addressing shared threats as these, and achieving shared opportunities."
A historic meeting of Arab and Israeli foreign ministers is one way to bring Washington’s attention back to the Iranian threat. Whether it will still work after Blinken returns to Foggy Bottom remains to be seen.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/28/2022 00:00 ||
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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.
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.
[via LegalInsurrection] So far, Russia’s conventional military forces have been waging the war against Ukraine, and for this first month many of the reports have been about seeming Russian failures or stalls or of the Russian military being "bogged down." However, since propaganda on both sides is also a large factor in this war, much of this was initially considered to be possible or even probable Ukrainian propaganda and exaggeration.
