#5
Hell, I have the meal picked out. Brats, smoked beans, sauerkraut, that good spicy deli mustard, beer according to weather, Balvenie, music list with stuff like Fortunate Son, All Along the Watchtower, that kind of thing. Put the projector on the side of the house, get some yards games going like Kubb, Lawn Darts, make an afternoon of it, take the next morning off. What the hell is the Super Bowl?
[NYPost] Sally Kellerman, the Oscar nominated actress who played U.S. Army Maj. Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan in the film “M*A*S*H,” has died.
Kellerman passed away Thursday morning at 84 in California after a battle with dementia, her son, Jack Krane, told the Hollywood Reporter.
The whisky-voiced beauty famously appeared in Robert Altman’s “M*A*S*H” as well as the 1986 comedy “Back to School,” opposite Rodney Dangerfield. She appeared in TV shows including “The Outer Limits,” “12 O’Clock High,” “Ben Casey,” “That Girl” and “Mannix.” More recently, she played comedian Marc Maron’s mom on the IFC show “Maron.”
Of her award-winning “M*A*S*H” role, she said she eventually welcomed always being remembered for it.
“There were times in my life when I felt I had to go out and prove that I’m not just Hot Lips,” she told The Post in the 2010 interview. “But at this point, just call me anything you want!”
[Breitbart] The mass migration lobby, with financial ties to billionaire George Soros, is using Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to demand the United States open its borders to refugees from across Eastern Europe.
Even as President Joe Biden’s administration has resettled nearly 75,000 Afghans across American communities in the last six months — many of whom were not properly vetted and cannot be located — mass migration groups who have a financial stake in refugee resettlement say the U.S. ought to immediately begin refugee flows from Ukraine.
Those who reared up on their hind legs on the subject:
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) President Krish O’Mara Vignarajah
Mark Krikorian, director of the Center for Immigration Studies
The Council on National Security and Immigration and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) are pleading with Biden to provide Ukrainians in the U.S. with Temporary Protection Status (TPS) to ensure they cannot be deported. CLINIC has taken millions from Soros in the last two decades.
The latest Associated Press-NORC poll reveals that just 26 percent of Americans want the U.S. to have a “major role” in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Meanwhile, 72 percent said the U.S. should have a “minor role” or “no role” at all.
[FoxNews] Florida is set to pass a piece of controversial legislation that its sponsor says has been unfairly maligned and misrepresented by the news media and the Biden administration.
The bill, labeled by critics and media outlets as the "Don’t Say Gay Bill", is expected to pass through the Florida legislature on Thursday and is being slammed by various LGBTQ groups and Democratic politicians as a bill that would prohibit the word gay from being discussed in school while also targeting LGBTQ students.
The sponsor of House Bill 1557, Republican Florida State Rep. Joe Harding, says the text of the actual bill does nothing of the sort.
According to Harding, the bill does two things in an effort to give parents more of a say in what their young children are being told about sexuality in school.
"One, it defines that there are certain instructions related to gender and sexual orientation that are just not appropriate at certain ages and we define that as kindergarten through third grade," Harding, a father of four, told Fox News. "A school having curriculum that teaches gender and sexual orientation and what that means and getting into the weeds on that is just not age appropriate."
Harding continued, "The second thing is that it creates a course of action for the parent who is dealing with a school district that has decided they are going to become the parent. They’re going to take your student that has anxiety and stress and mental concerns maybe even talking about self harm and they’re going to put them in mental health and take steps to change the services at the school and protect that student from themselves but never engage with the parent. That’s just wrong so our bill seeks to remedy that."
Harding says that 13 school districts in the state of Florida currently promote curriculum that encourages teachers not to talk to the parents of students about sexual orientation questions and changing gender identifications but to instead have the school district handle it.
"That’s just wrong," Harding said. "It’s dangerous and wrong and so the bill does those two things it empowers parents by giving them a legal remedy to resolve if a school district is making these decisions without them."
The bill, which is set for a final vote on Thursday in the Florida House, has been labeled as the "Don’t Say Gay" bill by many media outlets implying that conversations about being gay will be banned in schools. A headline on MSNBC this week implied the bill would "erase" LGBT families in schools and that it represents an "attack" on gay people.
The non-profit group Equality Florida has also accused Harding of trying to "erase LGTBQ people from classrooms" with the bill.
The bill has also been criticized by President Joe Biden and his White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. Biden amplified the idea in a tweet earlier this month that the bill was an "attack" on LGBT children.
Harding says the attacks against the bill are part of a misinformation campaign.
"They said that we were banning the word, that we were banning people, all things that aren’t true," Harding said. "I think that’s backfiring because the American people have woken up over the past five or six years and realized not to believe what you’re hearing. Do your own research."
Harding also says that several of his Democrat colleagues have told him that they see no issue with the bill’s text when discussing it with him in private but have slammed the bill when asked about it in a public setting.
Harding issued a direct response to Biden and Psaki on Twitter that has been viewed over 50,000 times.
"Kids can and they will talk about whatever they want at school," Harding says in the video. "We just want to make sure that teachers promote that discussion at the right age level, and we want to make sure parents are kept in the loop."
Harding told Fox News that parents who believe that the "best environment for a student to have an education in a school system that engages the parents on critical decisions" have no reason to be concerned about the bill.
Harding added that parents concerned by inflammatory headlines should "read the bill and block out the noise" while acknowledging he knows that’s "hard to do" in this heavily divided political climate.
"The biggest danger and the biggest lie is that what the opposition to the bill is saying that you can't be pro-parent and compassionate and tolerant to the LGBTQ community," Harding said.
The bill is expected to pass through the Florida House on Thursday along with its companion bill in the Senate before heading to Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s desk.
DeSantis has not definitively said whether he will sign the bill but told Fox News through his press secretary, Christina Pushaw, earlier this month that he would make his decision when the full bill is at this desk.
#4
Internal FDA testing continues. Gustatory rejection remains an issue. The test population may be expanded to include members of Congress and volunteers at the CDC.
In Soviet Russia, Putin makes you a mother
[PageSix] Gal Gadot has been dethroned as the queen of cringe.
AnnaLynne McCord posted a bizarre video Thursday pleading for peace between Russia and Ukraine that the internet lambasted as tone-deaf and likened to Gadot’s infamous 2020 “Imagine” video.
“Dear President Vladimir Putin, I’m so sorry that I was not your mother,” the “90210” alum began a spoken-word poem she tweeted.
McCord, 34, addressed the video to the Russian president after he ordered his troops to invade neighboring Ukraine early Thursday.
“If I was a mother, you would have been so loved, held in the arms of joyous light,” she continued.
“Never would this story’s plight, the world unfurled before our eyes, a pure demise of nation sitting peaceful under the night sky. If I was your mother, the world would have been warm.” Read the rest at the link
Sergeant Major Terrance Whitcomb was relieved of his duties as a senior enlisted leader of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton
The military cited his sudden departure 'due to loss of trust and confidence in his abilities to fulfill his assigned duties'
It is unknown what his duties entail, but as a leader of 1st Expeditionary Force, he was in charge of nearly a fourth of the Marine's active-duty force
It is unknown who will take over his role in the force at Camp Pendleton
Whitcomb has been a Marine since 1993 and became a Sergeant Major in 2011, but stepped into his last role in 2021
He won several prestigious medals through his 29-year career, including the Meritorious Service Medal
#7
...one of the 'completed tours' award. There are a couple of awards used to show that you may have actually did something or just were a warm body for the assignment with the specific award titles determined by the rank of the individual.
#9
His top award was the MSM with 5 Oak Leaf Clusters, lots or campaign medals but no Combat Action Ribbon. The article seems to say his career was as an 0151 admin poge and chair-borne for much of it suggesting his career rise might have had a melanin component, and for combat Marines he might had not engendered a lot of affection. The dead body story seems totally unconnected, and yet was several lines in length hinting at a link. Is there a connection yet to come out and he clearly being dumped before it does?
#1
I heard a report of a gas station along the route that was refusing to do business with the convoy. I hope the truckers remember that sort of thing when this is all over.
[Stars & Stripes] HARARE, Zimbabwe — A retired U.S. Army soldier was fined $400 and given a suspended jail sentence Thursday for attempting to carry a gun and ammunition onto a plane in Zimbabwe.
Retired Sgt. Maj. Ronald Leon Johnson had been held in the renowned Chikurubi Prison for more than a week after he was arrested Feb. 15 at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe Airport in the capital, Harare.
He was checking in to a flight to the tourist town of Victoria Falls when airport security officials found a Glock 9 mm pistol and three magazines each with 15 rounds of ammunition in his suitcase, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors had asked for a 10-year prison term for Johnson, who pleaded guilty to charges of being in possession of an unlicensed gun and attempting to carry a gun and ammunition onto a plane without authorization.
The judge instead imposed the fine and a suspended 36-month jail term, and criticized prosecutors for "overemphasizing" Johnson's military history to try and portray him as a potential terrorist.
The judge also said Johnson should be allowed to return home. His home address was listed as being in Woodbridge, Virginia, in court documents. The gun and ammunition would be confiscated, the judge ruled.
Johnson retired from the Army in 2005 after 20 years of service, according to prosecutors.
He had been on a 30-day vacation visa in the southern African nation since Feb. 5 and had visited tourist sites and the rural home of his Zimbabwean fiancée.
#1
shold have worn a gourd pink flip flops and had paper work for a white windowless van! and a facebook account promoting jihad the us would have flown him anywhere!
[IsraelTimes] Sammi al-Obara visited kingdom, with which Israel has no diplomatic ties, to make pilgrimage to Mecca; family members say he was detained for diabetes-fueled rant in pharmacy.
An Israeli citizen is being held under arrest in Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Fifteen of the nineteen WTC hijackers were Saudis, and most major jihadi commanders were Saudis, to include Osama bin Laden. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman quietly folded that tent in 2016, doing terrible things to the guys running it, and has since been dragging the kingdom into the current century... for an angry rant in a pharmacy during which he praised Israel as the best country in the world.
Sammi al-Obara, 40, a resident of the Bedouin city of Rahat in the southern Negev region, suffers from diabetes, which was likely the cause of his behavior, his family said.
He was arrested on Tuesday during a pilgrimage to the kingdom, according to Hebrew media reports.
Israel has no diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia, which could complicate any efforts to secure his release.
Mussa Obara, a relative, told Channel 12 that the arrested man suffers from diabetes and "sometimes, because of the disease, he can’t control the way he behaves."
Mussa said that Obara was in such a state of mind when he entered the pharmacy and became agitated at the service he was given. Workers summoned police, who arrested Obara.
The family has appealed to Saudi officials, explaining that Obara is unwell and was not in control of himself. They have also asked MK Mansour Abbas, leader of the Islamist Ra’am party, which is part of Israel’s ruling coalition, and others for help, Mussa said.
The Foreign Ministry said it was looking into the matter.
A video shared on social media and apparently filmed by Obara himself on Tuesday showed him raging in the pharmacy at the service he was given.
The clip shows a hand holding a form with Arabic writing on it. In the video, Obara can be heard fuming that he had wanted to see a doctor but was instead sent to the pharmacy.
He is then heard saying: "I swear to it, my brother, we live a good country. Israel is the best country in the world." He then repeats the last sentence.
"The workers there didn’t like it and they called the police, who arrested him," Mussa said and noted that Obara’s remand has been extended until Sunday.
Obara, who is single, arrived in Saudi Arabia last Friday with a large group of family and friends to make a pilgrimage to Mecca. The Umrah pilgrimage can be made at any time in the year, unlike the more famous annual Hajj, which has specific dates.
He arrived via Jordan, according to Channel 12.
Although in 2020 Israel said it would allow its citizens to visit Saudi Arabia for business or religious purposes, the kingdom at the time said Israelis would not be allowed in.
Israeli Moslem pilgrims usually travel for the Hajj or Umrah on temporary Jordanian papers.
Riyadh has taken a number of steps in recent years toward normalizing relations with Jerusalem. The Saudis were said to have given a behind-the-scenes green light to the United Arab Emirates forging ties with Israel in 2020, and have since allowed Israeli aircraft to use their airspace for direct flights to Dubai and Abu Dhabi. However, women are made to be loved, not understood... Israel-Saudi ties have remained almost entirely unofficial, and the Gulf kingdom insists that won’t change unless Israel makes peace with the Paleostinians.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/25/2022 00:30 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11131 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia
#1
And it sounds like he's Muslim, not Jewish; I wonder if that makes it better or worse for him in HSA.
The kill squad was pictured in a Ukrainian forest as they took part in prayer rituals ahead of potential fighting Note the traditional Moslem prayer stance
It came after Ramzan Kadyrov, 45, the republic's leader and a close Putin ally, visited his forces in Ukraine
See also Day 2, Part II. Also scattered articles around Rantburg. Lots of Day 1 articles can be seen here — just keep scrolling down. Also a few articles on Page 4: Opinion and Page 6: Seedy Politics.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]
Kyiv came under intense bombardment at around 4am local time on Friday, with the sky ablaze
Ukraine's government said that one missile was intercepted by the city's defense systems, but another hit a residential building
A Ukrainian SU-27 jet was shot down over the capital by a surface-to-air missile, a source told CNN
US security officials fear Kyiv will fall in 96 hours and the government will be toppled within a week
Russian forces have sized control of Chernobyl, with video revealing tanks parked in front of the reactor
Came after 'fierce' battle with condition of nuclear waste storage facilities 'unknown', Ukraine said
Meanwhile NATO-member Turkey said one of its ships was hit by a 'bomb' near Odessa - underlining fears that the alliance could easily get sucked into the conflict and spark all-out war in Europe
Citizens in Kyiv have been rushed to shelters, after the government warned Russia will soon bomb the city
Contingent of soldiers, allegedly 13 in number, were posted on Snake Island
It sits in off the coast of Ukraine and Romania and was controlled by Ukraine
Recording relayed the ultimatum sent by Russian sailors on nearby warship
They warned the guards to surrender 'otherwise you will be shelled'
The men defiantly refused and all were subsequently killed
Courtesy of Besoeker:
Ukrainian ambassador says Russian platoon surrendered to Ukrainian forces
[The Hill] Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova said Thursday that a platoon of Russian soldiers surrendered to the Ukrainian military, saying they "didn't know that they were brought to Ukraine to kill Ukrainians."
At a press briefing, Markarova said, "Just before I came here, we got information from our chief commander that one of the platoons of the 74th motorized brigade from Kemerovo Oblast surrendered."
"They didn't know that they were brought to Ukraine to kill Ukrainians. They thought they were doing something else there," she added.
Markarova was unable to say how many troops were in the platoon and did not say whether they were being detained by Ukraine.
Markarova said that the "combat spirit" of the Ukrainian military is "high."
The ambassador called on leaders of the free world to form an "anti-Putin coalition" to stop Russia's attack against Ukraine.
"Ukraine is defending our home. We will defend our home and it's time for all free and democratic nations who value the principles and the territorial integrity and the right of any country for peace to stand together with us, but not only stand together with us, act together with us to stop the war in Europe," said Markarova.
Zelensky said that 137 "heroes," including 10 military officers, had been killed and 316 people maimed. The dead included all border guards on the Zmiinyi Island in the Odesa region, which was taken over by Russians.
Zelensky also said that Russian "sabotage groups" had entered the capital Kyiv, and urged the city’s citizens to remain vigilant and observe a curfew.
The invasion began early Thursday with a series of missile strikes, many on key government and military installations, quickly followed by a three-pronged ground assault. Ukrainian and US officials said Russian forces were attacking from the east toward Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city; from the southern region of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014; and from Belarus to the north.
Both sides claimed to have destroyed some of the other’s aircraft and military hardware, though little of that could be confirmed.
Hours after the invasion began, Russian forces seized control of the now-unused Chernobyl plant and its surrounding exclusion zone after a fierce battle, presidential adviser Myhailo Podolyak told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named.
The US sanctions will target Russian banks, oligarchs, state-controlled companies and high-tech sectors, Biden said, but they were designed not to disrupt global energy markets. Russian oil and natural gas exports are vital energy sources for Europe.
[IsraelTimes] Private Israeli intelligence firm ImageSat International (ISI) publishes satellite images of Russian forces deployed in the city of Belgorod, close to the border with Ukraine.
ISI says this is one of Russia’s main routes of invasion of Ukraine, going through the city of Kharkiv.
The photos show helicopters and delivery trucks, as well as a field hospital. ISI says the trucks are resupplying the helicopters before they take off.
Update at 8:40 a.m. ET courtesy of Angaiper Ulavins1210:
Ukrainian troops are reported to have killed a number of disguised soldiers as the capital prepares for a long bloody siege.
It comes as citizens were urged to take up arms, make up Molotov cocktail fire bombs, and to use commercial drones to defend their homes.
Some 18,000 assault rifles have been handed out to residents and general mobilisation has been ordered in a bid to protect their homes.
And meanwhile, Russia claims it has retaken the key airfield of Gostomel close to the city after a back-and-forth battle.
Putin's forces boasted they had swooped in with 200 helicopters and paratroopers to seize the location.
Gunfire has reportedly been heard around Kyiv amid a flurry of skirmishes in the Oblonon district and the city centre.
Pictures also showed a Ukrainian military truck and dead men wearing Ukrainian military uniforms who were allegedly actually disguised Russians.
It is feared that Russian special forces could be attempting to sow chaos and take out key officials - potentially Zelenskyy himself - to pave the way for the invasion.
Other attackers may have been Russian "saboteurs" or "sleeper cells" who are loyal to Putin and who have been lying in wait in Ukraine for the assault.
And video showed a tank rampaging around the district of Obolon, crushing a civilian car, though the circumstances remain unclear.
Kyiv's deputy defence minister Anna Maliar said Russian forces had seized Ukrainian army trucks and uniforms earlier on Friday.
She said they were acting as an advanced guard for a larger convoy of Putin's forces heading "at speed" for Kyiv.
Strategy Page: Interesting Ukraine invasion bits Go to the link to read it in full.
As expected, not a lot of the nearly 200,000 Russian troops now near the Ukraine borders actually entered Ukraine. All, or most appeared to be volunteers, rather than the one-year conscripts that comprise half the strength of the armed forces. Few of the conscripts and even fewer of their parents are eager for the conscripts to be fighting neighbors.
Russian airborne forces managed to take an airport ten kilometers outside Kyiv. Efforts to use that airport to bring in additional troops were disrupted by the Ukrainian use of Stinger portable anti-aircraft missiles as well as rifle and machine-gun fire at low flying aircraft. The airport was quickly attacked by a Ukrainian army rapid reaction force organized and trained for retaking key locations seized by Russian airborne forces. While the area around the airport was soon surrounded by regular reservists and armed volunteers, the Rapid Reaction unit retook the airport before the Russians could use larger transport aircraft to bring in more troops. Russia appears to have underestimated the preparations Ukraine have made since 2014 to deal with this kind of invasion.
An amphibious assault on the major Black Sea port of Odessa failed and most ground advances appear to have stalled as well. One Russian column that did not encounter any resistance was the one into the Chernobyl radioactive zone.
Antonov Airport, 20 miles north of Kyiv in the town of Hostomel, was being patrolled by Russian airborne troops on Thursday
The airport is seen as a vital asset for Moscow to bring more troops and military equipment into the capital
While a CNN team was at the airport, they saw Ukrainian servicemen trying to push the Russians back from the site
On Thursday evening, the Ukrainian government said that they had retaken the airport and repelled the elite Russian troops
Ukraine's National Guard posted a photo to social media of three soldiers holding a bullet-riddled Ukrainian flag, and said they were heroes of the battle
Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, on Thursday night barred all men aged 18-60 from leaving the country, and a full mobilization of troops
He said that at least 137 Ukrainians are dead, and 300 injured
But despite elite Russian airborne forces capturing the airport, by Friday, Ukraine's government declared they had seized it back.
Deputy Minister Anton Herashchenko made the announcement, according to The Kyiv Independent.
Ukraine's National Guard tweeted a photo of three young soldiers holding up a Ukrainian flag filled with bullet holes.
"Guardsmen with their flag, torn to pieces after today's battle," it wrote. "Congratulations to all of you and say that we will win!"
But despite the recapture of the airport, Russia has made gains elsewhere, reportedly encircling the city of Konotop in eastern Ukraine as they head towards Kyiv.
Ukrainian forces have clashed with Russian tanks in Ivankiv, not far from Kyiv, as they make their way from the border with Belarus via the Chernobyl exclusion zone.
At around 4.20am local time (2.20am GMT), reports came through of blasts in the city.
Vladimir Putin's tanks are less than 20 miles from Ukraine's capital, as thousands try desperately to escape to the west and flee the onrushing army.
You're not standing with the Ukrainians. You're sitting on your cowardly woke ass in your condo off Dupont Circle, tweeting and bloviating your bullshit
Posted by: Modus Ponens6729 ||
02/25/2022 1:03 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Translation: Zelensky has been calling Hunter non-stop but he is not picking up.
#3
Of course Hunter is picking up. It was Putie Poot's Puppets paying off Hunter and the Big Guy. Photos and piss videos available at 2 Bolshaya Lubyanka Street.
#8
OK, Russia has invaded Ukraine.
I see Biden protected that border as well as he did the USA Southern Border.☻
SERIOUS NOW.
The US vs. USSR Saber rattling is pretty taken the next step and Biden's Admin handlers have Screwed the Pooch again, as usual, or possibly as as planned?
However, I don't see a USA-NATO vs. USSR ground war scenario.
What envision, is "civilian" raiders conducting hit and run operations on high profile and key targets. Much like the VC did in Nam against the USA. Then, the USSR will likely use the raids as justification for more territorial expansions plans to secure people.
Remember the USSR & CCP are allied.
If we take on the USSR, the CCP can cut off roughly 30+% of our important life or death medications or the key ingredients and can cause all types of shortages and price increases on consumer goods here in the USA and the EU.
WHY?
The CCP knows USSR has its back when the CCP decides it wants Taiwan back. Given we are already hearing rumbles to that effect.
Where I see this going
I am leaning towards a USSR/CCP vs the USA/EU Cyber-War.
Having noted the numerous, the increased number of CCP spies outed in key industries and national security areas. Plus a major ramp-up of Cyber probes and Lessons Learned practice attacks on key US & EU industries and infrastructures over the last 2+ years.
Whether Russia goes for a total win (all of Ukraine) or calls a halt after establishing itself a Demilitarized buffer zone for its 2 new acquisitions. The Global Military Complex & certain elitists will make a wad of $$$$$ off this.
Either way,
I still think Biden was and is in it for the deflection that it allows him and the LSD's from the problems he and tey caused here at home.
#10
/\ I still think Biden was and is in it for the deflection that it allows him and the LSD's from the problems he and they caused here at home.
Russian bogeyman and tyrant seizes the news. Bad economy and high gasoline prices are now "the cost of freedom we must pay." Hunter is forgotten. Infrastructure is forgotten. Green New Deal is forgotten. US continues to buy high priced crude oil from Russia. Trump is pushed off the stage. Brandon gets a series of 3-5 minute presser Ukraine updates. John Durham investigation is forgotten. Afghan withdrawal swirls around memory hole.
What's not to like for Brandon ?
Future: Putin discloses US weapons cache. Demands UN financial assistance for clean-up of Chernobyl and other research sites. Levies cost of Ukrainian military operations on Euro and US oil sales. Demands US military augmentation leave the region. Begins importation of new, Russian speaking people.
#11
^ If US gummint can't do anything about Ukraine, which is totally an "affairs of men" scenario, where do they come off claiming they can do anything about the climate or COVID?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/25/2022 7:46 Comments ||
Top||
#12
Reparations....where have I heard that before?
#14
The truly valuable part of this crisis, for America, is that opinionators on the right as well as the left who have no business opining when we should spray for bugs, let alone when we should go to war, are all out in the open now.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/25/2022 9:32 Comments ||
Top||
#15
CNN has just hired me to assure All Ukrainians worldwide, that Russia has not invaded your country, what you are seeing are Russian Tourists, very bad and impolite Russian Tourists on Hunting Safaris. They have no manners and will shoot at anything that moves. Please stay in your homes, or if you can head West as fast as you can, the speed limits in the Ukraine have been lifted - Please stay tuned to CNN, for further, honest reporting, by CNN & me Kiev Bob.
#16
US troops are there to secure the border and prevent partisan actions basing from a NATO member, namely Poland. judging by the markets and lead up behaviour, Ukraine was negotiated away a while ago. US and other NATO members don't want anything testing the fragile NATO resolve and unity. The publicized loss of Germany would be catastrophic, even though they are already gone. The dow seems to like the war and Russian control of all gas lines into Europe.
A cyber war would be very complex, we no longer have "American" tech comapnies, it would be hard to identify origin and how/who would you retaliate against?
#18
From Ukrainian journalist Yuri Butusov:
My remarks are italicized
7:07 a.m., the Armed Forces are fighting in the Dymer and Ivankiv districts. Defense forces hold Gostomel airfield. The Air Force is protecting the sky over Kyiv.
08:00 - The overwhelming forces of the Russian army were stopped on the border of the river Teteriv in Kyiv region. The bridge was destroyed to block the way for Russian tanks.
08:40 , enemy DRGs that were trying to enter the rear in the area of Shchastya, Stanytsia Luhanska, Lobachevo and Belovodsk were destroyed. DRGs are special task forces, not elites but group of men select to perform a job typical of special forces
9:57 a.m. - Antonivsky Bridge near Kherson remains under Ukrainian control.
10:29 a.m. - Russian IL-76s with paratroopers landed in Gomel. Konotop has been lost, the battle for Melitopol is underway, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported. Russian airborne commanders got tired of waiting for the main Kiev airport to fall.
12:55 - The most dangerous situation is in the north-west of Kyiv. The enemy's offensive was stopped in Chernihiv, Sumy, and Kharkiv
2:54 p.m. , Russian troops have lost more than a thousand servicemen in Ukraine. I'd wager a fair number of them died trying to take the airport at Gostomel, and in the breakaway republics.
14:58 - Our soldiers gave battle to the Russian occupiers in the area of Belovodsk in the Luhansk region. The enemy is fleeing in the direction of Russia.
16:12 - Losses of the occupiers: 2800 people, up to 80 tanks, 516 armored vehicles, 10 aircraft, 7 helicopters. They're gonna keep coming anyway
7:15 p.m. The landing party of the aggressor tried to land in Nikolaev, there was a fight.
Russian authorities restrict access to Facebook. Truth hurts, I guess.
[EpochTimes] Nine Chinese aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in the hours following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Taiwanese air assets were scrambled in response, according to Taiwan’s defense ministry.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has sent such incursions into Taiwan’s airspace continuously over the past two years in an apparent attempt to intimidate and exhaust Taiwan’s military.
The Feb. 24 sortie marked the 13th incursion this month, but was well off the last large-scale incursion in late January when the Chinese military sent 39 aircraft into Taiwan’s ADIZ.
The ADIZ isn’t airspace directly over the island nation, but in the immediately surrounding area where identification, location information, and government control of aircraft is required for security purposes. Taiwanese military aircraft are scrambled to respond to each such incursion.
The CCP claims that Taiwan, which has been self-governed since 1949, is a breakaway province. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has vowed to "reunify" the island with the mainland, and hasn’t ruled out the use of force in doing so.
Taiwan’s defense ministry said the latest incursion included eight fighter jets and one reconnaissance aircraft.
The incident comes as Taiwan’s leadership watches the ongoing crisis in Ukraine with concern. Defense and security experts believe that the international response to that crisis could inform the CCP’s strategy for a future invasion of Taiwan.
Taiwan’s leaders have been keen to point out that Russia’s actions in Ukraine are emblematic of a greater struggle between authoritarianism and a democratic way of life.
"The people and government of Taiwan stand with Ukraine," Taiwan Vice President Lai Ching-te wrote in a tweet. "The principle of self-determination cannot be erased by brute force."
Taiwanese fighter jets and air defense missiles were deployed to monitor the Feb. 24 incursion, a standard response.
While Taipei hasn’t reported any unusual troop movement from the CCP, the island’s government has increased its alert level and called for increased combat readiness.
The prospect of invasion from the mainland has raised concern over the U.S. policy of so-called "strategic ambiguity," under which it will neither openly confirm nor deny its willingness to engage in a military defense of the island. Under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, however, the United States is obligated to provide the island with the means to sustain its self-defense capabilities.
Meanwhile, ...back at the alley, Bugs Moroni was holding Slats from behind while his brother Greasy Thumb was pounding his face into paste ... a poll conducted by the Trafalgar Group in January found that a majority of Americans of all political affiliations support a potential U.S. military defense of Taiwan in the event of an invasion by Beijing.
In October 2021, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen promised that the self-governed island would defend itself and its "free and democratic way of life" from CCP aggression at all costs.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine prompts Syria to cut spending
[AlAhram] The government of economically-battered Syria decided Thursday to cut spending in an effort to reduce the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, concerned that oil and wheat prices could sharply increase, the state-owned news agency said.
Russia-Ukraine crisis: Collateral damage on wheat
[AlAhram] As tensions continue to rise between Russia and Ukraine, observers are anticipating the economic fallout from a possible war in the region since Russia, Ukraine, and Romania combined produce one third of the world’s wheat.
This is particularly important for Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer.
The expected economic fallout from the tensions in Ukraine will likely lead to an increase in the price of wheat around the world, said Nader Noureddin, a professor of water and land resources in Cairo.
Noureddin said that Egypt imports 90 per cent of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine. In 2021, it imported ten million tons from the two countries out of the 13 million tons of wheat it imported that year.
While there are alternative sources such as France, Australia, the US, Canada and Argentina, the cost of wheat from them is much higher.
Egypt’s reliance on Russian and Ukrainian wheat is due to two main factors, according to Noureddin. First, wheat from the two countries costs ten per cent less than global prices, and second, they are closer to Egypt with shipments taking only ten days to reach Egyptian shores.
In comparison, shipments coming from the US take 24 days, and they take 28 days from Argentina.
So, here is the list of items which will get costlier in India in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war:
FUEL PRICES:
The first and biggest casualty is fuel prices. Being the third-largest consumer of crude oil in the world, petroleum products are likely to get expensive as crude oil prices near $104 per barrel after Russian forces attacked Ukraine.
The government, which brought down the prices during Diwali last year, is likely to hike the fuel prices after the completion of assembly elections.
EDIBLE OIL:
Ukraine is the biggest producer of sunflower oil and it accounts for almost 80% of India's sunflower oil imports. The impact on its supply will automatically increase the price of the edible oil.
WHEAT:
More than a quarter of the world's wheat exports come from Russia and Ukraine. In the wake of the war, the flow of wheat and grain could be disrupted.
Ukraine and Russia account for almost 70% of the world's sunflower oil shipments.
METAL PRICE:
Russia is the world's top producer of Palladium and the world's second-largest producer of Platinum. It is used in a critical component in catalytic converters - a part of a car's exhaust system that controls emissions.
Palladium is also used in electronics, dentistry, medicine, hydrogen purification, chemical applications, groundwater treatment, and jewellery. Palladium is a key component of fuel cells, which react hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity, heat, and water.
[BusinessInsider] Russia down about 40%
UK, France and Germany down about 4%
China down about 3%
USA up about 2% (it was down about that amount yesterday)
Japan down about 3%
Ukraine down about 40%
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
02/25/2022 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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#1
um... no. There's hundreds of billions of dollars in Russian offshore accounts that will come onshore to Russia soon and boost demand for Russian equities on the Moscow Exchange in coming weeks:
President Trump demanded NATO treaty compliance in 2017, but Germany’s politicians delighted in defying him. Congratulations, guys, y’all get to experience the iron law of natural consequences.
[FoxNews] Germany’s highest-ranking military officer cast doubt on the Germany army's combat readiness, claiming that years of neglect have left it in a questionable state amid the ongoing Ukrainian-Russian war.
Inspector of the Army Lt. Gen. Alfons Mais described the army as "standing bare" and said it would be limited in its capabilities should it be asked to assist in a NATO mission in a post he shared on his LinkedIn profile, Stripes.com reported.
After Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this week, the international community has been put on notice and German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht placed the country’s defense forces on national alert, Stripes.com reported.
But Mais claimed in the post that the army would be limited in its capabilities to assist in a NATO mission: "The options we can offer policymakers to support the Alliance are extremely limited."
According to the report, Mais appealed to his government to do more to boost its combat readiness in 2014, following the Russian invasion of Crimea, but his arguments failed to influence policy changes.
#3
While Ukraine provides air cover, CDC moves "Young Men Getting the Shot Causes Myocardiitis" from "You are a Flat Earther who will be deplatformed" to "Yeah, there's enough evidence to suggest that you should wait 8 weeks between shots."
So it is out there. And it sounds like the cork is about to rot out.
[Royal Society of Chemistry] In the year that sees the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War, a previously untold story has emerged of how, through a "miracle" chemical breakthrough, Spitfire and Hurricane fighters gained the edge over German fighters to win the Battle of Britain.
An American scientist and author has claimed that the famed pair of war-winning aeroplanes gained superior altitude, manoeuvrability and rate of climb by a revolutionary high-octane fuel supplied to Britain by the USA just in time for the battle.
Books, documentaries, and movies have chronicled the brilliant contribution of UK designers and engineers behind the legendary fighter planes that won the Battle of Britain, preventing invasion of the British Isles.
The courage and sacrifice of RAF pilots who flew the aeroplanes is rightly celebrated and their bravery has become an inspirational chapter of the British national story.
What has not been known until now, however, is the story of the revolutionary aviation fuel supplied to the RAF by an American company, using a process invented by a Frenchman, without which Spitfires and Hurricanes might not have achieved crucial dominance over the Luftwaffe.
The Royal Society of Chemistry read the claims about Eugene Houdry, and his process at the Sun Oil Company, in a paper written originally for the journal Invention and Technology by American science writer Tim Palucka.
The introduction to the paper by Palucka says of Houdry: "His miraculous catalyst turned nearly worthless sludge into precious high-octane gasoline and helped the Allies to win World War II."
He continued: "That process would make a crucial difference in mid-1940 when the Royal Air Force started filling its Spitfires and Hurricanes with the 100-octane gasoline imported from the United States instead of the 87-octane gasoline it had formerly used."
The RSC is inviting experts and the public to challenge the new claim and if it remains intact then the society will send the report to aviation and military historians to mark the newly-discovered contribution of chemists to victory in one of the key battles.
Eugene Houdry, born in France, developed, after settling in the USA, one of the earliest catalysts to convert useless crude oil into high octane fuel. He revealed the "cracking" process at a Chicago chemicals conference in 1938
The 100-octane fuel that resulted from the Houdry Process increased the Spitfire's speed by 25 mph at sea level by 34 mph at 10,000 feet.
This extra speed gave the British fighters in the summer of 1940 the edge over the Luftwaffe above the English Channel and in the skies of London and south-east England.
With the balance tipped towards the British, the German invasion was abandoned and Hitler turned eastwards, allowing the UK armed forces time to regroup and to revive.
"Luftwaffe pilots couldn't believe they were facing the same planes they had fought successfully over France a few months before. The planes were the same but the fuel wasn't," said Palucka.
Tim Palucka says that in the 1943 book The Amazing Petroleum Industry, V A Kalichevsky of the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company explained what high-octane gasoline meant to Britain. Kalichevsky wrote:
"It is an established fact that a difference of only 13 points in octane number made possible the defeat of the Luftwaffe by the RAF in the fall of 1940. This difference, slight as its seems, is sufficient to give a plane the vital edge in altitude, rate of climb and manoeuvrability that spells the difference between defeat and victory.
#2
The planes were the same but the fuel wasn't
Wouldn't they have had to change the timing or increase the compression to get an advantage from the higher octane?
#5
Know your machine. Burning overpriced fuel in it just wastes your money. In the old days, you could do a certain amount with timing. Now that it's all "black box," a lot more is possible but you won't be doing it for yourself at home.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/25/2022 10:01 Comments ||
Top||
#6
I get most of what you can get out of my old Jeep Liberty by always filling at half a tank and alternating between regular and mid-grade. Past that, I'm into custom eproms or a fancy touch screen engine management system. Neither of which makes any sense ay all for that vehicle.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/25/2022 10:04 Comments ||
Top||
#7
The "Clean Green Fuel" for the 21st Century and Beyond
Posted by: Jack Hatfield3918 ||
02/25/2022 10:56 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Burning overpriced fuel in it just wastes your money
During the first Gulf war the Saudis supplied gasoline. It was 100 octane. Our vehicles run on Mogas, which means they can use diesel or gas or combination depending on available supply. The mechanics said that those who were burning the Saudi stuff had the cleanest engines they'd ever encountered in maintenance. Check your mpg between blends yourself, not what someone tells your. Then do the math.
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.
[Stars & Stripes] HARARE, Zimbabwe — A retired U.S. Army soldier was fined $400 and given a suspended jail sentence Thursday for attempting to carry a gun and ammunition onto a plane in Zimbabwe.
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Fifteen of the nineteen WTC hijackers were Saudis, and most major jihadi commanders were Saudis, to include Osama bin Laden. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman quietly folded that tent in 2016, doing terrible things to the guys running it, and has since been dragging the kingdom into the current century...
[Royal Society of Chemistry] In the year that sees the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War, a previously untold story has emerged of how, through a "miracle" chemical breakthrough, Spitfire and Hurricane fighters gained the edge over German fighters to win the Battle of Britain.
