A robber kicked a 57-year-old woman down the stairs and bashed her head repeatedly with a hammer at the Queens Plaza subway station
A camera captured the moment the suspect, walking with a cane, assaulted the woman and struck her in the head 13 times in an attempt to steal her purse
The attack comes days after NYC Mayor Eric Adams vowed to crackdown on subway crime and deployed 1,000 additional officers to the transit system
Subway stabbings and slashings have spiked 29 percent in the last last year, with 182 incidents compared to 141 in 2020
So far in 2022, stabbings have been up 35 percent from the same time last year
#1
How about arm your citizenry? Shoot on provocation? The body count will be big up front like COVID (without the nursing home contributions) but will drop off as well. Afterwards, crime will be down and people more polite. Civilization will return.
#1
Oh lord β you sent me down a dance rabbit hole, Besoeker! :-) I purely miss having the energy to dance with Mr. Wife as we used to, though we were never nearly as good as that.
An 18-month-old baby died in an icy car crash on a Kentucky bridge after Storm Oaklee swept through the state on Thursday morning, making its way to the Northeast
The death occurred after seven cars crashed on the Tennessee River Bridge along Interstate 24
Toward the north at least six inches of snow will cause havoc for Americans in the interior of New York state and into New England
Warnings of power outages have been issued in parts of Pennsylvania, western Maryland and northern West Virginia where significant icing is possible through Friday
Freezing rain and sleet is set to hit the southern parts of that area including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Hudson Valley and the coastline of New England
So far some 1,326 flights have been canceled today in the US due to the winter storm
[Western Journal] A truckers’ convoy, inspired by Canada’s Freedom Convoy, began making its way across the U.S. starting in California on Wednesday.
The group is calling for an end to the COVID-19 mandates and the state of national emergency prompted by the pandemic, which was first declared by then-President Donald Trump in March 2020 and just renewed by President Joe Biden last week.
By Friday afternoon, "The People’s Convoy," as it has been dubbed, had crossed Arizona on Interstate 40, which parallels much of the old U.S. Route 66, and reached Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The group is posting its progress on Facebook.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that the convoy consisted of dozens of trucks by the time it reached Kingman, Arizona, Wednesday, where the truckers spent their first night.
[Aviationist] As the sun rises on day three of the Ukrainian war with Russia, reports have surfaced that two Russian Ilyushin Il-76 heavy transports were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses. Russia has not acknowledged the loss of any of its Il-76 aircraft.
On Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, Ukrainian air defenses claimed to have shot down one Russian Il-76 transport near Vasylkiv, south of the capital in Kyiv. Ukrainian reports claimed the aircraft was carrying a "landing force" but did not specify any number of casualties or survivors from the reported incident.
The use of the Il-76 transport aircraft along with specially trained airfield seizure troops similar to U.S. Army Rangers is known as part of Russian military doctrine.
Following reports of this first Il-76 shoot-down incident, a "second Il-76" was reported to have been shot down over Bila Tserkya. The report originated from the Ukrainian State Special Communications Agency. Early reports did not suggest what mission this aircraft may have been performing and no specific reports of casualties or survivors has been provided as of this hour.
Both reports were later confirmed, at around 04.30UTC by AP:
[Moscow Times] A military transport plane with six people on board vanished from radars in Russiaβs Far Eastern Khabarovsk region, the Emergency Situations Ministry said Wednesday. crashed Stealth Mode
The An-26 was performing a "technical flight" when its communication systems stopped sending signals 38 kilometers from the Khabarovsk city airport, the ministry said. A Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) helicopter and a rescue team have been dispatched to find the missing aircraft.
"The search is complicated by the dark time of day and unfavorable weather conditions," the Emergency Situations Ministry said in a statement on its website.
Citing an unnamed source, Interfax reported that the plane is believed to have crashed in the Bolshekhekhtsirsky Nature Reserve outside Khabarovsk while performing a low-altitude flight at 600 meters. and then 0 meters
It added that the An-26 has been in operation since 1979 and was used by the company Flight Inspections and Systems as an "air laboratory" for the past 15 years.
Emergency services cited by media said that the An-26 was due to test communication systems during the flight.
#4
/\ "Dreaded AN-26" is my reference. This aircraft has an abysmal safety and performance record. It is prohibited from flying or landing in some countries.
#10
AN-28 is a low and slow STOL aircraft, TFSM. About 200 mph cruise and 20,000-ft ceiling. Not a really good flight record, but better than the AN-26. The Poles based their PZL M28 Skytruck on it.
A good pilot could 'stick and rudder' a landing almost anywhere if something were to happen. Large wings and control surfaces (incl. dual tail) for the size of the aircraft.
Unlike the AN-26 in a similar circumstance, most AN-28 passengers might survive a crash.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
02/26/2022 17:39 Comments ||
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[NYT via NR] Over three months, senior Biden administration officials held half a dozen urgent meetings with top Chinese officials in which the Americans presented intelligence showing Russia’s troop buildup around Ukraine and beseeched the Chinese to tell Russia not to invade, according to U.S. officials.
Each time, the Chinese officials, including the foreign minister and the ambassador to the United States, rebuffed the Americans, saying they did not think an invasion was in the works. After one diplomatic exchange in December, U.S. officials got intelligence showing Beijing had shared the information with Moscow, telling the Russians that the United States was trying to sow discord — and that China would not try to impede Russian plans and actions, the officials said.
#1
There was likely never any hope the Chinese would "beseech" the bear regarding anything. This was a simple diplomatic baiting and learning exercise.
1. Advanced intelligence collection methodologies and likely product recipients were revealed.
2. Re-transmission contacts and routing venues were confirmed.
3. Taiwan smiles knowingly. Hat tips received from Hungary, Poland, Romania, Albania, Finland, and others.
[Breitbart] Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) said Friday on CNNβs "The Situation Room" that "at the invitation of Ukraine" we should declare Ukraine a no-fly zone "enforced by NATO and the United States."
Kinzinger said, "The Ukrainian people are fighting much harder than I think Putin expected. But they will be outmatched and outgunned ultimately by somebody that is very willing to lose his own troops, and he doesnβt care, Vladimir Putin."
He added, "I think this is time where we need to, at the invitation of Ukraine, declare Ukraine a no-fly zone enforced by NATO and the United States. We certainly have the capability to do that. The air space is still contested by the Ukrainians. We can shut down Russian air operations, even if we donβt directly engage Russian troops on the ground."
Kinzinger said, "Vladimir Putin is threatened the use of nuclear weapons. That shows you how dangerous this man is. And he only stops when his bayonet hits a brick wall. The United States and NATO must be that brick wall tonight. I would love to see us declare at the invitation of Ukraine that Ukraine is a no-fly zone, and we will enforce that. Iβve got to tell you, for anybody that thinks that somehow weβre going to be equally matched with Russia, NATO, and the United States would crush Russia in the air in a second. We have to remember how good we are at that. That can be the thing that can give the Ukrainians a fighting ability to prevent the occupation of Kyiv, but they wonβt go quietly into the night."
#1
How does this jackass propose to enforce a No Fly zone without actively engaging Russian aircraft? Park all the Patriot and SAM from NATO at the polish border and hope it has range? Or does he mean counter air - which means shooting down RUssian aircraft.
As unhinged as Putin has become, doing this would probably cause Putin to widen his attacks and start hitting anyone and everyojne he can throw forces at, especially the baltic states, and Romania and Poland.
I am so glad this swamp creature RINO is out on his ass after this term.
#6
Of course they want a war with Russia. Why do you think they started the Ukraine crisis in the first place? Duh.
Russia will be invaded, conquered, and broken up into small states easily dominated by bankers. These new states will be inundated by immigrants from Africa and the Middle East. Russia will never be a threat to profits again.
#7
I figured there was some homonym confusion, Besoeker. (not that there is anything wrong with being a homophone) I was goofing on the Chinese guy. And if we are going to drag Henry Kissinger into this, we might as well mention Jill St. John.
#9
They understand that this involves swatting transport helicopters and downing paratroop airlift? This ain't Libya, and forcing Russia to go straight up artillery is a likely outcome.
#11
Don't sign your name on it, keep doing what you are doing, let Ukraine fight "on their own", and watch as the weather turns to shit (thawing temperatures, rain) next week and the ground goes all muddy. The week after next should be even worse for maneuver.
#12
Yes, massive Russian artillery barrages are the next step.
The Russians are already bringing their 240mm mortars and 203mm cannons to the front lines. Should be destroyed by air before they level entire mid/high rise buildings.
[Breitbart] Ukrainian forces are reporting success in using American-made Javelin anti-tank missiles against invading Russian armor. British NLAW weapons are also reportedly performing well against Russian tanks.
The FGM-148 Javelin Close Combat Missile System-Medium (CCMS-M) is an advanced man-portable anti-armor weapon developed in a joint venture by Raytheon and Lockheed-Martin to replace the M47 Dragon in the mid-1990s. It is possible to mount Javelins on robot vehicles and fire them remotely. Javelins are employed by the U.S. Army and Marines to counter enemy armor, penetrate hard targets like bunkers, and even destroy helicopters.
The Javelin’s advantages include "soft launch" capability with minimal exhaust fumes and recoil, making it possible to launch them from inside buildings during urban combat operations; a top-attack flight profile that sends the missile above its target, giving it a chance to find the weakest point in enemy armor before it strikes; fire-and-forget electronics that allow the users to move quickly out of harm’s way after firing; and double warheads that have proven very effective at defeating all existing forms of armor.
Javelins are noted for their high degree of reliability and effectiveness in adverse battlefield conditions, the remarkable accuracy of their targeting computers, and excellent range for such a light weapon. The entire Javelin launch and targeting package weighs less than 50 pounds. It takes about 30 seconds to set up and fire, and perhaps 20 seconds to reload.
Military analysts regard the Javelin as the premier anti-tank weapon in the world, with only a few other platforms coming close to its battle-tested capabilities. Perhaps the highest tribute to its quality is that the Chinese stole it as quickly as possible.
The Dragon missile superseded by the Javelin had plenty of armor-piercing power, but it was bulkier, less reliable, had shorter range, and lacked ability to fly above armored vehicles and strike down at their weak points. The final nail in the Dragon’s coffin was the introduction of "reactive armor" on late-model Soviet tanks, a form of armor that sacrifices an outer layer of disposable tiles to blunt the impact of anti-tank missiles. Javelins defeat reactive armor by using their first warhead to disperse the reactive tiles, then punching through the enemy’s main armor layer with the second warhead.
Ukraine received a shipment of Javelins as recently as late January, as part of the latest $200 million security package offered by the United States. On Friday, Estonia announced it would send some of its Javelin inventory to Ukraine, along with food, medical equipment, and protective gear.
At around the same time, the British government hurriedly shipped almost 200 units of its RB-57 Next Generation Light Antitank Weapon (NLAW) to Ukraine, adding to almost 2,000 previously delivered. The U.K. also sent paratroopers to train the Ukrainians in effective use of the NLAW.
#8
The Javelin and other western anti-tank missiles are doing a number on the Russian armor. Don't know if the Russians put their upgrades on the assault units or not, but if they did it seems they don't work for shit.
And that is good for the West/India.
#1
UK trying to do as much damage to the EU as it can. Good lads.
This war is going to hurt the EU far more than it will Russia or Ukraine. Which is the whole idea. To keep them in the US orbit instead of being able to determine their own destiny. Nordstream 2 was a close call.
#2
China has an alternative to SWIFT that it is pushing hard. Kick Russia out of SWIFT and the Chinese system will be the requirement for energy purchases from Russia, all over the world. And with Western energy production deliberately strangled, that would be a major power shift.
#3
/\ Fok these communist bastids, they are the enemy. They have always been the enemy. Close down the Walmarts and Home Depot's until they can re-stock with American made goods. I am sick of these threatening tyrants and their global mischief.
Say nothing, continue to say nothing. Simply stick it up their collective arses at every turn! Chinese, Russians, Iranians, Pakiwaki's.... anyone else.
Commentary by Russian military journalisy Boris Rozhin. Highlights by direction:
1. LDNR - the positional nature of hostilities remains, with the attempts of the LDNR armies to advance to the borders of the territories occupied by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
2. Southern direction - The RF Armed Forces retained control over the bridge across the Dnieper near Kherson, repelling counterattack attempts by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The fighting in the area of ββthe Antonovsky bridge continues.
New Kakhovka is also held. This morning Melitopol was taken and the advance began in the direction of Berdyansk.
3. Kharkov direction - fighting continues on the near approaches to Kharkov. Both sides suffer losses in men and equipment.
4. Sumy direction - the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation took Putivl and passing through Sumy (there continued the battle at the airport today), advanced to Konotop, surrounding the city.
Today, attempts continued to take Akhtyrka in order to reach Kharkov from the west. Russian checkpoints have been set up on the Sumy-Kyiv highway. There is an advance towards Kiev and Chernigov. (The Armed Forces of Ukraine repulsed the attack of the RF Armed Forces in the Chernihiv direction).
5. Kyiv - Gostomel airfield is held by paratroopers. The Armed Forces of Ukraine have not been able to knock them out of there. This morning, tank columns of the RF Armed Forces broke through to the nearest approaches to Kiev and are close to establishing a direct connection with the landing force.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine are preparing a counterattack, declaring that another landing will be thrown out in the Gostomel area today.
The Pentagon says that Kyiv will fall in the coming days. After 10 o'clock, shooting was heard in the city. Also, according to the statement of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the landing was thrown to the west of Zhytomyr. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are actively undermining the bridges on the outskirts, trying to slow down the advance of the RF Armed Forces.
6. In the morning, attacks on military facilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine throughout Ukraine continued. A Su-27 of the Ukrainian Air Force was shot down over Kiev - according to one version, by the Russian air defense system, according to another, by the Ukrainian ones. The downed "Caliber" fell on a residential building in Kyiv, but there were no casualties. During the shelling of Gorlovka, a school was hit - 2 teachers were killed.
7. The Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a missile attack on the Millerovo airfield in the territory of the Russian Federation. Damage is reported at the airfield, but there are no aircraft casualties.
Near Kiev, the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the night of Saturday, February 26, destroyed a Russian Il-76 aircraft with paratroopers on board. This is reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"Our Air Defense Forces shot down an IL-76 with an enemy landing in the Vasilkov area. This is revenge for Luhansk in 2014. Death to the enemies!" - informed the military.
As clarified in the command of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, at about 00:30 a Ukrainian Su-27 fighter successfully attacked an enemy military transport aircraft Il-76MD. Now heavy fighting continues in Vasilkovo in places where the occupiers are trying to land troops from the air.
In turn, the head of the Servant of the People faction, David Arakhamia, informs that two helicopters were also shot down in the Vasilkov area, and in the JFO zone, the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine shot down two enemy targets - a helicopter and a Su-25 attack aircraft of the Russian occupation forces.
Recall, the day before, Russian Il-76 with paratroopers on board landed at the Belarusian airfield Gomel. Due to damage to the runway of the Gostomel airfield, the enemy decided to advance under its own power from the territory of Belarus in the direction of Gomel-Chernigov-Kiev.
A video of a conversation between a military Russian army and local residents of Sumy has been posted on the social network. Video posted on Facebook.
"A representative of the occupying army of the Russian Federation is negotiating with the residents of Sumy about surrendering. The soldiers of the Russian Federation agree to lay down their arms, take off their bulletproof vests and ask local residents to call the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to be taken from their positions," the caption to the video says.
On the recording, you can hear how a local resident tells the military the terms of surrender.
Earlier it was reported that in the Chernihiv region, an entire reconnaissance platoon of the Russian military surrendered to the Ukrainian military.
"On the evening of February 25, after the landing of an amphibious assault in the area of ββthe settlement of Azov (Ukraine), Russian units marched and, without meeting resistance, entered Melitopol," the report says. Andrey Chervonets said that Wagner units performed as a covering party of the advance.
Local residents greeted the military, some pensioners took to the streets with red flags, the Defense Ministry added.
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in the Donbass . He assured that Moscow's plans do not include the occupation of Ukraine, only its demilitarization and denazification.
The Ministry of Defense emphasized that the Russian Armed Forces do not carry out any missile, air or artillery strikes on Ukrainian cities: military infrastructure is disabled by high-precision weapons, nothing threatens the civilian population.
The latest:
3:15. Fierce battles in Vasylkiv. The occupiers in police uniforms drove up to the checkpoint with flashing lights and shot at the defenders of Ukraine. The death toll is unknown.
As of 02:00. About 60 saboteurs were killed in Kyiv on Friday, February 25.
For 2nd straight night, hundreds take to streets in St. Petersburg to protest Putinβs invasion
[IsraelTimes] For the second straight night, hundreds of Russian protesters have taken to the streets of St. Petersburg to protest President Vladimir Putin ...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances... βs decision to invade Ukraine.
Last night, some 1,800 people were arrested, according to the Guardian, and additional arrests are already being reported at tonightβs demonstration as well.
Info Warsβ content ranges from QAnon-level conspiracy to things that should be reported in the respectable media, but the Democrats With Bylines block lest the received wisdom be undone. Iβm not sure which this is.
Russiaβs drive to seize control of Ukraine quickly has lost momentum amid resistance from Ukrainian fighters on the ground and in the air, a senior US defense official said Friday.
βTheir momentum, particularly as it comes to Kyiv, has slowed over the last 24 hours,β the official said.
Russian forces, which entered Ukraine early Thursday, have yet to seize any major cities, or gain control of airspace, the official said.
βThey have not achieved the progress that we believe they anticipated they would,β the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
βA good indicator of that is no population centers have been taken. None,β the official said.
The Pentagon believes that Moscow wants to seize control of Kyiv and replace the Western-leaning government with allies of the Kremlin.
And many worry that the powerful Russian force, with massive backup still awaiting on Ukraineβs border, could conquer Kyiv within days. But so far, while Russian forces have focused on military targets, they have not been able to disrupt the Ukrainian military structure.
βAs we see it right nowβ¦ Ukrainian command and control is intact,β the official said.
Nor have they been able to command air space. The Pentagon says that Ukrainian air defense systems are still working and the countryβs air force is still able to fly and threaten Russian aircraft.
βTheyβre meeting more resistance than they expected,β the official said.
βWe continue to have indications that itβs not going quite the way that they had anticipated.β
Starting with a massive missile barrage, Russia launched its invasion along three axes: the first a push from Belarus directly north toward Kyiv; the second from Russiaβs Belgorod region toward the major city of Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine; and the third, from Crimea in the south towards Kherson.
While Russian forces have reached the outskirts of Kyiv, they have not been able to enter, and fighting remains heavy around Kharkiv, which also has not fallen.
In the south, Russians continue to push to Kherson but are also widening the front, landing amphibious forces to Crimeaβs east to threaten Mariupol. Russians have also sought to take control of the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant on the Dnieper river north of Crimea, launching cyberattacks on the plant, the official said.
The Pentagon would not estimate how many Russian forces had entered Ukraine, after having amassed more than 150,000 along the countryβs borders before attacking. The official said that they had moved βabout a third of their combat powerβ into Ukraine, and the rest remain in place just outside.
#1
Now heavy fighting continues in Vasilkovo in places where the occupiers are trying to land troops from the air. Near Kiev, the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the night of Saturday, February 26, destroyed a Russian Il-76 aircraft with paratroopers on board. This is reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Followup:
Meanwhile, the mayor of a city south of the capital says the country's military has fended off a Russian attempt to take control of a military air base.
Natalia Balansynovych, mayor of Vasylkiv, about 25 miles south of Kyiv, said Russian airborne forces landed near the city overnight and tried to seize the base. She added that fierce fighting also raged in Vasylkiv's central street.
She said Ukrainian forces repelled the Russian attacks, and the situation is now calm. Ms Balansynovych said there were heavy casualties, but did not give any numbers.
Ukraine's government said earlier on Friday night that they had shot down two Russian military transport planes carrying paratroopers on the outskirts of Kyiv.
The first IL-76 came down near Vasylkiv, 20 miles south of Kyiv, the Ukrainian military said.
The second IL-76 was shot down near Bila Tserkva, 50 miles south of the capital, Nexta reported.
The fate of those onboard was unclear. The aircrafts - medium-range military transport aircraft, which first went into service in 1974 - can hold 150-225 fully-equipped soldiers, and is used to drop paratroopers into combat and resupply arms.
#4
Update on last night's fighting in Kyiv's outskirt.
In Kyiv, in the area of the Beresteiska metro station, the enemy tried to attack a military unit of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces at night, the attack was repulsed, the saboteurs were destroyed, but the bridge across Peremohy Avenue was damaged.
According to Ukrinform, Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian interior minister, announced this on Telegram.
"The complete defeat of a column of Russian occupiers between Radensk and Oleshky. Dozens of corpses of Russian occupiers. Those who were not destroyed fled into the woods. The search for them is underway," he said.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/26/2022 8:50 Comments ||
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#10
It would appear Putin has planned this invasion for a long time and that his "annexation" of Crimea in 2014 was to establish a strongpoint to the south in preparation for the current action. That, and the cultivation of Belarus on the north, put him in a good position to quickly cut-off Kiev. Having said that, one has to wonder if the whole Ukrainian action is also part of a long range plan, e.g. it puts him in a strong position to take the Baltic States.
This whole thing is spinning out of control. I don't think NATO will/can act resolutely. The Iron Curtain is once again descending.
Of course our "intelligence services" never saw any of this coming. They were focused on getting rid of Trump.
#13
The Russins claim it's about "demilitarization." That will entail either a large amount of attrition or a full surrender.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/26/2022 9:42 Comments ||
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#14
...well their record in Chechnya wasn't great in urban fighting, particularly trying to execute a coup de main. They finally succeeded only in the old Soviet way in a slow systematic massive artillery manner. That took months. Putin in for that?
#16
Good news: 2nd attack on Chernihiv failed. Grad rockets pounded the city. First failed so bad that the Russians abandoned that route even though it is the shortest route from Russian territory to Kyiv.
βWe have received the command βall-round defenseβ. We have information that 12 tanks have broken through from the Kakhovka direction, and enemy forces are following them,β Kim told.
#28
Those people have to be seriously pissed off to fight that way.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/26/2022 12:59 Comments ||
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#29
HBelluva butcher's bill:
More than 55 hours of resistance. Our defenders have completely destroyed the enemy's plans. As of this morning, the number of destroyed Russian occupiers exceeded 3,000 persons - Defense Minister
#31
Russian blogger/correspondents such as Rozhin and Chervenets are slowing way down in their presentations. Very little information coming from them.
Today, Ukraine's railway workers blew up all connections with the Russian railways. That is important to block future military supplies.https://t.co/lfvTC6VmOY
#33
There are a thousand ways this could get really, uh, interesting. If Vlad decides on a no-more-Mr. Nice Guy strategy and pounds Kyiv into rubble regardless of civilian casualties, how do NATO and its individual members react? Even if NATO's official position doesn't change, it just takes a handful of pissed-off (e.g.) Polish fighter pilots to decide that a massacre is beyond their tolerance. And just how far are the Russians themslves willing to follow Vlad's lead?
Posted by: Matt ||
02/26/2022 13:44 Comments ||
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#1
This idiotic admin is on the side of our enemies:
Over three months, senior Biden administration officials held half a dozen urgent meetings with top Chinese officials in which the Americans presented intelligence showing Russiaβs troop buildup around Ukraine and beseeched the Chinese to tell Russia not to invade, according to U.S. officials.
Each time, the Chinese officials, including the foreign minister and the ambassador to the United States, rebuffed the Americans, saying they did not think an invasion was in the works. After one diplomatic exchange in December, U.S. officials got intelligence showing Beijing had shared the information with Moscow, telling the Russians that the United States was trying to sow discord β and that China would not try to impede Russian plans and actions, the officials said.
#2
... beseeched the Chinese to tell Russia not to invade, according to U.S. officials.
According to U.S. officials, huh? I call bullshit. Nobody in their right mind can believe the Chinese would tell Russia not to invade, especially while the Chinese are planning their own invasion of Taiwan.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/26/2022 13:03 Comments ||
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There are always game videos of Arma3 on the Internet, and to the untrained eye, the footage looks real.
I will recount back in 2008, during Russia's punitive raid on Georgia, one news organization used the fake data on my rkka.org website as a description for the Russian forces available. Some of that data was cribbed off the post apocalyptic wargame Twilight 2000.
I can well imagine what they think when they see footage from a Russia versus Ukraine video game footage.
Mildly amusing.
[Facebook] Dear Arma Community!
Beware that lately quite a few videos from heavily modded Arma games surfaced tagged as videos depicting the current Ukrainian conflict.
We are in touch with the media helping to fact-check such videos.
Russian users who tried to go on PornHub were presented with a message saying the content is blocked along with a Ukrainian flag and a message of support to Ukraine.
πΊπ¦π·πΊ
β VisegrΓ‘d 24 π¨πΏππΊπ΅π±πΈπ° (@visegrad24) February 25, 2022
[Epoch Times] The mandate required all Defence Force personnel and all Police constables, recruits, and authorized officers to receive two doses of the vaccine by March 1.
[Justice] Cooke, in a judgment (pdf) released on Friday in New Zealand, did not accept some of the applicants’ arguments but agreed that the mandate "is not a reasonable limit on rights that can be demonstrably justified" and set the order aside.
"I conclude that the Order does not involve a reasonable limit on the applicants’ rights that can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society and that it is unlawful," Cooke said.
"The order limits the right to be free to refuse medical treatment recognized by the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act (including because of its limitation on people’s right to remain employed), and it limits the right to manifest religious beliefs for those who decline to be vaccinated because the vaccine has been tested on cells derived from a human fetus which is contrary to their religious beliefs," Cooke said.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/26/2022 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
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#3
Hannity blasts Biden spending weekend in Delaware as Russians attack Ukrainian capital
Being as how I don't trust Biden one little bit, I think I'd just as soon have him in Delaware taking a nap on his couch as anywhere else. No matter what it is that Hannity or anyone else thinks that Biden should be doing, Biden would fuck it up.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/26/2022 13:12 Comments ||
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#4
Probably the least brand damaging place to put him. Can't have him picking corn out of his teeth, and definitely don't want him answering questions, but it still does not broadcast, "We are serious people in a serious situation you should take seriously."
[DW] Following the Russian attack on Ukraine, NATO has begun to reinforce its eastern flank. The German Bundeswehr is also involved. But critics warn the army is too depleted to act.
BLUF: They’re in slightly better shape than they were, but still nowhere near the promises they used to make so blithely, and in fact planned to cut the military budget again before the Ukraine invasion made it clear there is no more road to kick the can down.
#1
They're a joke, and any attempt to put more money into them will result in the German government being voted out of office by their own people.
When you provide everything for a people with nothing asked in return, they become used to it and do not see it as a boon. To them, it's normal that everything should be peaceful and safe. We look like monsters, and they treat us as such.
#4
"You don't know. I've worked in the private sector. They expect results..."
Dr. Raymond Stantz- Ghostbusters (1984)
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/26/2022 7:36 Comments ||
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#5
Not in good shape. In 2020 they had 24 Eurofighters, with only 4 of them combat ready. About the same ratio with their tanks. Troops train without weapons.
All leads up to a troop of angry girl scouts being able to conquer Germany if they wanted. I really hope for Germany's sake they have improved over the past few years.
Already on Thursday, the UN refugee agency warned that some 100,000 people had been displaced inside the country, and on Friday it said large numbers were fleeing into neighboring countries.
Those arriving in neighboring countries were mostly women, children and the elderly after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday banned men of military age from leaving the country.
A woman from Kyiv who arrived in Przemsyl, Poland, broke down in tears describing how men were pulled off trains in Ukraine before they got to the border.
The Ukrainian authorities, another woman said, "were nice, not rude, but they said that men have a duty to defend the country."
[Shafaq News] New details had been disclosed regarding the recent incident that took place in Baghdad, when a force from the Counter-Terrorism service surrounded al-Kharkh's Court of Appeal.
Yesterday, the Supreme Judicial Council called on the Commander in Chief of the armed forces, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, to regulate the conduct of some security members violating the law, and open an investigation into the reasons behind the Court incident.
The Council said in a statement that the Court had took legal measures against several security members for violating the law.
Earlier, a vehicle belonging to the military intelligence agency tried to break an inmate out of prison, who is arrested on charges of being involved in the failed liquidation attempt against PM al-Kadhimi.
This prompted the Prime Minister to immediately instruct a force from the Counter-Terrorism service to head to the Court, where the two sides clashed before the CTS force took the convict to a safe place.
Following the incident, the head of the intelligence service, Fayez al-Ma'mouri, was dismissed and summoned for investigation, while Maj.Gen Zaid Houshi was assigned to replace him.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/26/2022 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11124 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq
[IsraelTimes] Cops arrest 3 suspects; guns were likely set to be sold to Arab Israelis for criminal purposes; 4 firearms also confiscated in West Bank in overnight raids
Israeli security forces arrested three people suspected of smuggling guns into Israel from Jordan Friday morning, confiscating several rifles in the process, the military and police said.
According to the IDF, 10 AK-47 rifles, magazines and ammunition were found inside two vehicles near the main highway running along Israel’s long border with Jordan.
Soldiers operating surveillance cameras spotted the two suspicious vehicles near the border fence on the Route 90 highway, and after a chase on the roads near Beit She’an the smugglers were arrested, police said.
Law enforcement officials said the suspects were men in their 20s and 30s, from the southern Israel Bedouin village of Tirabin and a Paleostinian town in the south Hebron Hills area of the West Bank.
Police indicated that the guns were likely to have been sold to Arab Israelis, and estimated the value of the guns at some NIS 800,000 ($245,000).
"This confiscation is another success for the Northern District Police in finding sources of illegal weapons for the Arab community, while eliminating smuggling routes and the trade through them," police said in a statement.
The IDF has stepped up efforts to halt smuggling attempts along the Jordanian border in recent months, but officials have admitted that the military has seen limited success thus far.
Last Friday some 50 firearms apparently smuggled over the Jordan border were seized, and last month four people suspected of smuggling guns from Jordan were arrested by security forces, who confiscated dozens of firearms in the process.
Separately overnight Thursday, police seized two M-16 rifles and two hunting rifles during raids in Hebron and the West Bank town of Bayt Sahur, respectively.
Police said three suspects were arrested.
Authorities have increasingly sought to crack down on the unmitigated spread of illegal weapons in the Arab Israeli community, which have been used to carry out record-breaking numbers of murders in recent years.
According to the Abraham Initiatives, a non-government group lobbying against violence in the Arab community, 125 Arabs — an all-time record — were killed in Israel in 2021 as a result of violence and crime. Since the beginning of this year, another 14 have been killed in incidents of violent mostly peaceful crime.
How fortunate that upward of 90% of all scientific research does not result in a useable product, because as described this is seriously problematic.
[NewsWars] New research funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation aims to develop a needle-less vaccine that can spread like a virus rather than have to be injected, leaving no way for anyone to remain unvaccinated.
The goal is to create a vaccine that people "catch" without their consent, and without the need for any injections. The vaccine would be passed from one person to the next like a cold, in other words.
A paper on the subject claims that contagious vaccines will be slightly less deadly than traditional injections, "but not non-lethal: they can still kill."
"Some people will die who would otherwise have lived, though fewer people die overall," it further explains. "The other issue is there is no consent (for vaccination) from the majority of patients."
Those in support of the concept say it is no different than artificial water fluoridation, which involves mass-medicating of the general public with a drug that supposedly prevents tooth decay.
#3
It will be called Windows Rx "crime against humanity." And, with any justice on the planet at all, punished accordingly, down to the lowest level toady involved.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/26/2022 11:36 Comments ||
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#1
On Thursday, President Joe Biden laid out new sanctions that he said would "degrade" Russia's "aerospace industry, including their space program", among other things.
Still buying Russian oil, Joe? 565,000 barrels per day?
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/26/2022 15:08 Comments ||
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#2
So now Space Cowboys is real?
Dammitman! The 2000s movies were not instruction manuals!
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.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] 
Could have been friendly fire. Lots of Buk-M2E's in the news.
/\ Fok these communist bastids, they are the enemy. They have always been the enemy. Close down the Walmarts and Home Depot's until they can re-stock with American made goods. I am sick of these threatening tyrants and their global mischief.
...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances...
[Epoch Times] The mandate required all Defence Force personnel and all Police constables, recruits, and authorized officers to receive two doses of the vaccine by March 1.
Americans consider politics an anathema to society. The war weary Germans consider militarization an anathema to their society. 
