We are in the last stages of an National Election Year. But Shoppers are reporting the shelves in sporting goods stores, and yes, even Wally World, are still well stocked with Ammo?
#2
Large urban transportation nodes could indeed be vulnerable. If the Interstate Highway system is not adequately defended, there could be serious consequences.
#9
The list is not bad. They sell plastic bags that fit on bathroom tubs to fill with water. Water will be "the" problem, even with all this stuff.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/27/2024 19:17 Comments ||
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#10
Yes; Hurricane Preparedness sites are a good start for beginners. The State of Florida checklist makes good points, like a non-electric can opener.
Remember, even the Honest Brokers will be hobbled by an inability to process electronic payments. That includes those who still take checks if the banks can't get online.
"Its the little things, the itty bitty things, which piss you off."
#1
Poor Pete! Since the the rest of the government is busy trying to recreate Communism with price controls and state-run stores, perhaps Pete could go historical with the British Navy and bring back rum, sodomy and the lash.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/27/2024 10:48 Comments ||
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#3
Wiki AI Cite:"As of August 2024, Glassdoor estimates that the total pay for a merchant marine in the United States is $134,299 per year, with an average salary of $71,274. This includes a base pay of $54,000–$95,000 and additional pay of $47,000–$88,000, which could include cash bonuses, commission, tips, and profit sharing."
#4
@#3^ : Yeah the problem is, they expect you to actually work, and if you decide you want to leave, it may take a couple of weeks.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
08/27/2024 15:53 Comments ||
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#5
although the physical fitness requirements for merchant marine are not as strict as for military, they do exclude people with drug habits, mental problems, etc.
unfortunately, given the population we have this eliminates a lot of people
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
08/27/2024 16:23 Comments ||
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#6
Its cute that anyone expects us to believe that Pete does any actual work. If he even bothered to rent an apartment in DC then he's more invested than I would have ever guessed.
[REGNUM] The arrest of Pavel Durov at the Paris airport was news that came like a bolt from the blue. Numerous questions arising from the incident are already being discussed in the public space. But one curious aspect has remained in the shadows for now.
The thing is that at first glance at the relevant publications in the French press, one might think that the founder of VK and Telegram is an unfamiliar figure to them. But upon closer analysis, one can see that we are witnessing a “sharp turn” in the manner in which the press covers the businessman’s personality and related topics.
The arrest warrant for Durov was issued by the Bureau for Minors Ofmin, created by the Ministry of Internal Affairs under the criminal investigation department on August 29, 2023.
The emergence of this body was a reaction to the catastrophic, in the opinion of its creators, situation in France, associated with impunity for crimes against minors and, as a consequence, with the growth of juvenile crime.
For example, every three minutes a child is sexually abused in the country. Most often, the problem of violence against children occurs within families and in educational institutions. And only 3% of complaints to the police on this matter end with the punishment of the perpetrators.
Human rights activist Lis Luffoc reports that 40% of French citizens under 25 are homeless, and orphans or children from disadvantaged families, having finished school at 18, are effectively abandoned by the state and society. At the same time, as early as the end of 2023, Ofmin employees complained about a lack of funds, which affected the poor performance of the department.
However, Ofmin had the capacity, in the absence of a government, to conduct what they say was an investigation and issue an arrest warrant for the creator of the Telegram messenger, French citizen Pavel Durov, when he arrived in his new homeland on a private flight from Azerbaijan.
The media writes that one of the officials responsible for the investigation, upon learning of his arrival in France, exclaimed: “The impunity of Telegram is over!”
At the time of the arrest, TF1 spoke with those responsible for the investigation. According to the publication, Ofmin employees were asking questions. Why did Durov decide to come to France, knowing that he was declared persona non grata? And is his visit part of some plan? But everyone is sure of one thing: the businessman and his platform are the number one criminals in the world.
Literally immediately, leading French newspapers were full of headlines like "Who is Pavel Durov?" And Le Monde literally released a machine gun burst of texts of various kinds dedicated to him. Some of them are propaganda in nature, sometimes at the level of low-quality agitation.
Thus, the text entitled “The Arrest of Pavel Durov: Defending the Rule of Law, Not an ‘Attack on Freedom of Speech’” states that Russia’s and Elon Musk’s accusations of the political nature of this arrest are groundless.
After all, according to the author of Le Monde, the rights of journalists are also violated in Russia, they also wanted to ban Telegram for the same reason as in France, and in general, the French authorities have the right, if they consider it necessary, to arrest a billionaire who came to their country for the sake of business freedom and "for pleasure". And all those who see an offense in what happened do it "maliciously". And the main proof of democracy in France is the fact that the arrested person... will be provided with a lawyer.
The fact is that, by retelling the biography of Pavel Durov over and over again, journalists are trying to disguise the fact that the personality of the creator of Telegram and VK should already be well known to attentive French readers.
In 2014, the same Le Monde wrote about his case as evidence of “Russian repression,” presenting the businessman as a defender of Ukrainian users of the VK social network. Journalistic investigations were devoted to Durov, presenting him as a mysterious, slightly eccentric, but certainly talented entrepreneur who managed to win the clash with the Kremlin and is creating a new reality.
Back in February 2024, the media welcomed (albeit with some apprehension that Musk might take advantage of this) the ECHR decision on the illegality of the FSB’s demands to provide decoding keys to Telegram.
Moreover, journalists felt the need to protect the French manufacturer in connection with the growing popularity of the messenger created by the Russian.
In 2022, Thomas Besnier, the creator of the French messaging platform Olvid, spoke in an interview about Telegram's lack of message encryption. In this regard, according to him, " to claim that this app is a 'secure' messaging service is either incompetent or dishonest... It is a social network in the style of Facebook*, which is not particularly secure." In contrast, Besnier believes, his development is the only reliable system for exchanging private messages.
And suddenly, the French media unanimously call Telegram not only a place of concentration of global organized crime, but also the main coordination point of the Russian Armed Forces.
Le Monde correspondent in Russia Benjamin Quesnel writes about this, citing mainly two pieces of evidence: publications on the Telegram channel "Rybar" and photographs of a shell with the inscription "For Durov". And Kevin Lemonnier, an expert at the French Institute of Geopolitics at the University of Paris-8, calls Telegram " the main vector of Russia's informal influence " and a means of coordinating military actions in Ukraine and Africa.
Pavel Durov's trial was scheduled for Monday, August 26.
However, the French side announced that it was extending his detention to 96 hours, without disclosing any details of the case. But Le Monde is again trying to create a background.
In the next biographical note, the arrested man is covered by the newspaper in a different tone. A darling of fortune, this rich man, according to journalists, is an introvert. He has few friends. He tries to play Robin Hood, throwing five-thousand-ruble notes from the windows of his St. Petersburg office into the crowd, and shows off the beauty of his body in photographs. But in life he is a lonely, conflict-prone person.
So, the image of a bold and elusive talent is replaced by a closed and frightened unsociable person who just needs to trust the good servants of the rule of law.
All discussions about Telegram in the rhetoric of the French media are connected with its political and strategic importance for Russia. At the same time, the French insist that the decision is not connected with politics, citing the reason for Pavel Durov's arrest as concern for the safety of children, or participation in organized fraud and terrorism.
It is worth remembering that the French president is openly ready to send troops to fight in Ukraine and that France calls “disinformation” Russia’s main weapon. In this context, everyone should believe that it will not, if given the chance, reveal information about the Telegram channels that Ukraine calls its main threat.
According to current information, Pavel Durov refuses to cooperate with the French authorities. But in the Western democratic world there are many ways to put pressure on a person. Despite the presence of a lawyer - a right that was kindly granted to the arrested person.
#1
Looks like the Dutch can do what the French can't?
"Dutch police say Telegram allows them to request phone numbers that users actually want to keep secret. This possibility contradicts the chat app's promise to users.
This emerges from documents released by police management after an appeal to the Open Government Act, reports BNR. The released documents contain instructions that allow police officers to “urgently” requisition IP addresses and phone numbers from Telegram.
“Requests are eligible if there is immediate imminent danger to life,” writes a police official. The instructions were distributed last December. They included a form with the messaging service's logo.
Telegram says it values users' privacy and even claims in its privacy policy to have “never” shared personal data with law enforcement officials. That promise has been in question for some time. The German Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt) already revealed last year that it had successfully requested personal data from the messaging service."
Posted by: European Conservative ||
08/27/2024 7:14 Comments ||
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#2
Macron’s party got way less votes and MPs than the NPF, yet it is Macron’s party that’s still running the French government, and it is Macron himself making choices on who can or cannot assume power based on what he thinks would ‘weaken France’ or not.
[The Daily Signal] When The Heritage Foundation released its comprehensive report on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, headlines tended to focus on the cost to the U.S. That’s not surprising: At an eye-popping $18 trillion, it’s almost 10 times the projected 2024 budget deficit. At least in Hillsboro, Ohio - similar article published August 25. Arguably, however, the commission’s most infuriating conclusion was this: The global pandemic was "totally preventable," in the words of Commissioner Dr. Robert Redfield, an experienced virologist who headed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the outbreak.
Not the first time well-intentioned governments made things worse. I’ve seen it argued that the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 would have been merely unusually deadly had also sorts of innovative but unscientific treatments not been deployed.
Had the Chinese government been more transparent and cooperative at the outset of the pandemic, millions of lives and trillions of dollars could have been spared. The pandemic’s "proximal origin," the commission found, was the Chinese government’s "aggressive opposition to honesty transparency, and accountability" along with its "systemic cover up."
C’mon, man! China is a long-established totalitarian system that’s taken shortcuts and ignored basic hygiene and scientific practices with regard to its people for generations. Remember when entire villages would get together to donate blood plasma to their version of the Red Cross — or maybe it was red blood cells, I don’t remember the details — and then the remainder would be split among the donors and pumped back into all their arms. They shared all sorts of interesting diseases that way, well beyond just AIDS, as I recall.
Worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic is considered one of the seven deadliest plagues in human history, with excess deaths topping 28 million, according to some estimates. The World Bank has characterized the economic upheaval caused by the pandemic as "the largest global economic crisis in more than a century," with low-income countries hit the hardest.
The commission’s assessment that the pandemic cost the U.S. alone $18 trillion includes $8.6 trillion in "excess deaths," $1.8 trillion in income lost, $6 trillion in chronic conditions like "long COVID," $1.1 trillion in mental health costs, and $400 million in education losses.
To avoid a future pandemic and hold the Chinese government accountable, the commission report concluded with several practical recommendations for the U.S. government:
1. Establish a bipartisan national COVID-19 commission ...
2. Create a bipartisan reparations or compensation task force ...
3. Facilitate the filing of civil claims against China by amending the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.
4. Decouple U.S. government and commercial supply chains from Chinese state-backed companies.
5. Audit all U.S. government funding for biomedical research and related research activities in China.
6. Impose economic sanctions on Chinese officials and entities who were complicit...
The COVID-19 pandemic was almost certainly the deadliest and costliest event of the 21st century. Beijing’s ability to escape virtually any accountability—and the global media’s relative disinterest in the pandemic’s origins, cost, and China’s culpability—are equal parts confounding and infuriating.
THE USA and using highly questionable inflated numbers, made us #1 in the world.
Cases: 111,820,082
Deaths: 1,219,487
Recovered: 109,814,428
USA DEAD RATE: 1.0905%
Of Course, we know China lied out it A$$.
Claimed Cases: 503,302
Claimed Deaths: 5,272
Claimed Recovered: 379,053
Note: Some say adding 000's to the end of Communist presented numbers would still be short of the truth.
[JPost] If a major military attack is severely depleted due to the enemy striking first, one would be far-stretched to state that it went "as planned"
In the fantastic Oscar-winning movie Downfall, which depicts Adolf Hitler’s last few days in his Berlin bunker, a brilliant scene plays out when the German generals discuss what is taking place. The Russians are only a few hundred meters from the German Chancellory, and the Fuhrer is demanding divisions move left, right, and center to keep up the defense of Berlin.
Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel: The Fuhrer has lost all sense of reality.
Generaloberst Alfred Jodl: He moves divisions that only exist on his map. Steiner's scattered unit can hardly defend itself, and yet, Steiner is ordered to attack! It's pure madness!
This scene was brought to mind recently when listening to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah describe the terror group’s attack on Israel "as planned," refuting the Israeli military's assertions that their pre-emptive strikes had prevented a more extensive attack.
If a major military attack is severely depleted due to the enemy striking first, one would be far-stretched to state that it went "as planned."
The editorialist is over-punctilious, methinks. All of the planned missiles were loaded into their launchers, as planned, launch crews were standing by, as planned, and the first 200 hundred or so drones took off for their targets, as planned. It was only the last, most minor bit that the Israelis stuffed. 91% is still an A grade, you know.
It is a common occurrence that when leaders go ’underground,’ they lose touch with reality, and when things start to go badly in a war, it is not inconceivable that military commanders withhold information to avoid any possible punishment. Is that possible with Nasrallah? Could he be so unaware of what is taking place? Unlikely, but not impossible.
The technology available is much more advanced than in Berlin in 1945, and it is far from difficult for the Hezbollah leader to stay aware of important junctures in the war. However, this does not mean that he is being told the entire truth.
Many believe that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has consistently been misled by a group of ’yes-men’ who are too scared to tell him the truth about how badly things were going in the war against Ukraine two years into that conflict. So, it is not beyond the realms of possibility, even in 21st-century warfare.
The likelihood is, though, that Nasrallah’s finger is still very much on the pulse of what is taking place in the cross-border conflict. It is also believed that he is aware that Israel knows his exact location but has, as yet, held back from eliminating him.
Nasrallah, speaking in a televised broadcast on Sunday, stated that the group would evaluate the consequences of its recent rocket and drone assault on Israeli military targets before deciding on any further retaliatory actions for the death of a senior commander.
Mission accomplished?
Speaking hours after the most intense exchange of fire between Hezbollah and Israel since the onset of the Gaza war, Nasrallah emphasized that the group had deliberately avoided targeting civilians or public infrastructure, such as Ben-Gurion Airport. The primary focus of Hezbollah's operation was a military intelligence base located approximately 110 kilometers inside Israeli territory, marking their deepest incursion yet, just north of Tel Aviv.
Over 100 Israeli Air Force (IAF) jets bombed thousands of Hezbollah rocket launcher sites preemptively as intelligence gathered indicated that at 5 a.m. Sunday morning, the terror group would launch a salvo of rockets and drones at the Jewish state in response to the killing of top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr near Beirut last month.
Nasrallah also warned that if the results of this operation were deemed insufficient, Hezbollah reserved the right to launch further attacks, stating, "If the result is not enough, then we retain the right to respond another time."
He also detailed the tactics used in the attack, which involved launching over 300 Katyusha rockets to overwhelm Israel's Iron Dome defense system, followed by the deployment of attack drones, including some launched from the eastern Bekaa Valley—an unprecedented move for Hezbollah. The Hezbollah leader disputed Israeli claims that Hezbollah had planned a larger assault involving thousands of projectiles, though he acknowledged that the operation had been delayed due to what he described as a "mobilization" of Israeli and American military forces in the region.
Israelis have heard enough messages from Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran throughout the past ten months to know lies and rhetoric that is designed to appease supporters when they hear it. What Nasrallah said certainly sounded like rhetoric. "Keep your chins up, Hezbollah," he was saying. We are winning." Whether his supporters take him at face value is a different proposition.
Hezbollah has suffered tremendous losses during the war against Hamas. The IAF has constantly bombarded terrorists attempting to launch rockets and drones into northern Israel and has done an admirable job despite the North’s depleted population and tragedies such as the deaths of 12 children in Majdal Shams last month.
The war against Hezbollah is far from over, and the terror group can still do significant damage to the North. However, after listening to Nasrallah’s speech, one would be wise to recognize the rhetoric for what it is - a play for his supporters - and not think he is so out of touch with reality, as Hitler was, that he genuinely believes what he is saying.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/27/2024 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11129 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#2
As I understand it the IDF preemptive strike was about 500-515 am local time. The Hezb drones were launched about 530-600 am local time and Hezb missiles about 600-615 am.
Not sure I have that right. Anybody have updated info on this.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
08/27/2024 14:28 Comments ||
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[Ynet] Israel must dramatically rethink its strategic approach to managing the war: no longer should the north be a defensive front; instead, it should become the primary battlefield. Are we facing a historic opportunity to reshape the security landscape against Hezbollah for generations to come? Let me explain why I believe so.
On August 25, Israel launched a preemptive airstrike on Hezbollah, yet we remain on the defensive. Since October 7, Israel has adopted a strategic approach focused on an offensive in Gaza while maintaining a defensive posture on other fronts.
This reality emerged despite the longstanding belief in the corridors of Israel's defense establishment that the northern border represents the main front. However, the surprise attack by Hamas, along with various constraints (such as limited forces and ammunition shortages), led to a shift in priorities, resulting in a "Gaza First" approach.
This situation has created uncertainty for Israel's northern residents. Unlike those in the south, many of whom have returned home and see light at the end of the tunnel, many northern residents were evacuated with no return date in sight. They now watch from afar as their homes and communities are systematically destroyed.
The north is economically paralyzed, and the displaced are forced to start the upcoming school year in temporary and improvised settings, a situation many find intolerable. While many residents are determined to return home in the future, some have already lost hope.
In numerous conversations with northern residents, I've heard a clear message: they refuse to return to a reality where "Nukhba-like terrorists on steroids" like Hezbollah's elite "Radwan Unit" sit on their borders, capable of committing atrocities similar to those seen on October 7 in Gaza border towns.
To create a reality where northern residents can safely return to their homes, there are theoretically two options:
A diplomatic solution that would see Hezbollah withdraw north of the Litani River: This option seems unlikely at the moment, especially given the lack of significant international pressure on Iran and Hezbollah. Furthermore, there are no clear mechanisms to enforce such a withdrawal that would prevent Hezbollah from returning to southern Lebanon. Additionally, all discussions between special U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein and Lebanon have so far been fruitless, focusing instead on territorial concessions demanded by Hezbollah from Israel.
A military solution: In the absence of a diplomatic resolution, the realistic option is a military one. This would require setting war objectives, the foremost being: creating the conditions for the safe and long-term return of northern residents to their homes. Achieving this would necessitate the destruction of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and the establishment of a security zone, neutralizing the organization's capabilities.
Is this achievable? Absolutely. Unlike the situation we face in Gaza, the IDF enjoys complete intelligence superiority in the north. This superiority has been demonstrated over the past ten months with the elimination of dozens, if not hundreds, of senior commanders and operatives in Hezbollah and other organizations, including the assassination of Hezbollah military chief Fuad Shukr. On Sunday morning, the IDF showcased its intelligence and operational dominance by intercepting missile and drone attacks on central Israel.
Being on the defensive is not an ideal state, especially for a country with limited strategic depth. While the decision to maintain a defensive posture on other fronts was correct over the past ten months, a new reality has emerged. In this reality, the Gaza front is on the verge of being resolved. If the trend in the south continues, Hamas will be completely destroyed as a fighting force in the Gaza Strip.
Its weapons production infrastructure has already been obliterated, the supply line from Egypt through the Philadelphi Corridor has been cut off, and northern Gaza is sealed off by IDF forces. The civilian population has by now evacuated most of the Gaza Strip, and the IDF is eliminating Hamas at a rate of 50 terrorists per day. Hamas' expiration date is very near.
There is no connection between the hostage deal and the strategic considerations regarding our forces' activities on the northern border. While Iran and Hezbollah are trying to link the two issues, claiming that a cease-fire in the south would lead to a similar cease-fire in the north, this serves the enemy's interests, not Israel's. Israel's interest lies in removing the threat from the northern border, not in achieving a cease-fire under Hezbollah's terms, which would allow it to continue sitting on the fences of Israeli border communities like Metula and Hanita.
Now that the Hamas threat in the south is almost neutralized, the time has come to fundamentally change our strategic approach, namely: defining Gaza as a secondary front and establishing the north as the primary one. This is the only significant decision the Cabinet must make now.
The shift from defense to offense in the north is essential not only because we wish to create the conditions for Israeli residents to return home. It is also necessary if we ever want to regain the initiative. Israel must learn from experience and understand: we must choose between a Six-Day War scenario and a Yom Kippur War scenario. If we do not take the initiative, we will be surprised and pay in blood, for what's here today, is gone tomorrow.
Posted by: Grom the Reflective ||
08/27/2024 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
I've been saying this for years. They are in possession of prime ocean front property on the Mediterranean Sea with a mild Mediterranean climate. But all they want to do is kill Jews.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
08/27/2024 11:19 Comments ||
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#2
FIFY: What Gaza could have been without Islam.
Hamas or no hamas, as long as there is islam... You cant have nice things in islam, nice things are haram.
#3
Yes, I suppose ca$1n0s and liquor would be impossible in Gaza. No strip clubs either. Still, they have the beaches (unless it stinks of sewage). They could have surfing, sailing, paragliding, water skiing and all kinds of other water sports. Would that be haram? They could set up some nice resort hotels with shopping, golf, camel rides, etc., etc., etc.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
08/27/2024 13:35 Comments ||
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#4
"Mo didn't have recreational tourism, and neither will we!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/27/2024 14:05 Comments ||
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#5
Alcohol is available in Egypt, just across from Rafah, so there’s precedent for supplying it to the tourists despite Islamic strictures. Gaza still even has a few native Christians, if the Moslems there didn’t want to dirty their hands by serving the stuff.
[JustTheNews] Former Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller, who served in the role in the waning days Donald Trump’s presidency, said he worries that the Biden administration’s policies are ceding the region to Iran and its proxies.
That was the plan of President Obama’s crew. The Harris/Biden administration is just continuing it.
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.
Arguably, however, the commission’s most infuriating conclusion was this: The global pandemic was "totally preventable," in the words of Commissioner Dr. Robert Redfield, an experienced virologist who headed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the outbreak.
[JPost] If a major military attack is severely depleted due to the enemy striking first, one would be far-stretched to state that it went "as planned"
