… More likely IMO is that the killer used a fixed suppressor rather than one with a Nielsen device. The video in the lower right of this video is a slow motion illustration on how these devices work to counter act the weight of the suppressor as the action cycles. I slowed the video down a little at the end and you can see the suppressor "jumping" and that's just the booster working. A higher frame rate video would show it better but this was the first one I could find...
NY gun ID'ed wrong by media idiots - a long thread.
There's been a bunch of misinformation about today's murder of United Healthcare's CEO. I'm going to debunk some of the firearms nonsense that's been stated.
The recent arrest of Miao Hua, member of CCP's Central Military Commission, could be a landmark event in the Chinese political landscape & can lead to a new round of major upheaval. Seven Anomalies indicate that Xi Jinping may have factually lost control over the military.
[RedStatE] The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is now officially bipartisan. Representative Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) is joining the House of Representatives DOGE Caucus.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., announced on Tuesday that he would be joining the House of Representatives' DOGE Caucus, becoming the first Democrat in the now-bipartisan group.
He advocated for removing the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) from the purview of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), something floated by several Republican politicians months ago.
"Today I will join the Congressional DOGE Caucus, because I believe that streamlining government processes and reducing ineffective government spending should not be a partisan issue," Moskowitz said in a statement.
Now, there's a goal that seems impossible to oppose. Who could not think that streamlining government processes and reducing ineffective government spending is a good idea? Of course, many of Rep. Moskowitz's Democrat colleagues will oppose the DOGE efforts, as most of that party have never seen any government spending or expansion of the bureaucracy that they weren't in favor of.
One wonders if Rep. Moskowitz will be labeled a "Democrat in Name Only (DINO)." Is that a thing? It's not at all unlikely that the Democrats ...every time you hear the phrase white people, white supremacy,white anything but paint, you're listening to a Democrat. Ask him/her/it to reimagine something for you; they do that a lot, though not well. They can hear a dog whistle a mile or two away. They invented the spoils system and Tammany Hall, and inspired the addition of the word (Thomas) Nasty to the English language. They want to stop continental drift and repeal the law of unintended side effects... will label Moskowitz and any other Dems who join this effort as turncoats, of the same order as the two tame Republicans Nancy San Fran Nan Pelosi Congresswoman-for-Life from the San Francisco Bay Area, born into a family of professional politicians. On-again-off-again Speaker of the House. It's not her fault when they lose, but it's her accomplishment when they win. Noted for her heavily botoxed grimace and occasional senior... uhhh... moments... allowed on the J6 Committee.
There's a big difference. The J6 Committee was implemented to keep the Deep State in place. The DOGE is intended to hamstring it.
The DOGE Caucus, standing for Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency, was launched by Reps. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, and Aaron Bean, R-Fla., soon after President-elect Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and whatever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th and 47th President of the United States... announced a DOGE advisory panel to be led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
"I’ve been clear that there are ways we can reorganize our government to make it work better for the American people. Specifically, the Department of Homeland Security, while very necessary, has gotten too big," Moskowitz said.
The Department of Homeland Security, we might note, has only been in existence since 2003. We got along without it before then. Why not eliminate it altogether and rotate the functions initially folded into the DHS back to where they were? That seems like something one might place in the category of "a good start."
For the moment, this idea seems to be building up a head of steam. Americans in general, at least those who are not in the notorious Squad or who are Squad-adjacent, think that Washington City could stand to have a little — or a lot — of fat trimmed away. Some of us would like to see a lot more than that. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are talking about swinging a broad axe, and may well propose eliminating entire agencies.
[FoxNews] Let's take a close look at the enormous sums that flow to the United Nations from U.S. taxpayers' wallets
In the search to eliminate waste and unaccountable spending, a $20 billion annual savings plan is immediately available to incoming President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE): American taxpayer dollars flowing to the United Nations.
Each year the U.S. provides nearly a quarter of the U.N.’s total expenses, including assessed or mandatory "regular" funding of more than $3 billion and voluntary contributions that have vacillated between $10 and $15 billion in each of the past two years. Taking into account in-kind support services, the total is likely even higher. U.N. demands and U.S. subsidies have ballooned, with U.S. payouts almost doubling over the last decade.
Alarm bells ought to ring out for Americans both because of how the money gets spent and where it is going.
Here are a few of the rabbit holes where your money ends up. U.S. taxpayers pay for U.N. tax-free salaries; for U.N. lounges set up for watching sports games with bargain prices for food and drink; for media campaigns and other festivities to celebrate the "International Day of Neutrality" invented by Russia, Afghanistan and friends, and the "International Day of Banks."
U.S. dollars for peacekeepers include the blue helmets in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) who have kept busy observing Hezbollah rearm, build terror tunnels, take up positions among Lebanese civilians, and fire at Israelis.
The surging expenses of the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights – from your wallets – have included staffing and support for a Chinese "Independent Expert" on "international financial obligations of states on the full enjoyment of all human rights," an "expert" on "a democratic and equitable international order" who advocated that the International Criminal Court tackle American crimes against humanity, and an "expert" on "International Solidarity" created at the behest of Cuba.
Congress has long been skeptical about U.N. uses of American money, so much so that they have insisted upon an annual report on "United States Participation in the United Nations." The most recent report during the Biden administration was published in March 2024 and covered the year 2022. Here is its astonishing conclusion:
"It is increasingly challenging for the United States to identify cost savings at the U.N. given the growing demands that U.N. member states place on the organization."
DOGE can respond to this apparent brain-freeze with the proper course of deserved financial oversight. The U.N. budget, which covers everything from well over 100,000 long-term employees, administrative costs, peacekeeping, and a broad range of agencies and subsidiary bodies, deliberately lacks the transparency necessary to end misuse and corruption.
The General Assembly, for instance, is nonplussed about breaking its own elementary rule that no new activity will be approved without the cost being calculated and presented before the vote.
Sign now and squeeze member states later is familiar practice, as is tapping unused resources in one corner to satisfy unfilled appetites in another.
At the heart of the U.N. financial structure lies the bad idea that the United States must pay for whatever abomination it votes against. Fans call it burden-sharing. We pay for what we don’t like, and other countries help pay for our priorities. The truth is that the end product doesn’t shake out on the plus side either for American national interests or taxpayer pocketbooks.
Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy's DOGE vows to cut federal spendingVideo
A 2005 Task Force on the United Nations, initiated during the George W. Bush administration and headed by Newt Gingrich and George Mitchell, voiced concern about insufficient supervision and talked a lot about reform. As it turns out, the watchword of "reform" in U.N. circles has been a euphemism for "keep on keeping on" until somebody notices, again.
Congress has also come up with other formulas for withholding money from the U.N., like refusing to fund a tiny list of U.N. projects dedicated to the destruction of the state of Israel. However, the U.N. has invented more such projects and Congress has taken years, if at all, to add to the withholding list and to confront the fundamental moral rot epitomized by the U.N.’s systemic demonization of Israel.
DOGE creates an opportunity to clean house.
They can anticipate at least two rejectionist camps. Democrats who flog the erroneous idea that multilateralism begins and ends with the U.N. And New Yorkers who figure they benefit from U.N. diplomats wining, dining, and hanging out in their neighborhood, whether or not they are hosting entourages of terrorists and criminal masterminds. Not only should the material and spiritual benefits of otherwise developing the prime real estate of midtown Manhattan be factored in for the sake of the locals, but the rest of the country also deserves a voice.
A long overdue tally of American U.N. expenditures versus American needs is not a call to end American generosity or compassion beyond our borders. It is a call to protect the American goose laying the golden eggs from an avaricious and dangerous United Nations.
The Biden administration thought that finding savings for U.S. money filling U.N. coffers was a challenge. To which DOGE can be all set to reply: challenge accepted.
[PJMedia] In an exclusive report this week, Rooters revealed secret talks between the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates aimed at lifting sanctions on Syria if President Bashir al-Assad "peels himself away from Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... and cuts off weapons routes to Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... 's Hezbollah."
This was even before Syrian rebels burst out of their concave in the country's northwest over the weekend, taking Assad's citadel in Aleppo and threatening Hama. Those events might have given the talks some added urgency.
According to Rooters' sources, renewed fighting in the Syrian Civil War "is a signal of precisely the sort of weakness in Assad's alliance with Iran that the Emirati and U.S. initiative aims to exploit. But if Assad embraces Iranian help for a counter-offensive, that could also complicate efforts to drive a wedge between them."
Assad might well be thinking of Tehran, "What have you done for me lately?" The best that Iran's Mullahs' regime could muster in his defense was a few columns of Iraqi Shi'ite militia — many of whom were quickly dispatched to Paradise (courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) long before they got anywhere close to the battlefield.
First and foremost, Assad is a survivor. His means of survival following the eruption of civil war in 2011 was aid from Iran and Russia. In exchange, the parts of Syria still controlled by the Assad regime in Damascus became a virtual vassal state of the other two powers. Syria became Russia's forward operating base in the Mediterranean and Iran's staging area (among other things) for supporting Hezbollah in Lebanon.
It was the smart play; Iran and Russia were the "strong horses," and, besides, the Americans were too tied to the hated Israelis. But those two are looking less like the region's strong horses. President-elect Trump will certainly restore sanctions on Iran, and the whole country sits exposed to the Israeli Air Force after they took out Iran's air defenses in October. The Russian military is almost entirely tied down in Ukraine, and their assistance to Assad has been limited to a few Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s. Large amounts of effective aid are likely not forthcoming.
Assad might be smart to take the U.S.-UAE offer to sideline Iran. Of course, the Biden administration has never really understood the concept of second-order effects. Bolstering Assad would weaken Iran but also bolster Russia. As always, in the Middle East, it's complicated.
Or maybe it's too late.
There are rumors — still unconfirmed — that "Unlike Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Assad passed on the ammo and 'took the ride' with his family" all the way to Moscow.
But even if Assad is still in Damascus (which I believe), a genuine threat to his regime might not be welcomed in Jerusalem despite the two governments' longstanding disagreements. Not to mention, the occasional war. Syria, in a constant state of civil war, is bad enough. But as a failed state, the whole country would turn into a playground for the region's worst players, including ISIS, which has never quite gone away.
Assad is a predictable (and weak) enemy that Israel knows. The unknown would likely prove worse and could provide impetus for Assad and Netanyahu to cooperate, at least on a limited basis, until the moment of maximum danger has passed.
Ousting Iran from Syria would be a diplomatic coup for the outgoing Biden administration and one I believe they're unlikely to pull off. But if the U.S.-UAE talks can at least be kept on the back burner for another seven weeks or so, maybe it's something President Trump could accomplish — with or without lifting sanctions on the Assad regime.
#2
Ultimately, it doesn't matter as the western half pf Syria (west of the Euphrates River anyway) will become part of Israel according to the book of Daniel.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] The situation in Syria remains tense – since the start of the militants’ offensive, significant territories in the north and northwest of the country have come under the control of the radical group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham* (HTS*). The initiative is still predominantly on the side of President Assad’s enemies, but discord has already begun to emerge in their ranks.
In addition to the Aleppo province, most of which has already fallen under the control of radicals, they are increasing their offensive in other regions of the country, for example, in the Hama province.
However, despite the ongoing pressure, there is no internal unity in the radical camp: opponents of HTS leader Abu Muhammad al-Julani are unhappy that he is trying to appropriate other people’s successes and solve personal problems with other people’s hands.
TERRORIST SELF-PROMOTION
As soon as the first shots were fired in the province of Aleppo, HTS* propagandists launched a large-scale campaign to glorify their leader. He allegedly coordinated the offensive of his supporters in different parts of the front, personally received reports from the field commanders storming Aleppo, and finally arrived in the captured city himself.
Moreover, he allegedly came up with the idea of turning the “limited raid” against Syrian troops into a strategic operation.
Al-Julani himself also got involved in the work on his image, giving a series of interviews to Western media, including American ones. At the same time, there is still a reward for his head in the US.
The head of HTS emphasizes in every way the commonality of his interests with Washington, the absence of plans to build a “radical caliphate” in the occupied territories, and the intention to “fight for the democratization” of Syria.
Who here is naive enough to believe a word of that nonsense — raise your hand! Nobody? Not even one? Very good.
Moreover, in one interview he even hinted at his supporters’ commitment to the “Geneva principles” of warfare, which does not fit well with the established image of his organization.
Oh my goodness, that’s funny!
The desire of the HTS* leadership to please the Western audience is understandable. In the years since his rise in Idlib, al-Julani has managed not only to turn most of his colleagues in the “radical underground” against him (from powerful groups like ISIS* and Al-Qaeda* to small gangs), but also to fall out with foreign sponsors.
Relations have cooled, in particular, with Turkey, the key shadow sponsor of the “Idlib liberation.”
"FIGHT AGAINST LOOTING" IN IDLIB STYLE
Al-Julani was considered an “extremely toxic asset” by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s inner circle, and Ankara’s discontent grew when al-Julani’s associates attempted to operate behind the Turks’ backs and turned their guns on numerous proxies for Turkish interests in the enclave.
To be fair, the Ottoman proxies in Syria are pretty awful. Vile, even.
And although a final break between the Turkish secret services and HTS* has apparently not occurred, Ankara is looking for a way to contain the ambitions of its problematic ally.
Lie down with dogs…
It is not surprising that with the beginning of the offensive in Aleppo, disagreements between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham* militants and their "brothers in arms" from the pro-Turkish militant factions, primarily the "Syrian National Army" (SNA), have intensified. The militants disarmed and arrested several fighters from the "As-Sultan Murad Division"
…a unit of Syrian Turkmen that dates back to the beginning of the Syrian Civil War and is heavily funded by Turkey…
(part of the SNA) in Aleppo, and also occupied their deployment point and took all the trophies.
It is noteworthy that a couple of days before this, several clashes allegedly took place between SNA and HTS* militants during the division of trophies captured during a raid on the Kweiris airbase, east of Aleppo.
The terrorist leadership tried to hush up the incident, citing the actions of their people as “fighting looting,” but the statement had the opposite effect, especially in the context of the fact that the repressions initiated by al-Julani in Idlib at one time also took place under the slogan of fighting looting and corruption.
Situational tensions also arose with the command of another pro-Turkish group, the Suleyman Shah Division.
Also spelt Suleiman Shah Brigade, they’re known for kidnapping, expelling Kurds, and extortion. They split off from the Sultan Murad lot.
The Division's fighters joined the operation from the first days, attempting to open a "second front" in the northwestern direction, but were quickly stopped by precise air strikes on the concentration areas.
The radicals themselves are convinced that al-Julani's people "sold" them to the Syrians in order to avoid the pro-Turkish formations advancing too quickly and thus maintain their leading role in the operation. And although it did not come to public criticism of HTS*, the "Division" noticeably reduced its participation in military operations.
PALACE COUP
However, the greater danger for al-Julani is not the pro-Turkish forces, but his own confidants.
Despite the fact that the most influential figures from the top of HTS* (including the group's co-founder Abu Maria al-Qahtani) were skillfully purged under the guise of fighting internal enemies, and the work of the repressive apparatus was put on stream, a "palace coup" within the group is still possible.
The main threat in this case comes from the "political exile", the former head of the "security department" of HTS* and the main financier of the group, Ahmed Zakur. Once close to al-Julani, Zakur was accused in the "al-Qahtani case" of conspiracy within HTS* and was forced to flee abroad, where he launched a campaign to discredit his former boss.
In particular, he published a dossier on the economic and military crimes of the head of HTS*, as well as on his attempts to artificially pit foreign powers competing for influence in Syria against each other.
It should be noted that Zakur looks like a compromise figure both from the position of ordinary HTS* members (many of whom consider him an innocent victim at the hands of al-Julani) and from the position of foreign sponsors. Both Turkey and the United States may count on him as a potential replacement.
For Ankara, the former head of the financial bloc of HTS* is interesting not only as a person aware of all the "shadow schemes" of al-Julani, but also as a native of the "Idlib security forces". With his help, Turkey is quite capable of not only restoring contacts with HTS*, but also stopping the repressions against its supporters in Idlib.
In addition, Ankara will not have to worry about Zakur’s controllability: it was the Turkish security forces who saved him from being detained by al-Julani’s agents, which guarantees his complete loyalty.
Surely not. Complete loyalty is contrary to the culture, being rather so often situational.
Washington is quite happy with Zakur's position on combating terrorist cells in Idlib. Like al-Julani, he is in a tough conflict with radical emissaries and rejects the concept of a "radical caliphate" in Syria.
In addition, he repeatedly passed on information about the mood of the militants to American intelligence agencies,
Oh? How interesting…
which also later ended up in the indictment against him as part of the “al-Qahtani case.”
Finally, Zakur, despite belonging to the “repressive apparatus,” managed not to tarnish his reputation in the eyes of Idlib residents and ordinary HTS* supporters. And his hypothetical rise to power as a “fighter for democracy”
…I assume that would be the special Islamist democracy, where only the right kind of pious jihadis have a vote…
would allow an end to the protests that have become commonplace and are damaging the group’s reputation, as well as strengthen HTS*’s claims to the status of a full-fledged political force.
Thus, the attack on Aleppo was needed first and foremost by al-Julani himself. It increases his prestige as a leader who has achieved success in a “small victorious war,” allows him to channel the internal tensions that have accumulated in Idlib, and even in the “fog of war” to try to settle scores with competitors and opponents.
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.
...every time you hear the phrase 
...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
