A bizarre tale.
Update at 1:50 p.m. ET: The man went nuts, so not properly War on Terror. Moved to page 3: Non-WoT.
—tw for the moderators.
[NYPost] A Utah man who allegedly threatened to shoot up New York City synagogues in a series of social media posts was arrested as he tried to cross into Manhattan via the Lincoln Tunnel Friday night, according to police and sources.
Luis Ramirez, 23, was taken into custody around 5:30 p.m. by Port Authority cops in New Jersey after authorities were alerted to a rash of antisemitic posts he allegedly made on his X account, the NYPD and sources said.
In one post, Ramirez cited Central Synagogue on Lexington Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, police said.
The NYPD was made aware Ramirez was traveling to the Big Apple from out of state and Port Authority police was able to nab him before he made it to Manhattan, police said.
The Community Security Initiative, a joint program run by the UJA-Federation and the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York to bolster security for Jewish institutions, flagged the threats and worked with law enforcement to notify synagogues across the city, sources said.
Ramirez, who has no criminal record, was allegedly found in possession of a firearm when he was stopped earlier on the road trip in Kansas City, ABC News reported, citing police sources.
He had no weapons in his car when he was stopped outside the Lincoln Tunnel on Friday night, sources said.
No charges have been filed as the investigation is ongoing, police said.
On Friday afternoon, CSI picked up on threats that Ramirez had posted on social media.
“The Jews killed me in my past life,” Ramirez said on X on Friday. “Today in NYC when I pull up to Shabbat I will kill you first.”
“That’s not antisemitic or hate speech that’s called self defense,” he said in a follow-up post.
On Thursday, he wrote, “I will be visiting my brothers and sisters in NYC tomorrow pull up to Shabbat at the Central Synagogue.”
CSI passed the threats to the NYPD’s Intelligence and Counterterrorism Bureau and issued a warning bulletin to Manhattan Jewish locations. Law enforcement said Ramirez owned weapons and tracked Ramirez as he traveled toward New York.
Mitch Silber, the director of CSI, said Ramirez was a US military veteran. Ramirez’s account on X identifies him as a Marine officer candidate.
It was unclear how Ramirez was radicalized or why he chose to target Jews in New York.
On Thursday he posted, “I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is a messenger of God,” in English and Arabic.
The incident is the latest in a series of attempted attacks on US Jewish targets.
Last month, an armed man was arrested in Florida for planning an attack on an AIPAC office.
In December, the FBI arrested a college student for a planned mass casualty terror attack against the Israeli consulate in New York City.
In September, a suspect was arrested in Canada while attempting to enter the US to attack a Jewish center in Brooklyn in support of ISIS.
In July, a neo-Nazi was indicted for planning mass casualty attacks against Jews in New York City by distributing poisoned candy to Jewish children.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Full data on the orbit of asteroid 2024 YR4, which may collide with Earth in 2032, will not appear earlier than in three to four years. This was reported on February 15 by Vladimir Busarev, a leading researcher at the Sternberg State Astronomical Institute of Moscow State University named after M. V. Lomonosov (GAIS MSU).
The scientist noted that this is the period of 2024 YR4's revolution around the Sun. Only after its completion will comprehensive information about the entire orbit of the celestial body appear and it will be possible to answer the question of whether it will collide with the Earth.
“I think that the orbit of asteroid 2024 YR4 will remain insufficiently studied until 2028,” TASS quoted Busarev as saying.
The astronomer added that the object belongs to the Apollo family, which are considered potentially dangerous and require regular observations, as their orbits change relatively quickly under the influence of the gravitational fields of the Earth, as well as Mercury, Venus, Mars and the Sun. At the same time, according to Busarev, there is currently no reason for concern.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, the asteroid with the designation 2024 YR4 was discovered in December by specialists from the ATLAS observatory in Chile. Its diameter is presumably between 40 and 90 m, which roughly corresponds to the Tunguska meteorite.
The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said on February 7 that the chance of the newly discovered asteroid 2024 YR4 colliding with Earth in December 2032 has increased from 1% to 2.3%.
According to Stanislav Korotky, scientific director of the Ka-Dar observatory and the Astroverty astrofarm, the range of estimates of the threat of YR4 colliding with Earth is due to the short period of observations of this cosmic body. So far, the supposed area of the object's fall is considered to be Central Africa or the Atlantic Ocean.
On February 11, the British publication The Independent reported, citing new calculations, that the potentially Earth-threatening asteroid 2024 YR4 may not reach the planet and crash into the Moon. This is the conclusion reached by a group of asteroid hunters from the University of Arizona and NASA.
In China, YR4 has prompted the formation of a planetary defense team.
#2
yes we have to wait until 2028 for better data, but at this point collision with earth or the moon is very unlikely
however in case a collision looks likely, by 2032 we will have better rockets and thus a much better defense against a rouge asteroid
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
02/16/2025 12:09 Comments ||
Top||
#3
I remember when I was but a wee lad (the 1960s), MIT did a study based on the asteroid Icarus hitting Earth:
"Project Icarus" was a student project conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the spring of 1967 as a contingency plan in case of an impending collision with 1566 Icarus.
This project was an assignment by Paul Sandorff for his group of MIT systems engineering graduate students to devise a plan to use rockets to deflect or destroy Icarus in the case that it was found to be on a collision course with planet Earth.[29][30][31] Time magazine ran an article on the endeavor in June 1967[30] and the following year the student report was published as a book.[29][31][32]
The students' plan relied on the new Saturn V rocket, which did not make its first flight until after the report had been completed. During the course of their study, the students visited the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, where they were so impressed with the Vehicle Assembly Building that they wrote of "the awesome reality" that had "completely erased" their doubts over using the technology associated with the Apollo program and Saturn rockets.
The final plan hypothesized that six Saturn V rockets (appropriated from the then-current Apollo program) would be used, each launched at variable intervals from months to hours away from impact. Each rocket was to be fitted with a single 100-megaton nuclear warhead as well as a modified Apollo Service Module and uncrewed Apollo Command Module for guidance to the target. The warheads would be detonated 30 meters from the surface, deflecting or partially destroying the asteroid. Depending on the subsequent impacts on the course or the destruction of the asteroid, later missions would be modified or cancelled as needed. The "last-ditch" launch of the sixth rocket would be 18 hours prior to impact.
It’s their culture, so there’s nothing to be done.
[KhaamaPress] Local authorities in Samangan province said two individuals have been arrested in connection with injuring four worshipers in Samangan. The incident occurred during Friday prayers on February 14 at a Mosque in the city of Aybak.
According to a statement from Hashmatullah Rahmani, spokesperson for the Samangan Police, the two individuals, residents of Samangan, threw a hand grenade inside the mosque, resulting in injuries to four worshipers. The attack was reportedly motivated by personal grievances with the mosque’s community.
Rahmani confirmed that after being informed of the incident, the Deputy Security Commander and personnel from the third security district of the Samangan Police responded quickly. They apprehended the suspects, who were attempting to flee, along with a firearm. They are now under investigation.
The wounded victims were immediately transferred to the provincial hospital in Mazar-e-Sharif for medical treatment. The authorities have stated that the situation is under control.
In a separate incident, Kabul witnessed a suicide bombing on Thursday, February 13, which resulted in two deaths, including the attacker, and three others being injured.
This attack follows a similar suicide bombing in Kunduz on Tuesday, February 11, where an attacker detonated explosives outside a Kabul Bank branch, targeting civilians and Taliban members waiting to collect their pay. The Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack.
[ShabelleMedia] A near 10-day ban on the importation of khat from Kenya to Somalia has raised concerns about the growing impact on trade relations and the wider economy. The ban has led to uncertainty, with no clear indication of when Kenyan khat will return to the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
New information from sources within the Somali government suggests that the ban could extend further, exacerbating tensions between the two neighboring countries. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, linked the issue to the political dynamics surrounding trade policies related to khat.
In Nairobi, sources revealed that khat traders visited the Kenyan capital earlier this month to meet with senior government officials. The traders reportedly discussed the high prices charged for khat exports to Somalia, urging the Kenyan government to lower the cost for Kenyan farmers to remain competitive in the Somali market.
The traders expressed growing concerns over the rising prices in Somalia, which they argued were unsustainable for Kenyan farmers, who have struggled to see full profits due to the inflated costs. The business dispute appears to be compounded by political factors, particularly with the administration of Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, which may seek to address the tensions in a bid to improve trade relations between the two nations.
The ongoing ban also poses a significant economic challenge for Somalia, where khat is an essential commodity, particularly in Mogadishu, and widely consumed. The disruption to the supply of khat could further worsen Somalia’s already precarious economic situation, which has been exacerbated by inflation and limited resources. khat is an essential commodity. Instead of food
Both governments are expected to engage in diplomatic efforts to resolve the issue. However,
a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package… the continuation of the ban threatens to impact not only the many Somalis who depend on the khat trade but also Somali traders involved in the importation and distribution of the commodity.
Shabelle Media Network has reported on the latest developments, noting that the dispute between Somalia and Kenya over khat is becoming a key issue in bilateral trade relations.
The Khat market in Somalia is experiencing a slowdown after farmers in Kenya suspended exports, following the decline in prices, with the group now demanding $3 per kilogram and at least $1550 per sack of the product which is predominantly grown in central parts of Kenya.
In Mogadishu, the farmers argue, a kilogram of Khat goes even at $50 but despite these fortunes, exporters insist on giving them $3 per kilogram a move they say is both exploitative and demeaning leading to the acute imbalance.
Intermediaries, they said, are the greatest beneficiaries of the imbalance which threatens the stability of the market. The Khat association wants the imbalances to be fixed as soon as possible for posterity.
"We cannot sustain farming under these conditions when everyone in the supply chain profits except us," said Karuiru, chairman of the Kenyan Khat Farmers Association.
"He stressed that the cost of transporting khat to Mogadishu surpasses Ksh 3,000 ($27) per kilogram, yet farmers struggle with razor-thin margins. "All we're asking for is an additional Ksh 1,000 ($8) per kilogram to secure a fair deal."
The standoff's impact is already felt in Somalia, where traders accuse the government of maintaining policies that favour select importers while leaving local sellers to grapple with soaring costs. In mid-January, Somali female traders staged protests in Mogadishu against high taxation on Kenyan khat, claiming it was eroding their profits.
Already, the Kenya Agriculture and Food Authority has acknowledged the plight of the farmers, vowing to consult stakeholders for further actions. Mogadishu, the agency adds, will have to intervene and fix the imbalance.
Adding another layer to the controversy, Kenyan farmers point to an illegal levy of USD 4.5 per kilogram allegedly imposed by a "cartel" at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). The hidden cost, they said, undermines the Khat farming in the country.
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.
