[Grow For Humans, UK] In a mother’s womb were two babies.One asked the other: "Do you believe in life after delivery?"The other replied, "Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later."
"Nonsense" said the first. "There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?"
The second said, "I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths. Maybe we will have other senses that we can’t understand now."
The first replied, "That is absurd. Walking is impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. But the umbilical cord is so short. Life after delivery is to be logically excluded."
The second insisted, "Well I think there is something and maybe it’s different than it is here. Maybe we won’t need this physical cord anymore."
The first replied, "Nonsense. And moreover if there is life, then why has no one has ever come back from there? Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion. It takes us nowhere."
"Well, I don’t know," said the second, "but certainly we will meet Mother and she will take care of us."
The first replied "Mother? You actually believe in Mother? That’s laughable. If Mother exists then where is She now?"
The second said, "She is all around us. We are surrounded by her. We are of Her. It is in Her that we live. Without Her this world would not and could not exist."
Said the first: "Well I don’t see Her, so it is only logical that She doesn’t exist."
To which the second replied, "Sometimes, when you’re in silence and you focus and you really listen, you can perceive Her presence, and you can hear Her loving voice, calling down from above."
— a parable from Your Sacred Self by Dr. Wayne Dyer
[FoxNews] Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Saturday that he intends to seek a pardon for an Army sergeant recently convicted of murder for shooting a Black Lives Matter protester during an anti-police demonstration in 2020.
"I am working as swiftly as Texas law allows regarding the pardon of Sgt. Perry," the Texas Republican tweeted Saturday along with a statement on how his office will go about a pardon.
Abbott said in his tweet that pardons in Texas must be recommended by the Board of Pardons and Paroles.
"I have made that request and instructed the board to expedite its review," Abbott said.
The governor said he looks forward to signing the pardon as soon as it reaches his desk.
Army Sgt. Daniel Perry was convicted of murder on Friday for shooting and killing a Black Lives Matter protester holding an AK-47 after the gun was raised toward him. The Austin Police Department concluded at the time that Perry acted in self-defense.
Perry, who was stationed at Fort Hood at the time of the shooting, was driving for Uber to make extra money in downtown Austin on the night of July 25, 2020, when he encountered a large crowd of protesters. They were illegally blocking city streets that night, according to police, as protesters in Austin and elsewhere had done during the weeks of rioting.
Among the protesters was 28-year-old Garrett Foster, who was carrying an AK-47. Perry's defense team says the demonstrators encircled and starting pounding on his vehicle and that Foster raised the firearm at Perry, prompting him to open fire with a handgun he legally carried for self-defense.
"When Garrett Foster pointed his AK-47 at Daniel Perry, Daniel had two tenths of a second to defend himself. He chose to live," Doug O’Connell, an attorney for Perry, told Fox News Digital in a statement last year.
"It may be legal in Texas to carry an assault rifle in downtown Austin. It doesn’t make it a good idea. If you point a firearm at someone, you’re responsible for everything that happens next."
Abbott said Texas has one of the "strongest stand your ground" laws in the country that "cannot be "nullified by a jury or a progressive District Attorney."
[FoxNews] Two juveniles were arrested as suspects in the murders of three Florida teens, one suspect still at large.
Marion County, Florida sheriff Billy Woods says the suspects and the killed teenagers ‘knew each other’ and are associated with a ‘gang.’
The horrific murder of three Florida teens has captured the attention of the nation after a Florida sheriff revealed two juveniles were arrested, and one other juvenile suspect remains on the loose in connection with the killings.
Marion County, Fla. Sheriff Billy Woods lamented not only the loss of three young adults, but also the harm society is causing children who commit criminal activity.
"We're just degrading every single day in our society in these great United States in which you and I live. It's degrading," Woods said on "Cavuto Live" Saturday.
He added, "The failure here is the fact that we do not get to the root cause; family, our schools, and even ourselves out here in society. We, in fact, are enabling everything in which they do just because we don't hold them accountable, just because we minimize their actions. We don't do them justice. We're doing them harm."
Three teenagers — a 17-year-old male and two 16-year-old females identified as Layla Silvernail and Camille Quarles — were shot and left for dead in the rural county north of Orlando sometime between March 30 and April 1.
The Marion County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) arrested two juveniles, one of whom is just 12 years old and the other 17, in connection with the triple homicide. A 16-year-old suspect is at large.
"This whole scenario is tragic," Woods told host Neil Cavuto. "There's nothing good in this entire scenario. You got six teens, which is ravaging not just my community it's ravaging every community across this nation where our youths are engaged in more criminal activity."
"I'm just a simple man. I look at things as simplistic as possible. I don't believe in being politically correct." - Sheriff Billy Woods
The most recent data from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention shows juvenile crime peaked in the mid-1990s and has steadily decreased through 2020. From 2020 on, however, there has been a noticeable spike in crime committed by and against young adults.
According to the Wall Street Journal, as of January 2023, the number of children under the age of 14 committing murder is the highest it's been in nearly two decades. In Philadelphia, there were 81 juveniles killed by gunfire in 2021 and 2022 compared to 153 in New York City, a 6-year-high, and 16 in Washington D.C., a 56% increase from 2021.
Juveniles arrested for shooting-related incidents also have seen a drastic increase. Philadelphia saw 117 arrests in 2022, 124 in New York City and 214 in Washington D.C.
Woods also touched on a nationwide issue of "wannabe gangs" where kids are engaging with violent activity at a young age.
"Everybody wants to ignore it or deny it. Every community's got them, no matter how big or how small. There is some form of a gang in their communities," Woods said. "They have no structure, but it's still a gang. It's a group of them that come together,...pounding on each of his chest and say, I'm better than you. You offended me. Going back and forth, It's there. Don't deny it. Face it. Embrace the suck and deal with it."
There’s been a “Toad The Wet Sprocket” kaleidoscope arrangement and rearrangement of Balochi liberation groups over the past several decades. Now one of the big turbans has been caught.
[Dawn] Security experts and officials have hailed Imam's arrest as a great achievement for law enforcement agencies.
"The fragmentation in these groups began when their field commanders from the lower-middle classes challenged the groups’ heads, who are wealthy traditional Baloch tribal chieftains living in self-exile in Europe," explained Fahad Nabeel
Putting to rest months of speculations regarding the whereabouts of Baloch separatist commander, Gulzar Imam, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) announced on Friday his arrest, describing it as a major counter-terrorism achievement against separatist insurgency in the restive province.
"Gulzar Imam alias Shambay was apprehended after an innovatively conceived, carefully planned and meticulously executed operation, spanned over months over various geographical locations," the military’s media wing said in a statement.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/09/2023 02:12 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[16 views]
Top|| File under: Baloch Liberation Army
[Dawn] Over the past decades, militancy in Pakistain has evolved into a hydra-headed monster. On Friday, a major achievement against one of these threats came to the fore when the ISPR announced the arrest of Baloch separatist commander Gulzar Imam who was "apprehended after an innovatively conceived, carefully planned, and meticulously executed operation".
Imam is considered among the most influential leaders of the insurgency in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... ; he is also said to have been instrumental in forging an operational alliance of several separatist outfits. His arrest, therefore, has the potential of significantly weakening the insurgency which is already riven with factionalism; reportedly, some separatists themselves played a role in Imam’s capture.
But, howsoever important, this is but a tactical victory. The battle is far from over. Unless the state addresses the reasons why insurgencies have repeatedly arisen in Balochistan throughout Pakistain’s existence, one may be certain the separatist movement will continue to find ready recruits.
This year is the 75th anniversary of Kalat’s accession to Pakistain; while the move had its detractors, many also believed it would bring progress to what has long been a deprived part of the subcontinent. However, the man who has no enemies isn't anybody and has never done anything... the intervening years have seen resource-rich Balochistan being treated with neocolonial disdain, useful only for extractive purposes to enrich the state and its functionaries.
According to the popular narrative, the tribal sardars have been a perennial obstacle to development in the province. That line of thought conveniently sidestepped the fact that a majority of the most regressive sardars have historically been aligned with the state — an alliance whereby elected Balochistan governments were dismissed and the people’s rights ruthlessly trampled on.
Over the years, various ’development packages’ were introduced but, much like the province’s share in the NFC Award, achieved little of note. And why would it be otherwise? After all, the province has never been empowered in a manner commensurate with the 18th Amendment. The strings are still being pulled from Islamabad, not to mention Pindi.
Moreover, the security establishment’s short-sighted strategy of using violent mostly peacefulDeath Eaters to counter Baloch bad boy groups fuelled an orgy of bloodletting. All these factors, coupled with the enforced disappearances of Baloch individuals suspected of nationalist sympathies — now centred among the province’s educated youth — created a fertile ground for foreign intelligence agencies to foment trouble.
The Baloch have legitimate grievances, and the groundswell of support for Maulana Hidayatur Rehman’s Haq Do Tehrik and the massive rallies he led in a well-secured town like Gwadar — the ’jewel in the crown’ of CPEC — are evidence of the anger simmering in Baloch society. The state must change its approach. But judging by its arrest of the HDT leader, which has sparked huge protests, it appears to be doubling down on old, discredited tactics. That will only keep the flames of insurgency burning.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/09/2023 01:50 ||
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Link ||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Baloch Liberation Army
[YouTube] From the time NATO was founded in 1949 to the recent accession of Finland, the United States has remained the foremost military power in NATO.
But a question that is not often asked is why? Why would a power like the USA continue to expand promises of defence to an ever larger group of nations that cannot hope to offer a similar level of capability or assistance in return.
The acceptance of new allies into NATO or bilateral and multilateral security treaties has not always been without domestic and international opposition.
And so today I wanted to follow up on my video on Russian grand strategy, with its baked in goal of undermining American influence and global leadership, with an examination of America's published security strategy, the role alliances and coalitions play in it, and some of the theory behind why the argument can be made that the basis of American global influence and its privileged security position owe as much to its alliances and coalitions as to other
aspects of its power.
Caveats and Comments:
Two odd typos that appear to have made it through editing: The reference to "eactionary disruptors" should be "reactionary disruptors"
And in a currency chart - the data appears to have used "RMB" rather than "CNY" for Renminbi for some reason. That is an error.
As always - all the usual caveats around platform, manpower and budget figures apply. All figures in this presentation should be treated as indicative given the challenges of getting precise like-like comparisons
As many of you would know there are different ways of expressing security dilemmas and explaining the logic behind asymmetric alliance structures. Because this is one video - focused on a single power I've chosen a particular method of explaining the theoretical basis for those decisions.
And - once again - this video is an effort to explain the what and why of how alliance structures are critical to US security strategy (as published). It is not intended either as an endorsement or as a critique.
#2
"We're just degrading every single day in our society in these great United States in which you and I live. It's degrading," Woods said on "Cavuto Live" Saturday.
Yes, the Florida sheriff nails it. We might still have the military power but our moral authority is melting like a popsicle on hot asphalt.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/09/2023 15:05 Comments ||
Top||
[TheAviationist] It’s official now: the upgraded B-52 bomber will be the B-52J.
Any B-52H aircraft modified with the new commercial engines and associated subsystems are designated as B-52J," the Air Force said in justification documents for its 2024 budget request according to Air & Space Forces Magazine. The official confirmation brings clarity on the designation of the iconic strategic bomber as the 61-year B-52H is about to undertake its "largest modification in the history".
As already explained, new engines were the main reason the B-52G was redesignated as B-52H in 1962 and, although a final decision had not been taken yet, the upgraded bomber was about to be called either the B-52J or B-52K, with the first being considered as an interim designation (as the radar will be installed before the engines).
Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce has launched F130 engine testing at the company’s outdoor test facility at the NASA Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, U.S. The Air Force plans to finalize integration activities and deliver the first lot of B-52 modified aircraft in the 2026-2027 timeframe, with initial operational capability expected in 2030. The new RR F130 engines were selected in 2021 to replace the bomber’s Pratt & Whitney TF33-PW-103s, used on the Stratofortress fleet since the 1960s and are expected to remain on the B-52 for the reminder of the aircraft life, through at least 2050, increasing fuel efficiency and range, reducing emissions in unburned hydrocarbons, and significantly reducing maintenance costs.
Another crucial upgrade to the BUFF (Big Ugly Fat Fellow) is the new radar, a modified valiant of the F/A-18EF Super Hornet’s APG-79 AESA radar, will give the B-52s greatly improved radar range and situational awareness, while taking less space then the older mechanically scanned radar, thus leaving room for electronic warfare functions.
Externally, the B-52 will also have a cleaner look, as the blisters that currently house the AN/ASQ-151 Electro-Optical Viewing System (EVS) will be removed: the EVS was used to help crews fly safely at very low altitudes, but it was largely supplanted by the Litening and Sniper targeting pods installed on pylons under the bomber’s left wing.
Inside the cockpit, the BUFF is also getting an upgrade, with new multifunction digital displays, hybrid mechanical-to-digital throttle system, new data concentrators units new engine fault maintenance recorder, new engine air data system and all the related updates in panels, consoles and wirings. It will not be a full glass cockpit though, as some of the analogue instruments are going to remain. What’s also going to disappear is one of the crew member stations, as the total crew is reduced to four members, instead of the current five.
Initially, the B-52J was supposed to be able to use the hypersonic AGM-183 Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW), the U.S. Air Force is planning to abandon the ARRW hypersonic weapon program after the last two test flights of the prototyping phase and focus instead on the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM).
#2
#1 More load, more guts,
gonna have to address that wing box.
Posted by: Skidmark 2023-04-09 00:59
Skid,
From your lips to God's ears. Issues with the wing box have been a potential nightmare for decades, and there is no way to fix/replace. The forge for making them still exists (it's actually a few blocks down from my Grandmother's home in Cleveland) and is supposedly operational, but even if there were no issues there, the tooling for Miss Buffy went away decades ago. Even a relatively minor issue would doom her.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/09/2023 6:39 Comments ||
Top||
#3
BUFF (Big Ugly Fat Fellow)
Fellow?
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/09/2023 7:25 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Given the USA $31Trillion + national debt the DC SWAMP has racked up in the last 30 years.
.
The US can't afford another ground war or $$ Billion Aircraft. So watch for "Drones vs. Jets to an issue soon.
#12
^
In USMC Regiments, the 3rd Battalion always has India, Kilo, Lima and Mike Infantry Companies. They knew what a disaster naming a Company "Juliette" would do to morale and discipline. Its a shame the BUFF isn't respected enough to skip to the Kilo model designation. Old traditions matter.
[Townhall] Has the ongoing insurrection in Iran, now into its seventh month, exposed glaring splits in the theocratic regime? In his Nowruz (Persian New Year) address to the nation, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the elderly and increasingly delusional Supreme Leader, insisted that the main priority of the theocratic regime was to fight inflation.
Unveiling his concept of ’The Year of Curbing Inflation,’ he indirectly acknowledged that his country is bankrupt, but failed to offer any way of resolving the perilous state of the Iranian economy. His mumbled remarks may have disappointed his hard-line followers, who prefer to hear pledges to "wipe Israel off the map" or cries of "death to America," and have little appetite for economic reforms.
But splits and divisions amongst the mullahs are now the trademarks of this failing fascist regime. Combined with the mullah’s own venal corruption and regional warmongering, it is little wonder that the country with the world’s second largest gas reserves and fourth largest crude oil reserves is now facing economic meltdown.
Iran, despite its once rich, civilized and open culture, has become an international pariah, its religious fascist regime condemned for human rights abuse and the export of terror, while its 85 million beleaguered citizens struggle to feed their families.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/09/2023 08:08 ||
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Link ||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: Devout Moslems
#1
Little news on: CNN Sun August 22, 2021
Lake Urmia, Iran. The ferries that once shuttled tourists to and from the little islets in Iran’s Lake Urmia sit rusty, unable to move, on what is rapidly becoming a salt plain. Just two decades ago, Urmia was the Middle East’s biggest lake, its local economy a thriving tourist center of hotels and restaurants. The extensive drought continues.
#2
The corruption in Iran has led to concern about the economy because Mullah connected lackeys and IRGC big shots control major companies and a lot of mid size and even small companies.
If inflation hurts these companies, the Mullahs and the IRGC get hurt.
Posted by: lord garth ||
04/09/2023 10:36 Comments ||
Top||
#3
What a shame.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
04/09/2023 15:27 Comments ||
Top||
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.
[YouTube] From the time NATO was founded in 1949 to the recent accession of Finland, the United States has remained the foremost military power in NATO. 
[Townhall] Has the ongoing insurrection in Iran, now into its seventh month, exposed glaring splits in the theocratic regime? In his Nowruz (Persian New Year) address to the nation, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the elderly and increasingly delusional Supreme Leader, insisted that the main priority of the theocratic regime was to fight inflation. 
