Apparently, Iranian military searching for helicopter carrying president and foreign minister after experiencing a “hard landing”. We can only hope…
Open Thread – Easter Weekend 8 April 2023
- Open Thread – Mon 20 May 2024
- Guest Post: Wally Dali- Archibald Prize predictions
- TULIP versus ruinous Labor
- Open Thread – Weekend 18 May 2024
- Bumtree #15
Hegemonitis: Why The West Has Become So Dumb | Professor Glenn Diesen
Dr. John Campbell talking about the Scottish enquiry into Covid. He gives a very clear explanation of what DNR actually…
Lessons from COVID Totalitarianism For those who long ago saw through Western governments’ calculated strategy of applying electric shock therapy…
Undeniable Proof That Biden Received Monthly Payments From Hunter’s Business Entity
“Farmer Gezsays:
April 9, 2023 at 7:56 am
Well said Gez. The problem with the rise of the full burqa is that it’s a political statement. It isn’t anything to do with religion. Also, if you support Modi and you understand why his democratically elected government is trying to curb the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, then you’re smeared by the left as a Hindu Nationalist.
Hassan’s prejudices are well known. He’s been caught before making anti-Semitic and anti-Hindu statements. He’s a Muslim bigot.
Forget Putin and Xi, the Western left now openly agitates for the removal of governments and leaders, I might add democratically elected governments, whose nationalist and populist policies they don’t like, be it in Israel, Hungary, India, Poland. That’s why that war mongering whore, Samantha Power, has been doing the rounds of these countries, fomenting and agitating protest, some of it violent. Will it work, I doubt it.
I was just watching Justin Jones, the Tennessee Angela Davis haired, lawmaker expelled from the legislature.
Sadly, he is a man with a future. He has obviously comitted an enormous amount of time studying and practicing MLK speech style and gestures combined with Obama style hate disguised by soaring rhetoric.
And, he is well presented, looking as he does like a Starsky and Hutch extra.
He will do well in Michelle’s cabinet.
Every time. Just like clockwork. Now what’s wrong with the Lieborals …
Just put on some Pet Shop Boys.
Crossie
Parliament is like an expensive holiday paid by someone else so when they get back home pollies should return to their prior job or profession. Anything more I consider as corruption.
Hmmm. Let’s think this through. The path up is uni student, uni political club, minor lackey in party or trade union (administration only, not actual hands on work), junior adviser to backbencher, then to a minister/opposition spokes idiot, senior adviser, couple of runs at unwinnable seat, winnable seat, front bencher, then “not enough left in the tank to go on”(see Horseface Ardern).
Not exactly a great career path on the way down, but probably better than most of them deserve. Given the number behind them climbing the greasy pole, they should probably go straight back to uni student/political club, and stay there forever.
If only we could.
I sense an isolationist turn is coming in the US post-2024.
Let’s hope they honour their Pacific commitments.
Like I said yesterday. It’s easier for women to retreat into the feminist collective for protection than to call out BS and be singled out by groups the collective refuses to criticise for ideological reasons.
So now it has become intolerable and come to a head.
The harmony, can’t you just feel it? Piers Akerman:
Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has thrown the Liberal Party a lifeline with his blind support for the racial discrimination enshrined in the Voice referendum proposal.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton needed a standout policy difference and he has now been gifted one.
Voice supporters went nuts, particularly Noel Pearson, who lacked civility with unprincipled attacks on Dutton.
No depths appear to be too low for the Yes leaders who claim to take the moral high road.
A bare minimum of Australians back the current proposal to lock the Indigenous-only body into the Constitution without telling how it would work. Dutton has now ensured a wider examination of this pig-in-a-poke referendum.
One who has undertaken a serious study of this is Terence Cole, a former NSW Court of Appeal judge, later appointed royal commissioner by the Commonwealth into the building and construction industry and then the UN Oil-for Food Program, and who also conducted a federal inquiry into the loss of HMAS Sydney.
Space doesn’t permit presentation of his full findings so I shall summarise them. He thoroughly examined the three demands of the Uluru Statement which Albanese has accepted entirely – the Voice, a Makarrata Commission, and “truth telling about our history”.
When voting to amend the Constitution to incorporate the Voice, Australians must understand that they’re being asked to support demands for recognition of co-existing sovereignty, a Makarrata Commission designed to produce a treaty and monetary compensation, as well as a rewriting of Australian history.
Cole begins with an expert analysis of the constant claim that Aboriginal “ownership of the soil, or better, of sovereignty” based on prior occupation, “has never been ceded or extinguished and co-exists with the sovereignty of the Crown”.
But this Indigenous sovereignty is not sovereignty as normally understood, he writes.
According to the Uluru Statement, it is a spiritual notion: “The ancestral tie between Aboriginals and the land, or ‘mother nature’, and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were born therefrom, remain attached thereto, and must one day return thither to be united with our ancestors. This link is the basis of ownership of the soil, or better, of sovereignty. It has never been ceded or extinguished, and co-exists with the sovereignty of the Crown.”
He notes with regret that the quoted passage was plagiarised without acknowledgement from a 1975 ruling of the International Court of Justice that concerned the people of the Western Sahara.
Australian courts have consistently rejected the existence of Aboriginal and Torres Strait sovereignty, he says, citing High Court Justice Stephen Gageler in the case of Love v Commonwealth.
Cole also dissects and disagrees with a recent opinion of former High Court Chief Justice Robert French who argued that two different “sovereignties” can exist. The Indigenous concept of “sovereignty” can, in reality, have no effect or application in Australian law, Cole writes.
The statement’s second claim for a Makarrata Commission and a treaty, he says, are based solely on race and split Australians into two groups – on a permanent basis. The first group comprises those identifying as Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. The remaining 97 per cent of Australians are the second.
Despite Chief Justice French’s view that the Voice “does not depend on race”, Cole stresses that it only represents Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders, and those who elect the representatives who will become the Voice are exclusively of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait races.
“Unless you are of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander race, Australians can play no part in any aspect of the Voice. Those who would benefit from the proposed Voice are exclusively Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders,” he states.
“To my mind, it departs from reality to contend that the Voice does not rest upon race. It addresses only people of those races.”
He suspects the clue to the push for a Yes vote may lie in the fifth objective, the concluding of agreements with governments, which may have significant monetary consequences.
His conclusion: It is difficult to contemplate a process more designed to cause dissent and disunity within the Australian community.
This is certainly not the minimal change that Albanese claims, it is an attempt to install a race-based clause in the Constitution which will make those identifying as Indigenous permanent victims of past injustices with access to limitless reparation claims.
Cassie of Sydneysays:
April 9, 2023 at 7:17 am
Oh look, the pervert apologist is here, up early in the morning. Yesterday he rudely described us here as a bunch of “cranks, losers in life whose chickens are now coming home to roost electorally.” And there was more! He described us as “irrelevant“.
It is odd, though, how he likes to spend a lot of time among us “cranks and losers in life“.
Go look at Phat Pussy. Unless it has changed markedly since the last time that I dropped by, I can understand why m0nty=fa doesn’t want to waste too much of his miserable life at his own blog.
The Trade Union Pardee taxing aspirational voters again AND bringing on an apartheid style Aboriginal nobility that even Palace Chook and Dreyfus find worrying.
Chalmers is the smartest guy in the room until Paul Keating visits the porta loo.
Crossiesays:
April 9, 2023 at 8:05 am
Victorian ALP knows their goose is cooked at the next election.
They also know how unemployable they are.
Their value on the open market is about half minimum wage. (i.e. they’d be about half as good as a backpacker at pushing a broom in a coffee shop)
Corporate boards are full of former politicians who have friends there, particularly industry super funds. It is likely to get worse as corporations become more woke.
Cause or effect of corporate wokeness? And declining corporate effectiveness and profitability?
See also Bud Light as a very recent example.
whats aboriginal for “sovereignty”?? …. bueller……….bueller………. bueller?
Some of Noel Pearson’s best work, if you ask me.
The ‘respect my privacy’ Luigi is on Sky greasing up to sports teams and stars supporting The Voice.
Luigi reckons people waiting on a better model won’t be getting one and Dutton is just being decisive for asking for a different proposal.
BJ don’t go there, it’ll make you go blind.
Smells like desperation. Daily Telegraph:
A cavalcade of Indigenous superstars is set to be recruited by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to sell Australians on a Yes vote for a Voice to parliament.
At the top of his wishlist is expected to be NBA star Patty Mills, Olympic sprinter Cathy Freeman, and footballers Johnathan Thurston and Adam Goodes.
The Government also hopes to deploy tennis legends Evonne Goolagong-Cawley and Ash Barty.
It comes as Qantas is considering Yes signs on the sides of its planes to urge Australians to back the proposal.
Political sources say the emphasis will be on enlisting beloved superstars to lead the campaign.
With a referendum on the Voice to parliament set to take place weeks after the AFL and NRL seasons, this year’s grand finals of the two codes are also set to feature appeals to fans to vote Yes.
The Government and Yes campaign organisers are preparing a blitz that will see corporate Australia join forces with the nation’s sporting codes to urge support.
Earlier this year Ash Barty and Evonne Goolagong-Cawley appeared together at Melbourne Park during the Australian Open’s First Nations round, at which Tennis Australia publicly supported the Voice.
They are expected to be joined by long-time Voice supporters Cathy Freeman and Adam Goodes.
Goodes, a former Australian of the Year, has been working behind the scenes building support for several months.
In the past Freeman, who rarely makes public comments, has come out in support of the Uluru Statement from the Heart calling for a change to the constitution calling on Australians to support “what is right and fair”.
Rugby league legend Johnathan Thurston has also thrown his support behind the Uluru Statement from the Heart, saying its implementation would be “another giant step forward for our people”.
Patty Mills, who at Tokyo became the first indigenous Australian Olympic flag bearer is also a strong supporter.
Yes Campaign Alliance director Dean Parkin said they had active supporters right across the community.
“Some of the Yes campaign’s supporters have platforms and public profiles and they include cultural and sporting figures,” he said.
“Naturally we have been speaking to them about their potential involvement in helping to bring the country together around the cause and create a moment of unity for the country.”
Mr Parkin said the campaign had been “delighted” with their engagement and the interest from all Australians who support the Voice.
“Famous people have just one vote like everybody else and our focus will be on ensuring every single Australian is welcomed into a warm conversation that leads to a resounding Yes,” he said.
A Qantas source said the airline was considering putting support for the Yes campaign on the side of its planes.
Speaking at Qantas’s gala dinner in Sydney, Mr Albanese praised the airline for its decision nine years ago to put “R” on some planes in support of constitutional recognition of indigenous Australians.
@ Calli:
“Vic is the right cheek, WA the left.”
More like:
WA is the left cheek, Naffdanistan is the FAR LEFT cheek.
Cassie
Hassan’s prejudices are well known. He’s been caught before making anti-Semitic and anti-Hindu statements. He’s a Muslim bigot.
Why am I not surprised to read this description of the “j’ismist” whom m0nty=fa was praising yesterday for supposedly destroying the basis for the Twatter Files? You know, those “nothingburger” files that were only about Hunter’s “nine-inch hog”?
Oddly, the apologist for everything bad had said nothing for weeks on around 20 separate issues of those files, before yesterday proclaiming their return to “nothingburger” status.
RTWT
GreyRangasays:
April 9, 2023 at 8:30 am
BJ don’t go there, it’ll make you go blind.
I only go there for the pictures (Venn diagrams), not for the articles.
Rubbish.
He’s seriously suggesting that the army of lawyers pulling the strings behind the scenes will be Aborigines?
<
He’s havin’ a lend now.
Led the Inquiry into HMAS Sydney, eh?
He’s a jobsworth.
By the time the referendum rolls around Australians are going to be thoroughly sick of hearing about it.
I’m not sure if that augurs well for the No vote, however.
It may be a case of “vote Yes to make it go away.”
Via Black Ball
Political sources say the emphasis will be on enlisting beloved superstars to lead the campaign.
LOL, “beloved”? Goodes?
A Qantas source said the airline was considering putting support for the Yes campaign on the side of its planes.
Because the SSM campaign didn’t detract sufficiently from their public image?
‘Deploy’ a pile of multi-millionaire sporty types who’ve never been near a town camp. Snork.
I am unsure that this will have the intended effect, given that the Voice’s apparent intent is to further enrich this demographic while leaving the desert and saltwater countrymen untouched.
This has pony-tail PR consultant written all over it.
Indictment
Donald J Trump
Fair enough, both were relentlessly pilloried for the colour of their skin. Hounded off the court, thwarted by racists at ever turn.
The repulsive campus trot actually making a crumb like scomo look good.
Yep, we have all kinds here. I am quite a bit in the above category. Having busted my gut in the working world, I am unashamedly idle, and I love it. Not a shred of guilt.
Of course, there are people who want to work till they drop – good for them, but it’s not for me.
What brings us together is curiosity, healthy scepticism and often (but not always) a sense of humour. 🙂
Yeah, I just got up a short while ago, had coffee and now thinking if I should go fishing.
Yes, because it filled up business class seats at inflated prices with feelgood government-funded troughers as a result.
Joyce may be an insufferable mincing light-on-his-loafers ponce, but he’s an astute businessman.
ChatGPT Is a Blurry JPEG of the Web
Jesse Kelly
@JesseKellyDC
PRO TIP: Soros DAs are there to turn violent criminals loose and arrest the political opposition. That is their mission. They’ve done this twice in just the past week.
So please stop being SHOCKED when it happens. Come up with a way to dissuade them or this ramps up from here.
Criminality out front and naked and why not, when there are never any consequences.
Ryan Fournier
@RyanAFournier
The Daniel Perry case just took a crazy turn.
The lead detective, David Fugitt just filed an affidavit claiming the Soros backed DA had him remove over 100 pages of exculpatory evidence…
The grand jury NEVER got to see it.
This is criminal.
Riley Gaines
@Riley_Gaines_
We need more ‘modern day’ feminists
This just means we need more people who are willing to publicly acknowledge 1) there are only 2 sexes 2) you cannot change your sex, and 3) women deserve respect and equal opportunities
rosie says:
April 9, 2023 at 7:34 am
He is risen!
Indeed. But so many have forgotten.
Blessings to all Cats.
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Terminates Catholic Pastoral Care Contract During Holy Week
Will they be paid for their services courtesy the tax payer?
Inquiring minds…
The Irish dwarf homo was lucky. Dixon paid for new planes which Idh didn’t have to. The cost of fuel was low also. The economy was going gangbusters. The only thing going for him/her was standing up to the arsehole unions.
You aren’t developing a Messiah complex by any chance?
Tell me.
Do people suddenly become incontinent when you walk into a room?
Sadly, had the usual intergenerational failure to agree yesterday at Easter gathering.
The Voice arose in discussion. Granddaughter, who is totally Woke, believes that, as a result of the “Stolen Generations”, our indigenous population have lost their culture! Where do you start? I thought I was fairly circumspect, but she suddenly burst into tears and fled to her room.
Grandson, on the other hand, agreed with us and pried her from her room to bid us goodbye when we left. I told her parents that their generation (except grandson – who has a great “bullshit detector”) was brainwashed in their classrooms. What could they say – it was my husband and I who were always there at “parents’ days” while the both worked. They didn’t see, for example, the climate change crap plastered on the walls of every classroom over the years.
The Exact Moment the United States Congress Took A Knee…and all Americans Became Threats
Marcia Langton WTC article in the Oz now over 2500 comments.
Greasy Luigi and his Marxist mafia are deliberately attempting to remove the obligation of the government to put both sides of the referendum to voters.
The “reform” bill that is set to pass before the vote will remove requirement that voters be sent Yes and No case pamphlets.
Luigi says that modern media gives politicians and the population plenty of chance to hear both sides of the case.
This is why Luigi is unashamedly pushing one side and the elites in the community are bombarding us with the Yes case to drown out the opposition.
It’s a good thing Luigi isn’t setting the handicap distances for the Stawell Gift.
A one legged transgender woman would be odds on.
Philip Lowe has conceded that the RBA’s attempts to curb inflation through the blunt instrument of interest rate hikes will be hampered by an immigration driven housing supply and demand crisis, energy price inflation of 27% in 2022/23 (and likely to get worse) and declining productivity (down to 2019/20 levels).
Yet we have a government whose policies will exacerbate each of these three problems.
Australia, your luck has run out.
Gonzalo Lira
@GonzaloLira1968
A perfectly reasonable attitude by an agent of the Global American Empire.
Do you understand now, Americans, why the rest of the world is happy to see you go down the toilet?
This Mr Modi.
Does he have a hole in the floor of his truck?
Aimee Terese
@aimeeterese
What narcissists prefer is a system without predictable, stable rules & expectations, because a system with stable rules & expectations & consequences for your behavior is not one in which they win. They want chaos & dysfunction, within which they can manipulate & abuse people
CBDC: follow a clown, get a circus
the deeply unserious people playing with deeply serious fire
Indolent says:
April 9, 2023 at 9:09 am
The Exact Moment the United States Congress Took A Knee…and all Americans Became Threats
Indolent – was just abut to post same Sundance has excelled himself here, in a very detailed assesment on how America has reached their Current Position – Gurgling around the Sewer Drain
The Exact Moment the United States Congress Took a Knee
April 8, 2023 | Sundance | 283 Comments
Read this as many times as needed to contemplate the nature of our problem.
Former FBI Director James Comey openly admitted to Congress on March 20, 2017, how the FBI, FBI Counterintelligence Division, DOJ and DOJ-National Security Division, together with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the CIA, had been conducting independent investigations of Donald Trump for over a year without informing Congress [the Gang of Eight]. When asked the question, Comey winced, then justified the lack of informing Go8 oversight by saying, “um, because of the sensitivity of the matter?”
Stupidly, Congress never pressed James Comey on that issue. The arrogance of Comey was astounding, and the acceptance by Congress was infuriating. However, that specific example highlighted just how politically corrupt the system had become. In essence, Team Obama usurped the entire design of congressional oversight…. and Congress just brushed it off.
This event, and everything in the background as outlined within the James Comey admission, factually happened. It is on the record, admitted and nothing about the reality of what took place is subject to conjecture or refute.
Yet somehow, we, specifically our Congress, just moved on as if what FBI Director James Comey outlined and admitted wasn’t a total usurpation of the U.S. Constitution and a collapse in the structure of our coequal branches of government.
We cannot fight our way through the issues until we first realize what lies at the root of the problem.
Barack Obama and Eric Holder did not create a weaponized DOJ and FBI; the institutions were already weaponized by the Patriot Act. What Obama and Holder did was take the preexisting system and retool it, so the weapons of government only targeted one side of the political continuum.
This point is where many people understandably get confused.
Elevator Speech:
(1) The Patriot Act turned the intel surveillance radar from foreign searches for terrorists to domestic searches for terrorists.
(2) Obama/Biden then redefined what is a “terrorist” to include their political opposition.
We begin….
It’s a feature worldwide. And Govts will eventually win this battle, because punters will always support handouts of OPM either from benefits or spending. Inflation will remain very sticky to up , interest rates won’t come down and in fact will step jump higher over time- with long lags in between perhaps.
Your taxes:
https://amp.9news.com.au/article/975b0070-e246-4bcb-b71b-926d78fe11ba
Once again. This is merely uninterested parents.
There is no excuse – none whatsoever – for a parent to squeal about ‘kids being brainwashed by Marxist Fabian agrarian socialists in schools’ because parents are far more influential than some noncy noodle-armer with elbow patches* will ever be.
Long working hours are also no excuse. That just means you go without all the sleep you want, to ensure YOU raise your child rather than a mid-twenties twerp who went to uni for three years.
It is abject and utter parental failure. Nothing less.
*Noting the existence of some notable exceptions to the education trade. Unfortunately, for every Diogenes there are twenty Liability Bobs.
Roger, I still don’t know what you see in tenth rate don like Horn. You seem to forget his disdain for politicians did not extent to Whitlam. He and fellow Marxist Elaine Thomson wrote Death of a Lucky Country in 1975. Horn wrote a lot muck praising Whitlam- ‘mr Whitlam will make Australia a republic. Good.’ ls one bit of muck I recall. I still haven’t found that mid 80s article about horn in Quadrant but will have another look. I don’t recall doing anything to make Australia better other than belly ache and draw a perfesser’s salary.
While Albanese is preoccupied with the Voice, I reckon Chalmers is getting very nervous looking at the projections.
A government that presides over mass mortgage defaults and rising unemployment after 30 years of rising prosperity will not get re-elected.
Just leave the tinny in the shed and walk.
People who judge Modi based on simplistic and ‘woke’ lenses have NFI.
As I have said before, the average Australian politician would not even get to first base in a country like India or Indonesia. These dolts have trouble managing their preselection in a stable and mostly homogenous environment, not to mention one which is rich enough that almost everyone has a roof over their head and enough to eat.
Anyone who has the smarts to run countries like these has at least 50 IQ points over your average Aussie drone MP, not to mention an acutely honed sense of self preservation.
Simply keeping these countries together is a task that maybe Bob Hawke could achieve. I can’t think of anyone else.
Viewing other countries through our lens is the source of endless policy failures.
The son of a guy I used to work with is Exhibit A.
His old man was renowned for calling out bullshit no matter who it was coming from.
The boy (about 14) was in class one day when the teacher hijacked the class into a discussion of the forecast “rain bomb” and Climate Armageddon.
Boy: “Excuse me, teacher. Is it possible it’s just a rainy day?”
Pretty sure I read somewhere that the college swimming career of Lia Thomas is finished now. Hope it (whatever interventions wound up taking place) was worth it for a few years in the spotlight.
Can someone explain today’s liberty quote for me?
Modern systematic politics, whether liberal, conservative, radical, or socialist, simply has to be rejected from a standpoint that owes genuine allegiance to the tradition of the virtues; for modern politics itself expresses in its institutional forms a systematic rejection of that tradition.
— Alasdair MacIntyre
That was evidenced in the way Modi finessed Albanese in India recently.
Black Ball
Might work if you’re selling washing powder. Albo can smell his place in history going round the S bend.
Albo will sheet the defaults home to the RBA and Scommo’s policies. The average ocker will buy that, because good old Albo will be doling out OPM as the mortgage carnage sweeps through. Albo will also pressure the banks to be uber lenient. He’ll take a hit on the UE front but I expect we’ll see Jobseeker payments adjust upwards to take away some of the pain.
End result- caring Labor will skate. Based mainly on the “At least you don’t have Big End of Town in charge during this terrible time” that punters will lap up.
Savannan says:
April 9, 2023 at 9:37 am
Can someone explain today’s liberty quote for me?
Modern systematic politics, whether liberal, conservative, radical, or socialist, simply has to be rejected from a standpoint that owes genuine allegiance to the tradition of the virtues; for modern politics itself expresses in its institutional forms a systematic rejection of that tradition.
— Alasdair MacIntyre
Phew.. at least I am not the only one.
MacIntyre’s “quotes” are impenetrable word salads devoid of any persuasive power.
If they are seen as beacons of conservative thought, conservatives are truly f@cked.
Indeed.
We have to import thousands of workers to the Riverina for pick fruit picking.
My advice to these pollies- learn how to pick.
Nothing says modern capitalism more than a PM-QANTAS circle jerk. Alas, I can’t see a happy ending. But news for Albo.
Christ the Lord is risen today
From the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
Washington d.c. April 9, 2023
I saw this at BB’s link:
With these increases in tax – as with every new impost from government, the people have had to respond by cutting back on their spending. And they never have a choice.
Maybe Elbow and Charmless might try trimming expenditure just once.
Perhaps Elbow could splutter his way up to a podium and declare that one of his great initiatives to rein in spending will be not funding a ‘No’ case for the Voice.
And if the stupid Voice gets up, do you think they will be funding the consequences from their existing spending, or are they going to nick another one of our arteries to siphon off more blood.
I’ll bite…
Modern politicians, of whatever stripe, no longer seek the Good but instead seek goods.
GreyRanga
I’m possibly the last person to defend QANTAS. Grounding every plane in the world where it was was a pretty ballsy move.
I’d also like to point out that it’s a bit insensitive for Dover to be putting up a painting of two blokes having a heart attack on a windy day.
Right at the top of the page, as well.
Geez.
MAJOR: Nato Plans for Ukraine Leaked
Simplicius The Thinker
22 hr ago
As many of you have likely heard, a major leak from U.S. DOD headquarters has just occurred the day before yesterday.
Initially, I wasn’t going to cover it because there was a strong chance it could be fake, and it’s not worth the effort of a full deep-dive for a document of questionable origin/validity.
However, now the Pentagram has confirmed the validity of the documents, as they’re now panickedly trying to scrub the internet of them. From NYTimes:
I won’t post the leaks directly here because apparently the accounts of people who are posting the direct screenshots on other sites have been ‘disappearing’. In particular, the account who first posted it on Twitter is now shown as nonexistent and presumably banned.
However, GrayZone, which has a history of breaking important leaks in the war has the information: LINK.
Also, here are some of the top Twitter breakdowns, here, here, and here.
As you know, we like to deep-dive into important leaks here, as I did for the big Delta Leaks which exposed U.S.’s C4ISR operations in Ukraine:
But before we dive in, a few contextualizing words. Firstly, despite the absolute authenticity of the documents at first glance, several things should be said as a precursor.
The initial copies which circulated all over Telegram were altered by [presumably] a Russian source who changed (photoshopped) the ‘Losses’ data, however original versions have now been found. (more on this later)
One obvious consideration is that this leak could be a mass deliberate maskirovka campaign by NATO/U.S. to fool Russia with seemingly authentic information on the offensive, which would intentionally steer Russian defenses in the wrong direction, etc.
So bear these considerations in mind. Yes, there is still a possibility that it is basically disinfo.
Particularly because the timing of the leaked release so ‘conveniently’ falls right on the eve of the big AFU offensive.
Reuters claims the following:
Russia or pro-Russian elements are likely behind the leak of several classified US military documents posted on social media, Reuters reported.
However, there are certain extenuating circumstances that heavily point to the leaks being real. Which are namely that: there is apparently a much larger trove of leaked data that is floating around, in fact most of it is not even related to Russia / Ukraine and is in fact much more serious and ‘sensitive’ as per U.S. sources, as it pertains to highly secretive internal transmissions regarding China, the Middle East, and more. You can read about it on this new NYTimes article.
And secondly, there are a lot of pieces of info in the leaks which wouldn’t make logical sense in revealing if it was simple disinfo.
For instance, revealing how many NATO/Western spy/intel assets are operating in Ukraine, etc. Such things only serve as evidence for Russia of U.S./West’s collusion an secret provocations/escalations, and serve as future legal proof of the West being the antagonist and initiator in the conflict, which gives Russia major legal and geopolitical advantages. That to me is too big of an oversight.
Also, the fact that much of it paints Russia in a favorable light, in terms of the pure numbers. If it was a deliberate leak, one would think they would sneak in some embarrassing or discrediting info about the Russian military, to paint it unfavorably, at least to some extent. Why let the world know how low Russia’s losses really are, for instance?
I’m partial to believing the flipside of the coin, which is that it was leaked on the eve of the offensive by disgruntled internal NATO employees wishing to sabotage the operation. Although it could be ‘part of the plan’, I don’t think the Biden admin would go so hard in trying to scrub the data off the internet if it were a real disinfo campaign.
And lastly, very little in the leak is actually ‘surprising’ or unknown information
So, let’s begin with the breakdown. I will start with what I believe to be the most important, and ‘biggest’ stories of the leaks and work on down from there.
The biggest to me is the internal casualty count. As I said the first circulated document appeared to be doctored to show fewer Russian casualties and more Ukrainian ones. However the original document shows the internal losses as follows:
Arguing for or against a large and sudden increase in immigration is a different discussion. However, suggesting this stokes inflation isn’t correct in my view. If there is a spike in real estate related prices, such as land, materials and rent, etc., that’s the price signal doing its job in a market economy, telling us to produce more. Price stasis is bullshit. I think Lowe is correct on that score, if that’s the only time he’s ever been correct.
Seems they’ve run out of OPM.
Where do I volunteer for the razor gang?
Just been given some Easter eggs by a friend of the supermarket variety – hardly any real chocolate, tastes awful.
Binned.
Appreciate the gesture, but binned.
My mainstay is the Cadbury Old Gold 70% bars. A couple of squares and I am good for dessert. Now and then I buy some of the boutique offerings, like Lindt, but have not found them to be worth the price.
Did the Liars change the superannuation law (the $3 million limit thing)? The big eared treasurer imbecile was blabbering about it for all of last month and talked about designing markets. Yes, he’s a market designer. Has anyone heard whatever happened to that?
Preach it!
The “long march though the institutions” didn’t happen by force. That space was voltaraly given up in preference to bitching on the sidelines.
The problem is the delay involved, which i what Lowe concerns Lowe in the conext of getting inflation down. He predicts 5 years or more before demand catches up with supply.
Updating from the other day, has anyone news of His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition making a connection between housing shortages and importing hundreds of thousands of migrants?
***Crickets***
Johanna, I have a dark chocolate Cherry Ripe every morning after breakfast. Great innovation for an old favourite. Strongly recommend them.
Haighs chocolate is really good. I got a pack this morning for Easter from wifey. I recall hearing or reading Haighs founders went to Belgium or someplace and learned to make nice chocolate.
Note, the worst chocolate in the entire world has to be American. I cannot for the life of me understand how Hershey’s ever became so big over there. It tastes and smells like vomit.
Modern politics is contrary to reason and nature. It may use terms and ideas inherited from the classical tradition, whether from Athens, Rome, or Jerusalem, but it has gutted them and wears them as a skinsuit.
Can someone explain today’s liberty quote for me?
Piece of piss.
He’s saying the Perfect is the enemy of the good, therefore the good isn’t legit and should be discarded.
A BumBoy for The Elitists, Popper was another one.
The CIA seems to have really stuffed up – yet again:
It’s not just the FBI that needs a cleanout.
I suspect this is by design.
Uncle Luigi has been steadfast with the emotional “generous offer” schtick – backed up by ‘years of consultation’ claims by the Indig Industry (which has been consulting with itself for years), and ‘no legal consequences’ claims by Experts.
Arguing the No position is necessarily detailed, and for most punters abstract by comparison. It will also suffer from a celebrity deficit and by being portrayed as raaacist.
Ripe for switch off – and a whatevs vote.
Line ball at the moment, I’d say – but still plenty of time favouring the No case.
Roger,
Yes, that’s a demand shock, but it’s not inflation. It’s a sector of the economy sending out the price signal. Actually, all things being equal, it’s a fall in living standards as folks have to contend with higher prices is the real estate sector and therefore having to rearrange their spending habits.
Lowe seems to be aware that tightening monetary policy because of an increase in demand in RE would cause the economy to tank just like what happened in the GFC.
I suspect it will eventually dawn on Elbow that it might be better for him if the Voice vote fails.
He might get it over the line with lots of pretty words and high profile endorsements, but the reality that ensues will be messy – unintended (well, previously unmentioned) consequences, unseemly jostling for power, patronage, and funds, and a constant refrain that mainstream Australia ‘deserves’ any hardship that accrues from the great zero-sum, will be remembered as his, and Labor’s, doing.
If it fails, on the other hand, he will have given his all only to be finally thwarted by racist white supremacists. And the Voice he was prevented from delivering will not be the unholy mess that reality would make of it, but the enlightened paradise of its current marketing – that will be what Elbow is remembered for – the beautiful dream.
before supply catches up with demand.
Doh!
😀
Councils, state Govts and the Feds (of all stripes) are doing their utmost to restrict supply of available residential and have been doing so for decades. This will continue while hundreds of thousands more immigrants are waved in by Albo. As sure as night follows day, RE remains well supported and will no doubt spike. That’s the plan.
The system is gamed, everyone knows it. The population Ponzi is alive and well.
But is the one area where Albo could come unstuck with his beloved millennials.
I do notice that Easter Bilbys are becomng more popular – a sign that being Australian still means something.
In my defence, I’m preparing lunch!
One wonders, has the crucial Cate Blanchett celebrity endorsement for the voice been secured yet.
Tom says:
April 9, 2023 at 10:07 am
Johanna, I have a dark chocolate Cherry Ripe every morning after breakfast. Great innovation for an old favourite. Strongly recommend them.
From another Dark Chocolate Cherry Ripe lover,
having had the Easter Egg hunt in the front Yard by 6 out 9 Gradnchildren, even the Nuerotic Female (now 2 yr old) Beagle, joined in the hunt, sniffing out small cadburys Easter eggs in Lawn and Garden, Family gave me Big Dark Chocolate Cherry Ripe Easter Egg and Rocky Road Easter Bunny.
Yes, we’re on the California model demand and supply is calibrates through prices moving up. The other is the Texas model. Real estate demand is sated with more supply and much less regulation.
Chairman Dan has certainly run hard up against this traditional Liar constraint. Now to share the pain.
The grumbling is certainly becoming louder. I’ve started following The Beetoota Advocate on Instagram and the disgruntled Millennial certainly features heavily, especially with housing and shitty McJobs after Uni.
The normal Sunday morning 4BC radio guy, Spencer Howson, has Covid so a fill in on the show.
Howson called in and they had a discussion about whether he should have just gone into work and told the others he was positive. His boss told him to stay home.
The nature of the discussion clearly indicated little concern for having Covid.
Pretty sure he would be quadruple jabbed and possibly had 5th.
Then again they will argue jabs prevented serious case and death.
SAY NO to the Voice and all future jabs.
I received notification of almost 100% land tax increase on a vacation home. They’re freaking evil how they pull this crap. They raised the marginal rate from about 1.5% to 2.5% if the property is owned either by a company or trust. Regular folks are unlikely to use corps or trusts so he doesn’t hit his own constituency as hard.
The amount of infrastructure work still going on is amazing and the state debt is around $150 billion.
Big Serge
@witte_sergei
9:07 am · 8 Apr 2023
Don’t want to get too far ahead of events but the rumors right now are that the Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut are attempting to flee. Panic from Ukrainian channels.
Specific claims are that groupings of personnel are trying to break out to get to Chasiv Yar and that the AFU is destroying equipment.
“Advances have been made in a western direction” – translation: AFU retreating.
Apparently he wants another term.
I suppose we could always get someone worse.
Beijing Denies Ties to America’s Fentanyl Crisis | China In Focus
00:47 Beijing Denies Ties to America’s Fentanyl Crisis
02:40 Fentanyl Poisonings a National Emergency: Rep. Tiffany
07:09 Taiwan Defiant in Face of Chinese Aggression
09:53 China Boosts Nuclear-Armed Submarine Patrols
11:12 China to Build Undersea Cable to Rival U.S. Project
12:40 U.S., S. Korea, Japan Condemn North’s Nuclear Threat
14:02 Search for Japanese Army Helicopter Ongoing
15:48 Torrential Rain Sparks Flood in Southeastern China
16:42 Saudi, Iranian Foreign Ministers Meet in Beijing
123andbush, so glad you could make it for lunch yesterday and nice of you to say here that you enjoyed yourself. We did too, very much indeed. Such a pleasure to meet you and Mater and his family and to enjoy the hospitality of the Bendigo Rifle Range hostelry, which offered atmospheric surrounds for good pub grub. Hairy amazed that you two guys were prepared to travel such distances just to welcome us to Bendigo, but that’s country life for you. We were impressed. And get Mater started on turbines and there’s a whole new world of knowledge opens up! We all said he should come back in here and keep everyone updated on the coming Vic Electricky crisis but he’s flat out at work right now. We tendered the regards that were offered from all his friends here.
Every time we have met anyone from the Cat IRL we always find such likeable like-minded friends. Sadly, Black Ball couldn’t make it even though he wanted to, a total good guy so Bushie and Mater told us. Easter is like that. Hiya from here, BB.
A thaw in Türkiye-Syria relations can be a step toward a ‘New Europe’ in the Middle East
Ankara and Damascus, with Moscow’s backing, are making an effort to reconcile. This could lead to a thriving, integrated region
Delegations from Syria, Iran and Türkiye met in Moscow with their counterparts this week to discuss the normalization of ties between Türkiye and Syria. It’s the prelude to a higher-level meeting that will take place later this month.
Improved cooperation would be particularly important in bringing a close to the ongoing Syrian conflict, as Ankara and Damascus share a long border and frozen relations since the beginning of the war.
Syrian officials had said their delegates would focus on ending Türkiye’s military presence in their country, cooperating in fighting against terrorism, and non-interference in Syria’s internal affairs by other countries. The meeting is the latest in a series of steps, heavily backed by Moscow, towards reconciliation between Ankara and Damascus after an 11-year break in relations. Similarly, these negotiations follow a reconciliation between perennial regional adversaries Iran and Saudi Arabia recently brokered by China.
For Syria, Damascus wants to reclaim its territory held by Kurdish-backed forces in the country’s north and northeastern sectors. They also don’t want the potential for a Turkish invasion of their country in case the security situation becomes delicate. For its part, Türkiye is concerned with the presence of the Kurdish People’s Defense Units (YPG), which Ankara associates with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
It is hoped that the thawing of Syria-Türkiye animosities will usher an end to foreign meddling in Syria, including the occupation of its oil-rich regions by US forces.
Given that Türkiye is a powerful US military ally in the region and was a major staging point for US military support to anti-Assad militant groups, this would undermine Washington’s logistical, strategic and diplomatic abilities to interfere in Damascus’ internal affairs. It would also help integrate Syria back into the Middle East and global communities.
Indeed, Saudi Arabia recently announced plans to invite the Syrian president to the next Arab League summit in Riyadh in May. This is a major signal that Syria’s decade-long exclusion from the Arab community, at the behest of Washington, is coming to an end. It may help continue the regional integration of the Middle East despite foreign meddling and attempts at division.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman once famously remarked that “the new Europe will be the Middle East.” In 2018, he said that in the next five years (i.e. now) his country would be “totally different” and that other Middle East countries would also be different, pointing to increasing economic development and what he predicted would be a regional renaissance in the next 30 years.
However, to truly be “the new Europe” would require much deeper political integration for the whole region.
At the same time, it is important to note that the foundations of the European Union, before open borders and a common political framework, were based on economic development and win-win cooperation.
In a similar vein, a successful thaw in Türkiye-Syria ties along the lines of mutual cooperation and common security, in the context of deeper cooperation between Iran and Saudi Arabia, could lead to the eventual outcome of a politically integrated Middle East. With the backing of major powers like China and Russia, which maintain a comprehensive strategic partnership rooted in respect for international law, this is an achievable goal in spite of any ideological and religious differences.
One thing leads to another, we say. And greater cooperation in development, security, and trade can lay the foundations for a more closely integrated Middle East. It can even lead to MBS’ dream of a regional renaissance, long plagued by conflict fanned by outsiders, who only seek to pillage the bountiful heritage and resources of Middle East nations.
Roger
All these policies, that are impacting prices, such as energy and RE. They’re all causing a whack to our living standards. You see it reflected through higher prices and its exactly what they’re designed to do. Live in smaller homes and use less energy etc. Bandt is a truly evil little bastard.
Death taxes, anyone?
Have We Reached the End of America? | Opinion
Frank Sinatra famously sang a song that asks “What is America to me?” The son of immigrants, born into working-class poverty in Hoboken, New Jersey, Sinatra is an exemplar of the American Dream brought to life.
Like the rest of us, Sinatra had an answer of his own to that most musical of questions. He did it his way. That’s what the Founders intended for us all, and that’s the genius of America. Everyone is supposed to be free to take an individual approach to life, provided it doesn’t materially disrupt their neighbors’ ability to pursue theirs.
We have a lot to be grateful for. Even more to be proud of. It’s never been easy. Even before we started as a country, the reality didn’t match the rules we said we wanted to live by. Every person did not have the same opportunities to, as Thomas Jefferson put it, pursue happiness. Some were denied it by law, backed up by vigilantism.
Rather than accept that, we fought to change it many times. Sometimes people died, were dispossessed, and driven out of their towns and cities as the fight for equality and liberty raged.
Somewhere along the way, we lost sight of that. We also lost sight of the fact that no matter how our differences may divide us, we are all Americans and all entitled to aspire to that precious dream laid out before us almost two and a half centuries ago.
Now, we are divided again. Different factions seek political and moral advantages over their opponents wherever and whenever possible.
President Joe Biden, who used his inaugural address to preach the virtues of consensus and unity, is instead trying to create a popular front to isolate those he refers to as “MAGA Republicans” and whom Hillary Rodham Clinton called “deplorables.”
They have it in mind to write those people out of the American story. When you consider it, that is an awful lot of people on which to slap a label equivalent to “undesirable.”
We have reached a point where each side of every debate is dominated by powerful forces that want to tell those who dissent “it’s our way or the highway for you.”
That’s not the America I know and love.
We’re a country that makes space for all kinds of people and all kinds of ideas, not just as a matter of convenience but because if we have anything close to a founding principle, it’s freedom of thought. There are plenty of examples of how we missed that mark, but the target we keep aiming for is to live in a country where everyone could be the best they could be.
For the moment, that ideal appears to be on hold, largely because those who dominate the political and cultural life of the nation—and that includes the news—find more of what they perceive as success in the politics of division than in offering and building support for consensus solutions to real problems.
Opinions may vary. I expect we’ll see more than a little support for an external candidate. The RBA and the government drinking their own bathwater for too long.
Bar Beach Swimmer:
I’ve said this before but it does bear repeating – Millenials have this odd notion that when they become employed in an organisation, they become able to set policy, even if they’re just the tea lady. I have had multiple arguments over the primacy of hospital policy over State, and even Federal law.
Perhaps they are that used to being in charge of their parents and not having to follow home rules that they carry this attitude into employment.
This becomes obvious when you look at the incomprehensible blunders coming from our State and Federal Parliaments where they have millennials with no life experience running roughshod over their bosses who don’t have the wit or courage to stand up to them.
The entire Higgins affair is an example of the children in adult bodies that has been fatally mismanaged by all. Honestly, I don’t understand why anyone in a position as demanding of life skills as a Ministerial advisor would employ any one younger than fifty. Unless it’s for the eye candy. And if that’s the case, I’d question the Ministers fitness for the job.
CIA director visited Saudi Arabia, aired ‘frustration’ over Iran, Syria thaw
The CIA director met the country’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and reportedly expressed displeasure with Washington being “blindsided” over agreements brokered by China and Russia.
CIA Director Bill Burns made an unannounced trip to Saudi Arabia this week where he reportedly aired Washington’s frustrations over Riyadh’s opening to Iran and Syria through mediation brokered by US rivals China and Russia.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a US official confirmed the trip to Al-Monitor. “Director Burns traveled to Saudi Arabia where he met with intelligence counterparts and country leaders on issues of shared interest,” the US official said.
The official did not disclose the exact day of the trip but said that Burns discussed intelligence cooperation, especially in the area of counterterrorism. The CIA director met the country’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
The report revealed that the US spy chief expressed displeasure over Riyadh’s ongoing rapprochement with both Tehran and Damascus.
“Burns expressed frustration with the Saudis, according to people familiar with the matter. He told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that the US has felt blindsided by Riyadh’s rapprochement with Iran and Syria,” the WSJ said.
Saudi Arabia has agreed to restore diplomatic ties with Iran in a deal brokered by China last month. On Thursday in Beijing, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan met with Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and agreed to reinstate consulates and embassies as well as flights between the two countries.
On Syria, Russia is mediating between Riyadh and Damascus in an attempt to restore consular ties that broke off in 2011 following Syrian President Bashar al-Assad brutal crackdown on protests. Saudi Arabia is mulling an invite to Assad to the Arab League summit that Riyadh will host next month.
The United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Oman, Algeria and Jordan have all resumed diplomatic ties with Assad, whose government remains under heavy US sanctions.
Bandt is a truly evil little
He’s a Marxist; a Trotskyist international socialist, to be precise.
The Greens for him are merely a vehicle to further that agenda.
It is hard to overstate the importance of this turn of events. Energy, the Dollar, global trade, China ascendancy- all deeply affected by this. Israel will be watching on in horror. It’s just another clear indication of how totally fkd up the Administration is and why the US current involvement in Ukraine will, like everything else Biden has a hand in, will end up an unmitigated disaster.
Yes work intruded on my Saturday Lizzie so couldn’t get down there. I hope you had a great lunch with the aforementioned Mater and Bushy.
Great place is Bendigo, even though Lisa Chesters and Jacinta Allen are their parliamentary representatives.
Just watched the exit of the latest batch of stayers at the motel.
I really liked the Indian extended family who were in several rooms adjacent. Not sure if they were locals or tourists, or a mixture. As the admirable Murray Lawrence said, Indians are enthusiastic tourists in their own country. No reason why it would be different here. They like to travel and see new things. And bringing grandma and grandpa along is the way things are done.
And, oh, they like to talk. Everyone was talking over everyone else the whole time. Very different from my culture.
But, I love the kids. They are polite and obedient, yet full of life and joy.
I’m guessing Punjabis, based on flimsy evidence.
What’s the level where they don’t impact they’re own constituencies? I reckon it would be around $3 million.
Soros son granted repeated White House access – NYP
Alexander Soros is his father’s ‘new ambassador,’ one critic claims
Alexander Soros, the son of billionaire and longtime Democratic Party donor George Soros, has made at least fourteen visits to the White House since Joe Biden took office, according to publicly available visitor logs seen by the New York Post.
The younger Soros, 37, who is also a noted fundraiser on behalf of the Democratic Party, met with Biden administration officials a minimum of twelve times last year, according to recently updated logs. He also visited twice in 2021.
Alexander Soros is the chair of the liberal Open Society Foundations, whose remit, it says, is to provide grants to causes that promote “the growth of inclusive and vibrant democracies.”
His father George Soros set up the foundation, which has distributed more than $32 billion to various causes supporting liberal issues since 1998. He is a deeply controversial figure within some conservative sections in the US and abroad, who argue that his ‘philanthropy’ is merely political meddling.
“[He has done] tremendous damage to our country,” said Mike Howell of the Oversight Project at the Conservative Heritage Foundation, speaking of George Soros and published by the New York Post on Saturday. “The Soros agenda is one of death and destruction in the name of open borders and ending Western civilization.”
The nature of Alexander Soros’ White House visits include a meeting last December 1 with Nina Srivastava, the assistant of former Biden chief of staff Ron Klain. Later that same evening, Soros was among 330 attendees at a state dinner to honor French president Emmanuel Macron, records show.
A day later Soros junior met with Mariana Adame, who advises the counselor to President Joe Biden, as well as Deputy National Security Advisor Johnathan Finer, according to the logs. The content of the meetings remains unclear, and the White House did not respond to inquiries made by the New York Post.
“All throughout the White House, there is a Soros hold somewhere,” a critic of George Soros, Matt Palumbo, also told the Post. “[Alexander] is his father’s new ambassador.”
The elder Soros has again recently come under fire from right-wing critics recently after it was revealed he donated $1 million to a political action committee that later backed Alvin Bragg – the Manhattan DA pursuing a criminal conviction of Donald Trump. Soros denies directly funding Bragg or even knowing who he was.
Yep, you aren’t left wondering where Bandt falls on the Watermelon divide. Where most of them now reside. The lovable old tree hugging poofs were superannuated out the door a while ago.
JC says:
April 9, 2023 at 10:54 am
Death taxes, anyone?
What’s the level where they don’t impact they’re own constituencies? I reckon it would be around $3 million.
JC,
It won’t be indexed like UK and will gradually creep down from $3 Million and catch all millenials inheritance
Washington and Ike’s Warning On Foreign Policy Greed
Two of our greatest military leaders were also two of our greatest presidents. George Washington and Dwight Eisenhower each issued a compelling Farewell Address that attempted to warn the American people about the dangers of going to war over values instead of interests, of basing foreign policy decisions on sentiment instead of security, and of allowing ideals rather than realities to shape policy choices.
They also tried to warn their countrymen about the insidious nature of foreign influences and the powerful and self-serving influence of the “military-industrial complex,” a phrase made famous in Eisenhower’s 1961 speech.
The issue of a military-industrial complex in America and its influence over our foreign policy seems relevant to the discussion of our interests in Ukraine. The Council on Foreign Relations reports that since the war began, the United States has provided the Kyiv government with more than $75 billion.
Major defense contractors like Raytheon, Boeing, General Dynamics, Northrup Grumman and Lockheed Martin stand to make significant profits from U.S. support for Ukraine.
For their part, top U.S. lawmakers including GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell have voiced bi-partisan support for continued military assistance to Ukraine. Major newspapers in the U.S. have been full-throated supporters of military assistance to Ukraine.
Elite opinion journalists such as Brett Stephens, George Will, Rich Lowry, Max Boot, David Frum, Bill Kristol, and many others have joined the pro-war chorus—some of the very same voices, it is worth noting, who advocated the endless wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The pro-war forces have portrayed the Ukraine war as an existential struggle between the forces of democracy and autocracy. They have compared Vladimir Putin to Hitler. They have called anyone who doubts the wisdom of deeper U.S. involvement in the war “Putin apologists.” They have appealed to the sentiments and values of the American people about the plight of Ukrainians who were unjustly attacked by Russia. They have characterized the Ukrainian president as a hero. They have invoked the “lessons of Munich” and the “domino theory” to justify greater U.S. involvement in the war. One former high-ranking Pentagon official has opined that the future of liberal democracy and Western civilization is at stake in the Ukraine war.
From politics, business, media, and beyond, these modern voices speak up in favor of deepening America’s engagement in Ukraine. Though we cannot measure their impact, history shows they can influence the perceptions of America’s military and civilian leaders.
Happy Easter to everyone.
The Mercure here in Bendigo delivered a chocolate rabbit to all patrons yesterday. I couldn’t wait till today, so I ate the big ears last nite. Now we are sharing the rest of him with our morning tea. He’s not Lindt and he’s not dark choc, so I get the lion’s share now too. Unlike Hairy, I have no refined tastes when it comes to chocolate. If it’s there, it’s fair game.
In the case of Higgins one would also question the ministers eyesight.
Lol, so finally there is a use for gold other than jewelry and coins sitting in a safe.
https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2023/04/07/Denmark-god-superbugs-antibiotics/9431680887044/
Strategy and Weaknesses in Hypersonic Missiles – Friedman, Geopolitical Futures
The Technology of Taming Weapons
The massive spring offensive against Ukraine that Russia threatened has not materialized. This does not mean it won’t happen, but it raises serious questions. A major offensive should not be telegraphed for obvious reasons, and if the secret leaks, it should be launched rapidly. The Russians have not crippled the Ukrainians, nor have they forced the United States to stop sending weapons to support Ukraine on the battlefield. The Russians see themselves as incapable of capitulating or winning a decisive victory.
An alternative strategy is needed. The frequent Russian references to the possible use of nuclear weapons, or breaking with the U.S. on arms controls, make sense in this context.
From the Russian point of view, a nuclear strike creates more problems than solutions. From the American point of view, the defensive posture is inherently dangerous. At the same time, both the Russian and American positions have vulnerabilities built in. Therefore, both sides must create alternatives.
For years, and more intensely in recent months, there has been open discussion on both sides about hypersonic missiles. Hypersonic indicates high speed, as well as long range. What the name does not capture but what is essential is that hypersonics are precision guided.
This means that a guidance system maneuvers the missile to a highly specific target, limiting the need for high explosives with large kill zones and implying hyper accuracy on a strike, allowing precision utilization of intelligence.
Maneuverability indicates the ability to evade enemy defenses.
The rise of hypersonics, coupled with precision and other values, puts nuclear weapons at great risk. Accumulating target intelligence, programming target guidance and maintaining the integrity of the attack vehicle create room for error on a stable platform.
The key weakness remaining with hypersonics is their speed, for which maneuverability doesn’t compensate. To ensure survivability, hypersonics also need extremely high maneuverability. Even more important, their long range allows the use of hypersonics to detect and attack at extreme distance. The ability to detect a maneuvering target creates an envelope of relative safety. Indeed, hypersonics, able to reach Mach 5 or higher and strike long-distance targets, would change the nature of war and make tactical nuclear threats in the current situation difficult.
But that is not yet here.
H B Bearsays:
April 9, 2023 at 9:48 am
Nothing says modern capitalism more than a PM-QANTAS circle jerk. Alas, I can’t see a happy ending. But news for Albo.
I’m sure they both have the wherewithal to give each other a happy ending in what ever form they choose.
Bar Beach Swimmer:
Passing the Voice in a Referendum won’t be the end of the Aboriginal claims – it will be the starting point of the next round of demands.
The Voice will be like a House of Lords based on Race, and staffed with people whiter than the average Australian – like Professor Marcia Langdon. The people living in Wilcannia, Blackstone, and Laverton will still be living in violent and poverty stricken backwaters while the Big Men live in unearned splendour in Canberra and the capital cities.
OldOzzie
The inter generational transfer of wealth will be a big issue. At the moment it is largely being framed in a Boomer v Millenial framework. That won’t be the case in 20 years. We saw it a bit while we were consulting- lots of family businesses being run by 60yo+ founders with no clear succession plan.
Japan and the U.S. Are Considering Joint Development of a Hypersonic Weapon Killer
The two countries both need defenses that can counter Mach 5+ missiles.
The United States and Japan are eyeing joint development of a defense system that can shoot down hypersonic weapons—specifically those that glide through the atmosphere in flight. The two countries, which already cooperate on ballistic-missile interceptors, could extend that partnership using some of the same equipment. Both countries are concerned that Chinese, Russian, or North Korean hypersonic weapons, with blistering fast flight speeds, could overmatch existing defenses.
Japan is beginning work on new, larger rocket motors designed to power a hypersonic-glide-vehicle interceptor, according to the newspaper Nikkei. The system would be partially derived from the SM-3 ballistic-missile interceptor—also a joint U.S./Japanese project—like the SM-3 launched from ships, which comes equipped with the Aegis Combat System. The new interceptor would be designed for area coverage, with the existing Patriot PAC-3 missile providing local defense of point targets.
Hypersonic weapons, or weapons that travel at speeds above Mach 5, have grown popular in recent years due to their ability to skirt existing air and space defenses. Cruise missiles reach their targets by flying low, hugging the ground at subsonic speeds. Ballistic missiles travel at high speed on a ballistic trajectory, arching sharply upward, and then falling to Earth at a high angle. As tricky as they are to intercept, however, defenses exist to counter both.
Hypersonic weapons are different. The most difficult hypersonic weapons to defend against are so-called “boost-glide” hypersonic weapons. Boost-glide weapons launch like ballistic missiles, but stop short of temporarily entering low-Earth orbit. Instead, the weapons tack sharply downward, remaining in the atmosphere and gliding back down to their targets at hypersonic speeds. This flight profile presents defenders with a unique challenge, flying higher and faster than traditional air-defense systems can engage, but lower than the engagement envelope of ballistic-missile interceptors. To top it off, boost-glide weapons can execute sudden, high-speed turns that can complicate a defender’s ability to intercept them.
The sheer speed of hypersonics, coupled with the crowded neighborhood of East Asia, further complicates a defender’s job. China, Russia, and now North Korea all operate—or are working to field—hypersonic weapons.
Japan’s capital of Tokyo is only 1,200 miles from the Chinese capital Beijing, a distance a Mach-10 hypersonic weapon can cross in just over 12 minutes. North Korea’s capital city of Pyongyang and the regional Russian city of Khabarovsk are half as far away; this leaves little time for defenders to intercept hypersonic weapons before they begin raining on their targets.
Even more difficult now as south road has been cut. One road left and it’s under fire control of RUS.
Presumably that was the Rifle Brigade Hotel in View St. Nice old pub right in the heart of the Arts Precinct. Sounds like you have had a great time in Benders, Lizzie? Had I still lived there, I would have asked if I could have joined you all for lunch.
The agenda has been in place since the mid 1970’s – a treaty, massive sums paid in compensation and reparations, and a sovereign Aboriginal State.
Ukraine will ‘disappear’ – Medvedev
Nobody in the world, even its own citizens, really cares about “country 404,” the former Russian president claims
The EU doesn’t need Ukraine because supporting the country amid the conflict with Russia “on the order of their American mentor, plunged the Europeans into a real financial and political hell,” he insisted. Detrimental anti-Russia sanctions, spiking inflation, high energy prices and the “decay” of businesses have already led to protests in various parts of the continent, the official pointed out.
“The prospect of decisively planting Ukrainian blood-sucking parasites on the neck of the shriveling EU” is real and, if it happens, it’s going to signal the demise of the bloc, Medvedev warned.
Kiev’s prime backer, the US, doesn’t need Ukraine either, because most ordinary Americans have no idea where it’s located and consider it “some abstract part of Russia,” the post read. They wonder “why the establishment in the US isn’t trying to deal with inflation and [the lack of] jobs or emergencies in their home states, but is instead occupied with this 404 country,” the former president wrote, referring to the “404 error” protocol in network communications.
Only “political demagogues” in Washington, “who have long conceded their impotence and dementia, are trying to make PR gains from military and sanctions campaigns,” he added.
Africa and Latin America reject Ukraine because the “billions that the US is wasting on senseless battles somewhere in Ukraine would’ve been enough to fund many social-development programs” in those regions, Medvedev wrote.
Asian countries don’t need Ukraine because, through the example of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, “they see how the technologies of ‘color revolutions’ are being developed to eliminate the largest competing powers.
They understand what scenario the collective West, led by the US, has prepared for them in case of disobedience,” the official explained.
Besides, Russia is much closer to such nations as China and India in a geopolitical sense and has historically proven to be their reliable partner, he added.
Russia exit cost foreign retail brands billions – Kommersant
The owners of IKEA, H&M, and Zara were worst hit, according to estimates
Almost by definition referendums must contain a fair proportion of “trust us”. Having seen the propensity of Stone Age Dream Time critters to become in involved in such matters as property development (think the old Swan Brewery, Hindmarsh Island) and the High Court’s treatment of Aboriginal claims (Mabo, Love v Cth) I am reluctant to give them anything more to work with, let alone a blank cheque.
China launches drills with warships and fighter jets around Taiwan
Washington | The chairman of the House Select Committee on China said Saturday (Sunday AEST) the US must take seriously the threat posed to Taiwan, as Beijing launched military drills around the island in the aftermath of the Taiwanese president’s meetings with American lawmakers.
Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., who attended the meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen in California last week, said he plans to lead his committee in working to shore up the island government’s defences, encouraging Congress to expedite military aid to Taiwan.
“I think it all just points to what is obvious,” Gallagher told the AP, arguing that Chinese President Xi Jinping is intent on reunifying Taiwan with the mainland.
“We need to be moving heaven and earth to enhance our deterrence and denial posture, so that Xi Jinping concludes that he just can’t do it,” Gallagher said.
China conducted drills with warships and dozens of fighter jets around Taiwan on Saturday, the Taiwanese government said, in what was viewed as retaliation for the meeting between the US lawmakers and the president of the self-ruled island democracy claimed by Beijing as part of its territory.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy hosted Tsai in a bipartisan session at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, with more than a dozen members of the US House for what was the most sensitive stop during her transit through the US.
China’s response to Tsai’s transit through the US has not, so far, been as intense as its reaction last year after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan.
While both McCarthy and Tsai spoke in measured remarks after the meeting about maintaining the status quo between their countries, which have no formal diplomatic ties, the daylong meeting enraged China.
The Chinese military announced the start of three-day “combat readiness patrols” as a warning to Taiwanese who want to make the island’s de facto independence permanent.
This morning, on Sky, Kieren Gilbert interviewed Luigi. Gilbert asked what if da Voice goes down? Luigi responded that those who rejected the republic referendum because it wasn’t the model they wanted – the direct election model – still haven’t seen a republic these 24 years.
What struck me about this was how similar it was to Marcia Langton’s – “you won’t have any more welcome to country” if you reject the voice – declaration. Luigi was saying – as Marcia is – that the public only gets a vote if the question suits the political class. And if the public wants something else, other than what’s being proposed, then it’s no deal. It’s as if we’re a “naughty child” to them.
Winston, loved the sentiment. But that wasn’t me.
No, no, that must be wrong. Our resident Black Shirt says that TERFs are a Tory plot, and that transgenders simply want to be left in peace to do their own thang.
Tory plot? Shows where that Black Shirt’s head is located, deep in the Albanese universe of fools.
This is in the US. A hideous ideology there, here and also in the UK.
The Original -Interesting Read
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/04/08/intelligence-leak-documents-ukraine-pentagon/
Intelligence leak exposes U.S. spying on adversaries and allies
U.S. and European officials scrambled to understand how dozens of classified documents covering all manner of intelligence gathering had made their way online with little notice
The Justice Department has opened an investigation into the leak. A spokeswoman for Discord, where the earliest known copies of the images were posted, declined to comment.
The full extent of the leak was unclear. The second defense official said that what had appeared online was likely the result of a single disclosure from one tranche of documents, but officials were not yet certain of that.
The 5o pages reviewed by The Washington Post involved nearly every corner of the U.S. intelligence apparatus. The documents describe intelligence activities at the National Security Agency, the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, law enforcement agencies and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) — arguably the most secretive intelligence agency in the government, responsible for a multibillion dollar constellation of spy satellites.
The documents primarily concern the war in Ukraine and demonstrate how the United States is making assessments about the state of the conflict and where it’s headed. That analysis informs major policy decisions by the Biden administration, including what weapons to provide Ukraine and how to respond to Russia’s battlefield strategy.
For instance, a Feb. 23 overview of fighting in Ukraine’s Donbas region forecasts a “grinding campaign of attrition” by Russia that “is likely heading toward a stalemate, thwarting Moscow’s goal to capture the entire region in 2023.”
That confident statement, which is printed in boldface type, is supported by information obtained from “NRO-collected and commercial imagery,” a new generation of infrared satellites, signals intelligence and “liaison reporting,” a reference to intelligence from a friendly government, about the high rate of Russian artillery fire, mounting troop losses and the military’s inability to make significant territorial gains over the past seven months.
The documents also demonstrate what has long been understood but never publicly spelled out this precisely: The U.S. intelligence community has penetrated the Russian military and its commanders so deeply that it can warn Ukraine in advance of attacks and reliably assess the strengths and weaknesses of Russian forces.
A single page in the leaked trove reveals that the U.S. intelligence community knew the Russian Ministry of Defense had transmitted plans to strike Ukrainian troop positions in two locations on a certain date in February and that Russian military planners were preparing strikes on a dozen energy facilities and an equal number of bridges in Ukraine.
The documents reveal that U.S. intelligence agencies are also aware of internal planning by the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency.
One document describes the GRU planning a propaganda campaign in African countries with the goal of turning public support against leaders who support assistance to Ukraine and discrediting the United States and France, in particular. The Russian campaign, the report states, would try to plant stories in African media, including ones that tried to discredit Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
The documents point to numerous intelligence successes by the United States. But they also show how depleted Ukrainian forces have become after more than a year at war.
A senior Ukrainian official on Saturday said the leaks had angered Kyiv’s military and political leaders, who have sought to conceal from the Kremlin vulnerabilities related to ammunition shortages and other battlefield data. The official said he was also concerned that more revelations of classified military intelligence were forthcoming.
In the meantime, some of the now public intelligence could ignite diplomatic controversies.
Isn’t Luigi supposed to be on a 1 week “do not disturb” holiday?
And support for a republic has fallen since.
Zinc tablets associated with 40% less death, half the ICU admission, and a quicker release from hospital
By Jo Nova
Two weeks treatment costs $3.75*
In Tunisia from February to May last year 470 people with Covid were randomly either given 50mg of zinc each day for two weeks or given a placebo. In the zinc group, after 30 days, 6% had died, and 5% had been admitted to intensive care. Meanwhile in the placebo group 9% had died and 11% had gone to the ICU. People taking zinc got out of hospital a few days before the people who didn’t.
Since there were no serious adverse effects in anyone from taking zinc, it’s obvious that good governments were handing out zinc tablets in carparks, schools and shopping malls, thus saving lives, millions of dollars, and keeping hospitals half empty. The rich world looks to healthcare systems like El Salvador. Shame about the other sclerotic swamps and backwaters of crony medicine. Sometimes countries have too much money to get good treatment.
In Australia, the government spent billions on experimental barely-tested vaccines with hidden results and secret contracts.
Our TGA told everyone the vaccines were safe and useful but fined someone $8,000 for advertising on their website that ivermectin and zinc lozenges were effective against Covid.
But who fines the TGA?
Lizzie I had Easrer eggs last night. I can assure you no cocoa solids were present. They may have been chocolate coloured but that was as close as it got. Went to daughters on Friday, 2yo grandson has been having an egg each day for a while now. When we said see you on Sunday, he wanted to know if “the bunny was at our house”. Such a delight.
“It’s now or never” would be quite persuasive to an 18yo Trot. Even one with six houses.
Jo Nova memories from the Past – November 12th, 2021
How many mechanisms do you need? Ivermectin works against Covid in 20 ways
Some claim that we don’t know how ivermectin works, but oh boy we do
Not only do we know how ivermectin protects us, we know many pathways in detail.
Ivermectin is useful at every stage of the disease. In the early stages, it reduces the odds of people getting infected, stops the virus multiplying, which reduces the viral load and the spread of the virus to your friends and strangers on the bus.
It helps our cells warn neighboring cells to get ready for a viral attack. It stops the virus getting through the outside wall of our cells, and also stops parts of the virus getting into the headquarters of our cells, the nucleus, where our DNA is.
Ivermectin is also a zinc ionophone which helps zinc cross into cells so zinc can do the good things zinc does…
As the virus tried to assemble itself inside our cells one of the processing tasks involves chopping long proteins into shorter parts. There are many enzymes involved but ivermectin binds to one key one called a Chymotrypsin-like-protease. Ivermectin also conveniently binds to two of the virus proteins as well (called Mpro and PLpro). Basically, ivermectin is the glue no assembly line wants.
In the late stages, ivermectin is an anti-inflammatory drug that reduces the cytokine storm in something like six different ways.
Ivermectin is not just “gum in the works” it’s a kind of Swiss-knife-Velcro-tool — the most sticky, most useful, lock-and-key anti-viral.
With so many mechanisms of action, it’s difficult for the virus to outsmart ivermectin and mutate around multiple blocks at once. We needed a three-drug-antiviral-cocktail to beat AIDS, but in terms of resistant mutants arising, Ivermectin is an anti-viral cocktail all by itself. (Obviously used as part of a full medical program.)
Two researchers in Italy, Asiya Kamber Zaidi and Puya Dehgani-Mobaraki, published a paper detailing the 20 different levels of action. It’s quite the marvel, and it came out in May. (Don’t our Chief Health Officers read these papers?)
Ivermectin is the new penicillin
Penecillin changed the world. Imagine if they had banned it?
Pity we don’t have Capital punishment for the pollies, health elite and general grifters that have killed countless old people. Never forget, never forgive.
Dover Beach:
Obviously what the set up is here, and has been obvious but unarticulated for over a year. This is a continuation of the lockdown violence by the State, is the one that will finally get a reaction.
I hope everyone is prepared for it but it doesn’t appear so. The beast will not be placated until it gets what it wants – the opportunity to stamp on the human face forever.
G7 likely to back nuclear power amid energy security concerns
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/04/08/national/politics-diplomacy/g7-nuclear-energy-promotion/
China & Malaysia exchanging pleasantries on oil exploration in the South China Sea.
Isn’t Luigi supposed to be on a 1 week “do not disturb” holiday?
He was off after the interview.
Old Ozzie, thank for the Simplicus link. Very interesting this alleged US leak. I’m suspicious but there is a great possibility this is authentic, and it doesn’t paint a bright picture if accurate for any UKR spring offensive.
Will they be paid for their services courtesy the tax payer?
Silly question .. LOL! …
johannasays:
April 9, 2023 at 10:06 am
Updating from the other day, has anyone news of His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition making a connection between housing shortages and importing hundreds of thousands of migrants?
It’s interesting to watch how pollies approach immigration.
Soon after she replaced KRudd, Gillard made some low-key comments, suggesting that she was not really convinced by the “Big Australia” push. Quite soon after, she changed her tune, but it was never clear who said what to her to bring about the change.
To the extent that the Lieborals involve themselves in the debate, they seem to be parroting the “Big Australia” line.
And the same for many others. Thirty or forty years ago, many environmentalists were against increasing population, even the Greens seemed to support that line. Now, the Slime are rabid for an increasing Australian population, at the same time as they screech for “Net Zero”, and demand a reduction in total world population.
It becomes hard to avoid the conclusion that the Green push for an increasing Australian population, in a decreasing world population, is just a means to destroy our prosperity (while they firmly believe that their personal lifestyle will not be affected). Fantasy world.
Huge classified document leak could boost Putin’s war effort by revealing exactly how US is spying on Russia – as officials say it may be impossible to trace leak ‘originally shared on Thug Shaker Central group’
. Classified documents leaked on social media in recent days indicate the Pentagon has been keeping close tabs on allied leaders and officials
. Officials say it could be impossible to track the original source of the leak
. Leak could potentially help Putin’s war effort in Ukraine because it allegedly reveals what U.S. knows, giving Russia a heads up on where to cut sources of info
A massive leak of classified Pentagon documents that revealed how the U.S. is infiltrating Russian intelligence could give Putin’s war effort in Ukraine a huge boost.
The intelligence breach could do damage to Ukraine’s war effort, by exposing what the U.S. knows about the Russia war machine, giving the Kremlin a potential opportunity to cut off the sources of information.
The documents – while up to several months old – offer detailed insights into which Russian intelligence agencies have been most compromised, and clues as to how the United States has gleaned so much secret Kremlin information.
US intelligence on Russia is said to have been so good that Ukraine was given two days notice of a strike on a drone depot. American spies are also said to have deeply-infiltrated Russia’s GRU intelligence agency – the successor to the KGB – and discovered how poorly Putin’s war effort is going.
Things are starting to look dire for Ukr. A strategically unimportant location has cost Ukr immense manpower and material.
Zelenskyy fears Ukrainians will lose the will to fight and push him to negotiate with Moscow if Bakhmut falls
“But the US has downplayed the strategic significance of the city, which had a pre-war population of roughly 70,000. And top military analysts have suggested that Ukraine is hurting its ability to launch another counteroffensive by dedicating valuable personnel and resources to holding Bakhmut. But Zelenskyy and his top military advisors have argued against pulling back their forces, and the Ukrainian leader is seemingly more concerned about the symbolic costs of losing the city than the strategic consequences.”
This looks like a game of chicken. Zelenskiy holding a gun to his armed forces head while holding out for more treasure from the US. Meanwhile the Russians chew through Ukraine’s squandered resources in a place of no real strategic value.
He Is Risen! Happy Easter.
with
Royal Choral Society: ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ from Handel’s Messiah
Another rejected comment at the Paywallian:
I’d never realised how lovely and blue are Marcia Langton’s eyes.
Thanks for this illuminating profile and alerting us to the grim news that voting ‘No’ will mean being turned down for a genuine, authentic, heartfelt, moving, absolutely traditional Welcome to Country.
In our house we have replaced grace before meals with a Welcome to Country delivered by a daughter who identifies as an Aboriginal man.
HBB
and shitty McJobs after Uni.
At what point will it dawn on them that they could have had “shitty McJobs” without incurring a HECS (or whatever the current name is) debt and wasting three or four years of their youth?
According to Sundance those classified docs have been ‘leaked’ intentionally by the US and being positioned as Russian misinformation so they can divert and roll up an embarrassing (for them) video of former French Prime Minister Francois Hollande being spoofed and admitting that the US/allies have been controlling Ukraine since at least 2014 with the intent of ginning up a proxy conflict with Russia.
Should’ve done a trade apprenticeship.
Over 100 More Classified Docs Appear Online: US Secrets ‘From Ukraine To Middle East To China’
The report quotes one analyst who warns this is likely “the tip of the iceberg” and that more major leaks are coming, or possibly have already happened, in something which could begin to rival the ‘Pentagon Papers’ of the Vietnam war era.
Gonzalo Lira
@GonzaloLira1968
Not quite. The Pentagon leak also reveals the Kiev regime is a money-and-weapons black box.
Further, the Pentagon has no real idea of the losses on the UA side—except what Kiev tells them.
It’s like that girlfriend who abuses your credit card, and you have no real idea on what.
Kim Dotcom
@KimDotcom
What the Pentagon leak reveals is that NATO is already at war with Russia, that the Pentagon and not Ukraine is in charge of planning every aspect of the US proxy war and that WW3 seems inevitable.
A former senior Pentagon official, Mick Mulroy, was also quoted as saying this could possibly hinder Ukrainian military planning given that “many of these were pictures of documents” and thus “it appears that it was a deliberate leak done by someone that wished to damage the Ukraine, U.S., and NATO efforts.”
This assessment suggests a leak from inside allied forces, and not from a foreign adversary, even though US officials are accusing Russian-linked entities online of being the chief spreaders of the leaked documents.
US officials are also warning that some of the documents may have been digitally altered to fit a more pro-Kremlin narrative, as we detailed earlier. Twitter has acknowledged that US officials are requesting that it act to scrub classified materials from the platform.
There’s growing concern that the leaks could be coming from within the Ukrainian military…
Pentagon and US intelligence officials are also scrambling to discover the source of the leak in an ongoing investigation. Likely this is to result in greater scrutiny on Kiev and how its chain-of-command handles sensitive data shared from the Pentagon.
Great summary of the US gun situation:
To which you can add that all 5 cities are demorat controlled. And the gun crime in those cities is concentrated in particular black dominated suburbs. That blacks commit ~60% gun crime and are only 13% of the population; and of those blacks its mainly males between 15-25 who are about 10% of the black population; so about 1.3% of the population commit ~ 60% of gun crime.
Jeebus. Check out the face. A three bagger for starters. You’d use that photo to frighten your dog with.
A 21st century Dorian Gray painting, showing the soul.
Deal!
The very first time a tranny showed up in womens sport the women should have walked. They only have themselves to blame.
Mothering instinct towards mentally unwell trannies defeated the logical response of “f’ck off pervert”.
Now women’s sport is being destroyed by the garden variety nasty and violent tranny, they’ve woken up too late.
I think you mean ‘ a government whose policies have caused these 3 problems…’
From Australian Langton sob story.
Not long ago a reply like this would have been censored.
David
1 DAY AGO
Strange as it may seem, I don’t need a welcome to my own country and I can look anyone in the eye any day of the week.
Particularly while I vehemently oppose the enshrinement of race into our Constitution.
I prefer to judge a person by the content of their character, rather than the colour of their skin.
Liked thumb_up 2251
Maybe yes, maybe no. It seems to me that the actual outcome – the disintegration of America – is pretty much what was intended.
Gonzalo Lira
@GonzaloLira1968
Here’s the proof that those fools peddling the nonsense that “It’s all part of their plan!” don’t get it.
The leadership classes in the West are not merely nefarious—they are INCOMPETENT.
All their schemes with the War Over Ukraine blew up in their faces.
Voice ‘a power grab by elites, academics
Yet another.
Amazing how people who are so demonstrably f’cking useless are intent on gaining yet more power.
University semesters and Government sessions should be scheduled around fruit picking season. Do something useful you bloody Mongs!
Winston Smith says:
April 9, 2023 at 12:34 pm
‘Vote ‘No’ and you won’t get a welcome to country again’
If the voice referendum fails, Marcia Langton imagines most non-Indigenous Australians ‘will not be able to look me in the eye’.
https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2023/04/bargain-thanks-marcia-done-deal.html
The Photo of Marcia Langton on the Front Page of The Australian Magazine should be the Permaent Poster for The “NO” Campaign with
‘Vote ‘No’ and you won’t get a welcome to country again’
In Huge Letters under that Photo!
The perverse assumption here is that all non-abo Australians are traumatized with guilt. Elitist and arrogant. She is the best asset the No vote has.
Thanks, areff. Roared laughing.
Indolent says:
April 9, 2023 at 12:44 pm
Maybe yes, maybe no. It seems to me that the actual outcome – the disintegration of America – is pretty much what was intended.
Gonzalo Lira
@GonzaloLira1968
Here’s the proof that those fools peddling the nonsense that “It’s all part of their plan!” don’t get it.
The leadership classes in the West are not merely nefarious—they are INCOMPETENT.
All their schemes with the War Over Ukraine blew up in their faces.
What did $130 billion to Ukraine buy for Americans:
Russia is still in Ukraine and winning
Russia gained 40,000+ sq miles
BRICS+ creates multipolar world
Russia trade with China up 20%
US cost of living crisis
US banks failing
USD losing reserve currency status
Good deal?
I see the university in SF, where Riley Gaines was assaulted and harassed by transgenderists, has released a statement mouthing pablum about diversity, free speech, right to protest in support of the transgenderists and nothing about what actually happened.
Not hypocrisy, hierarchy.
I think that should read ‘illusory prosperity’ – a McMansion and a jetski financed with borrowed money via artificially low interest rates is not prosperity – its a sugar hit.
No…that was the previous government.
Lamb roast being served. Happy Easter or Passover to you all.
Iran and Saudi Arabia: a Chinese win-win
The single Iranian-Saudi handshake buried trillions of dollars of western divide-and-rule investments across West Asia, and has global leaders rushing to Beijing for global solutions.
By
Pepe Escobar
April 07 2023
https://thecradle.co/article-view/23394/iran-and-saudi-arabia-a-chinese-win-win
Anyone who hasn’t built some real wealth over the last few decades is either very poor, very young or very stupid.
Lunch is up!
I see what you did there ‘Winston’
Hi Dover, I’ve sent you some pics.
There’s a difference?
Thanks, Roger, but we had a ginormous brunch with every good thing after church this morning.
‘Built and buried’ I hope – they are coming for your wealth, *all* of it, they have to – there are too many accumulated promises (pensions, aged care, superannuation, NDIS, etc etc etc) to do otherwise. They are going to hoover up every visible cent. They have already started with taxes and inflation (inflation is a direct result of money printing by governments, and is a tax btw).
Cassie of Sydney:
Some may accuse you of hyper bowl, but that doesn’t mean you’re wrong.
It could mean they are wrong.
It could mean they don’t believe the evidence in front of their eyes.
It could also mean they will be the ones who aren’t prepared for when it all turns to shit.
Life is just so full of decisions we’d rather not make because it is uncomfortable.
Choices, Cassie, choices.
Does occasional car sex really believe the mental vomit she throws up or is it scripted? Same with Waters filth?
Has anyone heard about the US ports being shut down over Union demands over meal breaks?
I keep running into paywalls.
Razey, I watched your link and thought “Why does this sound like the ACTU meddling in the electoral process?”
Milton F:
I hope so as well, otherwise it’s it’s going to take a Pinochet style government to throw out the communists.
Razey:
The organisations that being a member of, define you as being a racist right wing threat to the nation.
Woo Hoo!
The trifecta is mine!
And the most “liked” comment is up to 2255 likes.
Rarely have I seen comments higher than 60 – 80 “likes”
About now. Hence the grumbling.
I’ll bet good money that Marcia Langton is one of the urban activists, who sees herself as part of any “Voice.”
From the article in the Oz. I’d be fvcking heartbroken, wouldn’t you?
Damn you Calli!
I’m a near compulsive link clicker and this is one too many times you’ve caught me out.
So cop this!
“…to make me disregard the truth of my own senses.”
From the USSR, back in the day:
”
They lie.
We know they lie.
They know that we know that they lie.
We know that they know that we know that they lie.
And still they lie.
”
This is how the authoritarians work – they make it so you can’t say what you really think.
Then they make it compulsory for you to say what you know is not true.
This isolates people from the truth, a requirement of gaslighting.
You feel alone, you feel no-one else thinks as you do.
So you remain quiet, or say what you know is not true in order to survive.
Your children never hear the truth, and so become your enemy.
This justifies the state removing them from your care.
The gaslighting of the children makes them champions of the state, entrenching their power over you.
They claim to be tolerant, yet refuse to allow you to speak your opinion.
They claim you are racist for wanting race to be irrelevant before the law.
They claim that all cultures are equal, but yours is bad.
They claim you are sexist for wanting to protect biologically smaller and weaker individuals from biologically larger and stronger individuals.
They claim that men and women are interchangeable, ignoring biological reality that they are different, that neither is superior over the the other, but rather complimentary and symbiotic – the sum of the two is greater than the sum of the parts.
They claim that you are responsible for the sins of previous generations, ignoring that those previous generations removed discrimination from the system and demanded that all opinions should be heard.
They claim the capitalism results in oppression of the poor, ignoring that the last 100 years of it has reduced poverty from 90% of the worlds population to less than 10%.
They fly in jets to exotic locations, eat expensive imported food stuffs and wines, and argue over who has done the most to reduce the use of fossil fuels, while agreeing everyone needs to do more and that they need to do the exact same thing next year, but in another place half a world away.
They claim to be champions of democracy, while legislating away your freedom.
They take, never give.
They destroy, never create.
They demand, never negotiate.
They divide, never unite.
They are our “leaders” – poor fella, my country.
Come come now, that volume of traffic at the Oz website is only becasue it’s a slow news week on a long weekend with terrible weather.
But seriously folks…
Reading between the lines of that article, I’ll posit that Langton’s vitriol for European Australia comes for her non-Aboriginal father deserting her part-Aboriginal mother. She’s obviously brainy, but displays the brittle arrogance that comes from anyone who is appointed ruler-for-life.
Midwits like her, Commissioner Clark, Professor Pearson, Dr Mandarlwuy Yunupingu, Senator Thorpe have wielded the whip hand in applying a chokehold to Australia over the obvious atrocities which beset cultures which have not had the discipline of Christian Ethics to temper the largesse of Christian Charity.
Boambee John:
Does this include the Commonwealth troops who rejoined to fight the Norks in 1950-53?
Spot on. I think you’ll find those screeching the loudest for the Voice are those who stand to benefit the most financially from the new rivers of government gold that will flow from it — on top of the $30 billion+ p.a. we already pay in taxes.
But there will be no new government money going to the humpies in Yuendemu or for new Land Cruisers in Yirrkala — just lots of artificial new public service jobs in Canberra and Darwin, all paid for by inflationary borrowings.
In the manner of Departments of Health across this wide brown land.
Buried in expensive infrastructure and sub-committees and focus groups and expense accounts, and Nanna with her broken hip can piss off.