As of 2012, only 52.8 per cent of Tasmanian men and 46.9 per cent of Tasmanian women possess an OECD…
Open Thread – Weekend 25 March 2023
- Open Thread – Mon 25 Nov 2024
- The more you gets the less you eats
- Open Thread – Weekend 23 Nov 2024
- Open Thread – Thurs 21 Nov 2024
- Open Thread – Mon 18 Nov 2024
Fidel wouldn’t be too proud of his boy.
To everyone else who responded to Gabor, when you get cataracts done in both eyes one is done with near…
At the specialist with the old man, up for a new hip… 5-6 months wait on public ( not too…
That the plant at Kwinana?
‘Nimoo are nimoosnart’ is as close as I can get. So far no satori has occurred.
Swimmer Riley Gaines slams ESPN for honoring ‘arrogant cheat’ trans athlete Lia Thomas in Women’s History Month special – as Thomas denies she transitioned to win and says ‘I didn’t have any other choice’
Well said dot.
or “Jessica” Yaniv’s parent free trans teen pool party”
Jonathan Yaniv has a tampon fetish, sending tweets about how he wanted to see naked girls in bathrooms with tampons strings hanging between their legs.
… Jan Morris, the travel writer who was once John Morris, is a case in point that many here would remember.
Jan Morris insisted that he be addressed at all times as a woman.
The dude was about 6’8″ and aggressive, so he probably got what he wanted.
Pace calli…
I don’t doubt that temperament can be inherited, but such artistry is learned.
Johannes has proven himself a very good student.
Sounds like something you might buy in the outer suburbs of the ACT. So I’m told.
Never in a million years would i say suffering from a delusion is sinful.
He certainly has an ability to draw large volumes of sputum sprayed through misaligned teeth.
Cassie of Sydneysays:
March 27, 2023 at 8:16 pm
“Refuse to have sexual relationships with them?”
Indeed. Perhaps the pervert apologist can show the way in this regard.
Interesting point.
m0nty=fa
Are you willing to have sex with a trans-woman (assuming that you were not otherwise committed)? If the answer is NO, then you are discriminating against trans-women.
No. With regard to gaols, everyone is at risk from everyone else. Separating trans people from women is not discrimination, it is acknowledging how dangerous gaols are for anyone who is vulnerable.
Sounds like a job for Malmo mUnty of the Alamo.
If a bloke wants to dress as a woman I have no objection. It’s weird, but I don’t mind weird. If he wants me to call him Loretta, I would probably go along with it.
If he wants me to treat him as a woman, I’m prepared to open doors for him, but that’s as far as I’m going.
“Well said dot.”
Seconded.
The tampon and age appropriateness is gross but if you’re born a man and want muff and have a dick you’re straight with a fetish for cross dressing. No bottom surgery – MAN.
Some of this is just cross dressing too.
I adore beautiful wahmen and this bloke is an ugly cross dressing bloke.
monty: “You’re trying to kill her, you Nazi INCEL!!!!”
“But “she” has a penis and testes, a beer gut, no tits other than bitch tits from being a fat Norf Murican, a beard and an ugly male visage I wouldn’t wish on Clementine Ford…nor can “she” gestate and “she” isn’t a uterine birthing module…and has fantasies of penetrative sex with young wahmen…”
NAZI!
Yep, I’m a regular Wehrmacht soldier cross dressing because I haven’t seen a woman in three months…
Chortle. You’ve twigged to my MO.
The Beloved has believed this for 47 years. Either this is true…or I have conned him in the most horrible way. And I shall continue conning him.
I have no shame.
😀
Are you a religious whacko, Bruce? I never knew that about you. Huh, you think you know a bloke.
Gaols are hell holes and if we approve of them in their current state we approve of torture and rape under state care. I cannot abide by this. They need reform. If we really want some prisoners dead, we should humanely execute them. Prisoners do not get this right to mete out justice.
Apparently the Danish an Dutch gaols are nowhere near as violent as Anglosphere gaols. I know there is a mental health issue of solitude but even having cellmates is a risk.
Oh. You don’t like his depiction of Jacinta. That’s okay. I do.
Monty – It’s written in a certain book. You might like to read it. Could be useful.
Start with Romans 1.
Very interesting. No I don’t go there often and I didn’t know the Blue Oyster does a great Caesar Salad.
https://www.reddit.com/r/lgbt/comments/cgnd74/thoughts_about_jessica_yaniv/
“Dotsays:
March 27, 2023 at 8:51 pm”
Agree.
Now there’s a link that requires care.
Romans 1 Palestine 0?
Or is that the one that starts with asking what the Romans ever did for us.
BoN speaks of hell.
Can’t do that, Bruce. It might frighten the horses.
On a brighter note, Eve Amati is still locked up for a few years yet.
Cassie of Sydneysays:
March 27, 2023 at 8:39 pm
or “Jessica” Yaniv’s parent free trans teen pool party”
Jonathan Yaniv has a tampon fetish, sending tweets about how he wanted to see naked girls in bathrooms with tampons strings hanging between their legs.
Now, now, m0nty=fa has assured us that this is completely normal, and anyway there are assault laws to cover any misdeeds.
But he wants them to have an exemption from indecent exposure laws.
I’ll more than happily leave it to God to deal with the personal accounting thereof, but delusional thinking is certainly a rotten fruit of original sin.
Not all some are akin to a boys camp. TV, separate dormitories.
Dawkins tried to turn that on its head.
Certainly frightens Monties.
I should ask him if he’s read Josephus, but I can’t be bothered.
Roger, I think Abraham knew the heart of God, when he said “Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?” Gen 18:25. When I have no real answer, that is what I always return to. His decision is final, and right.
So far Cats have called trans people perverts, criminals, mentally ill and going to Hell.
Well, at least it distracts you from the election.
He’s fun. Currently he’s burning bridges like a dragon from GoT.
Richard Dawkins says JK Rowling being ‘bullied’ by trans activists: ‘There are 2 sexes’ (22 Mar)
Monty
Hang on, I thought you have been saying there’s no difference.
So what you’ve just admitted is trans women are in fact not women.
He surely will.
His word is good.
M0nty, can I add to that description?
“Trans people” are, like so many, oppressed and troubled. They are fragile and easily swayed by cruel opportunists. They deserve kindness and pity. They also deserve time, especially if they are very young.
And, hiding within the maelstrom that is “trans” are the wicked. I’ve worked it out, why can’t you?
Only some are criminals.
I’m amused that the climate crazies screech about thermageddon with no data to support it, yet we Christians have a serious and deep claim to armageddon which not only has stood unchallenged for millennia but which can claim billions of believers.
The new religion kid on the block claims it knows everything. Yup, sure, sonny boy.
So Dan has gone to China, is he going to sign up to China’s Belt and Road?
I think we all suffer the consequences of original sin, and I’m not going to assume people with dysphoria are hellbound.
The God I believe in is loving and merciful and wants all of us to dwell with him.
If we end up in hell, it’s a choice we made, of our own free will.
Just don’t roll out the heavy weaponry.
Not even for m0nster.
I barely dare breathe his name.
…
Titus.
Isn’t the Bee just great.
Sancho:
I’m not prodding – what I am doing is remarking that the rhetoric hasn’t matched the action for the last dozen or so years. I find that hypocritical.
So, he’s kind of like the video ref in the bunker at NRL games?
… that he is pretty retarded
What rhetoric and by who? Robert.
Well.
Did you pose that question under the Gateway Pundit piece?
He’s not prodding, sanchez. He’s just kidding like all the other times. He’s such a choker.
Oh, I mean joker. 🙂
” These projects affect their ability to hold ceremony on country,”
While the rest of the country moves through the twenty first century…
It must be fun being on the Fed police and ASIO watch list.
I hope you are not implying he has deprived anyone of oxygen?
Oh.
Joker.
As you were.
Cassie of Sydney:
S
Don’t be surprised if he does. He thinks the Australian Communist Party is invulnerable now that they own all the mainland.
Monty:
it is acknowledging how dangerous gaols are for anyone who is vulnerable
Again, Monty, thank you for acknowledging that humans – all humans, including female humans – can be made vulnerable, given the right circumstances.
Settings other than gaols, including change rooms and toilets, also raise the risk of vulnerability for females vis-à-vis males. Whether you want to hear it not, some transgenders are sexual deviants who are a risk to children and women.
On the vulnerability of transgenders: many suffer from mental disorders, as Dot pointed out. As such, allowing them access to female spaces may only antagonise their suffering. For as they seek acceptance from those whose own vulnerabilities to the experience leave them unlikely to want to accept their presence, their mental health may be at further risk. Thus showing that it remains unlikely that there could be a happy ending if female only spaces are allowed to be legally intruded on.
More fun being the watched than being the watcher.
Imagine having to monitor letters to the editor of non-descript Queensland newspapers, cane-trucker CB radio conversations and remote area iodine purchases.
It must have been a Hell of a week on the stockmarket.
JC has called in his posse so he can scream abuse at me, verbal, and portray me as as something I’m not.
Get some therapy JC – your blood pressure will thank you.
I’m not playing your silly little game.
It’s very simple. Trannies are:
1. Mentally ill;
2. Misfits, unable to operate in normal society;
3. Taking the piss; and/or
4. Predators, using unwitting handpatters to open a window of sexual opportunity that would otherwise be unavailable to them.
That’s it. That’s all it is.
Be warned:
https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/hacking/major-cybersecurity-warning-for-australian-google-users/news-story/aa599eb38dc7ffe378323739254d71f0
Nothing to do with the stockmarket, Turtlehead.
You frequently make these calls to incitement. You’re going to end up and a watch list (deservedly so, in my opinion. It could also cause this blog to be closed down by WordPress. You freaking dickhead.
Tell the Fed police or the WordPress that you’re only kidding. You moron.
It’ll be misguided if you include me in that Robert.
This will only get much much worse with Commie Elbo in charge:
From a comment in Macro business:
A couple of months ago my wife and I took our daughter to A&E in a major city hospital in Australia because she’d broken a toe. While we were waiting (5.5 hours, all up) a young woman, or a girl really, was having a miscarriage. My wife pleaded with the triage nurses to take her in quickly, but no dice. There was no capacity, even for emergencies. The girl miscarried in the toilets adjacent to the waiting room, with my wife the only person there with her.
Australia already has medical rationing. It’s just not official.
Bespoke
He always plays like the victim when he receives a clipping.
Given the current state of the world, it is simply not a smart idea to incite violence or even the appearance of violence today.
For the reasons I’ve stated, it’s not just a lousy idea—really it’s terrible.
Little Miss Victim, Nurse Betty wants to play the victim card since it’s all she has.
The truth is that in the modern age, such kind of dialogue could lead to the closure of this blog.
I questioned your call to arms from half a world behind the proposed front line.
No screaming.
Just a gentle questioning as to why you see the need to incite others to react to something which you admit has nothing to do with you, and which you personally don’t intend to act upon.
And nobody “called anyone into a posse”.
It is just possible that you said something so ill-advised that 3-4 people independently responded.
Once Mabo meets Climate Change Adam Bandt will be redundant.
So far Cats have called trans people perverts, criminals, mentally ill and going to Hell.
Only some are criminals.
More than some:
https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/this-never-happens?s=r
Comparisons of official MOJ statistics from March / April 2019 (most recent
official count of transgender prisoners):
76 sex offenders out of 129 transwomen = 58.9%
125 sex offenders out of 3812 women in prison = 3.3%
13234 sex offenders out of 78781 men in prison =
16.8
This from a group of which about 0.5% of adults 18-24 identify as transgender, and 0.3% of adults 65 and older identify as transgender.
Dickless is a special type: transdick.
Amusing clip from Tony Heller on A.I. / ChatGPT.
27 Mar 2023
A general misunderstanding of computers and their limitations is at the core of climate alarmism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBZIM4rNq78
Yeah, naaa. It’s just the stock market LOL
. He’s a total whack job. You raised the issue first and he then suggests I’m raising a posse. Incredibly twisted.
Excuse me, I’m looking for the pile on.
I blame the iodine.
Ask the Turtlehead as he feels being set upon because some of us recoil at this periodic calls to arms. He’s the victim though. Ask him, he’ll tell you.
Stay out of it, champ.
And put some trousers on.
fap, fap, fap
Top three
Some other trans stats:
Data indicate that 82% of transgender individuals have considered killing themselves and
40% have attempted suicide, with suicidality highest among transgender youth.
Trans are disturbed people who are being used by the left. They have been designated a victim of Western society to attack Western society. As usual, with all the left’s victims, victimhood makes their condition worse.
China could be ‘safe haven’ amid banking turmoil – Citi
More international capital is likely to flee from Western markets to Asia, according to experts
The unfolding banking crisis in the US and Europe, which has shattered investor confidence in the Western financial system, could highlight China as a “relative safe haven,” economists at Citi said in a note seen by CNBC.
The Chinese economy could see accelerated expansion this year, giving the country a “hedge” for growth while economies in the US and Europe face heightened risk of financial disruption, according to the note.
“We have long been discussing our view that China can be a major growth hedge this year – if anything, recent global banking stresses perhaps have strengthened this thesis,” a team led by Citi’s Chief China economist Xiangrong Yu reportedly stated.
“China could at least be a relative ‘safe haven’ given its growth premium, financial soundness, policy discipline and the new political economy cycle,” the economists argued.
They pointed to the recent decision by the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) to cut its reserve requirement ratio (RRR), saying the move showed “reassurance of policy support amid global volatilities.”
The regulator reduced the ratio for almost all banks by 25 basis points last week, with the move widely viewed as an attempt of ensuring liquidity in the banking system.
“Perhaps taking lessons from what the US has been going through in recent years, the PBoC has been prudent in easing even during the pandemic era and may quickly switch to a wait-and-see mode once growth is back on track,” the analysts wrote.
They also noted the Chinese government’s restructuring earlier this month as part of the effort to ease financial risks.
According to CNBC, Citi also expects to see the onshore yuan strengthening against the US dollar as soon as September, which would bring the renminbi to its strongest levels since April last year.
“With the unintended and undesirable from aggressive interest rate hikes surfacing abroad, capital inflows into China could resume after they reopen trade if the recovery thesis plays out and political rerating is steadily ongoing,” Citi concluded.
There’s no future for conservatives if young people have nothing to conserve
Gray Connolly – SMH – March 27, 2023 — 3.30pm
Excerpts:
The Duke of Wellington once summarised his genius as a soldier and Tory British prime minister with simplicity: “All the business of war, indeed all the business of life, is to endeavour to find out what you don’t know from what you do: that is what is called ‘guessing what’s on the other side of the hill’.”
The Coalition held power for nine years federally and 12 years in NSW – and did nothing, at all, to expand the supply and affordability of housing, especially for younger people.
To continue Wellington’s metaphor, Saturday also saw what was “on the other side of other electoral hills” in seats such as East Hills, Parramatta and Ryde, where Labor took suburban seats from the Liberals, who look likely to cling to Winston Hills despite a 5 per cent swing against them. Menzies’ “forgotten people” did not forget to exact their revenge on the Liberals who had forgotten them.
These different “electoral envelopment” attacks from the Left by Labor, and from the NIMBY fringes by the teals, means the Coalition is electorally ambushed by a problem entirely of its own making: the lack of home ownership by under-50s in Greater Sydney. Yes, under 50s.
The lesson of the past two years’ successive electoral Waterloos is that the Coalition has to learn, as Wellington did when prime minister himself, that state power must be wielded to ensure that more and more people have a stake in the society.
Mines, Depleted Uranium, and Important Addendums
Not quite a SITREP, but some updates on important topics in the battlespace.
Simplicius The Thinker
I wanted to follow up with a little explanatory piece about two currently crucial issues faced by the Russian side in the war.
Firstly, there’s the topic of DU—depleted uranium. Britain has announced that it will be supplying DU penetrator rods along with its Challenger-2 tanks. As you know, with my analysis, I always strive to uncover the small unspoken things under the hood, the angles that the more ‘mainstream’ narratives fail to see, acknowledge, or understand.
First, a very brief summary of what DU rods are. It’s very simple: tank armor is mostly made of steel. If you shoot an ammo APFSDS (Armor Penetrating Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot) round that is also made out of steel, then you’re basically hitting the enemy tank with a round made of the same density/hardness, which, by way of the eternal Newtonian Laws, would cause the steel round to mushroom and break apart, for the most part, from the much sturdier opposing force of the tank armor.
So militaries began to use Tungsten rounds. Tungsten is much harder/denser than steel, in fact it’s even denser than pure Uranium. However, Tungsten is much more rare and expensive. Depleted Uranium has similar hardness though but is cheaper because it’s literally made from radioactive waste / byproduct from nuclear power plants, which they no longer need. It’s of course mostly denuded of its radioactivity, but a small amount remains.
So Tungsten or Uranium hitting steel armor is a far denser force going against something like a knife through butter. In reality, it’s much more complicated and detail-intensive, as Tungsten in some ways is even superior to DU, but it is much more expensive.
A table like the one below shows that WHA (90% Tungsten alloy) actually penetrates better than DU with certain variables and velocities in place. But the bottom line to understand is that DU penetrates far better than regular steel-tipped rounds, and is much cheaper to make than Tungsten.
British defense ministry has issued a statement, citing ‘independent research from scientists’, that any adverse health effects from DU are minimal: Video.
It’s difficult to fully verify, particularly due to the fact that its so greatly in the U.S. and West’s interests to sweep under the rug and memory hole such research, but the numbers floating around the internet are along these lines:
This is corroborated by articles from a long time ago, perhaps when it was a little easier to publish ‘inconvenient’ facts, before Big Tech completely fettered the internet with their barbaric ‘WrongThink’ cleansing algorithms. This Guardian article from 2009 for instance, confirms a 15x increase in birth defects in infants.
But there are two ways to think about this. The first is that, the Battles of Fallujah, which are the primary culprits where this DU poisoning took place, were maybe two months long in total, combined. That means, we can consider the fact that in only two months of firing DU in Fallujah, they poisoned the population to such a degree as to affect upwards of 14% of births with defects.
Many or most of us agree that the Ukrainian war will drag on perhaps for several years. So imagine what type of contamination would result from a period of DU usage that is 10x or 20x longer than the Fallujah battles which scoured and poisoned the landscape?
The only check we can put on that thought, is the argument that perhaps the US/UK fired such a vast volume of DU in that short time, owing to the fact that they used far more DU-capable armor, that it would still constitute a greater total DU usage than all of Ukraine could accumulate even over the course of two of three years of fighting. We must remember that the coalition’s DU usage was not limited merely to MBT (Main Battle Tanks) but several other systems, including A-10 Warthogs spraying 30mm DU rounds at ungodly RPM’s into everything in the landscape.
So this argument will hinge on how many total DU-capable systems Ukraine will receive. For now, as I understand it, only the UK with their Challenger tanks has openly offered DU rounds, and currently the pledged supply of those tanks is low.
However, given the far greater intensity of this conflict compared to Iraq, we also know that tanks on the frontline fire exponentially more rounds in general, than any other recent conflict. So there is merit in assuming that perhaps the total accumulation of DU round usage in Ukraine over the course of two, or three, or even more years, could still equal or greatly surpass the usage in the Iraq war. Particularly if 1.) the UK eventually pledges/delivers more Challengers and 2.) if the US and/or other countries likewise join the call and supply DU rounds to the tanks they’re delivering.
On the second point, there was this unconfirmed report/RUMINT:
At the same time, it turns out that the upcoming British delivery will be only a pilot project before the mass deliveries of American 120-mm M829A1 and M829A2 shells, also with a depleted uranium core.
So in short, it is plausible that the Donbass region could face massive contamination, perhaps even eclipsing that of the Chernobyl exclusion zone. And guess what? The AFU commanders would gleefully and gladly help effect such a scenario; they would view irradiating the Donbass, and making the land there uninhabitable, as a delicious ‘just desserts’ against Russia for having ‘taken it’ from them.
As a corollary, one source stated that the US has used 300 tons of depleted Uranium in Iraq. Given that US DOD’s official numbers show that 0.3% of DU is active U, we can do the following basic math. 300 tons converted to pounds is = 660,000lbs. And 0.30% of 660k lbs is 1,980lbs. That means the US dumped almost a full ton (~2000lbs) equivalent of full-on radioactive Uranium on Iraq.
According to the Iraqi government, in 2005 the cancer incidence in the country because of the use of depleted uranium rose from 40 to 1,600 cases per 100,000 people. There has also been a 25% increase in cancer incidence in the countries of the former Yugoslavia.
After the use of depleted uranium shells, large areas of crops on Ukrainian territory will be contaminated, and radioactive substances will be spread through vehicles to the rest of the territory. This would cause enormous economic damage to Ukraine’s agro-industrial complex, bringing down any export of agricultural products from Ukraine.
However, the bigger issue in Uranium is not its radioactivity per se, but rather its ‘chemical toxicity’. It is heavily toxic to the environment, like other ‘heavy metals’ such as mercury, lead, etc., and carcinogenic due to the way its molecules displace vital nutrients in our organs, lymph nodes, etc., causing breakdowns in DNA structure, amongst other things.
And to compound this, Iraq was mostly desert while Ukraine is full of farm fields which will be cultivated, and the food grown there eaten by millions of people which will greatly spread the toxicity and exponentially compound the amount of potential damage to the population.
Several Russian politicians, for their part, have reacted with statements:
The risk from DU isn’t radioactivity but heavy metal chemical toxicity.
You know, the same thing that tungsten has.
Good god this is bullshit. Please stop.
Well, he can’t sign up, but he can beg for cash to buffer his mega-deficit, presumably via discounts on projects with Chinese companies or some such, i guess.
Much more likely is that he’s been called to Head Office for his regular Performance Review.
A final thing about air defense, and training of the AFU in general.
One report claimed the following:
There is information that the AFU lost almost all Western IRIS-T and NASAMS air defense systems, and there are losses among the trained officer personnel.
This information is partly confirmed by yesterday’s statement of the Norwegian Minister of Defense, Bjorn Arild Gram, about the delivery of least two air defense systems, NASAMS, to the Armed Forces of Ukraine because “Ukraine needs additional means of air defense.” They will send it together with the United States.In addition, the Norwegians promised to train Ukrainian operators to operate the systems.
John Kirby stated:
The Patriot air defense system will not help Ukraine against Russian cruise missiles, White House Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby said.
“The Patriot system is designed to intercept ballistic missiles, it is not as effective against cruise missiles, and it will definitely not be effective against drones,” Kirby said in an interview with CNN, adding that it is precisely such weapons that Russian forces often use. He added that the limited capabilities of Ukraine in intercepting hypersonic missiles are not surprising either. “Hypersonic missiles, in general, are very difficult to intercept,” Kirby explained.
This is very interesting in light of the fact that just two days ago an American base was hit by cheap Iranian drones, with casualties. U.S. is now scrambling to find out ‘what went wrong’ with their vaunted air defense systems:
They quickly tried to save face with the proven Zelensky method:
The fact of the matter is, time and time again we have seen the American AD fail in every real world encounter. In Saudi Arabia the Patriot system was decimated by Houthi strikes, and had no effect whatsoever in protecting the valuable Saudi oil fields when Houthi strikes wreaked havoc on their oil facilities. From the wiki article on those strikes:
The Abqaiq oil facility was protected by three Skyguard short-range air defense batteries. Neither the Skyguards nor the other Saudi air-defense weapons — MIM-104 Patriot and Shahine (Crotale) — are known to have brought down any of the attacking weapons. A CNBC report offered multiple potential explanations, including that Patriot is optimized for interceping “high-altitude ballistic missiles” and that the Saudi troops operating the defenses “have ‘low readiness, low competence, and are largely inattentive.’”
The Crotale mentioned above also happens to be a system already supplied to Ukraine as well.
Meanwhile, spokesman for the AFU, Yuriy Ignat, openly gave his verdict on which Russian systems Ukraine can and can’t shoot down:
The rating of Russian missiles according to the speaker of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Yuriy Ignat, who said that Ukrainian air defense can shoot down and what can not.
Capable:
– “Caliber” (3M14)
– X-101/X-555/X-55 (Kh-101)
– R-500 (9M728)
– X-59 (Kh-59)
– X-35. (Kh-35)
Completely Incapable:
– 9M723 – ballistic missile “Iskander-M”
– MLRS rockets, such as “Smerch”
– X-22 – long-range supersonic cruise anti-ship missile
– R-800 – coast-based cruise missile “Onyx”
– X-47 – hypersonic aeroballistic missile “Dagger” (Kh-47 Kinzhal)
– X-31P – aviation anti-radar missile (Kh-31P SEAD missile)
– S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles.
And lastly, an analysis by Russia’s RYBAR about how the West is training the AFU reprinted in full:
In October, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said that by the end of March , more than 11,000 Ukrainian soldiers are planned to be trained at the training grounds of NATO countries. For the whole of 2023, their number may exceed 30 thousand people: the British have already trained 10 thousand people since June 2022, another 15 are planned to be trained in other European countries.
Main problem
It is difficult to apply the acquired skills on the battlefield: numerous prisoners (including from the elite 45 or 95 Air Assault Brigade) who were trained in NATO countries have repeatedly questioned the effectiveness of training according to Western methods. According to them, at best, the training was superficial and did not guarantee an advantage on the battlefield.
What’s wrong with learning?
Western countries have not been involved in high-intensity conflicts since the Vietnam War, and in some cases since World War II. The result is logical: people are trained according to the patterns of wars in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.
Trial and error method
The other side of the problem is the lack of real experience in combat firing from various complexes. For example, the NLAW, Panzerfaust 3 anti-aircraft systems or Gepard anti-aircraft installations before the SMO were used to a limited extent only during the exercises . Now NATO is actively adopting the experience of the SMO for a new training program, but it will take years to implement it.
Yes, Ukrainian formations are fully mastering the entire range of weapons in combat conditions – moreover, in a much shorter time than at Western training grounds. But training is conducted, often, almost by trial and error .
What about the training base?
For the effective training of Ukrainian formations in the West, there is not enough equipment, weapons and material resources. Prior to the start of the SMO in the West, such simulators were ordered exactly as much as was needed to train the regular number of cadets. At the moment, there are not enough such complexes for everyone.
Shot from machine guns during training abroad often does not exceed two magazines (50-60 rounds), and weapons for this are brought from nearby units.
What follows from this?
Despite loud statements about the huge number of Ukrainian units trained according to NATO standards, there are problems in the effectiveness of training. Moreover, they accumulate like a snowball, because in the West they rely on training the maximum number of people in a short time.
There is no need to talk about the quality of training in such conditions.
From the initial 5-7 weeks, the training program for the infantry formations of the Armed AFU has already been cut to three, and in the case of combined arms units to two.
Probably, by October-November, the number of Ukrainian units trained according to NATO standards will indeed reach 30,000 people.
After returning to the battlefield, soldiers and officers of the AFU face real conditions that are very different from theoretical ones.
And this has all been confirmed and verified by a multitude of AFU prisoners taken recently, including several in the Kremennaya direction who have spoken on this specifically. For instance, this story of AFU troops who trained for a month in the UK and were captured in the first 20 minutes of their very first battle:
This is complete garbage.
Depleted uranium is pyrophoric.
Basically it’s like using an APFSDS round and WP (Willy Pete, white phosphorous) in one round.
It means as it penetrates armour and deforms, the spalling is more combustible than steel or tungsten and it can catch fire and explode as it deforms and self sharpens.
Yes, there is good reason for Russia to squeal. Their old pre Nixon era tanks are going to get smoked.
That is true of any group, including women.
You lot never sound so unhinged as when you start rolling out biblical references. What next, exorcisms and witch burning?
That was also Howard’s plan with the privatisation of Telstra, turning everyone into petty bourgeoisie with a share portfolio starter pack. That seems to have gone by the wayside, hasn’t it?
Americans Pull Back From Values That Once Defined U.S., WSJ-NORC Poll Finds
Patriotism, religious faith, having children and other priorities that helped define the national character for generations are receding in importance to Americans, a new Wall Street Journal-NORC poll finds.
The survey, conducted with NORC at the University of Chicago, a nonpartisan research organization, also finds the country sharply divided by political party over social trends such as the push for racial diversity in businesses and the use of gender-neutral pronouns.
Some 38% of respondents said patriotism was very important to them, and 39% said religion was very important. That was down sharply from when the Journal first asked the question in 1998, when 70% deemed patriotism to be very important, and 62% said so of religion.
The share of Americans who say that having children, involvement in their community and hard work are very important values has also fallen. Tolerance for others, deemed very important by 80% of Americans as recently as four years ago, has fallen to 58% since then.
Bill McInturff, a pollster who worked on a previous Journal survey that measured these attitudes along with NBC News, said that “these differences are so dramatic, it paints a new and surprising portrait of a changing America.’’ He surmised that “perhaps the toll of our political division, Covid and the lowest economic confidence in decades is having a startling effect on our core values.’’
A number of events have shaken and in some ways fractured the nation since the Journal first asked about unifying values, among them the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the financial crisis of 2008 and subsequent economic downturn and the rise of former President Donald Trump.
The only priority the Journal tested that has grown in importance in the past quarter-century is money, which was cited as very important by 43% in the new survey, up from 31% in 1998.
Aside from money, all age groups, including seniors, attached far less importance to these priorities and values than when pollsters asked about them in 1998 and 2019. But younger Americans in particular place low importance on these values, many of which were central to the lives of their parents.
Some 23% of adults under age 30 said in the new survey that patriotism was very important to them personally, compared with 59% of seniors ages 65 or older. Some 31% of younger respondents said that religion was very important to them, compared with 55% among seniors.
Only 23% of adults under age 30 said that having children was very important.
To Kevin Williams, a commercial and residential painter in Bend, Ore., many of these values are linked. Mr. Williams, 33 years old, said he thought that patriotism is declining as a civic value in tandem with rising individualism, a sense of entitlement among many people and a decline in community involvement, possibly because of people focusing on their own racial or cultural backgrounds rather than what Americans have in common.
“I think patriotism encompasses being part of your community and helping other Americans,’’ said Mr. Williams, who said he coaches youth sports and volunteers with a group that provides security at protests and rallies.
Mr. Williams said that, as a middle-school student at the time of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, he knew then that he would join the military. “I just felt that I wanted to do my part to protect my country,’’ said Mr. Williams, who supported former President Donald Trump’s two White House campaigns. He eventually served four years in the Marines.
To Janet Boyer, a former Pentecostal minister who lives in Cumberland Township in Southwestern Pennsylvania’s coal country, patriotism has taken on a political sheen and is no longer important to her. “For me, patriotism has turned into right-wing nationalism,’’ said Ms. Boyer, who backed President Biden in 2020.
Political divisiveness also weighs on her. “Back in the day, Republicans and Democrats had a sense of deference to one another,’’ said Ms. Boyer, 52, a self-help author and jewelry designer. “They didn’t act like they were in a schoolyard trying to be vengeful and reactive.”
Asked what values unite the nation, Elana Reiser, 43, of Brookhaven, N.Y., pointed to economic opportunity. “No matter your starting point, you can always become successful,’’ she said.
Some 21% in the survey said that America stands above all other countries in the world, a view that some call American exceptionalism. Half said that America is one of the greatest countries, along with some others. The share who said other countries are better than the U.S. rose to 27%, up from 19% when the same question was asked in 2016.
Ms. Reiser said that, as a university math teacher, she knows that other countries rank higher on tests of math performance. She said longer vacations and maternal leaves in some European countries mean they have a better quality of life. “In America, you basically have to work your whole life, and you don’t get breaks,’’ she said.
Jennifer Benz, vice president of public affairs and media research at NORC, said that views in the survey might have been colored by the downbeat economic outlook that the poll also found. “People are just sort of down on everything about the country,” she said.
The survey found sharp differences by political party on social issues that have gained prominence.
It asked whether society had gone far enough—or had gone too far—when it comes to businesses taking steps to promote racial and ethnic diversity. Just over half of Republicans said society had gone too far, compared with 7% of Democrats. Some 61% of Democrats said diversity efforts hadn’t gone far enough, compared with 14% of Republicans.
Three quarters of Republicans said society had gone too far in accepting people who are transgender, while 56% of Democrats said society hadn’t gone far enough.
Overall, 63% of people in the survey said that companies shouldn’t take public stands on social and political issues, while 36% of people said companies should take such stands. Among Republicans, 80% opposed companies doing so, while 56% of Democrats favored the idea.
Half of people in the survey said they didn’t like the practice of being asked to use gender-neutral pronouns, such as “they’’ or “them,’’ when addressing another person, compared with 18% who viewed it favorably. Some 30% of respondents under age 35 viewed the practice favorably, compared with 9% of seniors.
The Journal-NORC survey polled 1,019 people from March 1-13, mostly online. The margin of error was plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.
Differences in how the new poll and prior surveys were conducted might account for a small portion of the reported decline in importance of the American values tested. Prior surveys, conducted for the Journal and NBC News, used live interviewers to reach people by phone.
Dot – Remember at 99 to change hands or get Monty to help you!
Remember to know what the f&^$ you’re talking about next time, idiot.
LOL. Russia has VAST stockpiles of DU munitions. It’s depraved Potato Heads Abrams tanks that are going to get ‘smoked’.
Warriors Don’t Want to Fight for a Woke, Anti-American Military
The touchy-feely, group hug–loving mandarins proved experts in Critical Race Theory but poor problem-solvers when tasked with the actual duties of their jobs — building and maintaining lethal military forces filled with top-notch warriors who will fight to win. Intentionally dividing Americans against each other and pouring salt in old wounds obliterate personnel cohesiveness. As Representative Elise Stefanik succinctly concluded: “Biden’s woke agenda comes at the expense of our military’s readiness.”
Listening to high-ranking Defense Department bureaucrats bloviate and spin lies just as effortlessly as the politicians in D.C. always puts a bad taste in my mouth. It is an unfortunate truth that rank and promotion within the armed services are just as tainted by the same loathsome “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” disease that infects the rest of the federal government’s compromised workforce. The end result is that, with a few notable exceptions, those who make it to the top of the military’s hierarchy are light on talent and wisdom but weighed down with incompetence, craven career considerations, and an exuberant penchant for cocktail-circuit politicking.
The “best and brightest” generally tend to find themselves prevented from ever rising high enough to challenge the ruling mediocrity, while the self-promoting shallow thinkers are rewarded for their easily maintained vassalage. You end up with a command structure proficient in undermining America’s strategic security posture and incapable of recruiting, maintaining, or strengthening the globe’s premier fighting force. Woke joke Joint Chiefs chairman Mark Milley and retired four-star general and current secretary of defense Lloyd Austin typify this tragedy. Milley is more comfortable talking about “white rage” than meeting force readiness goals. Austin is so committed to pushing propaganda narratives around the world that he’s willing to demean himself (and Americans) by showing up on foreign soil wearing enough personal protective equipment to ward off COVID to look like a frightened hypochondriac unexposed to the brutal conditions of war. Both parrot leftist gobbledygook as their secular faith; both look too fat to survive a routine obstacle course; and neither ever speaks about Americans’ historic sacrifices for freedom and human equality. These guys couldn’t lead a self-help group, let alone the most lethal fighting force in the world.
Why are recruitment numbers in the toilet? Because hardworking, athletic, intelligent warriors who pursue excellence in their lives want nothing to do with a woke, anti-American, politically correct nut-job factory invested in a Marxist worldview and promoting an overtly anti-Christian, anti-conservative, anti-white agenda. That answer is so obvious that just as with every other important issue of the day — “green” energy-induced inflation, central bank money-printing, government censorship, open borders, warrantless surveillance, surging crime, global war — normal people know what’s going on, while only America’s leaders choose to play dumb (although, in their defense, many aren’t playing).
What makes a superior warrior? An individual willing to rise every day and push his body and mind to the limits. Someone who is capable of taking an absolute beating yet unafraid to get back up and continue the fight. A person who is constantly working to get stronger, be tougher, think more clearly, and achieve tomorrow what could not be achieved today. A warrior works all the time because when he is not working, someone else is, and when those two meet on a battlefield, only one will walk away.
That is not the mindset of today’s woke armed services. Whining, psychobabble, coddling, and grievance-conditioning do not create a superior fighting force. “Safe spaces,” fear of “triggering” words, and fixation on personal pronouns make minds weak
Why is the military failing? Because it has turned its back on authentic warriors while licking the boots of the nation’s woke wimps.
Chur, chur. Chobham armour is complete crap and doesn’t use DU liners to defeat those rounds.
It’s ironic that the Donbass has been native Russian since ancient times. Yet these first nations people weren’t allowed a ‘voice’ to Ukraine Parliament.
Fyodor Lukyanov: What you need to know about Russia-China relations, but were afraid to ask
Russia’s top foreign policy expert answers four key questions about the growing partnership
By Fyodor Lukyanov, the editor-in-chief of Russia in Global Affairs, chairman of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, and research director of the Valdai International Discussion Club.
So much has been said about Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia last week, that the descriptive genre has been exhausted. What is needed instead is either details on specific aspects or some sort of in-depth socio-cultural analysis. That will no doubt be done by specialists in those areas, so we will confine ourselves here to brief answers to the most frequently asked questions.
Are Russia and China allies?
Both countries have limited experience of alliances and are not really inclined towards this form of relationship. Such a declaration implies a commitment and, more importantly, a limitation of one’s own interests and capabilities in favor of the other state. If it is reciprocal, it is fine – and can be mutually beneficial – but the dominant attitude in both Chinese and Russian political logic is freedom of action and maximum sovereignty. As a result, both Moscow and Beijing shy away from describing their relationship as an alliance, preferring more fluid phrases. This has happened again. It should be noted, however, that the expressions used by Xi come perhaps as close to the idea of an alliance (as is possible in Chinese culture) without using the term.
Is the relationship equal?
The question of equality is largely arbitrary – it is not clear how to measure it. There is no formal hierarchy in relations between Russia and China, and in principle there cannot be such a system. It is difficult to compare the weight. China is, of course, much more powerful economically, and now also in many technological respects. However, Russia is a major military and political power in its own right. Indeed, when it comes to preparedness for adverse changes and shocks (let’s call it state endurance), Moscow is probably in the lead, but Beijing’s room for maneuver in global politics is now much greater.
The question could be posed differently: who needs it more, and who should therefore do more to strengthen ties? At first glance, Russia would seem to need it the most – no matter how well you do, an acute conflict with a group of the world’s most successful and influential states significantly limits your options. Thus, they need to be compensated by other partners which are no less important and therefore able to impose conditions. The most powerful of them all is China.
This is true, but there is another side to it. Beijing has finally realized that the time of peaceful and comfortable development is over. It is China that the United States sees as its main adversary for decades to come, and the pressure on it will only increase. Beijing has no more solid and reliable partner than Moscow; there is simply no other candidate. And the importance of such a relationship will continue to grow. Traditional Chinese pragmatism works in our favor.
Did China support Russia in the Ukrainian conflict?
The Ukraine crisis is a complex phenomenon with multiple dimensions. China’s position on different aspects can vary. As far as the conflict between Moscow and Kiev itself is concerned, Beijing’s position boils down to restraint. China does not see it as its right (or interest) to interfere directly, limiting itself to calling for peace and respect for common norms. Russia’s set of claims against Ukraine, accumulated under specific historical circumstances, is not important to the Chinese, and is not their concern. There is, however, the other aspect – the conflict is central to Russia’s relations with the West and, consequently, has an effect on the state of the global hierarchy and the very world order itself. Beijing is much more active here, taking a position very close to Moscow’s and in opposition to that of the West.
Perhaps most importantly, China has no interest in seeing the US-led bloc succeed in Ukraine, which would significantly weaken Russia.
Beijing will therefore undoubtedly tread carefully, stressing the need for a cessation of hostilities and that there is no alternative, but it will not pressure Russia or take any action that would complicate its position. On the contrary, a gradual increase in support can be expected.
Has there been an economic breakthrough or will the economy remain the weakest link in our relationship?
The Western orientation of Russia’s trade flows is a long-standing and complex problem. The current crisis, in which these relations have been abruptly severed on the initiative of the West, makes the task somewhat easier and leaves no other options open. Nevertheless, the restructuring will be painful and will take time, at least to build the infrastructure. The emerging political will (or lack of it) is stimulating a process of change in our country.
China is a global economic superpower, and its interests and needs extend almost everywhere. In strengthening relations with Russia, which is currently at a disadvantage in terms of external pressure, Beijing will carefully weigh the risks to itself. The Chinese are not going to blow themselves up for the sake of their northern brother.
However, Xi’s visit was crucial as a signal from the ruling Communist Party to all companies that they should work and look for opportunities in this country. This is understood in China. Russia’s task, for its part, is to support this process in every way possible.
Enough. As posted elsewhere.
Every single province in Ukraine voted YES for independence in 1991. Even the Donbas provinces, Sevastopol and Crimea.
Here is a historical Russian made map of Little Russia (Ukraine) from 1915.
If Russia (Putin) wants to make historical claims, he should be giving land to Ukraine.
Volvo B18 Engine Guide
The Volvo B18 engine will go down as one of the most legendary motors of all time. A 1.8 liter inline-four, Volvo manufactured the B18 throughout the 1960s, putting it in a variety of their vehicles. The B18 Volvo has the distinction of being the highest mileage motor in world history, with Irv Gordon’s 3+ million mile B18 holding the Guinness World Record.
While younger gear heads and auto enthusiasts might not be familiar with the Volvo B18 engine, it is a fantastic motor. Volvo hasn’t produced the engine since the 1960s, but there are still a surprising number on the roads today. Not only did Volvo put the B18 in cars, but it also found its way into several military vehicles and marine applications.
Eventually, Volvo superseded the B18 with the bored-out B20 in 1969. The guide will cover the Volvo B18 engine, looking at its specifications, history, design, reliability, and performance.
Volvo B18 Technical Specifications
Engine Volvo B18
Production Years 1961-1968
Displacement 1.8 liter (1,778 cc)
Aspiration Natural Aspiration
Configuration Inline-Four
Compression Ratio 8.5:1 – 10.0:1
Bore and Stroke 84.14 mm X 80 mm
Valve Train OHV 2 v/cy, 8 Valve Total
Fuel System Single/Double Carburetor
Head/Block Material Cast Iron
Horsepower Output 75-115 horsepower
Torque Output 100-112 lb-ft of torque
Volvo B18 Car Applications
The Volvo B18A, B, and D appeared in the following cars:
1962–1968 Volvo 120 Series (Amazon) (including 123GT)
1962–1968 Volvo P1800/S
1962–1968 Volvo P210 Duett
1962–1965 Volvo PV544
1963–1964 Facel Vega Facel III
1963–1964 Facel Vega Facellia (replacement for B16)
1964–1965 Marcos GT
1966–1968 Volvo 140 Series
The Volvo B18C also appeared in the following non-car vehicles:
1962–1968 Volvo Laplander L3315 (Military Communications and Command Vehicle)
1962–1968 Volvo Laplander L3314 (Military Utility Vehicle)
1963–1968 Volvo Laplander L3304 (9031) (Anti-Tank Military Vehicle)
1963–1964 Volvo T320 Buster (Tractor)
1964–1968 Volvo Bandvagn 202/203 (Mk. I) (All-Terrain Military Vehicle)
PS-15 Swedish Reconnaissance Radar System
The Economy Gets Wrung Out
A steady drip of bad news, including missed earnings and layoffs, is under way.
So now what? You don’t just lose Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank (used by fake heiress Anna Delvey) and Credit Suisse in a week without repercussions.
We saw hundreds of billions in stock-market value and tons of debt vaporized. Yes, all U.S. bank deposits are now supposed to be fully insured. And yes, the Federal Reserve has rolled out a new Bank Term Funding Program that offers banks one-year loans against underwater Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities at par value. Wow. Last week the Federal Reserve announced a currency-swap line, basically to help foreign banks. But is that even enough?
More failures and quickie mergers are inevitable—banks are some $2 trillion underwater with their bond portfolios. First Republic Bank’s stock has fallen 90% in three weeks as depositors pulled their money. Like SVB, First Republic goosed returns by chasing yield. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have many of the bonds that the Fed’s Bank Term Funding Program will loan against, hence the $30 billion in “deposits”—almost charity—from 11 large banks.
I suspect someone will buy First Republic soon, similar to United Bank of Switzerland (UBS) buying Credit Suisse for a bar of Toblerone. The deal was helped by $17 billion in contingent convertible bonds, or Cocos, which went puff, wiped out in value. Plus, the Swiss National Bank will cover nearly $10 billion in losses and provide almost $110 billion in liquidity. But UBS inherits Credit Suisse’s First Boston curse. Everyone on Wall Street recalls the scandals that plagued First Boston: “Bid ’Em Up Bruce” Wasserstein, the 1989 Ohio Mattress “burning bed” deal, IPO kickback charges, and most recently Archegos and Greensill.
Last week I heard some crypto hypesters have been telling startups to put some of their future payroll into crypto for safekeeping in case of more bank failures—which probably is why bitcoin popped 40%.
That might end up being expensive insurance. And circular reasoning, considering the stablecoin USDC had $3.3 billion deposited at SVB.
Even if there are no more bank failures, credit is tight and getting tighter. Last week saw February home prices down 0.2% year over year, the first drop in 11 years. By the way, the mortgage-debt market is $8 trillion. And $1.5 trillion in commercial real estate debt is due over the next three years. Work from home means future office vacancies, a ticking bomb.
It’s starting: In late February, Pimco and its Columbia Property Trust defaulted on $1.7 billion in loans on seven buildings. Brookfield stopped paying $784 million in loans on two Los Angeles buildings. As all New Yorkers know, there’s never just one or two cockroaches.
It’s increasingly improbable that we escape a recession. Clearly the 2008-09 financial crisis was worse.
No one knew what was inside all those weird derivatives Wall Street invented, and no one wanted to hold them. This time, it’s a case of underwater bonds as interest rates have risen—someone will buy those bonds at a discount.
But things move slowly. Bear Stearns had a shotgun wedding with JPMorgan in March 2008, 15 years before SVB’s implosion, beware the ides. Lehman Brothers didn’t fail until September 2008, along with other bailout mergers like Washington Mutual and Wachovia. The stink of those deals, and media derision, is why big banks are reluctant to buy bad banks today. And remember, the stock market didn’t bottom until March 2009, after the crisis but three months before the recession ended. Don’t wait to see the whites of their eyes.
There still seems to be excess to wring out of the system—in stocks, crypto, real estate and banks. As credit tightens and the economy slows or recedes, the next phase will be earnings disappointments.
Drip, drip, drip, every day another miss, another round of layoffs (this month more Amazon and Facebook workers were let go). It could take six months, a year or, with policy failures, 10 to 15 years.
Despite some ups and downs, the Dow Jones Industrial Average effectively went sideways from 1966 until 1982.
It’s often darkest before dawn. One night in January 1991, I was dreading Morgan Stanley’s morning meeting because I had a buy on Intel’s stock and the company completely missed its earnings estimates. The world economy was frozen after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. But Operation Desert Storm began that night—we all watched on CNN. By morning, Intel was up huge, launching a 19-year bull run.
The more 500-point market drops due to bank-failure fears, recessions, Russia and China, or concern over our pending AI overlords, the closer we are to wringing all the positive sentiment out of investors. No one rings a bell at the bottom (or top) of markets. When the news is bad, people capitulate and swear off stocks forever. Then, get your butterfly net ready to scoop up the next wave of innovative companies that got thrown out with the bath water—a stock picker’s paradise. Beats leaving your money in a bank.
Has munty finished his transition yet?
Twitter is now the most downloaded news app in the world.
One of the reasons why the legacy media was against the Twitter Deal
@elonmusk
So Dan has gone to China, is he going to sign up to China’s Belt and Road?
Have connections, did someone order more stairs?
Zulu at 9:28 pm
Leaving aside (for the moment) Albanese/Bowen’s dishonest and deluded commentary on the safeguard mechanism, anyone reading the presser would have noticed Uncle Luigi’s insouciant minimising of the scope of the Voice:
Nasty little humbugger.
At least it will be his government discovering the pleasures of the procedural pineapple, as 307 voices – empowered by the High Court and leveraged through the cross benches – demand that their opinions on anything and everything are translated into munni.
Monty will be pleased!
Toy boy! Colombian man who is engaged to a RAG DOLL announces ‘birth’ of their third child together
Cristian Montenegro and his partner Natalia have named their son Sammy
Read More: Woman who ‘married’ a rag doll claims their relationship is ‘hanging on a thread’ after he ‘cheated’
A man who claims to be engaged to a rag doll has announced the ‘birth’ of their third child together.
Cristian Montenegro, from Colombia, has previously described his fiancé Natalia as the ‘love of his life’.
The couple – who already share a son and a daughter together – revealed that they have called their newborn Sammy.
Photos from the ‘birth’ show Natalia dressed in a hospital gown while lying down on a bed.
As her fiancé stands by her side, a rag doll doctor – dressed in a white lab coat, hair net and face mask – is seen attending to the expectant mother.
During the labour, Cristian is pictured covering his face with his hands as his fights back tears.
Moments after Sammy’s arrival, the proud father posed for a selfie with his new son laying on his mother’s stomach in the background.
Earlier this week, Cristian shared the happy news with his TikTok followers in a now-deleted video.
He captioned the clip: ‘Welcome Sammy Montenegro.’
Viewers rushed to congratulate the proud parents in the comments.
One replied: ‘Congratulations to you and your family.’
‘He is so beautiful,’ another added. ‘He looks like a little baby doll.’
‘Welcome Sammy,’ a third gushed.
Well that won’t be good news for Cris Bowen and co,
Net Zero Watch has welcomed yesterday’s EU agreement not to ban the sale of cars with internal combustion engines (ICE) after 2035.
According to the agreement conventional cars can continue to be sold and registered after 2035 if they only use fuels that are CO2-neutral. This will allow car makers to continue producing and selling conventional models indefinitely.
Net Zero Watch is calling on Rishi Sunak to follow suit and abandon its 2030 ban of the sale of ICE cars.
Now that the European ban of the sale of combustion engine cars has been overturned, the government will come under growing pressure to follow suit if it wants to avoid destroying the British car industry for good,” said Dr Benny Peiser, director of Net Zero Watch.
The EU agreed in February to set the 2035 date for ending the sale of ICE cars, but Germany and a coalition of seven EU countries lodged last-minute objections and called for the use of e-fuelled ICE cars beyond 2035.
As a result, the EU has come to what appears to be a sensible decision to allow the sale and use of conventional cars that are fulled by synthetic and other CO2-neutral fuels.
For millions of Britons electric vehicles will not be a viable solution as they are much more expensive than cars with combustion engines. And electric cars will probably still be more expensive than conventional cars in seven years.
Is America’s Patriot air defense system really any good?
23 minutes. Detailed.
I love the comment by a US fighter pilot that the patriot missile system is designed to hit the front of the aircraft so maximizing pilot kill probability. He also states that if you are targeted you should bail out because it is very hard to avoid. The claim by a former patriot operator that it has a 95% hit rate is too good to be true. Russia claims a 100% success rate with the s400.
What I don’t understand is why all these whiz bang technologies are being provided in such small amounts that don’t provide that much advantage. It can take weeks if not months to optimize training outcomes. They must be expecting this war to continue well into this year. I thought it would be over in the next few months.
must be true
Adam Bandt, sadly, putting people before the planet.
Does he have any idea how much building a million homes will contribute to global warming?
watch the stupid tiktok and notice how everything Monty says is regurgitation and wow those Trad Catholics. They’re the real problem.
Elon Musk signalling the end of free social media accounts
Did Chris Minns win because he promised to keep coal fired electricity?
Riley Gaines on ‘Lia’ Thomas on the podium and in the locker room
callisays:
March 27, 2023 at 9:13 pm
M0nty, can I add to that description?
“Trans people” are, like so many, oppressed and troubled. They are fragile and easily swayed by cruel opportunists. They deserve kindness and pity. They also deserve time, especially if they are very young.
And, hiding within the maelstrom that is “trans” are the wicked. I’ve worked it out, why can’t you?
He failed Economics 1.
“And there it is. The worst thing about trans rights for people like Kneel is that they can’t join in a good old fashioned community lynching. Creepy.”
No M0nty – as I said, if they have the appropriate plastic surgery and are not exposing male genitalia to females, then I have no issue with it. In any way. Not to my taste certainly, but you do you.
There is a line though – and some of these are creeps and cross that line. They need to know it is unacceptable. I have no desire to punch anyone to a pulp because they offend my sensibilities, but when they cross the line they need to be shown that some things will simply not to be tolerated – and men exposing their dangly bits to women and girls in a change room is crossing the line, pure and simple. It makes me genuinely angry, and that’s not an easy thing to do. I don’t imagine there are too many people – men or women – who disagree about that. And yet there are people – and you appear to be one – who simply do not understand or recognise that line. Perhaps you should speak to some of your female relatives, both young and old, and find out what they feel about it and where they think the line is – might give you some perspective on reality, instead of the “holier than thou” attitude you appear to be espousing with the above comment.
Dot:
This whole DU argument has resurfaced from the ’90’s when it promised to decimate Russia’s tank forces and in the 80’s when the neutron bomb designed to kill crews through their tank armour.
It was never an issue with the ‘Leftist Peace Corps’ that the Soviet Union had developed its own neutron bombs or has very large stockpiles of DU tipped weapons.
Putin has just called his allies in the West to do his bidding, and like the fools they are, are rushing to support an agenda that will see them ostracised or worse from the community they want to support.
John H:
If that’s the purpose of these multi million dollar systems, it’d be cheaper to just put Sarin in the air conditioning during the Regimental Dinner.
Do these idiots ever think about what they’re saying, or has it been taken so far out of context to be ridiculous?
“…it seems to me just another symptom of a decaying value system in the West.”
I think Tim Pool nails it – it is the result of psychosis brought about by social media algorithms.
Eg, unarmed black people killed by police in the USA:
The real number in less than 30 p.a., out of literally millions of police interactions.
Yet an 18 year old in the USA with a social media fixation will have seen viral video after viral video of such events, and surveys suggest many believe the real number is in the thousands.
It’s not reality, but it is what they believe based on what they have been exposed to growing up.
As to trans people – well, there are a LOT of “groomers” out there who will pick on pubescent teens and say “just dress differently” and when they convince the target to do so, say “Wow! You look amazing!”. For a teen this can be the sort of recognition and acceptance they are craving, and the groomer will slowly jack up the moves until the teen is convinced they are really trans, when they are really just a “normally” confused and depressed teen craving acceptance. When their entire social media experience is that doing what they are being told to do results in being called “brave” and other epithets that elevate their social status, what do you think they will do?
“Conservatives here are upset because the Liberal party doesn’t have guiding prici0ples. Of course it doesn’t…”
Well, perhaps the party itself does not, but I can suggest some.
We should not fear change, but we need to review changes to ensure that they benefit society.
This requires a “go slow” approach, which is what you complain of.
It is the results of policies that matter, therefore we should think carefully before we change them, considering many and varied points of view. We should ask those proposing changes to give us a number of scenarios of the actual change – best case (full fund funding etc), worst case (no change) and most likely case (what they believe is “do-able” under the current environment, including funding), then for each of those cases, document their expectations, again as 3 scenarios – best case (everything goes right), worst case (everything goes wrong), and most likely case (what they expect).
So all up, 9 scenarios.
Then we implement what we can, and after a suitable period of time, assess the results based on which of the “implementation” scenarios is closest to what was done, and see if the actual results are closest to best-, worst-, or most likely case.
If the changes are unsuccessful, then we can “undo” the changes, and suggest the proposers find another set of policies to achieve their “goals”.
“Rinse and repeat”.
Such an over-arching policy (to seek what works best and to measure what we are doing to make sure it does as we intend!) would see us asymptotically approach the “ideal” set of rules, even as technology and societal values change. By undoing what doesn’t work, we recognise that we are all human and we all make mistakes – our society, like most of the “west”, has reached the point, IMO, where we have solved most of our major problems such as food, housing and so on, and are now facing issues that are either brand new (“digital rights”, “internet privacy” etc) or are as old as society itself. In both cases, we have no guidance on what works – for the former, none is available, for the latter, nothing that has been tried has actually worked.
I do think that currently we have largely “hit a wall” in terms of technological progress – not that it isn’t happening, but rather that the changes are now so rapid that it is societal acceptance of the changes that are the limit to how fast we change. Think of your mobile phone – at one point, a new smart phone offered considerable advantages over the old one, but now the changes appear to be more incremental. For example, my “new” phone (Samsung Galaxy S20) doesn’t do much more than the old one, but the camera has a 30 times digital zoom, compared to the old ones 5 times or so. Incremental, not the paradigm change of the new phone having a camera while the old one did not.
So overall, I do not see the “slow down” response as inherently wrong – we just need to add the “we need systems in place to ensure it works as intended” part.
YMMV.
“…I was comforted by the fact that many women came with their husbands and boyfriends.”
That is because they are the sensible, not the radical, as you point out.
We may be the “silent majority”, but if we want this to change, we need to drop the “silent” part and speak up.
Alas, this usually only happens when things have already gone way too far… as now.
If I am reading this right, we are likely to see things get worse on the same course, then the pendulum will swing the other way, and we will see things going too far the other way. That is what usually happens. I have no idea how to stop it – I am of the opinion that we cannot stop it from happening, as that is human nature, and what we repeatedly see in history. It is our lot as humans, and those who manage to succeed in reaching an appropriate compromise never last long enough to ensure it lasts in perpetuity. Indeed, those who do so succeed are such outstanding persons that we almost never have someone of similar stature to replace them when required. Still, hope springs eternal…
This ones for historical type Cats – Ian Toll, author of the classic trilogy of the history of the Pacific War, notes, in the Foreword of the third volume, that it has taken him three times longer to produce the history of that war, as it took the combatants to fight it…
“Either montypox is a really idiotic useful idiot or is not arguing in good faith. Maybe doing a st ruth.”
I don’t believe so.
As I have shown, if you engage without name calling, he will at least attempt an argument without resorting to name calling himself – usually.
Sure, it is somewhat an, errr…, extreme devil’s advocate position, but that is what I believe it to be.
And we need it, regardless of what you may think of the man or his posted writings (I don’t say “beliefs” because I am not convinced they ARE his beliefs…)
Ridiculing, mocking and justifying violence towards anyone is NOT an argument. Defending a frenzied and very hysterical mob in Auckland, a mob that broke through barricades to try and lynch a woman, is NOT an argument. Laughing about a woman being daubed with tomato sauce whilst trying to walk through a mob, is NOT an argument. He should be rightly ridiculed and condemned for diminishing and trivialising such violence. The plain truth is that the violence we see today is almost ALWAYS coming from the left, be it Antifa, the trans lobby and so on. Even Andrew Bolt, who back in 2017, when casually walking to a book launch, was attacked from behind the back by two masked males, has had enough, calling out the hypocrisy. Twitter leftists think such violence is a hoot. Ask Andrew Bolt, ask Tony Abbott, ask Nicolle Flint, ask Fraser Anning, ask Kellie-Jay Keen, ask Andy Ngo, ask hundreds of others, who’ve ALL been physically threatened and attacked by the left.
He doesn’t argue here in good faith. As he once admitted, he’s all for punching Nazis, so now, according to the left, anyone on the right is a Nazi or “Nazi adjacent” so we’re all prime targets and he’d happily see us punched…and probably worse.
I saw the scum close up at Pell’s funeral. They aren’t pretty, I was standing shaking because the violence is real. Oh and who “protests” a funeral? I attended Keen’s first Let Women Speak rally here in Sydney with my sister. It was orderly ONLY because the NSW police did their job and kept the baying far-left scum about 80 metres away….and I can guarantee you that if the police had not been there, what you saw in Auckland would have happened here in Sydney. They were screaming “Nazis” and “kill TERFS” at us.
Anyone who justifies, who ridicules, who trivialises such intimidation, threats and violence is not arguing in good faith.
It’s Earth Hour every night on the Korean peninsula.
On the Northern half of it, that is.
“Many Cats in this thread have stated that it is really about denying that trans people exist. They want to classify it as a mental illness and/or crime, to purge trans people from society.”
Some have said something like that, yes.
To say they don’t exist is like saying gay people do not exist – clearly they do, but not in the numbers we are seeing in the US at this time. That seems clearly to be a social “mind virus” in may cases.
I suspect that the “real” trans people are few and far between – well less than 1% of the population.
But that there are many (especially younger) people who simply crave acceptance and praise, and “coming out” as trans provides them that. We should definitely prevent such people from making life-altering and irrevocable changes to their person, especially ones that that make them infertile or at serious medical risk of complications such as osteoporosis at an early age and so on.
That is why I think that such irrevocable changes should only be allowed for those who have reached their majority, and even then only after careful and extended consultation. Allowing minors as young as 13 to make such choices is child abuse.
Well said, Cassie.
Using words of one syllable, and writing on one side of the paper, what is a TERF?
The Democrat Party’s terrorist wing – AntiFa – cancels April 1 “Trans Day of Vengeance.”
Ass u ming this is not a piss take, Trans Ex clude ing Rad i cal Fem in ist.
Conservatives and Christians today leave that to your far-left side of politics, Black Shirt.
From trying to impeach and/or imprison President Trump to physically attacking a diminutive woman speaking for women at a rally, the far-left and its useful idiots like you are already doing fine with the burnings, both real in the riots of BLM, and metaphorical in the extensive deplatforming of dissent.
Yep. A truly Orwellian name they have given themselves. Reads as Violence is Goodness.
“And put some trousers on.”
Or a skirt – wouldn’t want to “discriminate” against his life choices, now would we?
🙂
That’s why I enjoy Bernard Cornwall’s books and the bringing them to life that is The Last Kingdom TV series. The historical context makes the warrior characters more believable. It sets the life conditions that produce a true warrior such as Uhtred – a thinking man, with an unfailingly lethal sword in hand, a leader of men with a dedicated band of brothers.
The final Last Kingdom show is not a TV series, as the series has ended, but a movie, following on and completing the tale of the rise and success of Athelstan, schooled as a warrior by Uhtred. We went to Uhtred’s fortress of Bamburgh (Bebbingburgh) again in January, in the north east, just to soak up this atmospheric place once more; it is still very wild and you can easily imagine the Danish longships coming to shore to wreak havoc. Holy Island (Lindisfarne) is almost adjacent to Bamburgh.
And the latest from Uhtred is coming to Netflix next month. Along with Succession, we now have a drip feed of good stuff to watch. If you’re new to either show though, watch through from the beginning; it all makes much more sense then. A good way to also shrug off the cares of each day.
“A truly Orwellian name they [Antifa] have given themselves.”
Not at all – it’s accurate.
“Anti” as in reverse, not “anti” is in opposed to.
See?
Now it makes sense.
They WANT fascism, they just want to be the ones “on top”.
Simples.
Your slave, kneeling, begs to obey…….
You gotta love the Bee