86 Palestinians Killed in the Living Hell of Gaza as Israel Prepares to Invade

Note one of the mourners is missing an eye. (Photo: Palestinian Health Authority)

At least 91 Palestinians were killed and 284 others were wounded over the past 24 hours as the IDF prepares for a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian death toll since Oct 2023 is now 54,381; 124,381 people are injured or maimed. The majority of the victims are women and children. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the IDF operation will lead to a complete takeover of the territory: “We are finally going to conquer the Gaza Strip.”

In March 2025, the American taxpayer expedited delivery of four billion dollars in military assistance to Israel.

The remains of the Indonesia Hospital in northern Gaza. (Photo: UN OCHA)

Displaced Palestinians trying to survive the IDF onslaught. (Photo: Public domain)

31 starving Palestinians were killed at this food distribution center. (Photo: Public domain)

https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/01/middleeast/palestinians-killed-gaza-aid-center-intl-hnk

We Are Going to Build a Jewish State in the West Bank”

With those statements, Katz had a clear message for French President Emmanuel Macron “and his friends”: “They will recognize a Palestinian state on paper, and we will build the Jewish Israeli state on the ground here,” the defense minister said during his visit. “The paper will disappear into the trash of history and Israel will flourish and flourish.”

Earlier, Macron called the recognition of the Palestinian state “not only a moral duty, but a political necessity.” He also urged a tougher line from European countries against Israel if it does not respond to the disastrous humanitarian situation caused by the war in the Gaza Strip in the coming hours and days.

Rampaging Israeli settlers protected by the IDF attacking Palestinian vehicles driving at a section of Nablus-Jenin road in the north of the occupied West Bank.

In 2025, the death toll of Palestinians at the hands of Israeli forces and maniacal Settlers in the West Bank has reached 99, with 60% of these fatalities occurring in just four areas, including Jenin and the Nur Shams refugee camps. The Israeli cabinet just approved establishing 22 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, which marks the largest expansion of settlements in decades.

Source: https://www.un.org/unispal/document/ocha-humanitarian-situation-update-276-west-bank/

IDF Soldier Use of Human Shields Widespread

The boy shook constantly, he said, and both repeated “Rafah, Rafah” — Gaza’s southernmost city, where more than one million Palestinians had fled from fighting elsewhere at that point in the war. It seemed they were begging to be freed, the sergeant said.

Several Palestinians and soldiers told the AP that Israeli troops are systematically forcing Palestinians to act as human shields in Gaza, sending them into buildings and tunnels to check for explosives or militants. The dangerous practice has become ubiquitous during 19 months of war, like you can see below.

Palestinian Hazar Estity kisses her 21-month-old son, Nizar, who is being held by his grandmother, Nazek, on April 29, 2025, at an apartment in the West Bank town of Zababdeh. Estity says she was used as a human shield by Israeli soldiers. (Photo: AP / Nasser Nasser)

Some IDF soldiers and veterans with a sense of decency joined Breaking the Silence. You can read their testimony about IDF brutality here: https://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/

In 2024, PM Benjamin Netanyahu, an MIT graduate, skillfully used the hostage situation to continue military operations to depopulate the Palestinian population in Gaza and the West Bank, keep his corruption trial in abeyance, and tilt the US 2024 election towards Dotard Trumpf by alienating the antiwar segment of the Democratic Party (approximately 6,265,888 voters the Joe Biden/Kamala Harris ticket had in 2020). An international arrest warrant for war crimes issued by the ICC remains active for Benjamin Netanyahu. An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of a law.

Ensuring American support for Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel is the notorious American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Their Islamophobic messaging and funding of pro-Israeli candidates in US elections ensures the uninterrupted flow of military and economic aid to Israel. AIPAC’s effective messaging of demonizing Arabs and Islamophobia explains why many American voters are indifferent to the plight of the Palestinian people. AIPAC talking points that “they” should have voted for Kamala Harris in 2024, “they” had previous chances at statehood and didn’t take it, or “they” are all terrorists, or pro-peace activists are all “Hamas lovers,” are all overused palaver. Blah-blah-blah. Thanks to AIPAC, the American taxpayer is complicit in ethnic cleansing and war crimes against the Palestinian people.

Sources:

https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/31/middleeast/israel-gaza-strip-occupation-resources-dg

https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-army-human-shields-80f358dd2c87a1123f26ffada159701c

https://www.demorgen.be/snelnieuws/live-midden-oosten-israel-opent-vuur-op-menigte-bij-hulpdistributiepunt-zeker-30-mensen-gedood~ba7f8873/

https://www.trackaipac.com/

https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus?ind=Q05

https://www.state.gov/military-assistance-to-israel/

US Intelligence Community Update

Director of National Intelligence

Director of National Security Tulsi Gabbard wants to turn President Dotard Trumpf’s daily intel briefings into Fox News-type broadcasts because he “doesn’t read.” The most under-qualified person to ever the any US intelligence agency is hoping to add animations and more dynamic multimedia elements to Trumpf’s President’s Daily Briefs, or PDBs, to fit his viewing habits and hold his attention, five people with knowledge of the discussions told NBC News. Gabbard also reportedly consulted with current and former intelligence officials on bringing in a Fox News producer and host to reshape the PDBs “which are usually text and image-based for national security reasons” to deliver the intel in broadcast form. The process could involve granting the Fox News team security clearance to access classified information.

Source: https://archive.ph/4h2N9

More Stalinist Purges

Tulsi Gabbard fired two senior analysts from the prestigious National Intelligence Council (NIC) who disagreed with Dotard Trumpf about Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro and his alleged connection with a street gang called Tren de Aragua (TDA).

Half of the National Security Council’s (NSC) 350 members were abruptly removed and many were given two hours to clean out their desks. This was supposedly done as a cost-cutting measure, but the reality is the Trumpf junta is ensuring only loyal followers of the MAGA cult remain in positions of power in the US national security architecture.

Sources:

https://www.axios.com/2025/05/06/trump-venezuela-gangs-tda-intel-memo

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/national-security-council-cuts_n_6830f4cee4b0ca4a5f5699b9

FBI Arrests DIA Employee for Attempting to Sell Secrets

The FBI arrested Nathan Vilas Laatsch (28), a Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) employee for attempting to transmit classified information to a friendly foreign government. Laatsch, who held a TS/SCI clearance, said that he had “completed intelligence products, some unprocessed intelligence, and other assorted classified documentation” that he wanted to send. He said his reasoning for the decision was because he did not align with the current Trumpf junta’s policies. The FBI was subsequently tipped off and made contact with Laatsch under the guise of the aforementioned foreign government. Laatsch would end up transcribing and smuggling out classified products on two occasions to who he thought was an official of the friendly foreign government, and was arrested after the second exchange.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

This is terrible. Nathan Vilas Laatsch worked ten years at Publix before finally getting his break with a position at DIA, only to be disgusted by the Trumpf junta, motivating him to sell secrets. This young man threw his life away. Decades ago DIA was a fine place to work, but who knows how toxic the environment is now under the white supremacist Trumpf junta?

Source: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-government-employee-arrested-attempting-provide-classified-information-foreign-government

CIA Update

Civilian Sleuth Exposes CIA Tradecraft

404 Media reported that Ciro Santilli, an amateur security researcher, discovered that the CIA had been using several Star Wars sites in the early 2000s to communicate with informants in other countries (Image: Cirosantilli2/Wikimedia Commons)

Ciro Santilli, an amateur security researcher, discovered that CIA had been using several Star Wars sites in the early 2000s to communicate with informants in other countries. One such site is StarWarsWeb.net. Santilli dug through hundreds of domain names and analyzed each of the sites’ HTML and even used bots to bypass the Wayback Machine, a massive archive of the internet, to see what the website might have looked like at its launch.

The unassuming site, which is decked out in pictures of R2D2 and C-3P0, a stock image of a boy dressed as a Jedi, also includes ads for the latest Star Wars video games and Lego sets. (Image: cirosantilli.com)

In order to chat with their CIA handler, informants would simply have to enter a password into the search bar, and a pop-up window would appear. The sites were forced to shut down after the Iranian government doubled down on its efforts to find informants who may be speaking with American intelligence agencies in 2018.

“The CIA really failed with this,” said Bill Marczak of the University of Toledo’s Citizen Lab. According to Marczak, the messaging system “stuck out like a sore thumb.”

By 2011, Iranian authorities successfully dismantled the CIA network in its country, and either executed or imprisoned the informants. Likewise, it was reported that authorities in China also found similar websites being used in their country and executed more than two dozen CIA sources between 2011 and 2012.

Other sites include a fan site for the late comedian Johnny Carson, a site about extreme sports, and one about Brazillan music. (Image: cirosantilli.com)

The outlet reports that some of the sites targeted France, Spain, and Brazil based on their language and content. (Image: cirosantilli.com).

Israel, North Korea, Russia, Israel, and China have competent and experienced counterintelligence organizations. Cultivating and handling HUMINT sources in hostile environments with sophisticated or pervasive surveillance systems is therefore a daunting challenge for CIA and DIA. If a civilian sleuth like Ciro Santilli was able to piece this CIA operation together, imagine how easily America’s adversaries were able to unravel this program and neutralize the informants. CIA and DIA adopted other methods of clandestinely communicating with their sources since this operation which Coriolanus is aware of, so that means the enemy is also aware. Moreover, Trumpf’s idiotic purge of the USIC will make intelligence collection even more difficult with the loss of experienced operators, analysts, and investigators.

Messages were posted in Mandarin, Farsi and Korean on various CIA accounts. CIA/ Facebook

Source: https://archive.ph/oPiLu

Drunk Driver Lucky Not to Be Killed by CIA Security Officers

Background: CIA new headquarters building in Langley, Virginia (CIA.gov) Inset: Monia Spadaro (Alexandria Sheriff’s Office)

Security officers shot Monia Spadaro who was driving in the wrong lane toward CIA headquarters. The drunkard was driving her gray Toyota Corolla at about 3:40 a.m. on Thursday, 22 May, when she traveled on to CIA HQ in Langley, Virginia. The federal sign at the front entrance reads: “WARNING: RESTRICTED US GOVERNMENT INSTALLATION” and prohibiting entry to people “without proper authorization.”

Spadaro reportedly entered the complex in the outbound lane of traffic — causing a CIA police officer in a marked CIA vehicle to flash their lights and activate their sirens.

She continued toward the main security gate “while executing several reckless maneuvers” by driving on the wrong side of the road and swerving from one lane to the other. Another CIA officer reportedly tried to stop the car, but it sped up, and as it reached the gate, the officer fired shots at the car and hit Spadaro. The defendant was treated at a local hospital and then arraigned before a federal magistrate in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Miss Spadaro is lucky to be alive. She could have been easily killed by CIA security personnel who did not know whether she was a terrorist, saboteur, lunatic, or drunkard.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source:

Canada: Thousands Flee Massive Wildfires in Northern Manitoba; Evacuation Orders in Alberta and Saskatchewan

Massive wildfires burning out of control in western and central Canada are forcing thousands to flee as dire forecasts for the country’s fire season come to fruition. The intensifying blazes are also sending hazardous smoke toward major cities in the US.

The premiers of Manitoba and Saskatchewan provinces have declared monthlong states of emergency, and much of Canada, from the Northwest Territories and Alberta to Ontario, are at “extreme” risk of wildfires. — the highest level on Environment Canada’s fire risk scale.

A wildfire in the Sherridon, Man. area is shown in a government handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO – Manitoba Government

There are just over 170 wildfires burning across Canada, about half of them uncontrolled. The country raised its National Preparedness Level to 5 of 5, unusually high for this early in the fire season. Last year, Canada didn’t reach that level until 15 July.

These fires are the result of global climate changing and are going to add pollution and carbon into the atmosphere, reducing the Air Quality Index (AQI) in surrounding areas. The habitats of thousands of animals are being destroyed, along with people’s homes and properties. Insurance costs are going to skyrocket after paying out for the losses.

The new Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, has several challenges on his plate. Besides dealing with the new geo-political landscape caused by Dotard Trumpf and war criminals Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin, Mr. Carney must deal with this natural catastrophe. But the new PM holds a doctoral degree and assembled a competent cabinet which will deal with all of these issues logically. Link: https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/cabinet

Sources:

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/wildfires/article/evacuation-orders-impact-thousands-as-wildfires-continue-burning-in-manitoba-saskatchewan-alberta/

https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/29/weather/canada-wildfires-smoke-midwest-climate

https://www.saskpublicsafety.ca/emergencies-and-response/active-incidents

https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/readouts/2025/05/30/prime-minister-carney-convenes-incident-response-group

US: Multi-State Food Recall for Salmonella-Tainted Cucumbers From Florida

The FDA informs: “Bedner Growers, Inc. of Boynton Beach, FL is voluntarily recalling cucumbers sold at Bedner’s Farm Fresh Market between 29 Apr and 14 May 2025 because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.”

The cucumbers are being recalled because they have been linked by the FDA to a Salmonella outbreak that has resulted in 26 illnesses in AL, CA, CO, FL, IL, KS, KY, MI, NC, NY, OH, PA, SC, TN, and VA.

Florida is probably one of the worst managed states in America, led by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who graduated Yale University and Harvard Law School. His handling of the COVID epidemic was a disaster as his is response to escalating gun violence in the Sunshine State: tax holidays for firearm purchases. DeSantis wasted money on establishing an election police and empowered local police forces to enforce immigration laws. Tourism is crashing in Florida, farms have lost migrant workers, and the orange juice industry is falling apart. We should expect more calamities from Florida because of poor governance during natural disasters, as well as uncontrolled gun violence and unvaccinated people.

Source:

https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/bedner-growers-inc-recalls-cucumbers-because-possible-health-risk

US: Dangerous Invasive Tick Spreading

Per the CDC, the number of people diagnosed in 2022 with tick-borne diseases in the US rose to 62,551. In the previous decade, infections averaged about 33,000 a year. With climate change raising temperatures, tick populations have expanded into new regions and put more people in contact with ticks and their illness-causing bacteria.

Sources:

https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/caes/publications/caes-press-release-invasive-longhorned-tick-infection-5-27-25.pdf?rev=a916f5a25703451994cecca4a8721600&hash=64A38C08E5838D15D88091BF928C6B47

USAToday

Legionnaires Disease Detected in Las Vegas

Five travel-associated cases of Legionnaires’ disease are being investigated by the Southern Nevada Health District. Four individuals have recovered and one remains hospitalized.

Following notification of cases, the Health District conducted environmental water sampling at the facilities the travelers stayed at. Multiple water samples tested positive for Legionella, the bacteria that can cause Legionnaires’ disease, the release said.

Legionnaires’ disease symptoms typically begin within two to 10 days after exposure to the bacteria. However, people should watch for symptoms such as cough, shortness of breath, fever, muscle aches and headaches for up to two weeks after exposure.

Source:

https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8323167/Grandview-Legionella-Investigation

Endnote: The Trumpf junta published its long-awaited report Making America Healthy Again, which was rife with errors and poor or missing citations. Hardcopies of the report would make excellent kindling for the fireplace. HHS cancelled a $590 million contract with Moderna to develop a vaccine for avian flu and the Trump junta terminated the CDC’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program as part of the agency’s reduction in force. In Nov 2023, the FDA had recalled these three children’s beverages below because they were linked to lead poisoning.

Link: FDA

A recent report suggested that Felon Musk and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had a dust-up in the White House and Musk was seen with a black eye in the Oval Office which he attributed to his five-year-old son inaptly named “X.”

The Worst Person in the World sporting a black eye. Felon Musk won’t be going away anytime soon as a “special government employee.” Expect more corruption, as well as mega-contracts and zero regulation of his companies.

Simply put, the Trumpf junta’s health, economic, diplomatic, intelligence, and national security departments are led by incompetents, lickspittles, political hacks, oligarchs, and mountebanks. The arch-malefactor is oligarch Felon Musk. Their policies do not promote the security, safety, or health of the American people. Dotard Trumpf has turned the White House into a three-ring circus which will endanger American lives while robbing them blind, as you will read more about below.

Russia: Deputy Mayor of Stavropol Neutralized by Explosion

See video of operation in link: https://mamul.am/en/news/326364

An international arrest warrant issued by the ICC for war crimes remains active for Russian President Vladimir Putin. An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innnocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Germany: Two Heroes in Stabbing Rampage Muslim Refugees

Muhammad al-Muhammad helped to halt a knife attack in Hamburg in which 18 people were injured. (Photo: Marco Zitzow/BILD/BILD Fotoservice)

There were no calls from neo-Nazis to shut down Germany’s borders after this terrorist rampage because the perpetrator was a white German native woman. A 2023 analysis found that both print and television German media reported five times more on violent crimes when the suspect was a foreigner. Munich-based Ifo Institute found there was no correlation between migration and higher crime rates. In June 2024, some 3.48 million refugees with varying types of residency permits were living in Germany, a country of 84,198,272 people, and the third largest economy in the world. Germany provides universal health care for its residents, is cracking down on Neo-Nazis, and is generously helping Ukraine fend off Russian aggression. 

Gut arbet, Muhammad, live long and prosper in Germany; Coriolanus enjoyed his assignment there decades ago.

Sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/26/hamburg-knife-attack-syrian-refugee

https://www.ifo.de/en/press-release/2025-02-18/more-foreigners-do-not-increase-germanys-crime-rate#:~:text=Migration%20to%20Germany%20does%20not,and%20the%20local%20crime%20rate.

South Africa: Pet Baby Hippo Kills Owner

The late Major Marius Els with Humphrey (Photo: Social media)

An army Major from Free State province of South Africa met a horrifying end after he was mauled to death by his pet hippo who he took in as a baby and treated ‘like a son.’ Marius Els (40) was bitten to death by the 1.2 ton hippo he named Humphrey. He had brought Humphrey to his 400 acre farm where the animal learned to swim with humans. A clip of Els riding the 2,000-pound beast like a horse went viral after many people were shocked he was able to accomplish such a feat.

But there had been several signs the animal would never be able to be domesticated — including an incident where a 52-year-old man and his seven-year-old grandson had to climb a tree to get away from the hippo when they canoed through the section of river on Els’ farm where Humphrey lived. Els reportedly tempted the hippo away with an apple while the pair were rescued by paramedics.

Els’s widow, Louise — a pharmacist — also expressed misgivings, as the hippo had caused trouble before. Humphrey had chased golfers on a nearby course and killed several calves belonging to Els’ business partner.

But Els’ himself was always upbeat about his unusual relationship with the animal. He said: “Humphrey’s like a son to me, he’s just like a human. There’s a relationship between me and Humphrey and that’s what some people don’t understand.”

“They think you can only have a relationship with dogs, cats, and domestic animals. But I have a relationship with the most dangerous animal in Africa.”

“I can swim with him. I go in the water. He allows me to get on his back, and I ride him like a horse. He swims with me. He’s like a son to me.”

But unfortunately for the animal lover, the situation did not end well for him after Humphrey turned on him — resulting in Major Els being killed by the hippo. Paramedics found Els immersed in a river and “had been bitten several times by the animal.” It was unclear how long he had been lying in the water.

Here is a video of what an adult hippopotamus is capable of:

Photo by William Warby on Flickr CC BY 2.0 (Cropped from original).

Hippos are formidable creatures and are armed with giant canine teeth — they are said to kill more people every year than lions, elephants, leopards, buffalo, and rhinos combined. Vegetarians, adult hippos have no predators because of their huge size, thick skin, ferocious temperament, and powerful jaws, but young hippos are vulnerable to Nile crocodiles, leopards, lions, and spotted hyenas.

While the common hippo (Hippopotamus amphibious) is categorized as vulnerable, its smaller relative, the pygmy hippo (Choeropsis liberiensis or Hexaprotodon liberiensis), does have a place on the endangered species list. Both species continue to be threatened by illegal hunting and shrinking habitats.

Source:

https://www.unilad.com/news/us-news/pet-hippo-mauled-owner-humphrey-marius-els-south-africa-491517-20250528

Sidenote: South Africa President Cyril Cyril Ramaphosa had recently rebuked Dotard Trumpf’s mythological claim that white Afrikaners are being persecuted in his country. But one such “persecuted” Boer who took advantage of the resettlement plan in the US established a website with resource information to help other Boers emigrate to America:

https://www.refugeforafrikaners.com/

The website author ridiculously wrote that rightwing Fox News and Newsmax are “Trusted News Sources.” At the bottom of the website is a gif of the Dotard doing a silly dance.

‘Verloorder’ is Afrikaans for “loser.”

Mexico Fighting Organized Water Pilferage

Authorities in the Mexican state of Michoacán are employing satellite technology to counter water theft, as criminal groups exploiting an increasingly scarce and valuable natural resource.  The environmental surveillance system will monitor deforestation and land-use, as well as the 35,000 privately-owned irrigation reservoirs to ensure they are not illegally filled during the dry season. If the reservoirs are filled, the government will investigate the source of the water used. 

The system, which is backed by NASA and EU satellites, would permit authorities to “address environmental crimes on a large scale like never before in the state’s history.”

Nearly 76% of Mexico experienced drought through the end of May 2024, according to the North American Drought Monitor (NADM) and the soil has not yet fully recovered. That was the most widespread drought Mexico has experienced since 30 Jun 2011, when 85% of the country was affected.

In March, the Trumpf junta callously refused to release Colorado River water to Mexico, making that the first time the US had refused to release water in their 80-year partnership agreement. On 28 April in the spirit of good fellowship, Mexico said it would meet its water-sharing responsibilities with the US to help Texas ranchers and farmers. This past January, Dotard Trumpf idiotically wasted 2.2 billion gallons of California’s precious water, against the wishes of the US Army Corps of Engineers and Sacramento. Weather predictions indicate this summer will prove to be punishing in the American Southwest.

Sources:

https://insightcrime.org/news/water-scarcity-is-a-boom-for-mexican-organized-crime/

https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2025/04/welcoming-mexicos-water-deliveries-to-the-united-states-and-steps-to-meet-1944-water-treaty-requirements/

https://www.climate.gov/news-features/event-tracker/multi-year-drought-and-heat-waves-across-mexico-2024

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/03/climate/trump-california-water-dams-reservoirs

Donald Trumpf and Cronies Make Fortune in White House

Two Mega-Goniffs Score With $2bn Investment from Abu Dhabi

The investment by a firm controlled by Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund will go to World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm whose biggest beneficiaries are the Trumpf and Witkoff families. Thanks to Abu Dhabi’s purchase of their “stablecoin”, the Trumpfs and Witkoffs will collect hefty fees and could reap hundreds of millions of dollars in interest payments.

Source:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/30/trump-steve-witkoff-envoy

Felon Musk Tried to Block Massive Trumpf-backed Mideast AI Deal Unless He Was Included

The worst person in the world rushed to the Mideast to hold up a massive Trumpf-endorsed American AI operation in Abu Dhabi unless it included him. That apparently explains Felon Musk’s sudden appearance at a Trumpf meeting with Saudi Arabia officials during the president’s three-country Middle East vacation.

Trumpf was about to announce a huge AI partnership on foreign soil with America’s OpenAI, run by Musk’s arch rival Sam Altman, and the United Arab Emirates’ G42 company to build a Stargate UAE campus in Abu Dhabi.

The operation would also include America’s Oracle, Nvidia, and Cisco, and Japan’s SoftBank as part of the UAE’s push to become a major AI player. The new venture will be the biggest AI campus outside the US.

The Dotard must have said ‘WTF is Elon doing here?’ like when he blocked Musk’s secret China war briefing a few months ago. Trumpf and his cronies have completely erased the lines between government and private business, making mega fortunes for themselves and there is little the American people can do about their abominable corruption and greed.

Source:

www.the-independent.com

Kitten Comforts Crying Abandoned Puppy

You can hear the robust purr of the kitten comforting the poor puppy.

Europe Step Ups for Ukraine

Activists display a 500-square-metre banner in support of Ukraine in Brussels, 6 Mar 2025. (Photo: EPA-EFE / OLIVIER MATTHYS)

Dedicated Followers of the Watch, Coriolanus is doing his utmost best to keep up with the madness of King Trumpf and the repercussions of his destructive policies on behalf of Vladimir Putin. Not to be neglected is Felon Musk, the worst person in the world, who will receive a dedicated post about his nefarious activities in the near future.    

Vladimir Putin with his protege in Helsinki, Finland on 16 Jul 2018. (AP Photo / Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Trumpf’s Underhandedness

Two of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s political rivals have confirmed that they have been in contact with members of US President Donald Trumpf’s entourage. Secret discussions have been held about holding snap presidential elections in Ukraine that could potentially unseat President Volodomir Zelensky before a final peace deal is signed.

Yulya Tymoshenko and Petro Poroshenko are currently much less popular in Ukraine than Zelensky. Just 10% of Ukrainian voters said they would support Poroshenko in a presidential election, while only 6% said they would vote for Tymoshenko. The former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, who is currently serving as the Ukrainian ambassador to London, has been Zelensky’s main political rival for some time now, with 21% of Ukrainians surveyed saying they supported him.

Trumpf has also indicated a desire to revoke the temporary legal status for around 240,000 Ukrainians in the US who fled Putin’s brutal Feb 2022 invasion. His cruelty knows no bounds.

The US has halted intelligence sharing with Kiev, threatening Ukraine’s ability to strike Russian targets amid the full-scale war, CIA Director John Ratcliffe said during a TV interview. “Trumpf had a real question about whether President (Volodymyr) Zelensky was committed to the peace process, and he said let’s pause,” Ratcliffe said. The move follows Washington’s decision to freeze all military aid supplies to Ukraine following a public spat between Zelensky and Donald Trumpf. The decision was likely intended to put pressure on Zelensky in peace talks.

American volunteer soldiers fighting in Ukraine say that they feel “betrayed” by their own country after the US halted military aid and stopped sharing intelligence with Kiev.

Alexis Antilla is an American volunteer fighting in Ukraine. (Photo: CBS, circa 2022)

“(US President Donald Trumpf) betrayed every one of us,” a US Army veteran, who goes by the callsign ‘Goldfish’ said.

And on the frontlines, a Ukrainian sniper named “Lektor” achieved a remarkable feat.

Ukrainian Army sniper “Lektor” in an undated photo.

A soldier of the Main Intelligence Directorate named “Lektor” in a duel with a Russian sniper killed him at a record 2,069 meters. That’s an incredible two kilometers.

According to Lektor, the chances of hitting the target from such a distance were low.

“This distance is the limit for the caliber of weapons with which I worked. Plus, it was a moving target. There is very little chance of hitting a moving target, given that the bullet flies at that distance of 4 seconds, the target moves, there is one wind near me, and a completely different one near the target, which affects the trajectory of the bullet. But that’s how it turned out. Everything is right, it turns out, he did it,” the sniper notes.

At the same time, Lektor added that after this shot, he could not leave his position for a long time, as the enemy was trying hard to detect it.

France Responds

Paris has signaled they will provide intelligence to Ukraine following this unsurprising stab in the back from Putin’s protege. Paris has approximately 100 military and commercial satellites in orbit.

Artist’s rendition of a Comsat NG satellite. (Image: Thales Alenia Space)

More ominously, France will consider extending the protection of its nuclear arsenal to its allies said French President Emmanuel Macron, while warning that Europe needs to be ready for the US to not “remain by our side” in the Ukraine-Russia war.

“I’ve decided to open the strategic debate on the protection by our deterrence of our allies on the European continent,” he said in a live broadcast on his official social media channels. Macron stressed the need for Europe to continue assisting Ukraine and strengthen its own defense. “Our nuclear deterrence protects us, it is complete, sovereign, French from end to end,” Macron said of France’s nuclear arsenal. “This protects us much more than many of our neighbors.”

The Suffren can sail autonomously for 70 days at a depth of 350m. (Photo: AFP)

France is ranked 7 out of 145 countries in terms of military strength by the Global Firepower Index (GFI). They possess an arsenal of 290 nuclear warheads with the range to strike Moscow. Roughly 80% of the warheads are for delivery by three ballistic missiles submarines. Decades ago, France established its own nuclear arsenal so as not to depend on the US and it seems they were right. In a nuclear exchange with Russia, Paris would be atomized within minutes. This is the conundrum of “Mutually Assured Destruction” (MAD). Look where Trumpf and Putin have taken the world.

The EU Responds with ReArm Europe

Excerpt from EU President Ursula von der Leyen statement:

“We are living in the most momentous and dangerous of times. I do not need to describe the grave nature of the threats that we face. We are in an era of rearmament. And Europe is ready to massively boost its defense spending. Both, to respond to the short-term urgency to act and to support Ukraine but also to address the long-term need to take on much more responsibility for our own European security. ReArm Europe could mobilize close to EUR 800 billion Euros for a safe and resilient Europe. We will continue working closely with our partners in NATO.” Signed, EU President Ursula von der Leyen.

Europe and NATO are working around the US, as Washington under Trumpf is now viewed as a hostile power under occupation by the Kremlin. The UK, Turkiye, and Canada expressed willingness to deploy peacekeepers to Ukraine within a “coalition of the willing.” Europe will adjust to the new security and intelligence paradigm, although this will be difficult for some of the member states as they relied on the US “Rock of Gibraltar” for nearly 80 years.

Sources:

Trump team meets with Zelensky’s political rivals in apparent bid to remove him from power — Novaya Gazeta Europe

Ukraine war latest: US halts intelligence sharing with Ukraine, CIA director confirms

Press statement by the President on the defense package

Macron says France to consider protecting European allies with its nuclear arsenal | CNN

www.globalfirepower.com

‘He betrayed every one of us’ – US soldiers in Ukraine speak out after Trump’s military aid halt

www.bbc.com

Canada ‘ready and able’ to join Ukraine peacekeeping force, defense minister says | CBC News

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/politics/government/trump-planning-to-revoke-legal-status-of-240-000-ukrainian-refugees-key-developments/ar-AA1AmTXY

Canada Punches Back Against Trumpf

Ontario Premier Doug Ford along with PM Justin Trudeau have been leading the national charge against Trumpf.

Canada, a G-7 nation that enjoys $53,431.20 per capita GDP, is not taking Trumpf lightly. Ontario Premier Doug Ford slapped a 25% surcharge on US-bound electricity, which will affect New York, Michigan, and Minnesota. Ontario cancelled its $100-million contract with Felon Musk’s Starlink as well. The contract, signed in 2024, was intended to provide Starlink satellite internet to 15,000 remote homes and businesses in northern Ontario.

A $100 million contract for 15,000 remote homes? What in blazes did Felon Musk almost get away with in Ontario?

Premier Doug Ford also removed all US alcohol and liquor from its official stores run by the LCBO. The LCBO is the largest single purchaser of alcoholic beverages on the planet, serving a population of nearly 16 million people.

The province of Manitoba proudly followed suit. These moves will result in a loss of $1 billion to American companies. Please click link:

CEO Brown Forman, the manufacturer of Jack Daniel’s Whiskey in Tennessee, said that Canadian provinces removing American liquor from its shelves is “worse than a tariff.” In 2024, the “Volunteer State” solidly voted for Donald Trumpf as you could see below.

In 1998, Frank Sinatra was famously buried with a pack of Camel cigarettes, a Zippo lighter, and a bottle of Jack Daniel’s whiskey. A mourner quipped, “Here, Frank, you may need this.”

To the west, British Columbia is hitting back at economic threats from the US by introducing tools to impose fees on US truck traffic travelling through the province on the way to Alaska.

Premier David Eby said the tolls may or may not be used, but warned that Canada needs to have tools available to fight the tariffs coming from America’s Godzilla.

British Columbia Premier David Eby

Eby made the announcement on the lawn of the Legislative Assembly building in Victoria, which had been draped with a large Canadian flag, while members of his party chanted “Canada” in the background.

Of course there are other countermeasures Canada and her provinces are individually and jointly pursuing against Trumpf but time constraints preclude listing them all. Coriolanus has a suggestion for Canadian sports franchises that value their patriotism over profits.

If the Toronto Blue Jays baseball franchise boycotted the 2025 Major League Baseball (MLB) season which opens soon, this would likely result in a multimillion-dollar loss for the US economy according to AI calculations.

Total Estimated Cost to the US Economy

Direct Game Revenue Loss: $152 million (tickets, concessions, etc.)

Local Economic Impact: $228 million to $380 million (multiplier applied)

Broadcast/Sponsorship Loss: $30 million to $50 million (US share)

Tax Revenue Loss: ~$30 million

Total Loss Range for US: $410 million to $612 million

Similarly, if the Toronto Raptors boycotted the 2025 NBA season, AI calculations estimate that the US economy might see a loss of $300-$500 million.

In a trillion dollar economy these amounts may seem small, but they will have some economic impact. More importantly, the psychological impact will be much more effective. Plus, MLB and the owners will have to scramble and find 162 replacement games (out of a total 2,430 games), which will upset their schedules. Since most owners are wealthy oligarchs overcharging fans for beer, hot dogs, and hamburgers at the stadiums, why not give them the headache?

Sources:

Ontario Removes All American Alcohol From Store Shelves | Crooks and Liars

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/ontario-starlink-1.7475817

Ontario slapping 25% surcharge on U.S.-bound electricity Monday, Ford says | CBC News

B.C. planning legislation that could toll trucks travelling to Alaska, Eby says | CBC News

US National Security Weakens as FBI and CIA Culled Again by Trumpf

FBI Senior SA James Dennehy (Photo: Sarah Yenesel / EPA, via Shutterstock)

The top agent at the FBI’s New York field office has been forced out of his job, following clashes with Justice Department officials over Trump administration directives.

The veteran agent, James E. Dennehy, was told to retire from his role leading the FBI’s largest field office, delivering another blow to the senior ranks of the bureau. Mr. Dennehy, who had been running the office since Sep 2024, had angered Trumpf administration officials by supporting bureau leaders who resisted turning over the names of those who investigated the 6 Jan 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Mr. Dennehy had also angered Attorney General Pam Bondi by what she claimed was the New York office’s failure to turn over all the investigative files related to Jeffrey Epstein, the financier charged with sex trafficking who killed himself in prison. Ms. Bondi provided no evidence to back up her assertion.

Mr. Dennehy’s departure comes after weeks of turmoil at the FBI that saw nearly a dozen executives at headquarters removed unexpectedly, leaving a leadership vacuum and confusion on the seventh floor of the Hoover Building in Washington, DC.

Mr. Dennehy, who served for seven years as a USMC officer before joining the bureau in 2002, spent most of his career investigating or supervising counterintelligence cases, which, in essence, involved chasing (Russian or Chinese) spies rather than building criminal cases.

Underqualified sycophant John Ratcliffe is the ninth director of CIA. (Photo: CIA)

The government cuts ordered by the Trump administration have hit CIA. Some officers hired in the last two years have been summoned to a location away from the agency’s headquarters in Langley, VA, and asked to surrender their credentials to security personnel.

Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the reports that newly hired agents were being fired were troubling and would “undercut our national security.”

In fact, some young agency officers working inside Langley have been hesitant to answer their phones, worried that it will be a call from security asking them to report to an off-site location. The firings have devastated morale and cut productivity.

CIA officers are formally on probation for four years. But the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has been focused on paring back more recent hires.

The first two years of CIA officers’ careers are a time of intense training, and the government spends large amounts of money to teach them spy tradecraft, languages, and other skills.

More experienced officers who transfer to CIA from other intelligence agencies also face a lengthy probationary period. Senator Warner stated that if the layoffs affect those officers, it would effectively waste years of training investment.

These culls are designed to rid the US Intelligence Community (IC) of non-conformists, those who are not loyal to Trumpf or minority employees, using the guise of cost-cutting. As a former member of the USIC, Coriolanus worked with several CIA officers, some would go on to become friends. Your author is appalled that the US government has become a cat’s paw to the Kremlin, thanks to Donald Trumpf, and the damage he is causing to the US is irreparable. These are important lessons for Ottawa, London, Paris, Brussels, Kiev, and Tokyo, Seoul: Remain vigilant to foreign interference and espionage lest you follow America’s hideous path.

Sources:

North Carolina Man Pleads Guilty to Attempting to Illegally Export Sensitive Technology to China

David C. Bohmerwald, the owner of a Raleigh-based electronics resale business called Components Cooper, Inc., pled guilty to attempting to export accelerometer technology with military applications to China without a license, in violation of the Export Control Reform Act (“ECRA”), and faces up to 20 years in prison when sentenced. 

Ultra Low Noise Miniature Triaxial Accelerometers

Bohmerwald (63) purchased 100 accelerometers from a US-based electronics company and then attempted to export the devices to a company in China. These accelerometers have a wide array of applications ranging from research and development of products to defense uses. When used for military applications, accelerometers are crucial to structural testing, monitoring, flight control, and navigation systems. The technology can help missiles fly more accurately and measure the precise effect munitions have on structures. A license is required to export the accelerometers to China.

The US based electronics company notified law enforcement due to Bohmerwald’s suspicious and unusual purchase request. Among other things, when Bohmerwald purchased the accelerometers, he claimed that they were for an end user in Missouri. In fact, when federal agents contacted the Missouri company, they denied having an order pending with Bohmerwald and his business, Components Cooper.

After Bohmerwald received the accelerometers, he dropped two parcels at a local FedEx shipping store. One of the packages was addressed to a business in China. An agent with the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security, detained the package and found it contained 100 accelerometers. The agent confirmed that there were no relevant licenses on file to support the export of the items. In addition, Bohmerwald falsely listed the value of the package at $100, when the true value was nearly $20,000. When interviewed by agents, Bohmerwald admitted to acquiring the technology on behalf of a Chinese-based company, knowing that the technology was export-controlled, and knowing export of the items required a license.

As long as Beijing has the manpower, funds, and resources, Chinese espionage will continue unabated as stealing technology can be cheaper than research and development (R & D). Moreover, as long as there are traitors in the West who are willing to sell out their country for money, as you have read about here on Coriolanus, the USIC (and allies) will have their hands full for some time.

Source:

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ednc/pr/raleigh-man-pleads-guilty-attempting-illegally-export-sensitive-technology-china

Israel Shin Bet: Netanyahu’s Policies Paved the Way for 7 Oct 2023 Attacks

ICC-indicted Benjamin Netanyahu has been trying to fire the director of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar. (Photo: Maya Alleruzzo / AP)

Israel’s internal security agency, Shin Bet, has said Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies were among the underlying causes of the 7 Oct 2023 attack in which Hamas and other militants killed about 1,200 Israelis and seized 251 captives. In its report on the 7 Oct 2023 attack, Shin Bet acknowledged its own responsibility, admitting it was aware of warning signs that Hamas was planning an operation, but the agency did not grasp the scale, timing, and location of the planned attack. Netanyahu’s acquiescence in the flow of funds from Qatar to Gaza was designed to divide Palestinians by boosting Hamas at the expense of the Palestinian state.

The gunmen attacked to seize Israeli hostages because thousands of Palestinians were being held in security detention for years without trial or hearing. Amnesty International reported many Palestinians were tortured in those military prisons. With no way to get these captives freed, Hamas took hostages for a prisoner swap. Two trades took place in Nov 2023 before Bibi unleashed the full-scaled Nakba during the entire year of 2024, which led to his indictment as an alleged war criminal by the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague. In 2024, the “Crime Minister” continued the Nakba every single day to ethnically cleanse Gaza, delay his corruption trial, and weaken the Democrats in the 2024 election. He partially succeeded.

Hundreds of Palestinian detainees in Israeli military detention have been subjected to mistreatment and torture.

Palestinian children in IDF detention. (Undated photo)

Is it any wonder that armed gunmen from Gaza went on a rampage to abduct Israelis in order to conduct a prisoner trade?

Israel Security Agency director Ronen Bar speaks at the World Summit on Counter-Terrorism at Reichman University in Herzliya, 11 Sep 2022. He poses a threat to Netanyahu far greater than the Iranians or Palestinians. (Photo by Avshalom Sassoni / Flash 90)

Spokesperson Eli Feldstein is seen at an event with PM Benjamin Netanyahu during the Nakba against the Palestinians in Gaza. He is under investigation by the Israel Attorney-General’s office for the alleged theft and leaking of classified IDF documents to contacts in Qatar. (Photo: IDF)

Coriolanus visited pre- and post-apartheid South Africa and can testify that Netanyahu followed a similar strategy the Afrikaaners used to divide their opposition. The Afrikaaners secretly funded the Zulu Inkatha Freedom Party who were opposed to the African National Congress as they were predominantly from the Xhosa tribe. Using tribal warfare, Pretoria kept the two massive groups at each other’s throats for years, much like the disunified Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza. Over time, the white minority government realized their hold on power was untenable, so they released Nelson Mandela and transitioned away from apartheid with a minimum amount of bloodshed.

Dubbed the “Crime Minister” by his political opposition and “Israel’s curse” by a Canadian newspaper, Netanyahu has an outstanding international arrest warrant out for him issued by the ICC. His wife Sara and he are embroiled in a corruption trial and “Bibi” faces a serious inquiry into his handling of the 7 Oct 2023 surprise attack by Palestinian resistance fighters.

All indictments are merely allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Sources:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/report-5-months-before-oct-7-shin-bet-head-told-netanyahu-war-in-gaza-inevitable/

Israel/OPT: Horrifying cases of torture and degrading treatment of Palestinian detainees amid spike in arbitrary arrests   – Amnesty International

AG orders criminal probe into Netanyahu’s aides’ ties to Qatar | The Times of Israel

Investigators Assess if Netanyahu’s Aides Forged Oct. 7 Phone Records – DNyuz

US Stops Sharing Air Quality Data From Embassies Worldwide

The US government will stop sharing air quality data gathered from its embassies and consulates, worrying local scientists and experts who say the effort was vital to monitor global air quality and improve public health. The State Department said its air quality monitoring program would no longer transmit air pollution data from embassies and consulates to the EPA’s AirNow app and other platforms, which allowed locals in various countries, along with scientists around the globe, to see and analyze air quality in cities around the world.

The US embassy’s hourly smog updates have irked Beijing officials—and spurred mitigation measures. (Photo: Kevin Frayer / Stringer / Getty Images)

Sources:

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/05/world/us-air-quality-pollution-intl-hnk/index.html

https://www.science.org/content/article/rooftop-sensors-us-embassies-are-warning-world-about-crazy-bad-air-pollution

Unvaccinated Americans Dying or Sickening from Preventable Illnesses

The New Mexico Department of Health said that the state had its first measles death. The victim tested positive for the measles virus after death and the official cause of his demise is under investigation. The adult, who was unvaccinated, didn’t seek medical care before dying.

Measles is spreading rapidly in West Texas, with 159 cases reported so far. Most of the cases are in Gaines County. In neighboring Lea County, New Mexico, ten cases have been identified. A school-age child in Texas last week was the first person to have died in the outbreak and the first to have died from measles in the US in a decade. Most of the people who have gotten the measles in Texas haven’t been vaccinated, including the child who died. Mexican authorities warned their citizens to avoid Texas.

The Minnesota Department of Health reported a case of tetanus in an unvaccinated child under ten years of age in 2024. The child experienced pain and stiffness in the neck, and he could not breathe on their own. They were intubated and admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). The child had no visible wounds, and parents were not aware of any recently healed wounds. Tetanus is a rare, but a very serious vaccine-preventable disease that causes significant illness and can be fatal. Also called lockjaw, it is a disease caused by bacteria that affects the body’s muscles and nerves. Tetanus cannot be spread from person to person and vaccination is the best way to prevent it. Luckily, the child survived.

The CDC reported that there are at least 32,000 cases of pertussis (“whooping cough”) in the US. This is another disease that is preventable with vaccination.   Antibiotics can treat the bacterial infection, but only if it’s caught within the first few weeks, before the arrival of the exhausting, painful cough. Then, the only treatment is comfort care with plenty of rest and fluids while the infection runs its course.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr made a small fortune as an anti-vaxxer before joining the Trumpf regime. He vowed to “Make America Healthy Again.” (Photo: Rebecca Noble / Getty Images)

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote in a recent editorial that “vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity.” But Kennedy, a longtime notorious anti-vaccine activist, stopped short of calling for parents to vaccinate their children. “The decision to vaccinate is a personal one,” he wrote.

RFK Jr. has claimed that cod liver oil, budesonide, and clarithromycin have shown “very, very good results” as remedies for measles. Infectious disease experts, however, say these treatments don’t have much medically sound backup and are not intended as measles remedies. The only proven way to prevent measles is through the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. Two doses are 97% effective.

Each of these unnecessary deaths and illnesses are the result of anti-vaxxer propaganda. If these idiots wish to die or allow their families to die because of this gross misbelief, so be it. But they are also harming innocent people. When COVID-19 was raging, false prophets touted the effectiveness of ivermectin (a horse de-wormer) as an alternative to vaccination. The number of preventable COVID deaths under Trumpf was incalculable. Now the effectiveness of cod liver oil as a treatment for measles is spreading. Avian flu is spreading globally and Trumpf cut resources at CDC and NIH, as well as withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization (WHO). We can only guess how many needless deaths all of this chaos will cause.

Sources:

Second measles death reported in ongoing outbreak

Minnesota officials report tetanus case in unvaccinated child in 2024

RFK Jr. Claims Cod Liver Oil, Steroids, Antibiotics Can Treat Measles—Here’s What Doctors Say

Whooping cough cases in the US are the highest they’ve been in a decade | CNN

Helpful Cats

America’s Godzilla Betrays Ukraine, Threatens Canada, Targets US Law Firm Employing Democrats, Weakens FBI and CIA

Followers of the Watch, Coriolanus is doing his utmost best to keep up with the chaos caused by Vladimir Putin’s protege in the White House, Donald Trumpf (AKA America’s Godzilla).

France President Emmanuel Macron visited the White House and publicly corrected Donald Trumpf about who started the war and European economic support for Ukraine during the past three years of Russia’s brutal invasion. On camera America’s Godzilla lied twice and this meme below captured the exchange perfectly. The link at bottom will take you to the video.

Is there anybody on the planet does NOT know that Trumpf is a Kremlin puppet who threw Ukraine under the bus with this Neville Chamberlain “peace in our time” mineral extortion scheme/peace plan? See below for Ukraine update.

The Dotard-in-Chief reiterated his desire to annex Canada and has vowed to press ahead with 25% tariffs on imports from the country when a one-month reprieve elapses on 4 March. Peter Navarro, a top White House official and convicted felon, proposed expelling Canada from the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network to increase pressure on the country.

In addition, Godzilla roared that he would strip security clearances from lawyers at a prominent Washington law firm aiding former Special Counsel Jack Smith, the man who investigated him. Trumpf demanded a review of any federal government work Covington & Burling may have, intensifying his bid to truculently punish his enemies.

The law offices of Covington & Burling in Washington, DC. (Photo: Andrew Kelly / Reuters)

Covington & Burling employs high-profile Democratic lawyers who worked in the Obama and Biden administrations. Signing executive orders before reporters in the Oval Office, the twice-impeached and convicted Dotard-in-Chef described the plan to reporters and offered to childishly send the pen he used to Jack Smith, who led two investigations against him as Special Counsel.

To the dismay and shock of thousands of FBI agents, Trumpf hired an unqualified rightwing former podcast propagandist to be Deputy Director. The former USSS agent, Dan Bongino, once called the FBI “irredeemably corrupt. Kash Patel then re-assigned hundreds of FBI agents from Washington, scattering them throughout the US. Across the Potomac River, CIA personnel are conducting damage assessment after a White House email about civil service layoffs appeared to compromise the names of certain undercover officers.

This damage control, reported CNN, is “just one of multiple aftershocks from President Donald Trump’s push to take a jackhammer to the federal government — including the CIA. The administration’s efforts to cut the workforce and audit spending at the CIA and elsewhere threaten to jeopardize some of the government’s most sensitive work, current and former US officials familiar with internal deliberations say.”

CIA honors its fallen officers at its memorial wall, which uses stars rather than names, in keeping with their clandestine calling. (Photo: CIA)

As Dame Agatha Christie once wrote: “Who benefits from this crime?” All of these moves by Donald Trumpf benefit Vladimir Putin. Godzilla is weakening America’s internal and external security apparatuses. By relocating FBI agents outside Washington, Trumpf reduces any resistance forces nearby while also making life easier for foreign espionage assets to operate in the National Capital Region (NCR). By alienating Canada and other allies, Putin is watching NATO beginning to fracture. Putin will continue to fund the rightwing in Europe who will parrot his lines about the evils of Ukraine and NATO. Trumpf’s audacious and offensive behavior towards Canada has galvanized their population on both sides of the aisle and their imminent elections will present an anti-Trumpfer from either the Conservative or Labor Party. The international intelligence-sharing architecture once headed by the US presents another separate dilemma. NATO, the remaining Five-Eyes partners, Japan, and South Korea will limit intelligence-sharing with the US. Israel’s Mossad may also be leery about sharing sensitive information with the US. Bilateral intelligence sharing programs exclusive of the US will probably be the way ahead for the Western powers.

What will Trumpf target next? Medicare? VA benefits? Social security? Mexico?

Sources:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/suspension-of-security-clearances-and-evaluation-of-government-contracts/

https://www.ft.com/content/2dfa3c11-64a7-49f6-83df-939b8d1cfb8e

https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-macron-canada-mexicoreciprocal-49caafc1240db7e17cfb45e71520dc98

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2025-02-24/trump-macron-discuss-ukraine-russia-full-remarks-video

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/fbi-agents-express-shock-dismay-naming-right-wing-podcaster-no-2-post-rcna193498

Israel Charges Two IDF Reservists with Espionage on Behalf of Iran

Yuri Eliasfov, Georgi Andreyev (Photo: Sharon Zur)

Two IDF reservists Yuri Eliasfov (22) and Georgi Andreyev (21) were charged with collaborating with an Iranian foreign agent known as “Boaz” and carrying out actions intended to harm Israel’s national security.

Eliasfov is accused of aiding an enemy in war, providing information that could benefit the enemy, contact with a foreign agent, aggravated forgery and other offenses. Andreyev is charged with contact with a foreign agent, vandalism and tampering with evidence. Neither has a previous criminal record.

According to the indictment filed in Haifa District Court, Eliasfov served as a technician in the Iron Dome air defense system and later during his reserve service, while Andreyev was a technician at the Israeli Air Force’s operations center and also served in reserves. The two have been friends for years.

The two spray-painted pro-Iranian graffiti in public places across Israel in exchange for $100 in cryptocurrency, photographed the creation and sent the images to “Boaz” before erasing part of the text.

Eliasfov allegedly sent “Boaz” blurred images of sites he claimed were military locations, receiving payment. He later offered to sell him weapons.

Between November 1-3 last year, while on reserve duty, Eliasfov recorded the Iron Dome radar screen, capturing classified data on the system’s location. He sent “Boaz” an edited clip containing highly classified information and offered the full video for $10,000, demanding an $800 advance payment.

Iron Dome battery (Photo: Israeli Security Ministry)

During his compulsory service, Eliasfov allegedly took eight photos of Iron Dome’s computer systems containing classified data and stored them on his phone, knowing they were highly confidential.

“Boaz” reportedly believed Eliasfov was a commander in the IDF’s elite Egoz unit with military connections. The Iranian agent expressed interest in Israeli Air Force bases, aircraft and specifically Nevatim Airbase, targeted in an Iranian attack last October.

The espionage war between Israel and Iran will continue along with their state of belligerency. Note that Iranian anti-Israeli attitudes intensified after Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon in the early 1980s which killed thousands of Shiites and led to the creation of Lebanese Hezbollah. When the Shah of Iran was in power, both CIA and Mossad worked and trained the Peacock Throne’s notorious security service, the SAVAK. As you previously read here on Coriolanus, in 2024 Israel’s security services previously rendered ineffective a few other Iranian spy rings. These two suspects are Ashkenazi Jews with Slavic names, like some of the other spies netted by the Shin Bet.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Source:

https://www.ynetnews.com/article/ryc11k4q00yg

Ukraine Update

Ukraine’s Schools Preparing Next Generation to Defend Itself from Russia

School children during a “Defense of Ukraine” lesson in Kyiv Oblast. (Photo: Lisa Bukreyeva / The Kyiv Independent)

In a small town in Kyiv Oblast, 10th grader Alina Marynenko just beat her entire class to be the most accurate shooter on an AK-47 simulator.

“Fourteen out of fifteen! I set a record! We beat the boys!” Marynenko yells out to her class.

Marynenko and her classmates fired the simulated weapon during a “Defense of Ukraine” lesson, an experimental course part of a wider educational reform passed after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The course has been part of the Ukrainian school curriculum since Soviet times, also known over the years as “Pre-Conscription Training” and “Defense of the Homeland.” If before 2022, the subject was seen as obsolete, hardly taken seriously by students who at times saw it more as an opportunity to goof off, Russia’s all-out aggression has given it a new life.  

Schoolchildren practice with firearms during a “Defense of Ukraine” lesson in Kyiv Oblast. (Photo: Lisa Bukreyeva / The Kyiv Independent)

The program’s backers maintain they are not aiming to train 16 and 17-year-olds to be soldiers, but preparing them for a reality where Russian aggression is ongoing, with no clear end in sight.

FPV drone flying simulator in a “Defense of Ukraine” classroom in Kyiv Oblast. Ukraine has become an expert at precision drone warfare. (Photo: Lisa Bukreyeva / The Kyiv Independent)

Similarly and sadly, the Kremlin is militarizing their youth as well. In 2024, the Russian state introduced a mandatory discipline for middle and high school called the “Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland.” For about 60 years, Soviet schoolchildren assembled and disassembled assault rifles, learned how to put on gas masks, and provided first aid during the lessons of “Basic Military Training” (BMT). This subject was removed from the school curriculum in the late 1980s and replaced with FLS.

A Russian army officer wearing a “Z” symbol, associated with support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, demonstrates a Kalashnikov assault rifle to a boy during a pro-military event in Krasnogorsk, Russia, on 24 Feb 2024. The event, organized by local authorities, coincides with the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. (Contributor / Getty Images)

Russian teenagers take part in a ceremony to join the patriotic Youth Army cadet movement in the main hall of the Stalingrad Battle Museum in Volgograd, Russia, on 25 Jan 2023. (Photo: Kirill Kudryavtsev / AFP via Getty Images)

Ukrainian Intelligence Chief: “Putin Wants All of Warsaw Pact Back”

Kyrylo Budanov, the chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. (Photo: Ukrainian Defense Ministry.)

Ukraine’s intelligence director Kyrylo Budanov warns Russia views itself as an empire seeking to reclaim former Soviet territories, with Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Bulgaria as targets if Ukraine is defeated.

“Russia doesn’t see itself as a federation—it sees itself as an empire. The model its leadership envisions is a version of the Soviet Union that includes former Warsaw Pact countries. This won’t change if the worst-case scenario unfolds.” 

According to him, absorbing these nations is Russia’s “minimum objective” in its imperial ambitions.

“If we fall, Poland is next. I’m saying this outright—not to instill fear, but to make it clear. Then will come for the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Bulgaria. A full rollback.” 

Despite Moscow’s claims of openness to negotiations, Russia continues its relentless aerial attacks on Ukraine.

Budanov added that Russia has received 120 long-range self-propelled artillery pieces and 120 multiple launch rocket systems from North Korea.

The DPRK has already supplied this equipment to the Russian troops and they have begun to use it. We are talking about 120 self-propelled artillery systems of 170 mm caliber and 120 MLRS of 240 mm caliber.

“These are quite impressive numbers,” the DIU chief emphasized.

He added that “it’s another question altogether” how much more North Korean weapons are being supplied to Russia. The intelligence chief noted that the DPRK provides the occupiers with 49% of 122-152 mm artillery ammunition and 122 mm MLRS rockets. 

Russian Military Losses

Russian military funeral.

ICC-indicted war criminal Vladimir Putin’s Nakba against Ukraine has cost his country dearly. According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, Russia has lost 870,700 troops since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on 24 Feb 2022.

This number includes 1,170 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past 36 hours.

According to the report, Russia has also lost 10,201 tanks, 21,183 armored fighting vehicles, 38,702 vehicles and fuel tanks, 23,686 artillery systems, 1,299 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,085 air defense systems, 370 airplanes, 331 helicopters, 26,961 drones, 28 ships and boats, and one submarine.

Donald Trumpf sanctioned the ICC in an effort to remove the international arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu.

If a ceasefire or peace is arranged, Ukraine will walk away from this conflict much like Japan and Finland did after their wars with the much larger Russia: combat-experienced and esteemed in the eyes of the international community. Russia and Ukraine might look like North and South Korea, two highly-militarized states at stone’s throw of each other. But genuine negotiations between Kiev and Moscow have not yet begun. US and Russian envoys discussing the future of Ukraine in Saudi Arabia without their presence was a poor sign of imperial arrogance. When someone asks what’s for dinner, this usually means it’s them. Either way, Putin’s goal of absorbing Ukraine into his fold have so far failed. And how much longer can Putin and Trumpf live? Will their successors want to maintain this ideal of a “Greater Russia”? As long as Europe can keep supporting Kiev without the US, Ukraine can outlast her enemies.

Sources:

https://euromaidanpress.com

https://kyivindependent.com/general-staff-russia-has-lost-870-700-troops-in-ukraine-since-feb-24-2022/

Dead Body Placed Beside Australian Couple on Qatar Airways Flight for Four Hours

An Australian couple have spoken of the “traumatic” moment the body of a dead passenger was placed next to them on a Qatar Airways flight. Mitchell Ring and Jennifer Colin, who were travelling to Venice for a dream holiday, said a woman died in the aisle beside them during the flight from Melbourne to Doha. The couple say cabin crew sat her corpse, which was covered in blankets, next to Mr Ring for the remaining four hours of the flight and did not offer to move him, despite there being empty seats. Qatar Airways said it apologized for “any inconvenience or distress this incident may have caused,” adding that it was in the process of contacting passengers.

Mitchell Ring and Jennifer Colin. Inset: Mitchell Ring on the infamous flight. (Courtesy 9Now Australia)

Qatar Airways crew stated the deceased passenger was too large to move to the vacant seats in business class. But this large passenger was able to squeeze her way into economy class? Perhaps the crew didn’t want to upset the oligarchs enjoying Business Class. And in case you missed it, this week there was another aviation incident when a private jet entered the runway without authorization from air traffic control resulting in a near-miss in Chicago. Between President Planecrash in the US and this mortifying experience, who thinks the skies are friendly enough to fly?

Sources:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz03l18jv97o

https://abcnews.go.com/US/southwest-plane-lands-safely-chicago-after-close-call/story?id=119174069

North Korean Hackers Steal Record $1.5 Billion in Single Crypto Hack

North Korean hackers have stolen $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency in a single heist, making it the largest crypto hack on record..

The hackers struck Bybit, which describes itself as the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, with over 40 million users.

In a matter of minutes on Friday, the hackers stole a significant portion of North Korea’s reported annual gross domestic product. And over the weekend, the hackers were already laundering about $160 million of the stolen loot through a series of accounts connected to North Korean operatives, according to crypto-tracing firm TRM Labs. In a single hack, the North Koreans have nearly doubled what they stole in crypto last year, the firm said.


An ethereum coin. Credit: CFOTO / Future Publishing via Getty Images

North Korea’s formidable hacking corps is an essential source of revenue for the nuclear-armed, sanctions-battered dictatorship.

Kim Jong-un enjoying a cigarette while his people starve. (Undated photo: KCNA)

In addition to hacking, North Korea makes money by producing and selling illegal drugs, counterfeit consumer goods and currency, and human/arms/wildlife trafficking. Pyongyang added to its coffers by keeping the salaries of the soldiers it sent to fight and die in Russia, as well as by selling weapons to Moscow. The fight to defeat North Korean crime must be through vigilance and intelligence-sharing, otherwise Kin Jong-un will continue developing his weapons of mass destruction (WMD) unabated. Lastly, Coriolanus has dealt with organized crime decades ago and he learned this philosophy years ago: “If you don’t understand it, get rid of it.” This axiom certainly applies to investing in crypto-currency. No Followers of the Watch should even be tempted to think about this unregulated demi-currency.

Sources:

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/24/politics/north-korean-hackers-crypto-hack/index.html

Health News: Four Things to Increase Your Lifespan

Stacy Andersen, a behavioral neuroscientist at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, is a codirector of the New England Centenarian Study, which examines the lives of people over 100 who are in good health. She has traveled the country visiting centenarians in their homes, meeting their families, and often sitting down with them for breakfast to try to pinpoint why they have lived so long.

Ms. Anderson, who studied centenarians for twenty years, contends doing these four things will add to your life expectancy. Of course this excludes genetic, financial, and environmental factors impacting us.

1) Eat foods from five different colors every day.

You can get a diverse range of nutrients by eating a variety of fruits and vegetables. (Istetiana/Getty Images)

2) Exercise daily and mix it up.

Yoga, tennis, swimming, jogging, martial arts, weight-lifting all help.

3) Get good-quality sleep.

4) Challenge yourself to learn a new skill.

Learn to play different games, a musical instrument, or another language.

Many researchers suggest that having a pet in your life may also increase your longevity. Reducing alcohol, coffee, soda, and tobacco consumption can’t hurt either. Coriolanus has some work to do himself.

Source:

https://www.businessinsider.com/things-longevity-scientist-centenarians-does-for-live-longer-2025-2

US Army Choir Sings Protest Song from Les Misérables at White House

At the Governor’s Ball in the White House earlier this week, the US Army Choir sang an arrangement from Les Misérables. The Victor Hugo novel (and musical) revolves around anti-monarchy and fighting tyranny, famous for its climactic scene from the Paris Uprising of 1832. The US Soldiers gleefully protested the sham Trumpf administration right under their very noses. Watch and listen:

Coriolanus is proud of his Soldiers.

Pocket-Sized Kitten Changes This Man Into Cat Lover Forever

The Fourth Reich Begins in America

(Montage courtesy of James Marshall Crotty, The Huffington Post)

Donald Trump’s second presidency heralded in the new Fourth Reich with a breath-taking malicious maelstrom of white supremacist and authoritarian executive orders and directives. None of this should come as a surprise to Americans or anybody in the world, particularly the people of Germany who issued the US a warning the first time Donald Trumpf ran for President in 2016.

Americans lived through Trump’s first term holding their nostrils in horror and will do so again.

Within two hours of the Fuhrer’s inauguration on Monday, former CJCS General Mark Milley’s portrait was removed from the Pentagon.

Trump had deep resentment toward Milley, and once called him “slow moving and thinking” and a “moron.” Hours earlier, former President Joe Biden had issued a pre-emptive pardon to Milley and others against potential retaliation.

To punctuate the arrival of the Fourth Reich, at Trump’s Inaugural Ball South African-born trillionaire Elon Musk twice rendered the Nazi salute to a delighted and cheering audience.

A PhD scholar on Nazi Germany and the Third Reich commented on social media that Musk’s expert salute was perfect and unmistakable.

Here is a cheat-sheet of the Fuhrer’s agenda:

Within the first 36 hours of his coronation, the Fuhrer began terminating civil servants whom he described as members of the “Deep State” and relieved Admiral Linda Fagan, the first woman to lead the US Coast Guard.

Admiral Linda Fagan speaks at the US Coast Guard change of command ceremony at USCG Headquarters in Washington, 1 Jun 2022. (Photo: AFP)

The tempest of terror continued when Trump replaced the Ukraine team at the Pentagon and ordered a suspension of all US foreign aid (whether this includes Israel is unclear). The Fuhrer pardoned 1,500 6 January insurrectionists, including the leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers (the Proud Boys have been listed as a terrorist organization by Canada). The White House took down its Spanish language version of its website. The Fuhrer also rescinded sanctions against lunatic Israeli Settlers who have been killing Palestinians and seizing their land. See later story.

With avian flu spreading throughout the world, the Fuhrer withdrew the US from the World Health Organization (WHO) and ordered all federal health agencies to stop external communications (warnings, advisories). Trumpf also fired special advisers at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that were investigating nefarious Chinese cyber-hacking groups, like Salt Typhoon.  The Fuhrer will be announcing dates for the start of tariffs against China, Canada, and Mexico.

The Fuhrer also withdrew USSS protection from his former national security advisor John Bolton who has legitimately angered the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Force (IRGC). Mr. Bolton has the funds to pay for his own security detail. His reckless Islamophobia shouldn’t keep costing American taxpayers money to protect him.

Followers of the Watch, Coriolanus will endeavor to keep up as best as possible while the Fuhrer implements his austerity plans to impoverish Americans, destroy affirmative action, alienate allies, threaten neighbors, deport people of color, and dismantle the US from within on behalf of the Kremlin.

Oxfam: “Takers, Not Makers: Billionaires Added Two Trillion Dollars to Their Pockets in 2024”

Oxfam informs:

“Most billionaire wealth is taken, not earned The idea that extreme wealth is a reward for
extreme talent is pervasive and strongly reinforced in our media and popular culture.
But this perception is not rooted in reality. This report makes the case that the extreme wealth of today’s billionaire class is largely unearned, where inheritance, cronyism and monopoly power generate extreme wealth. Unchecked, we are about to see the biggest transfer of the largest generational wealth in human history handed over – hardly earned, hardly taxed.”

The wealth of each of the richest ten men has grown by almost US$100 million a day in 2024 on average. Even if you saved US$1,000 daily since the first humans 315,000 years ago, you still would not have as much money as one of the richest ten billionaires. If any of the richest ten billionaires lost 99% of their wealth, they’d still be a billionaire.

Obviously this will get worse for Americans as the largest wealth-extraction scheme run by a cabal of greedy billionaire oligarchs takes over the US government and economy.

Source:

Russian Drones Hunting Ukrainian Civilians in Kherson Like a “Safari”

From the Economist:

“For six months Russian drones have been attacking civilians daily, chasing cars and pedestrians through the streets of Kherson in what locals call a “safari”.

“There have been more than 1,000 drone strikes since last summer, injuring over 500 people and killing 36, according to municipal authorities. Surveillance drones patrol high up; smaller attack drones (known as FPVs, or first-person-view drones), with a flying time of 20-40 minutes, sit on rooftops to conserve battery power. The munitions dropped are often makeshift: mortar shells, grenades, canisters containing shrapnel or darts, or bottles of petrol that ignite.”

Russian First Person View (FPV) kamikaze drone with a MON-50 mine containing lethal and maiming shrapnel. (Open source photo)

“Shops, schools, clinics, private houses, delivery vans, buses, firetrucks and other first responders are routinely targeted. Several administrative officials have been wounded. In one case, says Roman Mrochko, the head of the military authority in Kherson, a minibus “was almost completely destroyed, but the driver heroically saved the injured people by driving, you could say on scrap metal, to the hospital.” In the riverside neighborhoods where the attacks are concentrated, designated “red zones” by Russians on Telegram channels, life has been throttled. There is no gas, water, electricity or municipal heat. Public transport is suspended. Ambulances wait outside the area for police in armored cars to ferry the wounded to them.”

Russian forces have been accused of committing war crimes in Kherson. Investigators uncover three victims. (Photo: Govt of Ukraine)

There is no military value in hunting and killing civilians like this for sport. This is purely sadism and terrorism. The ICC indicted and issued an international arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, but there is reporting that Donald Trumpf will be sanctioning the ICC to remove warrants against him and fellow PIFWC Benjamin Netanyahu. See next story.

Source:

https://www.economist.com/europe/2025/01/18/russian-pilots-appear-to-be-hunting-ukrainian-civilians

Of course. The International Criminal Court (ICC) is After Putin and Netanyahu, So Trump is Going After the ICC

The man who handed Donald Trump the White House by sabotaging the Democratic Party in 2024 in a previous meeting with the Fuhrer.

KGB veteran Vladimir Putin met with his protege in Finland, 16 Jul 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

The ICC indicted and issued international arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin (17 Mar 2023) and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu (21 Nov 2024) for alleged war crimes against the people of Ukraine and Gaza.

Israel National News reports:

“US President Donald Trump plans to introduce sweeping sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC).”

“The sanctions will target both ICC personnel, including judges and prosecutors, and the institution itself. The administration intends to classify the ICC as a threat to US national interests, utilizing designation procedures akin to those employed by the State Department for global terrorist organizations. This designation will impose strict penalties on anyone associated with the court’s operations.”

“Global financial institutions will be compelled to sever ties with ICC personnel or face sanctions from the US. Similar to measures imposed on sanctioned Israeli citizens by the outgoing administration, ICC staff will be unable to carry out routine banking activities, such as accessing credit cards or conducting financial transactions. Their assets will effectively be frozen, with exceptions allowed only for basic necessities like food purchases. Additionally, all US-based assets belonging to ICC employees and the institution itself will be frozen.”

“Beyond these unilateral measures, the incoming administration aims to rally US allies to reject cooperation with ICC arrest warrants targeting Israeli officials.”

On the strength of the ICC Rome Statute, Ukraine requested that Mexico arrest Putin if he attended Claudia Sheinbaum’s presidential inauguration on 1 Oct 2024. Mexico demurred and Putin sent a deputy anyway.

If signatory countries like Poland or France seek exceptions for Netanyahu, or Mongolia and Mexico for Putin, the ICC is only good for picking low-lying fruit like warlords from the Balkans or Africa. In essence, the ICC has the same enforcement mechanisms as the Vatican.

Official ICC Portrait of Jack Smith. Many Americans pinned their hopes on his success against Donald Trump when he was Special Counsel. (Credit: Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office)

Both indictments are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Sources:

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/401849

https://www.icc-cpi.int/defendant/netanyahu

https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/situation-ukraine-icc-judges-issue-arrest-warrants-against-vladimir-vladimirovich-putin-and

Former CIA Analyst Pleads Guilty to Leaking Israeli Attack Plans on Social Platform

Asif William Rahman was arrested in Cambodia. (Photo: Guam Department of Corrections)

Asif William Rahman (34) of Vienna, VA, pleaded guilty to retaining and transmitting Top Secret National Defense Information to people who were not entitled to receive it. This information was publicly posted on a social media platform in October 2024.

Rahman was an analyst at CIA since 2016. On 17 Oct 2024, Rahman accessed and printed two Top Secret documents containing National Defense Information regarding a US foreign ally and its planned actions against a foreign adversary. Rahman removed the documents, photographed them, and transmitted them to individuals he knew were not entitled to receive them. By 18 Oct 2024, the documents appeared publicly on multiple social media platforms, complete with the classification markings.

Beginning in the spring of 2024 and continuing through Nov 2024, Rahman repeatedly accessed and printed classified National Defense Information and transmitted to multiple individuals he knew were not entitled to receive it.

Rahman pleaded guilty to two counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information related to the national defense. He is scheduled to be sentenced on 15 May 2025. He faces a maximum penalty of ten years in prison for both counts in the plea agreement.

Asif William Rahman was the individual who leaked IDF attack plans on social media in an effort to prevent Israel from attacking Iran last year. Rahman is reportedly a Yale University graduate. The poor guy tried to prevent Israel from plunging the world into further war and now pays the price of his espionage. The road to hell is indeed paved with good intentions as Mr. Rahman has found out.

Sources:

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-cia-analyst-pleads-guilty-transmitting-top-secret-national-defense-information

https://ifpnews.com/us-cia-official-document-israeli-attack-iran/

The Philippines: Clade II Mpox Virus Case Reported in Baguio City

Mpox symptoms. (Photo: AFP)

Residents of Baguio are urged to stay alert after the first case of mpox was reported in the city. The Baguio City Health Services Office confirmed that the patient is a 28-year-old male. His infection was caused by the less severe Clade II mpox virus, not the more deadly Clade I.

The patient completed isolation and was cured on 17 Jan 2025.

The Baguio City Mayor reassured the public, stating that there is no cause for panic or a lockdown. He strongly advised the public to follow health protocols, including wearing face masks, practicing physical distancing, maintaining hand and personal hygiene, and ensuring proper ventilation.

The Department of Health (DOH) noted that the mpox virus can be transmitted through “direct contact with skin or mucosal lesions” during activities such as talking, breathing, kissing, touching, hugging, sexual intercourse, or through respiratory secretions. It can also be contracted indirectly through contaminated bedding, clothing, linens, or other objects.

Symptoms of mpox include skin rash or mucosal lesions, fever, swollen lymph nodes, sore throat, muscle aches, back pain, headache, and low energy.

Authorities urged the public to observe health protocols to avoid infection, such as covering the mouth when coughing or sneezing, avoiding skin-to-skin contact, staying out of crowded areas, frequent handwashing, and maintaining good airflow. Those with symptoms are advised to seek medical consultation immediately.

The WHO informs:

In 2022–2023 a global outbreak of mpox was caused by the clade IIb strain. Mpox continues to be a threat today, and an upsurge of cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other countries caused by clades Ia and Ib has raised concern. There are vaccines for mpox. Vaccination should be considered along with other public health interventions.

Sources:

https://tribune.net.ph/2025/01/19/baguio-reports-first-case-of-monkeypox

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mpox

Nakba Continues in West Bank: IDF Kills Ten and Wounds 40 Palestinians in Jenin

Indicted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation aimed to “defeat terrorism” in Jenin. (Photo Reuters).

No sooner than the guns go silent in Gaza, the “Crime Minister” of Israel launches an “extensive and significant” operation to “defeat terrorism” in Jenin, long seen as a stronghold of Palestinian armed groups. Ten Palestinians were killed, 40 wounded; three doctors and two nurses were among those wounded by Israeli gunfire. A medical worker told the British charity Medical Aid for Palestinians:

“I was called in [on Tuesday] due to the surge of injuries, and the moment I stepped out of the car making my way to the emergency entrance a sniper shot me below the knee. Another doctor was shot in the same spot,” he added. “The Israeli army is shooting non-stop.”

In another barbaric development in the West Bank, dozens of masked Israeli extremists attacked Palestinians in two villages east of Qalqilya, Jinsafut and al-Funduq, setting fire to Palestinian homes and cars and smashing property. At least 21 Palestinians were injured, the Palestinian Red Crescent said. Two Israelis were also shot, apparently when an Israeli police officer opened fire while responding to the violence.

A Palestinian shop in the village of Jinsafut was set on fire overnight, when suspected Israeli settlers went on the rampage. (Photo: AFP)

The far-right, pro-settler Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, welcomed the US removing sanctions from Settlers. In a post on X, Smotrich praised Trump’s “unwavering and uncompromising support for the state of Israel.”

According to the Israeli anti-settlement group, Peace Now, in 2024 settlers also established 59 new outposts, without authorization from the Israeli government. That was more than double the number from the previous year – which was also a record year for settlement outpost establishment.

Israel has built about 160 settlements housing some 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this – as did the previous Trump administration.

There is no reporting of IDF attempts to arrest the Palestinians suspected of being terrorists nor any reports of Israeli police attempting to stop the Settlers from attacking Palestinians, their homes, cars, or businesses.

The hard-working American taxpayer dollar continues to fund ethnic cleansing in Israel, as well as their world-class universal healthcare system.

Source:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg750yzdr8o

Four Types of Tigers in One Photo

From left to right, the Golden Tiger, Snow White Tiger, Bengal Tiger and White Tiger. There are nine subspecies of tigers. How the photographer got them to pose like this is uncanny. This was originally posted on Reddit. There was no information as to which sanctuary these tigers are living in. (Photo courtesy of Nature is Amazing.)

America Has Spoken: “The South Shall Rise Again!”

In 2020, the Biden/Harris ticket won 81,283,501 votes against 74,223,975 votes for Trump/Pence (51.3% to 46.8%). But in 2024, the Harris/Walz ticket won only 66.8 million votes while Trump/Walz won the popular election (and Electoral College) with 71.7 million votes.  Democratic votes disappeared between 2020 and 2024, a short span of four years.

In 1865, the Union Army defeated the Confederacy to eradicate slavery, abolishing the physical Mason-Dixon Border Line after the US Civil War. But the War Between the States did not eliminate the myth of white supremacy and the Mason-Dixon Line remained a constant nefarious meta-physical border ever since. POTUS Joe Biden won the battle against the neo-Confederacy in 2020, but his successor lost the war to them in 2024.

What happened to the Democratic Party turnout?

Many Democrats simply didn’t vote for Harris/Walz in 2024 compared to the 2020 Biden/Harris ticket, as the numbers reflect. And Democrat declines were acute in blue states:  900,000 votes in NY, 500,000 in NJ and Maryland, 300,000 in Massachusetts, and 180,000 in Virginia. Democrats either stayed home or voted for Jill Stein. Kamala Harris was down 10% in Red states and about 4% in swing states. The reasoning may have been the lack of democracy in the process when POTUS Joe Biden anointed Kamala Harris as the POTUS candidate (without a convention vote or primary process), simple personal dislike of the candidate, or the Biden Administration’s handling of the incessant murderous Israeli rampage against Palestinians.

VPOTUS Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff botched the origin of Hanukkah in a social post in Dec 2023. The DNC did not allow Arab-Americans to have a voice at the 2024 convention in Chicago resulting in massive demonstrations outside.  79% of American Jews reportedly voted for Kamala Harris, but 45% of New York Jews voted for Donald Trump. On election night, a Jewish voter at Trump HQ in Florida told a PBS reporter that she voted for Trump because “he would be better for Israel.” Arab-Americans in Michigan punished the Biden Administration’s atrocious mishandling of the Israeli Nakba by either voting for Donald Trump or Jill Stein. Some may have simply stayed home in disgust.

Critically, the GOP also won over 46% of the Latino vote (despite Latinas turning out for Kamala Harris) and Trump won more black votes in 2024 than he did in 2020.

Other factors that led to this disaster for the Democrats (and the American people) included the appearance that the Democratic Party became the party of the status quo and the elite, supported by “intellectual snobs” and wealthy Hollywood celebrities. Liberal TV icons like Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, and Stephen Colbert were derided as “elitist snobs” by blue collar working-class Republicans.  To this point, Kamala Harris made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live (SNL), while Donald Trump appeared on the blue-collar racist Joe Rogan podcast (to a record number of viewers). While the Democratic Party raised millions of dollars, so did the GOP. Fueled by Elon Musk’s donations and supported by his social platform “X,” the Democratic Party had no counter to this.

The biggest issues for voters in 2024 turned out to be immigration and the economy. While high prices affected all Americans, the right-wing was successful in making migrants– the “others”– an important issue. This is similar to why right-wing political parties in Europe gained traction over the past few years: Xenophobia and post-COVID inflation.

Democratic strategists may have been misled by the full, raucous rallies attended by Kamala Harris supporters, observing the flat and unfilled rallies of Trump. While Democrats ridiculed Trump’s loathsome comments and infirmities, perhaps they should have focused on the evils of Project 2025 during this first Presidential election after Roe vs Wade was overturned by SCOTUS. Trump’s clownish and boorish behavior became the focus of the Democrats. Now the Democratic Party will conduct their autopsy of what went wrong. They will discover that shooing out Joe Biden because of his age and anointing Kamala Harris may have been a mistake. Kamala Harris had 107 days to campaign, she selected an excellent VPOTUS candidate, and she raised a record number in funds. Her “ground game” was touted as formidable.

But while Americans were ready for a female President in 2016 when Hilary Clinton won 65,844,954 votes (48.2%) to Trump’s 62,979,879 (46.1%), in 2024 Americans were not ready for a female president of color. Regrettably, Kamala Harris was not a transformative figure like former POTUS Barack Obama. Moreover, some critics within the Democratic Party also found her disingenuous and disconnected to life on Main Street, unlike the popular VPOTUS candidate Tim Walz.

What’s next for America and the World?

Hint: The Trump Administration won’t be like JFK’s fabled Camelot.

Americans will have to hold their noses for four years while the Trump Administration fills the cabinet and government with reactionary right-wing loyalists regardless of competence or experience who will implement the Taliban-like Project 2025.

Former D/DNI and Congressman John Ratcliffe staring dumbly above will be the new D/CIA. He is a Trump acolyte and spreads conspiracy theories about a “deep state” in the US.

TV Fox News host and military veteran Pete Hegseth (44) will oversee and lead the $842 billion budget DOD. He previously said that women should not serve in combat and now wants to purge the US military of “woke” personnel. This nomination is tantamount to a bat-boy being promoted to manage the World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers (Photo: wikimedia.org)

Donald Trump (L) mocks Marco Rubio (R) drinking water during his rebuttal to the 2013 State of the Union address. But Trump selected him to be US Secretary of State. As a Senator, Rubio did his utmost to undermine Obamacare (the ACA) and Rubio is happy send someone else’s American children to fight Iran on behalf of Israel.

Pro-Settler, ultra-Christian reactionary Mike Huckabee gesticulating above will be US Ambassador to Israel. Expect more Palestinian evictions and deaths in the West Bank over the next four years. (Photo: 18 Nov 2016, NYC courtesy of Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

The new D/Homeland Security nominee proudly wrote in her autobiography that she murdered a disobedient 14-month-old puppy, as well as a defenseless goat. Governor Kristi Noem was banned from indigenous reservations in her home state of South Dakota. This psychotic will gleefully carry out mass deportations to ensure America remains a white-majority population.  

Tulsi Gabbard, a practicing Hindu and former Democrat, as DNI will overlook Indian PM Narendra Modi’s homicidal plots against Sikhs and Muslims in India, the US, Canada, and other countries. Gabbard has never worked in the IC and she nefariously parrots the same talking points as the Kremlin.

Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, previously under FBI investigation for having sex with under-aged girls, is Trump’s selection for US Attorney-General. Thanks to his father’s connections, he had previously escaped DWI convictions in Florida. A former senior Justice Department official said: “He is the least qualified person ever nominated for a position in the Department of Justice.”

Who else will the President-Elect choose for his Cabinet?

Americans should expect more Conservative Republican federal judge appointments, the possibility of two young reactionary SCOTUS judges replacing Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, an increase in Christian advertising in the media, increased Christian proselytizing in the military academies, the potential of a massive deportation of migrants and refugees, a purge of enemies and progressives from government (including Special Counsel Jack Smith), and increased defense, space and telecommunications contracts for Elon Musk (with no oversight). Donald Trump’s USSS detail will remain a phalanx of white Praetorian Guards as we have witnessed over the past eight years.

The US averages 42,000 firearms-related deaths per annum. This will no doubt increase as the Trump Regime will reduce federal safeguards to gun and ammunition ownership. Public lands, like in Alaska or the American southwest, will be made available to commercial interests. The GOP will gut food safety, transportation, and environmental regulations for the sake of profits. Social safety nets like Medicaid, Medicare, Obamacare, the SNAP program, as well as social security, will be vulnerable to cuts. Trump will pardon 6 January insurrectionists duly processed by the Justice Dept.  

Internationally, war criminal Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu will have carte blanche to continue decimating and depopulating Palestinians. The US will reduce military and financial support for Ukraine in their fight for survival against Vladimir Putin, and the potential of military strikes against Iran increased (unless Putin somehow dissuades Trump from obeying Netanyahu).

Ambassadorships will be filled with loyal lickspittles of varying competencies, like Mike Huckabee noted above. America’s allies will share less critical intelligence with CIA, DIA, NSA, and the FBI out of concern the information will be leaked to the Kremlin or Jerusalem, and the Board of Governors of the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) will be filled with Christian and ultra-nationalistic acolytes. With Russia no longer the international bogeyman for the GOP, hate-radio and Fox News will laser in on China, Iran, and Palestinian “terrorists,” while accusing Ukraine of corruption, nepotism, and unworthy of American taxpayer support. One mantra already heard is that the US govt sent more aid to Ukraine than to American citizens in Hawaii whose homes were destroyed by volcanic lava.  

The National Targeting Center (NTC) will discontinue tracking Russian oligarchs and the US DOJ OSI will stop investigating Russian war crimes perpetrated in Ukraine. President-elect Trump, enjoying his mandate, will abuse his AUMF powers (Authority to Use Military Force) under a GOP-controlled Congress. More Shia (and Sunni) Muslims will be killed globally.

These truly are dark times for Ukrainians, Palestinians, and Iranians, as Putin and Netanyahu will continue their Murder-Death-Kill campaign without respite. And in America, the Trump Regime portends poorly for the poor, non-Christians, women, and people of color.

In a troubling sign of things to come under the Trump Cabal, a white supremacist detective in Long Island, NY was charged with a hate crime after he called a phone service worker “nigger,” spewing a racist tirade: “We don’t want you or your kind in the neighborhood.”

John Murphy (40) allegedly erupted into a hateful rage after spotting a black cellular service subcontractor inside an SUV in his Manorville neighborhood. Murphy identified himself as a police officer, ignored the employee’s identification card, and damaged the victim’s SUV. The Rockville Centre Police Dept suspended the bigoted imbecile who was ordered to stay away from the victim. Nota Bene: This incident occurred just before election night.

Racist Rockville Centre detective John Murphy (Undated photo: Newsday)

The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. All factual recitations are derived from documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court.

President Joe Biden can still recover some bit of his legacy. He should consider resigning the Presidency on grounds of “health” before Inauguration Day in Jan 2025, thereby making Kamala Harris the first female POTUS (and one of color). As Donald Trump churlishly did not hand over power in person on Inauguration Day in Jan 2021 to snub Joe Biden, he can return the favor in spades. Even though Kamala Harris will be a temporary, unelected President, the history books will record her achievement forever. To their eternal chagrin, white supremacist Republicans will always have female, black Kamala Harris’ official portrait staring at them in the halls of power in every federal institution in America.

American schoolchildren rendering the Pledge of Allegiance circa mid-1930s. This is what white Americans voted for in 2024.  Heil Trump!

Sources:

Interactive: How key groups of Americans voted in 2024 | PBS News

How many Jews voted for Donald Trump? How many for Kamala Harris? – Jewish Telegraphic Agency

How Trump broke GOP losing streak in Dearborn with support of Arab-Americans | AP News

Home | FEC

FBI Arrests Alleged Leaker of US Intelligence Related to Israel’s Attack Plans Against Iran

(Undated photo of Asif W. Rahman courtesy of thenightly.com.au.)

The FBI arrested Asif William Rahman on 12 Nov in Cambodia. He is charged with allegedly leaking highly classified US intelligence about Israel’s plans to attack Iran. He is to appear before a federal magistrate in Guam. Court documents indicate that he was employed by the US government, reportedly the CIA. The New York Times said that Rahman was indicted on a charge related to the posting of the intelligence on Telegram in mid-Oct 2024. The documents posted included Israeli plans for moving munitions and IDF exercises involving air-to-surface missiles.

The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. All factual recitations are derived from documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court.

As previously predicted here on Coriolanus, a government employee frustrated with the unshakeable ionic bonds between the US and Israel leaked this information on social media. His motive was to either help Iran defend itself or deter Israel from conducting another homicidal attack on Tehran.

Sources:

us-national-security-leak_redacted.pdf

France: Prosecutor Seeks Prison and Election Ban for Right-Wing Politician Marine Le Pen

(Undated photo of the right-wing xenophobic fraud, Marine Le Pen: AFP)

The Paris prosecutor has asked for a prison sentence of five years and a five-year ban from political office for far-right leader Marine Le Pen in an illegal party funding case. Nicolas Barret asked for the ban to become effective immediately after the verdict, even if the defence team appeals, ruling Le Pen out of standing again for president in 2027.

She and more than 20 other senior party figures are accused of hiring assistants who worked on party business, rather than for the European Parliament which paid them.

Le Pen, who denies the charges, told reporters the requested sentence was an “outrage”, and accused the prosecution of trying to “ruin” her National Rally (RN) party.

“I think the prosecution’s wish is to deprive the French people of the ability to vote for whom they want,” she said after the hearing in the French capital, where she is on trial with 24 other defendants.

Le Pen was defeated by Emmanual Macron at the last presidential election in 2022 by 58.55% to 41.45% but RN is the biggest among the numerous parties in the National Assembly.

As well as the prison sentence and ban from political office, a fine of €300,000 (£249,000; $319,000) is being sought against the RN leader.

The proposed prison sentence is “convertible” and France’s AFP news agency says that Le Pen “would not necessarily go to prison”.

However, the ban on political office would take effect immediately and would not be delayed by the appeals process, as some had been expecting.

The prosecutor asked for the ban to apply to all 25 defendants.

The defendants plus the party itself, as a legal entity, are accused of syphoning EU parliamentary funds to pay the salaries of party workers.

According to the prosecution case, Le Pen presided over a system for several years in which RN staff members from Paris were “taken on” as EU parliamentary assistants in Brussels. These RN officials rarely set foot in the EU parliament and had no role there. The trial is due to continue until 27 November.

This should come as no surprise that a right-wing, racist fanatic hypocritically took advantage of a generous, socialist EU budget to enrich herself and her staff while spewing hate-messages about immigrants and “one world government,” and other agit-prop designed to sow discord in France, the EU, and NATO.   

Source:

Marine Le Pen: Prosecutor seeks jail and election ban in party funding case

Canada: First Avian Flu Case in British Columbia

Map courtesy of Worldatlas.org

A teenager in British Columbia Children’s Hospital is infected with a human case of avian influenza (also known as bird flu) caused by influenza A (H5N1) virus in Canada. The patient is in critical care in hospital. His symptoms included conjunctivitis, fever, and coughing.

The teenager had no farm exposure but had been exposed to dogs, cats and reptiles, and the infection source has not been identified

This is Canada’s first domestically acquired human case of H5N1 avian influenza.

Health officials in BC continue to undergo contract tracing and testing to determine if the virus spread further, but provincial health officers do not believe anyone else has been infected.

Human infection with avian influenza A (H5N1) is rare and usually occurs after close contact with infected birds, other infected animals or highly contaminated environments.

A colorized transmission electron micrograph of three H5N1 virus particles. Photo: CDC & NIAID via Flickr

Public Health Canada informs:

“This detection was picked up via hospital-based influenza surveillance, confirming that human influenza surveillance in British Columbia and Canada is effective at detecting avian influenza A(H5). We must continue to remain vigilant in our efforts to prevent the spread of avian influenza between animals and to humans.”

Sources:

Statement from the Public Health Agency of Canada: Update on Avian Influenza and Risk to Canadians – Canada.ca

Teenager in critical condition with Canada’s first human case of bird flu | Canada | The Guardian

Man Dead After Explosions Outside Brazil Supreme Court Ahead of G20 Summit

Police vehicles in front of the Brazilian Supreme Court after explosions in the Three Powers Square in Brasilia ahead of the G20 Summit. (Photo: Tom Molina/Reuters)

A man killed himself with a bomb outside Brazil’s supreme court after trying to enter the building, stirring security concerns before the country hosts global leaders from the Group of 20 major economies.

The blasts come five days before the G20 heads of state meet in Rio de Janeiro, followed by a state visit to the capital Brasília by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The first of two explosions went off on Wednesday evening in a parking lot near the court building and a second blast came seconds later in front of the court, where the man’s body was found.

Federal District vice-governor Celina Leao said preliminary information suggested the man had killed himself with explosives after trying to enter the supreme court. She said he owned a nearby car in which another explosion blew open the trunk.

Leao said she hoped it was the crime of a “lone wolf,” but she could not be sure.

“We are considering it as a suicide because there was only one victim. But investigations will show if that was indeed the case.”

Police said they had not made a final identification of the dead man as they were confronting the risk of additional explosives on the body.

The explosions took place around the Plaza of the Three Powers, an iconic square in Brasília connecting the principal buildings of Brazil’s three branches of federal government.

It was the scene of riots on 8 January last year when supporters of former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro ransacked the buildings to protest his electoral defeat.

Police deployed a bomb squad with an explosive disposal robot to the square in the heart of Brazilian capital to investigate the blasts. The supreme court justices had just ended a plenary session when the blasts happened and were quickly evacuated safely. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had left the executive palace on Wednesday night shortly before the explosions.

This is a serious security matter for Brazil with world leaders convening there for the imminent G20 Summit. Luckily there were no casualties other than the alleged suicide bomber. Investigators must determine if this was a “lone actor” with psychiatric issues and what the motive was. People who commit suicide usually leave behind a note or reasoning for their actions. In this case, none were uncovered yet. Investigators must also learn where the individual obtained the explosives and how he learned to fashion them. Some terrorist groups have used involuntary suicide operatives, where the person is tasked with delivering an innocuous item. But unbeknownst to them, the courier was carrying a remote-controlled IED.  

Source:

Man dead after explosions outside Brazil supreme court ahead of G20 | Brazil | The Guardian

Iran: 70 Students Stricken with Food Poisoning

70 students of the Rajai Teacher Training University in Tehran were sickened with food poisoning and were taken to hospitals. The students were poisoned after eating dormitory dinner, which included tuna and potato puree.

Students began to feel ill early the next day and went to the university housing official for help.

On 30 Oct, Hamdan Industrial University reported that a number of students had been poisoned because of food served at the university. Videos and published reports also showed that students of Hamdan Industrial University staged a hunger strike on 2 Nov to protest food poisoning in support of their stricken colleagues.

Earlier this month, the Amir Kabir University student news bulletin reported that students of Zahra University in Tehran objected to the quality of food in the university restaurant. Students complained of expired foodstuffs and finding insects in their salads.

The Iranian government remains under US sanctions and their economic priorities are national security against Israel as well as assisting her few allies: Lebanese Shias, Saudi-embargoed Houthis, and Russia. Civil society and students seem to be the big losers of the “Guns versus Butter” argument in Iran.

Source:

Dozens of Iranian Students Poisoned After Eating Contaminated Food In Their University Residence | Iran International

Confluence of Major Events in Early November

Within the space of a few days, the US Presidential Election occurred, on 10 Nov Turks all over the world commemorated Kemal Ataturk Remembrance Day while US Marines celebrated their 249th birthday, and Veteran’s Day (Armistice Day) was observed throughout the Western world on 11 Nov.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is the George Washington and Abraham Lincoln of modern Turkiye. On 10 Nov (the 86th anniversary of his passing), 1,092,000 visitors paid their respect to Mustafa Pasha at the Anitkabir, his final resting place. This was the highest turnout ever recorded for 10 Nov. No matter what Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan does for Turkiye, he realizes he can never supplant Ataturk.

From Coriolanus to all of his USMC buddies and friends worldwide, Happy Belated 249th Birthday. May we all meet again under peaceful circumstances. Semper Fi!

A Sentinel from the 3d US Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) guards the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, VA. (Undated US Army photo by Elizabeth Fraser).

Over the past 76 years, only 731 Soldiers have earned full status as guards, earning the title of Sentinel and the right to wear a Guard, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Identification Badge. The two newest Sentinels were awarded their badges this Veterans Day.

US Army Major General William Zana is one of those elite 731 Sentinels and he chose to retire after completing one final shift guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on 24 May 2024.

MG William Zana examines a ceremonial M14 rifle as he prepares to stand one final watch over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. (US Army photo, 31 May 2024 / SFC Jon Soucy)

Qualifying for duty as a Tomb Guard remains largely unchanged from the process MG Zana went through in 1989. The first cut-off is genetic — men must be between 5-foot-10 and 6–foot-4, while women must be 5-foot-8 and 6-foot-2. Volunteers must be in “superb physical condition” with an “unblemished military record.”

After an interview, Zana was given a two-week trial period, by the end of which he had to repeat back seven pages of Cemetery history verbatim.

MG Zana points to a photo from his assignment as a Tomb Sentinel (Jun 1989 to Sep 1991). (US Army photo by SGT Ethan Scofield).

For his first hour on duty, several of the guards joined him at the post. For the second hour, Zana stood alone.

“And that was some of the most profound time of my military career,” Zana said. “I look back, 37 years and you can do the math on the number of hours and minutes. But when you get down to [it], there’s just two hours. Then just this one hour. Tonight, you know the clock strikes, we change the guard. And I depart the cemetery as a retired soldier.”

A line MG Zana memorized in his original shift at the Tomb echoed in his mind.

Surrounded by well meaning crowds by day, alone in the thoughtful peace of night, this soldier will in honored glory rest under my eternal vigilance.

Sources:

Record-breaking visits to Anıtkabir on Atatürk Remembrance Day – Türkiye News

An Army general’s final ‘walk’ at the Tomb of the Unknowns

Two Tiny Rescue Kittens Have So Much Energy They Impress Family Dog

Kittens Cheeto and Frito with Kano (L); (Photo: Asa)

Cheeto and Frito, two ginger tabbies, were two weeks old when they came to Today Tomorrow Forever Animal Rescue for a chance at a better life.

A volunteer stepped up to provide round-the-clock feeding and plenty of TLC. After each meal, the kittens cuddled together and even cleaned each other’s faces. Thriving on bottle-feeding, they grew into plump, happy, and wiggly kittens.

After being adopted, the two kittens were delighted to find a canine companion named Kona who was impressed by their energy.

“They are non-stop purr machines. The only time they’re not purring is when they’re running around the room wreaking havoc.”

Our thanks to Today Tomorrow Forever Animal Rescue in southern California for rescuing these two tiny dynamos and sharing this heart-warming story.

Source:

Kittens Brought in at 2 Weeks Old for New Start, Now Have So Much Energy They Even Impress Family Dog – Love Meow

Nuclear Security Chief in Ukraine’s Russian-Occupied Zaporizhzhya Killed in Car Bombing

Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR) posted a video of the explosion.

Ukrainian Military Intelligence (GUR) assassinated the head of security at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in Ukraine with a car bomb on 4 Oct. Andrei Korotky died after a homemade explosive device planted under his car detonated. Korotky was also the former head of the Moscow-installed local council of deputies in the city of Enerhodar, where the blast occurred. Ukrainian intelligence accused him of war crimes and organizing pro-Russian events during the occupation, basically a “quisling.” Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened a probe into the deadly bombing.

As posted previously on Coriolanus, high-value Russian targets have been killed by IEDs hidden in their cars, most likely by Ukrainian espionage and sabotage agents.

Source:

Nuclear Security Chief in Ukraine’s Russian-Occupied Zaporizhzhya Killed In Car Bombing (rferl.org)

Two Seditionists Sentenced for 6 Jan 2021 Attack on US Capitol

Allan Jennings used medical scissors to shatter glass on a Capitol door. (Photo: FBI)

Allan Jennings (57) of Hillsboro, TN, was sentenced to 12 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $3,825 in restitution and fines by the Honorable US District Judge Reggie B. Walton. Jennings previously pleaded guilty to a felony offense of civil disorder and a misdemeanor offense of destruction of government property during the 6 Jan 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

The “Stop the Steal” mob’s initial attack against law enforcement officers caused the police to withdraw. Jennings was among the first few rioters to pursue retreating police officers into the Tunnel. The police had closed the doors to keep the mob from further advance. Jennings then deployed a pair of medical scissors and shattered the door’s glass, costing $825 to repair. Jennings made his way toward the front of the advancing mob, where he put his hands on a police officer’s shield, before returning to the middle of the mob and escaping. The FBI arrested Jennings on 12 Sep 2023 in Tennessee.

Chemical irritant didn’t dissuade James Weeks from continuing his rampage outside the Tunnel. (Photo: FBI)

James Weeks (55) of Sodus, NY, was sentenced to 27 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,774.00 in restitution and a $5,000 fine by the Honorable US District Judge Beryl A. Howell. Weeks previously pleaded guilty to a single felony offense of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers.

On 6 Jan, Weeks and the “Stop the Steal” mob entered the Tunnel and violently fought the police. Weeks attempted to grab a police officer, yelling “Shove it up your a—! You fat f—! I’m gonna shove that up your a—!” and “We’re gonna f— you up!” The defendant then struck an MPD officer using his hands and body. Shortly after, another rioter sprayed chemical irritant in the Tunnel, causing Weeks to exit.

Outside Weeks cheered on rioters who were vandalizing the US Capitol building. He then approached a window, waved a black can of OC spray through one of the broken panes of glass, then broke the window with a wooden stick.

The FBI arrested James Weeks on 1 Feb 2024, in Albany, NY.

In the 44 months since 6 Jan 2021, more than 1,504 suspects have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to attacking the US Capitol, including more than 560 seditionists charged with feloniously assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The FBI investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

These two middle-aged lunatics represent America’s Fedayeen Saddam, dead-enders that think their white privilege is coming to an end and that minorities and Democrats unfairly stole the 2020 Presidential election. They heeded Donald Trump’s idiotic call to arms and are now paying the price.

Sources:

District of Columbia | Tennessee Man Sentenced to Prison on Felony and Misdemeanor Charges for Actions During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach | United States Department of Justice

District of Columbia | New York Man Sentenced to Prison for Assaulting Law Enforcement During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach | United States Department of Justice

Bird Flu Outbreak Kills Dozens of Tigers in Vietnam Zoos

Forty-seven tigers, three lions and a panther have died in zoos in south Vietnam due to the H5N1 bird flu virus. Photograph: Pardofelis / Alamy

Forty-seven tigers, three lions and a panther have died in zoos in south Vietnam due to the H5N1 type A bird flu virus. The deaths occurred this summer at the private My Quynh safari park in Long An province and the Vuon Xoai zoo in Dong Nai, near Ho Chi Minh City.

No zoo staff members in close contact with the animals had experienced respiratory symptoms.

A total of 385 tigers live in captivity in Vietnam. About 310 are kept at 16 privately owned farms and zoos, while the rest are in state-owned facilities.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that since 2022, there have been increasing reports of deadly outbreaks among mammals caused by influenza viruses, including H5N1. These infections can range from mild to severe in humans, and in some cases can even be fatal. Vietnam notified the WHO about a human fatality from the virus in March.

In 2004, dozens of tigers died from bird flu or were culled at the world’s largest breeding farm in Thailand.

Tigers are on the brink of extinction. Global populations have plummeted alarmingly by 96%, for all six-remaining subspecies. Three are now extinct. A combination of poaching, illegal captivity, and habitat destruction have contributed to their dwindling numbers, and it shows no signs of slowing down. WHO, the government of Vietnam, NGOS, and all of us, must do more to save these magnificent felines.  

Sources:

Bird flu outbreak kills dozens of tigers in Vietnam zoos | Bird flu | The Guardian

WWF – Endangered Species Conservation | World Wildlife Fund

Adopt A Tiger from £3 a month | Hand-knitted Tiger toy included | David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation

Former UK PM Boris Johnson: “Netanyahu Bugged My Bathroom”

The pair met in 2017 when Boris Johnson was Britain’s foreign secretary. | Pool photo by Darren Staples/WPA/Getty Images

Boris Johnson claimed he found a listening device in his personal bathroom at the British Foreign Office after Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu used it.

The former prime minister alleged that his security team found bugging devices in the toilets after Netanyahu had used the facilities. The pair met in 2017 when Johnson was Britain’s foreign secretary.

The claim comes in Johnson’s memoir “Unleashed” which is released on 10 Oct. Extracts were shared with the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

“Thither Bibi repaired for a while, and it may or may not be a coincidence but I am told that later, when they were doing a regular sweep for bugs, they found a listening device in the thunderbox,” Johnson writes as he recalls a meeting.

The Telegraph pressed the ex-PM on whether he could disclose more details about what happened, although Johnson told them: “I think everything you need to know about that episode is in the book.”

POLITICO reported in 2019 that the US government believed Israel was responsible for planting cellphone surveillance devices near the White House and other sensitive locations around Washington, D.C. The devices were designed to fool cellphones into giving them their locations and identity information.

Johnson’s memoir has raised eyebrows in London even before its release.

The ex-prime minister, who was ousted from office by his own party in 2022, has disclosed details about Queen Elizabeth II’s health in her final year and accused French President Emmanuel Macron of trying to give the UK a “punishment beating” for leaving the EU.

Years ago, Lebanese Army G-2 found and dismantled an Israeli spying device disguised as a rock in southern Lebanon which took and transmitted photographs.

CIA considers Israel its No. 1 counterintelligence threat in the agency’s Near East Division, the group that oversees spying across the Middle East, according to current and former officials. Counterintelligence is the art of protecting national secrets from spies. This means the CIA believes that US national secrets are safer from other Middle Eastern governments than from Israel.

Sources:

Netanyahu bugged my bathroom, Boris Johnson suggests – POLITICO

Lebanese Army dismantles more Israeli spying devices – Ya LibnanIs Israel the CIA’s top counterintelligence threat in the Near East? | The Times of Israel

Greenpeace Warns of Flooding Risks at France’s Biggest Nuclear Plant

Gravelines nuclear power station on the English Channel coast is already the most powerful in Western Europe. © Raimond Spekking / CC BY-SA 4.0

With six 900MW reactors, the Gravelines nuclear power plant on the English Channel coast is already the most powerful in Western Europe. EDF’s proposal to build two additional new generation pressurised water reactors (EPR2) of 1600 MW each is part of President Emmanuel Macron’s nuclear revival programme.

The new reactors are currently the subject of public debate. If they pass safety criteria laid down by France’s nuclear safety authority (ASN), construction would begin in 2031 and they could be on stream by 2040. While they would be built on a 11-metre-high platform, Greenpeace claims there is a significant safety risk.

“The entire power plant site could find itself – during high tides and when there is a 100-year surge – below sea level” by 2100, it warned in a report published Thursday. EDF refutes their calculations.

“The height of the platform chosen for the EPR2 reactors at Gravelines provides protection against “extreme” flooding, taking into account the effects of IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] scenarios, which are among the most penalising with regard to sea-level rise”, EDF replied.

Greenpeace argues that EDF’s calculations are outdated and do not fully account for the realities of global warming. The NGO based its projection on the IPCC’s most pessimistic scenario, which assumes that no action will be taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2100.

Nuclear power accounts for most of France’s electricity, and the Nuclear Energy Society (Sfen) defends it as a low-carbon energy source.

While Greenpeace’s report centers on Gravelines, climate change threatens other nuclear plants, with risks tied to rising temperatures and extreme weather events like storms. Also, potential conflicts could arise over access to river water needed to cool reactors. Russia is occupying the Ukrainian nuclear plant at Zaporizhzhya.

The French nuclear industry has an atrocious reputation. Leaked documents reveal that their companies maintain discreet links to Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear power corporation, despite Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. French commercial uranium mining despoiled water and vegetation in Pan-Sahel Africa, creating “grievance guerillas” amongst the Tuaregs and other angry disenfranchised locals, some who join “Al Qaida in the Maghreb” (AQIM). One company (Orano) left 20 million tons of radioactive waste in Niger. Strong desert winds carry its radon and radioactive dust which is inhaled by the surrounding population. The soil and underground water have also been contaminated. The 100,000 people living in the area have no alternative but to keep on drinking that water.

Sources:

Greenpeace warns of flooding risks at France’s biggest nuclear plant (rfi.fr)

French electricity company discovers deep crack in nuclear plant cooling system

Why the nuclear option is still an explosive subject at climate talks

French nuclear industry maintains links with Russian giant Rosatom (lemonde.fr)

French uranium mine leaves 20 million tons of radioactive waste in Niger (rfi.fr)

Ireland: Beef to China and South Korea Stopped After Atypical BSE Case

This poor cow is suffering from BSE. (Undated public domain image)

Ireland temporarily halted shipments of beef products to China and South Korea after an atypical case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was discovered in a cow. After a fallen animal was tested in mid-September, authorities in China and South Korea were informed and exports of beef halted, in line with the agreements in place with both countries. The animal did not enter the food or feed chain and there were no public health risks associated with this occurrence.

Atypical BSE is a rare spontaneous event which may occur in any bovine population and not related to feed contamination. Coincidentally at the same time, a delegation of veterinary officials from the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine was travelling to China, and used that opportunity to reassure authorities there of Ireland’s control measures for BSE.

Atypical BSE occurs sporadically in all cattle populations at a very low rate and is not considered a public health risk, unlike classical BSE, or mad-cow disease, which arises from contaminated animal feed.

This is the third time that Irish beef exports to China have been stopped due to a case of atypical BSE.

Most recently, exports of beef products to China were halted between Nov 2023 and Jan 2024 for this reason. Prior to that, exports to China were also halted for a particularly extended period of time, from May 2020 to Jan 2023, almost three years.

In 2019 – the only full year in which Ireland had uninterrupted access to the Chines market for frozen boneless beef – Irish processors sent around €40 million worth of exports to the Asian country.

Market access for Irish beef to South Korea was secured in May 2024.

Source:

Beef to China and Korea stopped after atypical BSE case (agriland.ie)

Five Chinese Nationals Charged with Covering Up Midnight Visit to Michigan Military Site

The FBI has charged five Chinese nationals who studied at the University of Michigan with espionage related charges. The five individuals are accused of taking photos of military equipment at Camp Grayling, MI in Aug 2023. While the students were taking photos, the Michigan Army National Guard was hosting training for the Taiwanese military.

The FBI noted that there have been other instances of college students from China taking photos of vital defense sites in the US. The FBI said all five men graduated last spring from the University of Michigan. They were part of a joint program between the university and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University in Shanghai, China. The five remain at large.  


In 2020, two Chinese nationals who were pursuing master’s degrees at the University of Michigan were sentenced to prison for illegally photographing sites at a naval air station in Key West, FL.


China and Russia remain serious foreign intelligence threats to the US, and as noted above, Israel poses the greatest counterintelligence threat to the USIC. The five students here are part of the “thousand grains of sand” strategy, where every little bit of data is obtained for thousands of analysts in China to create an intelligence mosaic. Chinese intelligence, the MSS, has the manpower and budget for this type of collection.  

Aerial view of Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center in Grayling, MI, 19 July 2014. (AP Photo/John L. Russell)


Sources:


FBI Charges Chinese Nationals with Spying at Camp Grayling | Congressman John Moolenaar (house.gov)

5 Chinese nationals charged with covering up midnight visit to Michigan military site | AP News

Kitten Turns Corner Just 24 Hours After Moving from Shelter into Comfy Home

Watch this orphan kitten evolve from frightened, scrawny rescue animal to “I’m-the-queen-of-the-castle,” thanks to Best Friends Animal Society in Los Angeles, CA. All photos of Apple taken by Frankie.

Nervous, Apple had flea dirt on her which was gently brushed off.

After being cleaned up, Apple wrapped up in a blanket and finally purred.

After eating and resting peacefully, Apple woke up refreshed with renewed energy.

Now when Apple gets tired from eating, playing, and romping, she purrs herself to sleep.

And all this took place in 24 hours.

Source:

Kitten Turns a Corner Just 24 Hours After Moving from Shelter into Comfy Home – Love Meow

Ukraine Withdraws from Vuhledar as Russia Attacks Strategic Grain-Exporting Port on Danube River

The Ukrainian military has confirmed that it is pulling out of the strategic city of Vuhledar as Moscow continues its grinding offensive. Vuhledar, a deserted former mining town with a prewar population of some 14,000, has been at the center of ferocious battles since the start of Russia’s unprovoked invasion in Feb 2022. Russian Telegram channels posted videos of troops waving the Russian flag over shattered buildings.

Russian forces used repeated attacks on the flanks of Vuhledar to exhaust the Ukrainian defenses, threatening to surround the hilltop city. Although razed, this location is strategically important for Russia to protect its supply routes. Vuhledar could also act as a springboard toward Pokrovsk, a communications hub some 80 km to the north that Moscow has been eying for months.

Moscow’s troops, overwhelmingly superior in numbers and equipment, have been slowly advancing in eastern Ukraine despite huge losses, as Ukraine has been desperately appealing to its Western allies to provide it with more advanced weapons and give it permission to strike military objectives deeper inside Russia.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s critically important Danube port of Izmayil was again targeted by waves of Russian drone strikes that raised the alarm in neighboring NATO member Romania. Izmayil, on the border with Romania, is Kiev’s only gateway to exporting its grain and other produce.  Two people, including a Turkish citizen, were wounded in the attack.

Vladimir Putin is waging war against grain and global food security to disrupt the Western and Ukrainian economies. As previously reported on Coriolanus, the Kremlin recently ordered jets to attack a cargo ship carrying Ukrainian grain in the Black Sea to Egypt.

Sources:

Ukraine Withdraws From Vuhledar As Russia Resumes Strikes On Danube Port (rferl.org)

Azerbaijani Opposition Figure Brutally Murdered in France

Vidadi Isgandarli (undated web screenshot).

Vidadi Isgandarli, an Azerbaijani opposition figure in exile well-known for his fierce criticism of the government, has died in France after being brutally beaten and stabbed in an attack at his apartment that his family says was politically motivated.

The deadly attack on Isgandarli follows a similar pattern of violence against Azerbaijani opposition figures in exile; in 2021, another politician in exile, Mohammad Mirzali, survived being stabbed.

“My brother had no idea who the attackers were or what motivated the assault…. They did not speak, and they wore masks, making it impossible to identify them,” said Oktay Isgandarl.

“I have no doubt this is a politically motivated assassination. My brother survived a previous attack by approximately 15 assailants in 2022 here in France.”

Oktay Isgandarli said he received a desperate video call from his brother early on 29 Sep as he clutched a pillow to his abdomen to try and staunch the bleeding after being attacked by three masked men who had broken into his apartment in Mulhouse in eastern France.

Vidadi Isgandarli was stabbed at least 21 times in the abdomen as well as blows to the body and head.

Medics managed to resuscitate him, but he never regained consciousness and succumbed to his injuries on 1 Oct.

Vidadi Isgandarli was known as a vocal critic of the Azerbaijani government and President Ilham Aliyev, who has maintained a tight grip on power since 2003. Azerbaijani Supremo Ilham Aliyev gestures as he addresses the nation in Baku, Azerbaijan, 20 Oct 2020. Israel supplied Azerbaijan with nearly 70% of its arsenal between 2016 and 2020 — giving Azerbaijan an edge against Armenia and boosting Israel’s large defense industry. Aliev has also been deepening ties with Vladimir Putin. (AP Photo)

In 2010, Vidadi Isgandarli participated in parliamentary elections, which he denounced as fraudulent after opposition candidates failed to get elected. He then helped organize protests against the official election results.

Arrested in 2011 and charged with various offenses, including assault and interference with election officials, Vidadi denied the allegations, claiming they were politically motivated.

He was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison but was released early in Dec 2012 in a presidential amnesty. Fearing further persecution, Vidadi, his brother, and their families emigrated to France in 2015.

With Azerbaijan set to host the climate conference COP29 in November, right groups have said it is imperative that the event is used also to shine a spotlight on the country and the deteriorating human rights situation there.

Amnesty International and other human rights groups had documented the “widespread abuse” by the Azerbaijani authorities of the criminal justice system to crack down on human rights including the right to freedom of expression, often “detaining and falsely charging their critics with economic crimes.”

Editorial cartoon on the 2015 Baku European Games from Meydan TV (Image: Meydan TV)

These cowardly murderers took advantage of world attention being focused on the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and Russia’s campaign against Ukraine to eliminate this political opponent of the Aliev regime which has been in power for 21 years. The Amnesty International report contains several instances of political opponents being bullied or imprisoned on fabricated charges. The Aliev regime has the wealth and security apparatus, the DTX, to maintain power and target opponents at home and abroad. The petroleum industry in Azerbaijan produces about 873,260 barrels (138,837 m3) of oil per day and 29 billion cubic meters of gas per year as of 2013.[1] Azerbaijan is one of the birthplaces of the oil industry. This attack is reminiscent of the brutal 2018 murder and butchery of political dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, which was directly linked to Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman.

Sources:

Azerbaijani Opposition Figure Dies After Brutal Attack In France (rferl.org)

Human rights in Azerbaijan Amnesty International

Israeli weapons quietly helped Azerbaijan retake Nagorno-Karabakh — sources, data | The Times of Israel

CIA Makes It Easier for Potential Informants to Share Tips

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) wants to make it easier — and safer — for people in Iran, China, and North Korea to share information with America’s premier spy agency.

CIA posted online instructions in Korean, Mandarin, and Farsi detailing steps that potential informants can take to contact US intelligence officials without putting themselves in danger.

The instructions include ways to reach the CIA on its public website or on the darknet, a part of the internet that can only be accessed using special tools designed to hide the user’s identity. The CIA posted similar instructions in Russian two years ago following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“People are trying to reach out to us from around the world and we are offering them instructions for how to do that safely,” the agency said in a statement. “Our efforts on this front have been successful in Russia, and we want to make sure individuals in other authoritarian regimes know that we’re open for business.”

The tips, presented in text-only videos and infographics, include using a virtual private network, or VPN, to circumvent internet restrictions and surveillance, and the use of a device that can’t easily be traced back to the user. The CIA also urged any potential informants to use private web browsers and to delete their internet history to cover their tracks.

The messages in the three languages were posted on Telegram, YouTube, X, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Several of those platforms are blocked in China, Iran, and Russia but can still be accessed using a VPN.

Authoritarian leaders around the world have used the internet as a tool of mass surveillance and as a way to deliver propaganda and disinformation while blocking sites and views deemed unfavorable to the government.

China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran all block access to American platforms like Facebook, for example, and use web access to control which sources of information users can access.

VPNs and other tools offer ways around this censorship and surveillance, but that ability has made them a target. In its instructions to potential sources, the CIA warned its audience to be selective, as their well-being could depend on choosing the right program.

“Use a VPN provider not headquartered in Russia, Iran, or China, or any other country that is considered unfriendly to the US,” CIA wrote in its instructions for Mandarin users.

This system apparently worked with informants operating in Russia. For the technologically savvy who are confident of remaining undetected, this method may provide the USIC with useful information from Iran, China, and North Korea. Of course, the information would be evaluated for quality and access. For years Wikileaks has used a system to allow people to anonymously download information without detection.   

Sources:

CIA

CIA makes it easier for potential informants to share tips (voanews.com)

Denmark: Three Arrested Following Explosions Near Israeli Embassy in Copenhagen

Security personnel inspect the site of two explosions near the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Wednesday. Police are conducting initial investigations at the scene of two blasts for a possible connection to the Israeli embassy located in the area, Copenhagen police said on social media platform. No injuries were reported in the incident, the police added. Photo by Emil Helms/EPA-EFE.

Police in Denmark arrested three people Wednesday following a pair of explosions overnight near the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen, probably two hand grenades. There were no injuries or damage to the Israeli facility.

The first suspect was arrested within the Danish capital before two others were taken into police custody on a train at Copenhagen Central Station. The three suspects are Swedish males between the ages of 15 and 20 years old. The pair of explosions occurred at around 3:20 AM at the intersection of Strandagervej and Lundevangsvej near the Israeli embassy in Hellerup, north of Copenhagen. Police said they had launched an investigation to see if the explosions were in relation to the Israeli embassy.

Israel’s offensive against the Palestinians and Lebanon with the increasing death toll has resulted in growing criticism and anger directed toward the Middle Eastern country. Last month, German police shot and killed an armed man near Munich’s Israeli embassy after he opened fire on security forces. In June, a man with a crossbow attacked police outside the Israeli embassy in Belgrade, Serbia.

Meanwhile, Israel continues pounding Lebanon. At least six people have been killed and eight wounded in Israeli air strikes targeting central Beirut overnight. A further 46 people were killed and 85 injured in IDF attacks across Lebanon in the previous 24 hours. More than 1,900 people have been killed and about 9,000 wounded in Lebanon in almost a year of cross-border fighting, with most of the deaths occurring in the past two weeks.

Destruction at the site of an overnight Israeli air raid on the Bir el-Abed neighbourhood in Beirut’s southern suburbs on 1 Oct 2024 [Anwar Amro/AFP]

As written here on Coriolanus, Israel and the West will be dealing with asymmetric reprisals, ranging from rank amateurish like this hand grenade episode to highly professional attacks, because of the Likud government’s brutal campaign against the Palestinians and its offensive against Lebanon. Innocent Jews and Israelis, who may be Labor Party members or peace activists like the young woman on the left seated next to Greta Thunberg below, are vulnerable worldwide thanks to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. The right-wing in Israel and the West will denounce attacks like this hand grenade folly with the standard lines that it’s “antisemitism,” when it’s really an anti-Likud gesture and an expression of anger and frustration that people of a darker color and a different religion should be killed so easily in the name of “self-defense.”  

Sources:

3 arrested following explosions near Israel’s embassy in Copenhagen – UPI.com

At least 8 killed, 9 wounded in Tel Aviv mass shooting at rail station – UPI.com

Live: Israel hits Beirut, killing 6, Hezbollah fights Israeli army in south | Israel attacks Lebanon News | Al Jazeera

Israel Bars UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres from Country

Israel Wednesday banned UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres from entering the country because in Israel’s opinion he was not sufficiently unequivocal about condemning Iran’s missile attack on Israel. After Iran’s attack Tuesday Guterres condemned the escalation of violence in the Middle East and called for it to stop. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Israel Wednesday banned UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres from entering the country, citing his comments immediately following Iran’s attack on Tel Aviv..

“I decided today to declare UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres an undesirable personality in Israel and to ban his entry into Israel,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on X. “Anyone who is unable to unequivocally condemn Iran’s criminal attack on Israel, as almost all the countries of the world have done, does not deserve to set foot on Israel’s soil.”

Tuesday Guterres said in a statement after Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Israel, “I condemn the broadening of the Middle East conflict, with escalation after escalation. This must stop. We absolutely need a cease-fire.”

Guterres added, “An all-out war must be avoided in Lebanon at all costs, and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon must be respected.”

Katz alleged that Guterres “has not yet denounced the massacre and sexual crimes committed by the murderers of Hamas on 7 Oct, and has not led to decisions to declare them a terrorist organization.”

In Oct 2023 in remarks at the UN Security Council, Guterres said, “I have condemned unequivocally the horrifying and unprecedented 7 Oct acts of terror by Hamas in Israel.”

“Nothing can justify the deliberate killing, injuring and kidnapping of civilians – or the launching of rockets against civilian targets,” he said at the time.

In his Oct 2023 remarks, Guterres cited Israeli occupation in the West Bank:

“It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum,” he said. “The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.”

In remarks before the UN Security Council on Wednesday, Guterres said the “deadly cycle of tit-for-tat violence must stop.”

“The events of the past week, the past month and indeed nearly the past year make it clear: It is high time for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, with the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, the effective delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza and irreversible progress to a two-state solution,” Guterres said. “It is high time for a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon, real action towards full implementation of Security Council resolutions 1559 and 1701, paving the way for diplomatic efforts for sustainable peace.”

“It is high time to stop the sickening cycle of escalation after escalation that is leading the people of the Middle East straight over the cliff. Each escalation has served as a pretext for the next.”

Guterres told Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati that the entire UN system in Lebanon is mobilized to assist all those in need in the country as Israel continued it military attacks on Hezbollah.

As it attacked Hezbollah, Israel has also killed civilians with its attacks and has forced dislocation of civilian residents in the country. Guterres said the UN will continue efforts to de-escalate the situation.

Katz said in his statement Wednesday that the global terrorism of Iran will be remembered as a “forever blot in the history of the UN.”

Guterres maintains that the UN must demand that all parties uphold and respect obligations under international law, including how warfare and occupation are conducted.

Katz’ X statement Wednesday said, “Israel will continue to protect its citizens and maintain its position and national honor with or without Antonio Guterres.”

Israel and the UN have clashed over the role of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian humanitarian relief. Israel accused several of the agency’s staff of being involved in the 7 Oct 2023 attack on Israel.

That surprise attack killed hundreds of Israelis, including civilians as well as military personnel, when armed Palestinians gunmen crossed into Israel from Gaza. These gunmen kidnapped hostages in order to conduct a prisoner swap with Israel as over 7,000 Palestinians have been held in military detention without trial or hearing. Israel massively attacked Gaza in response to the 7 Oct attacks.

Guterres has not yet publicly responded to being banned from Israel nor should he dignify this childish edict.

The Israeli government has a long, rich tradition of ignoring UNSC Resolutions. Former Israeli PM Ariel Sharon is depicted above bullying UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. This cartoonist caricaturized Ariel Sharon as a pig with hooves and a tail. Note the bottom of Ariel Sharon’s hoof is (regrettably) an American flag. Since 2023, over 300 aid workers have been killed in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

This diplomatic blunder by Israel should not surprise anyone. Bullies and authoritarian regimes exercise censorship tactics to prevent a counter-narrative inimical to their position. Mr. Guterres will probably not personally respond to this idiotic measure taken by the Israeli Foreign Minister. A member of the Likud Cabinet had previously called for another “nakba” against the Palestinians and another lunatic minister advocated the use of a nuclear device against the Gazans. The Likud government was more upset of a leaked video showing IDF soldiers gang-raping a Palestinian man, not at the unforgivable crime of rape perpetrated by those Israeli miscreants. That grim episode was posted here on Coriolanus. Both the Israeli Prime and Defense Ministers have been indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague for war crimes.

Sources:

Israel bars U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres from country over response to Iran attack – UPI.com

Aid Worker Security Database | Aid Worker Security Database

68 Dangerous California White Supremacists from “SFV Peckerwoods” Gang Indicted

The letters SFV for the Peckerwoods gang signify “San Fernando Valley” and the acronym of “Searching for Victims.” 

A massive law enforcement sweep targeting the SFV Peckerwoods, what federal prosecutors call a San Fernando Valley based white supremacist street gang has led to the arrests of 42 members of the racist criminal organization. 

A total of 68 alleged members of the SFV Peckerwoods were named in a 76-count federal grand jury indictment unsealed Wednesday that details a litany of crimes related to what prosecutors call a “years-long pattern of racketeering activity that included trafficking of drugs — including fentanyl — illegal firearms possession, and COVID-19 benefits and loan fraud.” 

A massive cache of guns and drugs was seized by the Joint Terrorist Task Force in sweeps targeting the SFV Peckerwoods, a violent white supremacist street gang. Photo: Department of Justice

Of those caught up in a series of federal and local law enforcement sweeps, twelve alleged Peckerwood members were hit with federal racketeering charges, while another 56 defendants were charged with conspiring to distribute drugs. Another 13 defendants were already behind bars. 

The Peckerwoods use Nazi tattoos, graffiti, and iconography to indicate their violent white supremacy extremist ideology. Among the monikers its members use include nicknames like “Bezerker,” “Rascal,” “Monster,” and “Meat,” while inked with “tattoos and iconography” that “include swastikas, the symbol “88”, used by violent white supremacy extremists as code for “Heil Hitler”, and images of Nazi aircraft.”

The gang has a large number of females, who call themselves “Featherwoods,” including “SFV Mama,” whose real name is Claire Patricia Haviland, who was among those arrested Wednesday. 

During the investigation, law enforcement seized large quantities of illegal firearms, and dozens of pounds of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and heroin, according to the indictment. The AUSA aid “the Peckerwoods’ violent white-supremacist ideology and wide-ranging criminal activity pose a grave menace to our community. By allegedly engaging in everything from drug-trafficking to firearms offenses to identity theft to COVID fraud, and through their alliance with a neo-Nazi prison gang, the Peckerwoods are a destructive force. In prosecuting the members of the Peckerwoods criminal organization, our office is carrying out its mission to protect the public from the most dangerous threats.”

When these dangerous maniacs are convicted, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) will no doubt incarcerate them at separate maximum security facilities throughout the US to prevent them from re-organizing behind prison walls. But these miscreants will join the Aryan Brotherhood, Proud Boys, or other neo-Nazi white supremacist gangs in federal prison.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Sources:

Office of Public Affairs | Sixty-Eight Defendants Charged in Indictment of Dozens of Members and Associates of California White Supremacist Gang | United States Department of Justice

Dozens of Suspected White Supremacists Based in L.A. Busted in Federal Racketeering Case – LAmag

Canada: Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Geckos Kills One, Infects 25

Orange phase crested gecko (Public domain imagery).

salmonella outbreak linked to reptiles has left one person dead and three others hospitalized in Canada. The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) said at least 25 people have been infected across seven provinces in this outbreak, which is the second one linked to geckos in 2024.

Cases have been reported in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

“Many of the individuals who became sick reported having direct or indirect contact with geckos, or the environments where these pets are kept, before their illnesses occurred,” the PHAC announced.

“Some people who became sick did not touch or handle the geckos themselves, but lived in the same house where they were kept.”

The illnesses occurred between Aug 2020 and Sep 2024. Most of the people infected were females (64 per cent) and in the age range 1 to 103.An investigation into the outbreak is ongoing and PHAC said that the number of cases is likely higher than what has been reported so far.

Salmonella is a bacterial infection commonly transmitted through contaminated food and water and it poses a significant health threat, especially to children and older adults, as it can lead to severe gastrointestinal symptoms, dehydration, and, in extreme cases, death.

People can also get sick with salmonella infection by directly touching reptiles or their environments, as well as through indirect contact by touching contaminated surfaces where these animals are kept.

To prevent infection, the agency has the following advice among other recommendations in its public health notice:

  • always wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water immediately after touching a reptile or rodent, and anything they eat, or after being in the area where they live, play or touch
  • if visiting an exhibit or event with reptiles, wash your hands when you leave animal areas, even if you do not touch the animals directly
  • clean any surfaces or objects your reptile or rodent touches with soapy water followed by a household sanitizer
  • never kiss a pet reptile
  • always supervise children when they touch or play with reptiles
  • keep reptiles and rodents and all their food, containers, enclosures, and any objects that have been in their enclosures, such as plants or enrichment items, away from the kitchen and other places where food is made or eaten
  • clean or bathe reptiles in a dedicated plastic bin, not in the kitchen or bathroom sink

Symptoms of salmonella infection typically start between six and 72 hours after exposure and can last anywhere from four to seven days. They may include fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, or abdominal cramps.

If you suspect you have salmonella, PHAC recommends seeing a health-care provider. Most people recover on their own after a few days without any medical treatment.

At least 36 people got sick with salmonella infection between March 2020 and March 2024 in a separate outbreak linked to geckos. The salmonella strain of that outbreak was traced back to a gecko habitat at a home of a person who was infected.

Sources:

Public Health Notice: Outbreak of Salmonella Muenchen infections linked to geckos – Canada.ca

Salmonella outbreak linked to geckos kills 1, infects 25 in Canada – National | Globalnews.ca

‘Make Them Riot’: Politico Pulls Six Key Details from Jack Smith’s Massive Trump Filing

“We will never concede,” President Trump told his supporters at a rally in front of the White House. Credit: Pete Marovich for The New York Times

Special counsel Jack Smith’s massive new filing with new evidence against former President Donald Trump contains at least six telling revelations.

Politico legal affairs reporter Kyle Cheney shared his immediate takeaways on the 165-page document Smith filed in a Washington DC federal court.

In the filing, Smith asserts his case against the former president within the context of the Supreme Court ruling that Trump enjoyed partial presidential immunity in the lead-up to the US Capitol riots on 6 Jan 2021.

Smith argues Trump can still be tried on election interference charges as he acted as a private citizen seeking personal gain and not a US official seeking to protect the integrity of national elections.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to those charges and contended Wednesday, as he has in the past, that Smith is mounting a political witch hunt.

1) A Trump campaign employee sought to foment chaos at the TCF Center in Detroit where ballots were being processed.

“When a colleague at the TFC Center told [redacted] ‘We think [a batch of votes heavily in Biden’s favor is right, [redacted] responded, “find a reason it isn’t,” “give me options to file litigation,” and “even if itbis [sic],” the filing reads.

“When the colleague suggested that there was about to be unrest reminiscent of the Brooks Brothers Riot, a violent effort to stop the vote count in Florida after the 2000 presidential election, [redacted] responded, ‘Make them riot’ and ‘Do it!!!'”

2) Trump sidelined his campaign legal team on 13 Nov and put Rudy Giuliani in charge because he was willing to lie about the election results.

“As the defendant placed alternating phone calls to [redacted] and [redacted] throughout 13 Nov [redacted] informed [redacted] , another private Campaign advisor, of the change,” the filing states, “writing, “Close hold don’t tell anyone Trump just fired [redacted] and put [redacted] in charge.”

3) Vice President Mike Pence told Trump he saw no evidence of fraud over the course of many conversations detailed in his book and cited by prosecutors.

“In the post-election time period, Pence, the defendant’s own running mate, who he had directed to assess fraud allegations told the defendant that he had seen no evidence of outcome-determinative fraud in the election.”

“The defendant disregarded [redacted] and Pence in the same way that he disregarded dozens of court decisions that unanimously rejected his and his allies’ legal claims, and that he disregarded officials in the targeted states including those in his own party–who stated publicly that he had lost and that his specific fraud allegations were false.”

4) Trump repeatedly promised to provide election fraud evidence to Govs. Doug Ducey (R-AZ) and Brian Kemp (R-GA) but never did.

“The defendant was on notice that there was no evidence of widespread election fraud in Arizona within a week of the election.”

“The defendant also raised claims of election fraud, and [redacted] asked the defendant to send him supporting evidence. Although the defendant said he would, stating ‘we’re packaging it up,’ he never did.”

5) Mark Meadows and a White House attorney exchanged messages on 3 Dec 2020 confirming that dead voters statistics were false.

“During the hearing, Chief of Staff [redacted] and [redacted] exchanged text messages on their personal phones confirming that a Campaign attorney, [redacted] had verified that [redacted] claim of more than 10,000 dead voters was false and that the actual number was around 12 and could not be outcome-determinative.”

6) A US senator helped facilitate a 8 Dec call between Trump and Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr.

“US Senator [redacted] told [redacted] that the defendant had heard that [redacted] was ‘whipping,’ or lobbying, other state attorneys general against filing amicus briefs in support of Texas.”

“[Redacted] asked [redacted] if he would speak with the defendant about it, and [redacted] agreed.”

Trump supporters heeded his call and stormed the US Capitol on 6 Jan 2021. Many of them have now been convicted and incarcerated. VPOTUS Mike Pence did not abandon his duty as Trump wanted; instead, he stayed to certify the election. Photo: Roberto Schmidt AFP via Getty Images

Special Counsel Jack Smith is competent and experienced, having convicted war criminals at the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague. Nevertheless, the American electorate should not rely on Mr. Smith, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, NYSAG Letitia James, or any part of the US legal system to stop Donald Trump and Project 2025. The Democratic strategy should be to register voters as many voters as possible and overwhelm Republican ballots so that even GOP voter suppression tactics will be ineffective.

Sources:

‘Make them riot’: Politico pulls 6 key details from Jack Smith’s massive Trump filing – Raw Story

United States v Donald J. Trump Superseding Indictment (justice.gov)

India’s Rhino Stronghold Sees 86% Drop in Poaching and Five-Fold Increase in Population

Greater one-horned rhino – CC 4.0. Nejib Ahmed

Since 2016, poaching of one-horned rhinoceroses in India’s Assam state has fallen 86% after the government took decisive steps to protect them

By expanding protected areas and bolstering ranger patrols, 3,000 rhinos grace the Assam savannah.

“Rhinos are synonymous with the identity of Assam. They are our pride and the crown jewel of our biodiversity. Ever since we assumed office, we have taken various initiatives to protect the prized species, expand its habitat and ensure its safety,” Assam state’s Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote on X.

In India, the Chief Minister, often abbreviated CM, is the equivalent on an American governor, and the state of Assam which Sarma governs is India’s rhino stronghold, with 88% of all the rhinos in the country located in Kaziranga, Manas, and Orang national parks, and Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary.

The remaining 12% is spread widely across the country. CM Sarma’s tenure which began in 2021 oversaw the addition of nearly 50,000 acres of habitat in Orang National Park, and another 50,000 to two other protected areas.

Last year, GNN reported that for the first time since 1977, zero rhinos were poached in India.

Sarma ordered the rhinos to be treated like “presidents”, with sophisticated police commando teams patrolling the parks with night vision equipment and drones during moonlit nights.

Since then, the population of Assam’s rhinos has grown by 105 to 3,000; up from a low of 600 during the 1960s. The government released these figures on World Rhino Day (22 Sep) to show that “if the will to protect these animals is there, the most poached megafauna species on Earth can thrive.”

Source:

India’s Rhino Stronghold Sees 86% Drop in Poaching and Five-Fold Increase in Rhinos (goodnewsnetwork.org)

Unpopularity of Putin’s War on Ukraine Growing in Russia

A child protester outside the Russian Defense Ministry in Moscow on 22 Sep with a sign reading: “Return my dad. I’ve been waiting two years.” (Image: RFE/RL Current Time)

A group of wives, mothers, and children of mobilized Russian soldiers deployed in their country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine protested outside the Defense Ministry in Moscow, with an unspecified number of detentions reported. The protest in the Russian capital on 21 Sep coincided with the date two years ago when Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on a partial mobilization. The group reportedly was demanding a meeting with Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, as well as a demobilization. At one point, the protesters, numbering about two dozen, were confronted by a group hurling abuse and trying to disperse them. There is no information available yet as to what punishments these loved ones of mobilized Russian soldiers will receive.

More evidence of the growing unpopularity of the Russian invasion comes from lowered interest in a pro-war singer’s concerts. At least two cities in Russia canceled Shaman’s performances of his “Victory” tour due to low ticket sales.

Pro-Kremlin Singer Yaroslav Dronov (AKA Shaman). Photo: Pelagia Tikhonova / Moskva News Agency

Last month Shaman kicked off his 100-city tour in Red Square with plans to perform in Ukrainian cities occupied since Russia’s invasion. The singer said he aims to “program” his audience to think about Russia’s victory over Ukraine, more than two and a half years into the war.

However, his scheduled performances in Nizhny Tagil on 24 Sep and Magnitogorsk on 3 Oct were cancelled. The independent investigative outlet Agentstvo reported that only half of the tickets had been sold for the Nizhny Tagil show, and there was “not much hype” surrounding the Magnitogorsk event.

Earlier this month, authorities in the Stavropol region canceled another of Shaman’s shows and required him to refund 15 million rubles to the regional government.

Agentstvo also noted that Shaman’s concerts in the cities of Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, and Tver are at risk of being canceled due to poor ticket sales. TV ratings for Shaman’s performances have reportedly been lower than other popular programs.

As casualties mount on the frontline and successful Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s infrastructure increase like the spectacular strike shown below, more people will grow disillusioned and discontent with Vladimir Putin. Unfortunately, the Russian masses will be basically powerless to overthrow the regime because of the dense internal security apparatus the Kremlin controls.

2,000 tons of ammo, including North Korean-made rounds, were destroyed in this recent attack that registered as small earthquakes and also drew the attention of NASA’s fire-spotting satellites. There was no information as to Russian casualties caused by Ukraine’s new jet-powered Palianytsia cruise missile.

Sources:

Mothers, Wives, Children Of Russian Soldiers Protest, Demand Demobilization (rferl.org)

Russian Cities Cancel Pro-War Singer Shaman’s Shows Amid Low Ticket Sales – Agentstvo – The Moscow Times

Ukrainian Drones Just Blew Up 2,000 Tons Of Ammo in Southern Russia (forbes.com)

France Deploys Notorious Anti-Riot Police Unit to Martinique

Martinique has a land area of 436 sq mi and a population of nearly 350,000. Map: Brittanica.com

France deployed a contingent of special anti-riot police that’s been banned for 65 years to the French Caribbean island of Martinique, where protesters have gathered despite the government barring demonstrations in parts of the island. The local government issued a curfew after violent protests broke out last week over the high cost of living. Six police officers and one civilian were wounded. Police launched tear gas and several stores were looted.

But the curfew was met by defiance by many on the island, with massive peaceful protests breaking out Saturday night. Videos from local media show crowds of thousands peacefully walking along highways overnight banging on drums and waving flags.

As protests continued without violence, a contingency of French anti-riot police arrived on the island and checked into a hotel in Fort-de-France. The size of the force was not disclosed.

French riot police in action in 2018. Photo: Stephane Mahe/Reuters

The elite riot police, known as the Companies for Republican Security, were banned in the French territory following bloody riots in Dec 1959 for allegedly using disproportionate force against protesters, ending in the deaths of a number of young demonstrators. The force is rarely deployed in French territories in the Caribbean but was called on during riots and strikes in Guadeloupe in 2009.

Martinique’s leaders requested the forces amid the recent protests. Beatrice Bellay, a representative of the socialist party blasted the move, saying: “Martinique is not in a civil war, it is a social war. This measure … only serves to aggravate tensions and distract attention from the legitimate demands of the people of Martinique.”

A man holds a flare during an anti-government protest in Fort-De-France, Martinique in 2021. 5,000 to 15,000 residents of Martinique demonstrated in protest on 27 March 2021, denouncing the possible statute of limitations on a complaint filed by civil parties for the use of chlordecone in causing life endangering illnesses. Photo: Reuters

Martinique is burdened with a chronic high rate of unemployment, as well as rising costs of imported food and other basic necessities. Banana is the foremost plantation crop grown in Martinique and the widespread use of carcinogenic chlordecone for five decades to control banana pests gave rise to an ecological disaster and an angry population. Although this practice had stopped in 2003, the recalcitrant dangerous pesticide remained largely in the soil.

Until all soil has all been successfully de-contaminated, use of the land for any new agricultural activities is unsafe; people have been warned to refrain from eating self-produced vegetables. The challenge to create meaningful employment in Martinique under these social-economic and environmental constraints is thus formidable.

Sources:

Long-forbidden French anti-riot force sent to Martinique as thousands defy bans on protests (voanews.com)

Intractable Social-Economic Problems of Martinique (openedition.org)

Former CIA Officer Sentenced to 30 Years for Sexually Assaulting Scores of Women

Undated photo of Brian Jeffrey Raymond courtesy of the FBI.

Brian Jeffrey Raymond (48) of La Mesa, CA, a former CIA officer who drugged and sexually assaulted dozens of women, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Raymond was also ordered to serve a lifetime of supervised release and to pay $260,000 in restitution to the victims. After his release from prison at the age of 78, Raymond will be required to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

This miscreant drugged more than two dozen women and performed nonconsensual sexual acts or made sexual contact with at least ten women. Raymond also photographed and recorded videos of victims without their consent while they were drugged or otherwise incapacitated. He had previously worked for the CIA for over 20 years.

Raymond would lure women he met on dating apps back to his government-leased apartment, later drugging and assaulting them.

The assaults date back to 2006 and took place in multiple countries, including Mexico and Peru. An investigation of Raymond began in May 2020 when police in Mexico City responded to a naked woman screaming for help on the balcony of Raymond’s residence. She said that Raymond had raped her and accused him of drugging her when the two had drinks at his apartment. Police then searched Raymond’s devices as apart of the investigation. They discovered several explicit videos and images showing Raymond sexually assaulting numerous women.

Several of the women spoke in court about the trauma caused by Raymond’s actions. Many did not realize they had been assaulted until they were approached by police and shown images or videos taken by Raymond.

“My body looks like a corpse on his bed,” said one woman of the photos. “Now I have these nightmares of seeing myself dead.”

Another woman testified in court: “Was I raped? Was I sexually assaulted. I will never know, and that haunts me too.”

Raymond’s sentencing comes as the CIA faces intense scrutiny over its handling of sexual misconduct cases. A 648-page internal watchdog report revealed that the agency routinely failed to address such incidents. More than two dozen women reported that they had experienced sexually assault or unwanted contact, later facing retaliation after they reported it to the CIA.

CIA personnel undergo extensive background investigations and must undergo routine polygraph examinations during their careers. How this sexual predator operated in the USIC for 14 years without getting caught is remarkable. Moreover, Raymond presents a dilemma for CIA. Foreign intelligence agencies may start putting clues together and uncover CIA sources in countries Raymond operated in.

From a counterintelligence perspective, Raymond holds a treasure trove of US secrets in his head. His incarceration in the BOP must take that into account. Lastly, Brian Jeffrey Raymond cost the American taxpayer a small fortune with all the expensive training he received and living overseas in government-paid housing and expense accounts.

Sources:

Former CIA officer sentenced to 30 years for sexually assaulting scores of women | CIA | The Guardian

As the CIA promises to stop sexual misconduct in its ranks, new cases of workplace assault emerge | PBS News

Whooping Cough (Pertussis) Spreading in US and Canada

Undated image courtesy of USATODAY.

The CDC reports that whooping cough (pertussis) is spreading in the US. In 2020, the US had about 6,000 cases of pertussis, roughly 2,000 cases in 2021, 3,000 cases in 2022 and about 5,000 last year. Now the US has seen 14,569 cases this year, compared with 2,844 at the same time last year, according to the CDC’s Nationally Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System.

In Canada, more than 12,000 cases of whooping cough, or the 100-day cough, have been reported to date in 2024, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). That’s far higher than the roughly 500 to 4,500 nationwide infections typically reported each year. 

Whooping cough starts with symptoms that look a lot like a regular cold: a runny nose, sneezing, a low-grade fever and a tickly cough. A week or two later, the infection moves into a new stage, leading to a violent full-body cough.

These coughing fits can be so severe that they cause patients to vomit or break ribs, and they’re often accompanied by a whooping sound as the person tries to catch their breath. Antibiotics can treat the infection, but only if it’s caught within the first few weeks, before the arrival of the exhausting, painful cough. Then, the only treatment is comfort care with plenty of rest and fluids while the infection runs its course.

Unvaccinated babies and adults are those at highest risk of severe infection and, rarely, death. But doctors have increasingly been seeing vaccinated people with infections, too.

Pertussis vaccination rates are high in the US – around 90% – and did not dip during the pandemic as they did in some other countries. Despite that, the upward trend in infections has continued.

The increase in cases is not fully understood. There’s evidence that it may be due to changes in the bacteria that causes the infection or changes in the vaccines.

Gavin and Tara Hills with their seven children were anti-vaxxers. (Social media).

The above family of anti-vaxxers from Ontario, Canada, changed their minds about vaccinations too late. Gavin Hills, his wife Tara, and their seven children are now in quarantine at their Kanata, Ont. home while the children are being treated for whooping cough.

The children, who are aged 10 months to 10 years, are “doing okay.” The irony of the timing is not lost on them, says Gavin Hills. While it’s frustrating to be quarantined, what’s more frustrating is knowing that the whole thing could have been avoided, Hills says. For six years, he and his wife were on the fence about vaccine safety, so they chose to hold off on vaccinating until they understood the issue better. But by then, it was too late and they caught pertussis.

Ottawa Public Health is treating them with antibiotics for the potentially serious illness and they should recover soon.

Sources:

About Whooping Cough Outbreaks | Whooping Cough | CDC

Whooping cough cases are soaring. Can infecting people help test a better vaccine? | CNN

https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/whooping-cough-spike-1.7308407

Germany: Social Democrats Narrowly Defeat Far-Right in Brandenburg Elections

Map: Courtesy of freeworldmaps.net

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) party narrowly won an election in the eastern German state of Brandenburg. Three weeks after the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party made gains in two other east German states, the SPD came out on top. 

According to final results, the SPD won 30.9% of the votes while the AfD came a close second with 29.2%. The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), a new leftist movement, came in third with 13.5% while the centre-right Christian Democrats took 12.1%. 

The SPD’s victory brought a reprieve to Scholz, whose three-party governing coalition has fared poorly in elections so far this year. Social Democrats have governed Brandenburg since 1990, and a loss there would have been a major setback for Scholz, who has his constituency in the state capital of Potsdam. 

Any political defeat of the right-wing in any country is a victory, no matter how big or small. Germany holds federal elections October 2025.

This is the enemy.

Source:

Social Democrats narrowly beat out far-right in Brandenburg elections | Euronews

Chinese Aircraft Carrier Comes Closer Than Ever to Japan

In 2012, Liaoning (16; Chinese: 辽宁舰; pinyinLiáoníng Jiàn) was the first aircraft carrier commissioned in China’s navy after extensive refurbishing. Total airpower: 40 fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. (Image source: http://www.armyrecognition.com).

On 18 Sep, a Chinese aircraft carrier sailed closer to Japan than ever before, prompting Tokyo to express serious concerns to Beijing about China’s increasing military activity in the region.

The Chinese carrier Liaoning, accompanied by two destroyers, entered Japan’s “contiguous zone” – a section of sea beyond territorial waters where Japan still exercises some control. According to the Japanese Defense Ministry, the fleet passed between Japan’s Yonaguni and Iriomote Islands, east of Taiwan.

Chinese warships also sailed near the disputed Senkaku Islands, which are controlled by Japan but claimed by China, where they are known as the Diaoyu Islands.

Hiroshi Moriya, Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, condemned the incident, calling it “absolutely unacceptable” for national and regional security. He emphasized that China has been ramping up military activity around Japan in recent years. The Japanese government conveyed its concerns to China through diplomatic channels.

Tensions between the two nations have escalated following other recent incidents. Last month, Japan reported that a Chinese reconnaissance aircraft entered its airspace, followed by a Chinese survey ship breaching Japanese territorial waters near Kagoshima Prefecture.

In response, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, Lin Jian, defended the activity of Chinese warships, stating it was following both Chinese domestic laws and international regulations.

Japan has strengthened its defenses in the southwestern region, including remote islands, viewing them as critical to its overall defense strategy. China now has two more aircraft carriers, including one entirely designed and built domestically.

China is increasingly flexing its growing military power. This summer, two Chinese aircraft accompanied Russian bombers near Alaska for the first time and a military hospital ship has been treating patients for free along Africa’s coast (see previous posting on Coriolanus). This naval incident occurred during the annual UN General Assembly in NYC, so Beijing may also be testing its diplomatic prowess. According to the Global Firepower Index (GFI), China is ranked third out of 145 militaries surveyed; Japan is ranked seventh; Taiwan is ranked 24th.

Sources:

Chinese aircraft carrier comes closer than ever to Japan (bignewsnetwork.com)

Global Firepower – 2024 World Military Strength Rankings

US, Canada Consumer Safety Alert: LUCID Platform Beds Sold by Walmart, Target, Amazon Recalled

Photo of the recalled Lucid Upholstered Square Tufted Platform Bed (Charcoal)

Nearly 137,000 beds sold by major retailers Walmart, Target, and Amazon have been recalled because the frames could collapse or break, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). 890 were sold in Canada. So far, there have been 245 reports of the beds breaking or collapsing, which caused at least 18 injuries including contusions.

The beds were manufactured in Malaysia and sold online through Amazon, Bed Bath & Beyond, Belk, Brookside, eBay, Home Depot, JCPenney, Lowes, Macy’s, Menards, Overstock, QVC, Sears, Target, Malouf VIP, Wayfair, and Walmart.

Customers should immediately stop using the recalled beds and contact Lucid for a free replacement bed frame.

Consumer Contact: Lucid toll-free at 888-910-0235 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET Monday through Thursday, or on Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET, by email at recall@lucidmattress.com.

Sources:

CVB Recalls LUCID Platform Beds with Upholstered Square Tufted Headboards Due to Fall and Injury Hazards | CPSC.gov

Upholstered Platform Bed (lucidmattress.com)

Nearly 137,000 beds sold by Target, Walmart recalled for collapsing (scrippsnews.com)

SAS Flight Diverted After Mouse Scurries Out of Passenger’s In-Flight Meal

Economy class cabin of an SAS A350 (Photo: SAS)

A Scandinavian Airlines flight traveling from Norway to Spain was forced to make an emergency landing in Copenhagen, Denmark after a mouse scurried out of a passenger’s in-flight meal. A passenger said the situation was surprisingly calm. Passengers were later flown to the Spanish city of Malaga on a different plane without further incidents.

The emergency landing was part of SAS company procedures as the mouse posed a safety risk on board. Rodents can chew through electrical wiring, making them strictly forbidden on most airlines.

Source:

Flight diverted after mouse scurries out of passenger’s in-flight meal (scrippsnews.com)

IDF Airstrikes Kill 14 in Gaza Strip as American Activist is Buried in Turkiye

Palestinians gather amid the rubble near a fuel tank damaged in IDF bombing in Gaza City on 14 Sep 2024.

Israeli airstrikes hit central and southern Gaza overnight into Saturday, killing at least 14 people as friends and family members of a Turkish-American activist killed by an Israeli soldier honored her in a funeral in Turkiye.

The airstrikes in Gaza City hit one home housing 11 people, including three women and four children, and another strike hit a tent in Khan Younis with displaced Palestinians. The attacks followed airstrikes earlier this week that hit a tent camp on Tuesday and a UN school sheltering displaced people on Wednesday.

A campaign to inoculate children in Gaza against polio slowed down. The WHO reported that about 559,000 people under the age of 10 — seven out of every eight children the campaign aimed to vaccinate — have recovered from their first dose. The second doses are expected to begin later this month.

Relatives, officials, and others look at the coffin of Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi (26) during her funeral ceremony at a mosque in Aydin Province, Turkiye, on 14 Sep 2024. She was shot and killed by the IDF in the occupied West Bank.

The war has caused vast destruction and displaced roughly 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, often multiple times, and plunged the territory into a severe humanitarian crisis. Gaza’s Health Ministry reports over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, adding women and children make up just over half of the dead.

Source:

Israel strikes Gaza as American activist killed by Israeli fire is buried (voanews.com)

Russia’s Medvedev Threatens Nuclear Strike Would Turn Kiev into ‘Gray Spot’ on the Map

Former Russian President and current Deputy Security Council Chairman Dmitry Medvedev has hiked Moscow’s threat of the nuclear option. Vladimir Putin controls about 5,977 nuclear warheads, according to the Federation of American Scientists.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, recently warned that Kiev could be turned into a “gray melted spot” if restrictions against Ukraine’s use of Western weapons were loosened.

Russian officials have threatened that a possible decision by the West to allow Kiev to use donated weapons to strike deeper into Russian territory would result in a major escalation of its war against Ukraine that could include the use of nuclear weapons.

Kiev has repeatedly said it needs to be able to conduct longer-range strikes into Russian territory to defend itself against invading Russian forces.

In an apparent reference to a recent US-UK summit, Medvedev wrote that “the Anglo-Saxon imbeciles” do not want to admit that there is an end to Russia’s “patience” and that experts who have suggested Russia could resort to using nuclear weapons against Ukraine would be proven correct if that patience is exhausted.

“What do Western leaders and their political establishments, playing at war, think our country’s reaction to probable missile strikes ‘deep into the territory [of Russia]’ would be?” wrote Medvedev, who has frequently used his position to voice threats against Kiev and the West since Russia’s unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Medvedev said a nuclear conflict is a “very bad story with a very difficult outcome,” claiming that is why Russia has not decided to use “nonstrategic or strategic” nuclear weapons so far. However, he said, if it came to that there would be a “giant gray melted spot” on the site of Kiev, which he called the “mother city of Russia.”

Recent media reports claim Russia received Fath-360 missile systems from Iran. These missiles have an effective range of 19-75 miles and can carry a 330-lb warhead filled with high explosives.

Source:

Russia’s Medvedev Threatens Nuke Strike Would Turn Kyiv Into ‘Gray Spot’ On The Map (rferl.org)

Venezuela Arrests US and Spanish Citizens Over Alleged ‘Plot’

Three US citizens, two Spaniards and one Czech citizen were arrested in Venezuela for allegedly plotting to destabilize the country. Reportedly, hundreds of weapons had been seized and the detainees were plotting to assassinate Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and other top officials. The Spaniards were detained in Puerto Ayacucho, south of the capital Caracas.

The arrests come two days after Washington sanctioned 16 Venezuelan officials who are closely aligned with President Maduro, following his disputed election victory in July.

The Venezuelan government alleged the detained Spaniards are linked to Madrid’s National Intelligence Centre (CNI). However, Spanish government sources denied the two belong to the intelligence organization.

Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello alleged “the CIA is leading this operation, and that does not surprise us but they, the National Intelligence Centre of Spain, have always maintained a low profile knowing that the CIA operates in this area. These two detainees even tell us about a group of mercenaries they are looking for to bring to Venezuela with very clear objectives to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, myself, and another group of comrades who are leading our party and our revolution.”

The US has rejected the accusations.

Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner of July’s presidential election by Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE), which is closely aligned with the government. But the CNE has not published any detailed voting tallies supporting a Maduro victory. Data published by the opposition suggests its candidate, Edmundo González, won instead.

Sources:

Venezuela arrests US and Spanish citizens over ‘plot’ (bbc.com)

Former CIA Employee Sentenced Ten Years in Prison for Spying for China

A screenshot from a video by an FBI undercover agent taken of Alexander Yuk Ching Ma in Jan 2019 during a meeting. (Photo: AP)

Alexander Yuk Ching Ma (71) of Honolulu, a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee, was sentenced to ten years confinement and five years of supervised release for conspiring to gather and deliver national defense information to the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Ma was arrested in August 2020, after admitting to an undercover FBI agent that he had facilitated the provision of classified information to intelligence officers employed by the PRC’s Shanghai State Security Bureau (SSSB).

Ma worked for the CIA from 1982 until 1989. His brother, who is now deceased, also worked for the CIA from 1967 until 1983. As CIA employees, both men held Top Secret security clearances that granted them access to sensitive and classified information, and both signed nondisclosure agreements.

After Ma and his brother were recruited by the SSSB, they provided Chinese intelligence officers with a “large volume of classified and sensitive information.” They were paid $50,000 in cash; an hourlong video showed Ma counting the money. Two years later, Ma applied for a job as a contract linguist in the FBI’s Honolulu field office. By then, US intelligence knew he was collaborating with Chinese intelligence officers, and they hired him in 2004 so they could keep an eye on his espionage activities.

Over the next six years, Ma regularly copied, photographed, and stole classified documents. He often took them on trips to China, returning with thousands of dollars in cash and expensive gifts, including a new set of golf clubs.

At one point in 2006, his handlers at the Shanghai state security bureau asked Ma to get his brother to help identify four people in photographs, and the brother did identify two of them. The fate of those he identified are not known.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Ma confessed that he knowingly and willfully conspired with SSSB intelligence officers to communicate and transmit information that he knew would be used to injure the US or to advantage the PRC. Further, Ma must cooperate with the US and undergo polygraph tests for the rest of his life, as well as submit to debriefings by the USIC. Prosecutors told the court that Ma has been cooperative and has taken part in multiple interview sessions with government investigators.

Alexander Yuk Ching Ma (USMS# 12272-122) is incarcerated at FDC Honolulu, an administrative security federal detention center in Hawaii.

Sources:

Office of Public Affairs | Former CIA Officer Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Conspiracy to Commit Espionage | United States Department of Justice

Former CIA officer sentenced to 10 years in prison for spying for China | Espionage | The Guardian

‘Catastrophe’ as Central Europe Deals with Deadly Floods

Flooding overwhelmed Slobozia Conachi, Romania (Photo: BBC)

In Glucholazy, southern Poland, firefighters built sandbag barriers to protect residents near the river. (Photo: BBC)

The flooded village of Krosnowice, southern Poland. (Photo: BBC)

Emergency services are shoring up flood defenses in central and eastern Europe after torrential rainfall caused by Storm Boris swelled rivers and damaged thousands of homes. Four people were killed in eastern Romania. In the Czech Republic, 51,000 households in the country’s northern areas were evacuated. Flood barriers have gone up in the capital Prague. Poland evacuated people from Glucholazy, a town near the Czech border, after a river burst its banks.

Extreme precipitation is becoming more likely in Europe, as across much of the world, due to climate change. A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, which can lead to heavier rainfall.

“We are again facing the effects of climate change, which are increasingly present on the European continent, with dramatic consequences,” Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said.

These flood victims face another peril. Floods greatly increase the risk of diarrheal disease along with other waterborne, water-related, and communicable diseases. Diarrheal pathogens—cholera, E. coliShigella, rotavirus, norovirus, Cryptosporidium, and others—can spread through direct contact with floodwater itself or through compromised water sources.

Standing water left by flooding can become a breeding ground for mosquitos that carry pathogens. Communicable diseases can spread like wildfire through refugee and evacuation shelters.

Sources:

Central Europe floods: Rush to shore up flood defences amid deaths and evacuations (bbc.com)

After the floods: Diarrheal disease threats lurk behind natural disasters (defeatdd.org)

Zika Cases in Pune, India, Reach 100, Five Deaths Reported

Pune continues to grapple with an increasing number of Zika virus cases, as the total number of patients in the city has now reached 100. The most affected area in Pune is Dahanukar Colony, which has recorded 20 cases, followed by Erandwane with 16. The five Zika-related deaths involved elderly individuals with pre-existing health conditions.

The virus is transmitted by daytime flying Aedes, or “tiger mosquitos.” An invasive species, Aedes is now found on all continents except Antarctica.

Alarmingly, 45 of these patients are pregnant women. Zika can cause birth defects in newborn babies.

Dr. Rajesh Dighe, Assistant Health Officer at Pune Municipal Corporation, provided updates on the situation, noting that efforts to control the spread of the Zika virus are ongoing. This recent spike in Zika cases follows a series of warnings from health authorities, who had anticipated a possible outbreak. The city is now facing increased pressure to manage the outbreak, particularly as the number of pregnant women affected by the virus grows.

On top of this, medical staff in Pune hospitals are dealing with an acute blood shortage.

Sources:

Zika Cases in Pune Reach 100, Five Deaths Reported | The Bridge Chronicle

Blood Shortage Hits Pune Amid Rising Zika, Dengue, Chikungunya Cases | The Bridge Chronicle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aedes

Donald Trump Confuses Nicky Jam for a Woman Ahead of Latin Star’s Endorsement Speech in Las Vegas

Former president Donald Trump held a campaign rally at the World Market Center in downtown Las Vegas, where Nicky Jam, a 43-year-old male reggaetón veteran took the stage to show his support for the GOP candidate. But in an inter-galactically embarrassing faux pas, the ex-POTUS mistakenly referred to Nicky as a ‘she‘ when introducing him to the crowd.

“Do you know Nicky? She’s hot. Where’s Nicky. As the male singer approaches the stage, Trump then says, “Oh, look, I’m glad he came up.”

Nicky Jam, wearing a black sweatshirt and a red ‘Make America Great Again’ baseball cap, then took the stage to deliver a brief statement.

Artist Art Candee wrote, “Guess Donald Trump doesn’t know what a woman is…” and Team Kamala mocked the former president by posting a video of the flub on social media:

“Trump: Latin music superstar Nicky Jam. Do you know Nicky? She’s hot (Nicky Jam is a man),” the campaign wrote.

This is just one of a series of imbecilic comments and gaffes that Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance have made during the 2024 campaign. Political analysts, as well as his niece Mary Trump (a professional psychologist), have been raising alarms about the mental fitness of this elderly man who could be Commander-in-Chief of the world’s most powerful, and nuclear-armed, military.    

Source:

Donald Trump Confuses Nicky Jam for Woman at Las Vegas Rally (billboard.com)

Endangered Cotton-Top Tamarin Triplets Born at Disney World

Three infant cotton-top tamarins are perched atop the back of one of their parents Saturday shortly after their birth at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom. They are the second set of the critically endangered tamarins to be born at the resort this year. (Photo courtesy Walt Disney World)

The second set of critically endangered cotton-top tamarin triplets to be born this year at Walt Disney World have arrived.

The three tiny primates were born at Animal Kingdom’s Discovery Island on Saturday and are bonding with their parents and siblings. An earlier batch of the small-but-powerful monkeys were born there in January.

Weighing only one pound in adulthood, the cotton-top tamarin is found in the rain forests of northwestern Colombia. They are known for their sophisticated social behaviors and have demonstrated evidence of simple grammatical capabilities.

Despite their small stature, their athletic capabilities are impressive — they can leap 15 feet from a stationary branch — while their appearance is highlighted by a wild mane of bright-white hair atop their heads.

The male and female parents of newborn tamarins share infant care equally, carrying their young on their backs until approximately 14 weeks of age.

An estimated 6,000 cotton-top tamarins remain in the wild, making them one of the rarest primates in the world. Disney World says it is working with organizations such as Proyecto Titi in Colombia to help protect the species through its Disney Conservation Fund.

Source:

New set of endangered cotton-top tamarin triplets born at Disney World – UPI.com

65 Million Americans Watched Kamala Harris Humiliate Donald Trump During Live Presidential Debate

WaPO/CNN poll showed Kamala Harris winning the debate 63 percent to 37 percent among debate-watchers. Time magazine cover by Tim O’Brien.

An estimated 65 million viewers tuned in to watch the debate between former President Trump and Vice President Harris, preliminary overnight television ratings revealed Wednesday. Ratings were high in battleground Pennsylvania, with the nation’s highest rating coming in Pittsburgh at 44.2. The No. 2 market was Philadelphia, where it drew a 43.4 rating. New York clocked in at a healthy 36.7, putting it at No. 7 among top markets.

Trump began to unravel at the debate after VPOTUS Harris said to the former NBC TV star of The Apprentice: “Your rallies are boring.”

The split-screen said it all: Trump glowered and grimaced, spewing old grievances and strange new attacks while Harris smiled and appeared amused. The former President repeated a baseless Internet rumor that migrant invaders were killing and eating pet dogs and cats in Springfield, OH, and claimed that Harris “wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens in prison.” 

Vice President Kamala Harris flummoxed Trump when she responded to his accusation that she wants to confiscate firearms.

“Tim Walz and I are both gun owners. We’re not taking anybody’s guns away.”

Immediately following the debate, Trump stamped away without shaking hands with VPOTUS Harris. Soon after, megastar Taylor Swift announced via social platform that she was endorsing Kamala Harris. Over 330,000 young people immediately flocked to a voter registration website.

In the aftermath of Trump’s debacle, both candidates found themselves the next day at the Flight 93 memorial ceremony in Pennsylvania honoring the victims of the 9/11 attacks on America.

During this solemn ceremony, Donald Trump is caught winking at a female photographer.

Sources:

Time Magazine

IDF Kills 18 in Gaza School Sheltering Displaced Persons; Six UN Workers KIA

Palestinians search for missing people under the rubble of a destroyed UNRWA-run school, after an IDF strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. (Photo: Mohammed Saber/EPA)

An Israeli airstrike on a central Gaza school being used as a shelter for displaced Palestinians has killed 18 people, six were UN officials. The attack was the highest death toll among UNRWA staff in a single incident. Two airstrikes hit the school and its surroundings.

Earlier, Israel’s military said its air force had “conducted a precise strike on terrorists who were operating inside a Hamas command-and-control centre” on the school grounds, without elaborating on the outcome or the identities of those targeted.

Approximately 5,000 displaced people were sheltering at the school when it was bombed. According to UNRWA, “this school has been hit five times since the war began. It is home to about 12,000 displaced people, mainly women and children.”

Israeli forces have struck several such schools in recent months, saying Palestinian militants were operating and hiding among displaced persons.

At least 220 UNRWA staff have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war. Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA reported that “humanitarian staff, premises and operations have been blatantly and unabatedly disregarded since the beginning of the war.”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres: “What’s happening in Gaza is totally unacceptable.” The UN General Assembly recently convened in NYC and the world is waiting for action.

Palestinians mourn as the civil defence teams and civilians carry out search and rescue operations from the rubble after an Israeli attack on Nuseirat Refugee Camp. (Photo: Anadolu/Getty Images)

Earlier on Wednesday, the IDF struck a home near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, killing 11 people, including six brothers and sisters ranging from 21 months to 21 years old, according to a European hospital which received the casualties.

The war in Gaza is now into its 11th month, with more than 41,000 Palestinians killed. The International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague indicted Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes, but inexplicably his arrest warrant has yet to be issued. In contrast, the ICC both indicted AND issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes against Ukrainians on 17 Mar 2023 (St Patrick’s Day).

Sources:

Six Unrwa workers among estimated 18 killed in Israeli strike on Gaza school sheltering displaced | Israel-Gaza war | The Guardian

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx88l499vero

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64992727

https://www.icc-cpi.int/

Canada’s Conservative Leader Plans No-Confidence Motion Against Trudeau’s Government

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau (L), Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre (C), NDP leader Jagmeet Singh (R)

Canadian Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said his party plans to put forward a no-confidence motion “at the earliest possible opportunity” in hopes of bringing down Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government.

Poilievre called on New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh to support the motion and trigger an election. Singh refused to say if his party would support the Conservatives. Last week the NDP withdrew from a supply-and-confidence agreement with Trudeau’s minority Liberal government that helped keep it in power. The deal, reached in 2022, meant the NDP would support the federal government on no-confidence votes in exchange for progress on shared priorities.

The next Canadian federal election is scheduled for October 2025. The Liberals currently have 154 seats in the 338 Canadian House of Commons. The Conservates hold 119 and the NDP 24. The Bloc Québécois, a party based only in Quebec and is devoted to Quebec sovereignty, has 32 seats.

Canada’s Parliament resumes next Monday. Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet has said his party is willing to support the government if the Liberals agree on issues like increased support for seniors and granting Quebec more powers in immigration matters.

Most polls show the Conservatives well ahead of the Liberals with the NDP sitting third. Trudeau said his government will continue to introduce programs that help Canadians like dental care for seniors and childcare.

In June, the Liberals suffered a major upset in a byelection losing a seat in Toronto the party had held for three decades. Two more byelections will be held Monday in Montreal and Winnipeg.

Poilievre also attacked Trudeau for appointing Mark Carney, a former governor of both the Bank of England and Bank of Canada, to act as chair on a task force on economic growth. Poilievre called Carney an unelected “phantom finance minister.”

Source:

Canada’s Conservative leader says his party plans no-confidence motion against Trudeau’s government – ABC News

US Police Brutality: Former Michigan Police Officer Sentenced for Civil Rights Violation for Violently Assaulting Arrestee

Matthew Rodriguez (49), a former Warren, MI, police officer was sentenced in federal court to one year and one day in prison for using excessive force against an arrestee while fingerprinting and photographing him at a local detention facility.

Warning: Some readers might find the below evidence disturbing.

Note the other two police officers do not restrain Rodriguez, the attacker, but help restrain J.S., the victim. There is no information whether these two officers faced disciplinary action.

On 13 June 2023, then-officer Rodriguez was fingerprinting and photographing an arrestee, J.S., who had recently been brought to the Warren Police Department’s jail for processing. During fingerprinting, Rodriguez and J.S. got into a verbal argument and began trading insults. In retaliation for one of J.S.’ remarks, Rodriguez struck J.S. multiple times and slammed J.S.’ head against the fingerprint room floor.

In connection with his plea, Rodriguez admitted to writing a report in which he made false statements.

Former police officer Matthew Rodriguez (Image: CBS Detroit/WWMT)

Sources:

Office of Public Affairs | Former Michigan Police Officer Sentenced for Civil Rights Violation for Violently Assaulting Arrestee | United States Department of Justice

New Workplace Assault Case Emerges as CIA Shields Sexual Misconduct in Ranks

CIA officer trainee Ashkan Bayatpour (seated left) in Fairfax, VA. 23 Aug 2023. The judge found Bayatpour guilty of attacking a fellow CIA trainee with a scarf in the stairwell of CIA HQ at Langley, VA. (Dana Verkouteren via AP). This previous case was one of several plaguing CIA.

At an impromptu party in the office to celebrate his 50th birthday, veteran CIA officer Donal Asquith got drunk, reached up a colleague’s skirt, and forcibly kissed her in front of stunned co-workers, prosecutors alleged in the latest case of sexual misconduct to spill from the spy agency into a public court.

A recent 648-page internal watchdog report that found systemic shortcomings in the CIA’s handling of such complaints was classified as “secret,” shielded as a potential threat to national security. … “It is inconceivable that sexual misconduct could be considered a state secret,” said Kevin Carroll, an attorney who represents several women in the agency who have made complaints. The watchdog report followed an earlier AP investigation that found at least two dozen women in the CIA came forward to authorities and Congress with accounts of sexual assaults, unwanted touching and what they described as a campaign to silence them. The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSIC) released a redacted report of their testimony last April (linked below).

Many women were emboldened by a CIA officer trainee who went to the police in 2022 after the agency failed to take action against a colleague she accused of assaulting her with a scarf in a stairwell at CIA headquarters. Some of those women now say they have faced retaliation, including the victim of the stairwell attack, who was terminated less than six months after suing the agency.

CIA invests a lot of time, money, and resources investigating, vetting, recruiting, and training these elite personnel who are also polygraphed. Incidents like this are costly to the American taxpayer, CIA, as well as to national security. And remarkable that this story would emerge nationally on 9/11, one of CIA’s darkest days.

Sources:

New CIA workplace assault case emerges as spy agency shields extent of sexual misconduct in ranks – WTOP News

addressing_how_the_central_intelligence_agency_is_responding_to_sexual_assault_and_harassment.pdf (house.gov)

The Associated Press

North Korea Fires Ballistic Missile Toward Sea

After the smoke cleared from the US presidential debate, like a baby wanting a bottle, North Korean supremo Kim Jong-Un ordered the launch of a ballistic missile toward the sea Thursday morning, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff reported. The launch came days after Kim Jong Un vowed to put his nuclear force fully ready for battle with its rivals. The launch took place off North Korea’s eastern coast but the ROK high command offered no details, such as how far the weapon traveled. Japan’s prime minister’s office also alerted on its X account that North Korea had launched a suspected ballistic missile, but it did not provide details.

The launch was North Korea’s first public weapons firing in more than two months. On 1 July, Pyongyang claimed to have tested a new tactical weapon capable of delivering a “super-large” 4.5 ton-class warhead.

In a speech Monday, Kim said he would redouble efforts to make his nuclear force fully ready for combat with the US and its allies. He said North Korea faced “a grave threat” because of what he called “the reckless expansion” of a US-led regional military bloc that is now developing into a nuclear-based one.

Kim has made similar vows numerous times, but his latest threat came as outside experts believe North Korea will perform a nuclear test explosion or long-range missile test-launches ahead of the US presidential election in November.

As posted on Coriolanus last week, North Korea also resumed launches of trash-carrying balloons toward South Korea.

Since 2022, North Korea has significantly accelerated its weapons testing in a bid to perfect its capabilities to launch strikes on the US and South Korea. The US and South Korea have responded by expanding military drills that North Korea calls invasion rehearsals.

Last month, Kim had held off from missile tests or other provocative military demonstrations as the US and South Korea conducted large-scale summertime military exercises. North Korea issued statements berating the allies for raising tensions.

Source:

North Korea fires ballistic missile toward sea, South Korea says (voanews.com)

Federal Authorities Seize Over 350 Website Domains Used to Import Illegal Switches and Silencers from China

US authorities seized more than 350 websites selling gun silencers and parts from China used to covert semiautomatic pistols into fully automatic machine guns.

Law enforcement conducted undercover purchases from those websites of gun-related items. The shipments from China falsely described their contents as “necklaces” or “toys.” In fact, the packages contained machine gun conversion devices known as “switches” and silencers that are prohibited from being imported under the federal National Firearms Act (NFA). Switches are parts designed to convert semiautomatic pistols into fully automatic machineguns and silencers are devices used to suppress the sound of a firearm when discharged.

Many of the websites sold counterfeit goods and misused gun manufacturer Glock Inc’s trademark to suggest the switches were produced by the company when they were not. Glock reportedly cooperated with the investigation.

The results of this investigation have resulted in the seizure of over 700 devices which would covert a firearm into a machine gun, 87 illegal suppressors, 59 handguns, 36 long guns, as well as the seizure of 355 websites which were used to facilitate the trafficking of these items.

According to the CDC, in 2022 there were more than 48,000 firearm-related deaths in the US. That’s about 132 people dying from a firearm-related injury each day and wartime casualty rates.

Source:

District of Massachusetts | Federal Authorities Seize Over 350 Website Domains Used to Import Illegal Switches and Silencers from China | United States Department of Justice

https://www.cdc.gov/firearm-violence/data-research/facts-stats/index.html

A Runaway Penguin Spent Two Weeks Missing at Sea in Japan. A Typhoon May Have Saved Her.

Pen, who was born and raised in captivity, survived two weeks lost at sea in Japan during a typhoon. Photo: Gekidan Penters

A runaway penguin has been found safe in Japan nearly two weeks after she first went missing, having paddled 28 miles during a typhoon in a survival story her keeper called “miraculous.”

The six-year-old Cape penguin, who goes by the name “Pen” and was born and raised in captivity, was swimming with staff from the traveling Gekidan Penters zoo at a beach on central Japan’s Himakajima Island on 25 August when she escaped.

African penguins can swim up to 40 kilometers (25 miles) a day, but in captivity, their muscle mass decreases. Pen had never swum in the sea before visiting that beach.

A powerful typhoon called Shanshan brought torrential wind and rain to the country at the end of August, killing at least six people, displacing millions, knocking out power and disrupting air travel.

But, amid the destruction, the typhoon was a boon for little Pen. With no boats at sea, Pen avoided collisions and getting caught in fishing nets. The record rainfall provided a reliable source of hydration and cooling.

“She survived because of the typhoon,” her owner said. “It was almost miraculous timing.”

Because of the typhoon, Gekidan Penters wasn’t initially able to send out rescue boats to search for Pen, so it was even more surprising when someone spotted her swimming near a beach about eight miles away from where she first went missing.

Pen had no injuries and was in good physical shape. She also passed “substantial droppings,” which means she must’ve found something to snack on during her journey – likely fish or crab, though Pen had never eaten live fish before.

Her owner said Pen was “sleeping very comfortably next to me.”

Pen (L) stands alongside her partner, Gan. Photo: Gekidan Penters

Source:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/12/asia/escapee-penguin-japan-typhoon-hnk-intl/index.html