Month: January 2024

The M-IC Wins Again.

I recently wrote a report about the War Department looking at direct attacks on the Houthis in Yemen….

Here We Go!

Just a couple of days later the conflict began.

The US is carrying out airstrikes in Yemen.

Along with allies, the US launched airstrikes against more than a dozen Houthi installations in Yemen on Thursday, retaliation that President Biden said demonstrates that a 20-nation coalition “will not tolerate” the persistent attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. The US strikes involve Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from a Navy submarine, and fighter jets that took off from the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, the New York Times reports. The Houthis’ attacks, purportedly a message opposing Israel’s offensive in Gaza, had been escalated this week. A 20-nation coalition that includes the US had warned that a response was imminent if the Red Sea attacks did not cease.

The initial wave of airstrikes hit radars, missile and drone launch sites, and weapons storage areas. Senior American officials have blamed Iran, saying its technological and intelligence support of the Houthis made the shipping attacks possible. Britain took part in the strikes Thursday, and US officials said the operation is to also include the Netherlands, Australia, Canada, and Bahrain. The Houthis have controlled parts of Yemen since 2014, per ABC News reports. Earlier Thursday, Houthi leader Abdul Malek Al-Houthi said in a speech that any US attack on Yemen sites “will not go unanswered,” per CNN.

In a statement, Biden said the strikes are in response to the attacks on international vessels, which he called unprecedented. “These attacks have endangered US personnel, civilian mariners, and our partners, jeopardized trade, and threatened freedom of navigation,” he said. The strikes were the first military action by the US since the Houthis’ drone and missile attacks began early in the Israel-Hamas war, per the AP. For the first time, Biden said, the military used anti-ship ballistic missiles. In his statement, the president said he won’t hesitate to “direct further measures” if necessary.

Why?

Why not ask our good buddies in Saudi and UAE to do this after all they have been bombing Yemen into the stone age for years.

I guess the old M-IC saying holds true….’an used weapon is a useless weapon’.

Why did we have to be the ones doing this deed….what we no longer have ‘allies’ in the Arabian peninsula?

If not why are we wasting so much some sucking up to the desert royalty?

This is BS and will probably come back to bite us in the exposed ass.

Stupid has consequences.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–11Jan24

A Jewish slap fight…..and arrest that followed….

It appears that there is trouble brewing with the Hasidic Jews of New York.

The rebbe called for an expansion of the property more than 30 years ago, but legal disputes between the two sides (involving, among other things, whether a plaque could refer to the rebbe as deceased) have gone on for years. Community members believe members of the smaller faction secretly dug the tunnel to fulfill the rebbe’s vision of expanding. The New York Post, citing Jewish outlets, reports the group was trying to reach the abandoned men’s mikvah, a ritual bath, around the corner, and had been digging for almost a year. The tunnel was actually discovered late last year, but Monday’s trouble began when a cement truck was brought to fill it and some young Hasidic men tried to block that from happening.

Video from the scene shows a man emerging through the wall of the sanctuary from the tunnel, men sitting in the tunnel to block it from being filled, police confronting the men, and an altercation breaking out, involving people throwing desks and prayer books and the police apparently spraying some sort of irritant, ABC 7 reports. The men arrested were charged with criminal mischief and reckless endangerment, and one was also charged with obstruction of governmental administration. The headquarters is closed while a review of its structural integrity is carried out. A spokesperson for the movement refers to the men who dug the tunnel as “extremist students” and “young agitators” who were primarily in the US on student visas.

What was the aftermath?

Nine men were arrested Monday afternoon when an altercation broke out at a century-old Brooklyn synagogue over a tunnel that had been secretly dug underneath the building. The New York Times reports that the Chabad-Lubavitcher movement, which it describes as one of the most prominent Hasidic Jewish groups in New York, has for decades been in conflict over the movement’s future, with mainstream leadership wanting to carry out the teachings and visions of its leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, known as the rebbe, who died in 1994. But a smaller faction believes he never died and is actually the Messiah, and that has led to disagreements over a planned expansion to the movement’s global headquarters and sanctuary at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood.

Just one question….WTF?

Plus the problems this tunnel causes for the people around the dig site…..

New York City issued vacate orders and emergency work orders following the discovery of a tunnel that had been secretly dug over a period of nearly a year underneath a historic Brooklyn synagogue. Officials say the building and neighboring structures will be stabilized and occupant safety will be ensured, the AP reports. The synagogue has been cited for the illegal excavation, which, a spokesperson says, was carried out by a rogue group of “extremist” young men.

Why can’t they just along?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

GOP Debate–Down To Two

It’s that time again….time to be bored to death.

Last night was the GOP debate before the Iowa vote next week…..and before the debate was aired Christie threw in the towel…..

Chris Christie has dropped out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination just days before the Iowa caucuses. “I’ve always said that if there came a point in time in this race where I couldn’t see a path to accomplishing that goal that I would get out,” the former New Jersey governor said at a campaign event in New Hampshire Wednesday, per the New York Times. “It’s clear to me tonight that there isn’t a path for me to win the nomination, which is why I’m suspending my campaign tonight for president of the United States.” Christie was speaking hours before rivals Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis were due to take part in the fifth GOP debate, which he didn’t qualify for.

Christie’s campaign had struggled to make headway in the polls but the AP describes the move as a surprise, given that Christie had staked the success of his campaign on New Hampshire’s Jan. 23 primary and had insisted as recently as Tuesday that he wasn’t planning to drop out. “I would be happy to get out of the way for someone who is actually running against Donald Trump,” Christie said Tuesday, per Politico, arguing that rivals including Haley weren’t going after the former president like he was. On Wednesday he said that anybody unwilling to describe Trump as unfit to be president was unfit themselves.

Sources tell NBC News that Christie isn’t expected to endorse another candidate at this time, though his exit will likely boost Haley among the moderate New Hampshire Republican voters both campaigns had targeted. A CNN poll this week found that Trump had the support of 39% of likely Republican primary voters in New Hampshire, with Haley at 32% and Christie at 12%. The poll found that Haley was the second choice of around two-thirds of Christie voters, enough to put her in first place with Christie’s exit.

Christie has a closing thought about his female rival…. “She’s gonna get smoked, and you and I both know it,” a hot mic caught Christie saying, though he didn’t use her name. “She’s not up to this.” 

Enough of the banter….let’s talk about the GOP debate that had 2 people taking shots….down to DeSantis and Haley….

Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley got plenty of talking time in Wednesday night’s GOP debate given that they were the only candidates on stage, and they largely used it to attack each rather than frontrunner Donald Trump. (The former president again skipped the debate and instead took part in a town hall on Fox News.) Haley relentlessly promoted a new website called deSantisLies, while he accused her of being a “mealy-mouthed politician.” Some moments:

  • Trump: Both candidates declined to say that Trump doesn’t respect the Constitution, per the New York Times. DeSantis again said he feared Trump would be too distracted by his legal fights to be an effective president. Haley said that while Trump has called Jan. 6, 2021, a “beautiful day,” she considers it a “terrible day,” per the Washington Post. She also said it was “ridiculous” to state (as a Trump attorney did in court) that a president who assassinated a political rival would have immunity, and she said she was wary of the “chaos” Trump might bring to a second term.
  • Odd joke: DeSantis joked that Haley has a “problem with ballistic podiatry,” which he explained means “shooting yourself in the foot every other day,” per the AP. Haley responded with an eye roll.
  • A slam: Haley criticized how DeSantis has run his campaign, asserting that he has “blown $150 million” with little to show for it. “If he can’t handle the financial parts of a campaign, how is he going to handle the economy when it comes to the White House?” she asked. DeSantis responded that she was focused on campaign minutia instead of issues voters actually care about. When moderators cut him off, Haley added, “I think I hit a nerve.”
  • Admiration: After two hours of hurling sometimes nasty insults at each other, the candidates were asked what they admired about each other. DeSantis said Haley spoke out strongly on important issues as UN ambassador, and he also said he liked her state of South Carolina, adding that becoming its governor was a “great achievement.” Haley was more succinct: “I think he’s been a good governor.”
  • Ukraine: The pair split notably on Ukraine, with DeSantis accusing Haley of supporting a war she doesn’t know how to end, reports Politico. “You can take the ambassador out of the United Nations,” he said, “but you can’t take the United Nations out of the ambassador.” (This quip came well before he praised her UN performance.) Haley countered that allowing Russia to win would be a big victory for China, too.

If you would like more then….The Hill has a comprehensive roundup of key points.

Believe me folks….it was a yawn as usual…..nothing but shots and BS for the full time….be glad you are not a politics junkie.

I hope you got something out of this review…

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–10Jan24

Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead!

I remember that intro from the news round-up on the original SNL (by far the best SNL)….

The reason I bring up Franco is because there are some on the Radical Right that are trying to resurrect this fascist dictator.

Is the fascism? Or is it the popped fur collar? The jaunty cape itself? The military fatigues? The teeny tiny mustache? Maybe it’s Maybelline. No, it’s probably the fascism.

Whatever it is, some on the Right are now pretty hot to trot for Generalissimo Francisco Franco — which I can honestly say is not a take I have heard outside of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and the whole bit there was that she was actually quite daft and thought the fascists were just super into art and that being into fascism herself made her seem very chic and European. Though now that I’m reading up on it, it seems that William F. Buckley was also a fan.

This week, noted Pizzagate idiot Jack Posobiec embarked upon a quest to rehabilitate the image of Franco, a brutal, oppressive, authoritarian falangist/fascist dictator who killed hundreds of thousands of people. I’d love to be surprised by this, but it seems only natural after they all embraced Pinochet so eagerly.

“The communists were slaughtering everyone,” he cried. “Someone had to stop them. His name was Francisco Franco.”

I’m not going to get too into it, but this is a not a man who is very good at timelines. The Red Terror happened after the attempted 1936 military coup that lead to the Spanish Civil War and would eventually lead to Franco declaring himself dictator of Spain. Yes, communists in Spain at that time did kill people and they specifically targeted Nationalists, Royalists, Spanish nobility and members of the clergy. Estimates of this range from 38,000 to 110,905. I can “condemn” it now, just as it was condemned by many socialist and liberal Republican leaders during the Spanish Civil War, because I am not a psychopath.

The thing is, at the time the Red Terror was happening, the White Terror — committed by the Nationalists and Royalists — was also happening, was far worse and lasted far longer, with death tolls ranging from 160,000–200,000. Unlike the Red Terror, the White Terror was organized and calculated, as well as supported by the right-wing leaders at the time.

https://www.wonkette.com/p/guess-which-brutal-authoritarian

That is just what we need here….let democracy die so the rest of us can as well.

If you cannot see a problem then we are in serious trouble come November.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Here We Go!

Thje US has been involved one way or another in wars in the Middle East since the 1980s and now the War Department is looking for further involvement in the region.

This time we are eyeing Yemen for the use of our weapons of destruction.

The Biden administration is reportedly drafting plans to bomb Houthi targets in Yemen amid escalating fears of a wider war in the Middle East, where the U.S. is inflaming regional tensions by heavily arming Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip.

Politicoreported Thursday that U.S. officials are “increasingly concerned” that Israel’s devastating war on Gaza “could expand… to a wider, protracted regional conflict.” Citing unnamed U.S. officials, the outlet noted that the U.S. military is drawing up plans to “hit back at Iran-backed Houthi militants who have been attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea.”

Usamah Andrabi, communications director for Justice Democrats, wrote in response to the new reporting that U.S. President Joe Biden is “pushing the United States to the brink of a new endless war in the Middle East, all because he doesn’t want to stop funding Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempted eradication of the Palestinian people and Palestine itself.”

Eli Clifton, a senior adviser to the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, similarly argued that “Biden’s support for Israel’s Gaza war ties the U.S. to Israel’s escalatory cycle that may result in American soldiers dying in yet another Middle East war.”

“Biden has leverage to call for a cease-fire in Gaza,” Clifton added. “He isn’t using it.”

News of the administration’s private planning comes after dozens of advocacy organizations implored Biden not to consider any military assault on Yemen, which has been ravaged by years of Saudi-led, U.S.-backed bombing.

It also comes after several recent U.S. and Israeli attacks in the Middle East intensified concerns that the region is perilously close to all-out war.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/biden-bomb-yemen

Does the US really need another war to finance and possibly fight?

Personally I think we are at our limit and should start dial back our involvement….we cannot afford everybody’s war.

Just a thought.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–09Jan24

Do you pay your taxes?

Of course you…..but there are some that get a free ride on their taxes…..

An analysis released Wednesday shows that in 2022, the wealthiest people in the United States collectively held a “staggering” $8.5 trillion in wealth that is not—and might never be—subject to taxation.

Examining recently released data Federal Reserve data for 2022, Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) found that the roughly 64,000 U.S. households with at least $100 million in wealth—less than 0.05% of the population—controlled more than one in every six dollars of the country’s “unrealized gains,” profits that aren’t taxable until the underlying asset, such as a stock position, is sold.

“But the ultra-wealthy don’t need to sell to benefit: They can live off low-cost loans secured against their growing fortunes. And once inherited, such gains disappear completely for tax purposes,” ATF’s Zachary Tashman and William Rice explained in the new analysis. “While most Americans predominantly live off the income they earn from a job—income that is taxed all year, every year—the very richest households live lavishly off capital gains that may never be taxed.”

That small, ultra-rich fraction of U.S. society is sitting on more unrealized capital gains than the bottom 84% of the country—roughly 110 million households—combined, Tashman and Rice noted.

Most of the typical U.S. household’s unrealized capital gains are in the form of their homes, which face state and local property taxes. But 93% of the unrealized gains of America’s wealthiest are tied up in businesses, stock portfolios, and mutual funds, ATF found. As a result, mega-rich individuals such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk—the wealthiest man on the planet—wind up paying little to nothing in federal income taxes.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/rich-untaxed-wealth

This country has a debt of $34 trillion….

In September, the United States broke its national debt record, reaching $33 trillion. Now, just three months later, a new record has been set. CNN Business notes that, per year-end figures released by the Treasury Department last month, our government’s debt shot up to $34.001 trillion on Dec. 29, which Maya MacGuineas, head of the watchdog group Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, calls “a truly depressing ‘achievement.'” She adds in a Tuesday statement: “Though our level of debt is dangerous for both our economy and for national security, America just cannot stop borrowing.”

Here is a couple ideas…..stop funding every goddam war on the planet…..tax the bastards that are escaping their debt to the country and find and return all the offshore cash these rich bastards have squirreled away.

So yeah I am all for a ‘billionaire tax’.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Forced Religion?

I do not usual comment on religion but there are times when I must step up and say my peace.

Recently Donald the Orange made a speech where he promised a ‘task force’ to impose Christian ideology…..

In recent campaign stops and on social media, Donald Trump has reprised lies aimed at inciting his Christian-right base against Joe Biden. These tirades, centered on the false charge that the Biden administration is persecuting Christians, aren’t just Trump’s typically dubious claims. Much like Trump’s lies about a stolen election, they are designed to immerse his loyalists in a grievance-laden alternative reality in which Trump alone can rescue them from an evil government threatening their freedom.

In a Dec. 19 speech in Iowa, for example, Trump pledged, “As soon as I get back in the Oval Office, I’ll also immediately end the war on Christians. I don’t know if you feel it. You have a war. There’s a war.” Speaking just after the Colorado Supreme Court disqualified him from appearing on the state’s GOP primary ballot, Trump tied this “war” to his own legal woes. “Under crooked Joe Biden, Christians and Americans of faith are being persecuted and government has been weaponized against religion like never before. And also presidents like never before,” he added. “I always say Al Capone was treated better than I was treated.”

Trump has promoted the theme of Christian persecution in the past, but is elevating it again as these legal issues mount. His clear purpose is to deflect attention from his own criminal liabilities by insinuating that the same Biden administration he falsely claims is unfairly targeting him for prosecution is similarly persecuting religious Americans.

Unsurprisingly, Trump’s ardent supporters see his and their “wars” as tied together. When he was indicted in a Manhattan court on charges that he illegally covered up hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, his backers compared this supposed persecution to that of Jesus Christ. In a Truth Social video two days after his Iowa speech, Trump made this persecution pact complete. He contended that under Biden, “Christians and Americans of faith are being persecuted like nothing this nation has ever seen before.” Trump has also echoed wild and debunked claims from congressional Republicans about anti-Catholic bias by the Biden administration and the FBI in particular.

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-2024-christian-right-truth-social-rcna132082

Sorry but I will not be forced to believe.

I have my religious beliefs and I shall retain them….so screw trump.

What will be next?   The Morality Police?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–08Jan24

Can you remember Covid?

How about ‘hydroxychloroquine (HCQ)’?

This was the ‘magical’ cure for Covid that was passed around by our fearless leader back in the day.

Sad thing is people believed the crap and died.

In news that’s sure to kickstart a wave of recriminations, researchers have estimated that almost 17,000 people died in six countries during the first COVID-19 wave due to the use of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), an anti-malaria medication that gained viral traction as a potential treatment against COVID even after scientific evidence failed to back up its efficacy.

A team of researchers from France, Canada and China revealed the findings in a new study published in the science journal Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy. They arrived at the number after performing statistical analysis on medical and hospital data about excess mortality.

“During the first wave of COVID-19, hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) was used off-label despite the absence of evidence documenting its clinical benefits,” the researchers write. “Since then, a meta-analysis of randomised trials showed that HCQ use was associated with an 11 percent increase in the mortality rate.”

The scientists looked at data from Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and America.

“Although our estimates are limited by their imprecision, these findings illustrate the hazard of drug repurposing with low-level evidence,” the scientists conclude.

Other existing medications had been repurposed to combat COVID because of their track record in treating viruses, like the HIV/AIDS drug ritonavir, the paper notes.

https://futurism.com/neoscope/deaths-hydroxychloroquine-estimate

This is why you should always consult your medical professional before taking any advice from amateurs.

Covid was tragic enough without idiots adding to the misery of others.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

It’s ISIS Again

They are baaaaaack!

We have not really heard much about the savagery of this group for some time now….almost makes me think we have extinguished their effectiveness….and then a recent terror attack breaks that thought into little pieces.

The recent attack took place in of all places Iran…..

The Islamic State claimed responsibility Thursday for two suicide bombings in Iran on Wednesday that claimed more than 80 lives. Experts who follow the group confirmed that the statement came from the extremists, who likely hope to take advantage of the chaos gripping the region amid Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, per the AP. Wednesday’s attack in Kerman killed at least 84 people and wounded an additional 284. It targeted a ceremony honoring Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by a US drone strike in 2020.

On Thursday, chunks of asphalt appeared missing from the roadway where one bomb went off, suggesting the bomb had been packed with shrapnel to increase its deadly effects. Another spot still bore congealed blood from the wounded. ISIS identified the two attackers as Omar al-Mowahed and Seif-Allah al-Mujahed, saying the men carried out the attacks with explosive vests. It also used disparaging language when discussing Shiites, which the group views as heretics.

“This falls under the modus operandi of (ISIS), especially since it was such a mass casualty attack,” said Aaron Y. Zelin, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “They are kind of like the Joker. They want to see the world burn. They don’t care how it happens as long as it benefits them.” The claim of responsibility came as the extremists separately called on supporters around the world to avenge the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip by attacking Christians and Jews. The group also criticized Palestinian factions for allying with Iran, saying that Tehran has taken advantage of the situation to appear as the defender of Palestinians.

ISIS took credit for the Wednesday bombing in Kerman, Iran, that killed at least 84 people, but Iran has yet to formally attribute blame for the attack.

According to Iran’s PressTV, ISIS issued a statement on its Telegram channels that said two of its members detonated explosive belts in a suicide attack. Iranian officials initially said two bombs were likely placed in bags at the scene, but a source told Iran’s IRNA news agency that at least one of the explosions was the result of a suicide bombing.

Is this a resurgence of the terror group?

Will more attacks be coming?

What say you?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

History Of The “F” Word

It is a Sunday and what better day than that to throw some FYI in your direction and a little history all in one post.

Warning– this post uses some harsh words and may offend those readers that have sensitivities to the use of the “F” word.

If you are one of those people then please pass this post by as I would not want to offend.

I was watching the tube the other night and every channel that I turned to someone was using the “F” word….as adjective, expletive, adverb, verb and so on and that got my brain fired up to do what I like best….research.

Just where did the “F” word originate?

Who first used the F-word?

Etymologists have been debating it for years, with every new discovery inspiring a flurry of news coverage. (Note: If you read Vox articles aloud to your children, be warned — this piece has some particularly rude language.) Last year, there was a flurry of attention when we learned that the word made an early appearance in English in 1528, when a disgruntled monk wrote, “O D fuckin abbot.”

Now there’s a new contender for oldest known use: Historian Paul Booth of Keele University claims that a court case in 1310 may have featured the earliest recorded use of the word “fuck,” embedded in the astonishing name of a defendant: Roger Fuckebythenavele. (Yes, that was his name.)

But even that might not be the end of the story. Pinning down a word’s origins turns out to be surprisingly tricky — not least because it’s difficult to know if medieval people were using the word the way we use it today. I spoke to Kate Wiles, a medieval researcher and contributing editor at History Today, who expanded on the history of “fuck” and explained why finding the first instance is trickier than it seems.

Historians have found plenty of examples of the word “fuck” in old medieval manuscripts. Wiles recommends Jesse Sheidlower’s history of the word, The F Word, and she also wrote her own summary in 2014. The kestrel was probably called a “windfucker” in 1599, and before that, all the way back in 1373, we have records of a place named Fockynggroue, which probably referenced “the act.” Other place names, like Ric Wyndfuk and Ric Wyndfuck de Wodehous, date to 1287, though their meaning is uncertain.

https://www.vox.com/2015/9/15/9329813/f-word-origins

I could not go to sleep as long as I had this nagging question in my brain.

Now I know and so do you…..

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”