US Air Force says it will test bizarre 'hypersonic' weapon this month

The test has already been delayed, and there are real questions about the technology's purpose.

At some point in the next few weeks, a B-52H bomber will carry a missile high into the air and launch it at an unprecedented velocity toward its target, according to the U.S. Air Force. If everything goes according to plan, that missile will accelerate to more than five times the speed of sound before deploying a dummy second stage that will promptly "disintegrate" somewhere in the atmosphere.

The missile, known as AGM-183A, is supposed to be the first hypersonic weapon — or Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) — in the U.S. arsenal. It should move so quickly through the atmosphere — about 20 times the speed of sound — at such low altitudes that it's impossible for enemy missile defense systems to shoot out of the air. And its speed means that it can be useful for destroying "high-value, time-sensitive targets," the Air Force said in a statement.

Hypersonic missile designs, including this one, typically involve two stages.

First, a rocket accelerates the weapon to many times the speed of sound, while remaining at a much lower altitude than Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) that arc high above the atmosphere before delivering their nuclear payloads.

https://www.space.com/us-hypersonic-missile-test.html?utm_source=Selligent&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=SDC_Newsletter&utm_content=SDC_Newsletter+&utm_term=3356074

Major hypersonic missile testing on the horizon

https://www.aflcmc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2528735/major-hypersonic-missile-testing-on-the-horizon/

Alibaba Browser Pulled From China's App Stores As Xi Warns Tech Giants Pose "Risks" To CCP Control

Months after Beijing's crackdown on China's tech behemoths like Alibaba and Tencent unofficially commenced with the scuttling of Ant Group's domestic IPO (what would have been the biggest corporate debut yet on the officially Communist nation's public markets), President Xi finally spoke out about the campaign, suggesting that it's only just getting started.

And as if to underline his point, western media outlets reported Tuesday morning that Alibaba's popular web browser had been removed from Chinese app stores. While removing apps is a common punishment in China for companies that have transgressed in the eyes of the CCP, the decision to suspend the Alibaba browser (known as the UC Browser) follows reports about the CCP leaning on Alibaba to divest its media holdings. The CCP reportedly fears that Alibaba's vast news media properties represent an unwelcome rival to Beijing's own propaganda machine.

The decision to remove the popular UC Browser is the latest hit to the empire of Jack Ma, China’s most famous entrepreneur, after regulators scuppered the record $37bn initial public offering of Ant Group, Alibaba’s financial technology affiliate. Ma has barely been seen in public since the listing was pulled last November, as Xi tightens Beijing’s grip on the economy.

According to minutes from a meeting of senior CCP leaders, President Xi warned that tech giants are growing "in an inappropriate manner" that creates risks for the Chinese system.

"Some platform companies are growing in an inappropriate manner and therefore bear risks. It is a considerable problem that the current regulatory regime has failed to adjust” to the rise of these groups," the minutes of the meeting said. Regulators will “step up” efforts to improve the regulation of China’s big internet companies, the minutes added.

Xi added that the development of China’s platform economy is currently at a crucial stage, and it's necessary to focus on the long term, strengthen weaknesses and create an innovative environment to promote the healthy and sustainable development of the platform economy. In the past, Xi has spoken about the importance of limiting monopolies, but this is the first time he has specifically addressed the problems posed by "platform" companies like Tencent, Alibaba, JD.co and others.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/alibaba-browser-pulled-chinas-app-stores-xi-warns-tech-giants-pose-risks-ccp-control

U.S. Joins India And China In Ramping Coal Usage To Pre-Pandemic Levels

Major users of coal across the world are set to ramp up their usage of the fossil fuel in coming months.

Power plants in the U.S. are expected to consume 16% more coal this year than in 2020 and another 3% on top of that in 2022. China and India also have "no plans to cut back" their use of burning the fossil fueld. In fact, "it’ll almost be as if the pandemic-induced drop in emissions never happened," Bloomberg reports.

Inevitably, this will result in higher emissions, which stands at stark odds with the climate initiatives that President Joe Biden ran on. Amanda Levin, policy analyst at the New York-based National Resources Defense Council said: “We’re going to see a really marked increase in emissions with coal consumption at U.S. power plants returning almost to 2019 levels."

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/us-joins-india-and-china-ramping-coal-usage-pre-pandemic-levels

Vanity Fair accuses Trump of KILLING 400,000 people with Covid, Trump supporters want to see the mag sued

Vanity Fair is seemingly holding Donald Trump responsible for murdering 400,000 Americans with Covid-19. Needless to say, there’s no mention of Andrew Cuomo or Joe Biden. Some suggested a libel suit might teach the mag a lesson.

The story begins with Jared Kushner, son-in-law and adviser to the former president, who on Monday praised President Joe Biden’s handling of tensions with Iran thus far, and encouraged the Democrat to build on Trump’s “progress in the Middle East” – mainly his administration’s negotiation of diplomatic relations between Israel and a number of her former adversaries.

Vanity Fair dispatched journalist Bess Levin to tear down Kushner, in an article published later on Monday. Levin had only minor issues with Kushner’s actual work in the Middle East, his pet policy area, and, instead, bashed him for “bungling” the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, making sure to call him an “overconfident moron” along the way, in an article containing more sass and snark than substance.

Scathing as it may have been, Levin’s article was restrained compared to how Vanity Fair promoted it on Twitter. “Jared Kushner, who helped his father-in-law kill 400,000 people, has some free tips for Joe Biden,” read a tweet from the magazine on Tuesday.

https://www.rt.com/usa/518286-kushner-trump-killed-covid/

New U.K. Defence Policy: Preparing For Nuclear War With Russia

According to the Guardian, the leaked copy of the integrated review of UK defence and foreign policy described Russia as the most “acute threat to UK security”. Meanwhile, the headline decision in the review was to increase the nuclear potential by 40%.

The text is dedicated to the national security, foreign policy and the United Kingdom’s approach to the global economy. It outlines a vision for country’s development to 2030. It’s publication has been announced by the Office of Prime Minister Boris Johnson the day before. The document presented the most ambitious revision of national strategies since the end of the Cold War, according to The Financial Times.

“Until relations with its government improve, we will actively deter and defend against the full spectrum of threats emanating from Russia,” – the report says.

In the contest of Russian threat, without explicitly mentioning it, London is going to end the 30 years-long disarmament since the collapse of the Soviet Union, rising the number of Trident ballistic warheads from 180 to 260. Nuclear charges are placed on four Vanguard-class missile submarines, one of them will always be on patrol. Such a decision was justified by “recognition of the evolving security environment, including the developing range of technological and doctrinal threats”.

Moreover, the document highlighted the necessity to create a national cyber force, which combines military and intelligence capabilities.

While the USA is constantly seen as “the most important strategic ally and partner,” the UK has paid a particular attention to its further relations with China. If Russia was labeled a hostile state, the threat from Beijing was mostly limited by the economic domain. At the same time the document cited the necessity of economic cooperation with China.

“The fact that China is an authoritarian state, with different values to ours, presents challenges for the UK and our allies. China will contribute more to global growth than any other country in the next decade with benefits to the global economy.”

Among other areas mentioned, there was the Indo-Pacific region as a sphere of growing UK interest. Less attention was paid to the partnership with the EU and its members. It was decided to cut aid to Yemen and probably Syria, as the governments become able to finance their own development priorities.”

https://southfront.org/new-u-k-defence-policy-preparing-for-nuclear-war-with-russia/

https://southfront.org/new-u-k-defence-policy-preparing-for-nuclear-war-with-russia/

The other Kushner escapes from the shadow of the White House Joshua Kushner and wife Karlie Kloss.

Having a brother in the White House would seem to be a benefit but for Joshua Kushner, it brought tests of loyalty and other complications.

https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/the-other-kushner-escapes-from-the-white-house-shadow-20210315-p57atv.html

Buyer of Jeffery Epstein’s NYC mansion is former Goldman exec

This place is gonna need a really good cleaning.

The mystery buyer who snapped up Jeffrey Epstein’s posh Upper East Side mansion for a bargain $51 million is a former Goldman Sachs executive who is moving to New York from London and plans to live in the house with his wife.

Michael D. Daffey bought the seven-story, 40-room property at 9 East 71st Street at far below its $88 million original asking price — and is determined to make sure not a trace of its twisted former owner remains.

“They are planning a complete makeover, physically and spiritually,” a source said.

The Australia native recently retired from the major financial firm after spending the past year as Goldman’s global markets chairman in charge of remodeling trade in Europe after Brexit — and also after making a killing in Bitcoin.

“Mr. Daffey had never previously been in the home nor ever met its owner, but he is a big believer in New York’s future and will take the other side of all the people who say the city’s best days may be in the past.” said Stu Loeser, a spokesman for Daffey.

Top brokers tell The Post the price is a steal, considering that any similar Manhattan property that did not have a connection to one of America’s most twisted sex criminals could have easily fetched $100 million.

“I think it is half off,” said top broker Dolly Lenz, who had been among those trying to sell the property. “It is 28,000 square feet. That’s less than $4000 a foot for the most magnificent mansion on the best block, just off Fifth Avenue. It’s the very best in New York.”

Even such a deal was hard to tempt many who could could afford that price range.

“We offered it to a lot of people who said, ‘We don’t want to go near that place,'” Lenz said. “Fancy international people who are always in for a deal said ‘No way.'”

Sources say none of Epstein’s old possessions are in the house.

“The house was totally empty,” a source said. “There was no creepy weird stuff in it at all.”

Another source said that Daffey bought it with cash and a bridge loan.

Adam Modlin, of the Modlin Group, repped both Daffey as well as the Epstein Estate as broker.

Lenz thought Daffey made a good property decision to buy.

“I think he made a smart move, however, it will be a long time before people forget it was a place were children were abused,” she said. “But he’s betting on it long term. That’s what some people do.”

The money is going straight to a Jeffrey Epstein victims restitution fund, which is controlled by Epstein’s estate.

In 2019, Epstein was found dead in his prison cell awaiting trial for sex crimes abusing girls as young as 14. Epstein pled not guilty. During an FBI raid, federal agents found child sex abuse images the mansion’s safe. The 40 room home is one of the city’s biggest.

Epstein and his alleged partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, infamously entertained the rich, royal and powerful at the home, which was wired to secretly record its guests.

Some who stayed overnight included Prince Andrew. The mansion was previously owned by Epstein’s client, Victoria’s Secret owner Les Wexner.

The sale was halted by an asset freeze request made in the US Virgin Islands by more than two dozen alleged victims and Denise George, the attorney general of the US Virgin Islands last month, after the Epstein Victims’ Compensation Program said it would halt compensation offers over funding concerns.

A judge overruled the request. The fund has so far received more than 150 applications from alleged victims since it launched last June, paying out $55 million so far to an undisclosed number of victims, according to reports.

https://nypost.com/2021/03/16/buyer-of-jeffery-epsteins-nyc-mansion-is-former-goldman-exec/

Biden Border Crisis Worse Than Previously Reported: More Than 13,000 Unaccompanied Migrant Children Now in US Custody: CBS

Joe Biden and the DHS have been hiding the real number of unaccompanied illegal alien minors being held in border facilities from the public.

Reporters have repeatedly asked Jen Psaki and the DHS just how many minors are currently in cages at the US-Mexico border and they refuse to answer.

Reporters have also been blocked from touring the migrant facilities.

CBS News reported on Tuesday that according to their sources, more than 13,000 migrant children are now in US custody.

On Monday that number was reported to be 4,200 so the border crisis is much worse than we thought.

More from CBS News:

Joe Biden’s DHS Chief Alejandro Mayorkas threw gasoline on the border crisis on Tuesday and announced he is opening the doors for more migrants and expanding the Central American Minors program.

More than 100,000 illegal aliens were detained crossing from Mexico in February because of Joe Biden’s disastrous immigration policies.

The Biden Admin is holding thousands of illegal alien minors in “jail like” stations where they can only bathe once a week and are reportedly not allowed to call their parents.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/03/biden-border-crisis-worse-previously-reported-13000-unaccompanied-migrant-children-now-us-custody-cbs/

Democrats Accused Kevin McCarthy Of Lying About Terrorists Crossing The Border. Then Axios Confirmed The Story

Four people on the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Database have been arrested at the southern border since the beginning of October, the Customs and Border Protection agency told Congress on Tuesday, according to Axios.

The report comes one day after congressional Democrats accused House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of lying when he said during a press conference Monday that people on the terrorist watch list from Yemen, Iran and Turkey have been caught trying to cross the southern border.

“When you go up to Monument Three and you talk to those agents, it’s not just people from Mexico or Honduras or El Salvador. They’re now finding people from Yemen, Iran, Turkey,” McCarthy said on Monday outside a migrant processing center in El Paso. “People on the terrorist watch list they are catching.”

Arizona Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona said in a tweet Monday he was “pretty sure” McCarthy was “either wrong or lying.”

Axios confirmed on Tuesday that CBP had arrested four people on the Terrorist Screening Database since Oct. 1, three of which were from Yemen and one who was from Serbia, citing a congressional aide that was briefed on the conversation.

Gallego’s insinuation on Monday that McCarthy was “either wrong or lying” about suspected terrorists being arrested crossing the southern border received widespread media coverage. His comments received coverage in The Washington Post, the Daily Beast, MSNBC, Business Insider, the Independent and Vox.

Texas Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar said Monday that McCarthy’s claims of terrorists crossing the border were being used to “fuel the divisions” in America and stoke fear against immigrants.

“We saw my Republican colleagues stoke fear and anger toward immigrants, fuelling that xenophobia. You know, the whole immigrants-bringing-diseases-into-our-country kind of thing,” Escobar said, according to the Independent.

McCarthy and a dozen other Republican members of the House visited a detention center in El Paso on Monday amid the worst surge of migrant crossings in the last 20 years.

https://dailycaller.com/2021/03/16/kevin-mccarthy-terrorists-border-democrats-lying/

Nearly 200 officers leave Seattle police as city officials, business leaders warn of public safety crisis

Following calls to defund the police and nightly riots, which see an endless lineup of Antifa militants arrested and then released, Seattle’s police department is currently suffering from a staffing crisis.

King 5 News reports that the police chief, a deputy mayor and a downtown business organization are all pleading with the Seattle City Council to stop further reductions of the already gutted police department.

"It's municipal malpractice, the way that our city council has addressed public safety over these last six months," says Downtown Seattle Association President Jon Scholes, per King 5.

A recent presentation by Acting Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz suggested that 911 response times are getting longer, even in cases of violent crime. The city as a whole has seen a reduction of nearly 200 officers in just one year.

“My older brother Michael spent most of his life in prison. I remember watching him being thrown down by the police and arrested on multiple occasions. This early introduction to police caused me to grow up with a negative image of who they are and how they treat people,” said Deputy Mayor Tiffany Washington to the city council. “Black people were enslaved for over 400 years and cannot be expected to get better in a year or two as there is a lot of repair needed.”

“Reducing the police budget to invest in communities this year, will not result in immediate change. When I call the police for help as a Black woman, I have an expectation that someone will come to assist me in a reasonable amount of time,” she added. “This is not our current reality in the city right now.”

The council is currently reviewing the police budget and could potentially cut $5.4 million which was originally designated for 2020 police overtime hours, with the option to cut the same amount in 2021.

"Now we want to have a conversation about whether and how to adjust the budget in 2021," said Councilmember and Public Safety Chair Lisa Herbold, who does not believe that officers are leaving the force due to budget cuts, despite the fact that they clearly are. "I think that narrative suggests that the officers that have left the department, that the reduction of the number of officers is attributable to the budget cuts. The budget cuts did not result in police officers leaving the force."

Herbold pointed to the city fire department, which has also seen declining numbers. The councilwoman attributes the decline in both forces to the challenge of the pandemic response and the racial anger that swelled over the death of George Floyd in May 2020.

https://www.rebelnews.com/nearly_200_officers_leave_seattle_police_as_city_officials_business_leaders_warn_of_public_safety_crisis

Illegal human placenta trade in China using medical waste, funeral homes, despite risk of diseases like HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B

The trade is unregulated, meaning there are no checks to determine whether the organs contain contagious viruses like hepatitis B, HIV, or syphilis

One illegal trader said he sourced placentas illegally from a hospital where a cleaner stole them for him

1

Human placenta biscuits on sale at a Traditional Chinese Medicine shop. Photo: SCMP Human placenta biscuits on sale at a Traditional Chinese Medicine shop. Photo: SCMP

Human placenta biscuits on sale at a Traditional Chinese Medicine shop. Photo: SCMP

The black market for human placentas

is thriving in China, despite the banning of the practice more than a decade ago, an investigative report has found.

People who buy fresh human placenta believe it has healing properties and will either cook and eat it, or process and it to businesses for use as traditional Chinese medicine

(TCM), news portal Thepaper reported on Monday.

For many mainland Chinese human placenta or ziheche as it is known in TCM, is believed to be a legitimate treatment for those with weak immune systems and for help treating various illnesses such as tuberculosis and hypohemia, and for reproductive health.

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/article/3125696/illegal-placenta-trade-china-using-medical-waste-funeral-homes

Continental Air Command (ConAC) Histories

Background

Continental Air Command (ConAC) (1948–1968) was a Major Command of the United States Air Force (USAF) responsible primarily for administering the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve. During the Korean War, ConAC provided the necessary augmentation to the regular Air Force while it rebuilt itself under wartime conditions. Later, during the 1950s, it was a training force for reservists with no prior military service. ConAC provided peacetime airlift missions for the Air Force. It was mobilized twice in 1961 and 1962 by president Kennedy for the Berlin and Cuban Missile Crisis. Lastly, it was used by president Lyndon B. Johnson for airlift operations into the Dominican Republic and South Vietnam. It was inactivated in 1968 and replaced by Headquarters, Air Force Reserve (AFRES).

Below, you will find numerous histories pertaining to ConAC.

The Black Vault wishes to thank Cory Newman, a FOIA researcher, investigator, and collector of these records. He has graciously donated them to The Black Vault for preservation and online distribution.

Document Archive

REEL A4028 [1,640 Pages, 490MB] – Continental Air Command History, December 1948 – December 1949 (Vol. 1 – Page 594) | Continental Air Command History, December 1948 – December 1949

REEL A4037 [1,638 Pages, 460MB] – Continental Air Command, August 1949 – October 1949

REEL A4029 [1,346 Pages, 358MB] – Continental Air Command History, December 1948 – December 1949, (Volumes 2-5)

REEL A4030 [1,599 Pages, 500MB] – Continental Air Command History, December 1948 – December 1949 (Page 3, Volumes 5-7) | Continental Air Command History, January 1950 – June 1950 (Volume 1, Page 1,270)

REEL A4031 [1,448 Pages, 364MB] – Continental Air Command History, January 1950 – June 1950 (Volumes 2-5)

REEL A4032 [2,048 Pages, 640MB] – Continental Air Command History, January 1950 – June 1950 (Volumes 6-7)

REEL A4033 [2,297 Pages, 769MB] – Continental Air Command History, June 1949

| Continental Air Command History, March 1950

REEL A4034 [1,909 Pages, 564MB] – Various CONAC Training Histories, Circa 1949-1950

REEL A4035 [1,117 Pages, 367MB] – Sweet Briar, 1950

REEL A4036 [1,818 Pages, 675MB] – Exercise Swarmer History, March 1950 | ORT Conference, April 1950 | Air Reserve Officers, March 1949 – February 1950 | Air Force ROTC, 1948-1949 | Air Science 2, April 1949 | Air Armament, May 1949 – June 1949 | AF Communications, April 1949 | Radiological Defense Course, September 1949 | Criminal Investigation, April 1949

https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/continental-air-command-conac-histories/

Corrupt BI execs linked to human trafficking

SEN. Ana Theresia Hontiveros on Tuesday alleged that corrupt Bureau of Immigration (BI) officials get P50,000 per Filipino trafficked out of the country.

The senator shared the story of “Alice,” who was trafficked into Syria through the “help” of some unidentified immigration officers in the airport.

Hontiveros said the scam was apparently a “mutation” of the “pastillas” scam that she earlier exposed involving BI personnel, travel agencies and Chinese tourists. The bribery was dubbed as “pastillas” because the money would be hidden in rolled bond paper like the wrapper for the milk candy.

https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/03/17/news/national/corrupt-bi-execs-linked-to-human-trafficking/852073/

12 arrested in human smuggling stop on I-20 in Cisco

CISCO, Texas — Cisco police arrested 12 undocumented migrants Monday on I-20 in Cisco.

"All 12 suspects were later detained by U.S. Border Patrol," Cisco police said on Facebook.

Pictures show multiple people were in the back of a truck and in the cab.

"A female driver was arrested for human smuggling," police said.

Tye police have made several arrests since January.

"There is a lot of thought that goes into it," said Tye Police Chief Jay Strong. "It's a big industry."

There has been an uprising of illegal crossings at the border.

https://ktxs.com/news/local/12-arrested-in-human-smuggling-stop-on-i-20-in-cisco

No balls