6 Feb, 2023 20:54

Chinese ‘spy balloon’ potentially rigged to explode – Pentagon

The aircraft could have destroyed itself and its jetliner-sized payload if necessary, a top US general said

The alleged “Chinese surveillance balloon” shot down by the US on Saturday could have been carrying explosives to destroy itself and its cargo, US Northern Command Chief General Glen VanHerck told Politico on Monday. VanHerck also confirmed earlier reports that similar balloons have entered US airspace undetected before.

VanHerck told Politico reporter Lara Seligman that the balloon was up to 200ft (61 meters) tall, and carried a payload “in excess of a couple thousand pounds.” The general added that the balloon potentially carried explosives “to detonate and destroy the balloon” if necessary.

The balloon was shot down off the coast of South Carolina on Sunday, a week after it entered US airspace. President Biden was briefed on the balloon’s journey on Tuesday, the White House said, although Biden did not publicly acknowledge its existence until Thursday, a day after it had been seen in the skies above Montana by members of the public.

The President claimed that he initially ordered the balloon shot down above land, but that the Pentagon refused due to safety concerns.

China denied Washington’s accusations of surveillance, calling the aircraft “a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological purposes.” Beijing insisted that the balloon drifted off its planned course, and condemned the US for shooting it down.

VanHerck told Seligman thatseveral balloons have flown over the US before, backing up reports in the US media on Sunday. According to anonymous government officials, one balloon crashed off the coast of Hawaii four months ago, while another passed through Florida and Texas during the presidency of Donald Trump. (No one told Trump, Radcliffe or the Congress/Senate, why to hell not?)

Despite the US’ enormous military budget, VanHerck said that “we did not detect those threats,” calling the Pentagon’s lack of knowledge a “domain awareness gap.”

https://www.rt.com/news/571066-chinese-spy-balloon-explosives/

5 Feb, 2023 20:43

Ex-Alfa Bank boss faces loss of EU citizenship

Latvia confirms there is an investigation into Russian banker Pyotr Aven

The government in Riga is looking at possibly revoking the citizenship of former Alfa Bank head Pyotr Aven, the news agency Leta reported on Monday. Commenting on the report, Latvia’s Interior Ministry said no decision has been made yet.

Aven has been a citizen since 2016, having met the naturalization requirements and passed the language exam. He qualified because his paternal grandfather was an ethnic Latvian. Janis Aven had been a member of the Latvian Rifles, an elite military unit that helped the Bolsheviks take power and create the Soviet Union.

According to Leta, the Latvian authorities are investigating whether Aven somehow violated a law passed in April 2022, which allows Riga to revoke the citizenship of dual nationals if they are found to have supported “genocide, crimes against peace, and threats to the territorial integrity and constitutional order of democratic states.”

The investigation has been underway “for some time” and the result is still pending, Interior Ministry spokesman Andrejs Vaivars told Bloomberg when reached for comment.

Aven was placed on the EU sanctions list last year, after the conflict in Ukraine escalated. Along with two other sanctioned businessmen, he sued before the European Court of Justice, challenging the decision as “spurious and unfounded.” He also resigned from Alfa Bank and LetterOne Group, the Luxembourg-based investment company, to shield them from sanctions fallout.

Latvia has 1.88 million residents, of which ethnic Russians make about a quarter. Riga has advocated “isolating” them unless they demonstrate loyalty. Last month, the Latvian interior ministry advised amending the repatriation laws – adopted after the 1991 split from the Soviet Union – saying that too many Russians were using it to get citizenships for the sake of traveling to the EU. According to intermittent media reports, Latvian border guards have demanded of Russian nationals with Latvian residency to denounce Moscow’s “aggression” in Ukraine as a condition for entering the country.

Last week, Latvia downgraded its relations with Russia “in solidarity” with neighboring Estonia, which recalled its ambassador from Moscow. Earlier in January, authorities in Riga detained the editor-in-chief of Sputnik, Lithuania and Latvian national Marat Kasem, accusing him of violating their sanctions against Russia.

https://www.rt.com/russia/571063-latvia-aven-citizenship-alfa/

6 Feb, 2023 17:01

NATO aspirant abandons neighbor – media

With Türkiye blocking Swedish admission, Finnish media reports Helsinki might proceed on its own

Having declared that Finland and Sweden would join NATO together, the Finnish government is now preparing to leave its neighbor behind, the daily Iltalehti reported on Monday, citing insider sources.

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto called the leaders of political parties to his Mantyniemi residence last Thursday to discuss the situation, the outlet said.

At the meeting, it was agreed to follow a “unified line” in public appearances. Privately, however, Finland is ready to proceed alone.

“We are Russia’s border neighbor. Sweden’s geopolitical position is quite different from ours,” one source told Iltalehti, explaining the rush.

Last month, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said in an interview that Helsinki should explore options if Ankara continued to block Stockholm, but quickly walked back the comments to stay in line with official government policy.

According to Iltalehti’s source, only the Left Alliance has any objections to Finland proceeding without Sweden. Since they only have 16 seats in the Finnish parliament, their opposition is irrelevant, the source said.

NATO’s official position is that both countries should be admitted at the same time. Their applications have been ratified by all members except for

Hungary – which is expected to approve them next month – and Türkiye. Ankara has said it would greenlight Finland, but that Sweden is another matter.

Sweden and Finland announced last year they would abandon their historic neutrality and apply to join the US-led military bloc, citing the escalating conflict in Ukraine. Russia described their move as a “serious mistake with long-lasting ramifications.”

NATO has expressed a preference for admitting both countries together. The government in Ankara objected, though, citing ongoing issues with Stockholm including an arms embargo, Kurdish activists Türkiye has classified as terrorists, and – most recently – a publicity stunt involving the burning of a Koran.

Ibrahim Kalin, spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said last week that Stockholm failed to abide by last summer’s deal to go after the Kurdish “terrorists,” and that its response to the Koran burning outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm was “completely unacceptable.”

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom is scheduled to visit Finland on Tuesday to discuss options, according to Iltalehti. The outlet’s sources in Helsinki hope that Sweden’s new anti-terrorism laws – scheduled to take effect in June – might persuade Erdogan to relent.

https://www.rt.com/news/571049-finland-sweden-nato-separately/

(I think Sweden did this on purpose, they never wanted to join, so they allowed the protests. Both countries were pressured to join NATO, even though their relationship with Russia was fine, they never had a problem)

6 Feb, 2023 16:15

Top Republican donors drop hint over 2024 presidential race

Charles Koch’s financial network is eager to find a GOP candidate who can “turn the page on the past”

Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the prodigious Republican fundraising network built by billionaires Charles and David Koch, have hinted they won’t be supporting former US President Donald Trump in the party’s 2024 primary in a memo sent to staff and associates on Sunday.

“To write a new chapter for our country, we need to turn the page on the past,” CEO Emily Seidel wrote, condemning Washington’s “broken politics” for “producing a toxic situation” that has made it “impossible to see the kind of progress on public policy… that Americans need.”

“The best thing for the country would be to have a president in 2025 who represents a new chapter,” the memo continues, arguing the case for getting involved “earlier and in more primaries” in order to ensure “better candidates” are running. Seidel stressed the importance of setting the tone of the race with a presidential candidate “who can lead our country forward, and who can win.”

The American people have shown that they’re ready to move on, and so AFP will help them do that.(NO WE HAVEN’T!)

While Charles and his late brother David Koch have long been considered conservative kingmakers, their friction with Trump is not a recent development. They famously sat out the 2016 presidential election rather than back the unconventional candidate, content to merely pack his cabinet with their people after his surprise victory.

The network spent nearly $80 million on the 2022 midterm elections, according to election transparency group OpenSecrets, pouring funds into 22 federal and almost 200 state primaries. The memo did not reveal how much they were considering spending in 2024.

While Trump is the only Republican to officially square off against incumbent Democrat Joe Biden in 2024, several former members of his administration, including ex-National Security Advisor John Bolton and Koch-linked former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have put out presidential feelers through superPACs and media appearances.

Trump’s former UN ambassador, Nikki Haley, is expected to announce her candidacy later this month, while the Koch-adjacent group Club for Growth appears to be marshaling behind Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, whom some polls have already put ahead of Trump in a hypothetical 2024 primary match.

https://www.rt.com/news/571053-koch-network-considers-alternative-trump/

Investments would skyrocket in China-Taiwan war, Biden administration-linked venture capitalist says

Some experts warn that war with China may not be far off.

Updated: February 6, 2023 - 10:50am

Venture capital investments could multiply tenfold if China and Taiwan go to war, says a representative from the investment firm America’s Frontier Fund, whose co-founder and CEO sits on the U.S. Intelligence Advisory and State Department Foreign Affairs Policy boards.

"If the China/Taiwan situation happens, some of our investments could 10x, like overnight," said an America’s Frontier Fund representative identified as "Tom" after a Silicon Valley Bank panel in New York last week, according to audio obtained by watchdog group Tech Inquiry.

The person also said if a product is "only produced in China, for example, and there’s a kinetic event in the Pacific, that would 10x overnight, like no question about it. There’s a couple of different things like that."

America’s Frontier Fund is backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who is also helping to fund the salaries of more than two dozen Biden administration officials under the Federation of American Scientists, according to Politico.

The venture capital fund was also co-founded by Gilman Louie, who serves as CEO.

"In addition to his role at America’s Frontier Fund, Gilman is currently the Chairman of the National Intelligence University, Chairman of the Federation of American Scientists, a member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board [and] a member of the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board," America's Frontier Fund website states.

Some experts warn that war with China, which would put the United States in a difficult foreign policy situation, may not be far off. Four-star Air Force Gen. Mike Minihan said last month that he expects to be at war against China in 2025.

President Biden has repeatedly said the U.S. continues to observe the One China policy, which essentially states America acknowledges China's position that Taiwan is part of China.

However, the U.S. has been supportive of Taiwan's quest for independence and democracy, which has increased tensions in that region.

(Edward Dowd told Bannon that wallstreet or the investors/system want a war!)

https://justthenews.com/government/security/biden-admin-linked-venture-capitalist-firm-says-war-china-would-massively-boost

Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers unveils RELIEVE Act to help vets with healthcare issues and costs

Legislation aims to close a loophole that affects many veterans' ability to access healthcare when they need it.

By Timothy Schumann

Updated: February 6, 2023 - 5:01am

A bill introduced by eastern Washington U.S. Rep. Kathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, in Congress is aimed at closing a loophole that affects many veterans' ability to access healthcare when they need it.

“No veteran should ever be kept up at night wondering how they will pay their medical bills after receiving emergency care in the community. But thanks to a loophole in the VA’s coverage policies, that’s exactly what’s happening in Eastern Washington,” said McMorris Rodgers in a statement.

The Removing Extraneous Loopholes Insuring Every Veteran Emergency Act, or RELIEVE Act, is a bipartisan piece of legislation also sponsored by Rep. Chris Pappas, D-NH, and Rep. Jack Bergman, R-MI.

The text of the bill is short, coming in at a total of just 14 lines, three of which are the title. Yet those 14 lines could mean tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to unlucky veterans.

“Assisting Veterans as they transition between DOD and VA’s care coverage is a top priority for me in Congress,” said bill co-sponsor Bergman in a statement. “The RELIEVE Act is a much-needed bridge to span that gap and eliminate a dangerous loophole that could impose crippling debt on a recently separated servicemember who sought emergency care.”

Bergman is no stranger to the transition from DOD to VA care. He rose to the rank of three star general in the United States Marine Corps where he served for 40 years before retiring in 2009.

The law the bill is amending, as it currently appears in Title 38 Section 1725 of US Code, requires that a veteran be both enrolled in the veterans health care system, as well as have “received care under this chapter within the 24-month period.”

It’s that last clause that’s causing trouble for many veterans.

Under the current law, a veteran could be actively enrolled in care, on the way to their first appointment with the VA, get into a car accident, and be held personally liable for the entirety of their medical bills.

The RELIEVE Act would eliminate this loophole by adding a 60-day grace period between enrollment and requirement for that “received care under this chapter within the 24-month period” clause kicking in.

“It is unacceptable that veterans have to jump through hoops to have their health care covered by VA, especially in the case of an emergency,” said bill co-sponsor Pappas in a statement. “No veteran should ever think twice about seeking the care they need during an emergency, and no veteran should be faced with costly medical bills due or bureaucratic challenges for receiving that care.”

While the RELIEVE Act, if adopted into law, would close that loophole for veterans under care of the VA, it wouldn’t address the 1.53 million uninsured veterans highlighted in a recent report from the Cambridge Health Alliance of Harvard Medical School.

(Finally someone doing something for our veterans)

https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/mcmorris-rodgers-drops-relieve-act-close-major-va-coverage-loophole

Chinese students running distribution for drug cartels: former DEA official

"So that's enabling the cartels to do more business. Chemicals are coming in, money's flowing, kids are dying. That's a perfect strategic plan for China."

By Ben Whedon

Updated: February 3, 2023 - 7:50pm

Former Drug Enforcement Agency Special Operations Director Derek Maltz Sr. on Friday outlined the involved of Chinese college students entering the U.S. on student visas in distributing drugs on behalf of various cartels.

Speaking on the "Just the News, No Noise" television show, Maltz highlighted the severity of the crisis, lamenting that "kids are dying left and right."

"The sad part is I've been tracking this for over 10 years as China and their chemical lab operators had been providing synthetic powerful chemicals to our citizens directly at first, and then they decided to divert the chemical, you know, exports into Mexico," he said. "The cartels are operating with impunity; they are destroying our country."

"We've never had in the history of this country, a terrorist organization that's killing this many Americans," he continued. "So yes, we have a very serious crisis now."

"But here's the deal right now, not only the cartels facilitating the distribution of the poison by providing the chemicals, what they're doing is they have the young Chinese students here in America that are meeting with cartels around the country picking up suitcases of cash," he asserted. "The cash is getting turned over to Chinese businessmen in America. They're gambling with this money. But most importantly, they're buying real estate… all over our country."

Chinese land purchases near sensitive national security installations have attracted scrutiny in recent months as tensions mount between Beijing and Washington over myriad issues such as Taiwan and alleged TikTok surveillance.

"So it's the Chinese students that are here that are actually engaging in this activity," Maltz went on. "And they may not know exactly what they're doing, but they're picking up millions of dollars. And then the Chinese are laundering the money, getting the money back to the cartels very efficiently and effectively and timely."

"So that's enabling the cartels to do more business. Chemicals are coming in, money's flowing, kids are dying. That's a perfect strategic plan for China," he concluded.

https://justthenews.com/world/asia/chinese-students-running-distribution-drug-cartels-former-dea-official

Jill Biden’s Frumpy Grammys Dress Is Not ‘Stunning’ Or ‘Brilliant,’ It’s A Sign Of Civilizational Decline

By: Evita Duffy-Alfonso February 06, 2023

Jill Biden made an unexpected appearance at the Grammys this weekend, where she wore a frumpy, 1980s-esque gold floral gown. Not only was the designoutdated and aging, but we’ve seen it before. The first lady wore the exact same Oscar de la Renta dress in black back in December for a state dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron.

It doesn’t matter that Jill Biden looked likeshe was wrapped in aluminum foilor that she wore the same dress two months ago, the media used the Grammys as another opportunity to excessively fawn over the first lady. “Jill Biden shines at the Grammys,” wrote The New York Times, likening her dress to “the gleam of Lizzo’s smile” (whatever that means). “It was blinding, and so beautiful,” declared The Philadelphia Inquirer. A “brilliant frock,” wrote Vogue.com. “Stunning,” concurred InStyle, adding that she “nailed the dress code.”

This is “The Emperor’s New Clothes” in real-time. No serious critic of fashion would look at Jill Biden’s antiquated dress and declare it “stunning” and “beautiful,” Yet that’s exactly what the corporate media and fashion industry have done.

Artistic standards have been replaced with a social justice litmus tests, forcing the fashion industry to become entirely politicized. The greatest example of how corporate fashion has become style-blind is its treatment of former First Lady Melania Trump. We’re seriously being told that Jill Biden, in frocks that look like they’re picked out of the grandma section at Target, is somehow more fashion-forward than Melania Trump? Please.

The industry doesn’t even hide its bias. Melania Trump was the only first lady in recent history not to be featured on the cover of Vogue, and the reason has nothing to do with her sense of style, which is irrefutably impeccable. When Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour was asked about Melania directly, Wintour refused to acknowledge the former first lady and instead professed her adoration for Michelle Obama (who’s been on the cover of Vogue three times).

“I think first lady Michelle Obama really was so incredible in every decision she made about fashion,” said Wintour. “She supported young American designers. She supported designers, indeed, from all over the world. She was the best ambassador that this country could possibly have in many ways, obviously, way beyond fashion.” Indeed, the style standards are beyond fashion. They are overtly political and a symbol of civilizational decline.

Psychologist Carl Jung once said that “art is the unwitting mouthpiece of the psychic secrets of the times.” True artists are sensitive to the zeitgeist, and they give us invaluable insights into the modern age via symbolism. The heads of corporate fashion are not insightful, they’re posers.

The only thing we can be sure of when reading a Vogue profile on the next Democrat starlet is that modern artists have been shackled by Marxist-inspired thought police. In places like the Soviet Union or Communist China, art is a slave to activism.

Every painting, fashion statement, sculpture, piece of poetry, movie, or song must serve the regime. If it does not, then it is a threat that must be terminated. In America, it’s no different. The First Amendment is in direct conflict with cultural Marxism.

Just like academics, journalists, and doctors are mercilessly punished by the left for wrongthink, so are the actors, painters, sculptors, and fashion designers. When modern art critics aren’t praising Democrat first ladies, they’re applauding ugly and anxiety-inducing pieces.

Recall the recent “big reveal” of the bizarre Martin Luther King Memorial that looks more like a penis than an “embrace.”

“Art is always the index of social vitality,” said English philosopher and art historian Herbert Read. In a thriving civilization, artists glorify the human body and beautify the world. Their work enriches civilization and propels society to be better.

Post-modern art and Jill Biden’s frumpy dress do nothing of the sort. To be sure, the ludicrous reaction to the first lady’s tinfoil gown is a sign that oursociety is heading down a deeply concerning, unstable, and unfashionable path.

https://thefederalist.com/2023/02/06/jill-bidens-frumpy-grammys-dress-is-not-stunning-or-brilliant-its-a-sign-of-civilizational-decline/

>>18297165

anon posted this because we've all been saying the same thing, yikes, how "did she where that?"

>>18297173

why is her face so frightening all the time, like really weird