LollySeaSide: Of all the ways to die, this one chose to be thrown into the secret service wardrobe. What a life! Hopefully, they'll discover that he's nuts and transfer him to a psychiatric home. His madness must have made him believe that Biden would be sleeping at the gate when he gets to the White House. All thanks to Trump for calling him sleepy Joe.
The U.S. and its Western allies are to blame for the dire state of relations between NATO and Moscow, according to a top Russian United Nations diplomat. First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky on Wednesday accused the U.S. and NATO of "exploiting" divisions in the former Soviet Union in the 1990s, and trying to "crush" the newly emerged Russian Federation.
Russian diplomats are on a pointed public offensive against the U.S. and its NATO allies, spurred by renewed tensions along the Ukraine border where tens of thousands of Russian troops remain deployed.
The crisis has dragged on for months, with Kyiv and its Western backers calling for Russian de-escalation, but the Kremlin demanding guarantees that Ukraine will never be allowed to join NATO. Joint NATO-Russia security talks are planned for mid-January.
Russian officials have been echoing President Vladimir Putin's argument that the West, not Moscow, is to blame for geopolitical tensions. The eastward expansion of NATO after the Soviet collapse is proof, they say, of Western duplicity and a plot to surround and smother Russia.
"Everybody was thinking that people in the West are our friends, that they really are giving us a hand so that we will live in some better place, a better world and nobody will ever remember about the Cold War, about East and West," Polyansky told reporters on Wednesday, according to Russia's state-backed Tass news agency.
"But eventually things have gone [the] other way very quickly."
"We saw that the intentions of our colleagues are not as innocent as it was presented at the beginning," Polyansky said. "We saw a lot of Americans and Europeans exploiting our country, trying to split it, to crush it, to split Russia further, to promote separatism in Russia, to promote divisions between Russia and newly emerged states."
Russia's initial federal history was "very difficult, very challenging," with the country "really on the brink of collapse," the diplomat added. But as the country moved through the 2000s, he said, "we have started to be perceived as a threat by the West, by the United States...What we're having now we have is kind of a remake of the Cold War, Cold War 2.0."
Polyansky suggested there is no longer any ideological basis for conflict. The U.S., its Western allies and Russia have clashed repeatedly over human rights issues, particularly Moscow's suppression of domestic political opposition. Russia's intelligence services have repeatedly been linked to successful and failed assassinations of dissidents abroad.
"There is no communist ideology that Russia or anybody else promotes, our economic structure is very close to that of the United States, or any other Western country, but confrontation is there and the efforts to portray Russia as an enemy are also there," Polyansky said. "It of course brings to your mind some conclusions that the question was not of ideology but of geopolitical struggle, which is back to existence right now, unfortunately."
At his annual Q&A press conference last week, Putin likewise accused Western rivals of stoking conflict with Moscow. The president refused to guarantee that Russian forces would invade Ukraine again, instead demanding security guarantees from the West.
"Our actions will depend not on the negotiations, but on the unconditional security of Russia, today and in the future," Putin said, referring to the planned January talks with U.S. and NATO officials.
"We have made it absolutely clear that NATO's expansion to the east is unacceptable," Putin said. "What's not clear about it?"
"We are not the ones who are threatening someone, we are not the ones who came to the border of the U.S. or the U.K.; they came to us." Putin continued. "And now they're saying, 'We will have Ukraine as well.'"
"You should come up with guarantees, right now—immediately," Putin said, addressing the U.S. and NATO.
Putin has framed the Ukraine crisis as Russia's response to NATO aggression. Russia already borders five NATO states—Poland, Norway, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia—posing serious security concerns for Moscow. Ukraine's addition to the alliance would be a severe strategic blow.
"They just cheated us," Putin said of NATO nations. "'Not a single inch to the east,' that's what we heard in the 1990s," the president added.
Putin's proposal to exclude Ukraine from NATO permanently has already been publicly rebuffed in Kyiv, Brussels and Washington, D.C.
As nuclear deal talks in Vienna show promising signs, Iranian military leaders are using aggressive rhetoric to deter the U.S. and its allies from strikes on the country's nuclear infrastructure.
The eighth round of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) revival talks began this week in Austria. The seventh round ended with U.S. and European frustration and warnings that the window to reach a diplomatic, non-military solution to Iran's growing nuclear capabilities was closing.
Amid reports that the U.S. has considered military strikes on Iran and with continued Israeli threats to do the same, top Iranian military officials have been issuing warnings of their own that enemy action could prompt a bloody and costly regional conflict.
Major General Gholam Ali Rashid, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) Khatam al-Anbia headquarters, told reporters on Wednesday that recent and future IRGC drills should stand as a warning to those considering attacking Iran.
"We want the enemy not to test our will and power because it will not be able to bear the costs of a massive and all-out confrontation," the commander said, according to the IRGC-owned Fars News Agency. "Believing the Islamic Republic of Iran's power will certainly have lower costs for the enemy," he said. Last week, Iranian Chief of Staff Major General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri and IRGC commander, Major General Hossein Salami, both said the recent Great Prophet 17 military drill was a direct response to aggressive Israeli rhetoric.
Bagheri dismissed reports of imminent Israeli action as "empty threats," while Salami warned: "If the officials of this regime do a damn thing, we will cut off their hands." Bagheri also said this week that Israel's Dimona nuclear facility would be "a prime target" of any Iranian retaliation to a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.
Israeli forces have reportedly been preparing a range of strike options to halt Iran's nuclear program, which the Israeli government has long considered an existential threat. Defense Minister Benny Gantz said this December he had ordered the Israel Defense Forces to "prepare for the Iranian challenge at the operational level."
Israel is continuing strikes against Iranian and allied targets across the border in Syria. Tehran, the IRGC and Iran's network of proxy forces—among them the Lebanese Hezbollah militia—have been vital in helping President Bashar al-Assad forces re-take much of the war-torn country.
Iranian forces and their proxies have established military positions throughout Syria, including along the Israeli border. Syria serves as a key conduit for Iranian money, fighters and arms to reach proxies in Lebanon, and the Palestinian West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Successive Israeli administrations have committed to preventing Tehran from gaining a permanent foothold in Syria and called for U.S. support to do so.
Israel also opposes the JCPOA nuclear deal—which capped Iran's nuclear capabilities for 10 years—and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed a powerful influence on former President Donald Trump's 2018 decision to withdraw from the accord.
JCPOA signatories—Iran, the U.S., Germany, France, the U.K., Russia, China, and the European Union—are hoping to revive the deal via the ongoing Vienna talks.
Russian and Iranian officials told reporters this week that the eighth round began promisingly. Tehran said success remained possible if other negotiators showed "good faith," while Russia's lead envoy praised "indisputable progress."
American and European officials expressed frustration after the seventh round of talks ended without a deal. U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Rob Malley accused Tehran of "trying to build leverage by expanding their nuclear program and hoping to use that leverage to get a better deal."
"Their strategy is going to backfire if that is their approach," Malley told CNN.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has been reviewing U.S. military options in case diplomatic efforts fail, according to a report from The New York Times, as well as considering new sanctions on Tehran.
After the seventh round of talks, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters: "The president has made clear that if diplomacy fails, we are prepared to turn to other options."
White House press secretary Jen Psaki also hinted at military action. "Based on the outcome of the last round of talks and the ongoing advancements in Iran's nuclear facilities, we are laying the path for...the groundwork for another path entirely," she told a press briefing earlier in December.
Authorities in Iowa have arrested a man who was found during a traffic stop to be carrying a rifle and a "hit list" that included President Biden and Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious diseases expert, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Kuachua Brillion Xiong, from Merced, Calif., was taken into custody last week after allegedly telling police who pulled him over for driving aggressively that he was on his way to the White House "to kill persons in power," according to federal court records that were unsealed Tuesday.
Authorities said they found an AR-15-type rifle, ammunition, body armor, medical kits and a grappling hook in Xiong's vehicle, per court records.
Xiong's "hit list" of targets was compiled from TikTok videos, according to court records. In addition to Biden and Fauci, the Times reported that the list included former Presidents Clinton and Obama and Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, among others.
"Xiong believes that he is the only person remaining who can free the United States of evil and it is necessary for him to kill those in positions of power," Secret Service agent Justin Larson said in an affidavit, according to the Times.
Xiong also told authorities that if he was released from custody he would continue traveling to the White House and "do whatever it takes" to complete his plan, per court records.
"Xiong stated that he has no intention of returning to California to see his family because he plans on dying while fighting evil demons at the White House," the affidavit said, per the Times.
Xiong, 25, was booked in Iowa's Pottawattamie County on the afternoon of Dec. 21, according to court records.
Xiong is scheduled to appear in federal court for a detention hearing on Thursday, with the federal government arguing he should remain in custody for making a threat against a former president, which is a federal crime, the Times reported.
Hanibbal: They are so foolish yet dey keep lending your country billions of dollars investing into your country's infrastructure. Yet you are still here bitter and pained just because your slave master America didn't do what the chinkos have done for your country instead exploited your country and continent for its own gain. No get high blood pressure the chinkos are set to overtake your slave master. You will continue to seeth in rage and pain like a wounded dog.
DenreleDave: chinkos are foolish... They need hype so that other countries can purchase their weapon... Unfortunately, who purchases a cloned technology? Something that my TECNO spark 4 can do, mumu chinkos are proud of..
Very foolish country...... USA no dey make noise....... Na the D day go determine...
Anyway I already dug a 100km underground for myself.. The facilities involved supermarket, stadium, estates and so on..... Even if the world end, I will be alive... I will take as much as possible pretty slim and average ladies with me.... So we can pro create another set of sane human beings
The United States seeks to keep its place as the dominant naval power across East Asia, where Washington and its allies believe Beijing is trying to reorder international rules and military alliances in place since World War II.
Visit "U.S Defence Today" on Youtube if you want to be overwhelmed by U.S new military inventions. I dont know why China keeps making noise over simple invention
Kutunban: Bestiality Otherwise called Zoophilia cannot produce an offspring especially between humans and goat because we don't have the same genetic makeup; none that I have seen in any reputable scientific jornal. This is mutation, researchers will definitely look for the cause, India is a country with interest in scientific research and they are one of the largest country that practice goatery too.
Did you and your wife discuss family planning and family planning methods? I really do not understand what advice you want us to give you.
These things are reversible; family planning methods I mean. Now your wife is pregnant and you're coming to Nairaland to seek advice. Do you want us to tell you to abort your baby as a married man or what? No I ask you. What advice do you want us to give to you?
Fix your house man. Learn your lesson. This thread is even getting me angry.
An American teacher who was detained in Libya for over six weeks returned to the U.S. on Monday.
Fernando Espinoza arrived in New York on Monday and was welcomed by his mother and executives from the Richardson Center, the nonprofit that assisted with his return and has a track record of negotiating hostage and prisoner releases, CNN reported.
"I obviously made some mistakes, but multiple other parties made several mistakes as well, and it all just snowballed," the teacher said to CNN.
The 29-year-old former U.S. Navy submariner arrived in Libya in October and was detained while traveling to another part of the country for "violating the procedures and being in areas of tension without obtaining the permission," CNN added.
He was later released but was arrested again in November after he "violated his visa limitation" in addition to breaking his contract with the school and leaving without informing anyone of where he was going, Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Murad Hamaima told CNN.
Hamaima, who personally intervened to ensure Espinoza's release, previously rejected that Espinoza had been disappeared and said COVID-19 protocols prevented him from being deported sooner as officials intended. The Libyan government said Hamaima intervened in the situation "to preserve the strong Libyan-American relations," CNN noted.
A State Department spokesperson added that it would not go into specifics, citing privacy considerations, according to the outlet.
'Go In Peace': US Church Founded In 1800 Holds Last Service
BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania church with a 221-year history held its final service and is scheduled to close at the end of the year because of declining membership and attendance.
The First Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, which is nearly as old as the borough itself, held the final scheduled service on Christmas Eve after having welcomed generations of families over the course of more than two centuries.
“There’s just such a love among this congregation. We’ve all known each other so long and we know each other’s foibles,” church elder Candace Dannaker told the Centre Daily Times. “I’ll miss our personality, our laughter and our joy in just being together. And, of course, the faith aspect of sharing that with other like-minded people.”
Dannaker estimated the church had about 40 members before the pandemic, a number that is down to about 25, and had no in-person worship from March 2020 until Easter Sunday. When Dannaker joined 34 years ago, she said, there were about 200 people in attendance then.
Pam Benson, 77, a member for 73 years, said that when she was born during World War II, many businesses were closed Sunday and few events were scheduled. She also believes that fewer parents have insisted that their children attend services and that churches haven't always been competitive in recruiting new members.
“It was so different. It was just what you did. Unless you were really sick, it was just what you did,” Benson said. “It’s just change, it’s progression. It’s what happens. Not that I like it, but it is what it is.”
The 15,000-square-foot church is scheduled to close for the last time Dec. 31. Dannaker said the future of the building hasn't been determined.
Video of the final service posted on the church's Facebook site included references to “the pain of saying goodbye to one another" but a reminder that “challenges aren’t anything new to humanity" and saying the Christmas message of hope “is just as timely and essential today as it was 2,000 years ago.”
Before the final hymn, members lit and raised candles to these words: “And the light has splintered the darkness. And hope is ours once more. And this light does call us forward, remembering the past, and walking confidently into the future. And now go in the peace of Christ.”
Ahmback: (Bloomberg) -- Top U.S. defense contractors are competing for billions of dollars of work tied to the next big technology focus in national-security circles: hypersonic weapons.
The industry is developing an array of the super-high speed armaments for the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force, with the aim of being able to launch them from planes, submarines and trucks.
Lockheed Martin Corp. has the leading position in key programs that aim to deliver prototypes the soonest -- with flight tests on a new missile slated for the first half of next year. Raytheon Technologies Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp. are also seeking to get a toehold in the market for missiles that fly at more than five times the speed of sound.
“It’s all about making sure that we have more and more capability and classes of capability in hypersonic weapons,” said Jay Pitman, the vice president of air dominance and strike weapons at Lockheed’s missiles and fire control division. “That will enhance the strategic deterrence that we are able to provide.”
Pentagon officials recently estimated that Army and Navy programs that share a common missile may alone add a combined $28.5 billion to the services’ budgets over the coming years.
Critics question the price tag, technical feasibility and battlefield utility of the new class of military hardware. The Union of Concerned Scientists has cast doubt on claims that the weapons offer better performance than existing ballistic missiles and has warned of a destabilizing global arms race.
The pursuit of the weapons by strategic rivals in some ways evokes the tensions of the Cold War, when fears abounded that a conflict between the U.S. and Soviet Union could bring about global annihilation via nuclear missiles. It also was a lucrative epoch for defense contractors.
But just how much hypersonic weapons will alter the global balance of power remains a matter of debate. Some observers see a risk that the weapons’ high speed and unpredictable flight paths could lead to miscalculations that may escalate conflicts, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. Others argue that hypersonic weapons do little to alter the dynamic between the U.S., Russia and China, because the countries already have enough nuclear missiles to overwhelm an enemy’s defenses, the group said.
Better Than Ballistic Flying at speeds topping 3,800 miles (6,100 kilometers) per hour is nothing new -- ballistic missiles exceed that level when they re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere from space. But these next-generation weapons are designed be highly maneuverable at those velocities within the Earth’s atmosphere, helping them evade traditional defenses better than ballistic missiles that travel along a predictable arc.
The U.S. has been studying hypersonic weapons for decades, but spending has jumped in recent years as interest in the technology soared. The topic came into focus when General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an October interview on Bloomberg TV that a recent hypersonic test by China was close to a “Sputnik moment” for the U.S.
U.S. military officials have confirmed the Asian nation recently tested a hypersonic weapon that traveled around the world and hit a target back in China.
President Vladimir Putin has boasted about Russia’s hypersonic capabilities after showing them off in 2018, though the U.S. has been more vocal about concerns over China’s program.
Until the technology progresses, it’s unclear precisely how big a boon it will be for top U.S. defense contractors. Beyond near-term plans to deliver hypersonic weapons through a handful of development programs, Pentagon officials have made few decisions about how many and what type of weapons they plan to pursue longer term.
“We’re still waiting on the Department of Defense to define where this fits in their portfolio,” said Wesley Kremer, president of Raytheon Missiles & Defense.
Going Fast Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for a hypersonic boost-glide missile for the U.S. Army and Navy, which also are sharing flight test plans to help speed development.
Lockheed’s Eric Scherff, vice president of the space systems division overseeing the program, said the company plans an initial flight test in the first half of 2022 and its first hypersonic missiles are on track to be delivered to the Army by the end of the government’s 2023 fiscal year. The Bethesda, Maryland-based defense giant is working on six hypersonic programs for the U.S. that could enter production between 2023 and 2026, Chief Executive Officer Jim Taiclet said told analysts in October.
Annual revenue tied to hypersonic weapons should rise to $3 billion by 2026 from $1.5 billion today, assuming key programs reach production, acting Chief Financial Officer John Mollard said during the same conference call.
Northrop Grumman supplies the missile’s rocket motors while Leidos Holdings Inc.’s Dynetics subsidiary is making the hypersonic glide body. Dynetics has a $342 million contract to produce 14 gliders, which could lead to a deal to produce 124 worth some $1 billion in revenue, according to the company.
After launch, the missile deploys a wedge-shaped glider when it’s above the atmosphere that enables it to zoom toward a target at ultra-high speeds.
Maturing Technology Raytheon and Northrop Grumman successfully test fired an air-breathing concept weapon in September, part of a $200 million contract. The test “went a long way to demonstrating how far and how fast we’ve been able to mature that technology,” said Raytheon’s Kremer.
The aircraft-launched hypersonic weapon uses a rocket booster to accelerate beyond the sound barrier before a supersonic ramjet -- or scramjet -- engine kicks in to propel the weapon past Mach 5. This type of missile could be purchased in larger quantities than boost-glide systems and at a lower unit cost, Kremer said.
The Pentagon’s rapid development effort has also seen some stumbles. Lockheed’s air-launched hypersonic weapon under development for the Air Force has failed three tests since April, most recently on Dec. 15.
As high-tech as this new generation of hardware sounds, it may be just a prelude to what contractors’ secretive research-and-development operations hint they could pursue next: a jump to light speed.
“Hypersonic technology is the natural evolution on the path to where we’ll eventually go, which is to speed-of-light weapons,” Kremer said.
Foreign Affairs › Re: Armed Man With 'hit List' Including Biden, Arrested On Way To White House by Ahmback(op): 2:37pm On Dec 30, 2021
... Omo thank God he was intercepted ooooh
