vxbush 11/20/2024 5:26:03 AM

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vxbush 11/20/2024 5:28:18 AM

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I don't know how many here have had to take part in audits, but I have. If we had failed even one audit, heads would have rolled. So the idea that the DoD has failed seven in a row means a whole crapton of people should be out of jobs and probably without pensions.

vxbush 11/20/2024 5:43:29 AM

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Biden is working to provide more money to Palestinians while he still can and pushing for Hezbollah's argument to go back to the UN Security Council Resolution 1701 to ban the operation go non-state actors such as Hezbollah from south of the Litani River. 

That wasn't obeyed when it was first released. Why would anyone think Hezbollah would obey it now? Netanyahu rips Biden apart, as he should.

vxbush 11/20/2024 5:46:56 AM

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Travesty: Elderly Vet Told to Remove Trump Signs or FEMA Officials Would View Him As ‘Domestic Terrorist’ 

Quoting from the article, which quotes from Comer: 

"My staff just made contact with a new whistleblower who provided a credible account that a FEMA contractor visited the home of an elderly disabled veteran's family around October 10," Comer stated. "While there, he recommended that the family remove Trump campaign materials and signs from their house and yard, stating that his FEMA supervisors view Trump supporters as domestic terrorists."

"The elderly homeowners were so frightened by this and afraid that they would not recover their loss that they removed the signs. Nevertheless, FEMA has not returned to their residence. This took place not in Florida, but Georgia."

As Sarah Hoyt would say: Heads. Pikes.

vxbush 11/20/2024 5:49:26 AM

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Party of "inclusion" my ass:

Latino Republican flips CA seat with 14 point Dem advantage; barred from state Latino Caucus

vxbush 11/20/2024 5:51:44 AM

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The Democrats are not backing down after their loss and are trying to hamstring Trump, to no surprise: 

House Democrats on Tuesday introduced legislation that seeks to codify the FBI's role in vetting employees appointed to the Executive Office of the President for security clearances.

Recent reports have alleged that President-elect Donald Trump's transition team bypassed traditional FBI background checks for certain Cabinet nominees, and used private companies to vet potential White House employees, according to CNN.

The new bill, titled the "Security Clearance Review Act," would require that White House employees receive their security clearances through the FBI and that any FBI recommendation against granting the security clearance be reported to Congress. 

The president, who can already grant security clearances without FBI approval, would be able to veto the FBI's recommendations but the override would also have to be reported to Congress, per Politico.

vxbush 11/20/2024 5:57:29 AM

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Okay, one story on Uraine, simply because this seems really, really odd: 

North Korean Troops Enter Kursk Where Ukrainians Are Fighting

The claim is made that these troops started entering Russia last month. Okay, do you have evidence? Numbers? Troop identifications? 

JCM 11/20/2024 9:45:57 AM

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Reply to vxbush in 1: Reply to vxbush in 7:

My 2 cents.

I do not like in the least the war in Ukraine. Like all proxy wars it is particularly ugly.

If we did not support Ukraine and Putin had rolled over Ukraine in the first year we'd now be in a direct war over the Baltic States and or Poland.

Norks fighting in Kursk and other stories about Russia indicates they are sucking wind. They don't have the power to win, just enough to maintain a bloody stalemate.

Is ATCAMS an escalation, yes... and no. It's a new capability for Ukraine on the other hand Russia has been using long range weapons, and fairly indiscriminately.

Again IMHO anything to break the stalemate, get the parties into talks and resolve the situation with status quo ante and reparations for Ukraine. Not that Russia would pay.

Nuclear card; I don't think Putin would use strategic weapons, if he feels he could break the stalemate with tactical nukes he might, ATCAMS or no ATCAMs.

Supporting Ukraine sends a message to another potential aggressor, China. China is watching our reaction in Ukraine. If we bail on Ukraine China will go for Taiwan. Xie has made that clear, and their naval and military build up is aimed at Taiwan and the South China Sea.

I also think that we pull support for Ukraine, and China goes after Taiwan, that possible could trigger North Korea to resume the Korean War.

vxbush 11/20/2024 9:56:07 AM

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In #8 JCM said: Supporting Ukraine sends a message to another potential aggressor, China. China is watching our reaction in Ukraine. If we bail on Ukraine China will go for Taiwan. Xie has made that clear, and their naval and military build up is aimed at Taiwan and the South China Sea. I also think that we pull support for Ukraine, and China goes after Taiwan, that possible could trigger North Korea to resume the Korean War.

Okay. Considering China's reaction to our actions in Ukraine was not something I was considering, although to be honest I thought Xi would have invaded Taiwan by now. In some sense, if the US was busy in Ukraine, wouldn't that distract away from China's actions? 

RE: NK--I honestly don't think they could do much of anything against South Korea, especially if China was working on Taiwan. I don't NK as being hardy enough to successfully engage any enemy. But if there really are troops from NK in Ukraine now, we should have answers as to their effectiveness. 

On that last score, I would like to see actual evidence to support their presence. 

JCM 11/20/2024 10:53:40 AM

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In #9 vxbush said: Okay. Considering China's reaction to our actions in Ukraine was not something I was considering, although to be honest I thought Xi would have invaded Taiwan by now. In some sense, if the US was busy in Ukraine, wouldn't that distract away from China's actions? 

For all it's bluster I don't think the ChiCom military is ready. In the last year they executed a bunch of strategic missile officers for sever maintenance issues on their ICBMs. They had a brand new nuclear submarine sink at the fitting out pier. There have been other "purges" of other ranking military officers. Their carriers operations are in their infancy, they can't match our sortie rate or do night operations. If Xi wants to move on Taiwan, I don't think he can. Earliest in my estimate is a year, more likely two.

Norks in Ukraine is purely symbolic, again IMAO. Socialist solidarity and all that drivel. Evidence? or Propaganda? US says evidence shows North Korea has troops in Russia, possibly for Ukraine war. I think Norks are in Ukraine, are they in front line combat? Don't know.

vxbush 11/20/2024 11:30:21 AM

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In #10 JCM said: Evidence? or Propaganda? US says evidence shows North Korea has troops in Russia, possibly for Ukraine war. I think Norks are in Ukraine, are they in front line combat? Don't know.

I don't either. Given the proven lying that has occurred repeatedly over the decades (since we were all at some other blog), I am very leery of just accepting a news article at face value anymore--despite my posting news articles all the time.