Orientation for new readers regarding the underlying research and data for this blog
US, UK send ships, aircraft, troops, and special forces to the Mediterranean
Blue Ridge-class command and control ship USS Mount Whitney
UK special forces preparing to aid Israel in efforts rescue Hamas hostages
UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly confirmed on Monday that the government believed as many as 10 British nationals were being held hostage in Gaza. …
… Hamas wants to keep the hostages alive and will be giving them food and water, and taking care of their medical needs, because they are considered “bargaining chips” in any negotiations with Israel.
Navy Presence Off Israel Grows as USS Mount Whitney Deploys to Region with Senior Admiral Aboard
The sailing of the Mount Whitney and Ishee's putting to sea comes just days after defense officials confirmed that the Navy would send a second aircraft carrier strike group into the region and move a pair of ships carrying a Marine Corps expeditionary unit there as well.
Marine Corps Expeditionary Unit En Route to Waters Off Israel, Defense Official Says
The Defense Department has been careful to avoid any suggestion that U.S. forces could engage in combat. When asked about the legal authority to do so, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said Monday that it was a question for President Joe Biden and that the military's goal was "to strictly be in a position to deter." …
Singh did note that U.S. special operations forces may play an intelligence-gathering role in a potential Israeli push into Gaza.
US targets Hamas’ financial network, key members with sanctions
Six of the individuals are accused of running an investment portfolio worth hundreds of millions of dollars with companies in Turkey, Algeria, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates and other countries. The network uses front companies to disguise its activities and generates revenue used to support senior Hamas officials, allowing them to live in luxury, Treasury said in a statement Wednesday.
The U.S. also sanctioned two senior members of Hamas’ leadership and a virtual currency exchange based in Gaza. The investments and networks allow Hamas — which is categorized as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and European Union — to raise money independently of the support the group receives from Iran, Treasury said.
Egypt Repairs Gaza Crossing Road Damaged by Israel
Notice that the article does not mention the possibility of additional Hamas troops and Iranian armaments (approximately 2,000 were fired in the initial attack) entering Gaza from this bridge.
Israel blames Islamic Jihad for hospital strike, but says rocket only hit parking lot
Now that this appears to be what happened, with the hospital still standing, it will be interesting to see which, if any, media make corrections, after failing to verify the facts and causing much anger, demonstrations, and retribution.
Mortgage rates reach 8%, a first since 2000
More gobbledygook from pseudo-economists.
Mortgage rates are manipulated by those who control the Fed (along with the global for-profit corporate pyramid and their executive-level puppets). The war in Ukraine, followed by sanctions against Russia, particularly US oil shipments to Europe, kicked off the inflationary cycle.
Since then, the bankers’ oil companies have been soaking the US, UK, and EU with inflated energy prices which, among other things, reduces personal and corporate discretionary spending, thus adding to the manufactured recession, one example of which are the massive layoffs and strikes happening across various industries.
20,000 jobs cut at major banks, more layoffs expected
Speaking of banks:
JPMorgan Chase Paid $1.085 Billion in Legal Expenses in Last Six Months
The writers at Wall Street On Parade file regular reports on bank fraud, and wonder why the Fed or the Justice Department doesn’t do anything about it. This is disingenuous on their part, since they refuse to report on the fact that the big banks control the Fed, all three branches of the US government, the global for-profit corporate pyramid (including the media and the legal system), as well as the persons who run and administer these assets. The banking business model is fraud:
Putin sends jets with hypersonic missiles to patrol Black Sea
“This is not a threat, but we will exercise visual control — control with weapons — over what is happening in the Mediterranean Sea,” Putin said. The U.S. has moved two aviation groups into the Mediterranean in response to the Israel-Hamas war, and its recent delivery of ATACMS long-range missiles to Ukraine showed Washington was getting more deeply involved in the conflict there, he said.
Russia’s only “warm water” ports’ maritime access to the the Mediterranean Sea is through two narrow passageways, the Bosphorus Strait (at Istanbul) and the Aegean Sea, so intensified US naval operations in that area are a security concern.
Report- North Korea shipping ammunition, weaponry ‘at scale’ to Russia
If the US, UK, EU, and NATO continue their war against Russia, then at some point China will likely provide military support to Russia as well.
Russian Air Defenses Well-Adapted to Taking Out Aged ATACMS Missiles US Gave to Ukraine
Partial Easing of US Sanctions Against Venezuela
This comes in response to the electoral roadmap agreed between the Venezuelan government and a sector of the opposition in Barbados. …
The president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, who heads the Venezuelan delegation in the negotiations, informed that the licenses granted refer to activities of production and sale of oil and gas for and from Venezuela, to the mining sector, especially gold, to the trading of bonds, as well as to commercial licenses of Venezuelan companies in the U.S.
Apparently, the US is betting it can steal the next general election in Venezuela, or at least conduct a major PSYOPS campaign.
Red state orders Chinese company to sell US farmland
The ruling in Arkansas underscores the ongoing debate surrounding foreign land ownership and its implications for national security and economic interests.
According to The Associated Press, Attorney General Tim Griffin declared that Northrup King Seed Co., a subsidiary of China’s Syngenta Seeds, which is under the ownership umbrella of the state-owned China National Chemical Company (ChemChina), has been given a two-year window to divest its Craighead County property.
Does this mean that Bill Gates, the largest owner of farmland in the US, will be forced to divest his holdings, as he serves a foreign power (the Anglo-Euro-American banking cartel), which threatens the food security and health of all US citizens.
Supreme Court sides with Biden on gun control on ‘ghost guns,’ overruling lower court
According to The Associated Press, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Blackhawk Manufacturing and Defense Distributed, two gun manufacturers in Texas, must comply with the Biden administration’s regulations that are intended to reduce the difficulty of tracing ghost guns, which are firearms that lack serial numbers. …
The regulation expanded the definition of a firearm to include unfinished parts of firearms, such as a handgun frame or a long gun receiver in order to allow guns to be more easily tracked. The controversial mandate pertains to ghost guns made from gun kits, 3D printers, or from the assembly of individual firearm parts.
The Biden administration’s full appeal is currently moving forward with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
Reporters from the Colorado News Collaborative (COLab), Rocky Mountain Public Media, 9News, Colorado Public Radio and The Sentinel newspaper in Aurora used data made public by a 2020 reform law to take an unprecedented look at police discipline throughout the state. An investigation by COLab, The Sentinel and Rocky Mountain Public Media revealed a host of loopholes, mistakes and regulatory blind spots that have kept officers with documented records of abusive conduct in good standing with POST (Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training).
We found that cops involved in some of Colorado’s most-high profile misconduct cases – including Elijah McClain’s 2019 killing in Aurora – show up, falsely, in the state’s new police database with clean disciplinary records. We identified several who continued breaking policies and laws as they’ve been able to bounce from police job to police job. And only after we started asking questions about certain officers whose departments had reported their misconduct months earlier did the state take away their right to carry a badge in Colorado.
We also found:
POST’s practice of publicly disclosing disciplinary actions taken against police only since 2022 has shielded the identities of most cops with proven records of misconduct.
POST relies on local departments to report on their officers’ misbehavior, yet has not used its power to sanction those that don’t.
The Attorney General’s office says POST has no authority to investigate or discipline officers whose departments have ignored their misconduct, leaving no other state agency to do so.
And POST’s legal criteria for decertification are so narrow that it cannot decertify officers even when their records strongly suggest they are unfit for police work
More than three years after state lawmakers vowed a new era of police accountability, our findings cast doubt on how much progress Colorado has made keeping the public safe from rogue cops.
We hope that you find our blog of value. If so, please feel free to share our articles and encourage others to sign up for our mailing list. Our last published work, 7 Steps to Global Economic and Spiritual Transformation, Volume I, Access to Tools, is available here and here. Volume II, Application of Tools, is in the works. An earlier version of this sequel, published in 2019, is online in four sections, beginning here.
thank you