Wuhan virus -
A new study of COVID-19 vaccine recipients globally suggests that post vaccine side effects may be more common and severe in recipients who had wuhan and recovered than what medical agencies like the CDC and WHO are reporting. Additionally, other studies indicate that natural resistance is far more durable and longer lasting than publicly acknowledged.
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Economy -
Oil, iron and copper prices continue to rise to heights not seen in quite some time. This is on top of record prices for other commodities.
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Strategic Developments /Deployments -
B52s are operating overseas in three areas. Morón Air Base, Spain, Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, and there also is a task force of B-52s deployed to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. B-52s are picking up the majority of bomber taskings in the Air Force as the B-1 struggles with readiness.
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Israel - WAR
Overnight summary - Hamas continues to get hammered and their rocket attacks continue to decrease in volume and effectiveness. Israel continues to methodically decimate Hamas leaders, infrastructure and facilities. Ashdod and Ashkelon continue to bear the brunt of rocket attacks.
As i’ve indicated with the Hamas “et al” it is not Hamas alone attacking Israel. 15 armed Palestinian groups including 2 salafi-jihadist groups actively participating in this conflict.
One of the major leaders Israel is trying to eliminate Hamas’s Qassam Brigades commander Mohammed Deif, whom IDF sources said that they believe the military has a chance of eliminating if the operation continued. Military sources said Deif had been targeted more than once during the last week of fighting, but had succeeded at the last moment to get away.
A 5th round of airstrikes hit Hamas’ tunnel networks. Israel’s intelligence minister warned Tuesday that power to the Gaza Strip could soon be cut off — as the country’s military geared up for an “intensive night” of additional airstrikes against the region’s terror tunnels. Should be interesting today to watch.
Still no projected ceasefire. Netanyahu in a briefing to foreign ambassadors said: “We don’t stand with a timer. We want to achieve the goals of the operation. Previous operations lasted a long time so it is not possible to set a time frame on the operation” Another “open possibility” might be total conquest, Netanyahu warned.
NOTE - I’ve been warning about a ground invasion by Israel that could occur this week. However, the air component either is exceeding their goals, or addition prep is necessary. The focus on destroying the underground network is a bellwether indicator of a future ground operation.
Hamas reportedly agreed with an Egyptian ceasefire proposal, but was quickly denied later.
House Democrats overwhelmingly voted on Tuesday afternoon against applying sanctions on Hamas, rejecting a republican forwarded bill. The anti-Israel left is pushing biden to become more aggressively anti-Israel, after his expressed, though luke warm support for Israeli defensive actions against Hamas.
Vocal support for Hamas muted almost internationally. With few exceptions, much of the world is being relatively quiet about the conflict. Arab states historically have been Hamas supporters are especially quiet. Some analysts consider this to be the result of the signings of the Abrahamic Accord treaties and those arab countries don’t want to loose the economic benefits those treaties bring. A second reason is that Hamas is funded/supported by Iran, and Iran is the enemy of those same gulf nations. Third, Hamas has seemingly gone out of its way to insult supporters by way of its demands. All combine to leave Hamas seemingly out on its own.
CONCLUSIONS - Unless something goes very wong for Israel, they will continue to have their way with Hamas. I expect Hamas to soon start petitioning for a ceasefire in an effort to save itself. Israel for its part, facing no real opposition to its campaign, will continue to dismantle Hamas. I still expect to see a ground offensive to mop up things, but it seems that it maybe a limited operations and not the massive one that early conditions could have triggered.
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Turkey -
Late Monday, Turkey’s President Erdoğan held a media conference in which he called on the UN, UN Security Council, Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and other international organizations to take action focusing on wrestling Jerusalem away from Israel, up to and including military action.
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Black Swans -
Californians are fearing a repeat of 2020 when power demands exceeded production and rolling black outs were implemented. This has been made even more obvious by the dramatic lack of winter moisture leaving reservoirs across the state at 50% capacity or less. This will strictly limit the hydropower component to the grid. Continued pressure to shut down fossil fuel plants and the closure of a nuke plant isn’t helping matters either.
Wuhan virus -
India is pressing forward with the use of Ivermectin to treat wuhan patients, reportedly with great success. Remember, these treatments have been put down repeatedly by the ‘experts’
“I think we will almost certainly require a booster sometime within a year or so, after getting the primary [shot], because the durability of protection against coronaviruses is generally not lifelong,” Fauci said about the future of the coronavirus vaccines.
NOTE - and he wonders why people have lost trust in govt medical authorities.
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Economy -
(FO) Sea-based shipping data shows vessels are late 60% of the time arriving at port. The delays have compounded for months as supply chains feel pressure from increased raw material costs, missing key components or land-based capacity crunches in trucking and fuel delivery. The greatest U.S. backlog continues in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as docks remain crowded. “It [normally] takes 14 days to sail from Shanghai to Los Angeles; today it takes 33 days,”
Brazil is suffering from a deep drought in what is normally its wet season. The cost of this year’s drought could severely impact coffee, sugar, and orange crop yields.
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Invasion of Illegals -
Congressional democrats objecting to the deportation of gang members here illegally - claiming it is ‘racist’
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Biden watch -
biden became verbally abusive when the Coast Guard graduating class refused to clap in response to what seems to have been a back handed insult. “Wow, you’re a really dull class,” Biden then yelled. “I mean come on man, is the sun getting to you? I would think you’d have an opportunity when I say that about the Navy to clap, but we came here together.” biden also quoted Mao Zedong. -
“There’s a saying…’Women hold up half the world.’” Biden said as he quoted the communist murder. “It’s an absolutely stupid position not to make sure sure they represent at least half of what we do.”
Also, his spin around the parking lot in an electric Ford truck had a second steering wheel in it and some one doing the steering. . . .
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CW2/Domestic violence -
(FO) Following yesterday’s report of increased social media scrutiny for the Defense Department, the Pentagon is denying any new program exists. “There’s no pilot program being run by Mr. Garrison or the extremist working group to examine social media,” DoD spokesman John Kirby said. This appears to be a carefully worded position as the contractor involved (Dataminr) was awarded a $35,766,667 contract in 2019 for a “First Alert proprietary alerting system” which leverages big data for first responders in “humanitarian situations.”
District Attorney that no officers will be charged in the shooting of Andrew Brown Jr. so BLM related protests in various cities in addition to the pro-palestinian ones on going.
Five Oregon counties voted overwhelmingly to join Idaho. At least a dozen more are looking at measures to do the same. Idaho Gov. Brad Little, a Republican, said he supports the measure but acknowledged there’s a long way to go toward making it a reality, The Oregonian reported. “I understand why many people want to be Idahoans,” Little said in a statement, according to FOX 12. “They’re looking at Idaho fondly because of our strong economy, regulatory atmosphere and our values. Still, the decision to change Idaho and Oregon’s borders would need to go through both states’ legislatures and the U.S. Congress for approval. There’s a lot that needs to happen before the border is within the realm of possibility.”
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POLITICAL FRONT -
The “June 6” commission was passed in the House with support by 36 RINOS. It currently faces little chance of passing the Senate.
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China -
People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) conducted multiple strike, missile defense, and maritime assault exercises within the past few days. Observers note that this is probably a rehearsal for an eventual assault on Taiwan.
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North Korea -
South Korean President Moon Jae-in is meeting with biden today on NK issues. Typically, Kim uses meetings like this as an excuse to throw a temper tantrum of some kind.
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Russia - MAINTAINING WATCH
biden lifted sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, allowing Russia to control natural gas supplies to Europe.
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Israel - WAR
OVERNIGHT SUMMARY - Quiet, increasing intervals between rocket launches and fewer rockets launched. Overnight in Israel, there rockets stopped for 8 hours - the longest period since the war began. “Heavy” rocket barrages now consists of a half dozen rockets compared to hundreds last week. Just enough to keep people running to shelters. IAF tempo also slowing down. Huge increase in cease fire talk and speculation. Israel continues to have the upper hand and will maintain the operation until they are satisfied with the results.
For the first time in a week, twitter feeds are not totally clogged with war news. There are rumors of a cease fire agreement pending. Neither side will confirm at this time, but it is doubtful when PM Netanyahu on Wednesday says that he’s “determined” to continue the offensive in Gaza, rebuffing President Joe Biden’s call for an immediate and significant “de-escalation” in the fighting. Netanyahu said the operation will continue “until its aim is met,” per the Associated Press. Some rumors place the start of the ceasefire as being Friday. Six hours ago Hamas official to CNN: Ceasefire will be announced within 24 hours. More rumors as Netanyahu convenes the security cabinet at 7PM Jerusalem time to discuss the Gaza operation and the possibility of a ceasefire. At this stage a lot of speculation and little facts.
4 rockets were fired from Southern Lebanon into Israel, reportedly from near Tyre. Israeli artillery reportedly attacked the launch location. The Sadikin area in southern Lebanon was the launch location and is a Hezbollah stronghold and no one approaches there within a 5 km radius without their approval.
Reports that Gaza rockets hit industrial area of Rahat, Israel’s largest Bedouin city (and second-largest Arab city in the country). That will make friends of potential arab allies fast.
Iran sticking its nose into the conflict - Netanyahu announced that a drone Israel shot down 2 days ago on the border with Jordan was an Iranian armed drone launched from Syria or Iraq. IRGC-Quds Force Commander Esmail Qaani sends letter to Hamas’ Qassam Brigades commander Mohammad Deif praising him for winning the war .
OBSERVATION - A cease fire will take place when Israel is ready and has met its objectives - period. The muted global outcry against Israel is dynamic on many fronts.
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Iran -
See Israel above
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Lebanon -
See Israel above
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Turkey -
(JP) Turkey’s anti-Israel rhetoric has rapidly increased during the past eight days of fighting. The rhetoric targeting Israel and Jews has reached such heights that the US has condemned Turkey’s president for antisemitic comments. Ankara had consulted with Tehran last week about how to confront Israel, and Turkey has called on the pope and others to encourage sanctions against the Jewish state.
OBSERVATION - In the day, Israel and Turkey had reasonable relations. Since Erdogan rise to power and the control of the culture switching to more radical islamists, it has gone down hill. Last year, an effort was being made between the two countries to try to patch some matters up, but I suspect that this will be a wrecking ball to that effort
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