Threat Matrix 2022

Reminder - I won’t be posting Saturday or Sunday. Same for Sat/Sunday next week as well.

Globalism / Great Reset -

Ireland is joining The Netherlands with new plans to kill off food-producing cattle.In order to stop global warming and climate change, the Irish government wants as many cattle as possible to be culled. According to the country’s Department of Agriculture, every 10,000 cows that are killed means a reduction of 45,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. Last fall, The Guardian reported that in order to reach its government-imposed climate targets, Ireland will need to cull upwards of 1.3 million head of cattle.

OBSERVATION - That is a lot of beef and dairy that will essentially be flushed down the toilet, leaving less food for people to consume and much higher prices for what remains.

German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has announced that the nation’s digital contact tracing and vaccine passport app, Corona-Warn-App (“CWA”), will start assigning different colours to citizens based on whether they received a Covid-19 vaccine within the last three months.

OBSERVATION - Incrementally, GGR agenda continues to be pushed forward.

Wuhan virus -

Today the CDC announced updated guidelines that tilt away from trying to protect groups and towards trying to protect the vulnerable. No more masks unless local transmission is high; no more rules distinguishing the vaccinated from the unvaccinated since practically everyone has immunity of some form and the new Omicron subvariants can get through anyway; no more mass testing of groups at school or in the workplace to try to catch asymptomatic cases. The feds have reached the “live with it” stage. “We know that COVID-19 is here to stay,” the CDC epidemiologist who drafted the new guidelines said today.

OBSERVATION - Pretty much what the general population has come to anyway.

Economy -

Wholesale prices dropped 0.5 percent in July to hit a 9.8 percent annual increase, down from an 11.3 percent annual increase in June as 40-year high inflation continued to show signs of easing.
The Labor Department’s Producer Price Index (PPI) showed that demand for goods dropped 1.8 percent from June to July as demand for services increased only 0.1 percent.

OBSERVATION - PPI is a forerunner of CPI inflation rates. Goods demand drops are often associated with recessions as personal/family money crunches hit home.

Mortgage rates jumped back above 5%, after briefly and barely falling below that level last week.
The rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage increased to 5.22% from 4.99% the week prior, according to Freddie Mac. While the rate remains lower than the 5.81% registered in June, it’s still 2 percentage points higher than the start of the year.

OBSERVATION - These rates may bounce around as the housing market goes through the throes of its bubble being popped by the Fed Rate increases.

The U.S. Postal Service filed a notice Wednesday of a temporary price hike for this year’s peak holiday season, which it said would help cover extra handling costs.
The agency said the adjustment was approved by its board of governors and is now pending review by the Postal Regulatory Commission. The price increase would go into effect on Oct. 2 and remain in place until Jan. 22, 2023.

OBSERVATION - Ho, ho, ho.

Biden / Harris watch -

Meanwhile, Biden has left town – yet again – for a beach vacation with his son – who has a federal probe looming over his head.

CW2/Domestic violence -

In the Internal Revenue Service 2021 annual report, IRS Criminal Investigation special agents can be observed simulating an armed assault on a suburban home at the agency’s National Criminal Investigation Training Academy (NCITA), located within the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Brunswick, Georgia. According to the IRS, these IRS-CI agents are “are among the most highly trained financial investigators in the world” and train for 6 months.

OBSERVATION - “financial investigators” need guns and train to raid houses. Sounds banana republic to me. Govt literally weaponized against the people.

Speaking of banana republic, say you want about Rubio, he has this right -
“”A group takes power. One of the first things that group does is they begin to persecute and go after their political opponents, and then when the supporters of their political opponents begin to complain about it, they begin to target them and they criminalize opposition.”

A nut job tried to shoot up a Cincinnati FBI field office yesterday, was chased down and killed. Needless to say, it’s incredibly stupid to show up at any law enforcement facility while carrying firearms to act in a threatening or intimidating manner.

Patriots, keep you powder dry for now, but your knives sharp and your rifle maintained.

CANCEL CULTURE FRONT

Twitter has rolled out some new terms and policies ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. These changes are in addition to those made in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election, in which Twitter’s suppression and censorship of information played a key role in misinforming the public.

Twitter is stepping up to bolster their terms and prevent “misinformation,” that catch-all concept for anything that goes against the Democrat-driven narrative. As such, they’ve announced “steps we’re taking ahead of the US midterms to protect civic conversation on Twitter.”

Twitter is now “activating enforcement” of their “Civic Integrity Policy for the 2022 US midterms.” Twitter states that their Civic Integrity Policy “covers the most common types of harmful misleading information about elections and civic events,” which include: false claims about how and where to vote, voter intimidation, and “misleading claims intended to undermine public confidence in an election,” which includes “false information about the outcome of the election.”

When Twitter mods encounter information they believe comes under the “harmful misleading information” category, they will “not recommend or amplify this content,” and will provide a “prompt prior to liking or sharing labeled tweets, and in cases where there is potential for harm associated with the false or misleading claim, the Tweet may not be liked or shared to precent the spread of the misleading information.”

OBSERVATION - We all know such decisions by twitter (as well as the other social media outlets) will be highly subjective and one sided. Just be forewarned.

POLITICAL FRONT -

U.S. officials who confirmed the June 3 voluntary visit and subpoena compliance, refused to say whether U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart was apprised of the full extent of Trump’s compliance when he was asked to sign the unprecedented search warrant last Friday. The FBI then waited three days after getting the judge’s approval before executing the warrant, one of many oddities in the timetable.

Garland, after delaying a press announcement by 40 minutes, said he gave the order for the raid. He told the reporters that the integrity FBI should not be questioned (how dare the peons).

A senior White House official told NBC News on Thursday that they were unaware of what Garland would say.
“We have had no notice that he was giving remarks and no briefing on the content of them,” the official said.
The Washington (Com)Post released a story where an unnamed DOJ source claimed that the target of the raid was not just classified documents, but nuclear secrets classified under codeword classification - or more generally, Special Compartmentalized Information (SCI). Twitterverse and other social media outlets went into orgasms of speculation. This morning, much of that speculation has tapered off.

From the right comes speculation of planted evidence and listening devices.

Tump OTOH released a statement that the subpoena should be released in its entirety, uncensored.

OBSERVATION - This dumpster fire isn’t getting any better for the administration. Garland is claiming full responsibility - creating a firewall for the administration. On one hand , that just shows how incompetent the administration. On the other shows how deep the corruption of the govt is. I find it hard to believe Trump would walk off with nuclear codes - and given the false narratives the WaPo has carried since the Russian Hoax, its claims are sorely lacking credibility.

BTW - Check my profile. I spent a good half of my military career working in SCIFs and am VERY aware of the seriousness of control of SCI documents. I just find the WaPo too outrageous and totally unreliable at this stage.

China -

China’s economic problems continue to get worse, notably bank failures, unemployment rates and economic growth. About a fifth of young (16-34) Chinese seeking work fail to find it. That’s twice the rate for other industrialized countries.

The GDP growth rate continues to slide and bank failures are growing. The government has stopped announcing annual GDP growth rates and is now announcing it will make its best effort to keep economic growth going.

OBSERVATION - China’s efforts are turning this crisis into a slow moving train wreck. All the reason to distract the populous with a Taiwan conflict.

Last year, then-Indo-PACOM commander Adm. Philip Davidson said China might invade within half a decade. More recently, a former senior defense official called Davidson’s forecast too optimistic. “I am very confident that there is no real analysis behind that,” the former official told Defense One, adding an invasion or other major action is likely in 2024, when both Taiwan and the United States will hold presidential elections.

OBSERVATION - The actions China has kicked off with the excuse of pelosi’s visit indicate they well have started the clock for an eventual invasion. More and more of the Chinese air and naval exercises being conducted now are very closely linked to war preparations.

Japan -

China government has “leaked” to media that People’s Liberation Army firing missiles into Japan’s EEZ was a direct warning from China President Xi Jinping to Tokyo not to join the United States in interfering in Beijing-Taipei relations, a signal to back off or risk a war.

OBSERVATION - I think this will backfire, making Japan more determined to stand up to the Chinese threats.

Russia -
WAR WATCH - The Battle for Donbas is on - now in its sixth month of the war since starting on Feb 24th.

CURRENT ASSESSMENT - Russia now essentially controls Luhansk Oblast, Russian forces have modified their immediate goals to try to capture Bakhmut and Avdiivka in the Donetsk region. Russia is also working to redeploy forces to face an anticipated Ukraninan offensive to retake Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts

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Putin convened Russian security council to discuss “issues of security”.

Ukraine -

WEATHER FORECAST - Hot with widely scattered thunderstorms over parts of the 10 day forecast period

RUMINT -

24 HOUR ROUND UP -
On a combat basis, Russia made some minor advances in the Bahkmut region and totally obliterated the village of Pisky. Russian ground operations otherwise were minor. Russia artillery strikes seem to be abundant, but volume/intensity also seem minimal with the exception of those in the east.

More concerns about Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest plant in Europe and among the 10 largest in the world; it generates half of Ukraine’s nuclear-derived power. The IAEA has been trying for months to send an inspection team to the nuclear plant but it has not been successful. It is under Russia control, though still operated by Ukrainan civilians. Chief concerns focus around the potential that shelling occurring around the facility, could damage critical infrastructure, including the reactors.

“Reactors [need] to be constantly cooled by water passing through [them,]” MV Ramana, a professor at the University of British Columbia’s School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, told Al Jazeera.
“If that water stream is cut out, cut down, cut off in some fashion, then the reactor could lose cooling, the fuel will start melting. It will sort of create high pressure, and the thing can explode,” he added. This explosion would not be nuclear in nature but a steam explosion. Secondly, if the cooling fails, this could lead to an uncontrolled heat buildup, a meltdown and a fire that could release and spread radiation from the containment structures. This could relate a plume of highly radioactive materials over a wide area of central Europe.

Kyiv front ——
NSR

Northern (Chernihv region ) and North Eastern (Konotop - Sumy salient) Fronts - ——
NSR, except for scattered Russian artillery strikes on border city/villages.

Eastern (Kharkiv) front - Russian artillery and missiles have been hitting Ukraine positions northeast of Kharkiv.

Russian artillery hit targets northwest and south of Izyum. No significant associated ground actions. Ukraine has been launching minor counter attacks in those areas recently.

Donetsk Oblast ——
Russian artillery fire hit the eastern and southern margins of the Slovyansk-Siversk-Bakhmut salient.

Russian forces attempted to attack south of Siversk but were reportedly repulsed by Ukrainian forces.

Russia captured the small village of Zaitseve, northeast of Avdiivka.

Pisky, located southeast of Avdiivka, was leveled by Russian thermobaric bombs overnight. Russian sources showed the bombs hitting an apartment complex. Evidence of destruction is evident from commercial satellite imagery. The attack on the Pisky axis is being lead by Wagner Group mercenaries.

Ukraine’s Energoatom_ua says Russian forces “once again bombarded the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.” 5 rockets said to strike commandant’s office, area “near storage of radioactive material” and 5 more near fire station. But situation “under control,” radiation levels normal

Crimean Front ———
Russian artillery fire all along the Kherson Oblast LOC.

Western / Central Ukraine ——
NSR

Russian Territory -——
NSR

Partisan Resistance ——
Explosion reported in Melitopol, possible IED

Ammunition / logistical sites hit ——
There was a fire in a warehouse in Kalininsky district of Donetsk.
Fire from a suspected logistic site near Liubymivka of Kakhovka district.
Explosions of ammunition reported at Vesele village of Kherson region.

OUTLOOK ——
Continued sputtering Russian offensive in the east, highly anticipated Ukrainan offensive west. Near term, I don’t expect any changes to the fight.

Destruction of Pisky and its likely soon capture by Wagner Group forces raises a concern of a potential breakout. However, it would be faced with far little support than the ones they lead further to the east. It could be used to pivot towards the north and assist in the fight for Avdiivka, but I think that would be stretching Russian capabilities petty far. It took Russia over a month just to advance the few of kilometers to get to Pisky, and likely doesn’t have the forces necessary to push much further.

Iraq -

A rocket depot was destroyed in Bagdad, belonging to Iran-backed Nujaba militia group.

The Coordination Framework protest committee will start a protest on 19th of August a day before Sadr’s deadline outside the Green Zone demanding to form the government and to protect the constitution.
Amid CF protest tomorrow, Sadr Ministers calls for a protest in all Iraqi cities tomorrow (today_ at the same time and to wait for further orders.

OBSERVATION - Another potential explosive situation as opposing protestors look to face off.

Saudi Arabia -

Following the military conflict between the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Israel from Aug. 5-7, criticism was leveled in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates against the terror organization entrenched in the Gaza Strip, appearing in both the press and social media. According to a report by MEMRI, critics claimed, among other things, that the PIJ is an Iranian proxy organization acting for the benefit of Iranian interests and thus inflicting suffering on Gaza residents.

OBSERVATION - Remember, SA and Iran are mortal enemies, so such a statement is not a surprise.

Back from my travels until next weekend.

Globalism / Great Reset -

As reported in the Scottish publication The Herald, authorities in Scotland approved the removal of 14 million trees to clear forest land for 21 wind turbines. “The Scottish Government has moved to reassure that more trees have been planted, but it is unknown what proportion of these are mature plants that play a bigger role in turning carbon into oxygen,”

OBSERVATION - Any one else see the brain dead logic behind this?

Wuhan virus -

Despite falling Covid numbers, German citizens will have to prepare for nationwide mask requirements and stricter “protective requirements” starting in October. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach is sticking to his controversial plans, which include people receiving a “booster” every three months.
Lauterbach and Justice Minister Marco Buschmann recently announced a controversial infection protection law that will go into effect in October. Under the new law, only people in Germany who were vaccinated less than three months ago will be recognized as vaccinated.

OBSERVATION - They just can’t let it go.

Economy -

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has predicted the likelihood of a downturn in the U.S economy and warned that “something worse” than a hard recession could be on the horizon. He warned that there are “storm clouds” on the horizon, including rising oil prices and higher interest rates. He then broke down the odds of a soft or hard recession.
“When you forecast, you have to think differently. What is out there? There are storm clouds. Rates, QT, oil, Ukraine, war, China,” Dimon said. “If I had to put odds: soft landing 10 percent. Harder landing, mild recession, 20 percent, 30 percent. Harder recession, 20 percent, 30 percent. And maybe something worse at 20 percent to 30 percent. It is a bad mistake to say ‘here is my single point forecast.’” “The numbers are so distorted when you have this fiscal and monetary stimulus,” Dimon told clients last week. “Have you seen a recession where unemployment is going down? [Inflation] is around 8 percent. I don’t see it will dissipate that quickly.”

In June, he said that an economic “hurricane” was on the horizon.

OBSERVATION - He’s responsible for looking out for the welfare of his bank and stockholders. He cant afford to be unicorns and rainbows in that aspect. Key takeaway, the numbers are distorted by all that is going on and the direction of distortion may well be masking signs of a more severe hit than what the hopium dealers are peddling.

The next food insecurity problem that may impact the way Americans eat could be an emerging potato shortage that began last year when yields were depressed due to a heatwave, according to Boise State Public Radio.
“I’m not sure if you remember last June, but we had some just unbelievably hot temperatures here in Idaho. It did a number on our potato crop,” Jamey Higham, president and CEO of the Idaho Potato Commission, told the Idaho-based media outlet. “And so, our yields were significantly down last year.”

California leads the world in production of processing tomatoes — the variety that gets canned and used in commercial kitchens to make some of the most popular foods. The problem is the worst drought in 1,200 years is forcing farmers to grapple with a water crisis that’s undermining the crop, threatening to further push up prices from salsa to spaghetti sauce.

More related - The United States Department of Agriculture rates 58% of corn as good to excellent and 16% of corn as poor to very poor. Crop Condition Indexes find that corn is currently 4% below its five-year average. Soybeans declined at a similar rate last week. Almost half of all cotton is rated poor to very poor. Finally, the USDA rates wheat good to excellent at a rate of 64%, a 6% decline from the beginning of August.

OBSERVATION - Like other foods, prices are going to keep skyrocketing. Not only are tomato famers and processors getting hit by expensive water, they’ve been hit by fuel and fertilizer costs as well. These effects will be hitting the supermarkets over the next few months, guaranteeing continued higher food prices and even shortages.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that the Democrats’ so-called Inflation Reduction Act will lower costs for Americans — Americans who buy expensive energy-efficient products, that is.

OBSERVATION - Spend a lot, save a little.

The New York Fed’s Empire State report released this morning shows the current business conditions index at -31.3 in August, down from a reading of 11.1 in July.

OBSERVATION - Analysts attribute the drop to the steep decline in shipments and new orders. They even suggest that this may indicate the worst of the inflation is behind us.

CW2/Domestic violence -

Breitbart, published the names of FBI employees involved in Monday’s search of MAL.

New bulletin from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and FBI warning of a surge in ‘violent threats’ against federal law enforcement in the weeks after the raid.
The memo, obtained by CBS News, states the agencies ‘have observed an increase in violent threats posted on social media against federal officials and facilities, including a threat to place a so-called dirty bomb in front of FBI Headquarters and issuing general calls for “civil war” and “armed rebellion.”’

The FBI and DHS have also observed the personal identifying information of possible targets of violence, such as home addresses and identification of family members, disseminated online as additional targets,’ the bulletin states.

OBSERVATION - FBI, DHS and DoJ trying to play the victim card here. NOTE - this can also be used to set up citizens via a False Flag event or even agent provocateurs in patriot groups. You better believe your group of 3%’s et al have been infiltrated. Keep your powder dry - its not spicy times yet

Antifa traffic indicates that there is growing preparation to confront FBI/DoJ protests/protestors with varying degrees of violence. This is just the thing they’ve been waiting for, though I expect serious intergroup violence if things go sideways.

Strategic Activity / Deployments -

USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) and most of its strike group returned home this week, ending an Indo-Pacific deployment. The Nimitz-class carrier pulled into its Coronado, Calif., berth at Naval Air Station North Island Thursday morning.

China -

Chinese aircraft continue to enter Taiwan’s air defense zone as Beijing continues military activities close to the Chinese-claimed island.
IN RELATED - China announced more military drills around Taiwan as the self-governing island’s president met with members of a new U.S. congressional delegation on Monday

OBSERVATION - These incursions were nearly a daily occurrence prior to pelosi’s visit, but now the numbers of planes involved have grown substantially.

North/South Korea -

NUKE WATCH on going.

In a letter to Kim for North Korea’s liberation day, Putin said that closer ties would be in both countries’ interests, and would help strengthen the security and stability of the Korean peninsula and the Northeastern Asian region, North Korea’s KCNA news agency said.

Russia -
WAR WATCH - The Battle for Donbas is on - now in its sixth month of the war since starting on Feb 24th.

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RUMINT -
A senior Kremlin official has approached Western diplomats and intelligence chiefs in a bid to help end the war in Ukraine, it was alleged last night.
The source is said to have claimed that much of Moscow’s elite are highly concerned about the trajectory of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s invasion into the neighbouring country and are alarmed by the bite of wide-ranging sanctions levied by the West in response.
A document, purportedly circulated to Western intelligence agencies and seen by The Mirror, said: ‘A representative of Putin’s inner-circle sent a signal about the desire to negotiate.

Ukraine -

WEATHER FORECAST - Hot with widely scattered thunderstorms over parts of the 10 day forecast period

24 HOUR ROUND UP -
Ukrainian military hit a base of Russian Wagner mercenaries in Popasna in a missile strike. Wagner forces were key in the breakout at Popasna the end of June. It is rumored that the group leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was taken out by the strike. Wagner group is currently believed to be in charge of the battle to seize Bakhmut, and the loss of leaders from the strike may have a significant impact.

Forty-two nations, including all European Union members, released a joint statement calling on Russia to immediately withdraw from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in occupied Enerhodar, Zaporizhzhia Oblast

Bakhmut and Pisky continue to be centers of fighting. It is becoming evident that Russia has shifted a lot of forces from the east to the south and west in response to the threat of the Ukraine offensive. Attacks in the east have scaled waaaay down and are being fought by smaller Russian units in an uncoordinated manner. Only fights that seem to be gaining much ground are those lead by Wahner group mercenaries, which so far have had a better C3 than standard Russian troops. Wagner got hurt bad by the CP strike.

Kyiv front ——
NSR

Northern (Chernihv region ) and North Eastern (Konotop - Sumy salient) Fronts - ——
NSR, except for scattered Russian artillery strikes on border city/villages.

Eastern (Kharkiv) front - Russian artillery all along the LOC northeast of Kharkiv. Russians conducted a minor attack k that reportedly was defeated by Ukranian forces. Russian army shelled Merefa in Kharkiv region with S-300 missiles

Russian forces attempted a small scale attack southward out of Izyum with little supporting artillery fire, the attack failed.

Donetsk Oblast ——
Russian artillery fire hit the eastern and southern margins of the Slovyansk-Siversk-Bakhmut salient. Associated small unit attacks by Russian forces that were repelled by Ukranian military.

Wagner group CP in Popasna destroyed overnight. Target was located by geolocating video posted on social media. Wagner group os currently believed to be in charge of the battle to seize Bakhmut, and the loss of leaders from the strike may have a significant impact.

The Ukrainian General Staff stated that Russian forces had “partial success” in their attacks against Bakhmut, but offered no specifics.

Heavy fighting continues around Pisky and Pervomaiske as predominately separatist forces press the attack, making very small gains.

Crimean Front ———
According to Mykolayiv Oblast Governor Vitaly Kim, the entire Russian command staff is evacuating across the Dnipro River, (from right-bank Dnipro to left-bank). That means leaving the city of Kherson.

Russian artillery and air strikes continued along the LOC along the Kherson sector. Russian VDK forces reportedly attempted to attack the Ukranian bridgehead near Davydiv Brid.

Ukrainian forces are continuing to target Russian ground lines of communication (GLOCs). Footage of missile strikes shows explosions from the Antonivsky Bridge as the missiles likely struck Russian military equipment, ammunition, or fuel transports on the bridge. All major bridges capable of supporting heavy vehicles necessary for supply and reinforcement have all been cut off.

Western / Central Ukraine ——
NSR

Russian Territory -——
Unknown assailants continued to target Russian military recruitment centers throughout Russia. Kremlin-sponsored outlet RIA Novosti claimed that police detained two followers of the Antifa Movement (!!!!) who attempted to set a military recruitment center in Krasnoyarsk Krai on fire on August 10. Russian online outlet News.Ru reported that there have been over 20 attempts to set Russian military recruitment centers on fire since the first incident on February 28 in Lukhovitsy, Moscow Oblast.

Partisan Resistance ——
NSR

Ammunition / logistical sites hit —
Explosions reported at a Russian base in Tokmak
Fires fires reported from logstical sites in Yasynuvata and Hvardeika neighbourhoods of Donetsk
Ukraine’s Southern Operational Command also reported that Ukrainian forces conducted successful missile strikes on Russian ammunition depots in Muzykivka and Nova Kakhovka, Kherson Oblast.

OUTLOOK ——
Russia will continue to struggle in its offense in the east, forgetting lessons learned in the north. The withdrawl of command elements fro the Kherson region is not going to do much for morale of the Russian troops left behind, nor will it facilitate the necessary leadership forward method of command Russia has been forced to do. Russia appears to be willing to sacrifice everything west of the Dinpier River, hoping to stop any major amph operations by Ukraine to cross.

Impact to the Wagner Group due to the loss of senior leadership is yet to be seen,

Israel -

Israel hit Iranian targets in a series of strikes on Sunday near the ancestral home region of Syrian President Bashar al Assad, and close to Russia’s main Syrian bases on the Mediterranean coast, regional intelligence and Syrian military sources said.

Iran -

An Iranian government official claimed Monday that Tehran was not involved in the recent attack on author Salman Rushdie, who was stabbed in New York ahead of a scheduled speech.
In Iran’s first public comments addressing the assault, the country’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said in a briefing to journalists that Iran should not be accused of any involvement.
“We, in the incident of the attack on Salman Rushdie in the U.S., do not consider that anyone deserves blame and accusations except him and his supporters,” Kanaani said. “Nobody has the right to accuse Iran in this regard.”

OBSERVATION - Yeh, right.

Syria -

US forces announce repelling an attack launched by several drones in the vicinity of Al-Tanf barracks in eastern Syria.

OBSERVATION - It is suspected that the attack was launched buy an Iranian backed militia in part in resonse to the Israeli airstrike above.

Central / South America General-

Thousands of federal troops have been deployed to several Mexican border cities, including Tijuana, amid a flare up in gang violence. The northern state of Baja California was hit by a wave of arson that saw nearly 30 vehicles burned and highways blocked on Friday night.
It followed a week of violence and shootings in other Mexican states. The central government has blamed the chaos on the powerful Jalisco New Generation drug cartel. Officials have suggested that several cartels are involved in a power struggle and at least 17 people have been arrested in the most recent unrest, local media reported.
Earlier this week drug cartel gunmen burned vehicles and businesses in the western states of Jalisco and Guanajuato after authorities attempted to detain a leader of the Jalisco cartel.
And a gang riot at a prison in the border city of Ciudad Juarez quickly spread onto the streets, killing 11 people on Thursday.

OBSERVATION - It looks like the Mexican army has gotten some control over the situation. However, this just goes to show how close this is to exploding in the US with no border controls.

Things got kinda slow - calm before the next storm?

Economy -

Barclays has revised its 2022 and 2023 expectations for Brent and WTI crude to $103 and $99, respectively. Brent’s $103 price target is a decline from $111 and comes from the expectation that crude will feel the effects of a large surplus in the near future due to Russian supplies.

OBSERVATION - While this is good news - the report is evident that the market is still sensitive to shocks that can reverse price trends very quickly. Also relies heavily on Russian supplies - which so far they’ve been able to wiggle past sanctions by countries like India getting it at bargain rates.

U.S. homebuilding fell sharply in July, weighed down by higher mortgage rates and prices for materials, suggesting that the housing market could contract further in the third quarter.
Housing starts plunged 9.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.446 million units last month, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday. Data for June was revised slightly higher to a rate of 1.599 million units from the previously reported 1.559 million units.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast starts declining to a rate of 1.540 million units.

OBSERVATION - First shock waves of the inbound recession.

Invasion of Illegals -

Nearly 200,000 illegal immigrants encountered in July, per CBP’s monthly tracker of encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border. The updated numbers for July bring the 2022 Fiscal Year number of encounters to nearly 2 million. The latest numbers from Customs and Border Protection do not reflect so-called “gotaways” that evaded border agents and crossed the southern border into the United States. That number has averaged around 50K per month, putting the total July number of illegal border-crossers well over the 200,000 mark.

In San Diego, California, alone, thousands of border crossers are expected to be released into the U.S. interior as a result of Biden ending Remain in Mexico. The program, as federal data shows, was hugely successful. The latest data shows that of the more than 45,000 Remain in Mexico cases adjudicated since 2019, fewer than 740 migrants have been found to have legitimate asylum claims to remain in the U.S. This indicates that only 1.6 percent of Remain in Mexico migrants end up having valid asylum claims to stay in the U.S.

OBSERVATION - As we well know, the border is neither secure or safe.

Biden / Harris watch -

Harris recent salad bowl speech at a symposium on new technologies -

“We know that we are really quite behind in terms of maximizing our collective understanding about how we will engage on the technology of today. And what we can quickly and easily predict will be the technology over the next decades.
So to maintain our position as the United States of America on this issue, it is critical that we work together to understand where we are, to recognize and have the courage to speak truth about what is obsolete, and then to partner to ensure that we are speaking the same language with the same motivation, inspired by the opportunity of it all, but then doing the work of updating how we’ve been talking and thinking about our exploration in space.”

OBSERVATION - Can anyone tell me just what the heck she is trying today?

CW2/Domestic violence -

A new contract between public schools and the teachers’ union in the city of Minneapolis is causing outrage because it may see white teachers laid off at the expense of teachers of color. The new contract says that, while teachers subject to layoffs or relocations will typically be done based off seniority, they may go outside the order to avoid doing that to a teacher who is ‘a member of a population underrepresented’.

OBSERVATION - A colder aspect of the CW2 aspect of the continued racial discrimination against whites. The left’s goals are to categorize and isolate people groups and on today’s hit parade it is the whites.

San Bernardino County, California’s largest geographically, will put the question of seceding from the state on the ballot in November. It is so fed up with California’s leaders, with no prospect for change, that it is seriously considering leaving to become its own state.
The county’s Board of Supervisors recently approved the ballot measure, which will ask voters whether the county should “study and advocate for all options to obtain the county’s fair share of State funding up to and including secession from the State of California.” A recent poll shows over 65 percent of county residents are in favor of the initiative.

OBSERVATION - The talk and concept of ‘secession’ is not just a conservative one, as liberal pundits have been bantering it around a lot lately. Rural counties in Kalifornia have been working for a new state - Jefferson - for some time now.
On a greater scale the idea of a national divorce - red separating from blue. Question is how amicable with the separation be. I honestly don’t see the progressive / marxists willingly allowing such to occur - they lose power over their enemies that way and as I ve said may times, they would rather see the country go up in flames as long as they can rule over the ashes.

CANCEL CULTURE FRONT

Reports coming out that the NYT tried to coordinate with Chinese interests in TicTok to censor conservative voices on the platform.

POLITICAL FRONT -

FBI / DoJ caught red handed abusing the MAL search warrant, seizing passports and materials that could be covered by executive privilege or attorney client privilege . Actions raise legitimate questions about over-collection of evidence that could lead to significant legal challenges.

The Department of Justice is fighting efforts to reveal the reasons they ordered the raid of former President Donald Trump’s home at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla. They expect us to trust them that the raid and retrieval of documents are all legit.

OBSERVATION - What little credibility the DoJ / FBI had is rapidly melting away.

Russia -
WAR WATCH - The Battle for Donbas is on - now in its sixth month of the war since starting on Feb 24th.

Logistics -
- Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said that the first flight of the Su-75 Checkmate has been postponed until 2024.

- Putin is trying to enforce a law he had had enacted a month ago that allows the government to impose wartime conditions on military suppliers who are not fulfilling their contracts.

Ukraine -

WEATHER FORECAST - Hot with widely scattered thunderstorms over parts of the 10 day forecast period

RUMINT -

24 HOUR ROUND UP -
Again, relatively slow as far as the Russian offensive to capture the rest of the Donbas continues to stall out.

Probably the most significant event was the destruction of a massive Russian ammo depot at Dzhankoy, Crimea. Both Russia and Ukraine claim it was done by special forces types. This has to be spinning in the heads of Russian military folks as the leading suspect in the attack last week on the airbase in Crimea was special ops and not missiles.

Kyiv front ——
NSR

Northern (Chernihv region ) and North Eastern (Konotop - Sumy salient) Fronts - ——
NSR, except for scattered Russian artillery strikes on border city/villages.

Eastern (Kharkiv) front - Russian artillery all along the LOC northeast of Kharkiv. Small attacks by Russia north of Kharkiv repulsed by Ukraine.

Donetsk Oblast ——
Russian artillery fire hit the eastern and southern margins of the Slovyansk-Siversk-Bakhmut salient.

Ongoing Russian attacks north and south of Bakhmut.

Crimean Front ———
Russian tanks and artillery shelled areas all along the Kherson LOC, Russian aviation conducted airstrikes near Bila Krynytsa, Andriivka and Lozove,

Western / Central Ukraine ——
Explosions in Zhytomyr district as result of missile strike

Russian Territory -——
Explosions audible in Ghushkovo of Kursk region from Ukraine missile attack.

Partisan Resistance ——
Ukrainian partisans reportedly blew up a rail bridge on the southwestern outskirts of Melitopol.

Ammunition / logistical sites hit —
Ukrainian forces reportedly struck Russian ammunition depots in Blahodativka and Novopetrivka,

A senior Ukrainian official confirms that this morning’s explosion at a Russian ammunition depot in Dzhankoy, Crimea was the work of an elite Ukrainian military unit operating behind enemy lines.
Railway is damaged in Dzhankoi district as result of ammunition depot explosion. Strategic railway line from Kerch/Feodosiya to Dzhankoi, used to resupply occupation troops in Kherson, Zaporizhzhia regions and Crimea.
The scale of attack on Russian military base in Dzhankoy ,was very impressive. Videos on social media show massive secondary explosions.

Widespread damage in Rodakove of Luhansk region after ammunition depot explosion

OUTLOOK ——
Russian supply lines and armor for the Crimea front are getting stretched even more every day. Ukraine has found the new weak spot in Russia’s efforts and are able to exploit with modern, longer ranged western weapons in addition to good old snoop and poop in the dark special forces operations.

Russia is unlearning lessons from the start of the war by once again throwing units piecemeal into attacks and now with even less artillery support. When one looks at current Russian attacks and compare them to June, the scale is way down. The news of any Russian advance is tempered by very short distances and limited extent.

More of the same for the near term, unless there is some unforeseen big game changer, until Ukraine kicks off its round portion of the offensive. Life will continue to be hell for Russian logisticians trying to get ammo to artillery units.

Moldova/Transnistria -

Moldovan security officials are investigating a series of nine bomb threats targeting the country’s supreme court, airports, and medical facilities. This latest string of incidents follows more than 40 threats received during July.

Europe / NATO General -

Austria, which partners with NATO on European security issues, has elected to remain neutral over the Russia-Ukraine war and NATO’s efforts to halt the Russian invasion. Austria has sent non-lethal supplies to Ukraine but avoided further involvement in the war.

OBSERVATION - Austria is not a NATO member and its citizens don’t really want to be affiliated with NATO, so the narrow walk.

Iran -

On Monday, Iran’s foreign minister said Tehran would deliver its “final” proposal on reviving its 2015 nuclear accord by midnight, after Washington accepted key demands.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, in coordination with Washington, offered significant concessions to Iran in a draft finalized last Monday, and gave Tehran an August 15 deadline to respond.
On Sunday, an Iranian parliament committee said that the talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal must result in the removal of US sanctions in a way that safeguards Iran’s economic interests.

OBSERVATION- Iran continues to play cat and mouse with western negotiators and in essence getting all the things it wants.

Iraq -

Al Sadr postpones the million-strong demonstration to preserve the ‘civil peace’ and appeals to the demonstrators to maintain peace and spare their blood and the blood of the security forces.

OBSERVATION - Tensions remain high as Sadr continues to face off against Iran.

Central / South America General-

Initial reports of significant Mexican security forces deploying to Villagrán, Guanajuato. Reports of gunfire in the area.

OBSERVATION - Mexican military appears to be getting a handle on the recent cartel wars.

Armenia/Azerbaijan -

Russian defense minister held talks with the Minister of Defense of Armenia, the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh was discussed.

OBSERVATION - Feelings in Armenia by citizens towards Russia are anything but warm and fuzzy. Many accuse Russia of turning tail and running instead of stopping Azeri aggression and treaty violations. As we know, Russia is in a tight place given how poorly the war is going in Ukraine and has little surplus to offer Armenia.

One year ago America was embarrassed by a bunch f goat herders with AK47s.

Globalism / Great Reset -

The World Health Organization (WHO) is moving ahead with plans to enact a new or revised international pandemic preparedness treaty, despite encountering setbacks earlier this summer after dozens of countries, primarily outside the Western world, objected to the plan.
A majority of WHO member states on July 21, during a meeting of WHO’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB), agreed to pursue a legally binding pandemic instrument that will contain “both legally binding as well as non-legally binding elements.”

OBSERVATION - Trying to bring this in again under the radar, hoping for success this time around.

Meanwhile, the World Economic Forum, African Union and World Bank — which created a $1 billion fund for “disease surveillance” and “support against the current as well as future pandemics” — are developing their own pandemic response mechanisms, including new cross-country vaccine passport frameworks.

OBSERVATION - Wuhan started the ball rolling and GGR wants to keep momentum up for these ‘digital passports’ to be enforced on the world. These ‘passports’ will eventually be rolled into a digital currency linked to your social score.

Police in the Netherlands have reportedly arrested over 100 people in relation to protests against EU green agenda measures which will see up to 30 per cent of livestock farms in the country forced to close.

OBSERVATION - This is life or death for these farmers and the Dutch are moving to put the hammer down to stop the protests.

Wuhan virus -

Calvary Chapel San Jose and its pastors were held in contempt of court and fined in 2020 and 2021 for violating state and county limits on indoor public gatherings. The rules were aimed at preventing the spread through close contract of the virus, which has caused more than 10 million confirmed cases and more than 93,500 deaths since the pandemic began in mid-2020, according to state public health figures.
But on Monday, California’s 6th District Court of Appeal reversed those lower court decisions, citing a May 2020 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in February 2021 that a ban by Gov. Gavin Newsom on indoor worship services in counties where COVID-19 was surging violated freedom of religion.
The decision by a newly conservative majority court came less than a year after the high court previously ruled the ban was justified on health and safety grounds.

OBSERVATION - The county in a statement warns that it will continue to hold the church accountable “for putting our community’s health and safety at risk.”. Sounds like they are planning other harassment and legal matters in revenge for losing the court case.

The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has taken down from its website the statement that states “mRNA and the spike protein do not last long in the body.”
it had read - “our cells break down mRNA from these vaccines and get rid of it within a few days after vaccination.”
“Scientists estimate that the spike protein, like other proteins our bodies create, may stay in the body up to a few weeks,” it continued.
However, a peer-reviewed study by researchers at Stanford University finds that the spike protein created by the COVID vaccines remains in the body much longer than believed and at levels higher than those of severely ill COVID-19 patients.

OBSERVATION - I’ve noted over that past months that many studies are linking the spike proteins to the increase in heart problems. nRNA directs the body to create these spike proteins - compounding the problem.

Invasion of Illegals -

Arizona is using shipping containers to close a 1,000-foot gap in the border wall near the southern Arizona farming community of Yuma on Friday, with officials saying they were acting to stop migrants after repeated, unfulfilled promises from the Biden administration to block off the area.
‘Arizona has had enough,’ tweeted Doug Ducey, the Republican governor of the state, who is up for re-election in November.

OBSERVATION - Temporary fix.

Biden / Harris watch -

biden returned to the WH from his week-long South Carolina vacation, long enough to get packed and go on another vacation to Delaware.

CW2/Domestic violence -

The FBI thru the media flunkies are pushing a “dirty bomb” threat narrative. A dirty bomb is a low-grade weapon of mass destruction designed to spread radioactive material rather than the all out drama of of a full scale nuclear detonation. The radiation doesn’t even need to be at lethal levels, just enough to exclude the area from use - and the thought of radiation promoting terror to the unlearned.

There is RUMINT that the ‘dirty bomb’ warning is a ruse to set up for a False Flag attack of some sort. Let’s go tinfoil for a minute and wonder if the NYC nuclear attack PSAs are linked - a build up of fear? Conspiracy theories of late have ceased to be ‘theories’. My hope is that the left is not foolish enough to try this - but it is on the actions that they could try is desperate enough to create a scenario to justify an authoritarian crackdown of Americans.

POLITICAL FRONT -

The big deal with the FBI taking (and now returning - seizure illegal in itself) Trump’s passports is that they exceeded the search warrant authorization and took items they are authorized - and as in the case with the passports - didn’t list them on the item inventory. This is just the tip of the iceberg, while those items will be barred from any courtroom, FBI and the deep state have them and nothing will stop them from gleaning information from them for further attacks and raids.

OBSERVATION - DoJ/FBI zeal to try to find anything on Trump they grossly overstep their bounds.

More corruption in the election process, Los Angeles County reported Monday that over 27% of the signatures submitted on petitions to recall District Attorney George Gascón were invalid — after reporting that less than 1% of mail-in ballots were invalid in the 2020 election. Recall proponents complained that they were not allowed to watch the signature verification process, after county officials said they were not required to allow observers since the petition drive did not qualify as an “election” under state law.

OBSERVATION - Soros backed destroyer of law and order Gascon and progressive minions blocked another recall. Hardball politics, but proving that one of the goals of the progressives/leftists is a lawless society.

Strategic Activity / Deployments -

Yesterday The U.S. military earlier this morning carried out a test of a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile to “demonstrate the readiness of U.S. nuclear forces.” This launch was delayed so as not to hurt the feelings of the Chinese military as they executed their soft blockade of Taiwan.

China -

China’s major manufacturing hub Sichuan province has ordered all factories to shut down for 6 days to ease a power shortage. Sichuan is key for semiconductor/solar panel industries & China’s lithium mining hub. Will hit Foxconn, Intel, Apple, Tesla-supplier factories & more

OBSERVATION - More supply hits and another anchor on China’s economy.

North/South Korea -

NUKE WATCH on going.

The U.S & SK will be beginning their biggest combined military training (in years) next week - it will include field exercises (tens of thousands of troops are expected to participate). SK & the U.S. are not ruling out that North Korea will conduct provocations during them.

OBSERVATION - Almost guaranteed that Kim will pop some rockets off.

Russia -
WAR WATCH - The Battle for Donbas is on - now in its sixth month of the war since starting on Feb 24th.

********

Because of the explosions in the Crimea on the Kerch bridge, the Russians are chaotically trying to leave the peninsula. Reportedly a record breaking number of Russians crossed the Crimea bridge into Russia,
38,297 cars, yesterday alone. Russian are leaving over fears of the Ukraine war expanding more into Crimea and threats that the Kersch Bridge could be cut off

Ukraine -

WEATHER FORECAST - Hot with widely scattered thunderstorms over parts of the 10 day forecast period

24 HOUR ROUND UP -
Russia has attempted to increase offensive action in the east with varying degrees of success / failure. If it follows the pattern of the past weeks, action will drop off again as ammo for the artillery becomes scarce again and infantry has to face Ukranian defenses alone.

Kyiv front ——
NSR

Northern (Chernihv region ) and North Eastern (Konotop - Sumy salient) Fronts - ——
NSR, except for scattered Russian artillery strikes on border city/villages.

Eastern (Kharkiv) front ——
Russian army shelled civilian and military infrastructure near Kharkiv, Petrivka, Dementiivka and 18 more settlements.

Russian forces launched attacks near Lebyazhe and Bazaliivka, located southeast of Kharkiv.

Russian artillery is supporting attacks southward from Izyum near Bohorodychne, with clashes ongoing near Mazanivka and Novodmytrivka.

Donetsk Oblast ——
Russian artillery fire hit the eastern and southern margins of the Slovyansk-Siversk-Bakhmut salient.

Russian forces conducted ground attacks across the Eastern Axis but failed to advance northwest of Slovyansk and east of Siversk. Russian forces made marginal territorial gains southwest of Donetsk City

Russian invasion forces are carrying out a new offensive in Opytne, north of Donetsk airport, the Ukrainian general staff says. This is the first time in years that Russian forces have attacked here, possibly to bypass the strong Ukrainian defense in Pisky and Avdeevka.

Russian artillery and airstrikes all along the LOC from Donetsk eastward to Zaporizhzhia.

Crimean Front ——
Russian artillery shot at Ukranian positions along the Kherson Oblast LOC. Concentrated opposite of Mykolaiv and Davydiv Brid regions.

Russian Tu-22M3 launched Kh-22 missiles into Odesa region overnight, 4 civilians wounded,

Western / Central Ukraine ——
Russian missiles targeted areas of central and southern Ukraine, no specific locations reported.

Russian Territory -——
Explosions reported near Tyotkyno, Kursk region. Railway was blown up in the Kursk region of Russia

Partisan Resistance ——
Mayor Ivan Fedorov reported two explosions near a substation in Melitopol on August 16 and implied that partisans were responsible.

Ammunition / logistical sites hit —
UK MOD- “Russian commanders will highly likely be increasingly concerned with the apparent deterioration in security across Crimea, which functions as rear base area for the occupation”

Ukrainian forces reportedly hit a Russian command post in the former SBU building in Lysychansk

Explosion of ammunition depot in Zhdanivka, Donetsk region

OUTLOOK ——
More of the same for the near future. None of the attacks show evidence of creating a tactically significant breakout in the east.
Ukraine is methodically picking apart Russian logistics and command not only in the south but in the east too. Russia seems to be struggling to find an answer. Though tis is still August, Russian planners have to be painfully aware that winter is fast approaching and that their inability to supply ammo/artillery will be made worse by the inability to supply winter gear to the troops. This was evident when the war started in February. Logistically, those wheels for winter operations have to get started now for that gear to be issued before cold weather strikes.

Israel -

Israel and Turkey are restoring full diplomatic ties. Turkey officially announced that it will appoint an ambassador to Israel

Iran -

Iranian media: Parliament will hold a closed meeting today to discuss the latest developments in the nuclear negotiations.

SecState Spokesman “We have gone over the big issues that are at core of the two key questions: 1- Steps Iran needs to take to resume compliance with JCPOA, 2- Steps US needs to take on sanctions relief. “We believe the big issues have been largely settled”

Iran has also reportedly called on Washington to negotiate a prisoner exchange

OBSERVATION - The west continues to capitulate to Iranian demands.

Syria -

Looks like a Turkish operation is about to commence against the Kurds/SDF near the border. Reports from N. Aleppo indicated that a huge number of Turkish armored and infantry units are moving through crossings into Syria’s northern interior tonight. Citizens in the Turk city of Karkamish are being told to stay indoors amid mutual front line shelling. Military convoy of Turkish Armed Forces were also noted entered Afrin region (west)
and entered Jarablus and entered the Euphrates Shield region.(east)

OBSERVATION - Have to wait and see how this pans out. Turkey declared war against the Kurds in Syria and Iraq and so far action has been minimal.

Turkey -

Israel and Turkey are restoring full diplomatic ties.

Syrian invasion - see Syria.

Black Swans -

Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the nations largest reservoirs, are barely above one-quarter of their capacity and any lower, these bodies of water will stop generating power and provide clean water to some 40 million Americans. This has raised the shortage in the Lower Colorado River Basin to ‘Tier 2,’ which means cuts are in order. Arizona will receive 21 percent less and Nevada eight percent starting January 2023.

OBSERVATION - A 20+ year ‘drought’ is affecting the Colorado River basin. Climatologist have noted that similar droughts have occurred in the past - just not at this historical juncture. Similar observation for the Kalifornia ‘drought”.

More related - A few reports that in Kalifornia, the talk has switched from mega drought to mega flood. The historical model being the great flood in the 1800’s that turned the inland valley into a small sea. Flood/droughts cycles have been pretty well documented for kalifornia and a mega flood season could cause trillions in damage (let alone potential loss of major dams incapable of passing the excessive river flows).

And more related - The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has raised the ENSO Outlook status from ‘La Niña WATCH’ to ‘La Niña ALERT’ with the likelihood of La Niña returning this spring increasing to around 3 times the normal risk.
Generally speaking, La Niña winters tend to be drier and warmer than normal across the southern U.S. and cooler and wetter in the northern U.S. and Canada.
NOAA says that this year, warmer-than-average conditions are most likely across the southern part of the U.S. and much of the eastern U.S., with the greatest likelihood of above-average temperatures in the Southeast. Below-average temperatures are favored for southeast Alaska and the Pacific Northwest eastward to the northern Plains.
The Pacific Northwest, parts of the Midwest and the Tennessee and Ohio valleys can see more rain and snow than in a typical winter.

OVERALL OBSERVATION - Climate changes - all the time - and man cannot do anything about it. I’m aware of major projects in Kalifornian trying to modify dam spillways and construct more robust ‘emergency’ systems, planning and action on this has been going on for over a decade. Continuation of the La Nina - which has been ongoing since 2020, does not bode well for farmers and crop yields struggling with lower precipitation like has occurred the past two seasons, including this one.

NATURAL DISASTERS like floods and droughts are already having severe impacts on parts of the globe and can turn things upside down very quickly. Case in point - hurricane hitting the Gulf of Mexico region - oil production and refining and associated prices spikes/shortages. .

Globalism / Great Reset -

A growing coalition of state governments is pushing back against the world’s largest asset manager, saying it is putting its political agenda over the interests of clients and even U.S. national security.
Last week, a group of 19 state attorneys general from Republican-leaning states sent a strongly worded letter to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink demanding an end to this agenda and a return to fulfilling its fiduciary duties, suggesting the company’s actions may even be illegal. Montana’s AG Knudsen blasted what he argued was the company’s effort to impose “idealistic, green, utopian, progressive ideas” on Americans through economic pressure instead.
“Whether mixed motives arise from a desire to save the world or attract investment from European or left-leaning pension funds, is ultimately irrelevant to the legal violation,” said the state attorneys general from Arizona, Nebraska, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.
“Our states will not idly stand for our pensioners’ retirements to be sacrificed for BlackRock’s climate agenda,” they warned.

OBSERVATION - With over $10 trillion in assets under its management, BlackRock is one of the most powerful entities in the world. It manages more wealth than the annual GDP of every country in the world except the United States and China. They are tied tightly to the WEF and are one of many instruments the GGR crowd are using to forcibly move their agenda along. BlackRock has also been a key player in the housing market bubble, outbidding simple citizens for homes and converting them to rental properties.

Wuhan virus -

The head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced plans to overhaul the agency Wednesday — while admitting to major “mistakes” in handling the pandemic.
“Prior to this pandemic, our infrastructure within the agency and around the country was too frail to tackle what we confronted with COVID-19,” she said, according to the insider.
“To be frank, we are responsible for some pretty dramatic, pretty public mistakes — from testing, to data, to communications,” she reportedly admitted.

OBSERVATION - OMG, don’t even know where to begin on this one. From what i’ve read, this is nothing but a bureaucratic restructure. It will do nothing to address the real issues from wuhan -
1. Ranking ‘vaccines’ over natural immunity.
2. Ignoring all the warning signs the VAERS system was screaming about reactions to the jab.
3. Ignoring / glossing over the vast amount of preliminary test data from Pfizer et al that the ‘jabs’ were hazardous
4. Erasing jab safety claims from their web site
5. Flat out lying to the population over a wide range of wuhan actions, from lockdowns, to masks to spacing.

I’m sure this list can be added to, just a quick off the top of my head.

IN RELATED - CDC’s apparent reversals on mask and other policies appear to be adding fuel to lawsuits against the mandates across the board. From lawsuits against the military and federal govt mandate, to college and private sector the changes amount to a mea culpa that the CDC was wrong and those mandates equally wrong. Now that the CDC has admitted that the shots are medically useless, expect the law suits to grow.

For most of the last two years, social media outlets have routinely suppressed any information that dissented from or questioned whatever dogmas were, at that moment, being disseminated by CDC. Anyone who disagreed with that agency’s line of the moment was relentless smeared and cancelled. Now we see those criticisms being fully justified and admitted to by the CDC. But that’s two years of our lives we can never regain.

And more - Starting next week, there will be no more “special” COVID testing protocols for federal employees based on their vaccination status. Offices that require testing (particularly in healthcare facilities) will have all employees tested and will no longer inquire as to the worker’s vaccination status. Offices without mandatory testing requirements will cease mandating testing for unvaccinated workers. There is also no mention in the announcement of the government continuing its attempts to fire everyone who refused to comply with the vaccine mandates.

Rutgers University in New Jersey will continue requiring masks and vaccinations for its fall semester due to COVID-19 and monkeypox, the school announced Tuesday.

OBSERVATION - someone didn’t get the memo from the CDC. And like masks will help for monkey pox - oh please

Economy -

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon predicted on Tuesday that wage inflation will be “with us basically forever” and detailed how higher price levels are impacting the grocery giant. He further noted that an increasing number of ‘wealthy’ families are shopping Walmart due to inflation.

OBSERVATION - Walmart, like target, have found themselves stuck with excess inventory and forced to sell at discounted prices to regain balance.

Invasion of Illegals -

Since Biden took office and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas altered federal immigration policies, roughly 5 million people from over 150 countries have entered the U.S. illegally.
This includes 3.9 million who have been apprehended entering the U.S. illegally nationwide and 3.4 million at the southern border. It also includes a minimum of 900,000 (closer to a million plus) gotaways, those who’ve intentionally entered the U.S.

OBSERVATION - When we take the way back machine to 2016, the estimates of illegals in the US were only about 6 - 10 million. In a little more than two years, he has nearly more than doubled that number.

Video footage on social media show Border Patrol agents opening the gates at the southern border to let illegal migrants in - just after Texas National Guard officers had locked it.

CANCEL CULTURE FRONT

Facebook has announced that they will not be moving up their timeline for reviewing their decision to suspend former President Donald Trump, regardless of whether or not he decides to run in 2024.

Facebook also permanently banned Libs of TikTok on Wednesday evening and gave absolutely no reason why.

OBSERVATION - For those unfamiliar with “Libs of TikTok” they essentially repost social media material from liberal posters and give the absurdity of liberal/progressivism a broader audience.

POLITICAL FRONT -

FBI/DoJ keeping a low profile following the dumpster fire of the MAL raid.

China -

Chinese troops will travel to Russia to take part in war games along with India, Belarus, Mongolia, Tajikistan and other largely anti-Western countries, China’s defense ministry said on Wednesday, adding redundantly that China’s participation in the joint exercises was “unrelated to the current international and regional situation.”

North/South Korea -

NUKE WATCH on going.

North Korea fired two cruise missiles into the sea, according to South Korean officials, in Pyongyang’s first weapons test since early last month

Russia -
WAR WATCH - The Battle for Donbas is on - now in its sixth month of the war since starting on Feb 24th.

********
The top official in Russian-annexed Crimea said on Wednesday that the FSB security service had broken up what he described as a six-person terrorist cell of a banned Islamist group, a day after explosions rocked one of Russia’s military bases there.

RUMINT -
Russia’s defense spokesperson claims Ukraine is planning a false flag at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station on August 19th. Timing is when UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is due to visit.

Logistics -
- It is now estimated that Russia has lost 1,886 tanks, 4,162 armored fighting vehicles, 792 drones and 233 airplanes.

Russian Personnel Issues -
- Russia’s Black Sea fleet based in annexed Crimea has installed a new commander, RIA news agency cited sources as saying on Wednesday, after Russian military bases on the peninsula were rocked by explosions in the past nine days. If confirmed, the removal of the previous commander Igor Osipov would mark the most prominent sacking of a military official in the nearly six months since Russia launched its war on Ukraine. State-owned RIA said the new chief, Viktor Sokolov, was introduced to members of the fleet’s military council in the port of Sevastopol.

- Ukraine’s general staff reported an estimated 44,100 Russian troops have died in Ukraine since Russia invaded the country Feb. 24. Over 1/3 the preiavasion force. Wounded roughly estimated to be 3 times that number.

Ukraine -

WEATHER FORECAST - Hot with widely scattered thunderstorms over parts of the 10 day forecast period

24 HOUR ROUND UP -
Turkish President arrives in Lviv, Ukraine for talks with Ukraine and UN.

Russia continues to be stalled and taking logistic hits, Ukraine continues preparation the battlefield for their anticipated offensive.

Kyiv front ——
NSR

Northern (Chernihv region ) and North Eastern (Konotop - Sumy salient) Fronts - ——
NSR, except for scattered Russian artillery strikes on border city/villages. …..

Eastern (Kharkiv) front - Russian army continues to shell civilian and military infrastructure near Kharkiv region. 7 people killed, 16 wounded as preliminary result of Iskander missile strike at Saltivka neighborhood in Kharkiv.

A Russian attack directed northwest out of the Izyum region failed and forced back. Scattered artillery and an attempted ground attack by Russian forces south of Izyum.

Donetsk Oblast ——
Russian artillery fire hit the eastern margin of the Slovyansk-Siversk-Bakhmut salient.

Russian forces launched attacks across the entire front opposite of Bakhmut with out success. It doesn’t appeared they had much artillery support.

More fighting around Pisky.

Crimean Front ——
Russian artillery fire scattered along the Kherson Oblast LOC

Western / Central Ukraine ——
NSR

Russian Territory -——
NSR

Partisan Resistance ——
Ukrainian officials also reported that partisans conducted an improvised explosive device (IED) attack near one of the Russian military occupation administration commandant offices in #Melitopol

Ammunition / logistical sites hit —
Railway blown up at Krynychna in Donetsk region.
There are explosions from an ammo dump in occupied Amvrosiyivka, Donetsk region.

Fires between Illovaisk and Zuhres from suspected logistic/ammo dumps.

OUTLOOK ——
Ukraine has been telegraphing its big offensive to recapture Kherson Oblast and other regions in the south for over a month now. Some are wondering “where’s the beef?”. In those weeks, Russia has redeployed a fair number of BTGs from the Donbas fight in the east in anticipation, which will make Ukraine’s fight harder.

OTOH, Ukraine is almost masterfully bleeding Russian forces to death by a thousand paper cuts. Russia’s logistical system is in disarray from HIMARS (and other Ukraine long range weapons) and special ops / Partisan efforts locating and destroying critical ammo dumps, other logistical facilities, supply routes and command posts. This battlefield preparation has sued an estimated 10,000-20,000 Russian troops to be essentially trapped on the west side of the Dinpir River with escape/resupply routes cut off and having to rely on a few pontoon ferry systems. It has also resulted in the stripping of Russian artillery superiority in numbers in the east by both lack of ammo as well as Russia losing tubes to wear and tear from firing all those rounds.

Finally, if one has followed my commentary here on the Ukraine war you’d note that I’ve pointed out how things have essentially stalled out for Russian after its capture of Luhansk Oblast early in July. I’m sounding to myself like a broken record.

I encountered a map by a OSINT source that shows just how much/little has changed since July 10 - see following link

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FaYljGOXkAACJlv?format=jpg&name=900x900

Near term, I see no change in the tactical situation. Russia doesn’t have the assets to stage any major offensive actions and Ukraine seems to be biding its time, letting Russian forces expend themselves on Ukrainan defenses in a grueling battle of attrition.

Europe / NATO General -

On August 12, 2022, the Rhine River in Kaub, Germany dropped below a key waterline level of 40 cm (15.7 inches), used as a benchmark for determining its navigability.
The station in the city of Kaub, a bottleneck for shipping where the Rhine runs narrow and shallow, recorded the water level at 38 cm (14.9 inches) in the early evening of August 12, 2 cm (0.78 inches) below the crucial level for much of the transport along the river.

OBSERVATION - Germany is in a real pickle. Already scrambling to store up fuel stocks for the upcoming winter, now its main method of coal delivery is shut down.

Israel -

Israeli army chief Aviv Kohavi says that during the recent fighting in Gaza (August 5-8), the military struck a site in another, unnamed, country.

OBSERVATION - A lot of speculation on which country this was. Some think Yemen, but I wonder if it wasn’t Lebanon - given that the means/method of the strike is not revealed. PIJ and affiliated have operations in Lebanon where they are a pain in the rear to Hezbollah as competitors for Iranian support.

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan -

A huge explosion struck a mosque in Kabul during evening prayers on Wednesday, witnesses and police said, with many feared dead or injured.
Police said there were multiple casualties but did not say how many. One Taliban intelligence official told Reuters that as many as 35 people may have been wounded or killed, and the toll could rise further. Al Jazeera quoted an unidentified official as giving a death toll of 20.

OBSERVATION - Suspects include ISIS and Al Queda.

Turkey -

Israel and Turkey are restoring full diplomatic ties.

Syrian invasion - see Syria.

A reminder, I’ll be on the road Saturday and Sunday, so my next update wouldn’t be out until Monday at the earliest. Have a good weekend.

Globalism / Great Reset -

In order to “prevent tax evasion,” the nation of Colombia is launching a central bank digital currency. An official at the country’s tax and customs agency has hinted that there is a national digital currency plan.
Luis Carlos Reyes, the head of the Colombian Tax and Customs National Authority, claimed that the government of newly inaugurated Colombian President Gustavo Petro will seek to create a digital currency to prevent illicit financial activity like tax evasion. A central bank digital currency is a must for all ruling classes going forward.

OBSERVATION - The profession will be towards a global digital currency according to the GGR. Compliant countries are making the incremental steps in that direction, including the US. Digital currency can easily be controlled by the govt.

Economy -

Sales of previously owned homes fell nearly 6% in July compared with June, according to a monthly report from the National Association of Realtors. Sales dropped about 20% from the same month a year ago “In terms of economic impact we are surely in a housing recession because builders are not building,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors.

OBSERVATION - Housing market is one of those markers that reflect on the economic health of the country as it reflects other sectors of the economy. The drop is bad enough by itself, however, with all the other economic monkey games by the biden administration and GGR influencing factors have been introduced that cannot be fully assessed like in the past. Most of the indicators are not good.

According to Reuters -
“India’s top rice producing states of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh have recorded a monsoon rainfall deficit of as much as 45 per cent so far this season, data from the state-run weather department shows. That has in part led to a 13 per cent drop in rice planting this year, which could result in production falling by 10 million tonnes or around 8 per cent from last year, said BV Krishna Rao, president of the All India Rice Exporters Association.”
India accounts for almost 40% of global rice exports, so an 8% decrease in their rice production vs. the USDA’s projected 0.9% decrease dramatically transforms the outlook for the global rice trade.

OBSERVATION - Combine this with the kalifornia drought situation impacting rice production there. Globall, production food producgtion is getting hit with a double whammy - wuhan / Ukraine war created shortages and high costs for fuel and fertilizer along with weather crisis like drought. These factors will continue to hammer consumers with rising prices - something that Fed rate increases are powerless to control and only make worse.

Just as retailers are starting to gear up for the holiday season, there are warnings of a possible nationwide shipping log jam. A shortage of rail workers is causing cargo to pile up once again in America’s ports.

OBSERVATION - The lack of truckers thanks to a new kalifornia labor law isn’t helping matters either. This just goes to show how sensitive various economic sectors continue to be to disruptions.

CW2/Domestic violence -

In dark, dark blue Portland, families are leaving the city in droves as homeless encampments make their way into suburban neighborhoods and crime continues to rise, according to a local report.

OBSERVATION - You get what you vote for. In Portland, as with other Antifa base cities, any effort to control homeless camps is met by Antifa resistance.

China -

Taiwan reports almost continuous presence of Chinese ships and aircraft in its defensive zone. This will be the new norm.

A hottest heat wave on record, drought, and subsequent loss of hydroelectric power have forced electricity rationing in China’s Sichuan Province. Electricity to industrial facilities has already been cut to prioritize electricity to residential areas, which will now experience rationing.

OBSERVATION - This just makes China’s manufacturing woes even worse. This will cause more problems down the production chain - shortages and higher prices.

North/South Korea -

NUKE WATCH on going.

Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s powerful sister, has slammed Seoul’s offer of economic aid in return for denuclearisation steps, calling it the “height of absurdity”.
“No-one barters their destiny for corn cake,” she said in a statement.
South Korea’s president Yoon Suk-yeol had Wednesday reiterated the plan, which he first mentioned in May.
But Ms Kim said on Friday that Mr Yoon should “shut his mouth” and called him “simple and still childish”.

OBSERVATION - She has been quiet for quite a while now and suddenly she has found here voice again. Last time she was so vocal, there were rumors she was being positioned to replace Kim. Will have to watch and see what NK politics and maneuvering is afoot.
She is one vicious person and watch out if Kim dies and she step up to power.

Japan -

Japan plans to accelerate the deployment of the upgraded version of the Type 12 anti ship missile with a range up to 1,200 km & new stealth features. It can receive target info via satellite communication while in flight to attack moving targets.

OBSERVATION - As a technologically adept country, Japan has the capability to upgrade its military forces and are taking steps to do so in light of Chinese aggression .

Russia -
WAR WATCH - The Battle for Donbas is on - now in its sixth month of the war since starting on Feb 24th.

********
The Russian military said on Thursday that it has deployed warplanes armed with state-of-the-art hypersonic missiles to the country’s westernmost Baltic region. Russia’s defence ministry said three MiG-31 fighters with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles arrived at the Chkalovsk airbase in the Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad as part of “additional measures of strategic deterrence”.

OBSERVATION - Russia has used these hypersonic ‘super weapons’ already in the war. Far from being a super weapon, it is just an air-launched version of the Iskander short-range ballistic missile. It gets a performance boost from the the air launch. The deployment to Kaliningrad is designed to intimidate the west.

Russian foreign ministry officials rejected a proposal by the United Nations to demilitarize the area around the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine.

RUMINT -
WITH increasing confirmation - Putin has reportedly been forced to pull back his jets and helicopters from Crimea after a massive blitz on Russian military bases - as humiliating video shows mutinying soldiers refusing to fight.
Ukrainian intelligence sources claim some 24 fighter jets and bombers along with 14 choppers retreated deeper into the Black Sea peninsula - or back to mainland Russia.
The dramatic withdrawal follows the heavy bombardment of Putin’s military bases on the Russian-occupied peninsula over the last nine days from Ukrainian special forces.
A devastating series of explosions at an air base last week destroyed 20 jets.

Activity from Russian aircraft and ongoing construction is visible in recent satellite imagery of Yeysk Naval Air Station. Russia has reportedly relocated aircraft from bases in Crimea to others further from the front lines in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s nuclear agency says that Russia wants to disconnect power units supplying the Ukrainian electricity grid and is planning a “provocation”.

Western intelligence official just told reporters attack on Saky airfield in Crimea by Ukraine ‘put more than half of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet naval aviation combat jets out of use. The Russian system is busy seeking to allocate blame for the debacle.’

Ukraine -

WEATHER FORECAST - Hot with widely scattered thunderstorms over parts of the 10 day forecast period

RUMINT -
A Ukrainian military intelligence official tells NBC News that Russia has told its nuclear workers stationed at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant NOT to go to work today (Friday). Some believe that Russian officials may be setting information conditions to blame Ukraine for a false flag attack at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

Fears are mounting among Ukrainian officials that Russian President Vladimir Putin might choose to escalate his attacks on Ukraine during the country’s Independence Day holiday next week. There are concerns that Russia might use Belarus as a launchpad for attacks given a flurry of movements observed there in recent days.

24 HOUR ROUND UP -
The most significant events over night have been Ukranian drone flights over key regions of Crimea, including the sensitive Kerch Bridge link to Russia. Attacks against key targets in Crimea have been increasing lately. A senior administration official told politico the U.S. supports strikes on Crimea if Kyiv deems them necessary. “Any target they choose to pursue on sovereign Ukrainian soil is by definition self-defense”. The official added: “Crimea is Ukraine.”

Along the front, Russia continues to throw units towards trying to capture Bakhmut in the east. More and more indiscriminate artillery strikes on Kharkiv and more apparent preparation for an offensive into the Kherson Oblast.

Kyiv front ——
NSR

Northern (Chernihv region ) and North Eastern (Konotop - Sumy salient) Fronts - ——
NSR, except for scattered Russian artillery strikes on border city/villages. …..

Eastern (Kharkiv) front - Russia continues its fresh focus on the Kharkiv region this morning with more missile attacks on the city center. Civilian and residential targets getting hammered by the indiscriminate strikes.

Another day, another attempt by Russia to push south out of the Izyum axis. Attacks receiving a moderate amount of artillery support, but are not taking ground

Donetsk Oblast ——
Russian artillery fire hit the eastern margin of the Slovyansk-Siversk-Bakhmut salient.

Russian forces continue to attempt to push toward Bakhmut from the northeast, east and south east. Moderate artillery support.

Scattered Russian artillery across the rest of the LOC.

Crimean Front ——
The Kherson Oblast LOC appears to be relatively quiet so far. Mykolaiv however has been targeted by Russian missiles with large explosions noted.

According to RIA, Russian air defenses were activated over Kerch region, with loud explosions reported. A drone was believed to have been destroyed.

Occupation authorities in Sevastopol also reported a drone was shot down by air defense near Belbek airfield.

It is reported that temporary MP road blocks are being set up in/around Sevastopol in an attempt to weed out saboteurs.

Western / Central Ukraine ——
Air raid sirens sounding over a big belt of central Ukraine. No specifics released on any hits.

Russian Territory -—
A Russian ammunition warehouse in Belgorod burned overnight. Smoke plume can be seen for miles.
A second explosion has been reported tonight in the Belgorod region, within Russia, at the Stary Oskol Airfield.

New explosion just seen in Mizhvodne, Crimea, making this the 4th explosion or significant strike in this past week. It is approximately 135km from the front, meaning outside of GMLRS range from HIMARS/MLRS.

Partisan Resistance ——
NSR

Ammunition / logistical sites hit —
Explosions at munitions depot, Timonovo, Belgorod
• Fire/explosions at Stary Oskol Airfield, Belgorod
• Explosions in Nova Kakhovka, Kherson

OUTLOOK ——
I expect the status quo to continue in the near future. Only wild cards being the official kick off of the Ukranian ground offensive. I expect more attacks on key Russian facilities in occupied territories - particularly those that support Russian forces in Kherson Oblast and Crimea. The result of these attacks is taking away artillery support from Russian units and forcing logistics to base even further back from the front, compounding delivery related logistics.

OSINT analysts are noting that Ukraine appears to be organizing tank brigades, something they have not used during the first six months of their war with Russia. This could be the deal maker for them on the offensive. Ukraine learned a lot from the 2014 war and has been innovative, as evidenced by their initial used of ATGMs in the first half of the war, exploiting Russian weakness in combined arms war. Now they look to apply that same combined arms approach with their armor in this counteroffensive phase we’ve been waiting on.

The saga of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is causing growing concerns as it appears that Russia is playing nuclear blackmail with it. Worst case scenario is a Chernobyl equivalent nuclear disaster. The removal of the plant off the Ukrainian grid is economic blackmail with winter coming and removal of power for Ukraine to keep the lights and heat on.

Europe / NATO General -

Russian jets suspected of violating Finnish airspace, defence ministry says

SERBIA - KOSOVO (new) -

The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo failed to reach a solution in a crisis meeting in Brussels on Thursday but agreed on further talks in the coming days to solve tensions between their countries, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.

OBSERVATION - Tensions all not end in this region for a long time. Serbia is in an aggressive track to build up its military - with Russian help and concurrence. There will come a point in the near future where Serbia will get froggy and find a reason to use all the new military equipment it has been procuring. There is a NATO peace keeping force in Kosovo and any Serbian attack could initiate article 5 responses.

Israel -

IDF carried out attack in third country parallel to wave of arrests in Samaria and operation in Gaza, Chief of Staff Kochavi revealed yesterday. It is strongly suspected that Israel on August 8 hit an Iranian run training base for Houthi terrorists in Yemen outside the capitol This was during the Gaza fight with the PIJ. The Israeli use of “third” means country not bordering Israel. Osint folks finally connected the dot as Israel is historically reluctant to comment on some aspects of its military operations - especially of this nature.

Iran -

World still waiting for details of Irans’ counter proposal for a nuclear treaty. So far, leaked components are looking very favorable for Iran and the west showing considerable weakness.

Turkey -

Its main policy rate, which had been at 14% for the last seven months, was cut to 13% in a complete mismatch to what other central banks are doing around the world. It has an inflation at 80% and still rising.

OBSERVATION - Most see this as making matter worse - much worse for Turkey.

Misc of Note -

The claim that skin-to-skin contact during sex between men, not intercourse itself, drives most monkeypox transmission is likely backward, a growing group of experts say. Since the outset of the global monkeypox outbreak in May, public health and infectious disease experts have told the public that the virus is largely transmitting through skin-to-skin contact, in particular during sex between men.
Now, however, an expanding cadre of experts has come to believe that sex between men itself — both anal as well as oral intercourse — is likely the main driver of global monkeypox transmission. The skin contact that comes with sex, these experts say, is probably much less of a risk factor.

Well - duh. Seems this variant of monkey pox has taken on STD components. A much easier transmission method.

Black Swans -

A lot of excitement over a series of CME ejections from the sun and southernly displays of the northern lights. The activity level of the sun’s sunspots continues to be high, with X class explosions a possibility. However, even the recent strong G class explosions haven’t been hitting the world very strongly.

The big concern is a mega X class CME that can disrupt global electrical power production and distribution.

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