Globalism / Great Reset –
Upcoming meetings of importance
- WHO February 19 to 21, Trans guideline committee.
- WHO pandemic ‘treaty’ May 2024
*****
Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles has cancer and will be continuing to do his duties, but from home and will be postponing public-facing duties. His medical team announced that the cancer was caught ‘early’ and full recovery probable.
No specifics have been released on the nature of the cancer.
OBSERVATION - Charles is one of the bigwigs at the WEF, pushing its agenda in England as well as other commonwealth countries.
This announcement now has brought clarity to rumors I read a number of months back that there was a possibly that Charles may step down soon. Reasons were not specific at the time, but could well have been medically related. Could this be what was rumored back then. Initial diagnosis would naturally precede actual treatment set up.
PR putting good foot forward on his potential recovery, but nothing is certain anymore. He has a number of other medical conditions that may be affected by his cancer treatment, or will make his treatment less effective.
CW2 / Domestic violence - Heightened THREAT
Showdown in TX continues. The beacons of Gondor are lit ! !
Yesterday, a news conference at Eagle Pass with Gov Abbott and 16 supporting governors reiterating the constitutional right for TX to defend itself from an invasion and reiterating support for TX.
***
The U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR), and National Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) called for a “week of action” that started yesterday and will end on Sunday, 11 February.
OBSERVATION - Besides now dropping to being more of a nuisance than a threat, this is an attempt to try to rally passion again for pro-hamas propaganda and leverage against Israeli support by democrats.
***
See Illegal immigration below on the growth of Venezuelan crime gangs in the US.
Terrorism - Level is HIGH due to impending conflict with Iran.
This warning renewed as of Feb 6, 2024
ELEVATED RISK - Potential military action against Iranian assets for the attack that killed US forces in Jordan could result in Iranian terror groups here in the US to activate and conduct terror ops here. These attacks can range from infrastructure destruction (water, power, communications, etc) to mass casualty events (superbowl related attacks) or attacks on political candidates - heavily leaning against current administration but also Trump as well. So far the govt hasn’t come out with any warnings but the risk has increased significantly the last 24 hours, based on common sense and stated goals of the Islamist movement/Iran.
Economy-
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell vowed in an interview aired Sunday that the central bank will proceed carefully with interest rate cuts this year and likely will move at a considerably slower pace than the market expects.
“With the economy strong like that, we feel like we can approach the question of when to begin to reduce interest rates carefully,” he told the news magazine’s Scott Pelley, according to a transcript CBS released.
“We want to see more evidence that inflation is moving sustainably down to 2%,” Powell added. “Our confidence is rising. We just want some more confidence before we take that very important step of beginning to cut interest rates.”
OBSERVATION - Once again, pulling back confidence in an early rate reduction. It is becoming less and less likely that the Fed will be able to affect the ‘economy’ in a favorable manner before the election in a manner that would be favorable to biden.
***
The Wall Street Journal notes Burritos and Big Macs to Cost More in California as Pay Rises
Minimum wage for California fast-food workers is set to rise to $20 an hour in April, a 25% increase from the state’s broader $16 minimum wage. Restaurants including McDonald’s, Chipotle, Jack in the Box and others say they will raise menu prices in California in response, with some McDonald’s franchisees estimating hundreds of thousands of dollars per restaurant in added labor costs.
The National Owners Association, a group of McDonald’s franchisees, estimated it will cost Golden Arches operators an additional $250,000 annually per restaurant, an amount that can’t readily be absorbed, according to an email from the group last September.
https://www.wsj.com/business/hospitality/california-minimum-wage-workers-prices-c3aef6b4
OBSERVATION - Kalifornia will likely feel the biggest pain, but higher costs have spread nationwide as all fast food franchises have struggled post wuhan to get people to work for them. In my world, I’ve pretty much stopped McD’s even for the grandkids after a play time in the park. Kid meals are not unhappy meals. Burger thing has coupons out with big discounts for various combos - that’s where we are headed on a more consistent basis (until the coupons get used up) now. Even a meal at the local Perkins is cheaper than McD’s.
POLITICAL FRONT –
Dates of importance
Feb 8 - The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on the Colorado case.
March - latest CR expires
March 5- Super Tuesday primaries
***
Yesterday, Colorado presented its case in front of the USSC for the exclusion of Trump from the ballot on the “insurrection” charges.
****
Posting this here because of its political ramifications -
The Senate “bipartisan” border bill (which is more military aid and other pork than border security) is crashing on the rocks of republican public opinion - widely seen as a sellout to the marxist democrat goals for border chaos and tying Trumps hands if/when he returns to the WH.
In the midst of all this comes reports that supporter and instigator McConnell has tossed Senator James Lankford under the bus. McConnell allegedly recommended a NO vote on the supplemental Wednesday in a closed Senate GOP meeting. This follows efforts by McConnell to muster enough Republican support to override an expected filibuster of the bill.
NOTE - Still pending a lot of collaborating information, since McConnell reportedly said to vote NO last week - well before the content of the bill was officially releases and when it was still being reported that he was trying to sway enough republicans to vote YES to over ride the expected filibuster. SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT HERE, are we being PLAYED?
As of last count yesterday, 19 of the 41 republicans needed to sustain a filibuster have openly come out as voting NO on the bill. If the McConnell rumor is true, he must have added up the numbers and see that the remaining NO votes are coalescing together and his buddy-buddy bill with Schumer is doomed. But the question still remains - what the reports that he was still trying to get the votes necessary to get it passed?
House Speaker Johnson reiterated yesterday that if passed by the Senate, the bill would be DOA upon reaching the house.
I find it very disappointing that McConnell and probably some other republican senators (looking at you Romney) managed to convince Lankford to move forward with these ‘negotiations’ and disappointed that Lankford was stupid enough to agree. Though his seat doesn’t come up for reelection until 2026, he is now facing getting the “Chaney” treatment from Oklahoma state republicans when that time comes.
On the side, it has been uncovered that in a 2010 deposition in the case, given a week after he was elected to his first term in the U.S. House, Lankford testified that he believed a 13-year-old could consent to sex. Is there something else lurking there that McConnell used for leverage to get him to sell out the country and the republicans?
We have not heard the last on this bill, schumer is still planning on a vote on Wednesday.
Biden / Harris Watch –
Dates to watch -
March 7 - State of the union
****
biden in response to Trump’s challenge for early debates “I’d want to debate me too”
Illegal Immigration –
See CW2 on Texas standoff.
***
Gov Abbot in yesterday’s news conference noted that illegal penetrations at Eagle Pass have dropped into the single digits, from thousands per day just weeks earlier.
***
Should cross ref under CW2 as well
The largest growing criminal organization in the world has infiltrated its way into the United States, said an El Paso FBI agent.
The Tren de Aragua, or the “Aragua Train,” gained notoriety after its founding in 2012 by Hector Guerrero, alias “Niño Guerrero” or Warrior Kid, in the state of Aragua located in the north-central region of Venezuela.
The gang has now become a significant concern along the US-Mexico border, Blair said.
A CNN report said U.S. Border Patrol arrested 38 possible gang members between October 2022 and 2023, with two detained near the El Paso border.
FBI Special Agent Britton Boyd with the El Paso FBI highlighted the threat to Borderland communities, emphasizing that identified Tren de Aragua members face prosecution for illegal entry into the U.S.
“The gang capitalizes on its Venezuelan community for entry, primarily engaging in human smuggling and sex trafficking,” Boyd said.
ALSO - NYC facing growth of crimes by Venezuelan illegals forming gangs and conduction robberies - as many as nearly 70 big ones in one week.
OBSERVATION - It was a well know secret that Venezuela emptied its prisons and sent them northward to the US. They are one of the higher percentages of groups entering the country and find an easier route due to Madera “political persecution”. As as these groups continue to take hold, they will expand. I’ve said it many times, local police are already overwhelmed by the surge in crimes, not just the border, but everywhere these locusts have landed. It is going to make rooting the out all the more difficult.
Foreign gangs will be a serious problem should things go sideways. They do not have the cultural affinity as the US gangs do and their reputation is that of being far more ruthless. They will have two power bases - border towns and major urban centers - where particularly latino gangs can blend in or alternate back and forth across the border as needed. International black market guns can and do cross the border, to arm these gangs up. Any SHTF / WOTL scenario, life would become very dangerous and a potential Reconquesta of the south very possible.
North/South Korea –
More speculation on NKs nuclear goals and next steps. While NK has been racing ahead with ballistic missiles that could be used to deliver a nuclear round, the question is has NK actually miniaturized the components into a size small enough to be carried by those rockets? And for an ICBM round - have they developed a reliable reentry vehicle to protect said bomb on terminal approach.
For over year now, the underground test site in NK has been restored with at least one test chamber available and ready for a test. Recent ICBM launches have been the high perigee types - going more straight up than across the globe - so NK can monitor telemetry (they don’t have the Pacific test range like the US does). One of these rockets could loft a live nuke warhead for exo-atmospheric explosion test - and very possibly generate an EMP that could affect SK and Japan.
Lots of ‘what if’s ‘ involved. A likely scenario would be a underground test of the warhead, followed by the exo-atmospheric test.
All this to say that this is an election year, and biden is looking weaker and weaker by the polls as well as in public appearances. They will attempt to leverage this for max effect. Kim knows that Trump is willing to negotiate on some matters, but unwilling to supply the technical military support putin is delivering.
Expanded discussion at link below.
Japan –
US/Japanese joint command exercise actually named China as the enemy and included detailed map of Taiwan. Previous command exercises were conducted against a fictitious opponent over a generic island(s).
Russia -
WAR WATCH - into the second year of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine - Feb 24th, 2022
CURRENT ASSESSMENT - Updated Feb 2, 2024, closing in on two years of war.
Russia is attempting to seize the initiative by executing a winter/spring offensive across the eastern front. Russia has reportedly concentrated 40,000 troops to sustain this offensive. Though reports indicate that there have been some limited successes, Russian forces have taken heavy losses. One key objective continues to be the capture of Avdiivak, near Donetsk, as well as terrain lost to Ukraine during the Ukraine fall offensive in 2022. The attacks associated with this offensive do not appear to be supportive of each other in a manner that could help expedite any breakthrough and initiate any significant armor / mobile action. These assault axis also appear to be vulnerable to Ukrainian strikes on their logistics trains.
Russia has been able to gradually enlarge the number of soldiers in the theatre to the 400,000 range. Training and equipping of these forces is still rated very poor. Russia has drawn heavily upon ‘volunteers’ from penal colonies for their “Z” shock troops- the primary element of their meat attack (human wave) assaults against Ukraine defenses. It has been documented that ‘enforcement’ squads follow behind these ‘shock troops’ with orders to shoot any who attempt to retreat.
Russia continues to suffer heavy tank and APC losses. Old, cold war era tanks and APCs are becoming more and more common sights in battle fields. (formerly) Elite units like the Russian marines are routinely seen with T54/55 series tanks instead of the T72/80/90 series they were commonly equipped with.
Shortages of Ukraine artillery ammo has permitted Russia to regain some degree of local superiority on the battlefield. Some estimates give Russia a 3:1 advantage. This is down substantially from the start of the war where it had a 10:1 advantage.
Russian has been shepherding its stockpile of missiles/drones for a potential effort to take down the Ukraine power grid as they did winter 2023. This task has become increasingly difficult as Ukraine adds air defense systems and gets better coverage.
The Russian Black Sea fleet is is essentially impotent and hesitant to deploy into now contested waters. In the latest, large missile / drone attack, the Black Sea fleet was noticeably out of action. In the last half of 2023, Ukraine was able to take out about 20% of the fleet.
The Russia air force has taken significant losses at the hands of Ukraine. This has forced Russia to redeploy fighter bombers further away from the contested zone and exercise more caution when attacking. Larger aircraft have been forced to alter their operations as well.
Russian leadership reportedly planning for a long duration conflict, hoping to wear the Ukraine army down and cause European allies to tire of their support - forcing some sort of cease fire and negotiated peace. putin is struggling to place his economy on wartime footing to accomplish this goal.
*****
Tucker Carlson interviewed putin yesterday. Will be interesting to see the results.
Ukraine –
WEATHER FORECAST – Temperatures in the 20-30 range with scattered snow and rain.
24 HOUR ROUND UP – Weather continues to dominate action on the ground. However, temperatures are reaching levels around Ukraine that are starting to freeze the ground locally, meaning that ground operations may have their tempo increase over the coming days/weeks.
Relatives quiet as things are mostly stable. A lot of fighting in the Avdiivak area with terrain on the southeastern margin of the city swinging back and forth in changing control.
Russian Territory –
Blackouts in Rostov, Bataysk and Azov in Rostov region due to technical failure in power grid.
Outlook —
Weather and mud conditions are continuing to dictate ground operations, which are at a low level due to lack of maneuverability cross country and on dirt roads due to the mud.
Stalemate is the general term along the front, with continued higher numbers of Russian attacks trying to achieve momentum.
Some analysts are noting that Russia has readjusted its strategic reserves into four components and deployed them where they can reinforce various sectors with greater ease. This was a major problem during Ukraine’s summer offensive 2023 - Russia was forces to laterally move frontal units to reinforce sectors - stretching out their manning in other sectors - creating vulnerable zones.
More analysis regarding the 40,000 man force being put together along the eastern front. Timing appears to be set for the Russian elections - as a means of showing that Russia is winning and not just in a stalemate / meat grinder.
One last item of interest. I noted yesterday about the 9,334 pieces of Russian tube artillery no longer at storage armories. This number is very close to the reported number of artillery pieces listed by Ukraine as being destroyed. To say that Russia is running out of artillery is not an exaggerated claim.
Belarus -
Lithuania to close two more checkpoints on the border with Belarus – Raigardas and Lavoriskes – on March 1, 2024.
They also decided to limit the movement of people on bicycles and on foot at all checkpoints on the border with Belarus.
OBSERVATION - Belarus has been a major supporter of illegal migrants trying to get into Europe via Poland as well as Baltic Countries. Most recent tactic used by both Belarus and Russia is to send them to the border crossings on bicycles and on foot - some how that is easier than other tactics.
War nearly broke out between Poland and Belarus prior to the Ukraine war over Belarus moving these migrants into crossing places along the border.
Europe / NATO General –
In a Sunday opinion piece titled, “NATO is pushing the Russia-Ukraine conflict toward a ‘world war,’” published by the Global Times, a nationalistic English-language tabloid published by the propaganda department of the ruling Communist Party, noted NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg’s recent visit to the United States in which he spoke about the “readiness” of NATO along with the investment in aid and defense.
“Clearly, this is not just about NATO seeking funds. This is a clear preparation of public opinion to expand the Russia-Ukraine conflict into a world war,” Global Times’ opinion piece read.
OBSERVATION - Sometimes truth is spoken by your enemies. More and more, the talk coming out of European govts / NATO is an expectance of soon war with Russia, and public perception is being adjusted to support such preparations and eventual war.
ISRAEL –
Key overnight developments -
- Hamas reiterates its demand that Israel accept its demands for a permanent cease-fire before any hostage release negotiations can move forward.
——— GENERAL ——————————-
Lest we forget - there are still 136 being held hostage in Gaza.
***
Efforts to close wide gaps between Israel and Hamas in pursuit of a cease-fire continued in the region where concerns about a wider war with Iran-allied groups remain. A top Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, said they were studying the proposal put forward by the U.S., Egypt, Qatar, and Israel but insist on Israel accepting conditions including a permanent cease-fire.
https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/israel-hamas-war/2024/02/03/id/1152173/
——— GAZA FRONT ———————————-
Ongoing search and destroy operations throughout Gaza. Reports of more mass surrenders of Hamas and affiliated fighters. Also more reports of Hamas popping back up in N Gaza.
——— LEBANON / HEZBOLLAH——————————-
Continued exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and IDF along the border.
According to Israeli Army Radio, 17 missiles were launched from Lebanon towards Israel since this morning
Hezbollah: No negotiations on the southern border (of Lebanon) before stopping the war on Gaza.
NOTE - This would be in regards to Hezbollah pulling back to the Litani River and demilitarizing the portion of Lebanon south of the river to the Israeli border as required by UN resolutions.
———WEST BANK——————————-
Arrests continue in numerous cities in the West Bank.
———“ISLAMIC RESISTANCE” ———————————
US assessing that it destroyed 80 of the 85 targets it hit during Friday’s wave of airstrikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq & Syria, per Pentagon Press Sec Maj Gen Pat Ryder. No US estimate on casualties.
Senior U.S. Defense Officials stated yesterday that there is currently no plan for a sustained large-scale campaign against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) or Iranian-backed groups in Iraq and Syria, but that they are in the process of planning additional retaliation strikes if necessary.
Houthis say they have fired missiles towards two ships in the Red Sea.
A Barbados-flagged, UK-owned cargo ship came under a drone attack while sailing in the Red Sea. It reported being hit when it was 57 miles off the coast of Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah and incurred minor damage on the port side. No injuries were reported.
A ship in the Red Sea was attacked by a number of individuals in a small, speed boat. One of the speed boat passengers fired an RPG round at the vessel, striking it and causing minor damage.
——— FORECAST ————————-
Israel to continue search and destroy operations across Gaza. Fighting to continue to be locally intense across all Gaza as Hamas and affiliate cells are discovered and neutralized as well as of the couple hundred miles of tunnels are uncovered and destroyed.
US must keep the air strikes going against Iranian militias in Syria and Iraq as well as against the Houthi to suppress their attacks and degrade their capabilities. Any let up will only cause them to get froggy again and increase their attacks on US forces and Red Sea shipping.
Iran – Potential war with US developing.
A new report from the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) is sounding the alarm on Iran’s closeness to going nuclear, upgrading its threat level to “Extreme Danger,” the highest of its six ratings, for the first time since the group began following the Iranian nuclear program in the 1990s.
“If Iran wanted to further enrich its 60 percent enriched uranium up to 90 percent weapon-grade uranium (WGU)... it could do so quickly,” the report says.
“[Iran] can break out and produce enough weapon-grade enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon in a week,” it goes on, “using only a fraction of its 60 percent enriched uranium. This breakout could be difficult for inspectors to detect promptly, if Iran took steps to delay inspectors’ access.”
Moreover, using its remaining stock of enriched uranium, the country “could have in total enough weapon-grade uranium for six weapons in one month, and after five months of producing weapon-grade uranium, it could have enough for twelve.”
Although manufacturing the delivery system for the weapon itself could take longer, an accelerated program to develop a simple warhead delivered by ship or truck “could be accomplished in about six months,” signaling Iran’s nuclearization “either dramatically via an underground nuclear test or stealthily via leaks about its accomplishment.”
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-785373
OBSERVATION - This is the big red flag. As the article points out, its one thing to have the concentrated uranium. Its another to create a device that can create an explosion and another to design that bomb to be able to be transported in some manner to its target.
****
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has refused to rule out striking targets in Iran in the wake of repeated strikes on Iran-linked groups across the Middle East. Speaking to NBC, Sullivan was asked repeatedly if the US was considering attacks inside Iran.
“Well, sitting here today on a national news program, I’m not going to get into what we’ve ruled in and ruled out from the point of view of military action,” he said. “What I will say is that the president is determined to respond forcefully to attacks on our people. The president also is not looking for a wider war in the Middle East.”
Pressed again on the question, he continued to avoid a direct answer. “I’m not going to get into what’s on the table and off the table when it comes to the American response,” he said.
I always read And appreciate your post Godzilla. You obviously put a lot of work and time capsulizing for us the important global news of the day as well as stateside news. Thank you again for your work
Slight delay in that I had to deal with 3” of dense snow fall from overnight. Desperately needed in the hills. Probably will have to go out again later and shovel some more.
Globalism / Great Reset –
Upcoming meetings of importance
- WHO February 19 to 21, Trans guideline committee.
- WHO pandemic ‘treaty’ May 2024
*****
Farmers have gained a VERY limited victory of sorts in their protests against the EU’s draconian global warming mandates towards agriculture.
One of the items von der Leyen announced this morning in her speech to the European Parliament was the withdrawal of the proposed Sustainable Use Regulation (SUR). This pesticide use control measure met with widespread controversy when it was introduced in 2022. Last year it didn’t survive a vote by the parliament for implementation because of protests from a united European agricultural sector. Prospects were already looking glum for attempts at passage this year even before France, Belgium, and Germany’s farming communities erupted.
During her speech on Tuesday morning, the Commission chief spoke at length about farmers, saying they “deserve to be listened to” as they face the ravages of climate change, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the cost-of-living crisis.
But she insisted the sector, which accounts for over 10% of the bloc’s greenhouse gas emissions and is heavily subsidised through the EU budget, needs to transition towards a “more sustainable model of production.”
“Only if our farmers can live off the land will they invest in the future. And only if we achieve our climate and environmental goals together, will farmers be able to continue to make a living,” the Commission president said.
“Our farmers are well aware of this. We should place more trust in them.”
...The withdrawal of the proposed law is not immediate and still has to be ratified by the College of Commissioners, a process expected to be finalized in the coming weeks.
Despite the news, von der Leyen stressed the issue of regulating pesticides, whose carbon footprint stems from their manufacture, transport and application, would remain on the agenda and could be subject to a “new proposal much more mature.”
OBSERVATION - Some equate this to a big ‘bait and switch’, noting that EU isn’t fully rejecting the global warming mandates, only possibly postponing them for a period (“remaining on the agenda”).
***
Over the weekend, the University of Warwick concluded its Warwick Economics Summit. On the second day, 3 February, the World Health Organization (“WHO”) director, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, joined the Summit via Zoom to push the Pandemic Treaty.
“It’s urgent [ ] that all of us learn the painful lessons the [covid] pandemic told us and make the changes that must be made to keep all of us safer. It’s for that reason that in December 2022 WHO’s member states met in Geneva and agreed to develop an international agreement on pandemic preparedness and response,” he said.
Tedro’s speech was an appalling attempt to manipulate young minds and use them to fight his battles, Tedros called on students to raise their voices “to counter the lies that are undermining the [pandemic] agreement on social media.”
https://expose-news.com/2024/02/06/tedros-the-terrorist-tries-to-push-whos-treaty/
OBSERVATION - The source is kind ‘out there’ in some aspects, but the fact of Tedro’s speech remains as well as the intent of it. Right now, the WHO is on the cutting edge to be the first to get national authorization via this pandemic treaty, to place the world under a globalist control. Going back, this ‘treaty’ has a very broad ranging definition of a ‘health’ emergency to include global heating as well as gun control.
CW2 / Domestic violence - Heightened THREAT
Showdown in TX continues. The beacons of Gondor are lit ! !
Oregon Republicans issued a statement saying that they stand with Texas Governor Gov Abbott in his efforts to secure our southern border
OBSERVATION - the 26 state break away from federal malfeasance as a foreshock to a developing ‘national divorce’ is obvious . As I’ve noted earlier, any further split will be on a state by state basis with left coast CA, OR and WA having their eastern regions red and wanting to split from the dark blue urbanites.
IN RELATED- biden just called up Alaska NG to support the border patrol in TX. This is a deliberate attempt to threaten potential NG v NG confrontations IMHO.
***
Several of the illegal aliens who recently seriously assaulted NYC police officers and were released by the NY DA for ‘lack of evidence’ were arrested by ICE agents in Phoenix AZ. The New York Post reports a church non-profit gave them free bus tickets to California after they gave the non-profit fake names.
The name of this so called “church non-profit” was not given.
OBSERVATION - Cross link to illegal immigration. Illegal crime will quickly surpass crimes by the former favored underclass of the democrats in an exponential manner. The effort being made to keep these thugs on the streets is mind boggling. Meanwhile, citizens are being robbed, beaten, raped and murdered with no hope of the criminal justice system bringing these illegals to justice. This serves to increase the chaos in the cities, but it is generating backlash as well.
These ‘non-profits’ need to be named and put front and center for their contribution to the promotion of crime and in this case , conspiracy.
***
The “Negro national anthem” and now known as the “black national anthem” will be played immediately after the National Anthem at this weekend’s Super Bowl.
OBSERVATION - Very few things depict the two-fold nature the left is creating in this country than the imposition of this so called ‘black national anthem’ on the American society. Already it has been drilled into so many minds of blacks and whites for that matter too that the white race doesn’t deserve to live in this country, let alone world, that promotion of another anthem widen’s that rift.
Terrorism - Level is HIGH due to impending conflict with Iran.
This warning renewed as of Feb 6, 2024
ELEVATED RISK - Potential military action against Iranian assets for the attack that killed US forces in Jordan could result in Iranian terror groups here in the US to activate and conduct terror ops here. These attacks can range from infrastructure destruction (water, power, communications, etc) to mass casualty events (superbowl related attacks) or attacks on political candidates - heavily leaning against current administration but also Trump as well. So far the govt hasn’t come out with any warnings but the risk has increased significantly the last 24 hours, based on common sense and stated goals of the Islamist movement/Iran.
Economy-
Credit card delinquencies surged more than 50% in 2023 as total consumer debt swelled to $17.5 trillion, the New York Federal Reserve reported Tuesday.
Debt that has transitioned into “serious delinquency,” or 90 days or more past due, increased across multiple categories during the year, but none more so than credit cards.
With a total of $1.13 trillion in debt, credit card debt that moved into serious delinquency amounted to 6.4% in the fourth quarter, a 59% jump from just over 4% at the end of 2022, the New York Fed reported. The quarterly increase at an annualized pace was around 8.5%, New York Fed researchers said.
OBSERVATION - Continued linage to the increase in CC debt is to keep the family afloat. Jobs are becoming scarce, wages not keeping up with inflation and out of control housing costs are on people’s minds - and they are not being swayed by the regimes bleats as to how wonderful things are. Reality meets rhetoric.
***
Damage assessments are underway to gauge the damage to the agriculture fields from the weekend’s floods in central and southern Kalifornia. Initial reports suggest that enough damage has been sustained that food prices for some items are likely to rise short term due to shortages. Monitoring.
***
National Retail Federation VP Jonathan Gold said disruption in the Red Sea is pushing shippers back to West Coast ports and is already starting to put pressure on rail supply chains. Gold added that already increasing pressure on rail shipping combined with higher demand could lead to even greater rail shipping congestion.
OBSERVATION - This is on top of the increased shipping costs (5 fold by some reports) and time.
Military / Strategic Activity / Deployments –
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) detected and tracked four Russian military aircraft operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone today. The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter U.S. or Canadian airspace, per NORAD.
OBSERVATION - Common event during the Cold War era that has been resurrected and has been ongoing for several years now.
POLITICAL FRONT –
Dates of importance
Feb 8 - The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on the Colorado case.
March - latest CR expires
March 5- Super Tuesday primaries
***
More republican turmoil over the treasonous ‘immigration’ reform bill that crashed and burned when released Monday. Still some confusion on exactly when McConnell did the 180 -was is Wed of last week or Monday of this week. News reports now point to the latter.
As the GOP senators convened on Monday night to deliberate over the compromised border bill, it became evident that the likelihood of obtaining the necessary 60 votes to move forward with the national security package was dwindling.
“McConnell recommended to GOP senators behind closed doors that they BLOCK the border bill on Wednesday, per multiple sources, bc it’s clear that most Republicans are preparing to vote no — either because they oppose the bill or want more time,” according to Punchbowl News reporter Andrew Desiderio.
This whole fiasco of secret negotiations with this bill stuffed with tons of other, unrelated items and spending has generated increasing calls for McConnell to step down from the leadership. This bill was everything the republican party stood against.
***
In related to the bogus border bill, chucky schumer appeared to have threatened citizens with being forced to fight in Ukraine if the bill wasn’t passed. “Americans wouldn’t like that”
***
House Republicans suffered a stinging defeat Tuesday when four members of their conference joined Democrats in voting against impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The House voted 216-214 to not impeach Mayorkas over his failure to secure the border with Mexico. Only one Republican did not vote, believed to be Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., who is not in Washington following surgery in January. Scalise last fall was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer.
Republican Reps. Ken Buck of Colorado, Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, Tom McClintock of California, and Blake Moore of Utah joined Democrats in voting against the resolution. Moore first voted to impeach but then joined the no side to allow the House GOP to bring up the vote again.
OBSERVATION - The congressional republicans are the keystone cops of modern politics. This impeachment should have been a slam dunk, yet some republicans didn’t have the will or the want to do so. Recognize that impeachment would be more symbolic that functional at this stage because the Senate would not vote to convict and throw the scum bag out. Still it would have been used to pound the regime during the 2024 campaign.
***
Good new overnight is that Ronna McDaniels is out as head of the RNC. Reports state that she has told Donald Trump she will be resigning after the South Carolina primary.
Her tenure at the RNC saw victories snatched from the jaw of defeat time an again over the past several election cycles. As the niece of sen romney, her position was generally safe with the accompanying RINO establishment group. Trump has a moment in time to install a new leader to capitalize on his momentum and transfer some of it to congressional races to gain control of both houses this fall.
***
The White House has once again been exposed for violating the First Amendment rights of Americans.
The Biden administration isn’t guilty of digital or social media censorship in this case, but banning books.
Internal docs subpoenaed by @JudiciaryGOP & @Weaponization indicate that @amazon bowed down to Biden White House pressure to censor BOOKS, books that expressed views the White House did not approve of.
https://trendingpoliticsnews.com/smoking-gun-documents-amazon-censorship-knab/
OBSERVATION - Nothing spells tyranny like that of govt censorship of views contrary to their desired narrative. The First Amendment was established to prevent govt intrusion into the realm of free speech and much like its brother, the 2d Amendment, was born out of the war of Independence. Then, British and pro-british elements sought to silence newspapers that contained articles critical of British rule and actions - forcing many to go underground. Willingness by these leftist companies like Amazon to comply is another layer to the development of an Orwellian scenario where all thought is controlled by the state.
IN RELATED - The House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government said the National Science Foundation (NSF) issued multi-million dollar grants to university and non-profit research teams to develop artificial intelligence (AI) powered “censorship and propaganda tools,” with the intent to shape public opinion.
Illegal Immigration –
See CW2 on Texas standoff.
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The leader of a California secession movement known as “Yes California” told Newsweek in an exclusive interview on Saturday that a national divorce is needed to avoid another “civil war.” As politics have become increasingly polarizing in recent years, there have been growing calls from residents in coastal-like states such as California, Texas, and New Hampshire to secede from the rest of the United States.
“Yes California” is currently campaigning on a ballot measure called CalExit 3.1, which would break California into two and establish a country separate from the U.S. in the San Francisco Bay area and along the central California coast, according to the “Yes California” website. The independent land would be called Pacifica. So far, 92,000 people have signed up to join the campaign through the movement’s website. However, it’s unclear how many of these people are California residents.
OBSERVATION - This is a continuation of growing public awareness and desires to separate from the every growing and tyrannical fed govt and in some cases equally tyrannical state govts. In this instance, instead of trying to create a new state to address the growing fault line of differences, a new entity altogether is being suggested.
Should the trigger line be crossed - and there are numerous and growing trigger lines today - succession by red states and counties may well be quicker than one would think now - primarily because people are getting conditions for a future split.
China –
Chinese Zhejiang Chouzhou Commercial Bank notified customers about the suspension of transactions with Russia.
NOTE - This is developing and the reason for the actions haven’t fully been brought into my radar screen yet.
Phillipines –
The Philippines is expected to work on dozens of projects this year to upgrade military bases as part of an agreement with the United States.
Signed in 2014, the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement allows the U.S. to allocate funding to improve and construct facilities within existing Philippine military bases as well as to deploy American troops on a rotational basis.
China has decried some of the EDCA’s base locations due to their proximity to Taiwan, which Beijing considers a rogue province and has threatened to take back by force. Although the U.S. officially does not support Taiwan’s independence, Washington does provide it with weaponry, and U.S. President Joe Biden has promised to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.
OBSERVATION - Necessity to be able to defend against China is reestablishing military ties with the US.
Russia -
WAR WATCH - into the second year of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine - Feb 24th, 2022
CURRENT ASSESSMENT - Updated Feb 2, 2024, closing in on two years of war.
Russia is attempting to seize the initiative by executing a winter/spring offensive across the eastern front. Russia has reportedly concentrated 40,000 troops to sustain this offensive. Though reports indicate that there have been some limited successes, Russian forces have taken heavy losses. One key objective continues to be the capture of Avdiivak, near Donetsk, as well as terrain lost to Ukraine during the Ukraine fall offensive in 2022. The attacks associated with this offensive do not appear to be supportive of each other in a manner that could help expedite any breakthrough and initiate any significant armor / mobile action. These assault axis also appear to be vulnerable to Ukrainian strikes on their logistics trains.
Russia has been able to gradually enlarge the number of soldiers in the theatre to the 400,000 range. Training and equipping of these forces is still rated very poor. Russia has drawn heavily upon ‘volunteers’ from penal colonies for their “Z” shock troops- the primary element of their meat attack (human wave) assaults against Ukraine defenses. It has been documented that ‘enforcement’ squads follow behind these ‘shock troops’ with orders to shoot any who attempt to retreat.
Russia continues to suffer heavy tank and APC losses. Old, cold war era tanks and APCs are becoming more and more common sights in battle fields. (formerly) Elite units like the Russian marines are routinely seen with T54/55 series tanks instead of the T72/80/90 series they were commonly equipped with.
Shortages of Ukraine artillery ammo has permitted Russia to regain some degree of local superiority on the battlefield. Some estimates give Russia a 3:1 advantage. This is down substantially from the start of the war where it had a 10:1 advantage.
Russian has been shepherding its stockpile of missiles/drones for a potential effort to take down the Ukraine power grid as they did winter 2023. This task has become increasingly difficult as Ukraine adds air defense systems and gets better coverage.
The Russian Black Sea fleet is is essentially impotent and hesitant to deploy into now contested waters. In the latest, large missile / drone attack, the Black Sea fleet was noticeably out of action. In the last half of 2023, Ukraine was able to take out about 20% of the fleet.
The Russia air force has taken significant losses at the hands of Ukraine. This has forced Russia to redeploy fighter bombers further away from the contested zone and exercise more caution when attacking. Larger aircraft have been forced to alter their operations as well.
Russian leadership reportedly planning for a long duration conflict, hoping to wear the Ukraine army down and cause European allies to tire of their support - forcing some sort of cease fire and negotiated peace. putin is struggling to place his economy on wartime footing to accomplish this goal.
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The Prana Network hacker group breached the email servers of the Iranian company IRGC Sahara Thunder, that facilitates arms sales from Iran to Russia. The servers contained data on the production of Shahed-136 attack drones for Russia. The documents do not directly mention the type of product being manufactured. Instead, drones are listed in documents under a special code as “Dolphin 632 type motor boat.”
The Iranian side announced a starting price of $375,000 per unit. However, during the negotiations, an agreement was reached for $193,000 per piece when ordering 6,000 units or $290,000 when ordering 2,000 units. The total price of the production contract, including the transfer of technologies, equipment, 6,000 pieces of UAVs and software, is roughly $1.75 billion. According to other published documents, at least partially, Russia conducts its financial transactions and payments with Iran in gold.
RUMINT-
Though the article is real, the speculation is rumor.
The Telegraph has published a new scenario of a potential war between Russia and NATO
- Putin mobilizes 200 thousand soldiers in Russia and goes on a new offensive in Ukraine in spring 2024;
- Russian Federation provokes protests of Russian speaking people in the Baltics and conducts cyber attacks against these countries in the summer;
NOTE - Russia has used this tactic in Georgia and Moldova
- Protests are used as a pretext for military exercises in Belarus and the deployment of troops in Kaliningrad in the fall;
- Clashes begin in the Suvalka Corridor area in winter. At this stage, Russia and the West will have a choice - to negotiate or to wage war.
NOTE - The linchpin in this whole matter is the ability of Russia to mobilize 200k soldiers - on top of that being mobilized to sustain the Ukraine war. Not only mobilize, but equip with enough tanks, APCs and other equipment - again - above demands for sustaining combat in Ukraine.
Economic Impact –
Chinese Zhejiang Chouzhou Commercial Bank notified customers about the suspension of transactions with Russia.
NOTE - This is developing and the reason for the actions haven’t fully been brought into my radar screen yet.
Ukraine –
WEATHER FORECAST – Temperatures in the 20-30 range with scattered snow and rain.
24 HOUR ROUND UP – Weather continues to dominate action on the ground. However, temperatures are reaching levels around Ukraine that are starting to freeze the ground locally, meaning that ground operations may have their tempo increase over the coming days/weeks.
Busy night for Ukraine ADA - shooting down 15 of 20 Shahed drones, 26 of 29 Kh-101 cruise missiles, 3 of 3 Kaliber cruise missiles. Russia also launched 4 Kh-22 cruise missiles, 3 Iskander-M and 5 S-300 ballistic missiles. Areas targeted centered on Kyiv, other central and western areas of Ukraine. In eastern Ukraine - Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, and Dnipropetrovsk areas were also hit.
Outlook —
Weather and mud conditions are continuing to dictate ground operations, which are at a low level due to lack of maneuverability cross country and on dirt roads due to the mud.
Hot zones continue to be Avdiivka and the eastern front.
Europe / NATO General –
Parliament of Hungary failed to ratify Sweden’s application to join NATO
ISRAEL –
Now 4 months into the Gaza War
Key overnight developments -
- Hamas announces its refusal to release the dozens of Israeli hostages it is holding without a complete cessation of the war.
——— GENERAL ——————————-
Lest we forget - there are still 136 being held hostage in Gaza.
Israel has now confirmed 32 hostages have been murdered by Hamas. They believe another 20 hostages may also have been murdered.
Hamas has laid out a series of demands, including exchanging hostages for Palestinian prisoners and rebuilding Gaza, in response to an Israel-backed ceasefire proposal.
The armed group wants a full withdrawal of Israeli forces and an end to the war after three 45-day truce phases.
The offer is likely to be unacceptable to Israel’s prime minister, who has called for “total victory” in Gaza.
The proposal received a tepid response from US President Joe Biden, who called it “a little over the top”. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said there was still “a lot of work to be done” to reach a permanent ceasefire, but stressed the importance of reaching a lasting peace.
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The US message to Israel: “In a few weeks, the issue of normalization with Saudi Arabia and the chance to promote it ‘will be almost impossible’. You have weeks to decide”
Saudi Arabia draws the line: “The Kingdom has communicated its firm position to US administration that there will be no diplomatic relations with Israel unless an independent Palestinian state is recognized on 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as capital”
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Israeli army Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says the military has uncovered documents and other materials from a tunnel in the Gaza Strip, indicating Hamas’s direct links and coordination with Iran. “We found official documents of Hamas from 2020, including the details of the funds transferred from Iran to Hamas and [Yahya] Sinwar, between 2014 and 2020. More than 150 million dollars were transferred from Iran to Hamas,” he says.
——— GAZA FRONT ———————————-
Ongoing search and destroy operations throughout Gaza. Reports of more mass surrenders of Hamas and affiliated fighters. Also more reports of Hamas popping back up in N Gaza.
——— LEBANON / HEZBOLLAH——————————-
Continued exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and IDF along the border.
Rockets were launched from southern Lebanon towards an Israeli position in the Kafr Shuba hills
Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, voiced on February 6 the nation’s rejection of recent Israeli and international demands seeking to push Lebanese resistance group, Hezbollah, north of the Litani River, saying Beirut will not accept ‘partial solutions’ to resolving the cross-border conflict.
“Western countries demand the retreat of Hezbollah for about eight to ten kilometers north of Litani,” Bou Habib said in an interview with Nida al-Watan. “This is a formula that Lebanon rejects. [Beirut] will not accept ‘partial solutions’ that do not bring the desired peace and do not secure stability but will lead to the renewal of the war again and again.”
But in reality even if the Lebanese government wanted to try and force Hezbollah away from the southern border it would not be able to do so. The Lebanese Army has long had a very limited arsenal, and really no air force to speak of, due to sanctions and limitations imposed by Washington.
Hezbollah is widely considered to be stronger than even the Lebanese state’s army, and a weak army is largely the legacy of the prior two-decade long Lebanese civil war.
OBSERVATION - Israel is continuing to pressure actions by the world and Lebanon to push Hezbollah back from the Israeli border. It is setting the justification framework for action when the time comes. Though things could kick off very quickly, I think that Israel will continue to hold off until they have most matters concerning Gaza settled down, so they won’t be distracted by any residual action there.
——— SYRIA / HEZBOLLAH / IRAN———————————-
Syria’s state-run SANA news agency, citing a military source, says Israeli warplanes launched missiles from an area north of Lebanon’s Tripoli, targeting several sites in Homs and the nearby area.
———WEST BANK——————————-
Arrests continue in numerous cities in the West Bank.
———“ISLAMIC RESISTANCE” ———————————
Iranian-backed Houthi militants fired six anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBM) from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen toward the Southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
——— FORECAST ————————-
Israel to continue search and destroy operations across Gaza. Fighting to continue to be locally intense across all Gaza as Hamas and affiliate cells are discovered and neutralized as well as of the couple hundred miles of tunnels are uncovered and destroyed.
Hamas’ hostage exchange plan/offer is totally unlikely to be accepted by Israel. Some how they think they have the leverage to force a complete turnover of Israeli goals. They are shooting any resemblance of support in their treatment of the hostages, with the recent announcement of more murdered Israelis.
What is increasingly concerning are US govt threats to once again force a 2 - state solution on Israel, spoken openly by Saudi Arabia. Remember, there have been at least 5 two state ‘solutions’ put forth in the past, all rejected by the arabs. Forcing Israel back to the 1967 borders will place in a virtually undefinable situation - especially with today’s modern weapon systems. It is a non-starter.
To harken to more biblical view, US insistence on a forced 2 state solution and the division of Jerusalem places a target on this country. This is not a good thing to tempt God’s wrath any further.
US has stepped back a bit in preemptive strikes and the Houthi’s are pushing right back. Getting redundant in saying that overwhelming force is necessary under Arab psyche to gain any degree of deterrent.