Poland PM Donald Tusk aims to build "the strongest army in the region." Warsaw has been on a spending spree, buying planes, ships, artillery systems and missiles from the US, Sweden, and South Korea, out of concern of a Russian invasion. Now civilians are attending military training courses on the weekend. Said one, "history has taught us that we must be prepared to defend ourselves on our own. We cannot rely on anyone else. Today alliances exist, and tomorrow they are broken. Most Poles will take up arms [if attacked] and be ready to defend the country." The US currently has 10,000 troops stationed in Poland, but Washington announced last month it was pulling out of a key military base in the city of Rzeszow. read more
A Chinese mitten crab, a prohibited species in Oregon, was caught on 22 Apr in the Lower Columbia River. Chinese mitten crabs have not been confirmed in the Pacific Northwest until now. A single Japanese mitten crab was found in the same area in 1997. Mitten crabs caused significant infrastructure and ecological damage in and around San Francisco Bay when the population was at its height in the late 1990s. So, it is important to correctly identify this species and report it to local wildlife authorities. read more
United Airlines cut 35 daily round-trip flights at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), citing FAA technology failures and staffing issues that resulted in five days of excessive delays. The cancellations " which are about 10% of the carrier's service at the major East Coast airport " starts this weekend. The move comes after nearly one-quarter of all FAA air traffic controllers at EWR "walked off the job" due to malfunctioning technology, further compounding chronic understaffing that has the FAA now issuing a Ground Delay for the gridlocked New York City-area airport. Link: nasstatus.faa.gov read more
At least 16 civilians and security officials have been killed in clashes in a town near Damascus, the second consecutive day of fighting in Druze-majority areas around Syria's capital. An attack on the Druze-majority Damascus suburb of Jaramana a day earlier left at least ten people. The Druze are an Arab religious minority of about 500,000 people in Syria, mainly concentrated in Suwayda governorate (green on the map below) and small towns south of Damascus. Israel has said it will protect the Druze population in southern Syria, an offer that Syrian Druze have said they did not ask for. Photo: Druze funeral read more
Ukrainian activist Serhii Sternenko survived an attempted assassination on him. A vocal critic of Russia and its full-scale invasion, Sternenko is known for his crowdfunding campaigns to help fund the Ukrainian military. He played a key role in the use of first-person view (FPV) drones. Sternenko raised funds to supply equipment to the frontline, including the purchase of over 176,000 FPV drones. The SBU is interrogating the female suspect: SBU read more
Here is a Roger Corman film that spooked me when I was young last century. In this one hour gem, you'll see the "Professor" without "Marianne" or "Ginger": youtu.be
#6: Years ago, planes flew in and out of Kowloon Airport (HKG) in between apartment buildings. I wanted to wave at the people in the kitchens cooking those mitten crabs. "Looks good!": media.cnn.com
#4: Hi Dark Vader: The mitten crabs are supposed to be delicious with asparagus. The next time you eat at your favorite Chinese restaurant, ask them what type of crab you are eating. youtu.be
Years ago, my team and I spent a week inside Site-R for a continuation of operations drill. This is where VPOTUS Dick Cheney fled to on 9/11 and why the Blackhawk helicopters are always rehearsing their flight plans near DCA airport.
Smoking is not allowed inside the airtight bunker built into a mountain able to survive a nukestrike. Uh-huh. nypost.com
Ukraine: Russian Fighter Jet Destroyed With Sea Drone for the First Time
"Ukraine destroyed a Russian Su-30 fighter jet using a missile fired from a seaborne drone, in what was the world's first downing of a combat plane by a maritime drone. Outmanned and outgunned by its larger, wealthier Russian adversary, Ukraine has turned to drone warfare in the air and at sea as a way to fight back through more than three years of full-scale war. Ukraine's seaborne drones, which are much cheaper and smaller than conventional ships, have wrought havoc on Russia's Black Sea fleet. Ukraine previously shot down a Russian military helicopter in Dec 2024 using a missile fired from the same type of seaborne drone."
https://youtu.be/4POeKkEOEwI
Cost of Su-30 fighter jet= Between $50 million and $65 million per plane.
Source: www.indiatoday.im
NTSB Probing Aborted Landings at Reagan National Airport Prompted by Nearby US Army Helicopter
The NTSB is investigating the aborted landings of two commercial flights approaching Reagan National Airport on Thursday as a US Army Black Hawk helicopter was approaching the Pentagon nearby.
Helicopters near the airport have been under intense scrutiny since the 29 Jan midair collision of AA Flight 5342 and a US Army helicopter from the same unit. The crash killed 67 people. The FAA is also investigating and said air traffic controllers instructed Delta Flight 1671 and Republic Flight 5825 "to perform go-arounds at the Reagan Washington National Airport due to a Priority Air Transport helicopter inbound to the Pentagon Army Heliport" around 2:30 p.m. ET on Thursday.
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA): "It is outrageous that only three months after an Army Black Hawk helicopter tragically collided with a passenger jet, the same Army brigade again flew a helicopter too close to passenger jets on final approach at DCA. This comes less than a week after this brigade resumed flights in the National Capital Region."
NTSB report on 29 Jan midair collision: www.ntsb.gov
Source: www.cnn.com
Worker Safety Agency NIOSH Lays Off Most Remaining Staff
"Nearly all of the remaining staff at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) were laid off Friday, gutting programs ranging from approvals of new safety equipment to firefighter health.
Much of the work at NIOSH, an arm of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, had already stalled after an initial round of layoffs on 1 April at the agency ordered by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
New requests for investigations of firefighter injuries and workplace health hazards had already stopped being accepted. A CDC plan to help Texas schools curb the spread of measles infections was also scrapped due to the layoffs."
The oligarchs don't care about the health or safety of working Americans, so the Trumpf junta is perpetrating "social murder" on the American people by slashing these programs. The wealthy certainly don't care that people have become unemployed have families to raise and bills to pay.
Source: www.cbsnews.com
While the Trumpf junta is preparing a "disease registry" for people with autism, ceasing infectious disease research at the NIH, measles is spreading in the US. Now there are reports of dangerous screwworms invading the Homeland from the south and this damaging mitten crab maybe one of others in the Pacific Northwest ready to wreak the eco-system there. Trumpf and DOGE already slashed jobs at the overworked Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). I wonder what the Dotard is doing this weekend?
Source: www.vox.com
#2: Norway blew the cobwebs off their old Cold War bunkers and is re-furnishing them because of Voldemart Putin and his protege in the White House, Dotard Trumpf: www.bbc.co.uk
Approximately 216,000 servicemen and women make up the Polish armed forces. The government says they intend to increase that to half a million, including reservists which would give it the second-largest military in NATO after the US. Poland has a population of 37 million. According to the Global Firepower Index, Poland's military is ranked 21 out of 145 countries. Source: www.globalfirepower.com
#30: In addition to Trumpf hominids, apes can't swim either: e.g. gorillas, chimpanzees, and orangutans. But these snow monkeys (non-apes) in Japan enjoying bathing in the warm springs: cdn.cheapoguides.com
Trumpf Junta Planning Massive Cuts at CIA and NSA
"The Trumpf junta recently informed lawmakers on Capitol Hill that it intends to reduce the CIA's workforce by about 1,200 personnel over several years and cut thousands more from other parts of the USIC, including at NSA, a highly secretive service that specializes in cryptology and global electronic espionage. The specifics of the planned cuts have not been previously reported."
The Trumpf junta is doing a first-rate job of dismantling national security by scattering and purging FBI agents, firing USIC personnel over alleged inappropriate chat room use, antagonizing NATO and Canada, and now these deep budget cuts at CIA and NSA. Voldemort Putin couldn't be more pleased with his protege.
Source: msn.com
#62: "....her cause of death is under investigation."
When the ICE contractor guards found Marie Ange Blaise (44) dead, they probably scribbled into the logbook: "NHI" or "DBT" (AKA 'No Humans Involved' or 'Death By Trumpf.')
Trumpf body count: media.istockphoto.com
US Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) Becoming Unglued
An expose about the US Senator details an erratic and unstable man. One witness claimed the lawmaker was "nearly struck by a car" and was found "wandering" Capitol Hill. In another incident, a staffer found Fetterman sitting at a table alone, silently drinking a soda. Then-Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) found Fetterman to be nearly "catatonic" when Brown tried to talk with him. Soon after, on 15 Feb, Fetterman was admitted to Walter Reed Medical Center. Physicians at GWU Hospital later determined Fetterman was severely dehydrated, and had not had a second stroke as feared. The expose raised questions about alleged tensions with his wife, Gisele, over his health regimen, his stance on Israel, and her reported run-ins with his staff.
Sources:
Archived link: nymag.com
Sheriff: NFL Legend John Elway Golf Cart Incident Appears to be a 'Tragic Accident'
Jeffrey Sperbeck (62) fell from the gold cart John Elway was driving in Southern California Saturday night. Sperbeck was taken to a hospital in critical condition and he was pronounced dead Wednesday. The Sheriff found out about the incident on Monday.
How fast was John Elway driving and what did Sperbeck land on? A hazard?
A family attorney said: "The investigation has confirmed what we already knew: this was a tragic accident and sometimes things happen in life that we will never comprehend." Like how America ended up with Trumpf as President again.
This is the platinum golf resort where the incident occurred: madisonclubca.com
Source: www.nbcnews.com
#30: Hi Hamburglar: Why have smart people with morals when you can have stupid violent people?
This is exactly what makes Buddhism difficult for me to practice. I find reading this to be helpful: images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com