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Tuesday, October 15, 2024

"Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin wrote a letter to Israeli officials warning that humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza must increase or the U.S. ally could risk possible consequences, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller confirms. This comes as Israel expands its military offensive into Lebanon and continues operations in Gaza. Miller took some questions on the stern warning during the State Department press briefing." read more


Monday, October 14, 2024

34,708 views Oct 14, 2024 "Ashish Prashar discusses an attack made on him and his son in Brooklyn while he was wearing a Keffiyeh." read more


Thursday, October 10, 2024

Does Donald Trump know the difference between seeking asylum and an insane asylum? On Saturday, July 20, the former president, 78, began to talk about insane asylums while discussing immigration during his Grand Rapids, Mich., rally. read more


Friday, October 04, 2024

355,804 views Oct 3, 2024 #aljazeeraenglish #News #Aljazeerainvestigation This feature length investigation by Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit exposes Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip through the medium of photos and videos posted online by Israeli soldiers themselves during the year long conflict. The I-Unit has built up a database of thousands of videos, photos and social media posts. Where possible it has identified the posters and those who appear. The material reveals a range of illegal activities, from wanton destruction and looting to the demolition of entire neighbourhoods and murder. The film also tells the story of the war through the eyes of Palestinian journalists, human rights workers and ordinary residents of the Gaza Strip. And it exposes the complicity of Western governments " in particular the use of RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus as a base for British surveillance flights over Gaza.


Comments

What sectors were spending regardless gauging?

"Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70% of U.S. economic activity, accelerated to a 3.7% annual pace last quarter, up from 2.8% in the April-June period. Exports also contributed to the third quarter's growth, increasing at an 8.9% rate.

On the other hand, growth in business investment slowed sharply on a drop in investment in housing and in nonresidential buildings such as offices and warehouses. But spending on equipment surged."

"Within the GDP data, a category that measures the economy's underlying strength rose at a solid 3.2% annual rate from July through September, up from 2.7% in the April-June quarter. This category includes consumer spending and private investment but excludes volatile items like exports, inventories and government spending."

..

"The proportion of consumers who expect a recession in the next 12 months dropped to its lowest point since the board first posed that question in July 2022.

At the same time, the nation's once-sizzling job market has lost some momentum. On Tuesday, the government reported that the number of job openings in the United States fell in September to its lowest level since January 2021. And employers have added an average of 200,000 jobs a month so far this year " a healthy number but down from a record 604,000 in 2021 as the economy rebounded from the pandemic recession, 377,000 in 2022 and 251,000 in 2023."

..

"At its most recent meeting last month, the Fed was satisfied enough with its progress against inflation " and concerned enough by the slowing job market " to slash its benchmark rate by a hefty half percentage point, its first and largest rate cut in more than four years. When it meets next week, the Fed is expected to announce another rate cut, this one by a more typical quarter-point.

The central bank's policymakers have also signaled that they expect to cut their key rate again at their final two meetings this year, in November and December. And they envision four more rate cuts in 2025 and two in 2026. The cumulative result of the Fed's rate cuts, over time, will likely be lower borrowing rates for consumers and businesses."

So, by lumping "consumer spending" with "private investment" you have the GDP. Those two contributors should be quantified independently, because dividend re-investments and stock buybacks should not be considered "consumer spending". I'm probably misunderstanding this entire scenario.

Absolute liars': Ex-D.C. Guard official says generals lied to Congress about Jan. 6 12/06/2021

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In a 36-page memo, Col. Earl Matthews, who held high-level National Security Council and Pentagon roles during the Trump administration, slams the Pentagon's inspector general for what he calls an error-riddled report that protects a top Army official who argued against sending the National Guard to the Capitol on Jan. 6, delaying the insurrection response for hours.

Matthews' memo, sent to the Jan. 6 select committee this month and obtained by POLITICO, includes detailed recollections of the insurrection response as it calls two Army generals " Gen. Charles Flynn, who served as deputy chief of staff for operations on Jan. 6, and Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt, the director of Army staff " "absolute and unmitigated liars" for their characterization of the events of that day. Matthews has never publicly discussed the chaos of the Capitol siege.

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"Every leader in the D.C. Guard wanted to respond and knew they could respond to the riot at the seat of government" before they were given clearance to do so on Jan. 6, Matthews' memo reads. Instead, he said, D.C. guard officials "set [sic] stunned watching in the Armory" during the first hours of the attack on Congress during its certification of the 2020 election results.

Matthews' memo levels major accusations: that Flynn and Piatt lied to Congress about their response to pleas for the D.C. Guard to quickly be deployed on Jan. 6; that the Pentagon inspector general's November report on Army leadership's response to the attack was "replete with factual inaccuracies"; and that the Army has created its own closely held revisionist document about the Capitol riot that's "worthy of the best Stalinist or North Korea propagandist."

..

Flynn, now the commanding general of the U.S. Army Pacific, and Piatt didn't respond to messages.

"National Guard were requested seven times"
Military Times disagrees:
www.militarytimes.com
Regardless, how does that affect my statement?
Oh, right ... it doesn't.
#12 | Posted by Danforth at 2024-10-17 06:29 PM

Ex-Capitol Police Chief Says Requests For National Guard Denied 6 Times In Riots January 11, 2021

Sund told the Post that House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving was concerned with the "optics" of declaring an emergency ahead of the protests and rejected a National Guard presence. He says Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger recommended that he informally request the Guard to be ready in case it was needed to maintain security.

Like Sund, Irving and Stenger have also since resigned their posts.

Sund says he requested assistance six times ahead of and during the attack on the Capitol. Each of those requests was denied or delayed, he says.

..

The Capitol Police contingent, which numbered around 1,400 that day, was quickly overrun by the estimated 8,000 rioters.

"If we would have had the National Guard we could have held them at bay longer, until more officers from our partner agencies could arrive," he says.

Sund says during a conference call with several law enforcement officials at about 2:26 p.m., he asked the Pentagon to provide backup.

Senior Army official Lt. Gen. Walter E. Piatt, director of the Army Staff, said on the call he couldn't recommend that Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy authorize deployment, Sund and others on the call told the Post. Piatt reportedly said, "I don't like the visual of the National Guard standing a police line with the Capitol in the background," the Post reported.

It would be more than three hours before any National Guard troops arrived, well after the damage at the Capitol had been done.

..

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