[Breitbart] A man is dead after allegedly pointing a rifle at an off-duty ICE officer in Northridge, California, Wednesday around 10:45 p.m.
ABC 7 reported the off-duty officer was inside his apartment and heard what he thought to be gunshots outside. The officer grabbed his gun and went outside to investigate and came upon a suspect who was allegedly holding a long gun.
The officer identified himself as law enforcement, at which point the suspect allegedly pointed the rifle at him.
An exchange of gunfire occurred, after which the officer went back inside to retrieve body armor and call backup. LAPD officers arrived on scene to find the suspect deceased.
Date stamped December 3, 2025, so now a useful backgrounder to subsequent events.
[CIBERCUBA] The paradox is that Maduro fears not so much Washington, but those who support him. Cuba has become his guardian and his jailer: it controls the security that protects him, but also the security that could eliminate him.
Nicolás Maduro has bolstered his personal security with new Cuban agents in his team and with more undercover intelligence officers infiltrating the Venezuelan army, amid fears that his own allies from Havana may eliminate him if he relinquishes power, according to U.S. intelligence reports and a recent article from The New York Times.
High-ranking U.S. officials cited by the portal Axios claim that the Chavista leader fears being assassinated by his Cuban advisors if he steps down from office, due to the sensitive information he possesses regarding joint operations between Caracas and Havana.
Maduro, those sources affirm, "knows too much" about the secret agreements that have sustained the alliance between both regimes for years, including drug trafficking operations, irregular financial transactions, and intelligence maneuvers in Latin America.
The report adds that the Venezuelan leader has taken extreme measures to protect himself: he frequently changes beds and mobile phones, moves between different residences in Caracas, and has strengthened his security detail with Cuban agents specialized in counterintelligence.
According to The New York Times, Maduro is even distrustful of his military surroundings and has ordered the incorporation of more officers from the G2 Cuban intelligence service into presidential security and the army structure. The goal is to detect potential internal betrayals, but also to ensure Havana's direct presence in the Venezuelan power apparatus.
#9
Wild thought time: Did Maduro ask the US to arrest him so he can spill what he knows without getting murdered by either the Cubans, drug lords or some other group that was less than pleased with Maduro?
[Blaze] The highly paid positions promise two-year stints with national impact.
Hot on the heels of the U.S. government's announcement of the Tech Force combing for 1,000 new recruits, 25 times that number of Americans have sent in their resumes to the cross-agency technology team.
The Tech Force, announced mid-month, urged the country's best and brightest to head to its website to apply for short-term federal employment. Over the ensuing week, that number has risen to at least 25,000, according to Scott Kupor, the director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
Having seen the large number of Far Left, Liberals and anything Alt-USA types in the IT Tech world over the years. That 25K ... IF properly vetted might yield 12% +/- of which are qualified applicants and want to work restoring USA interests.
[DM] Residents of Staten Island have discussed renewed calls for secession from New York City after newly elected mayor Zohran Mamdani visited the borough.
Mamdani, 34, was sworn in as New York's youngest mayor in more than a century on New Year's Day - its first Muslim, South Asian, and African-born leader.
He ran on a Democratic socialist platform that included raising the minimum wage to $30 by 2030, raising the city's corporate tax to 11.5 percent, city-run grocery stores, fare-free buses, and freezing rent on rent-stabilized apartments.
Citizens and lawmakers of Staten Island, a staunch Republican enclave in the otherwise very liberal Big Apple, have fiercely opposed Mamdani's campaign, even suggesting they would break away from New York City's borough system.
The borough's president, Vito Fossella, told the Daily Mail that dissatisfaction among residents intensified following Mamdani's election, citing ideological differences and concerns over citywide policies.
'Personally, and I think the vast majority of Staten Islanders, do not embrace socialism as an effective form of government,' Fossella said. 'Historically, it's proven to be destructive, economically and spiritually, and has led to a loss of freedom and even life.'
This is not the first time Staten Island voiced the possibility of seceding from the borough system.
Staten Island previously pursued independence in the early 1990s, when voters approved a nonbinding referendum by roughly 65 percent.
However, state lawmakers later blocked the effort, preventing it from moving forward.
'Back then, we had lost our power in the city,' Fossella explained, recalling the abolition of the Board of Estimate and Staten Island's diminished influence. 'We were dumped on - literally and figuratively - with Fresh Kills Landfill taking 100 percent of the city's garbage while we had only five percent of its population.'
Fossella said a formal petition or referendum has not been circulated at present, though borough officials funded a new feasibility study in 2023.
'Right now, it's a genuine discussion, not a negotiating tool,' he said. 'If secession is the best and ultimate solution for the people, who are my neighbors and friends, then that's where we'll go. But it's not there yet.'
If the borough chooses to become its own city, Staten Island, with a current population of 493,000 residents, would outsize major U.S. cities such as Miami and Cleveland.
'We'd still be a very large city relative to most in the United States,' Fossella said. 'And one of the largest counties in New York State.'
Mamdani made his first appearance in Staten Island on December 30 at Shaw-naé's House in Stapleton.
There, he addressed his lack of electoral support in the borough but said his administration planned to focus on local concerns.
Taqqiya is his go-to, so no need to sift through his words for hints and portents.
'This is the moment to show Staten Islanders that their concerns will be front of mind in our administration and that we're actually going to deliver on those concerns,' Mamdani said.
He pointed to his previously mentioned campaign promises, urging Staten Island natives that they would only benefit from his changes.
'I think of Staten Island as a critical part of New York City,' he said. 'You cannot tell the story of five boroughs without Staten Island.'
He also visited Staten Island's oldest mosque, Masjid Un Noor, where he told the crowd: 'While we speak of Staten Island as an obligation in our politics, it is in fact an opportunity in our politics.'
Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo has been particularly outspoken about Mamdani's election, going as far as reading his own Staten Island Independence Declaration to a crowd of 60 people.
Fossella, however, emphasized that secession faces significant hurdles.
'It's not totally under our control,' he said. 'The state legislature and other officials would have a say, and many forces oppose Staten Island secession.'
He also pushed back on critics who argue independence would weaken services or raise taxes:
'Nobody can say that with absolute certainty,' Fossella said. 'Look at the migrant crisis. New York City spent $12 billion housing migrants in hotels. A city of Staten Island would never make that decision.'
On policy differences, Fossella pointed to Mamdani's stance on homelessness:
'The idea of not cleaning up homeless encampments is a terrible decision,' he said. 'It leads to drugs, crime, and quality-of-life issues.'
While Fossella said he has not yet met Mamdani, he expressed willingness to cooperate:
'My goal is to work with anybody who wants to do well by the people of Staten Island,' he said. 'But at the same time, we have a legitimate discussion going on about whether there's a better path, and maybe secession is that path.'
Mamdani has attempted to reach out to the large number of New Yorkers who voted for Donald Trump as president and him as mayor.
He said he understood they voted for both Trump and him because of fears over the rising cost of living, with Mamdani's laser-focus on that issue credited with his success.
[ZeroHedge] The U.S. Air Force is also conducting research to consider integrating Starlink into its Ghostrider gunships or heavy-lift cargo planes. Air Force Special Operations Command published a notice Tuesday requesting information on Starlink and its military version, Starshield.
#1
With the current planetary alignments and massive solar storms on the sun there is a potential for a Kessler Syndrome. Esp with Russia and China doing too many destructive tests in space creating junk debris. Lowering the orbits means if a Kessler Syndrome starts happening much of the junk in the lower orbits will deorbit decades sooner.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Breitbart] A man is dead after allegedly pointing a rifle at an off-duty ICE officer in Northridge, California, Wednesday around 10:45 p.m.
