…roommate: “Yeah, I don’t make assumptions. You could identify as a sunflower… I use ‘they/them.’”
Ainsley Norris: “You know I’ve always been curious. Why ‘they/them’? Because there’s just one of you, and those are plural pronouns. I just never really understood the hoopla with pronouns.” I am starting a Go-Fund-Me to have my eyes unrolled as caused by peɪ'ɡ(ə)n...😁
[FoxNews] Here is what my personal journey through the historic waterway taught me about persistence and determination behind America’s greatest engineering triumph
I grew up in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. Our town’s name described what made us unique — we had locks on the Connecticut River. Ever since I was a kid, I have understood how locks worked, and I always wanted to see the ones that changed the world.
Recently, I had that opportunity when I transited the Panama Canal. To see the locks operate just as they have for more than 110 years was thrilling. Traveling the almost 50-mile journey from the Pacific to the Atlantic was an experience I’ll never forget.
The construction of the Canal was the largest and most expensive project ever undertaken at that point in human history. Nothing so massive, elaborate or systematic had ever been attempted before. The financial cost, combined with the human toll of more than 25,000 lives lost, was comparable to a war.
Such a monumental achievement could never have happened without determination, perseverance, persistence and grit. The result changed the world and the global economy forever. The Canal cut the distance from the Atlantic to the Pacific by 8,000 miles, resulting in three fewer weeks of travel time.
China doesn't operate the Panama Canal, but it can 'control it': Gordon ChangVideo
Today, ships carrying as many as 11,000 containers transit through the Canal. Cars, appliances and an array of other goods make their way across the world thanks to the more than 13,000 to 14,000 ships that use the Panama Canal each year.
But the journey to a mid-continental canal was a long one, filled with crushed dreams, financial ruin, enormous adversity — and ultimate triumph. The French were the first to attempt building the Canal. Ferdinand de Lesseps had built the Suez Canal and was certain he could build the Panama Canal too. The French created a private company to do it. They sold shares in multiple rounds of investment. Huge sums of money were raised and spent.
After almost a decade of work, they quit and accepted defeat. Ferdinand de Lesseps insisted on a sea-level canal instead of one with locks, even though the two oceans have different sea levels, with tides rising 20 feet on the Pacific side but only three feet on the Atlantic. That decision was the single greatest factor in the project’s failure.
More than 20,000 workers died, most from yellow fever and malaria. He would later admit that Panama was 10 times more difficult than Suez. Most unfortunate were the more than 800,000 French men and women who had invested in the project. The savings of entire families were gone. People lost everything. It was the largest and most significant financial collapse on record — a historic failure.
A decade later, America chose to build the Panama Canal. President Theodore Roosevelt asked the United States Senate to choose either Panama or Nicaragua for the canal. Even though a Nicaragua canal would be 135 miles longer, require more locks, and be more expensive to operate, it was the favorite. But after 14 days of debate, Panama won by a mere eight votes.
America would pursue the seemingly impossible task of building the Panama Canal. It would require cutting through a jungle filled with ferocious animals, snakes and tarantulas — and carving through the sheer rock of the Continental Divide.
#2
I'm a stamp collector - have been for almost 70 years. One story most stamp collectors hear is how a postage stamp changed history. The stamp, showing Mt. Momotombo erupting along what was to be the path of the canal planned through Nicaragua. Supposedly, a copy of that stamp was distributed to every member of Congress, and influenced the selection of Panama for the route. There are no currently active volcanos in Panama. Nicaragua has several.
I also served two years in Panama with the Air Force, in 1967-68. I think it's a much better place for a canal. There's plenty of talk of a sea-level canal through the Darien, but I don't think that's within our capabilities yet.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/19/2026 14:08 Comments ||
Top||
#3
..probably an ecological disaster in the waiting with species hitching rides. The St. Lawrence seaway -
"A notable adverse environmental effect of the operation of the seaway has been the introduction of numerous invasive species of aquatic animals into the Great Lakes Basin. The zebra mussel has been most damaging in the Great Lakes and through its invasion of related rivers, waterways, and city water facilities."
[ZeroHedge] In the days since Renee Good tried to run over an ICE agent in Minneapolis and was shot and killed by an ICE officer, the liberal media has found yet another offensive word to whinge over.
“The far-right has coined a new derogatory term for white women, which has gained traction following the fatal shooting of Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, in Minneapolis earlier this month,” reports The Independent.
The objectionable term is the acronym AWFUL, which stands for Affluent White Female Urban Liberal. Another variant is AWFL.
The New York Times was the first paper to report on this new “offensive” term.
“Beyond labels and name-calling, the death of Ms. Good and the protests and anger in its wake have sparked a response from many on the right that is particularly targeted at white women in the streets, even though men have been just as involved,” the paper wrote. “A majority of college-educated women, including white women, have long been skeptical of President Trump’s Make America Great Again movement, and that skepticism has been growing, according to exit polls after the 2024 election. And for months now, such women are attracting the ire of the president’s supporters.”
The term AWFUL is not the first derisive name targeting white women. People across the political spectrum once gleefully targeted so-called Karens, a term meant to denigrate women — usually white and middle-aged — caught using their privilege to bend the world in their direction.
And the use of AWFUL emerged well before Ms. Good was killed. Conservative critics began attaching it to female protesters at least as far back as last summer.
The acronym so scandalized the New York Times that it even tattled to the Department of Homeland Security about it and its growing popularity. “I’m more concerned with facts on the ground than I am about acronyms,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told the paper in a text message.
Posted by: NoMoreBS ||
01/19/2026 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[1774 views]
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#1
Rule 5 "Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. There is no defense. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule. Also it infuriates the opposition, who then react to your advantage."
Rule 13 "Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.
[GreyDynamics] Grey Dynamics note for readers: this article was written on January 24, 2025 and republished on January 16, 2026
The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol are a designated unit of the Danish Special Forces Command, primarily patrolling Greenland’s unforgiving border.
The Danish Special Forces (source) are comprised of the most elite of the most elite soldiers that the country has to offer. Amongst these Special Forces units are specialised maritime operators, the Frogmen, and the specialised unconventional warfare unit, the Jaeger Corps. However, Denmark is also home to the only special forces dogsled unit. Unique in nature due to its unique missions, the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol work in some of the coldest and most remote regions of the globe to ensure Denmark’s security.
1. HISTORY
The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol was established in 1950 by the Danish Defence Command. During the Second World War, the unit was informally created to monitor German movements within Greenland, and to attack German weather bases. However, following the conclusion of the War, the unit remained in the region. The onslaught of the Cold War created a need for systematic and continuous monitoring of the region, and as such, the Patrol was repurposed to ensure the sovereignty of Denmark over Greenland (source). From this time onwards, the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol was officially unveiled as the newest branch of the Danish Special Forces.
The unit takes its name from Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. Sirius makes up part of the Canis Major constellation, Canis Major meaning ‘Great Dog’ in Latin.
Today, the unit conducts long range reconnaissance of Greenland and Arctic land. In times of rising geopolitical tension in the Arctic due to disputed borders, the tasks of the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol has become even more important.
2. ORGANISATION
The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol (Danish: Slædepatruljen Sirius) falls under the command of the Joint Arctic Command, which reports directly to the Danish Chief of Defence (source). The unit is headquartered in Daneborg within the Northeast Greenland National Park, and a further substation on Ella Ø island, although this station is only manned during summer months (source).
3.3. The Daily Life of the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol
Once the recruitment and training has been completed, the hard work can finally begin. Patrol units generally work in teams of two, with only around six teams every year. Overall, there are only 12 Sirius Patrol members – six new recruits, each paired with a longer serving operator (source). Patrols can last up to 26 months without a break or return to base, and personnel are not eligible to take any holiday during this time (source). Patrols run year round – including during winter months wherein there is no sun and temperature can drop to negative 40 degrees. In such conditions, your partner becomes your best friend and your lifeline.
The BAU of a Sirius Dog Sled Patrol unit is difficult to define, due to the varying responsibilities. However, much of the time of operatives will be spent trekking and patrolling the borders of Greenland, and engaging with local Inuit communities, or long-range reconnaissance to understand foreign powers’ movements within the region. The units cover around 40 miles each day, to create a total of over 5,000 miles during each tour (source).
[AmericanThinker] It’s the craziest thing. For four years, European "leaders" have puffed out their chests and proclaimed that Russia would be defeated in Ukraine. The preservation of the "rules-based international order," they’ve told us repeatedly, requires that Russian-speaking peoples be deprived of self-determination and remain part of a post-Cold War-constructed state that they have no interest in supporting. The world has watched as hundreds of thousands of Russian and Ukrainian men have lost their lives for what exactly? For comedian holdover-president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s sacred honor (you know, the guy who became famous by pretending to play the piano with his penis)? For the glory of a European Union that desperately wants to gobble up Ukraine in its "United States of Europe"?
For four years, European censors have insisted that all Russian points of view are "disinformation." European sports commissions have banned Russian athletes from competition as punishment for the actions of their government (while welcoming athletes from nations whose governments regularly commit human rights abuses and even genocide). European politicians have confiscated Russian assets and sovereign wealth funds in violation of the same "rules-based international order" that they claim to preserve.
Now some of those same "leaders" are changing their tunes. Le Petit Fromage Emmanuel Macron says that Europe must "re-engage" with Moscow. King Kraut Friedrich Merz admits that a peace agreement regarding Ukraine "just doesn’t work without Russia’s consent." What a strange about-face from a Franco-Prussian tag team that has been pretending for years that Russia will have no say in how the war ends. You mean that a potential peace treaty between two belligerent parties must eventually involve both parties before mutually agreed-upon terms are accepted and signed? How novel. What will contract lawyers come up with next?
What in the world just happened? Before Christmas, the German War Machine was reactivated as Chancellor Merz secured the greatest increase in military spending since WWII. Word has spread for months that French hospitals were instructed to prepare for mass casualties from an impending pan-European war. The United Kingdom and France both pledged to station troops in Ukraine’s interior. Across Europe, politicians have been telling citizens that if the Russians aren’t stopped in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin will soon conquer the whole continent. Just as it seemed that World War III was ready to begin, the whole bloody disaster looks like it might be postponed...or even cancelled!
Could it be that Europe’s politicians decided that sacrificing millions of people in the continent’s third catastrophic bloodbath (and fifth if you include the Balkan and Yugoslav Wars!) in little more than a century is a bad idea, after all? Not likely. European "elites" aren’t particularly concerned about the lives of common Europeans. Why else would they invite tens of millions of foreign barbarians into their countries to rape their women and children (while housing and feeding the rapists for free)?
Besides, "war with Russia" has become politicians’ favorite band-aid for every European problem. Why is everything so expensive? Don’t blame "green energy"-induced inflation; blame Russian aggression! Why are Eurocrats censoring social media posts? Don’t call it a war on free speech; call it a war on Russian disinformation! How can European manufacturers survive now that their wind-powered production lines are too expensive to compete against cheap Chinese imports? European governments will just have to subsidize bankrupt companies’ efforts by converting them into defense production facilities! What will Europe’s globalist governments do about all the upstart "populist" movements gaining political support? Import more foreigners and send the local, vocal rabble off to fight the Russians! From Britain to Estonia, every politician with a problem has found a use for the War in Ukraine.
The war has been raging for four years, and Europe’s "leaders" have sounded downright giddy about it raging for another decade — or at least long enough for them to use the crisis of war to justify the imposition of government-monitored central bank digital currencies. Germany’s spending money it doesn’t have to put the muscular threat of violence behind its authoritarian threats against speech the government doesn’t like. (But don’t call it the return of a fascist Fourth Reich! Germany sends people to prison for saying less.) Brussels Eurocrats were so close to declaring that their dead-broke lords and ladies could simply rob anyone the prim and proper crowd find distasteful. Britain’s war-instigating intelligence agents were popping champagne bottles in anticipation of seizing control over Crimea. And then out of the blue, European Commission spokeswoman Paula Pinho confirmed: "Obviously, at some point, there will have to be talks also with President Putin."
Excuse me? European officials have spent the last few years calling Putin a "dictator," a "war criminal," and a "tyrant," but president? Such titles are generally reserved for globalist European politicians who assume power after pretend "elections" that the European Commission has rigged. What’s up with this nominal display of respect? Why would Europe give up its favorite scapegoat now?
Three answers solve the riddle, and they all involve President Trump: (1) The American money spigot that flowed heavily during Puppet Joe Biden’s installation has been reduced to a trickle. (2) The European blowhards have not yet received absolute guarantees that the American military will save their bacon should they poke the Russian Bear a few too many times. (3) After hyperventilating about how Ukraine must be secured for the European Union, the European Union just noticed that America was securing Greenland a little more than it likes.
One moment, American tax dollars were being money-laundered through Ukraine with such ease that government employees drove Lamborghinis to their mistresses’ vacation homes; the next moment, the Ukrainian holdover-president, whom the U.K.’s MI6 laughably lauds as the second coming of Churchill, is telling the world, I have no idea where all those hundreds of billions of dollars went!
One moment, mini-mouse Macron and scowling fuhrer Merz (there goes my German visa!) were huffing and puffing and promising to blow Vladimir Putin’s Russia house down; the next moment, the lords of Euro-stan realize that President Trump is having a laugh with his Russian counterpart.
One moment, the American military was providing the pompous nobles of Europe free security; the next moment, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller remarks to reporters, "They want us to spend hundreds of billions of dollars defending a territory for them that is twenty-five percent bigger than Alaska at one hundred percent American expense, but they say while we do this, it belongs one hundred percent to Denmark."
Meanwhile, German politicians and corporate "stakeholders" are recalling what happened to their grandparents the last time the Russians and Americans managed to work together. Uh-oh, if the Russians and the Americans figure out how to ignore Brussels’s foot-stomping hysterics and find a mute button for the narcissistic ramblings of Starmer, Macron, and Merz, then the Old World gets older and even more irrelevant. There won’t be much left for the European gentry to do other than to hand over the continent’s keys to the Islamic invaders and perhaps ask their conquerors — in the name of the "climate change" hobgoblin — to turn out the lights.
Never fear, Europe! There’s breaking news seeping out from America’s maple-scented hat: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney pledges to militarily defend the Kingdom of Denmark against any U.S. attempts to annex Greenland. "Don’t worry, the Canadians are coming!" said no-one ever. Carney may have cozied up to communist dictator Xi Jinping, but given that Canada depends entirely upon American military might (as does Greenland), Carney might just find that all his bluster is the Canadian mayonnaise that loses him Alberta. President Trump sure does love to buy undervalued properties before flipping them into luxurious American states!
Posted by: Grom the Affective ||
01/19/2026 00:00 ||
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#1
Three answers solve the riddle -
Forth is that Greenland game has really thrown a wrench in everything they assumed.
#2
Besides, "war with Russia" has become politicians’ favorite band-aid for every European problem. Why is everything so expensive? Don’t blame "green energy"-induced inflation; blame Russian aggression!
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin
[ColonelCassad] A PROPHETIC ARTICLE FROM 10 YEARS AGO.
If the Kurds truly believed that the United States was prepared to support their national revolution and agree to the creation of an independent Kurdish state on the southern border of Turkey (a NATO ally), they are now bitterly disappointed.
For the United States, they are yet another accomplice in the overthrow of the Syrian government, along with Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and various Islamist groups that received weapons and funds to fight the Assad regime.
The United States' primary goal is not the creation of a Kurdish state, but the elimination of the Syrian government and the end of any stability in the Middle East. Specifically, this goal entails the destruction of the alliance between Russia, Iran, and Syria. Acting as an instrument for the destruction of Syria, Iraq, Turkey, and possibly Iran, the Kurds will inevitably turn against Russia and its allies, as well as countries that support the status quo in the region, such as China. Such a strategy is certainly not suitable for the creation of a Kurdish national state.
* * *
You trusted the predator that fed you and behaved docilely, hoping it wouldn't swallow you. Hundreds of fighters died fighting to liberate Manbij from ISIS. In vain, because it's only a matter of time before it is occupied by pro-Turkish militants linked to Al-Qaeda or the Turkish army itself. (c)
As a result, today the Kurds were forced to sign a soft capitulation. The "free Syrian Kurdistan" project is being curtailed. The points of the signed ceasefire agreement in Syria:
1. Full integration of all Kurdish civil institutions into the Syrian state
2. Transfer of control over all oil fields to the Syrian government
3. SDF members must join the Syrian Ministry of Defense as individuals, not
as units or brigades, after security checks and with guarantees for the Kurdish areas
4. Issuance of a presidential decree appointing the governor of Hasakah.
5. Withdrawal of heavy weapons from Ain al-Arab and the formation of local security forces under the Ministry of Interior
6. The Syrian government must assume responsibility for prisons and camps where ISIS members and their families are detained
7. Approval of candidates nominated by the SDF for appointment to Syrian government institutions
8. Commitment by the SDF to expel PKK elements from Syria
9. Commitment by the Syrian state to continue the fight against the terrorist organization ISIS
10. Efforts to reach agreements facilitating the return of displaced persons to Afrin and Sheikh Maqsoud
They could have also demanded the introduction of Sharia law in Rojava, but that would come later.
Julani is gobbling up territory piecemeal. Especially since he's made huge territorial gains in just a few days of fighting, including Syrian oil.
The militants' losses are insignificant in the context of these gains. Meanwhile, the Kurds have lost almost all the bargaining chips they were trying to win. Ultimately, they're left with nothing.
The Kurds could, of course, refuse and continue their rather hopeless resistance, because operating under the American umbrella and without it are two very different things.
As a result, the Kurds lost more than half of the territory they controlled in three days, including major oil fields.
More from Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin: The Kurds have been screwed again
A piece of territory was captured on January 16-17, 2025. Julani's militants did not stop at capturing Deir Hafir and the surrounding areas and continued their offensive, threatening to capture the Tabqa airbase and the former capital of the Caliphate, Raqqa (some ISIS militants who once controlled Raqqa are now in Julani's army).
Julani's militants also attacked the Kurds fleeing Deir Hafir and relying on agreements with Julani.
THE TABQA OFFENSIVE... JANUARY 17.
Fighting broke out on the approaches to Tabqa. The "Greens" and the Kurds are transferring reinforcements to Raqqa province. Julani clearly expects to seize, on the backs of the retreating Kurds, if not the entire province, then most of it, taking advantage of his superior forces. He has reason to expect this.
By the night of January 17-18, only Tabqa and Raqqa remained under Kurdish control. Tabqa fell early on the morning of January 18.
Raqqa is next. The Kurds are already preparing to blow up bridges across the Euphrates. The Kurds have already rushed to complain to the Americans, who, in turn, have wagged their finger at Julani, saying they will reimpose sanctions on Syria if he hits the Kurds too hard.
The likely course of action is for Julani to seize a chunk of territory. He will halt the troops. He will wait for this phase of the crisis to pass, and then attack again, taking advantage of the Kurds' precarious position and Turkish support.
Forces are being redeployed to the Euphrates from both sides. In the Kurdish rear, a rebellion by local tribes is raging, enabling militants to take control of the Al-Omar oil field and the Conoco plant.
Ultimately, over the past night, HTS fighters, overcoming some Kurdish resistance, captured Tabqa and the Tabqa airbase, as well as a chunk of Raqqa province. They also captured a chunk of Deir ez-Zor province, including the Al-Omar oil fields and the Conoco plant. The Kurds of Rojava suffered a serious blow; the Americans abandoned them once again (which is not surprising).
Julani was aided by ISIS cells, as well as local tribes that had long been in conflict with the Kurds. As a result, the Kurds were not only pushed back beyond the Euphrates but also lost part of the oil fields, which is beginning to call into question the very existence of Rojava. Julani, with Erdogan's support, is consistently working to eliminate the Kurdish threat. A mobilization was declared in Rojava overnight.
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.
