[FoxBusiness] The Trump administration is turning to automakers and U.S. manufacturers to ramp up weapons production in a World War II-style push, a Pentagon official confirmed to FOX Business.
"The Department of War is committed to rapidly expanding the defense industrial base by leveraging all available commercial solutions and technologies to ensure our warfighters maintain a decisive advantage," a Pentagon Official told FOX Business.
"The Department is aggressively pursuing and integrating the best of American innovation, wherever it resides, to deliver production at scale and drive resiliency across supply chains," the official added.
Senior defense officials have discussed producing weapons and other military supplies with top executives from several companies, including General Motors and Ford Motor, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the discussions.
#3
When I worked at GM, I think Raytheon was part of the corporation. I think Better Homes and Gardens was also part of the corporation. It didn’t really make a lot of sense and ended badly.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/16/2026 9:34 Comments ||
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[IsraelTimes] Iranian national Mahdieh Esfandiari, who was held in France for over a year, has returned home, Iranian state television reports, a week after Iran released two French citizens.
“Mahdieh Esfandiari, a Palestinian rights activist, has returned to Iran after her release from prison in France,” state television says.
Esfandiari’s release came a week after French citizens Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, who spent more than three years in Iranian prisons on espionage charges, arrived in France.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France and the United Kingdom will host a diplomatic event in Paris this Friday to address the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, notably excluding President Donald Trump from the proceedings.
In a post on X, Macron urged that the strait be opened 'as soon as possible.'
The announcement followed a conversation with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Macron said the meeting would involve 'non–belligerent countries ready to contribute, alongside us, to a multilateral and purely defensive mission aimed at restoring freedom of navigation in the strait when security conditions allow.'
The move comes as several European nations have started to exclude Trump from post–war Middle East planning. This blossoming coalition intends to deploy military resources and assist in mine–clearing operations to protect commercial vessels passing through the vital waterway.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] The Trump administration is seeking to get other nations to cut back on global humanitarian aid and 'promote America First values' by investing in US companies, according to new reports.
The 'trade over aid' initiative will be an opportunity to use the United Nations system to 'create business opportunities for US companies,' per a cable sent to all US embassies and consulates.
In the cable reviewed by The Washington Post, Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered all US diplomats to issue a démarche - an official call to action - to all foreign nations by Monday that asks them to support the new initiative.
The US plans to introduce this idea at the UN at the end of April, according to the cable.
Devex was the first to report on the 'trade over aid' initiative and the internal State Department documents fleshing it out.
'For decades, government aid has been flowing from developed to developing countries with only limited impact,' according to one of the notes the outlet obtained.
'It has not solved the world's economic development challenges, and it has often created dependency, inefficiency, and corruption.'
'Donors and developing countries are ready to try a new development aid model,' the note continued.
'The old model has been government-centered and one-directional: aid flowed from donor to recipient countries. The new model emphasizes mutually profitable business relationships between private sectors and countries.'
The State Department also argued that private business has 'developed all the world’s successful economies, not government aid'.
An anonymous State Department official reportedly told the Washington Post: 'It’s solidifying our stance on dropping aid completely and letting companies enrich themselves on newer markets.'
This paradigm shift comes after the Trump administration dismantled the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which had been the world's largest foreign aid agency.
[IsraelTimes] Dozens of boats carrying activists and symbolic aid for Palestinians in Gaza set sail from the northeastern Spanish city of Barcelona.
Organizers of the Global Sumud Flotilla say that more than 70 boats and 1,000 people from around the world will participate.
Nearly 40 boats were leaving Barcelona while the rest will join the fleet from other ports along the Mediterranean as they sail eastward, according to Thiago Ávila, one of the flotilla’s leaders, who spoke at a news conference in Barcelona on Sunday during a symbolic send-off event. Bad weather had forced organizers to delay their departure, which was originally planned for April 12.
As attention has turned to the Iran war, activists hope that their latest mission will revive attention to the plight of Palestinians living in Gaza.
Israeli officials repeatedly denounced attempts to reach Gaza by sea as publicity stunts, noting that the aid the boats carry was insignificant compared to the hundreds of trucks routinely entering Gaza
#1
Wasn’t the last one sort of a get lucky cruise?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/16/2026 9:41 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Targets. Get them slowly. Disable the engines then tow them far out to sea and set them adrift.
Place cameras aboard for maximum enjoyment as they die from thirst and scurvy.
That’s a waste of resources. Arresting the flotilla passengers, who are unimportant themselves, despite the amount of ego they’re waving about, allows Israel to collect their biometric data and clone cell phones and laptops to track accounts and connections up the line.
Recall that the flotillas are sponsored by the Turkish government’s branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in aid of Hamas, the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. And as one of Turkey’s senior government politicians recently said — I don’t recall if he was the PM, foreign minister, or a mere spokesman — Israel is planning to go after Turkey once the Mad Mullahs’ hash is settled. So having tables of organization, contact information, accounts, and so forth, will give Mossad and the IDF a head start on their next Operation Pager.
[SDUT] Another LCS horror story
The USS Augusta, a nearly new Independence-class littoral combat ship, will undergo a $33.5 million overhaul at a San Diego shipyard that will partly focus on determining if it has developed the sort of hull cracks that have plagued other vessels of its design.
Workers also will take a look at the Augusta’s propulsion system, another area in which many littoral combat ships, or LCS, have experienced problems, drawing ongoing criticism from Congress and the defense industry.
Such flaws have made early-life reviews common among LCS, something that is not broadly true among the Navy’s much larger and far more sophisticated Burke-class destroyers.
The Augusta has been homeported in San Diego since 2023, the same year it was commissioned. It has yet to reach the point where it could depart on its first major deployment.
The Defense Department announced last week that the roughly $500 million ship will enter the BAE Systems shipyard in Barrio Logan and go into a dry dock, which is done to give workers a chance to examine, clean, paint and, if necessary, make repairs.
This kind of inspection led to the discovery of structural problems in many earlier Independence-class ships, some of which involved costly hull cracks, according to a 2022 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
Cracks can also reduce how fast these lightly-armed ships can move, which runs counter to their purpose. They are meant to be fast, versatile vessels that can dart into shallow, near-shore waters to detect and destroy mines, hunt and hassle submarines, and place special forces ashore.
#5
They were an admiral's design toy. Other countries build such ships but don't have procurement admirals insisting on making changes and awaiting the 'next best thing'.
#8
^ We need to be LAYING mines.
Posted by: Gephids Wheasing9964
"Hello? Stupidity Channel? I have a referral"
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/16/2026 21:36 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Recently took the SDMM's swift boat ride and got a pretty good look at LCSs and related beasts in their natural habitat. Way more depressing than seeing one or two at a time from beach or bridge (as in Barrio).
Posted by: Pearl Untervehr1398 ||
04/16/2026 23:23 Comments ||
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[FoxNews] Bita Hemmati was named in a collective death sentencing alongside three other defendants, including her husband, Mohammadreza Majid-Asl, 34, according to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
The couple’s reported neighbors, Behrouz Zamaninejad and Kourosh Zamaninejad, were also sentenced to death, while a relative, Amir Hemmati, received five years in prison.
The verdicts mark some of the most recent capital punishment decisions amid the government’s broader crackdown on suppressing unrest. Possibly thousands of protesters have reportedly been killed since demonstrations erupted this year.
Posted by: Skidmark ||
04/16/2026 04:49 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1781 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
If you don't think that probably hundreds were executed in the earlier protests, I have a bridge to sell you.
#2
I think they are differentiating the scheduled hangings from when they randomly hose down a crowd with a crew served weapon. Hopefully, this hanging and the associated raping won’t jeopardize their candidacy to chair the UN Council on Women’s Rights.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/16/2026 9:39 Comments ||
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[IsraelTimes] IRGC bought satellite in late 2024 after it was launched into space, and directed it to monitor bases before and after missile and drone strikes on them, Financial Times says
Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... used a Chinese spy satellite it secretly bought in 2024 to target US bases in the current war, the Financial Times reported Wednesday.
The TEE-01B satellite, built and launched by Chinese company Earth Eye Co, was acquired by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Aerospace Force in late 2024 after it was launched into space from China, the report said, citing leaked Iranian military documents.
The Iranian military commanders directed the satellite to monitor major US military sites, the newspaper said, citing time-stamped coordinate lists, satellite imagery and orbital analysis. The images were taken in March before and after drone and missile strikes on those locations, FT said.
As part of the deal, the IRGC received access to commercial ground stations operated by Emposat, a Beijing-based provider of satellite control and data services provider with a network extending across Asia, Latin America and other regions, according to the report.
The satellite captured images of Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... on March 13, 14 and 15, FT said.
On March 14, US President Donald Trump ...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party... confirmed US planes at the base had been hit.
According to the report, the satellite also monitored Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan and locations close to the US Fifth Fleet naval base in Manama, Bahrain, and Erbil airport, Iraq, around the time of IRGC-claimed attacks on facilities in those areas.
Rooters could not independently verify the report. The White House, CIA, Pentagon, China’s foreign affairs ministry and defense ministry, Earth Eye Co and Emposat did not immediately respond to requests by Rooters for comment.
Previous reports have said Iran received Russian intelligence satellite imagery of both US and Israeli targets following the start of the US-Israeli bombing campaign in Iran on February 28.
The campaign, which came to a halt last Wednesday after a two-week ceasefire was announced, sought to destabilize Iran’s regime and destroy its ballistic missile and nuclear programs.
Iran responded with missile and dronezaps across the region and by effectively blockading the Strait of Hormuz. Last week, Russia and China vetoed a United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... Security Council aimed at reopening the vital waterway.
[IsraelTimes] New satellite imagery shows that Iran has been removing debris from a blocked tunnel entrance at a subterranean missile base near Tabriz.
Digital mapping platform SoarAtlas says the Airbus images show equipment at the blocked tunnel entrance, “with a line of dump trucks waiting nearby as crews work to restore access.”
Additional satellite imagery published by SoarAtlas shows “active debris removal” from another missile base in Khomeyn.
In an effort to reduce Iran’s ballistic missile fire during the war, the Israeli and American militaries struck and collapsed tunnel entrances at underground Iranian bases, to prevent Iran from bringing out missiles and launchers stored there.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/16/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1778 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Gotta find a way for the missiles/bombs to exude lots of concrete.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
04/16/2026 3:56 Comments ||
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#2
And not the Chicago flyash stuff.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
04/16/2026 3:57 Comments ||
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[IsraelTimes] White House says second meeting will likely be in Islamabad if it’s finalized, as Pakistani delegation arrives in Tehran to prepare; US tries to turn screw on Iran with port blockade
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel is ready for the Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... war to resume, while US President Donald Trump ...So far he's been unkillable, and they've tried.... ’s administration indicated that a second round of talks with Tehran is more likely.
US officials said Washington is discussing holding another meeting with Iran in Pakistain and is optimistic about reaching a deal.
A Pak delegation arrived in Tehran on Wednesday to discuss holding a follow-up to Saturday’s meeting in Islamabad.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told news hounds further talks "would very likely" be in the Pak capital. "Those discussions are being had," Leavitt said, and "we feel good about the prospects of a deal."
US Vice President JD Vance, who led the first round of talks, has said Iran is being offered a "grand bargain" to end the six-week war with Israel and the United States and address the decades-old dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program.
Meanwhile,
...back at the shootout, Butch clutched at his shoulder. Ow! he exclaimed, with feeling...... Netanyahu said in a video statement that the US is keeping Israel updated on its contacts with Iran and insisted that the two countries’ objectives are aligned.
"We want to see Iran’s enriched material removed, and we want to see the elimination of its enrichment capability inside Iran. And of course, we want to see the reopening of the straits," he said.
The Straight of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s crude oil normally flows, has been choked by Iranian forces since the US-Israeli offensive began and is now the focus of the US blockade.
"It is too early to say how this will end, or even how it will progress. In light of the possibility that the war may resume, we are prepared for any scenario," Netanyahu said.
On the economic front, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva warned of "tough times ahead" for the global economy if the war in the Middle East is unresolved and oil prices stay high, adding that inflation risks could seep into food prices.
Optimism about an accord in the US-Iran conflict sent share prices higher on Wall Street, however, with the major stock indices finishing at records on Wednesday while crude prices dropped.
Even as the US blockade on Iranian ports and renewed Iranian threats strained the ceasefire agreement, regional officials reported progress, telling The News Agency that Dare Not be Named the United States and Iran had an "in principle agreement" to extend it to allow for more diplomacy. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter.
Mediators are pushing for a compromise on three main sticking points that derailed direct talks last weekend — Iran’s nuclear program, the Strait of Hormuz and compensation for wartime damages, according to a regional official involved in the mediation efforts.
Iranian Foreign Ministry front man Esmail Baghaei said Iran is open to discussing the type and level of its uranium enrichment, but his country "based on its needs, must be able to continue enrichment," Iranian state media reported.
’ZERO SHIPS HAVE BROKEN THROUGH’
Washington has sought to turn the screws on Tehran with a blockade of its ports, with US Central Command claiming to have "completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea."
CENTCOM said it has turned back 10 vessels that tried to sail out of Iranian ports during the first 48 hours of the blockade and "zero ships have broken through."
The picture based on recent maritime tracking data in the Strait of Hormuz was less clear-cut, and Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported shipping has continued from southern Iran.
The head of Iran’s military central command center warned that a US failure to lift the blockade would constitute "a prelude" to violating the two-week ceasefire struck on April 8.
Unless Washington relents, Iran’s armed forces "will not allow any exports or imports to continue in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman and the Red Sea," Ali Abdollahi said.
The military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned that Iran would sink American ships in the Strait of Hormuz if the United States decides to "police" the key shipping channel.
"These ships of yours will be sunk by our first missiles," Mohsen Rezaei, a former commander-in-chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards who was named as a military adviser by Khamenei last month, told state TV.
In Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi welcomed a Pak delegation on Wednesday led by army chief Asim Munir that Iranian state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
said was to relay a new US message and discuss a second round of talks.
Trump has insisted that any deal with Iran must permanently bar the Islamic Theocratic Republic from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Washington has reportedly sought a 20-year suspension of Iran’s uranium enrichment program while Tehran has proposed suspending nuclear activity for five years — an offer US officials rejected.
Trump told Fox Business Network’s "Mornings with Maria" in a Wednesday-aired interview, "I think they want to make a deal very badly."
In a social media post, Trump said China has agreed not to provide weapons to Iran as reports circulated that Beijing has considered transferring arms.
China has long supported Iran’s ballistic missile program and backed it with dual-use industrial components that can be used for missile production, according to the US government.
In a weekly press briefing, foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei says the right to peaceful use of nuclear energy could not be “taken away under pressure or through war.”
“Regarding the level and type of enrichment, we have always stated that this issue is negotiable. We have emphasized that Iran should be able to continue enrichment in accordance with its needs,” he adds.
In a statement carried by Iranian state television, the head of Iran’s military central command center says if the US continues with its blockade and “creates insecurity for Iran’s commercial vessels and oil tankers,” it will constitute “a prelude” to violating the ceasefire.
“The powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic will not allow any exports or imports to continue in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman, and the Red Sea,” says Ali Abdollahi.
Blockading the Red Sea would like involve activating the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Ships seen using evasion tactics to travel through Hormuz
[IsraelTimes] Amid the American naval blockade on Iran, maritime intelligence experts say they have observed a rise in evasive shipping behavior around the Strait of Hormuz, The New York Times reports.
Most large commercial vessels must travel with a transponder that broadcasts the ship’s name, location, route, and other identifying details.
“Now, we are starting to see vessels going dark or using ‘zombie’ or random identification,” says Ami Daniel, chief of Windward, a maritime intelligence firm, in an interview with the NYT.
During the war, Iranian ships had “almost no need to go off radar,” but in the past day, more ships appear to be spoofing or manipulating their signals, Daniel says, adding that vessels linked to Iran are being “a bit more cautious.”
Maritime analysts have cautioned during the recent weeks of conflict around the strait that ships’ signals in the region have been disrupted and manipulated, making precise tracking difficult.
Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that more than 20 commercial ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz in the previous 24 hours.
Earlier, the US Central Command said no ships had made it past its naval blockade of Iran’s ports and coastal areas, and six merchant ships had followed orders to turn back.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/16/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1847 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
The air transport flow does not look like the US is gearing up for talks only.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/16/2026 9:46 Comments ||
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#2
^ I think we are getting ready to 'negotiate' some more.
#4
It’s like negotiating with the Palestinians; they make demands but have no intention of giving up anything. Just have a ceasefire so that you can see where they are digging in the rubble and moving equipment.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/16/2026 17:11 Comments ||
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#5
ISRAEL decides when this war ends,notea foreign country.
And it won't end until the mullahs have been replaced.
It will be years, Iran won't give up easily.
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.
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
