[FoxNews] The carrier and 2 other vessels docked in Thailand's nightlife hub after months of deployment in the Middle East
A Thai resort city began cracking down on prostitution ahead of the arrival of 5,000 U.S. sailors and Marines exhausted from months at sea in the Middle East.
The USS Abraham Lincoln docked near Pattaya, one of Thailand's primary nightlife areas, on Wednesday along with two other naval vessels, The Independent reported.
"We are doing our best, but it is difficult," Pattaya police chief Anek Srathongyoo said Monday of his department's efforts to curb prostitution in the city.
The police effort involves increased patrols in beachfront and nightlife areas, as well as raids over the weekend in which more than 50 people were arrested on suspicion of prostitution.
Although prostitution is illegal in Thailand, major tourist hubs like Bangkok and Pattaya are well known for sex tourism.
The San Diego–based USS Abraham Lincoln left port in November and was redirected to the Middle East amid the U.S. war with Iran.
However, the prolonged deployment raised concerns amid reports of health issues, deteriorating conditions aboard the warship, and low morale.
Pattaya Mayor Poramase Ngampiches expressed hope that the influx of American service members would boost the region's economy.
Each service member could spend around $30 to $90 per day, depending on where they stay and for how long, the mayor said.
"When we heard the news that a U.S. Navy warship would be docking in Pattaya, it became a source of hope for us," said Lisa Hamilton, president of the Pattaya Nightlife Business Association.
Pattaya originally grew from a small fishing village into a major tourism hub largely due to U.S. military members seeking rest and relaxation during the Vietnam War.
#3
Sort of, maybe, until they become a mothership of motherships with an effective laser point defense. Underwater drones might be a bit trickier, perhaps a job for the escort ships, like a modified Besson.
But they are also a Big picture/ MSM PR Target and take weeks to deploy.
Plus they no longer secretly, deploy as they could in the past, given the free public tracking technologies.
So shouldn't we already be looking at reducing the modern naval warfare role, that uses ships with 100 plus personnel?
After all it's combat technology dating back to Egyptian Pharaoh & Viking times. Which demands far more daily support resources than a drone fleet, once deployed.
So should we be moving to multi-use and one-time use attack/surveillance drone mass delivery platforms?
Since it seems modern warfare has moved from who can kill the most troops to gain an immediate battlefield. To who can attack the enemies heart, military HQ bases and inflect massive Civilian infrastructure destruction from 1000's of miles away from the front lines.
Front lines, which are usually small offensive groups sent on missions and less likely a staged Troop Division like in the past wars.
[FoxNews] Three people were killed, and four others were injured in a shooting Wednesday in downtown Minneapolis. Three police officers were among those hurt, and the suspected gunman was among the dead, officials said.
Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) Sgt. Garrett Parten said at a news conference that it's unclear how the suspected gunman died.
MPD police officers were at the site of the shooting, which involved "multiple victims," the city said, including the three law enforcement officers.
Officers were shot in the shin and abdomen, sources told Fox News.
Seven patients were brought to a nearby hospital, the Hennepin Healthcare Medical Center told Fox News Digital.
Three patients with gunshot wounds underwent surgery, the hospital said.
The shooting triggered a large police presence.
Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in nearby St. Paul were also responding.
FBI Director Kash Patel said he was aware of the shooting, adding the agency will offer any resources necessary to assist local authorities.
#2
From Skidmark’s Daily Mail article:
The suspect who killed two people at a Minneapolis apartment complex on Wednesday was undergoing eviction proceedings after he made terrifying threats to neighbors before the shooting.
Carlton Johnson II, 35, received an order to leave his ninth-floor unit at Loring Towers back in June but was fighting it, court documents obtained by the Daily Mail reveal.
The filings brought to light Johnson's violent history and detail how he assaulted another resident.
Johnson - who has been identified by multiple reports as the shooter, though police have not officially identified the suspect - also threatened to kill someone months before he allegedly shot up the building.
His erratic behavior apparently started back in January, when property managers claim he disturbed the peace by getting into a loud argument and repeatedly knocking on a neighbor's door.
Then on March 23, Johnson assaulted a resident on the premises of the affordable housing complex and by June he started openly carrying a gun.
The final straw apparently came on June 11, when Johnson was seen walking around the complex with his firearm and entered the management office, where he allegedly waved the gun in front of multiple management personnel, the complaint reads.
That same day, Johnson allegedly told other residents that he obtained a new gun and 'would kill someone.'
Two days later, Johnson was also seen flashing his gun to others on the sidewalk.
[NY Post] Gloria Steinem, the pioneering feminist, writer and activist who helped define the modern women’s movement, has died. She was 92.
Steinem “passed away peacefully at her home in New York City” on Wednesday, “surrounded by some of the many who loved her,” according to a statement posted to her Instagram.
“Gloria’s near-century on earth were years well-lived, and she continued working for equality until the very end,” the statement said.
#2
to her credit, Steinem was an early advocate for the victims of female genital mutilation
to her discredit, she never really understood (or maybe didn't want to acknowledge) the islamic role in it
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
09/03/2026 10:31 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Cue chorus: "Oh, where do we find 'em,
These lions like Gloria Steinem?"
"Asleep in a tree,"
Whined the heathen Chinee,
"With the bones of four billion behind 'em!"
[FoxNews] The new role oversees needs and safety of transgender, intersex and nonbinary inmates across the state prison system
The Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) hired a gender-affirming care coordinator last month, and the job will pay between $78,000 and $115,000 annually.
The job includes oversight of a program for "managing and monitoring needs and safety risks of transgender, intersex and non-binary adults in custody," according to the listing. The position also chairs a multidisciplinary team focused on their individualized needs.
The role, which comes as the DOC is projected to have a $55 million deficit in 2026, continues gender-related initiatives spearheaded by Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, a longtime champion of the trans community, as she pursues re-election to a second term.
It also highlights the logistical difficulties associated with trans prisoners.
After a 2023 review of Oregon’s only women-only prison, the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, Kotek said her administration would look for ways to address what the report called delayed care for its cisgender and trans inmates.
"Transgender residents [are] being denied or delayed access to needed care, including hormone replacement therapy. This creates significant medical and mental health issues for some residents, including gender dysphoria," the report stated.
The report included one example of a transgender resident at the Coffee Creek who said her request for continuing her hormone blocker treatment had gone unheeded.
"I had been accessing prescriptions at the county. I did not get it when I got here. … I sent several [requests], but they kept bumping me to different places. Now I’ve gotten my period twice. It’s been terrorizing and humiliating," the resident, a biological woman, said.
Kotek promised to address issues raised by the report.
"In the wake of national, systemic shortcomings in meeting the needs of women who are incarcerated, I am resolved to confront these issues head-on," Kotek said in a press release.
"The GIPA report was sobering to read. It is incumbent on Oregon’s corrections system to ensure that the use of carceral settings yield the best possible public safety outcomes and sets people up for successful re-entry."
As a part of the response, her office created the Advisory Panel on Gender Responsive Practices in Corrections.
In turn, the panel recommended training staff who make decisions about housing and medical and behavioral care for the needs of transgender, nonbinary and gender-diverse inmates.
The panel did not specifically recommend the gender-affirming care coordinator position.
The role is similar to a position that would have been established through SB 1120, a failed bill. Among other provisions, that law would have created a role tasked to "provide coordination of efforts and training across staff and adults in custody on best practices for supporting transgender, nonbinary or gender-diverse adults in custody."
The hire clashes with Kotek's instruction to agencies to reduce spending. In 2025, when Republicans in Washington, D.C., passed tax cuts through President Donald Trump's "big beautiful bill," Oregon's tax picture also changed.
The state's tax code mirrors many of the definitions of taxable income used by the federal government. When those definitions shrank, so did Oregon's revenue, leaving the state with a negative general fund balance of $373.7 million, according to state reports.
"This is not what we had planned for, but it is what we must do. I am asking you to leave no stone unturned to save tax-payer dollars. This challenge is not unique to Oregon, but how we respond will be. Our resilience, teamwork and determination have carried us through hard times before. They will again," Kotek wrote in a letter to state department heads.
Like other departments, the DOC was also affected, reporting a projected $55 million deficit. To remedy this, the department was instructed to slow operational spending, prepare for operational cost reductions and suspend non-essential out-of-state travel.
Even so, Kotek has highlighted trans care as a priority, strongly advocating for a government-led approach to expanding access to trans procedures, calling them part of "health care."
"I want to be very clear. Gender-affirming care is health care. Period, end of story," Kotek said at a bill signing in 2023 after the legislature passed a reproductive and gender-affirming care package.
She has also pushed back against attempts from the Trump administration to limit federal funding for hospitals that provide transgender procedures to minors.
"The Trump administration cannot change the rules and restrict funding to hospitals and doctors who provide gender-affirming care to young people. Gender-affirming care is recognized by major medical organizations and plays an important role in helping young people stay safe, healthy and supported for who they are," Kotek said in a video release.
Kotek’s office did not respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital about the new position and additional details about its duties.
[FOX] A Delta Air Lines flight returned to an airport within minutes of takeoff after the crew reported a medical emergency involving a pilot.
Delta Flight 1208 returned to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) shortly after departing for Orlando, Florida, because of a reported medical issue involving a pilot, the airline told Fox News Digital.
"The crew followed established procedures to return to MSP where the aircraft landed safely," Delta said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/03/2026 7:53 Comments ||
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#4
Semi-Quoting Aviation Today
"The affected pilot was the first officer. The first officer was reportedly experiencing chest pain, numbness in the arms and legs and a racing heart rate in the high 100s. The captain stopped the aircraft’s climb at about 7,000 feet before turning back toward MSP."
Note: These specific symptoms have not been publicly detailed by Delta and should therefore be attributed to the cockpit/ATC reporting.
#6
I was leaning in the direction on the C-19 mandatory vax's, required by the Airline industry, are starting to catch up. Given other such flight incidents in the last 2 years.
[BB] The World Nomad Games, conceived in Kazakhstan and debuting 12 years ago, is primarily a sporting contest meant to feature the traditional cultures of the Turkic peoples of Central Asia. This year, teams representing over 100 countries will compete in 43 sports ranging from tug of war, bird of prey hunting, archery, and a variety of equestrian games.
Most sports have some link to ancient games played in Central Asia for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Among them are “breaking the vertebral bone,” in which competitors seek to most definitively destroy a vertebral cattle bone; Kush Saluu, in which competitors choose to hunt with either a golden eagle, falcon, hawk, or Kyrgyz sighthound; and a variety of ancient traditional board games.
The American team marched in the opening ceremonies on Tuesday, waving the American flag, wearing cowboy hats, and sharing the heartland spirit of the country. America is competing in the sports of horse wrestling (in which competitors try to tear each other off their horses) and Kok-Boru or “goat pulling,” in which teams on horseback compete for possession of a goat carcass.
“‘Kok-Boru’ also known as ‘Goat Polo,’ is the ultimate test of horse-riding strength, connecting American Western Heritage with Ancient Nomadic Traditions,” the American team’s website explains. “It’s the Western Frontier meets the Nomadic Steppe, reminiscent of the American ‘Wild West,’ and exemplifying the shared values of horsemanship, rugged individualism, and resilience. These competitors exhibit a return to the Pioneer Spirit!”
This year, Kyrgyzstan celebrated 35 years of independence from the former Soviet Union and welcomed a high number of world leaders to the World Nomad Games’ opening ceremonies, in part as a result of Bishkek also hosting the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) annual summit. The SCO is a security coalition largely made up of Central Asian countries leveraged for influence primarily by China, India, and Russia. Both Russian strongman Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly attended the opening ceremonies, joining a total of 18 heads of state at the event.
#4
I was channel surfing at the Sheraton in Bishkek at 3 AM and ran across a channel with the game. It was awesome! The riders tuck the carcass between their leg and the horse then ride hell for leather towards the goal. That way they can use both hands as they battle their way across the field. In the game I watched the goals were two 3 foot tall round stone structures (think of an old well). You had to toss the goat in the well to score - that was my impression anyway. The riders used whips on the opponent's horses/faces/etc, used their horses to knock the other fellows horses down and did all possible to snatch the goat away from the fellow holding it. When the goat legs get torn off the fellow with the largest chunk "has the ball." AND - the riders were wearing shirts with the name of their sponsors on it! And billboards shown in the backdrop as well. Later saw other versions where it's not a real goat carcass, just a stuffed one but that seemed a lot less authentic.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] The death toll from floods and landslides in Nepal has risen to 1,127, the Kathmandu Post reported on September 2.
The death toll from the devastating flood on the Bhote Koshi River has risen to 1,127. Bodies from some areas and neighboring India have been recovered. Citing Indian police, the publication reports that 6,541 people have been rescued in the flood- and landslide-affected area, while another 4,858 remain missing.
Earlier, Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority reported that the death toll from the devastating floods and landslides in northern Nepal had risen to 1,003. The fate of approximately 4,200 people, including approximately 600 foreigners, remains unknown.
Flooding hit northern Nepal on the morning of August 26 after a powerful torrent of water from the Chinese side rushed into the Bhote Koshi River. The flooding occurred following an earthquake and the resulting landslide.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] Solar and geomagnetic activity are at very low levels. This was reported on September 2 by the Solar Astronomy Laboratory of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
"There's almost nothing significant to mention. The graph shows small flares, but they occurred in the west of the Sun, that is, in the active regions extending to its far side," the laboratory reported on its Telegram channel.
Large magnetic structures are observed on the eastern side of the Sun. These may indicate the presence of sunspots, but this has not yet been confirmed. The geomagnetic situation currently remains calm, the post added.
On August 18, Sergei Bogachev, head of the Solar Astronomy Laboratory at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, reported the onset of a period of geomagnetic instability due to the impact of a coronal hole on Earth. At the time, scientists expected only weak magnetic storms, as no strong solar flares were observed.
Prior to this, on August 12, a G1 magnetic storm was recorded on Earth, lasting approximately four hours. Bogachev previously noted that geomagnetic disturbances would continue to occur regularly for at least the next two years, as the current solar activity cycle declines.
See drowning man, throw him an anvil. Because nowadays being a Seattle public schoolteacher is definitely not about the children.
[FoxNews] Ninety-one percent of Seattle Education Association members approved a strike over pay, benefits and special education
Seattle's public school superintendent issued a blunt warning as the new school year is set to begin, declaring the district is "broke" as it grapples with a multimillion-dollar budget hole while its educators union threatens to strike.
"Let me be absolutely clear, SEA does not have to strike," Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Ben Shuldiner said in a letter posted Sunday. "Period, full stop. If they do, that is completely up to them. They have a contract that they signed and it will continue. The current contract they are working under remains in place. We are not the NFL owners who lock out our players trying to exact concessions or give-backs."
KOMO News reported Wednesday that 91 percent of Seattle Education Association members, including teachers and staff, approved a strike authorization vote if the union does not get a new contract with Seattle Public Schools with higher pay and benefits.
KOMO reported, "The district is facing a budget gap of around $100 million."
Special education supports, pay and decreasing pressure on educators were the "major sticking points" for the teacher’s union pursuing the strike, according to KOMO News.
"We are good faith bargainers who are trying desperately to negotiate a contract that is good for staff and students," Shuldiner continued. "And the district has been clear that we would always be willing to provide retroactive pay, if they don’t strike, when a new contract is signed. There is absolutely no reason to strike other than to flex power. No one is 'forcing' the union to strike. There is no Special Education agreement unless the union votes for one. There is only a desire to work together for the betterment of the district."
KOMO News reported Monday that Shuldiner again committed to a 9% pay increase over the next three years for educators in the district, but said that the district is in dire financial straits and needs to be watching its spending more carefully.
"As everybody knows, we’re broke, so we have to be really thoughtful around how we spend the money," Shuldiner said Monday at a news conference. "If we had the money, I would love to give it to everybody. But the problem is we don’t."
#4
Teacher union members get to vote in general elections but taxpayers don't get to vote in Union elections. If you don't want to work for the people, leave.
[FOX] The Pentagon on Wednesday issued clinical guidelines establishing a new mandatory testosterone deficiency screening policy for active-duty and reserve service members ages 30 and up.
This comes after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced in July that he was authorizing the screening program for troops to ensure "you have the right testosterone levels to operate at your absolute best."
"Taking care of your long-term health means ensuring you remain strong, resilient and capable — not just for your next deployment, but for the rest of your life, so you can thrive long after you take off the uniform," he said at the time.
#1
Red Blood Cell Factory The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting innovative proposals in support of the Red Blood Cell Factory program (RBC-Factory). RBC-Factory will create a medical device-based platform to insert additional biologically active components (e.g., cargos) into human red blood cells (RBCs) and assess the ethical, legal, and social impacts (ELSI) of the device(s) for cargo insertion and the mRBCs, respectively. RBCs with cargos (aka modified red blood cells; mRBCs) that are reintroduced into a host will endow the recipient with additional protections and/or performance maintenance thus allowing warfighters to operate more effectively in dangerous or extreme environments. RBC-Factory will produce a prototype device and knowledge about the parameter space (e.g., molecular weight, size, mass-to-charge, viscosity, hydrophobicity, etc.) for cargos that can be added to create mRBCs.
#2
Military Researchers Are Trying to Hack Troops' Blood The Defense Department's deep research and development arm is exploring ways to hack U.S. service members' blood so they can fight harder and longer in what could represent a major step toward engineering troops with seemingly superhuman capabilities.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Red Blood Cell-Factory program, unveiled in December, is developing a medical device that could feed "biologically active components" into U.S. troops' red blood cells. Those doses, when triggered, could help them overcome injury or illness on the battlefield.
That could help troops operate in the harshest environments, from extreme cold to disease-ridden jungles to even subterranean environments, according to RBC-Factory program manager Dr. Chris Bettinger.
"This is all about reimagining how we can protect service members," Bettinger tells Military.com. "We want to answer the question: To what extent can we endow red blood cells with compounds in a stable way, and have those red blood cells serve as a durable, circulating project to contain and release that compound?"
[FOX] With a slew of polls showing that most Americans oppose the construction in their communities of new data centers to power AI, a growing number of Republicans running in this year's elections are putting daylight between themselves and President Donald Trump.
Trump, a strong proponent of data center development, took to social media Monday to argue that if communities "want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign."
But with GOP strategists warning that data centers have become politically radioactive, some Republicans on the midterm ballot are reversing course, which is a stark shift for a party that previously had fully embraced the burgeoning AI industry.
Seventy percent of voters questioned in a recent Fox News poll said they wanted to hit the brakes on building data centers in their area to support artificial intelligence, with only 30% in favor. Only 40% of Republicans, and 46% of MAGA Republicans supported new data center construction.
The rapid buildout of artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure is expected to accelerate in the years ahead, with a new analysis projecting investment in the sector will top $31 trillion through 2050.
A report by PwC projects that capital expenditures on AI infrastructure will reach $31.6 trillion by 2050 as companies invest in building the computing capacity to power models, as well as upgrade the tech as it advances.
It added that the $31.6 trillion estimate represents the central scenario within a plausible range of about $22 trillion to nearly $50 trillion.
Annual investment in data centers is expected to rise from roughly $800 billion a year in 2026 to $1.8 trillion per year in 2050.
Foreign state media. Beijing’s English-language outlets — CGTN, China Daily, and Global Times — together with Russia’s RT have run attributed campaigns directly targeting US AI data centers and US export controls while the Chinese state simultaneously subsidizes its own AI buildout.
The CCP-aligned Singham network. A US 501(c)(3) ecosystem funded by Shanghai-based US expatriate Neville Roy Singham, who is currently under congressional inquiry for his reported ties to the CCP, has openly collaborated with China’s official state media organs and spent nearly five years producing parallel domestic content opposing US AI infrastructure, AI labs, and AI export controls.
Foreign-billionaire funding. Multiple foreign-tied charitable vehicles, including those of Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss and British billionaire Alan Parker’s Oak Foundation, have funneled more than $2 billion into US 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) advocacy infrastructure. A significant portion of that money now flows directly into the organizations driving the anti-data-center campaign.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Ilya Maximov
[REGNUM] The invitation to Russia to the G20 meeting, initiated by the Donald Trump administration, became a new test of loyalty that Washington has set for its European allies.
A few weeks earlier, America had sent out a questionnaire to other NATO countries asking about their willingness to support its foreign policy. Now it was time for a practical test.
At the end of August, a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors opened in Asheville, North Carolina. The main surprise for many, especially Europeans, was the personal presence of Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. The decision, according to media reports, was made personally by the US president, and it immediately sparked a storm of indignation from his overseas "friends."
"We like to get along with everyone. One of the reasons I'm so successful is because I get along with everyone," Trump said, commenting on the invitation. He added pointedly, "We'll see what happens."
One might have thought this phrase referred to Russia's participation—as if we'd see if it yielded any results. However, subsequent events showed that the White House chief was more interested in the EU's reaction.
During the event, the Russian minister participated in general sessions on the global economic situation and met with his American counterpart, Scott Bessent. The meeting focused on Trump's plan for peace and economic growth, the US Treasury Department clarified.
"We agreed that there is a basis for developing our financial relations. It's clear that this is difficult now, given the current tensions between our countries. As geopolitical tensions resolve, I'm confident that we will also develop our financial relations," Siluanov said following the talks.
According to him, it's easier for financiers to find common ground than for politicians, and if cooperation in this area develops, political issues will be easier to resolve. Therefore, the minister believes the dialogue must continue.
There has been no talk yet of a full-scale resumption of cooperation amid the ongoing conflict; simply, one of the additional communication channels has resumed operation, allowing for the coordination of positions on sensitive economic issues.
Europeans, however, were angered by the very fact that Russia had returned to the G20 negotiating table. Their reaction was predictably hysterical.
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil not only stated that Siluanov's visit sent a "worrying signal," but even mentioned some kind of "resistance." "The very fact that the Russian finance minister is back indicates an attempt at normalization, and this makes our resistance even more important," he said.
His Polish counterpart, Andrzej Domański, although he acknowledged the right of the United States, as host of the G20, to invite guests, still could not resist criticism, noting: “We do not trust Russia.”
The position of the staunch Russophobes was also supported by the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Valdis Dombrovskis of Latvia. "We do not believe that now is the right time to normalize Russia's presence," he stated.
Europe, however, proved incapable of more. The main act the allies managed to achieve was a coordinated rejection of the traditional group photo.
The initiator of this decision, Klingbeil, was very proud of himself.
The German told reporters: "He made it clear he would not pose." "The unified approach of the Europeans ultimately led to the group photo being held without the Russian minister and without the Russian delegation," he said, apparently unaware of how pathetic that sounded.
The American minister's antics didn't prevent him from taking a photo with Siluanov. Bessent demonstrated that Washington prioritizes the substance of negotiations over symbols without a clear outcome.
Behind the Europeans' "gesture of protest" lay despair and helplessness. The EU's opinion no longer influences US decisions, and they make no secret of it.
The "loyalty questionnaire" in question was sent out as part of the Trump administration's review of the United States' military presence on the continent, Bloomberg reported.
The questions were worded very straightforwardly. The White House wanted to know whether specific governments had publicly supported President Trump's foreign policy moves; what restrictions they had imposed on the use of American military infrastructure on their territory; whether they purchased weapons from American defense corporations; and whether they had publicly criticized regulations that impeded contracts with US companies.
Some perceived the questionnaire as an attempt to coerce their obedience in exchange for security guarantees. Linking security commitments to Washington's political support could fundamentally alter the transatlantic relationship, which since World War II has been built on the premise that allies could disagree on certain issues while maintaining collective defense.
Russia's return to the G20 was the very opportunity to demonstrate whether its allies were prepared to support a strategic decision, even if it ran counter to their own principles, not in words but in deeds.
The answer is obvious: they are not ready. The Europeans failed the test.
Instead of embracing Washington's pragmatic logic regarding the need for additional channels of dialogue, the EU demonstrated a complete inability to move away from the now-weary rhetoric of Russia's complete isolation, which has proven ineffective and caused more damage to the EU itself than to Russia. They preferred public hysteria and petty photo-ops to constructive engagement in the discussion of pressing economic issues.
The United States, for its part, no longer views Europe as an integral extension of itself and sees no need to coordinate its decisions with it. It has adopted a carrot-and-stick approach, and the criterion for its application is extremely simple: a willingness to support Washington's foreign policy course.
Loyal allies who have proven themselves in practice are entitled to preferential treatment. This primarily concerns trade policy: tariffs may be revised to soften them, and freer access to the US market may be provided to those who do not impose discriminatory restrictions on American businesses.
An equally important component of the "carrot" is maintaining military presence in the EU. Those countries willing to engage constructively with the Pentagon, purchase weapons, and allow the use of military infrastructure can count on not being abandoned.
Another bonus is support from international financial institutions—from the IMF to the World Bank—as well as deeper technological and defense cooperation, access to cutting-edge American developments, and joint projects.
And for those who disagree, a "stick" is in store. And it will be applied without unnecessary diplomatic delicacy. Trade wars for recalcitrant allies will lead to further escalation: the White House is prepared not only to maintain the tariffs already imposed, but also to expand their scope, closing access to its market for key sectors of the European economy.
A parallel reduction in military presence will follow—troops will be redeployed to places where they are valued and taken as a guarantee, not taken for granted. The US no longer intends to protect those who refuse to support its strategic decisions.
Finally, recalcitrant countries risk having their access to technology and defense procurement restricted, meaning their own defense capability will be in question.
Against the backdrop of events in Ukraine and Iran, Europeans felt they had become much more independent. However, it turned out that supporting such independent states is not in American interests.
The current scandal is just an isolated incident. The European Union can be as acrimonious as it likes about Moscow's return to the G20 negotiating table, but for Washington, it no longer matters.
The break between America and Europe, which Trump has repeatedly spoken about, is happening literally before our eyes. The EU is still trying to pretend that its opinion carries weight. But the White House appears to have already made a decision, and it doesn't include taking Brussels' interests into account to the extent it's accustomed to.
However, all these showdowns are their internal affair.
Russia, however, continues to consistently defend its national interests in all available venues, refusing to succumb to provocations and demonstrative boycotts.
[BB] An unidentified object exploded at a train station in the German city of Augsburg, Bayern, on early Wednesday morning leaving at least two injured.
The object, which German media later reported as a hand grenade, exploded at 3:15am local time in front of a Turkish jeweller.
The newspaper Augsburger Allgemeine reports the explosion occurred around 03:15 a.m. in a building passageway at Augsburg’s main train station. The newspaper identified the two victims as a 17 and 18-year-old young adults, who both suffered blast trauma as a result of the explosion, who are now being treated for acoustic trauma.
Augsburger Allgemeine detailed that a bank and a Turkish jewelry store are located at the passageway where the explosion occurred. A major police operation was deployed at the station since the early morning hours. Local police officers have reportedly abstained from commenting further on the matter.
The explosion left two Ukrainian citizens with minor injuries and acoustic trauma. According to police, the Ukrainians were passers-by who happened to be at the scene when the incident occurred.
[Just The News] When Stanford medical professor Jay Bhattacharya did his own study of COVID-19 infections in the university's backyard of Santa Clara County, two weeks after its first-in-the-nation lockdowns, he found nearly 50 times greater spread than official estimates, with the implication that authorities had grossly inflated the threat of the virus to the general public.
The April 2020 seroprevalence study by the future director of the National Institutes of Health put a target on his back.
Bhattacharya accused Stanford of putting his research team through a "Star Chamber," and his NIH forerunner Francis Collins privately plotted to blacklist him and his fellow "fringe epidemiologists" six months later for writing the anti-lockdown Great Barrington Declaration, which advocated "focused protection" for high-risk patients and normal life for others.
The situation was much different when President Trump's first Food and Drug Administration commissioner, Scott Gotlieb, who left to join Pfizer's board in 2019, privately estimated a staggeringly higher rate of infections nationally just a month after Bhattacharya's study, which found a 2.8% infection rate in Stanford's home county.
CIA notes from a May 7, 2020, meeting with Gottlieb, led by then-CIA chief operating officer Andy Makridis, summarize the Pfizer board member's views: The COVID infection rate nationally was already 20-25% and the reproduction rate was 3, meaning every infected person would transmit to three new people.
#4
We reached herd immunity on the original virus by late 2021. Then there were several variants each of which was less lethal than the original but mostly able to overcome the immunity to the original virus. It makes the 'what if' calculations very complicated and the results of such calculations have less confidence because of that. People are still contracting Covid and there about 20 variants circulating, none of which seem to be as lethal as the original one. This fall's covid vaccine is expected to provide some degree of immunity to almost all the variants.
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/03/2026 18:05 Comments ||
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[Reuters] In June, a secretive unmanned Chinese spaceplane closely monitored by U.S. military analysts released a small satellite hundreds of miles above Earth in an orbital region crowded with commercial and military satellites. The object then looped around another Chinese satellite before returning towards the spaceplane, according to U.S. space-tracking firm LeoLabs.
Little is known about the satellite or the mission. But the U.S. military operates a similarly secretive spaceplane resembling a small shuttle, also with no crew. Both programs reflect the rapidly evolving field of military space operations as Beijing and Washington prepare for the possibility of conflict extending into space, according to a Reuters review of documents, space-tracking data and interviews with current and former military officials.
Chinese researchers linked to the military are developing technologies ranging from satellites designed to pursue and even capture other spacecraft to systems that could extend fuel supplies while doing so, according to a Reuters review of patent-related documents, procurement notices and academic papers. And the United States and Britain conducted their first joint military operation in space in the path of a suspected Chinese spy satellite, according to commercial space-tracking data.
"The Chinese are rapidly developing capabilities," including ground- and space-based weapons designed to interfere with or destroy targets, U.S. Space Force’s Chief of Space Operations General Chance Saltzman said in July. The threat from China is "substantial," added Saltzman, who is retiring.
Satellites have become indispensable to modern warfare, as conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have demonstrated. For decades they have provided communications, navigation and intelligence services to armed forces on Earth, and once placed in orbit typically remained on fixed paths. Increasingly, however, militaries view them as active weapons platforms capable of launching attacks by disrupting a satellite’s operations through jamming or laser dazzling, or even capturing enemy spacecraft.
Disruption of U.S. space capabilities would "cripple our massive military in the terrestrial sphere," affecting everything from surveillance to missile defense, said Everett Dolman, a former professor at the U.S. Air Force's Air War College. Spaceplanes, because they are agile and capable of deploying satellites or carrying cargo, could appear to opponents as potential "space fighters," he said.
he head of U.S. Space Command (SPACECOM) says having a “credible, acknowledged” means of damaging or even destroying enemy assets in space is vital to deterring opponents and surviving if a major fight in orbit does break out. American officials have already been steadily more open about their desire for new offensive “orbital warfare” capabilities. China’s breakneck expansion of its intelligence-gathering and other capabilities in orbit, as well as its arsenal of anti-satellite weapons, has been a central factor behind this push.
U.S. Space Force Gen. Stephen Whiting made an explicit call for new “integrated space fires” capabilities, including both non-kinetic and kinetic options in orbit and/or within the atmosphere, during a talk yesterday at the annual Space & Missile Defense (SMD) Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama, at which TWZ is in attendance. SPACECOM is the main joint service command in charge of all U.S. military activities in space.
A spacecraft fitted with two flexible robotic arms is on the way to geosynchronous orbit after launching earlier this week on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, kicking off a planned decade-long mission to open new frontiers in satellite servicing.
The Mission Robotic Vehicle, owned and built by Northrop Grumman, rocketed into orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Tuesday. Three small propulsion pods, each functioning as standalone spacecraft, accompanied the MRV aboard the Falcon 9 rocket.
The Falcon 9 deployed all four payloads within about an hour of liftoff. It will take about a year for the satellites to maneuver from their initial elliptical drop-off orbit into a circular orbit more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) over the equator. At this altitude, the MRV and the three Mission Extension Pods (MEPs) will travel in lockstep with Earth’s rotation, operating in the same kind of orbit as numerous civilian and military communications satellites, missile warning platforms, and a growing number of spy satellites.
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.
