[ZERO] As readers know by now, my favorite television show was made in the 1970s. It is called "The Waltons." It's about the experiences of one Virginia household in the Great Depression and how they found the good life not through money and prosperity but family, love, and a stable home on the land. It's such an inspiration. Every episode offers an interesting life lesson of some sort and reinforces the values that made this country great.
You might not notice at first, but one unusual aspect is that this show features a multigenerational household. The father's father and his wife live in the house with their seven grandchildren. The grandfather helps daily in the family business of lumber harvested from their own land. And the grandmother helps with all household chores of cooking, cleaning, laundry, plus dishes out wisdom at every turn. The grandparents provide an essential element of stability.
This model of living was not unusual at the time. It was a pattern. My grandparents on both sides of my family lived this way as children with several generations in a single household or, at least, very nearby. This shaped who they were. It was part of becoming civilized to learn what it is like to age, to have sickness and even death occur alongside new life, and to observe the cycles taking place right before one's very eyes.
In the absence of these extended households, we have lost so much. The children no longer hear grand tales of the old days on a regular basis from the elderly. They are denied access to vivid accounts of what life was like in earlier times. The past doesn't seem real; it seems like a book in which the kids are not interested.
[Forbes] The media is under attack for mis-covering the U.S. elections - indeed for failing to see the mood of the American public. As the new White House Chief Strategist – former head of the alt-right Brieitbart news site Steve Bannon - told the Hollywood Reporter recently:
"The media bubble is the ultimate symbol of what's wrong with this country…It's just a circle of people talking to themselves who have no [expletive] idea what's going on. ... It's a closed circle of information from which Hillary Clinton got all her information – and her confidence. That was our opening."
In broadcasting at least, that opening began when controls on radio and TV ownership came off and broadcasters no longer were required by law to prove that their operations reflected the concerns of their broadcast coverage area in order to obtain a broadcast license. The ability to influence became centralized in the hands of fewer people who were under no obligation to render public service or even canvass the public.
#2
The Telecommunications Act of 1996? Wasn't that during Bill Clinton's term in office? Uh-huh. Seems we had a fairly civil society before then. Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill used to argue with each other all day long and, at the end of the day, they would have a drink together. They could make deals. They could compromise for the good of the country. Now it's all vitriol all the time coming out of your television and newspapers. There is no compromise and certainly no civility. Goebbels would be proud.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
11/04/2026 11:15 Comments ||
Top||
[YouTube] In this episode of The President’s Daily Brief:
The Pentagon is preparing American military bases to operate independently for 90 days, while the British government urges citizens to stockpile emergency supplies. Are Western governments preparing for a looming crisis, or simply taking sensible precautions?
The United States is reportedly warning Gulf allies to prepare for another round of war with Iran, potentially just days after the midterm elections, raising concerns about renewed fighting in the Middle East.
Ukraine reveals a secret military operation that turned Russia's own tactics against it, sending soldiers through underground gas pipelines to launch surprise attacks on Russian positions.
In today's Back of the Brief, Benjamin Netanyahu performs better than expected in Israel's elections but remains short of the parliamentary seats needed to form a government. Posted late yesterday, but moved to today at B's request
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/03/2026 18:31 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Fuvk Baker. The bassturd knew all the players during the Russia Russia hoax and refused to say shit. I would not trust the CIA clam boy with a McDonalds combo meal.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Taisiya Svetlichnaya
[Regnum] This morning, after the noisy events at the private prison of the 1st Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine "Azov" in the Kyiv suburb, the former village of Petropavlivska Borshahivka, the promised large-scale investigation focused on just one private house.
At the same time, work began in the Ukrainian information field to substantiate the idea that everything that happened was a provocation.
As is known, on the evening of November 2, everything began with a scandal involving the relatives of deserters who were being held in a private home, where military unit 3121 operated a prison for mobilized soldiers and soldiers who had left their units without permission (SZCh).
When someone tried to climb over the fence, his head was smashed, after which police and a private ambulance arrived. By the time the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Kirill Budanov, suddenly appeared on the scene, the situation had already spiraled out of control. About a hundred people gathered outside the house, trying to secure the release of the men inside.
Protesters stormed the gates, tear gas was used, gunshots were heard, and someone was jumping on cars and smashing windows. Who fired and where is a mystery.
A little earlier, National Guard Commander Oleksandr Pivnenko had visited the building and confirmed that it housed a "temporary deployment center" and troops from the Special Defense Forces. However, even after the arrival of military command and police, the conflict continued. Then Budanov appeared on the scene, issuing orders with obscenities and in perfect Russian.
Under his leadership, “representatives of the public” were able to enter the building and inspect its premises, from which about 20 men emerged (it was stated that 40 people were being held there).
A separate incident occurred when a 14-year-old boy appeared, somehow inexplicably finding himself not just on the premises, but in the basement. Budanov quickly navigated the scene before the cameras and personally spoke with the boy, who emerged from the house in a state of obvious shock.
"So, right now, somewhere here, among you, nearby, is his sister. Can she hear us now? Please, let her come here, and together with the doctors, we'll pick up the child and take him home. This is no place for a 14-year-old," Budanov addressed the assembled group.
However, those gathered clearly believed this was no place for adult men either, whose relatives claim they were extorted for the opportunity to see them. A woman named Tatyana told reporters that her husband had been in the house for 37 days without contact with his family. She claimed he had undergone surgery and needed specialized medical care, and the family was asked to pay 100,000 hryvnias for the opportunity to see him and provide assistance.
Another woman named Ilona reported that her boyfriend was mobilized despite an ongoing court case regarding a deferment due to his studies. According to her, the man was detained on the street and put in a minibus. He managed to tell his girlfriend about this, after which the connection was lost.
After Budanov's arrival, one of those present asked in a raised voice why such facilities exist in Ukraine at all, why no one knows about them, and what's going on there. He replied that "there are many such buildings" and promised to look into this and why soldiers are fleeing their units the next day.
When asked about the legality of the detention, the head of the Office of the President declined to give a definitive answer. "That will be determined by the investigation," he skillfully stated, announcing that State Bureau of Investigation officers and prosecutors were working on the scene.
The conflict later shifted to the bus that was supposed to transport the men inside the building. Protesters blocked the bus and tried to determine who exactly was being transported and how many there were. According to Budanov, they were supposed to be taken to the hospital, and he urged protesters not to interfere with the medical care.
"There are no more hostages in the house," Budanov declared, telling the crowd to disperse, saying, "We've accomplished a great thing." But they didn't. Later, they would be dispersed with force by unidentified masked men, just as they had attempted to do at the very beginning of the unrest.
By the evening of November 2, the commander of the Azov group of forces, Brigadier General Denis Prokopenko, known by the call sign "Redis," accused protesters of sabotage, discrediting the military, and creating "an informational narrative favorable to Russia." The corps command acknowledged that four soldiers who were in the building after being detained for the SZCh sustained injuries and were sent to the hospital.
The military did not explain the origin of the injuries, promising to punish those responsible if unlawful violence was confirmed. But the admission proved to be the most significant element of the official statement. "Four service members detained after the SZCh sustained injuries and were therefore sent to the hospital," the corps reported.
National Guard spokesman Ruslan Muzychuk, however, dismissed initial reports of a man with a broken spine, stating that all four men walked to the ambulance on their own. The circumstances of the injuries and their nature have not yet been publicly established, although a prominent participant in the events, who identified herself as a private ambulance medic, reported several people with serious injuries.
Later, journalists from Slidstvo Info identified the woman in question as Valentina Molodoy, the owner of a plastic and aesthetic surgery clinic. She arrived in a car bearing the logo of the Med-Prestige company, which effectively ceased operations in 2023.
The company's former owner reported that the car was sold in 2024 with the condition that the company's markings be removed. It was also revealed that Moloda held an ID card as an investigative journalist for the public organization "Plich-o-plich." However, the journalists were unable to determine why the people were being held in a private prison.
Thus, assessments of events differ significantly in emphasis.
In the evening, Budanov spoke about the need to understand the existence of such facilities and the circumstances in which military personnel are being held (although he also condemned the actions of the crowd that interfered with the medical evacuation).
Representatives of the NSU and specifically Azov focused on accusing the protesters of sabotage and actions in the interests of Russia.
Interior Minister Ivan Vyhovsky, in turn, announced that he had ordered an internal investigation. The investigation will include not only the circumstances of the clashes but also the conditions under which the service members were stationed in the building. Representatives from the State Bureau of Investigation and the Office of the Military Ombudsman are working on the scene.
Military Ombudsman Olga Reshetilova clarified that all military personnel are safe and receiving the necessary medical care.
According to her, an investigation has been launched to establish all the circumstances of the incident. Meanwhile, testimonies from "members of the public" who visited the house have already been made public, claiming there is no reason to believe torture took place.
Now law enforcement officials will have to answer several fundamental questions: on what legal basis were the servicemen detained in a private home after leaving their unit without permission? Was money actually extorted for access to them? What caused the injuries of the four hospitalized soldiers? Was unlawful violence used against them? Ombudsman Dmitry Lubinets has already announced his involvement.
But neither the existence of the illegal prison nor the torture allegations are currently in the spotlight, and it has been announced in advance that all of this is “Kremlin propaganda.”
Top opinion leaders explain to citizens that everything was played out according to the notes, and the victims are precisely the "Azovites", who "went through Azovstal and the battles for Mariupol."
"I felt so disgusted when they were all beaten, doused with various liquids, pelted with eggs, and pelted with the choicest Russian curse words. It was disgusting. I looked at those mobilized National Guardsmen, those police officers, the Azov battalion. And I was so ashamed. So ashamed," confesses Radio Liberty correspondent Marian Kushnir, not noticing any analogies with the Maidan and the "people's right to revolt."
OTHER OPINIONS ARE PRACTICALLY UNHEARD OF.
"Zelenskyy began the SS-style concentration camp practices early in the war, setting up an illegal prison in the SBU's 'gymnasium,' which housed around 300 people. These are figures and information confirmed in the UN Human Rights Report (paragraph 116). Zelenskyy is covering up his sadism and repression against his own citizens with the ongoing war. The European Union is turning a blind eye to the 'pranks' of its junior partner. But why is the US silent?" asks MP Oleksandr Dubinsky from the Mena prison.
Nevertheless, the event hit a sore spot in society. It's long been known that dozens of such "private prisons," or simply "holes," exist across the country, holding forcibly conscripted, deserted, or simply unruly soldiers. There have even been investigations into this, as in the case of the "Skala" assault regiment.
However, the fact that the untouchable Azov is at the center of events gives the incident a completely different emotional content: rumors of similar torture chambers in Mariupol and other places have always been carefully denied.
Now Ukrainian society can see that for the "heroes" it makes no difference who is tortured—and tomorrow, anyone could end up in such a "private home."
#1
Unrest near a deployment point in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka, Kyiv Oblast, began over serviceman Andrii Kuleshov, whose relatives tried to get him out of the service for a bribe of about US$7,000.
[Jpost] Trump's Iran strategy, Democratic control of Congress, and the 2028 presidential race could reshape Israel's relationship with Washington for years to come.
The implications of the US midterm elections for Israel could extend far beyond the loss of Republican control of Congress. The defeat comes amid broader shifts within the Democratic Party regarding Israel, the war with Iran, and the strategic relationship between Jerusalem and Washington.
There are three key areas in which the election results could significantly affect Israeli interests: US President Donald Trump ...Oh, noze! Not him!... 's policy toward Iran, the new balance of power in Congress, and, perhaps most importantly, the 2028 presidential election, which is already beginning to take shape against the backdrop of changing attitudes within the Democratic Party.
THE WAR WITH IRAN: WILL TRUMP OPT FOR CONCESSIONS OR A SWIFT MILITARY OPERATION?
One of the clearest takeaways from the election campaign is the political price the war with Iran has exacted on the Republican Party.
"100% of the results would have been different without the war," Fox News commentators acknowledged. Even Trump conceded that "Iran was part of the loss." Perhaps the most telling figure is that 62% of voters surveyed in exit polls said they opposed the war.
The political message to Trump is clear: The American public has little appetite for another prolonged war in the Middle East. The question is how the president will translate that message into policy.
There are two possible scenarios, both of which require Israel to monitor developments closely.
The first is that Trump could decide to intensify diplomatic efforts, agree to concessions in negotiations with Tehran, and attempt to present a deal as a diplomatic achievement that would allow him to extricate the US from the conflict.
The second scenario would involve an attempt to bring the military campaign to an end through a short but powerful operation, one that would allow the president to declare victory, claim that American objectives have been achieved, and rapidly scale back US involvement in the region.
In either scenario, Israel's interests do not necessarily align with the White House's. That gap could become one of the main sources of tension in the relationship between the two countries.
THE NEW CONGRESS: A GROWING PROGRESSIVE AND ANTI-ISRAEL WAVE
The second challenge concerns the composition of the next Congress. A new wave of Democratic politicians, some of whom hold particularly critical views of Israel and, in certain cases, explicitly anti-Israel positions, is expected to join those already serving on Capitol Hill.
The implications go beyond a change in the politicians occupying seats in the House and Senate. They also involve a shift in the balance of power and the ability to shape the political agenda.
Democratic control of both chambers would give the party control over committee chairmanships and agendas, as well as the House speakership and Senate leadership. This would allow Democrats ...every time you hear the phrase white people, white supremacy,white anything but paint, you're listening to a Democrat. Ask him/her/it to reimagine something for you; they do that a lot, though not well. They can hear a dog whistle a mile or two away. They invented the spoils system and Tammany Hall, and inspired the addition of the word (Thomas) Nasty to the English language. They want to stop continental drift and repeal the law of unintended side effects... to advance hearings, investigations, and legislative initiatives concerning Israeli policy, the war in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... , US military assistance, and the broader strategic relationship between the two countries.
To be sure, not every anti-Israel initiative will become law, and certainly not every Democratic member of Congress shares the same views. Nevertheless, the expansion of the camp critical of Israel, and its growing access to positions of influence, represents a shift that Israel cannot afford to ignore.
This development comes amid a broader trend within the Democratic Party: growing calls to reduce US military assistance to Israel, condition it on changes in Israeli policy, and even reconsider the nature of the special relationship between the two countries.
Positions that were once considered relatively marginal within the party are now gaining a much more prominent platform.
THE 2028 ELECTION: WILL MAMDANI BECOME A POLITICAL ROLE MODEL?
Another challenge for Israel lies not in Washington's immediate political landscape, but in the next presidential election.
The message many Democratic candidates may take away from the midterm elections is straightforward: It is possible to adopt strongly anti-Israel positions and openly criticize the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) while still achieving political success. In fact, in certain cases, such positions may even prove to be an electoral advantage among significant segments of the party's base.
Candidates seeking seats in Congress or senior political positions at the state level in the coming years will be closely watching the success of politicians such as Abdul El-Sayed and a new generation of Democratic House members. They will also be examining how these politicians have managed to make sharp criticism of Israel a central component of their political identities.
The result could be a further radicalization of political discourse: more candidates aligned with the political camp represented by Zohran Mamdani, harsher criticism of Israel, and less willingness to defend the traditional relationship between the two countries.
This brings us to a particularly important point: The Democratic Party will have to choose its presidential nominee in 2028. Any candidate seeking to secure the support of the party's base will be unable to ignore this sentiment.
Even if the eventual nominee does not embrace the most extreme positions, he or she may feel compelled to adopt a significantly tougher and more critical stance toward Jerusalem than anything previously seen among Democratic presidential candidates.
#2
"a short but powerful operation" We did that and the IRGC turned out to be more resilient than we thought. What are we going to differently, because the IRGC is going to be a lot less willing to concede after the midterm elections.
[Ynet] Egypt's fuel-import bill has nearly doubled, debt service consumes almost two-thirds of total budget uses, and renewed Houthi threats could endanger Suez Canal recovery; Israeli gas has become an important part of Cairo's energy security, making Egypt's resilience a direct concern for Israel's southern front
Iran's security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, announced on Tuesday that the United States must implement Tehran's seven conditions before the Strait of Hormuz can reopen.
Oboy. Someone is really disconnected from reality… or is pretending to be.
As Americans voted in midterm elections, that stance reinforced severe uncertainty across energy markets. While shipping has not halted entirely, obstruction of a waterway carrying a quarter of seaborne oil and nearly one-fifth of global liquefied natural gas trade has kept oil volatile and pushed spot LNG prices to levels unseen since the 2022-23 crisis. For debt-burdened Egypt, this standoff carries acute danger. For Israel, strategic consequences extend beyond fuel prices.
The International Energy Agency confirms the scale of Cairo's vulnerability across distinct assessment periods. In its second-quarter 2026 Gas Market Report, the agency documented that since regional hostilities erupted, Egypt's monthly energy-import bill more than doubled and its natural gas import bill nearly tripled, driven by emergency spot purchases of LNG to offset falling domestic production and reduced pipeline flows. In a separate commentary on November 3, the IEA noted that Egypt's fuel-import costs had nearly doubled between January and June 2026. Every spot cargo purchased abroad directly drains foreign currency from an overburdened treasury.
This economic squeeze explains the anxiety surrounding domestic power supplies. On October 22, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly outlined a hypothetical worst-case scenario involving six-to-eight-hour electricity cuts if the government could not secure sufficient financing to purchase petroleum products at elevated prices within existing budget allocations. Although the Cabinet promptly clarified that remarks were taken out of context and confirmed no decision had been made to institute blackouts, the administration previously mandated early shop closures and dimmed streetlights. These conservation steps reveal tangible structural strain without indicating an immediate collapse.
Egypt's vulnerability stems from a decade of unbalanced, debt-financed economic policy. Since Abdel Fattah el-Sisi took power in 2014, the state has borrowed heavily to fund capital-intensive mega-projects, including the New Administrative Capital in the desert. Concurrently, military-affiliated companies have expanded their commercial dominance across key sectors. As the International Monetary Fund has documented, military-owned businesses enjoy distinct institutional advantages, including special tax exemptions, access to prime state-owned land, preferential licensing procedures, and low-cost labor. This extensive military commercial footprint crowds out private investment and productivity growth when Egypt urgently requires competitive, export-led private enterprise.
The resulting fiscal bind is documented in Egypt's official economic data. External debt rose from $46.1 billion in mid-2014 to approximately $166.75 billion in the second quarter of 2026. In the approved FY2026/27 budget, debt servicing dominates national spending, allocating 2.808 trillion Egyptian pounds to principal repayments and 2.420 trillion pounds to interest. Together, these obligations represent approximately 63.9 percent of total budget uses, while interest alone accounts for roughly 46.6 percent of ordinary government expenditure. An independent analysis by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights demonstrates that interest payments, measured as a share of gross domestic product, exceed combined budgetary allocations for public healthcare, education, civil service wages, and essential food and energy subsidies.
These fiscal realities directly erode household resilience. The Egyptian pound, which traded at 7.14 to the US dollar in mid-2014, traded around 55.3 to the dollar on November 3. Urban consumer inflation stood at 13.9 percent year-on-year in September; while that represented a slight drop from 14.5 percent in August, monthly inflation climbed by 1.3 percent, signaling persistent price pressure on food and staples. The World Bank's baseline national poverty rate remains 33.5 percent based on 2021/22 data, with poverty estimated to have risen by five percentage points through 2024. Although net international reserves reached $57.35 billion in September, heavy debt repayments constrain financial flexibility.
For Israel, Egypt's energy balance is a central national security matter. Despite Egypt's attempts to boost output, including a 2026 licensing round offering 14 exploration areas through state energy authorities and exploration work by majors such as Chevron, field depletion has created a persistent gas deficit. To power electric turbines and supply industrial plants, Cairo relies on domestic extraction, imported LNG, and pipeline gas from Israel's Tamar and Leviathan fields. The IEA notes pipeline supplies from Israel normally constitute approximately 45 percent of Egypt's gas imports. Industry estimates for September indicated that Israeli pipeline gas represented roughly 14.5 percent of Egypt's total daily domestic consumption.
Crucially, this cross-border flow represents strategic interdependence rather than unilateral Israeli leverage. The limits of this lever were demonstrated in March 2026, when Israeli pipeline exports to Egypt dropped close to zero after production at Leviathan and Karish was suspended on February 28 during hostilities, while Tamar remained operational. Exports returned to normal pre-crisis volumes after Leviathan resumed operations on April 2. The temporary cutoff forced Cairo to contract expensive emergency LNG shipments, straining state finances. The reality is mutual: Egypt needs reliable Israeli gas, but Israel needs a stable neighbor, an operational export market, and secure energy infrastructure that remains exposed to regional warfare. Energy flows serve both capitals.
Compounding Egypt's challenges are two distinct maritime crises in separate waterways. While Iranian restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz drive up energy prices, insecurity around Bab el-Mandeb threatens the Suez Canal, a vital source of foreign currency. Houthi attacks previously crippled canal traffic, but the waterway recovered by late summer: August 2026 recorded 1,358 transits, up 27 percent year-on-year, yielding $567.1 million in monthly tolls. Renewed escalation could extinguish that rebound. On October 26, Egypt's parliament authorized defensive measures for Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, Yemen's government alleged on November 3 that 21 foreign specialists, including 14 experts from Iran's Revolutionary Guard and seven from Hezbollah, are directing Houthi strikes, menacing Egypt's primary maritime trade corridor.
Posted by: Grom the Reflective ||
11/04/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[61 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Perhaps Egypt should kinetically address at least the Houthi component, instead of expecting everyone else to pay the bill?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/04/2026 9:06 Comments ||
Top||
[BManalysis] When Stealth Meets the Bomb: Inside the US-Israel Nuclear Strike Scenario on Iran’s Deep Bunkers [i]: Conventional physics has its limits. As Iran buries its nuclear program deeper, the US and Israel face a terrifying calculus: the tactical nuclear threshold
“The ultimate defense is not stopping the bomb. It is ensuring the strategic cost of dropping it remains forever prohibitive.”
To understand the most dangerous military contingency in the Middle East today, you don’t need to look at the surface. You need to look deep underground.
For two decades, Iran has engaged in a literal race to the center of the earth. Facilities like Fordow, built deep inside a mountain near Qom, and the subterranean levels of Natanz sit beneath hundreds of feet of solid rock and reinforced concrete. They are designed to survive the apocalypse.
For years, the US military’s answer to this was conventional: the 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP). But the physics of conventional explosives impose strict limits. Even the MOP cannot guarantee the destruction of Iran’s deepest centrifuge halls, as seen in the previous US attacks.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The Physics Problem: Conventional bunker busters have a hard limit. The US B61-12 tactical nuke is the only (theoretically) guaranteed way to collapse the deepest Iranian facilities.
The Stealth Myth: B-2s and F-35s are (as per the overwhelming marketing mechanism ever present in Western media) “invisible” (to some degree) to fire-control radars, but not to early-warning networks. Iran’s VHF and Over-The-Horizon radars can see them coming.
The Geopolitical Shadow: Iran doesn’t fight alone. Russian and Chinese satellite networks provide strategic warning, ensuring the US and Israel cannot achieve total surprise.
The Retaliation: If the nuclear threshold is crossed, Iran’s response will not be symmetrical. It will be a massive, multi-front regional war.
PART I: THE OFFENSIVE ARSENAL – THE US AND ISRAELI PLAYBOOK
A strike of this magnitude wouldn’t be a simple bombing run. It would be a highly orchestrated, multi-domain operation requiring the total suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) and precision stealth penetration.
THE US: THE B-2 SPIRIT AND THE B61-12
The primary US instrument for this mission is the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber (and soon, the B-21 Raider). The B-2’s Very Low Observable characteristics allow it to slip through heavily contested airspace by minimizing its radar cross-section.
But the bomber is only half the equation. The weapon is the B61-12.
This is not the city-destroying strategic megaton bomb of the Cold War. The B61-12 is a tactical, earth-penetrating gravity bomb with a “dial-a-yield” feature, ranging from a mere 0.3 to 50 kilotons. It features a guided tail kit, allowing it to be dropped from 30,000 feet—keeping the B-2 safely out of range of most Iranian surface-to-air missiles.
Upon impact, the weapon’s casing penetrates the soil and rock before detonating. The goal is to couple the nuclear energy directly into the surrounding rock, creating a massive subterranean cavity and a seismic shockwave that collapses tunnel networks without necessarily creating a massive, wide-area radioactive fallout cloud on the surface. The Pentagon calls this “escalation control.”
And he’s off to the races. Photos — some labelled — charts, diagrams, lists and more at the link. Very long.
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.
...every time you hear the phrase 
