Important Takeaways:
- The tally, virtually unimaginable in any democratic nation, suggests that the Kremlin is now less focused on manufacturing a veneer of electoral legitimacy and more on creating a cult of personality around Putin as Russia’s undisputed national patriarch and leader for life.
- We should see elections under Putin as not being about popular sovereignty, but about popular subordination
- It is about the masses voting to accept Putin as their czar
- It’s not just that the Kremlin is no longer embarrassed to rig the election. I think it’s almost, ‘So, what you can do about it?’
- Western leaders face a strident, emboldened adversary in command of a nuclear arsenal.
- Appearing supremely confident, Putin shrugged off the “unfortunate” death of his main rival, Alexei Navalny, in prison last month, which has left Putin with no conceivable challenger.
- Nobody from the very beginning considered these elections to be elections
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Important Takeaways:
- Israeli forces are in control of al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, after an overnight raid on the medical complex, and have told thousands living nearby to evacuate towards the south of the Palestinian territory.
- Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesperson, said early on Monday that troops were “conducting a high-precision operation in limited areas of Shifa hospital based on … intelligence information indicating the use of the hospital by senior Hamas terrorists to command attacks”.
- The IDF has used leaflets and social media to urge civilians around Shifa to leave the vicinity, telling them to head immediately along Gaza’s coastal road to al-Muwasi, an area 18 miles (30km) south.
- The Israeli military issued grainy drone footage of the Shifa raid that it said showed troops coming under fire from a number of buildings within the hospital complex.
- The IDF said troops had been instructed on the importance of avoiding harm to patients, civilians, medical staff and equipment.
- Israeli forces have raided a number of hospitals in Gaza during a military campaign launched after the surprise attack by Hamas into southern Israel in which the militants killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 others hostage.
- Benjamin Netanyahu has said no amount of international pressure would stop Israel from realizing its war aim of “crushing Hamas” and has pledged to launch a long-anticipated offensive in Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza that is now home to more than 1 million people displaced from elsewhere in the territory.
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Important Takeaways:
- Belarus has reportedly deployed tanks near its border with NATO, while tensions between Russia and the strategic alliance continue to simmer amid the war in Ukraine.
- The Belarusian military “mobilized reservists and kicked off major military maneuvers,” according to a report published by The Kyiv Post on Thursday. Troops and equipment including tanks from Belarus’ 19th Guards Mechanized Brigade were reportedly deployed near the country’s western border with NATO member country Lithuania.
- The Community of Railway Workers of Belarus—a group opposed to the policies of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who is a close ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin—said that a train loaded with military equipment and personnel arrived on Wednesday night in Oshmyany, an area located less than 15 miles from the border with Lithuania.
- The group said that the train arriving at Oshmyany station consisted of four passenger cars filled with Belarusian troops and 42 cars loaded with equipment, including nine T-72B tanks. Belarus’ Ministry of Defense later confirmed that the deployment included T-72B tanks and BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, according to the Belarusian Hajun news project.
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Important Takeaways:
- Russia’s rocket forces loaded an intercontinental ballistic missile equipped with the nuclear-capable “Avangard” hypersonic glide vehicle into a launch silo in southern Russia, according to a defense ministry TV channel broadcast on Thursday.
- President Vladimir Putin announced the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle in 2018, saying it was a response to U.S. development of a new generation of weapons and a U.S. missile defense system that it could penetrate.
- As it approaches its target, the Avangard glide vehicle detaches from the rocket and is able to maneuver sharply outside the trajectory of the rocket at hypersonic speeds of up to 27 times the speed of sound (about 21,000 miles per hour or 34,000 kilometers per hour).
- The ‘Zvezda’ television channel owned by the Russian defense ministry showed a ballistic missile being transported to a launch silo, slowly raised into vertical position and then lowered into a shaft in the Orenburg region near Kazakhstan.
- Russia says the post-Cold War dominance of the United States is crumbling and that Washington has for years sown chaos across the planet while ignoring the interests of other powers.
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Important Takeaways:
- A “perfect storm” of factors has created a global food crisis that just continues to intensify
- Right now, we are literally teetering on the brink of such a disaster.
- According to the UN’s World Food Program, we are dealing with “a hunger crisis of unprecedented proportions” right now…
- Conflict, economic shocks, climate change and soaring prices for food and fertilizer are all combining in a perfect storm to create a hunger crisis of unprecedented proportions. Right now, in some of the hungriest places around the world, there just isn’t enough food to feed the population.
- According to an article that was posted by the New York Times, the number of countries that are “at risk of famine” just continues to grow…
- The list of countries at risk of famine now includes Afghanistan, Syria and Mali. Humanitarian observers also worry that North Korea may be nearing a famine.
- About 90 million people are facing severe hunger in Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen. These countries, unfortunately, have their own histories of severe food shortages, but the world has never witnessed all of these countries descending toward mass starvation at the same time.
- Here in the United States, there is still enough food to go around, but supplies of food have been getting tighter.
- According to the Farm Bureau, the U.S. actually lost more than 140,000 farms during one recent five-year period…
- Between 2017 and 2022, the number of farms in the U.S. declined by 141,733 or 7%, according to USDA’s 2022 Census of Agriculture, released on Feb. 13. Acres operated by farm operations during the same timeframe declined by 20.1 million (2.2%), a loss equivalent to an area about the size of Maine.
- And the size of the U.S. cattle herd is now the smallest that it has been in 73 years…
- Not many ranchers active today will remember the last time the U.S. cattle industry was this small. On January 1, 2024, the All Cattle and Calves inventory was 87.15 million head, the smallest total inventory since 1951. The All Cattle and Calves inventory is 1.9 percent smaller year over year and is the fifth consecutive year of declining cattle inventories, a total decrease of 7.65 million head or 8.1 percent since the most recent peak in 2019. The 2023 calf crop was 33.6 million head, down 2.5 percent year over year and the smallest calf crop since 2014.
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Important Takeaways:
- AF Gen. Warns It’s Not Just Illegals at the Border, It’s Cartel Drones—With Over 1,000 Encounters a Month
- That’s the disturbing takeaway from Air Force General Gregory M. Guillot, who testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday and answered questions from Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC). Guillot took over as Commander of the United States Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command in February.
- And he’s concerned about what he’s seeing in his new position:
- “The number of incursions was something that was alarming to me as I took command last month,” Guillot told the senator. “I don’t know the actual number – I don’t think anybody does – but it’s in the thousands…”
- Budd pressed for what time frame Guillot was referencing in regard to the “thousands” of drone incursions.
- Guillot responded, “I would say in probably over a month we could probably have over 1,000 a month.”
- What are these drones, and who’s controlling them? It doesn’t take a brain scientist to conclude that they are likely mostly operated by the human and drug trafficking Mexican cartels, who presumably are scouting the U.S. response to the border invasion and looking for the best ways to counter it. The unmanned aircraft could themselves be used to transport narcotics:
- But drones and illegal immigrants from South and Central America aren’t the only problems…
- “The number of Chinese that are coming across the border is a big concern of mine. In fact, in the short period of time that I’ve been in command, I’ve gone down to the southern border to talk to the agents and leadership about that. And then I’ve also spoken with the acting commissioner of the CBP on this subject,” Guillot said.
- Guillot continued, “What concerns me most about specifically the Chinese migrants is – one, that they’re so centralized in one location on the border. And two, is while many may be political refugees, other explanations, the ability for counterintelligence to hide in plain sight in those numbers.”
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Important Takeaways:
- WEAPONS OF WAR Putin sparks chaos in Europe by jamming GPS on flights & ships with top secret electronic weapon, warns military chief
- The weapon has reportedly been jamming GPS technology on flights and ships across the eastern flank of NATO, causing severe disruption.
- A surge in disruption to the GPS guiding system for air and sea traffic has been detected in Finland, the Baltic nations and Poland, Estonian military chief Martin Harem told the Telegraph.
- “What we have seen is a malfunctioning of GPS for ships and air traffic,” he said.
- “And we really do not know if they [Russia] want to achieve something or just practice and test their equipment.”
- He added: “But definitely, nobody should behave like this, especially when you’re at war with a neighboring country.”
- According to Western intelligence reports, the fixed jamming system is called Tobol – which looks like a huge dish with an antenna.
- Analysts have identified at least seven Tobol complexes in Russia.
- The secret weapon transmits signals on the same frequency as the satellite, which prevents connected devices from receiving the legitimate signal, reports the Washington Post.
- Electronic warfare expert Dr. Thomas Withington said the dish can be directed to disrupt GPS signals in multiple directions – which could be key to protect Kaliningrad as well as Russia from potential incoming missiles.
- He argued that the system is rather defensive in nature – and is being used as a “invisible” shield against Nato’s arsenal of satellite-guided missile systems.
- “This may surprise some people but I think, ostensibly, it’s defensive,” he told The Telegraph.
- “The Russian military is highly concerned by Global navigation satellite system weapons.”
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Important Takeaways:
- With increasing audacity, Russia is making its presence felt in the Atlantic Ocean, as demonstrated by the amplified deployment of its nuclear submarines. The escalating numbers of Russian nuclear submarines maneuvering in the Atlantic are a clear signal for NATO to remain vigilant. It’s been speculated by various analysts that Russia has designated as many as eleven nuclear submarines to operate in this specific region.
- In the most explicit warning yet regarding the potential threat Russia poses, General Cavoli’s analysis sounds the alarm for the United States and its Western allies supporting Ukraine.
- A few months earlier, a wave of concern swept over Western nations when Russian President Vladimir Putin dispatched surface warships to the Atlantic Ocean. A significant number of these vessels were armed with hypersonic cruise missiles, capable of outpacing US air defense systems.
- Michael Peterson, a prominent figure at the Russian Maritime Research Institute [RMSI] and celebrated for his extensive knowledge of Russian naval prowess, has highlighted numerous indicators that suggest Russia’s increasing tendencies to place their nuclear submarines along the United States coastlines.
- Peterson, the insightful researcher, observes an uncanny resemblance between these tactics and those employed by the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War conflict.
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Important Takeaways:
- Another One Bites the Dust With Bidenomics: Family Dollar and Dollar Tree to Close 1,000 Stores
- As my colleague Bonchie pointed out earlier Wednesday, if Sleepy Joe and crew expected a bounce from the State of the Union yell fest, what they received was a thud. Panic Time for Democrats As Joe Biden Gets No Bump From Terrible State of the Union Speech
- Family Dollar, the struggling discount chain that caters to low-income customers predominantly in cities, will close about 1,000 stores as inflation takes a bite out of consumers’ wallets and low-cost-retailers’ profits.
- Family Dollar will close 600 locations in the first half of 2024 and 370 stores over the next several years as store leases expire.
- Dollar Tree, which owns Family Dollar, also said it will close 30 stores as leases expire
- Inflation gave Team Bidenomics a swift kick in the pants. It rose by 0.4% in February, the highest monthly increase since September, pushing the year-to-year rate to 3.2%, compared to 3.1% for the January year-to-year rate. Economists had expected a 3.1% year-to-year rate in February.
- The White House is pushing the story that “volatile” gasoline prices—and probably predatory price-gouging by gas station owners—are to blame, but the data say something different. The Core Consumer Price Index has increased steadily for seven months.
- A couple more increases like this over the next couple of months leading into the summer are probably going to put some doubt into whether or not the Fed will reduce interest rates in any way
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Important Takeaways:
- What does the color red mean to you? Today, I was thinking about several recent news stories that are related to Bible prophecy, and I realized that they all had something to do with the color red.
- A Wikipedia article that explains that red “is the color of blood” and that it “has historically been associated with sacrifice, danger, and courage”. In addition, the color red is often used to convey some sort of a warning
- According to NASA, large amounts of red rust have been discovered on the surface of the moon…
- While our Moon is airless, research indicates the presence of hematite, a form of rust that normally requires oxygen and water. That has scientists puzzled.
- Mars has long been known for its rust. Iron on its surface, combined with water and oxygen from the ancient past, give the Red Planet its hue. But scientists were recently surprised to find evidence that our airless Moon has rust on it as well.
- Meanwhile, there is a tremendous amount of speculation that a red heifer ceremony could soon be conducted in Israel.
- In September 2022, I wrote about five red heifers that had been transported to the land of Israel from the state of Texas.
- Those red heifers are still alive, and earlier this month CBS News published a story about them…
- There have been rumblings that an official purification ceremony could be conducted at some point this year.
- When asked about this by CBS News, Mamo indicated that one may happen soon…
- Back at his settlement in the West Bank, Mamo told CBS News the heifers need only pass a final purity test. The ceremony that he hopes will resurrect the temple and usher in the Messiah could take place any day. He said he understands why Hamas could be outraged.
- Of course the truth is that the Middle East is already on the brink of all-out war.
- According to Zero Hedge, Israel has been feverishly making preparations for an invasion of southern Lebanon…
- Israeli media, particularly YNet News reported on Sunday that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is preparing “contingency plans” for a wide-scale attack on Lebanon.
- [Meanwhile] the U.S. and Russia are rapidly approaching a point of no return as well, and this week Vladimir Putin warned that his nation is ready for nuclear war…
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