Finnish commandos boarded and seized an oil tanker Thursday that is believed to have temporarily disabled the Estlink-2 power line connecting Finland and Estonia. The vessel in question, the Cook Islands-registered Eagle S, was traveling from St. Petersburg to Port Said, Egypt. The Eagle S is thought to be part of Russia's "shadow fleet" that smuggles Russian crude oil to market. //

This is the fourth time power or telecom cables crossing the Baltic have been damaged by deliberate actions. In October 2023, a Chinese container ship damaged a gas pipeline and two telecom cables between Finland and Estonia by dragging an anchor across them; see Chinese Container Ship Suspected of Deliberately Damaging Estonia-Finland Gas Pipeline. In November 2024, a Chinese ship disabled a 745-mile cable linking Germany and Finland and a 135-mile cable linking Lithuania and the Swedish island of Gotland, again by dragging an anchor across them. In this case, the Danish Navy detained the ship but it doesn't appear to be in any danger of consequences: see Denmark Detains Chinese Ship Suspected in Cable Cutting Incident. Authorities from Sweden, Finland, Germany, and Denmark were finally allowed to board the vessel after a month-long standoff, but they were not allowed to investigate. They are only allowed to observe the Chinese investigation. This goes to my point yesterday as to why we must reach some sort of agreement with Denmark on Greenland because the Chinese own too much of Denmark's economy and, I believe, government to be relied upon to keep China from controlling that vital Arctic region; see Trump Trolls Canada, Denmark, and Panama for Christmas but Behind the Fun He Makes Serious Points. //

In addition to the AIS data showing Eagle S making very curious maneuvers over Estlink-2 and the absence of one of its anchors, the documentary evidence has the profile of an oil smuggler. //

The obvious collaboration of Russian-controlled and Chinese-registered vessels to damage the telecom and power grid running beneath the Baltic Sea threatens NATO and the EU. NATO must take this hybrid war being waged underwater seriously and develop equally serious strategies for combatting it. What can't be tolerated is China stepping in to block investigations and legal actions by affected countries. //

Mildred's Oldest Son
6 hours ago
As the article says, all of these undersea pipelines/cables/internet connections are well charted. The Russian/Chicom/Iranian/whoever, et al are testing the responses to cutting these important, international connections. So far, the west is on the defensive.

The situation can be complicated and hard to follow, but if you read the above excerpts provided by Jerry Dunleavy, it boils down to this: There was a rabid, seemingly inexplicable desire by most of the federal government under Joe Biden to rebuff any suggestion COVID-19 leaked from a lab.

Much of that effort centers on an April 2021 assessment that was presented to Biden and would become the backbone of his administration's response to the origins of the virus. As is revealed above, the FBI had ascertained a lab leak from Wuhan was the most likely explanation, placing a "moderate confidence" in their findings. Notably, that was the highest level of confidence applied by any of the other intelligence arms despite the rest of them backing the "zoonotic theory" of natural origins. Yet, no one from the FBI was even present at the briefing with Biden to present the counter. //

It wasn't just the FBI either. Scientists from the National Center for Medical Intelligence also backed the lab leak theory. They even specifically cited evidence that "gain of function" research was taking place in Wuhan despite that being dismissed as a conspiracy theory by Fauci and others.

The findings of those scientists were scuttled altogether, though, because the Defense Intelligence Agency had come to a different conclusion and seemed to have no stomach for entertaining the lab leak theory. Are you starting to see how this web of intelligence agencies can be manipulated to present a certain narrative regardless of the truth? //

It is impossible to ignore what appears to be a disturbing level of Chinese influence in the Biden administration. Whether that was being dictated from abroad or simply Biden officials being so entangled with the CCP that they felt the need to dismiss the lab leak theory on their own isn't that relevant. What's relevant is that a presidential administration was and remains inundated with people operating as Chinese proxies. That they were willing to manipulate national intelligence on an issue as important as COVID-19 should leave people questioning everything asserted by the federal government. //

Musicman
10 hours ago
I suspect the coverup was less about protecting China and more about protecting Fauci and the NIH. Who do you think funded the “gain of function research that wasn’t really gain of function” at Wuhan? We did. Likely because it would have illegal for us to do that kind of research that makes a virus more virulent and more easily transmitted (but for some technical reason doesn’t meet Fauci’s definition of gain of function).

Visegrád 24 @visegrad24
·
Donald Trump looking at a meme on his phone of the U.S. buying Canada, Greenland and Panama on Amazon
4:06 PM · Dec 24, 2024.

Like so much else Trump says, this comes with more than a grain of truth. //

OrneryCoot
12 hours ago
At the heart of this is Trump trying to alarm Chinese officials to no end. The original Monroe Doctrine posited that there would be no influence by Europe any more in the Americas. China has apparently thought that since they are Asian, it doesn't apply to them. Trump, I believe, through his trolling, is sending a message to the Chinese that they should focus on their own durn backyard and get out of ours. It's trolling on the surface, but it is serious in undertone, and I think the message is being received by the Chinese quite clearly. Whether they take more persuasion is anyone's guess, but I think that they will probably have to be bonked on the nose a few times before they quit sniffing around. China is our main adversary now. All of the others are secondary. That doesn't mean that Iran, Russia, North Korea, and other bad actors don't deserve our attention, but the main focus HAS to be on China. That's why Rubio, Mike Waltz, and other China hawks are being chosen for Trump's second administration. He's got it together. He knows his priorities. That he uses unconventional tactics like these are good...it will keep the Chinese flustered and unbalanced. January needs to come quickly. //

1776-2023RIP
12 hours ago
Trump is always eventually proven right. In essence, if not in rhetoric. Trump sees the macro while the left focuses on the micro. The Right takes him seriously but not literally. The Left takes him literally but not seriously. I could list all the examples but they are well known and become more apparent by the day.
Obviously the Panama Canal and Greenland are of vital strategic and economic importance to the U S.
Our relationship with Canada is as well.
While purchasing Greenland or “taking back” the Canal, may not, or even should not happen, it is obvious that corrective measures to keep them in our sphere of influence, is imperative. Trump knows this.
And he says as much, in his own unmistakable way.
The same thing with Canada. Since he is always right, let’s take him seriously . But not necessarily literally.

Then Vice President Joe Biden met his son Hunter’s foreign business partners during a 2013 overseas trip to China, newly released photographs show. The unearthed records also document Hunter meeting Chinese dictator Xi Jinping.

Obtained by America First Legal (AFL) via open records request, the photographs from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) appear to show Hunter introducing his father to several Chinese members of BHR Partners, a Chinese investment firm with ties to the country’s Communist government.

As the New York Post previously reported, Hunter “cofounded BHR Partners in 2013 within weeks of joining then-Vice President Joe Biden aboard Air Force Two on an official trip to Beijing.” The First Son reportedly “held a 10% stake in BHR Partners at least through part of his father’s first year as president and the terms of his divestment remain murky,” according to the outlet.

The pictures obtained by AFL appear to show Joe meeting BHR Partners CEO Jonathan Li and Director and Managing Partner Ming Xue. The released records also show Hunter meeting Xi and then Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao.

For those unacquainted with Li, he and the Bidens helped arrange the transfer of stealth technology to a blacklisted Chinese military manufacturer. No, that's not the plot line of a movie. That actually happened, and there has been zero accountability in the aftermath of those revelations. With Joe Biden's recent pardoning of his son, that's unlikely to change.

RedState's Jennifer Van Laar exposed the aforementioned deal through her original reporting back in 2020. In 2023, Devon Archer, one of Hunter Biden's business associates, confirmed her reporting surrounding Li and the Bidens while testifying before Congress. These newly released pictures provide the final piece of evidence that the meetings did take place. //

Notably, lawyers representing Joe Biden and Barack Obama worked with the National Archives to stop these photos from being released before the 2024 election. That alone would be treated as a major news story if we were talking about a Republican. The size of the cover-up here is immense, spanning former and current presidents along with US federal agencies.

Unfortunately, as is to be expected, mainstream "news" outlets have no interest in digging deeper into what is legitimately the biggest presidential scandal in modern history. You've got pictures of a vice president using taxpayer money to introduce his son to Chinese officials, some of which the Bidens would become entangled with professionally, including the reception of large sums of money. Then once Joe Biden became president, he weaponized the National Archives (just as he did against Donald Trump) to stop the release of damaging evidence to protect himself and his party politically. //

Republicans don't need to let this go. While legal accountability may be off the table, exposing the rank corruption and criminal activity of the Biden family is an important endeavor. The American people deserve the truth, and the Democratic Party needs to pay a high political price for this.

In 1941, the United States suddenly found itself in a war that would span a third of the Earth's surface - the Pacific Ocean. They faced an implacable enemy with imperial ambitions, and the Pacific Fleet - or at least, what wasn't on the muddy bottom of Pearl Harbor - was built in part on Great War relics.

Four years later, the United States Pacific Fleet had more modern combat ships than all the other navies of the world combined. The United States, as Admiral Yamamoto warned, had fired up its enormous industrial base to a war footing faster than anyone thought possible, and we drowned the Empire of Japan in steel - and atomic flame.

Today there is another Asian power with Pacific Ocean ambitions, and we have some problems that didn't exist in 1941. //

The primary problem, according to Eaglen, is that China may well win dominance in the Pacific without firing a shot. And, as is always the case, the problem has a lot to do with logistics.

“If they know if this ever got beyond competition to something with the use of violence, we don’t have that capacity to rapidly repair and resupply forward in Asia, and it’s a really long way home to sail and fly things. You see how Beijing’s starting to win without fighting,” she concluded. //

America does have some advantages in the Pacific. Our undersea fleet is the most advanced in the world, and as the Germans learned as early as the Great War, submarines are a great force multiplier.

How Innovative Is China in Nuclear Power? | ITIF

An interesting (albeit saddening) article from the Swamp-based Information Technology & Innovation Foundation.

• China intends to build 150 new nuclear reactors between 2020 and 2035, with 27 currently under construction and the average construction timeline for each reactor about seven years, far faster than for most other nations.

• China has commenced operation of the world’s first fourth-generation nuclear reactor, for which China asserts it developed some 90 percent of the technology.

• China is leading in the development and launch of cost-competitive small modular reactors (SMRs).

• Overall, analysts assess that China likely stands 10 to 15 years ahead of the United States in its ability to deploy fourth-generation nuclear reactors at scale.

• China’s innovation strengths in nuclear power pertain especially to organizational, systemic, and incremental innovation. Many fourth-generation nuclear technologies have been known for years, but China’s state-backed approach excels at fielding them.

That used to be the US’s strength – the ability to take smart ideas from anywhere around the world and actually implement them. That was before the US changed itself into a make-work program for bureaucrats & lawyers.

The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released its final report Monday, making numerous findings that would have gotten people deplatformed four - or even three - short years ago, and some of the points upon which there was bipartisan consensus will rock the minds of the Covidian cult.

Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), a physician, chaired the committee.

Entitled “After Action Review of the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Lessons Learned and a Path Forward," the report begins with Wenstrup outlining those points of bipartisan consensus:

1. The possibility that the COVID-19 virus emerged because of a laboratory or research related accident is not a conspiracy theory.
2. EcoHealth Alliance, Inc., and Dr. Peter Daszak should never again receive U.S. taxpayer dollars.
3. Scientific messaging must be clear and concise, backed by evidentiary support, and come from trusted messengers, such as front-line doctors treating patients.
4. Public health officials must work to regain Americans' trust; Americans want to be educated, not indoctrinated.
5. Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo engaged in medical malpractice and publicly covered up the total number of nursing home fatalities in New York.

According to Wenstrup, the committee also made numerous findings, including (but not limited to):

1. The U.S. National Institutes of Health funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
2. The Chinese government, agencies within the U.S. Government, and some members of the international scientific community sought to cover-up facts concerning the origins of the pandemic.
3. Operation Warp Speed was a tremendous success and a model to build upon in the future. The vaccines, which are now probably better characterized as therapeutics, undoubtedly saved millions of lives by diminishing likelihood of severe disease and death. //

Contrary to what was promised, the COVID-19 vaccine did not stop the spread or transmission of the virus.

Vaccine mandates trampled individual freedoms and harmed military readiness.

And, most importantly, the committee found that "a lab-related incident involving dangerous gain-of-function research in China is the most likely origin of the COVID-19 pandemic." //

TXavatar
11 hours ago edited
I work in clinical drug trials and the key words missing from the discussion is "informed consent" which is the moral and legal bedrock of all medical treatments. With such a limited time to test, the drugs were not vaccines but rather experimental treatments and given liability exemption as a result. That could have been acceptable if presented as such to the concerned populace. However, when they were falsely promoted as vaccines and the population was coerced/mandated in to receiving them, "informed" and "consent" was thrown out the window.

It is becoming obvious that China is engaged in a hybrid conflict with the EU, either on its own behalf or in support of Russian adventurism. Every instance of Chinese attacks on critical infrastructure that goes unanswered will simply embolden and encourage the Chinese. Allowing this ship to go on its way is a sure ticket to another more significant attack. //

Bob Smalser
10 hours ago
You never know. A derelict WWII mine might break loose and do in that vessel.

Rubio has proven himself as a hawk against America’s most dangerous adversary: China. //

Rubio tweeted in response: “Last month China banned me. Today they sanctioned me. I don’t want to be paranoid but I am starting to think they don’t like me.”

Walz's connections with the CCP have never been publicly explained. If DHS has doubts about those ties, America needs to know. America also needs to know why Kamala selected someone with deep ties to Communist China as a running mate. Mayrokas's refusal to comply with this subpoena should land him a criminal indictment if Trump wins next week. Of course, if Kamala wins, we'll find out about those ties pretty quickly. //

Random US Citizen
40 minutes ago edited
How to invade Taiwan without repercussions:

1) Groom a Democrat politician using honey traps during his time in China. Blackmail him as needed.

2) Get him on a major party ticket as VP nominee by using your connections within the party.

3) Corrupt the election using money, lies, and voting machine hacking so his party wins

4) Assassinate the new President using one of the tens of thousands of illegals you've infiltrated into the US

5) Profit! //

anon-isiz
27 minutes ago
This would have been enough to deny him a security clearance in the days when DOD wasn’t giving classified Israeli defense plans to terrorist organizations. Now? He’s probably more trustworthy than anyone in the White House.

China’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are set to fall in 2024 and could be facing structural decline, due to record growth in the installation of new low-carbon energy sources. //

China’s CO2 emissions have seen explosive growth over recent decades, pausing only for brief periods due to cyclical shocks.

Over the past 20 years, its annual emissions from fossil fuels and cement have climbed quickly almost every year – as shown in the figure below – interrupted only by the economic slowdown of 2015-16 and the impact of zero-Covid restrictions in 2022.

While CO2 is rebounding in 2023 from zero-Covid lows (see: Why emissions grew in Q3 of 2023), there have also been record additions of low-carbon capacity, setting up a surge in electricity generation next year. (See: Solar, wind and hydropower set to surge in 2024.)

Combined with a rebound in hydro output following a series of droughts, these record additions are all but guaranteed to push fossil-fuel electricity generation and CO2 emissions into decline in 2024, as shown in the figure below.

When drones swarmed our military bases, the only thing bureaucrats ‘shot down’ were proposals about how to deal with the problem. //

In the end, the Journal strongly implies that the drone intrusions over Langley Airforce Base came to a halt only because twenty-something Chinese student Fengyun Shi accidentally crashed his drone into a tree. Law enforcement identified Shi’s suspicious behavior, and he was arrested before he could escape on a one-way trip back to China. He was convicted of espionage and sentenced to only six months in prison.

This story provides a genuine, although probably unintentional, insight into American national security. U.S. policymakers tie themselves in knots over what they view as insurmountably complex technological and regulatory questions, instead of accepting common-sense approaches. //

Our national security apparatus is addicted to complexity. The more complex the problem, the more our elites feel justified in insisting that only the experts with the best credentials at the highest levels can be trusted to address the challenges we face. The larger the budgets that can be requested, the easier the excuses for when the problem remains unresolved.

The purpose of swarm tactics (whether from drones or otherwise) is to overwhelm a single target with multiple autonomous entities, which become increasingly difficult to track and react against.

The vulnerability being exploited isn’t a technological one. Rather it’s exploiting the opponent’s centralized and rigid decision-making process. This is the same logic deployed by Antifa rioters, who seek to overwhelm law enforcement with dozens of independently operating affinity groups.

Where all tactical decisions are increasingly centralized, and often subjected to political pressure (such as the role played by vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz in the loss of the Third Minneapolis Police Precinct during the 2020 riots), autonomous swarm tactics win the day. Where individuals and small groups are empowered to respond as needed and cut through the red tape, swarms can be defeated, as amply demonstrated by the response from Florida police to illegal efforts by pro-Hamas protesters to blockade major roads in April 2024. Where power is centralized, the swarm wins every time.

We should be wary when the national security apparatus insists that if we just granted them additional powers, they could defeat the latest and greatest threat. We should be skeptical of claims that we must continue to centralize power so our safety can be ensured. Instead, to defeat the swarms that threaten us, we should be on the lookout for ways to decentralize our security, spreading out responsibilities and empowering those closest to the problem to react with prudence.

For seventeen consecutive days in December 2023, highly sensitive US military bases in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia were the target of a drone swarm of unknown origin, type, or purpose. The official response seems to be one of studied indifference. //

Officials didn’t know if the drone fleet, which numbered as many as a dozen or more over the following nights, belonged to clever hobbyists or hostile forces.

If this story is true, what the military doesn't know about the drones dwarfs what it does know. No estimate is given for the number of drones that appeared over Langley AFB before decamping for a flyover of other installations. That isn't an accident. If the size, altitude, and speed of the drones are known, I'm sure someone at least tried to count them, though, in fairness to the military that Joe Biden has created, they may have been unable to do that. It is difficult to believe that after a couple of weeks of appearing at roughly the same time, no one thought about having a helicopter aloft to follow the drones home. Likewise, a 20-foot object flying at 4,000 feet should show up on one of the dozens of radars managing airspace over Hampton Roads unless it has a stealth design, in which case we can rule out a non-national actor. The idea that a rogue hobbyist dropped a few million to develop a massive drone fleet to fly over US military installations strains credulity. //

Just for context, the Shahed 131/136 drone used by the Russians in Ukraine to attack Ukrainian cities and infrastructure is 11 feet long and has a maximum speed of 115mph. It carried a 110-pound warhead. The drones spotted at Langley are roughly twice as long. Every $350 million F-22 you see parked there could be hit by a rather cheap drone before the airbase had time to decide they were an "imminent threat" and react. //

Dieter Schultz Laocoön of Troy
12 hours ago
Hmm... thanks.

I fear we're setting the stage for a Pearl Harbor-type surprise here, where we've opened ourselves up to an attack, widespread or local, that will cost us dearly.

It won't look like what happened in 1941, they'll use different methods, but it'll be about as embarrassing to the country as that was.

China has been conducting intelligence-gathering operations in the United States for some time now. From spy balloons to fake students, China has been penetrating American institutions, monitoring American military operations, and pushing aircraft and ships closer and closer to American territorial waters. Those aren't the acts of an ally. These are the acts of a nation that is up to something. It's not clear what; China can surveil American military bases in the continental United States until their eyes bleed but, barring intercontinental ballistic missiles, they have no capacity to strike at those bases.

It's worth remembering China continues to make overtures to Russia - and Iran.

China is, to be sure, a nation with big ambitions. They want a big, ocean-spanning navy like a wolf wants a sheep, and they seem to be determined to get one. But they are going to have to step up their game. The country has been beset by quality problems in everything from shipbuilding to buildings to electric scooters, cars, and cell phones. Until they figure out their quality problems and learn to develop tech of their own that is on a par with Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and the United States, we will continue to see incidents like this laughable failure of their vaunted new killer submarine - that sank alongside the pier. //

anon-6879
6 hours ago
As a retired Navy O-6, I would say Ward needs to get his stuff a little more together. (1) The picture in the article is of a ballistic missile sub, not an attack boat. (2) The attack sub was under construction, which means it sank while in the hands of the shipyard, probably without navy crew. Industrial accidents occur---we've had some bad ones when ships were in the yard, including fires and floodings. In the early '60's the attack carrier Constellation had a major fire while under construction which delayed its completion for more than a year. Did that man we didn't have an effective navy at the time? (3) The Chinese navy is much more than a "frigate navy." Their first supercarrier is at sea, and that gives them three afloat, with one carrier recently at sea in the South China Sea and off the Philippines with it's battlegroup. (Admittedly, they have a lot to learn about carrier ops.) However, they're projected to have five or six carriers by the end of the decade. That's as many as we have in Pacific. The Type 55 cruiser or destroyer leader (depending on how you classify it) is being built in numbers (Eight active, eight building.) Meanwhile, we're decommissioning our 30+ year old Ticonderoga Aegis cruisers without replacement. Their Type 52D missile destroyer is quite comparable to our Burke Class or the British Type 45 in size and capability; it's been built in numbers (25 active) and production continues. (4) The USN would love to have some frigates---we're struggling to build the new Constellation Class after the fiasco of the Littoral Combat Ships which were supposed to replace our once robust---now non-existent---frigate force. (5) The Chinese do have a good replenishment capability---their task groups operate in the Indian Ocean, the South Atlantic, and the North Pacific with replenishment ships in company. They're also acquiring foreign ports for use by their deployed squadrons. (Meanwhile, our carrier strike group in the mid-east is without a replenishment oiler because it went aground and is out of service while the navy is struggling to get a replacement on scene.) Our replenishment capability is a mere shadow of what it was in the cold war due to "Peace Dividend" budget cuts in last three decades. (6) In any fast developing conflict over Taiwan or dispute of the South China Sea, China would have home court advantage and a massive advantage in numbers over what our 7th Fleet could muster. The truth is, in the last three decades the Chines navy has made massive strides in numbers, the quality of it's equipment and its operational expertise at sea. Meanwhile, the USN is undeniability in decline: our numbers are diminishing and in recent years we've had a rash of collisions and groundings not to mention poor material readiness of our ships due to industrial maintenance deficiencies. In summary, we underestimate the PLAN at our peril.

China is, to be sure, a nation with big ambitions. They want a big, ocean-spanning navy like a wolf wants a sheep, and they seem to be determined to get one. But they are going to have to step up their game. The country has been beset by quality problems in everything from shipbuilding to buildings to electric scooters, cars, and cell phones. Until they figure out their quality problems and learn to develop tech of their own that is on a par with Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and the United States, we will continue to see incidents like this laughable failure of their vaunted new killer submarine - that sank alongside the pier. //

Alpinealan
13 hours ago
USS Thresher, SSN-593, was the first sub in its class. It failed during deep sea tests on April 10, 1963 with the loss of all on board. Building these boats requires the utmost in quality control...something the slave labor force at China's shipyards are probably not able to deliver.

SSN674 Alpinealan
13 hours ago
The Thresher incident led to significant changes in the design, construction, and operation of submarines. The lessons learned from the Thresher incident have had a profound impact on submarine safety and have helped to prevent future tragedies. These lessons continue to be applied to the design, construction, and operation of submarines today. //

anon-1tw9 Alpinealan
13 hours ago
This.
A simple brazed pipe joint behind a reactor control panel failed, causing the reactor to scram (shut down), She slowly sank stern first because the emergency ballast blow system had a fatal flaw in it.
m

Point is, all took was one bad pipe joint.

My dad served on Plunger, her sister. They were tasked with developing tactics for this new breed of killer, and killers they would have been, because they were just that far advanced. The Soviets would have never stood a chance.

SSN674 anon-1tw9
13 hours ago
Also, a couple critical factors contributing to the tragedy was the presence of moisture in the high-pressure air system. This moisture condensed and froze within the lines leading to the main ballast tanks, preventing them from being blown to the surface. Additionally, when the reactor scrammed, the main steam supply lines to the engine room automatically shut down. This prevented the crew from using ship's power to drive the submarine to the surface.

Despite the crew's efforts and constant communication with the Thresher during sea trials, there was ultimately little that could be done to prevent the disaster.

They fixed the moisture issue and changed stopped automatically closing of the main steam supply values after the incident. //

anon-1tw9 SSN674
13 hours ago edited
Yup. They had a small debiris screen on the end of the air piping feeding the tanks, and it would ice up because of the moisture.

I forgot which sub almost killed themselves finding that out that problem in the investigation. They almost went down too, or maybe just a harrowing experience, I can’t remember. //

DonH-Texas
15 hours ago
Did they order their sonar equipment from the same company that supplied the Hezbollah pagers?

Laocoön of Troy DonH-Texas
15 hours ago
By the way...look at the hull planform of their nukes. All kinds of sharp angles guarenteed to make more noise than my oldest's speakers set to eleventy. I'm told that their boats are god-awful noisy. Not a great survival strategy at sea.

“He alleges Walz was one of the few with access to the building where the top-secret manual was stored and was ‘often the only one there.'” //

A former National Guard colleague of Tim Walz’s told Alpha News that a nuclear manual went missing after the latter returned from China: //

sooner.

The 1-168th Field Artillery, Walz’s National Guard unit, started using the M109A5 self-propelled howitzer in 1995.

The weapon could fire nuclear artillery shells.

The former colleague also said Walz’s behavior changed when the manual went missing:

According to Walz’s former National Guard colleague, around the time the nuclear SOP manual went missing, Walz was pulled over by a Nebraska state trooper for driving 96 mph in a 55-mph zone. The officer noted a strong odor of alcohol, and Walz failed both field sobriety and breath tests. He was booked into the county jail and his lawyer later stated Walz believed someone was chasing him. //

Alpha News pointed out that people had to exchange information in person or through the mail in 1995.

Kathy Hochul joins a growing list of prominent Democrats plausibly compromised by the Chinese Communist Party, up to and including Joe Biden and Tim Walz. //

The Chinese have compromised the Democrat Party in ways Democrats dream the Russians have infiltrated Republicans.

Two indictments this week shook the nation, revealing the lengths to which foreign adversaries have gone to compromise the integrity of the American political system. One indictment, however, was not like the other. In fact, one was far worse in just about every way imaginable. //

Yet the Russian interference effort to buy off a couple of oblivious influencers pales in comparison to Chinese operations that are targeting elected leaders who are actually in office.

Another indictment unsealed this week revealed the far more devastating details of a foreign rival compromising one of the most powerful governorships in the country. On Tuesday, the former deputy chief of staff for New York Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul was charged with a laundry list of offences, including crimes under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Federal prosecutors say Linda Sun, whose 14 years in the state government also included time under Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was actually working on behalf of the Chinese government. Sun was charged along with her husband, Chris Hu, for myriad financial crimes compromising the governor’s office in the nation’s fourth most populous state.

Selling out your country for money is pretty low. Selling secrets to the enemy, with the knowledge that you are sending someone to their death, is the worst kind of spy. Robert Hanssen was that type of spy. Hanssen, an FBI agent who, from 1979 to 2001, fed information to his Soviet handlers that netted him over $600,000 in cash and $50,000 worth of diamonds. The information that he sold costs lives. Spies in the Soviet Block were outed and subsequently executed. The CIA and the FBI knew there was a mole, but Hanssen escaped detection for years. At one point he typed in his name on the FBI mainframe computer to see if he was under suspicion. Apparently, that wasn't suspicious. //

Ames and Hanssen combined to compromise the identities of hundreds of human assets, most notably Gen. Dmitri Polyakov. Polyakov was the head of Soviet Intelligence. He was fingered by Hanssen and Ames. Polyakov was arrested and executed.

Most recently, we have seen an increase in spies, and spying for China. Fang Fang, Eric Swalwell's alleged side-chick was (and still is?) a Chinese spy. He claims he didn’t know of her spying, and offered no information for her affections. Kathy Hochul, the nasally governor of New York, had a spy working under her nose. //

Diane Feinstein had a spy who loved her. Her longtime driver was a longtime Chinese spy. //

On Wednesday, another Chinese spy was sentenced. The New York Times reported that:

Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, 71, of Honolulu, was arrested and charged in August 2020 after he admitted to an undercover F.BI. employee, who had hired him as part of a ruse to investigate him, that he had used his security clearance to help get the protected information to the Shanghai State Security Bureau of the People’s Republic of China