I try to monitor Western media as one measure of how Russia’s war with the West is progressing. It is again a case of the dog that did not bark. The breathless, wall-to-wall reports that dominated cable news during the first two weeks of Russia’s “Special Military Operation” are gone. Instead, the media is only giving spot updates wrapped in continued hysteria about the bad and evil the Russians. But it is not producing popular support in America for getting involved in another foreign war.
Here are some of the latest headlines:
REUTERS–Russia says its forces clear most of Mariupol, strike Kyiv suburb
Explosions hit Kyiv in north, Lviv in west
Ukraine says situation in Mariupol ‘very difficult’
Russia offers to spare lives of Mariupol defenders who lay down arms
Advisor to the Mariupol city mayor warned Saturday that Russian troops are preparing to shut down the city by April 18 and will “filter” all men for forced service, labor or “isolation.”
“Occupiers report that on Monday they will not only finally close all entries and exits to the city for everyone, but will institute a ban on movement across all neighborhoods for a week. During this time, 100% of the city’s remaining male population will be “filtered’,” Petro Andriushchenko said in a Telegram post translated by Ukrainian news outlet Ukrayinska Pravda.
Russia has demanded Ukrainian forces still fighting to defend the besieged city of Mariupol lay down their weapons. The apparent ultimatum comes as Russia continues its relentless and devastating attack on the southeastern city.
Russian state media Ria reported that “without exception” all “Ukrainian armed units and foreign mercenaries” must exit from 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Moscow time (same as local time) “without any weapons and ammunition,” citing the Russian Defense Ministry.
A US official made clear the assessments were not based on direct intelligence.
“We do not have any direct intelligence that Russia is looking to target state, local, or election systems more directly than before, but we are certainly anticipating the possibility. We will continue to actively share any intelligence about increased threats with state and local officials as we receive it,” the official told CNN.
Got that? All they have is an opinion not based on one damn fact or piece of intelligence. The pathetic U.S. Intelligence Community does not understand Vladimir Putin but that does not stop them from offering up banalities like this:
The intelligence community has made understanding Putin’s mindset a priority since early in the invasion, sources familiar with internal deliberations told CNN. Raw assessments have pointed to his increasingly unpredictable behavior, and US officials believe Putin is more willing to consider taking risks due to his anger over Russia’s failures in Ukraine – something his advisers, who officials say have not been telling him the full truth, did not prepare him for.
What truth is being held from Putin? The success in Mariupol? The successful missile strikes peppering key military and fuel sites across the breadth of Ukraine?
Despite U.S. and NATO stubbornly insisting that the Russian military is a clown show incapable of fighting competently, you only need to note that Russian military units, missiles and aircraft are moving freely around Ukraine. Take a look at the following video that shows a Russian field kitchen and laundry. Maybe this is just a sophisticated piece of propaganda, but if it is legit then it shows a capability not widely available in the U.S. Army. We have become accustomed to setting up static bases, mess halls and laundromats overseas that hire 3rd world folk to cook our food and wash our dirty underwear. Take note of what the Russian soldiers do when they enter the mess trailer (they remove their cover and hang it on a wall). This is not a picture of untrained conscripts grudgingly being thrown into battle.
Russian media sites are now filled with videos of thousands of Ukrainian military personnel surrendering and leaving behind large caches of NATO supplied weapons. There also are photos of the passports of two U.S. citizens who were part of Ukrainian units fighting the Russians. It is not clear if these men are captured or dead. The Russians claim they have captured a large number of Western mercenaries in Mariupol and their fate is not sunny. Because the Russians do not consider them legitimate combatants they will not be treated according to the Geneva Convention. (Sounds like the Russians are going to treat them like the despicable U.S. Department of Justice has treated the so-called January 6th insurrectionists.)
Unlike Ukraine, Russia does not seem to have a problem sending more vehicles to the fight:
VideoRussia Ships BM-21 Grad Reinforcements to the Front
Here is video of Russian truck and tank columns moving around Kharkov. Where are the videos of the Ukrainian forces attacking and destroying these columns? Do you doubt for a minute that Ukraine would be sharing such material widely if it existed? That is the dog that is not barking. Russia is surrounding and ready to destroy the fragmented Ukrainian Army. Unlike Mariupol, most of these battles will be in open country where the Ukrainians will have little protection from drones, bombers and artillery. Tanks and troops will do the clean up once strong points are eliminated.
Finally, take a look at the British assessment of the situation on the ground in Ukraine.
Pay attention to the gold and black shaded areas. These are the locations where the Ukrainian Army in the east is located and where Russia will attempt to encircle and destroy. Unless Ukraine is able to send columns of tanks and trucks to the east to resupply the beleaguered forces, the Ukrainian Army may be eliminated by the end of May.
Orange County CA will be attaching tech devices to 9 of their most heavily used drop boxes for the June elections. This OC pilot program is an effort to remotely know the number of ballots inside those boxes. The device is a glorified padlock that includes a scanner, cellular modem, and batteries. The first thing you might wonder is why? If OC is collecting ballots on regular or daily basis, why do they need to know the quantities remotely? The simple answer is….they don’t.
Here’s how it works. A “BoxLock” device the size of a hockey puck is attached to the front of the drop box. Voters who registered for “OC Ballot Express” tracking can walk up to the box, push the button, scan their envelopes bar code, then drop it in the box. Using a cellular modem, the device sends data back to BoxLock in Atlanta. The voter then receives a text message telling them what they already know….they just put a ballot in that box. Wow!
But that isn’t entirely true. BoxLock only knows if a bar code was scanned. It doesn’t know if an envelope went inside the box. Also, many voters will not sign up for “OC Ballot Express” because it demands their cell phone number. Those who signed up and scanned their envelope are the only ones counted. Some might deposit first and forget the scan. Some might scan but not deposit their envelope. The bottom line is this. BoxLock will only know the number of scans, not the actual number of ballots inside the box.
To view the status of these boxes, staff at the OC Registrar of Voters must have internet access, a browser, or possibly use unsecure cell phones. They must login to the BoxLock software, which could be in Atlanta, or an unknown cloud server location. Staff can then view the scan numbers for each box. This approach adds and exposes another layer of election information over the internet. Fraudsters might gain access to this info as election day approaches. It will help them decide which precincts and boxes are best to stuff, and by how much, so they won’t be flagged for excessive voters.
The word “election day” is almost entirely erased from California. Their elections have become more like glorified survey’s taken over 29 days. According to the CA SOS, ballot boxes must be emptied every 96 hours at the least. In those 10 day before the election, this drops to 48 hours. Orange has about 115 boxes across the county. It shouldn’t be that hard to empty the boxes at least once a day. Some elections empty them every few hours. OC drop boxes are massive in size, so overfilling shouldn’t be a concern.
By directing people away from the U.S. Postal boxes, election jurisdictions are bypassing one of the most powerful deterrents to mail-in ballot fraud. Using a USPS blue box to aid in the commission of a crime is a Federal felony. Severe penalties can be levied. Also, Federal law enforcement including the US Postal Inspector can investigate. The DNC knows private made ballot box’s have none of these ramifications. It’s why they push them relentlessly.
BoxLock’s technology is solid for use on shipping containers, deliveries, and remote access. But it doesn’t fit for elections or resolve one single ballot stuffing issue. They can’t capture video or images of voters. They can’t insure only one ballot per voter is inserted, or appropriate numbers per law. They have no way to scan every ballot that enters the box, and so on. To make matters worse, their mobile apps, the administration applications, and the back-end infrastructure were all built by someone else, a company called Digital Scientists.
What’s most amazing is the announcement of this OC pilot program. Media organizations repeated almost verbatim the same talking points. It’s safe, more secure, transparency, creates trust, voter confidence, and so on. KTLA Ch.5 News in Los Angeles provided a short video praising the technology. The press agent for OC simulates scanning the ballot but doesn’t actually activate the scanner (button). Media asked no hard questions.
Garrett Fahy from the OC Republican National Lawyers Association called the drop box scanners “a promising development for voters…encourages lawful participation, increases confidence….transparency…greater trust in our elections.” Did the DNC write these comments for Fahy? This pilot doesn’t prevent one iota of election fraud. Fahy needs to review recent True The Vote cell ping testimony and GP interviews.
Software engineer Mark Cook has interviewed election officials across the country in the last few years. At 7:15 of this video he explains “Election systems are so complicated they are nearly impossible to understand. Election officials don’t understand the very systems they use to do their jobs. And this is frightening to them. So they have to lean on vendors.” Most patriots want less election technology, not more. What is OC doing here?
Elon Musk isn’t one to back down from a challenge, and he is proving that fact yet again in his ongoing attempt to purchase Twitter outright in a bid to restore freedom of speech to the internet. However, his bold move caused the establishment to put a target on his back. As of this week, both Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have reportedly opened new investigations into the billionaire Tesla founder, according to reports.
Curious timing.
Earlier this week, Fox Business Senior Correspondent Charlie Gasparino broke the news of Biden’s alphabet agencies’ turning their sights on Musk in an appearance on ‘Cavuto: Coast to Coast.’ The longtime legal expert explained that as of right now, it is unclear what Musk has done that warrants the federal probes, but the Twitter takeover likely has a lot to do with it.
Gasparino pointed out that Musk has “stirred up a regulatory hornet’s nest” and the SEC is scrutinizing every little detail of his recent stock trades, looking to nab him on some small technicality.
“Both the DOJ and the SEC are clearly scrutinizing this entire matter. Now, we’re getting this from lawyers… they’re clearly monitoring and scrutinizing this entire issue – whether he filed the right forms, whether there’s a stock manipulation case here, whether he’s making public statements that he probably shouldn’t make… What we do know is that he’s stirred up a regulatory hornets’ nest. DOJ, SEC, I’m getting this from lawyers who deal with them.”
Gasparino followed up with more details in a tweet on Thursday:
“[Elon Musk] offers to buy the rest of [Twitter] a legal source tells [Fox Business] [SEC] and [DOJ] have launched what he described as a ‘joint investigation’ into a myriad of Musk regulatory issues primarily involving [Tesla}.”
Musk has gone toe to toe with the SEC in the past, calling it out publicly for filing a complaint against him after he tweeted about taking Tesla private in 2018. At that time, Musk fired back at the federal agency, saying that the action against him was “unjustified” and rejected any claims of wrongdoing completely.
Nevertheless, Musk eventually settled with the SEC, with both him and his company each paying a fine of $20 million in addition to some restrictions surrounding his public statements and his stepping down as the CEO of Tesla.
But this isn’t the same SEC or DOJ, and it isn’t the same type of dissent. This new “joint investigation” is that much more concerning if it takes place. Musk is taking a stand the establishment just can’t afford to let succeed.
Big tech, the legacy media, politicians in the DC swamp, and elites alike have resoundingly condemned Musk’s crusade because the success of their radical anti-American agenda relies completely on silencing the truths that contradict the approved narratives. Twitter itself is even jeopardizing its own financial prospects and betraying its shareholders in a desperate attempt to fend off the hostile takeover bid. Capitalists don’t turn down a free $10 billion dollars, which is what Musk offered over Twitter’s market value – radical ideologues focused on controlling people’s thoughts for the sake of their dystopian agenda do.
Without the ability for mass censorship of dissenting thoughts, which is what Twitter provides in excess, the propaganda would not have the same effect. The unhinged meltdown to condemn free speech by media elitists has exposed exactly how radical they truly are.
In just one example, the progressive activists at the LA Times said it outright: Musk buying the left’s most effective censorship tool would create “more freedom” and “less democracy.” ‘Democracy’ in this case means the (il)liberal world order, of course.
As Revolver News put it last week, “the world’s richest man might be on the cusp of launching a global crusade to restore freedom of speech” – so, naturally, the Biden regime and the sycophants in the media can’t just sit around and let it happen.
Illegal immigrants flooding across the US border in Del Rio in 2021 – screengrab
In yet another brutal indictment of the Biden Administration’s handling of the Southern Border, the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a new report this week detailing several procedural violations and millions of wasted taxpayer dollars through border operations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials and contractors.
Following the $80 million-plus contract that the Biden administration awarded to the non-profit group Endeavors to provide hotel room lodging for illegal immigrants, the IG report found a lack of “justification” given for the exorbitant amount of money being allocated, leading to millions in wasted dollars. In all, a whopping $17 million was wasted on empty rooms in six hotels between April and June 2021.
The decision to award Endeavors the housing contract for illegals was also criticized at the time because the Biden administration subverted the traditional selection process and allowed the non-profit to secure the contract without opening it up to any competition, also called a no-bid contract. In other words, this relationship has been shady since the beginning.
“ICE did not adequately justify the need for the sole source contract to house migrant families and spent approximately $17 million for hotel space and services at six hotels that went largely unused between April and June 2021. ICE’s sole source contract with Endeavors resulted in millions of dollars being spent on unused hotel space.”
In addition to the misuse of funds and the lack of justification for awarding so much, the report also concluded that ICE officials and their contractors committed repeated violations of Covid-19 protocols, so much so that the IG stated ICE was “putting [the] outside public at risk” with their careless handling of illegal aliens, proving, once again, the covid measures aren’t about saving lives or protecting people – it’s about power and control
In short, the report found that just about every procedure across the board was not being followed properly.
The IG Report continues:
“In addition, Endeavors did not meet new healthcare protocols or ensure proper COVID-19 testing for families. For example, families were not tested by ICE for COVID-19 prior to being transported to hotels and were not always tested by Endeavors staff upon arrival at or departure from hotels, putting migrant families and the outside population at risk of contracting COVID-19. Further, Endeavors did not follow required ICE standards to ensure the proper care for housing migrant families while such families were residing in its facilities.”
Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin broke the news and published a copy of the IG report in a tweet on Saturday. A link to the full report can be found here.
“NEW: DHS IG report finds ICE spent $17 million on a no-bid contract to house migrants in hotels that went largely unused last spring, wasting millions of $. IG found ICE & the vendor also failed to adequately COVID test migrants, “putting outside population at risk.’”
1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
Wishing you and yours a joyous and blessed Easter.
Please pray for the persecuted this Easter, for our country, for our culture, for our families. God bless you on this Easter Sunday.
Welcome everyone to the TFB Armorer’s Bench! As mentioned in the little blurb, this series will focus on a lot of home armorer and gunsmith activities. In this article sponsored by Wheeler, Tipton, Caldwell, and Frankford Arsenal, I decided to jump back into the topic of Wheeler’s AR Receiver Lapping Tool that I covered in last week’s Closer Look portion […]
It is one thing for an adult to identify as something or someone they are not, it is another when others are forced to acknowledge it and deny reality. Yet that is exactly what is currently being demanded of us by the establishment. The radical left and trans activists have drawn a line in the sand where there is no middle ground. They insist that gender is a social construct that is interchangeable according to the whim of the individual. If you disagree, you are a transphobic bigot.
This no-compromise resolve has propelled radical gender ideology into a sweeping social contagion with the number of youths identifying with gender dysphoria skyrocketing over the past decade. This, along with the unfettered and baseless claims being pushed by ‘medical experts’ and the media, has enabled the US education system to commit to making transgender ideology a central part of the curriculum for children as young as 5 years old.
Unfortunately, most of the children who are coerced into believing they are of a different sex than the one they were born as end up regretting the gender transition procedures and they are left with permanent physical changes. Despite this, proponents argue that transition procedures, such as hormone blockers and gender reassignment surgery, will decrease the suicide risk for trans individuals. The suicide rate, however, actually stays the same both before and after the procedures.
A 2018 study by HRC showed that transgender youths had an astonishingly high suicide rate pre- and post-transition – 42% which is several times higher than any other cohort. If there is a way to help these individuals – it is not appear to be through transitioning.
That point was made eloquently by the courageous woman who joined Tucker Carlson this week to discuss her de-transitioning story and her reason for taking a public stand against the ideology espoused by the adults who influenced her childhood.
Helena Kerschner, 23, explained to Carlson that when she went through puberty and was having issues with her body – as every teenager does – she was “completely exploited” by people who convinced her she was unhappy because she was actually of the opposite sex. Kerschner hopes to protect other children from this detrimental experience by sharing her story and speaking out on their behalf.
From Kerschner:
“As you said [Tucker] it’s completely normal for not only young girls but often young boys too to feel uncomfortable with themselves – uncomfortable with their body, but we have this ideology that is especially prevalent online that says that if you have those feelings that means you are trans.
There are people who say if you don’t even like your voice on a recording that’s a sign of gender dysphoria and you need to go see a medical professional because you’re trans.”
Through this lens, normal developmental behaviors become ‘signs’ of gender dysphoria. According to PsychCentral, toddlers playing with toys that are meant for the opposite sex, a four-year-old saying he wants to wear a dress, and a “preference to play another gender in make-believe games” all become abnormal behaviors.
“Talk about taking advantage of people,” Tucker responds in disbelief before asking Kerschner how she feels now that she reversed her initial transition and made it through that challenging time. She made her decision early and still had the opportunity to reclaim her body, something that many young people who are too far along in the transition process do not.
As she points out, even though ‘experts’ say a double mastectomy can be reversed with breast implants, “You can’t just take it back.”
Kerschner continued:
“I feel honestly grateful for the experience because it’s taught me a lot about the world and about myself. But I really feel afraid for these other young girls like myself. I consider myself lucky that I was able to get out of it unscathed really medically, but there are so many young people who can’t say the same.
Psychologically as well. I mean, it’s just devastating to, especially from a young age, to be lied to by adults at school and by medical professionals and told that your body is wrong, you need to change it, you need to get hormones, you need to get surgeries, that’s devastating for a young person.So I’m just really concerned for younger girls and boys like I once was being led down this path and being hurt by it.
I mean, when you go on a cross-sex hormone, like that’s going to give you not just physical changes, but psychological experiences that you can’t just act like they never happened, you can’t just take it back. And especially with surgeries, you know, a breast implant after a mastectomy is not the same thing as never having your breasts taken off in the first place.
So there are a lot of young women who are going through that, who had a double mastectomy at 16, 17, 18 years old or even younger. There’s nothing you can really do to put that feeling of oneness and safety in your body back.”
Black Lives Matter thugs on Saturday night were out protesting the officer-involved shooting of Patrick Lyoya, a black man who was fatally shot after violently resisting arrest last week.
As previously reported, various videos of the scene show Lyoya, 26, and another passenger being pulled over in a residential neighborhood.
A police officer exits his patrol car and instructs Lyoya to stay in his car.
Lyoya exits his vehicle despite the officer yelling at him to “stay in the car” repeatedly.
After some back-and-forth over a license plate and driver’s license, the officer chases Lyoya and the two end up on the ground fighting over a taser gun.
The officer repeatedly tells Lyoya to “let go of the taser” – shortly after another struggle, the cop shoots Lyoya in the head.
Patrick Lyoya has a long criminal history that includes a conviction for assaulting a pregnant woman in Kentwood, Michigan.
It doesn’t matter that Lyoya resisted arrest and previously assaulted a pregnant woman, BLM is out demanding justice and threatening innocent drivers.
Far-left protesters blocked the street in Grand Rapids and threatened a driver with a gun.
One protester cocked his pistol and threatened to shoot a motorist who was trying to pass through the protest.
Other protesters who were trying to direct traffic, kicked the car and yelled at the motorist as he managed to drive away.
VIDEO (language warning):
BLM and far-left protesters tried to force their way inside the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids, but security stopped them.
Hillary Clinton this week interviewed Jill Biden for the Clinton Global Initiative.
The two discussed education and community colleges.
The Clinton Global Initiative is partnering with community colleges across the country in order to churn out more Marxists and Hillary had a chat with Jill about the new venture.
Everyone knows the Bidens and the Clintons don’t like each other.
But Hillary Clinton faked her way through this cringey Zoom call with Jill Biden anyway.
“…That’s why I love teaching at community college,” Jill said.
Hillary Clinton chimed in: “And I love hearing you talk about it, Jill. It really – it warms my heart so much because it is conveyed so clearly and at the end when you said it’s really a second chance for so many people and how they need a little bit of help and a little bit of support…I just love hearing you talk about it…”
The Florida Department of Education has rejected 54 math textbooks for next school year due to “attempts to indoctrinate students.”
The math texts reportedly contained references to Critical Race Theory, common core, and “social emotional learning.”
“It seems that some publishers attempted to slap a coat of paint on an old house built on the foundation of Common Core, and indoctrinating concepts like race essentialism, especially, bizarrely, for elementary school students,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “I’m grateful that Commissioner Corcoran and his team at the Department have conducted such a thorough vetting of these textbooks to ensure they comply with the law.”
According to a press release from the department, “41 percent of the submitted textbooks were impermissible with either Florida’s new standards or contained prohibited topics – the most in Florida’s history.”
“Reasons for rejecting textbooks included references to Critical Race Theory (CRT), inclusions of Common Core, and the unsolicited addition of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in mathematics. The highest number of books rejected were for grade levels K-5, where an alarming 71 percent were not appropriately aligned with Florida standards or included prohibited topics and unsolicited strategies,” the press release continued. “Despite rejecting 41 percent of materials submitted, every core mathematics course and grade is covered with at least one textbook.”
Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran said that his team plans to make sure Florida has the highest-quality instructional materials available.
“We’re going to ensure that Florida has the highest-quality instructional materials aligned to our nationally-recognized standards,” said Corcoran. “Florida has become a national leader in education under the vision and leadership of Governor DeSantis. When it comes to education, other states continue to follow Florida’s lead as we continue to reinforce parents’ rights by focusing on providing their children with a world-class education without the fear of indoctrination or exposure to dangerous and divisive concepts in our classrooms.”
DeSantis eliminated common core teachings in the state in 2019.
“It is unfortunate that several publishers, especially at the elementary school grade levels, have ignored this clear communication and have attempted to slip rebranded instructional materials based on Common Core Standards into Florida’s classrooms, while others have included prohibited and divisive concepts such as the tenants of CRT or other unsolicited strategies of indoctrination – despite FDOE’s prior notification,” the statement added.
Illegal immigrants flooding across the US border in Del Rio in 2021 – screengrab
Welcome everyone to the TFB Armorer’s Bench! As mentioned in the little blurb, this series will focus on a lot of home armorer and gunsmith activities. In this article sponsored by Wheeler, Tipton, Caldwell, and Frankford Arsenal, I decided to jump back into the topic of Wheeler’s AR Receiver Lapping Tool that I covered in last week’s Closer Look portion […]
Patrick Lyoya
