10:08 pm MDT
Nazis Wanted To Drive the Allies Into the Sea. 'The Big Red One' Stopped Them.
*Warfare History Network* *History, Europe* [image: The 823rd Tank Destroyer Battalion, 30th Infantry Division near Mortain, France. 1944. U.S. National Guard.] The 'Big Red One' Division and other allied forces fought German Panzer divisions at Mortain to stave off Operation Luttich in the summer of 1944. Field Marshal Gunther Von Kluge was in an optimistic mood. He had recently been placed in command of all German troops in western France. In addition, he had taken command of Army Group B after Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was wounded when his staff car was pelted with machine-gu... more »
Can We Adopt a More Nuanced Attitude Toward Lockdown Measures?
*Stephen John* *Public Health, Europe* [image: Reuters] Was Neil Ferguson wrong because he let a woman visit him during lockdown? If anyone is an expert on when it might be OK to breach lockdown regulations, it’s one of the country’s leading epidemiologists. But after breaking the rules, Neil Ferguson felt the need to step down from his position as a government adviser. Twice during lockdown, Ferguson allowed a woman he is said to be in a relationship with to visit him. This was despite the UK government, who he was advising on COVID-19, forbidding people from visiting friends a... more »
DARPA Is Building An Underwater Drone That Can Harness The Ocean's Energy
*Michael Peck* *Security, * And it can stay underwater forever. *Here's What You Need To Remember: *Underwater energy harvesting could revolutionize naval propulsion, or at least for robot submarines. If energy can be harvested from the ocean, perhaps by drones, and then transferred to human-crewed ships, then there would be less need to either return to port for refueling or to rely on nuclear reactors. What’s better than an underwater drone? An underwater drone that can remain at sea forever, or at least for long periods. DARPA, the Pentagon’s pet research agency, has selecte... more »
Could Nuclear Weapons Have Won America The Vietnam War?
*Steve Weintz* *Security, * A crazy plan for a crazy time? *Here's What You Need To Remember: *Nuclear weapons still engender deep contradictions. The most powerful weapons ever devised serve no other purpose but to prevent their use by others. By February 1966, frustration with the U.S. bombing campaign against North Vietnam rose high enough to spur talk of going nuclear. Throughout the Vietnam War, such talk was mostly just that, but in 1966, it worried certain people enough to gin up a classified study of tactical nuclear weapons use in Southeast Asia. The study's authors—mem... more »
Lessons From the Past: How Medieval Europe Recovered From the Plague
*Kriston R. Rennie* *History, World* [image: Reuters] The current coronavirus pandemic may be dealt with in similar ways. The Black Death (1347-51) devastated European society. Writing four decades after the event, the English monk and chronicler, Thomas Walsingham, remarked that “so much wretchedness followed these ills that afterwards the world could never return to its former state.” This medieval commentary reflects a lived reality: a world turned upside down by mass fear, contagion and death. Yet society recovered. Life continued despite the uncertainty. But it was not “b... more »
Midnight Meme Of The Day!
*by Noah Sunday Thoughts, Extra Blasphemy Mother's Day Edition:* "Let's not blame the boy. Having one mother but two fathers is a wee bit confusing but we try to provide a sense of normalcy." So what was is it this time: 1. Did he cause a ruckus at the bank? Turning over the tables again? 2. Did he change the water into wine and not check IDs? 3. Did he lift his robe and cause the sighted to go blind? 4. Did he lift his robe and make the blind man see? 5. Is he consorting with the local prostitutes again? 6. Are his followers doing that laying on of hands again? You can't loc... more »
This American POW Witnessed One of the Worst Japanese War Crimes of World War II
*Warfare History Network* *History, Asia* [image: This picture, captured from the Japanese, shows American prisoners using improvised litters to carry those of their comrades who, from the lack of food or water on the march from Bataan, fell along the road. Philippines, May 1942. U.S. National Archives a] Staff Sergeant William Nolan dared not raise his hopes this August day in 1945, but something unusual was unfolding. Staff Sergeant William Nolan dared not raise his hopes this August day in 1945, but something unusual was unfolding. Japanese guards normally escorted him and t... more »
New Findings: Coronavirus Has Been Found in the Semen of Young Men With the Virus
*Peter Ellis, Mark Wass, Martin Michaelis* *Public Health, World* [image: Reuters] The new findings differ from the results of an earlier study. We don’t know much about SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, but we are learning new things about it every day. The latest bit of the jigsaw puzzle comes from a small study conducted in China, which found SARS-CoV-2 RNA (the virus’s genetic code) in the semen of young COVID-19 patients. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, involved 38 patients undergoing treatment for severe COVID-19 disease at Shangqiu Municipal Hospital ... more »
These Are the Tanks That the British Used to Fight Fascist Italy
*Warfare History Network* *Technology, Africa* [image: By Wackett (Sgt), No 2 Army Film & Photographic Unit - This is photograph NA 844 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums (collection no. 4700-39), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3307487] The North Africa campaign involved a lot of armor. The North African campaign has been aptly described as a “tactician’s paradise and quartermaster’s hell.” The contested area was large, stretching some 1,400 miles from Tripoli in the west to Alexandria in the east, a vast expanse of waterless desert ... more »
Tweets For Today
Follow live updates: https://t.co/l2faKyz4LO and subscribe to our newsletter: https://t.co/sr1rEEVb7J pic.twitter.com/U9xDbBrOAi — Reuters (@Reuters) May 9, 2020 #UPDATES US records 1,568 #coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 78,746, according to the latest real-time tally reported by Johns Hopkins University at 8:30 pm Saturday (0030 GMT Sunday) pic.twitter.com/tGBgyTTiZQ — AFP news agency (@AFP) May 10, 2020 Number of global coronavirus cases rises above four million https://t.co/TpXZegH0Fk — BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) May 9, 2020 US and British int... more »
Happy Mothers Day 2020
From all the in house writers here at PA PUNDITS INTERNATIONAL, we would like to extend our wishes for a wonderful Mother’s Day to all our readers who are Mothers. In these difficult days of what is a Worldwide pandemic, we need the calming peace that Mothers have for their children more than ever. The […]
NY Times Whines: GOP Science ‘Denialists’ ‘Seized’ On Wacky Green New Deal
By Clay Waters ~ New York Times environmental activist reporter Lisa Friedman, whose paper has taken advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to push liberal causes, now regrets Republicans have “seized” on (wholly justified) fears about Democratic environmental policy in her piece entitled, “G.O.P. Aims to Use Pain Of Shutdown to Tarnish Climate Change Policies.” Also, Matthew […]
Database Swells To 1,285 Proven Cases Of Voter Fraud In America
By Kaitlynn Samalis-Aldrich and Hans von Spakovsky ~ All-mail elections have received heightened attention in the media these past few weeks. Prominent liberals highly endorse the idea, claiming it allows people to do their patriotic duty without risking being infected by the coronavirus. In reality, without rigid safeguards to prevent fraud, misuse, and voter intimidation, […]
FAO launches food safety contest to show youthful perspectives
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has launched a contest about food safety aimed at those in the Asia Pacific region. The FAO’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific is calling for entries in a photo, poster, and video contest to illustrate ideas from young generations about food safety. The competition... Continue Reading
Quote of the Day – Mother’s Day
“The influence of a mother in the lives of her children is beyond calculation.” —James E. Faust
Russia Marks 75th Anniversary Of The Defeat Of Nazi Germany With Spectacular Fireworks Display Over Moscow
*Daily Mail:* *Russia marks 75th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany with spectacular fireworks display over Moscow as Ukraine holds Victory Day celebrations in Kiev amid coronavirus lockdown* * Moscow's skyline lit up with a spectacular fireworks display tonight after Red Square march were called off * Elsewhere in eastern Europe, Victory Day celebrations were largely curbed due to the coronavirus pandemic * Hundreds of Belarusians, including veterans, however, attended a parade in Minsk for the 75th anniversary Unable to put on a show of military might today due to surgi... more »
May 10th – 2020 Presidential Politics – Trump Administration Day #1207
In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and … Continue reading →
Sunday May 10th – Open Thread
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those … Continue reading →
Art of Japan and the richness of Culture: Kanzan Shimomura (1873 to 1930)
Art of Japan and the richness of Culture: Kanzan Shimomura (1873 to 1930) Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Kanzan Shimomura (1873 to 1930) was born during the early years of the Meiji Period (1868-1912). This period was revolutionary for Japan based on modernization and enormous cultural and economic convulsions. Despite this, Kanzan was molded […]
Picture Of The Day
Female personnel from the Russian Defence Ministry march during the Victory Day parade in Red Square in Moscow, marking the 74th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in WWII. © Sputnik / Alexey Kudenko *WNU Editor:* The above picture came from this photo-gallery .... *Protecting the Peace: Best Photos From V-Day Celebrations in Moscow Through the Ages* (Sputnik).
Remember all mothers, even those not with us
When my mother died on Christmas Day in 2016, it left my wife and our siblings without any parents. So, on Mother’s Day, we must remember our mothers in past tense. Yet, they lived and made us who we are. … Continue reading →
Major tariffs expected to end Australian barley trade to China
China fires its first shot in an increasingly bitter diplomatic row, threatening to slap major tariffs on Australia's barley exports, that could rip hundreds of millions from the trade.
Coronavirus Found in Semen of Young Men with COVID-19
The presence of viral RNA in the patients’ semen does not necessarily indicate the presence of infectious virus.
Did This Rogue British General Invent Guerrilla Warfare?
*Warfare History Network* *History, Asia* [image: By photo Own work - Cole, Howard, Formation Badges of World War 2. Britain, Commonwealth and Empire, Arms and Armour Press, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59797351] Meet General Orde Wingate and the Chindits. Short, wiry, and with baleful blue eyes and an Old Testament beard, Maj. Gen. Orde Charles Wingate was unorthodox in thought and action. His trademarks were a colonial-era pith helmet and a scruffy tropical uniform that he saved for special occasions. *Genius Or Mad Man?* To conventionally mi... more »
Yes, the Confederacy Did Think About Making a Helicopter
*Michael Peck* *History, Americas* [image: https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?id=tag%3Areuters.com%2C2020%3Anewsml_RC22OE98W31C&share=true] It's a weird bit of history. *Key point: *The design would not have worked. However, it did show how much each side was considering new inventions to wage war with. It’s the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863 and Union forces on Cemetery Ridge await the final Confederate assault. But instead of witnessing serried ranks of rebels marching across a mile of open ground into the maws of Yankee cannons, the bluecoat regiments are ... more »
Is The U.S. Army Over Israel's Iron Dome?
*Sebastien Roblin* *Security, * The Army insists that it will give Iron Dome a fair shake when it holds a competitive “Missile Shoot Off” likely at the White Sands Missile Test Range. *Here's What You Need To Remember:* On March 5, Army officials testified before Congress about various reservations they held regarding the two Iron Dome air defense systems Congress had required the service procure in 2019 to fulfill an Interim cruise-missile defense requirement. Two days later, the Army canceled plans to purchase two more Iron Dome batteries—even as the Marine Corps reportedly r... more »
Meet the First American Fighter Ace of World War I
*Warfare History Network* *History, Europe* Although U.S. Army Captain Eddie Rickenbacker’s victories in World War I were exceptional feats, the exploits of his naval counterpart, David S. Ingalls, remain virtually unknown. Although U.S. Army Captain Eddie Rickenbacker’s victories in World War I were exceptional feats, the exploits of his naval counterpart, David S. Ingalls, remain virtually unknown. Both men were from Ohio, but that is where the similarity ends. David Ingalls was born in Cleveland on January 28, 1899 and was destined to become the only U.S. Navy ace of the war.... more »
Meet Zenith Star: America's First Attempt At Weaponizing Lasers (In The 1980s)
*Steve Weintz* *Security, * When fired, the Zenith Star weapon would have made a spectacular sight. *Here's What You Need To Remember:* From the moment he announced it on national television in March 1983, President Ronald Reagan's signature vision of a space-based ballistic-missile shield provoked excitement and incredulity. The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) spent nearly a decade pursuing cosmic lightsabers before the end of the Cold War seemingly ended its purpose. Costs, technical challenges and treaty compliance concerns prevented a test of President Reagan's vision dur... more »
Coronavirus Fallout Will Test the China-Pakistan Relationship More than Ever Before
*Arif Rafiq* *Security, Eurasia* For much of the past generation, Pakistan was a frontline state in the U.S.-led war on terror, losing tens of thousands of its own people in the process. But that was then. Now, the war-torn country is preparing to emerge as a frontline state in the U.S.-China “cold war.” Pakistan had already been nearly a year into an onerous International Monetary Fund structural adjustment program when the coronavirus hit the world. While it’s too early to tell how the country will fare from a public health perspective, the consensus view of the multilaterals a... more »
Why Russia Struggles to Feed Its Great-Power Addiction
*William Courtney, Howard J. Shatz* *Security, Eurasia* [image: Reuters] Moscow enhances its great-power status when it cooperates. But in recent years, it has become less cooperative and pursued more autarky. Russia seeks to remain a great power by building an autarkic fortress and deepening ties with China. Although the coronavirus pandemic may reinforce instincts for self-reliance, Russia could lose by resisting globalization or relying too much on China while moving away from the West. The puzzling thing about Russia is how it is determined to remain a great power but inatt... more »
How China Has Capitalized on the Coronavirus
*Peter Doran* *Security, Asia* [image: Reuters] Bad assumptions about the good faith of the Chinese government can have devastating consequences. Members of Congress and the intelligence community are now beginning to scrutinize the Chinese government’s alleged efforts to hide the facts about the coronavirus. This process is necessary. Equally important, is the imperative to fix a national security vulnerability that the pandemic has revealed: China’s quiet net of influence over the agencies and international bodies that America has relied upon in the post–World War II era. Here... more »
This 15 Minute Skirmish Changed the Course of the American Civil War
*Warfare History Network* *History, Americas* [image: The battle of Gettysburg, Pa. July 3d. 1863, depicting the Battle of Gettysburg, fought July 1—3, 1863. Hand-colored lithograph by Currier and Ives. Library of Congress.] On the scale of the Civil War, the battle for the Wrightsville-Columbia Bridge amounted to little more than a skirmish. Looking back 150 years later, however, those last days of June 1863 suggest an alternate timeline, one in which the Civil War turned out much differently. The citizens of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, awoke one morning in late June 1863 to find... more »
Here's What Really Won the Second World War (It Wasn't Nukes)
*Warfare History Network* *History, Americas* [image: https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?id=tag%3Areuters.com%2C2017%3Anewsml_RC190142BDC0&share=true] America was serious when it became the arsenal of democracy. *Key point: *The Axis just could never compete with the sheer production of America. The U.S. built so many tanks, guns, planes, and ships that the enemy got overwhelmed. “We won because we smothered the enemy in an avalanche of production, the like of which he had never seen, nor dreamed possible.” The above quote is attributed to William Knudsen, president of General ... more »
Will Rising Anti-China Sentiment in the U.S. Impact Israel’s Growing Ties with Beijing?
*Dennis Mitzner* *Security, Middle East* Unarguably, Israel, a small country, must be able to freely navigate a complex international order in a way it sees fit, while taking serious and meaningful steps to heed US concerns. China’s reputation over the country’s misgivings surrounding the coronavirus outbreak has taken a major shellacking in US public opinion, which may come with foreign policy implications. Public opinion, ultimately a major driving force behind American policymaking may empower voices in Washington DC that view the warming relationship between China and Israel ... more »
Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau Says He Is 'Worried' About The Coronavirus Situation In Montreal
cpac | YouTube *France 24: **Canada PM 'worried' about situation in Montreal* Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Saturday for caution and expressed concern about loosening lockdown measures in Montreal, the epicenter of Canada's coronavirus outbreak. "We need to make sure that we go progressively, and slowly and gradually on any reopening," Trudeau said, reminding reporters that he is himself a Quebecer. "Of course, I'm worried," Trudeau said. While several Canadian provinces, including Quebec, are preparing reopening measures and a gradual revival of their economies, Trudeau s... more »
HR 6666: Congress Introduces Bill To Allow Government To Mass Test Americans For COVID-19 In Their Homes
Red Ice News - 23 hours ago
[image: HR 6666: Congress Introduces Bill To Allow Government To Mass Test Americans For COVID-19 In Their Homes] Democrats have introduced a bill that would grant the government and other “entities” the authority to enter your home to conduct coronavirus testing, and even to remove Americans from their homes. House Resolution 6666, introduced by Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) last week, would authorize the “Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to eligible entities to conduct diagnostic testing for COVID–19, and related activities such as contact tracing, through mobile ... more »
Tracking Down the Origin of the Wuhan Coronavirus
Red Ice News - 23 hours ago
[image: Tracking Down the Origin of the Wuhan Coronavirus] If the video above doesn't work: go here for a backup The first documentary movie on the origin of #CCPVirus, Tracking Down the Origin of the #WuhanCoronavirus. The CCP virus, which originated from #China, has rampaged through the world and caused more than 80,000 deaths, infecting at least 1.4 million. The true number of deaths and infections is unknown due to the underreporting of cases from mainland China. In the new documentary presented by The Epoch Times and NTD, Epoch Times investigative reporter Joshua Philipp takes a... more »
Ahmaud Arbery Was Not Jogging, He Was In Fact Committing Crimes And This Was Caught On Camera (Video)
Red Ice News - 23 hours ago
[image: Ahmaud Arbery Was Not Jogging, He Was In Fact Committing Crimes And This Was Caught On Camera (Video)] Ahmaud Arbery was not jogging and had committed multiple crimes, according to newly released footage, 911 audio and eyewitness testimony. Video by Mr Obvious Just out for a jog pic.twitter.com/3WtnxGQ23T — Liberty Hangout (@LibertyHangout) May 10, 2020
Human Sacrifice Has Never Worked But...
I'd like to think that at the end of this nightmare, there will be a national consensus about which governors were as destructive as Trump in their responses to the pandemic and that they're all tossed into a live volcano like on that Spectrum TV commercial. I'm not even talking about the governors who were slow to react before they fully understood the gravity of them problem-- like Cuomo or Newsom, each of whom learned how badly they screwed up and moved to improve. I'm talking about the governors who refused to learn *after* it was clear how horrific the pandemic would be-- a... more »
Syria Spinmeisters Fumble Attempts To Narrative Manage OPCW Leaks
It’s been over 72 hours since The Grayzone published new leaks further exposing how the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has been lying about its investigation into an alleged chemical attack in Douma, Syria two years ago. These new documents make it […]
3 Members of White House Virus Task Force in Quarantine
Three members of the White House coronavirus task force, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, placed themselves in quarantine after contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
Georgia Man’s Death Raises Echoes of US Racial Terror Legacy
“The modern-day lynching of Mr. Arbery is yet another reminder of the vile and wicked racism that persists in parts of our country,” said the Rev. James Woodall, state president of the Georgia NAACP.
Should President Trump And Vice-President Pence Go Into Self-Quarantine?
*Business Insider:* *Trump and Pence should go into self-quarantine for the next 2 weeks — according to the government's own coronavirus guidelines* * More than a dozen people who may work near President Trump and Vice President Pence have tested positive for the coronavirus this week. * On Friday, Pence's press secretary Katie Miller tested positive for the virus. Eleven Secret Service agents have also tested positive for COVID-19, along with one of President Trump's valets. Ivanka Trump's assistant has also caught the coronavirus, but that person has been working remotely for wee... more »
History Lesson: How Erwin Rommel Became the Infamous "Desert Fox"
*Warfare History Network* *History, Africa* [image: By Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-719-0240-22 / Jesse / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5413491] He was a fearsome commander. On April 15, 1942, Generaloberst (Colonel General) Erwin Rommel summoned his subordinate commanders of the Panzerarmee Afrika to a conference to outline his plans for the coming offensive against the British Eighth Army. The stakes were high, his proposals not without risk, but as usual Rommel exuded confidence. He was a familiar figure to his assembled officers, wi... more »
Small, Repeated Explosions Can Still Do Major Damage To Our Military
*Michael Peck* *Security, Middle East* What happens when U.S. soldiers are exposed to small but repeated explosions, including when they fire shoulder-mounted rocket launchers? *Here's What You Need To Remember: *What’s interesting here is the evidence that soldiers suffer from blast even when they are not direct victims of shell or bomb explosions. Just as aircraft mechanics can develop hearing loss from constant exposure to jet engines, it appears that “routine” combat tasks—such as firing a rocket launcher—can affect the nervous system of those exposed to the blast. It is no ... more »
Britain Can't Afford The Military It Wants
*Michael Peck* *Security, * The current 2019 to 2029 equipment plan, despite a £181 billion (US$234.5 billion) budget allocation, is still far too small to meet defense needs over the next decade, warns a new report by the British government’s National Audit Office (NAO). *Here's What You Need To Remember: *The British armed forces are structured like an American-style champagne military, complete with expensive aircraft carriers, stealth fighters and nuclear submarines armed with Trident ICBMs. But despite the world’s fifth- or sixth-largest economy (India may recently have ove... more »
More Covid Truth Escapes the Fog
Matt Ridley writes at the Spectator We know everything – and nothing – about Covid. Excerpts in italics with my bolds. It is data, not modelling, that we need now We know everything about Sars-CoV-2 and nothing about it. We can read every one of the (on average) 29,903 letters in its genome and know […]
Arrests made at protest against coronavirus restrictions as Victoria's cases rise
Just In - 1 day ago
Ten people are arrested at a protest against Victoria's coronavirus restrictions after another 10 cases of COVID-19 were recorded overnight. More than 150,000 Victorians have been tested for coronavirus during a two-week testing blitz.
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