"...it was important to know who you were going to date and associate with. That sometimes they can hurt you in ways that you can never recover from."

Jo Jo Gunne – Run Run Run

What’s something you did as a child that you still feel bad about as an adult?

I am not an adult yet, but there something I did as a child that I really feel bad and sad about when I think about it.

If you want to skip all the context, just scroll down.

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I was maybe 8 or 9, can’t seem to remember when exactly, anyways, my mother had met someone at the time, and she was so happy and proud to be with this man. Though I hated him, this with passion; there was something that really frustrated me about him.

Then he started to sleep at our house, and be with us more and more often, that is when my anger turned towards my dear mother.

It started with being not respectful to her, then not joining them at dinner time, often not eating at all, I would stop talking to her and ignoring her, even if the guy was not there.

Then it really started to go in a wrong way, I began to lock myself in my room for the entire night, therefore not seeing her for days, because I would leave for school before she wake up, and get home before she did. I would eat before she get home, and lock myself until I would fall asleep, this every single day, for months… Our conversations were; her trying to talk and understand me, though I would just yell, at the top of my lungs, to go away.

One day, back from school, like usual, I grabbed food and went to my room, though this time the handle had been removed. There was just a hole in my room’s door.

(Not my picture, though it was like that)

When she got home, she immediately came in my room, and asked me if I wanted to talk, I would always answer angrily to go away.

As days passed, she eventually thought all this ‘thing’ had to stop… She came in my room again, but this time didn’t leave when I yelled her to, she stood there waiting and looking at me yelling and crying of anger…

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Then my dear mother approached me to simply talk to put things straight, and I just instinctively kicked her in the stomach with my foot and yelled to go away and to never come back, as she was no longer my mother.

I feel so sorry and sad now, to think about this event, just seeing her backing off with difficulties to even breath and tears in her eyes filled with sadness. All she wanted is to find someone that would take care and love her after all those years of being a single mother… And there I was ruining everything again…

I love you so much mom, and I wish I could do something for that scar I created…

EDIT: For those who want to know what happened afterwards, it continued like this for months, until she broke up with the guy and from there things got better and better over the course of a year or two.

What is the most ridiculous reason for which you have been fired?

Wow

NOT in my worst nightmare did I think the US could revert us to puppet status in less than two years, a status that ended when a nationalistic Senate kicked out American military bases here in 1999, despite the popular Corazon Aquino’s huge efforts to retain them.

Ironically, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son of the dictator whom Aquino believed had her husband killed, has now trampled on our independence to make the country the US’ certified vassal — the squire-member more accurately of “trilateral alliances” among the US, Japan and Australia, designed to contain the rise of China, the superpower challenging US hegemony.

We’re now Asia’s Ukraine.

But the vassal state is in a boiling-frog situation: While its puppetry right now has put it in the tepid waters of a pan, it is under a fire that will slowly boil, not perceiving the mortal danger it is in until it is too weak to escape.

In the Chinese view, the US has prodded Marcos to quarrel with China over the control of the Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal. With its expertise in propaganda and control of local and global media, it succeeded in portraying China as a bully, water-cannoning and blocking Filipinos from that area that is “Philippine territory.” US propaganda has portrayed Beijing as having no basis at all for claiming that group of islands we call the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) and which the Chinese call Nansha Qundao, and that it is an imperialist power. This is, of course, false, as China had claimed the area as a sovereign territory even before World War II, even centuries before.

The Philippine claims are based on President Ferdinand E. Marcos’ 1978 annexation of the island group and its patently false interpretation of exclusive economic zones (invented by the treaty called Unclos that took effect only in 1994) as superior to sovereign territory and territorial waters. The US also has successfully brainwashed even intelligent Filipinos that China’s claims are based on its arbitrary “nine-dash” line, which China has never claimed.

Basis

We have to understand the basis of our claims in the Spratlys, as well as that of other claimants, as US propagandists have effectively used the disputes to paint China as our enemy rather than just another claimant, the others being Vietnan, Taiwan and Malaysia, pursuing their own interests based on their understanding of history and international law.

Marcos, goaded by the US, insists that Ayungin Shoal is within our EEZ. China insists that it is within its sovereign territory, Nansha Qundao, which is clearly mapped in its maps as early as 1947. Marcos ignores that claim and sends his Navy Coast Guard, contracting civilian wooden vessels, to assert the Philippines’ rights as EEZ holder of the shoal to supply with repair materials the BRP Sierra Madre that had been deliberately grounded there in 1999. China claims Marcos is violating an agreement in 1999 not to do that, which was honored by the Estrada, Arroyo and Duterte administrations.

For the first time since the dispute emerged mainly in the 1950s, the US openly backs the Philippine claims, and declared that it will militarily defend the country if conflict breaks out, if China blocks Filipino vessels from supplying the all-but-sinking Navy ship.

What is a nuclear superpower like China, which has a bigger Navy in Asia than the US, to do? Be cowed by the US nuclear arsenal and its Seventh Fleet? The fact that it was China’s Ministry of National Defense, and not its foreign ministry, which recently “[vowed] to take resolute measures against the Philippines should it continue to challenge China,” is a very strong signal that the Chinese could be moving toward a military stance against the Philippines to resolve the Ayungin issue.

My bet is that it will be gradually raising the temperature of the waters of the pan where we have been placed by Marcos. At first, we will hardly notice as the Chinese stop all investments in the Philippines and reduce the number of tourists coming here.

Move

Its last move would be for its authoritarian government to order the slowdown and then cessation of trade with us on the grounds that the Philippines has joined the de facto military alliances that the US has set up to contain its rise, and in particular, to battle with it when it takes over its rogue province Taiwan. China probably won’t declare such a move, but it will do so quietly and gradually.

In 2012, President Aquino 3rd started backing down from his belligerent stance against China after Filipino fruit exporters lost hundreds of millions of pesos when their banana exports were left to rot in Chinese ports, with Chinese officials claiming they had to check the reported presence of pests in those shipments.

A trade cessation or even just a major slowdown of our trade with China will result in an economic catastrophe for our country.

China is our biggest trading partner, accounting for 20 percent of our trade, twice that of the US. The Philippines, on the other hand, accounts for 2 percent of its trade, which means the Chinese would hardly feel the loss of that market. Our imports from China in 2023 totaled $29.4 billion, or 23 percent of our total $126.2 billion imports. By comparison, the US accounted for only 7 percent. While the US is officially our biggest export market, accounting for 16 percent of the total, China is on its heels, accounting for 15 percent. Add exports to the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong to that figure, and China accounts for 27 percent of our exports.

Are you sure you want a quarrel with this country? DTI DATA

Check out how many made-in-China products fill supermarket shelves, and you will be surprised. What has also not been noticed is that China is the fastest-growing source of petroleum products, ranking third in 2022 with a 15.4 percent share. Its share is actually higher, as Singapore, the second-biggest supplier of gasoline here, gets much of its petroleum products from China. Many of the never-heard ubiquitous gasoline stations in areas outside the metropolis import their gas and diesel from China. We’ll have a transportation crisis the day China orders its state-owned companies to stop selling gas and diesel to us.

Quarrel

Do we really want to quarrel with China? Or just swallow our pride, stop the US from using us as its pawn, and give up a dilapidated, rusting-to-its-core WW II-era vessel that will, except by some miracle, soon sink to the bottom of the sea, which we proudly claim symbolizes our sovereignty over a useless permanently submerged tiny shoal that can fit in half of Taal Lake.

I sincerely hope I’m wrong.

Unlike our political-economic elite and even our Congress, half of whom I estimate have houses in the US and Spain, my family and I are stuck here in an unlucky country ravaged by an uncaring ruling class. Indeed, a top-ranking Marcos official who has been the No. 1 spokesman against China late last year made a down payment for an apartment in New York. Maybe he was already on his second glass of Scotch when I talked to him since he even intriguingly told me, “Where will I go if someone with a monosyllabic name becomes president?”

Viewed from all angles, quarreling with the superpower in our neighborhood is insane. Our Asean neighbors, two of which are claimants themselves, are laughing at our asininity, happy that whatever trade and investments China would have brought here would instead flow to them.

We’re now the US’ puppet state, and a boiling frog

NOT in my worst nightmare did I think the US could revert us to puppet status in less than two years, a status that ended when a nationalistic Senate kicked out American military bases here in 1999, despite the popular Corazon Aquino’s huge efforts to retain them.

Note: The Philippines won’t be relevant here which is lucky. Because Mindanao, Phillipines communists and other minorities have real power in the country to prevent Marcos from doing stupid things. However, the country will miss out on economic opportunities as it has lost to many others especially Vietnam.

Is America Really Better Than Europe? || FOREIGN REACTS

OMG!  This is amazing!

Ukraine SitRep: The Power Plant War – Ideological Losses – More Signs Of Corruption

The Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenski is lobbying Congress through U.S. media for more weapons and monetary support. It requires him to finally depict the situation as dire as it is:

Speaking to the PBS news hour on Tuesday, April 16, Zelensky underlined Ukraine’s air defences’ critical condition.“I’ll give you a very simple example,” he said.

“Eleven missiles were launched towards the Trypillya [thermal power] station, upon which the electricity supply in the Kyiv region depends. We managed to intercept the first seven, but the remaining four hit Trypillya. Why? Because we had zero missiles left. We have exhausted all the missiles that were defending Trypillya,” the President added.
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In response to the targeting of critical infrastructure, Zelensky used this example to once again call upon Ukraine’s allies to urgently supply the weapons Kyiv needs, particularly air defense launchers and missiles.

“Frankly speaking, without this assistance, we stand little chance of victory, because we need to be significantly stronger than our adversaries. The current ratio of artillery shells stands at 1 to 10. Can we endure for much longer? No,” Zelensky said.

It is good to see that Zelenski is finally noticing the situation Ukraine is in.

The electricity infrastructure is indeed a critical point. John Helmer, via Naked Capitalism, suggest that Russia is using the destruction of Ukrainian power plants to press for its unconditional surrender.

Helmer quotes the Colonel Cassad blog site:

Boris Rozhin, whose Colonel Cassad military blog broadly represents General Staff thinking, reports the operational breakthrough demonstrated on April 11, and explains what the maps of current targeting foreshadow for the next round of strikes, and the rounds after that. Rozhin republishes his analysis from RT, the state media organ.“By the evening of April 11, Ukrainian sources reported that air-launched X-69 missiles could be used to hit the Tripolskaya TPP [Thermal Power Plant]. So far, there is no confirmation of this information, but it is worth studying these missiles in more detail. Their range is almost 20 times less than that of the X-101 missiles [equivalent to about 250-500 kilometres], the carriers of which are strategic aircraft of the Aerospace Forces [Tu-95]. In their [X-69] function, they are closer to the foreign [Anglo-French] Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles, which are being attempted for strikes on the Crimean Bridge. The [X-69’s] long range of the 300 km could be enough if the launches of missiles were carried out from the territory of the Bryansk region. If the use of missiles is confirmed in the future, it will mean that no energy facility of the Ukraine on the Dnieper River can work safely, and the strike capabilities of the Aerospace Forces have multiplied.” https://t.me/rt_russian/197065

The lack of power supply is not the only unsolvable problem Zelenski has.

The situation at the frontline is deteriorating. One of the critical sectors in now Chasiv Yar, some 10 kilometer west of Bakhmut, where the Russian forces recently managed to make some crucial progress.

Ground that had been held by parts of the 67th Separate Mechanized Brigade had been given up very quickly.

The Ukraine command investigated and found the root cause in the ideological framework of the ‘nationalist’ brigade:

After losing some positions on the Chasiv Yar front in Donetsk Oblast, where heavy fighting has been ongoing since the beginning of 2024, the 67th Separate Mechanised Brigade of the Right Sector Ukrainian Volunteer Corps is being investigated and the military personnel who served as the brigade’s backbone are being transferred to other units.
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One of the factors revealed by the audit was issues within the brigade. The leadership allegedly separated the soldiers from the Right Sector and those who were transferred from other parts during the recent replenishment (they were referred to as “pixels”, in reference to the pattern on the Ukrainian military uniform). The attitude toward the “pixels” was even worse; they were the first to be sent into combat, and their lack of experience made them lose territory.According to a source of Ukrainska Pravda, this was not the only reason for the brigade’s combat capacity deficiencies, as revealed by the audit.

According to a former Ukrainian Volunteer Corps fighter who served in the unit during the 2014-2018 anti-terrorist operation in Ukraine’s east and the first year of the full-scale invasion, the current problem stems from the inability to reform the former volunteer unit into a regular brigade of the Armed Forces.

Following the reformatting of the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps into the 67th Brigade, volunteers were forced to live “according to military tenets”, as determined by the newly formed army command. The former Ukrainian Volunteer Corps leaders lacked the military experience necessary for high positions.

The street gangs and hooligans of the fascist Right Sector, who played a major role during the so called Maidan revolution, were not keen to be real soldiers. They put the least experienced mobilized men into the frontline and kept their ideological brethren in the back.

Such behavior had been fine under the former Commander in Chief General Zaluzhni who has a well known affinity for the hard right ‘nationalists’ units. But the new Commander in Chief General Syrski needs real soldiers, not amateurish terrorists:

During the tenure of former Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the backbone of the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps, particularly Andrii Stempitskyi, was able to maintain some autonomy in the brigade while receiving assistance from the General Staff.Quote: “And when Sirskyi was appointed, they were confronted with the fact that they must only do activities that are appropriate for their official position. They saw it as political persecution. For highly ideological Ukrainian Volunteer Corps combatants, this appears to be the end of a movement, but it is actually the system bringing its combat units up to standard.”

Strana adds a bit of history (machine translation):

Recall that the” Ukrainian Volunteer Corps “(DUK) was formed in 2014 by the “Right Sector” during the anti-terrorist operation. After that, for a long time he was not a member of any of the official law enforcement agencies of Ukraine, which raised questions about the ambiguity of his legal status. This continued until 2018, after which most of the DUK joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Like other fascists groupings in Ukraine, i.e. Azov, the DUK or ‘Right Sector has multiplied during the war. It has infiltrated more units:

In 2023, the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps was split into two parts: one joined the Special Operations Forces and the other formed the 67th Separate Mechanised Brigade. In February 2024, a portion of the Da Vinci Wolves Unit transferred from the 67th Brigade to the 59th Separate Motorised Infantry Brigade.

‘Reforming’ the ‘nationalist’ brigades will be quite a task for the new command under Syrski. As he was born in Russia they may in the end declare him to be their ultimate enemy.

Another problem Zelenski should, but wont, care for, are the signs of corruption which due to the war have only increased:

By law, Ukrainian officials such as lawmakers, prosecutors, and judges must declare their assets to the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NACP).The NACP received some 664,000 documents by March 31, which was the submission deadline for 2023, Economic Pravda reported.

The news site reported Wednesday that it randomly selected declarations for 2,200 officials to see how their fortunes had changed from 2022 to 2023.

It found that every sixth official had bought an apartment or house, and every third one a car. They purchased 721 cars, 268 apartments, and 90 new houses.

Meanwhile, even with the new asset purchases, the officials’ savings increased.

Economic Pravda found that the cash and bank deposits of the declarants increased by about a quarter during the two years of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The dire economic situation of Ukraine leaves no explanation but corruption for this (machine translation):

In Ukraine, record sales of luxury foreign cars were recorded last year. Some premium brands were included in the top 10 best-selling cars, which was not even in peacetime. And the number of Tesla cars in Ukraine has increased almost 10 times compared to 2021.Such a boom in demand for expensive cars in a warring country, at first glance, looks at least strange. But there are explanations for this.

Used Teslas have become a bit cheaper in Ukraine. But the main reason why the sales of luxury cars in Ukraine is booming is this:

Third (and this is the main thing), there is a category of new applicants for luxury cars-people whose welfare has grown significantly since the beginning of the war.”Before the war, a man drove a modest Volkswagen. And then he sat down on the stream, got money, decided to upgrade the car, bought a Range Rover. And there are a lot of them,” one of the car dealerships in Kiev told us.

According to employees of the salon, massively upgrading cars to something “more decent”, are in particular, the security forces.

In addition, a whole layer of people appeared in the country, who became very rich during the war. Including on corruption schemes for supplies to the army. They are also a major category of luxury car buyers. Yes, and other expensive things. For example, one of the dealers of luxury watches told Strana that in the last year its sales are breaking records for the entire existence of the business.

While Zelenski is begging Congress it should consider that someone will have to pay for those who ‘sit down on the stream’ and gain from it.

Posted by b on April 16, 2024 at 15:04 UTC | Permalink

Often not always

Defense Sector Panicking: Iran Missiles Defeated “Most Advanced, Integrated, ABM Defensive Systems”

Hal Turner

By now, most of the world knows that Iran launched a multi-faceted attack against Israel about 48 hours ago.  The “fallout” from that attack is now becoming frighteningly clear, and it has Defense Experts TERRIFIED.

As the attack was in-progress, Iran undertook a very unusual, and apparently foolish, series of steps.  They announced they had launched drones and then cruise missiles against Israel.  They announced this despite the fact the drones and missiles still had 57 more minutes to travel before reaching their targets!

Expert Observers thought it very strange – and foolish – that an attacker would give out such information while the very weapons they launched had not yet arrived.  It gave Israel and its allies time to go after those weapons, which they did.

Well . . . it turns out this was not strange or foolish – it was planned.  Iran launched the old dregs of their arsenal!  First generation drones. First generation cruise missiles.  What they launched was the junk they had laying around for years!  Slow moving, loud, junk.

Many of the drones simply fell out of the sky from malfunctions.  Others were easily intercepted by fighter jets from Israel, the US, and the UK, with some help from French naval assets in the Mediterranean Sea.

There was a much-heralded “99% interception success rate” broadcast around the world for all to hear.  Turns out, there’s a problem.  A MAJOR problem: Iran’s Ballistic Missiles.   A few of them, got through.

Almost no one noticed this “problem” because there has been no media coverage of it, until this article.

The hint there was a BIG problem, came today.  US Media reported:

“U.S. National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan stated today that the Department of Defense alongside U.S. Central Command is continuing to Increase the Readiness and Integration of Air Defenses and Early Warning Systems in the Middle East, in order to Erode the Effectiveness of Iran’s Missile and Drone Capabilities.”

When I read that, I thought to myself “Who asked you?”   Why say something like that?  Unless . . . .  unless. . . . there’s a big problem.  So I started looking, and asking questions.  Here’s what I found:

The missiles that hit the two bases in the Negev region didn’t just “get through.”  They did so against the most-heavily-defended area in the world, protected with the most advanced, integrated, Anti-Ballistic-Missile (ABM) systems known to exist in the West.

Two Israeli Bases in the Negev region and one Intelligence Base in the far north of Israel on Mount Hermon, got hit by Iranian missiles.

In the north, the secret intelligence base in the north of the occupied Golan Heights located in Jabal al-Sheikh (Mount Hermon), got hit and seriously damaged.

In the south, the Israeli Nevatim and Ramon Bases got hit and THIS is where the problem reared its ugly head.

According to secret intelligence information, at the Nevatim Air Base in the Negev Desert, Hangar to Israel’s F-35 Stealth aircraft and Mossad Spy aircraft, at least Forty-four (44) Mossad personnel were killed.

But for the Defense sector, that pales in comparison to what took place for Iran to achieve that.

Nevatim was defended by the world’s most advanced integrated anti-missile defense shield which incorporated Arrow 2, David’s Sling, THAAD, and Patriot 3 with the AN/TPY-2 X-band surveillance and targeting radar.  This system was designed to exclusively defend against the Iranian medium-range ballistic missile threat.

Below is an actual photo of the actual radar deployed to protect those bases. Here is what it looks like:

And yet . . . 5 to 7 missiles hit Nevatim. The Israelis have acknowledged 2 runways and three warehouse structures hit.

Not a knockout blow — it wasn’t intended as such.

But any Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) expert would note that the point of impact was center mass, a clear indication of precision guidance.

5-7 missiles hit the world’s most heavily defended location, defeating an integrated ABM defense that was custom built to defeat the very missiles it failed to shoot down.

THAT has some people in the Defense sector, literally panicked.   You see, if 5-7 missiles got through, then it is a given that others can get through.  And simple math reveals that had Iran fired thirty (30) missiles at that base, the base would no longer exist.

The Iranians know this now.  They __know__ Israeli “missile defenses” cannot stop their medium range ballistic missiles with any great reliability.

While Jordan fired US PATRIOT missiles to down a few Iranian missiles, Jordan’s PATRIOTS are now completely depleted. They have NONE left.

Fighter jets did down a few additional Iranian missiles, but not many.

As such, Israel is not only vulnerable, there is no “filler” technology that can be quickly inserted into the advanced, integrated system, to make things better for Israel.  Put simply, right now, Israel is factually defenseless from any large salvos of these missiles.

Think about that for a moment.

The most advanced, integrated air defense radar system in the world, its mission is to detect Iranian missile launches, and pass targeting data to Israeli Arrow, David’s Sling, and U.S. THAAD ABM batteries deployed to protect sensitive Israeli sites, including Dimona and the Nevatim and Ramon air bases.

Iranian missiles struck both Nevatim and Ramon air bases.

The best surveillance radar in the world, working in concert with the most sophisticated anti-missile defenses in the world, were impotent in the face of the Iranian attack.

What has galled Israel is not the attack itself, it was that the most advanced missile defense systems in the world couldn’t stop the very missiles they were built to stop!

Iran has now achieved a “strategic deterrence” of Israel.  Israel now knows Iran will  hit them, but can also hit them at-will with missiles Israel cannot stop.

Even worse, now that the “junk” is gone from Iran’s inventory, they can bring out the Second and third generation versions of their drones and missiles.   Hezbollah did that TODAY.  Hezbollah utilized almost silent, very-much-faster, jet powered drones to hit Israel in the north today.

People on the ground did not hear the drones until they were dive bombing the targets!

If Iran starts using these, the speed alone will cut down flight time, by half or more, making it even harder to intercept such drones if launched.

What the second or third generation cruise missiles might be able to do, none of us know yet.

We’ve now seen what Iran’s Ballistic Missiles can do – nasty!

The Iran response to the Israel attack up the Iranian Embassy in Syria, has opened a chasm in the Middle East balance of power.  The world changed that day.  Not in ways the general public knew – until now.

So true – no middle class

In what way has China surpassed Japan?

I haven’t had lots of Quorans yelling at me all at once, so let’s take a trip down Nostalgia Lane…

My first trip to China was in 1985. This photo was taken on the major road through the center of Beijing, the one that runs past the Forbidden City.

At that point 80% of the population lived in poverty. 30 years later, 800 million people had been lifted out of poverty, an accomplish never before done, by anyone, in the history of the world.

My first trip to Shanghai was in 1990. The road from the airport to our hotel was largely dirt, and we had to stop frequently for cattle crossings and other disruptions. Jump forward 15 years and we were able to take the world’s first maglev train into the city, at a top speed of 431 km/hr.

By contrast, one of my first jobs as a copywriter in the early 1980’s was doing an ad for Hitachi’s maglev train. It’s now 2024 and the train still isn’t in commercial operation.

Now jump ahead to 2018. In the downtown Shanghai subways there are photos on the walls so that it looks like a 2D supermarket. Scan the items you want on your phone, and they’ll be waiting for you at your stop when you get off. Nothing like that exists in Japan, which shunned e-money until COVID made everyone afraid of touching coins and bills that had passed through unknown numbers of unknown hands.

Those are the stories; here are the points:

1. China has a very strong central government. You can make complaints about censorship, access to social media, etc., but when it comes to public works — including poverty reduction — I’d argue it’s the most effective in the world. (My Indian colleagues were late to a meeting because they kept walking the streets of Shanghai in wonder, saying “Why can’t our government do this?”)
2. That’s also the point of the maglev story. Japan has 2nd generation trains you can ride on a test track, but permitting in one prefecture has blocked commercialization. Japan created the tech; China utilized it.
3. China is a LOT more advanced technically than most people know. 9 of the world’s Top 20 tech companies are in China, and 3 of the Top 10. We’re seeing this a lot recently as China now dominates the EV market once owned by Tesla. The pace of innovation has been stunning, and while there are cheap options available, this is NOT a case of low-tech EV’s made with cheap manufacturing labor. BYD has a truly impressive ecosystem that covers everything from chips to ships.

Fortunately, China and Japan are in close proximity, so a lot of Japanese leaders — both political and business — understand just what China is capable of.

The US? Not so much.

Russia Hits FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION TROOPS in Ukraine

On April 13, this website reported the arrival of French Foreign Legion troops into Slavyansk, Ukraine.  Overnight, those troops were hit and mostly killed by the Russian Army.

The original story from April 13 appears HERE

The French military brought the CAESAR self-propelled gun to Slavyansk

According to the Military Chronicle, the brigade artillery group consists of 12 to 15 wheeled howitzers, as well as several Renault trucks with auxiliary equipment. According to preliminary information, the equipment was transferred for storage to the Starokramatorsky Machine-Building Plant from Dnepropetrovsk.

In Slavyansk itself, in the area of ​​clay quarries, as well as to the south (in the Cherevkovka area), firing positions have already been prepared for these guns: a road has been rolled out and ammunition supply routes have been equipped.

Most likely, we are talking about the potential use of the French CAESAR for barrage fire in the event of an attack by the Russian Armed Forces on Slavyansk, but we cannot exclude the use of this technology in the defense of Chasov Yar and its likely transfer to units of the 54th Mechanized Infantry Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (as well as the direct participation of the French within this division.)

When firing extended-range projectiles with a bottom gas generator from the Belenkoye area (between Kramatorsk and Slavyansk), the entire eastern part of Chasov Yar, including the western part of Bogdanovka and the entry point of Russian troops in the area of ​​vocational school No . 77 in the Kanal microdistrict, may be in the CAESAR destruction zone.

Those French troops and their CAESAR artillery were demolished overnight by the Russian Army.

Russia had previously warned NATO countries that if they sent troops into Ukraine, those troops would become legitimate targets.  Now, Russia has made good on its word (again) and a slew of French Foreign Legion troops are now dead.

Real rich

Healthy Broccoli Cheddar Soup

By Rena Awada | Updated On January 16, 2024

This Healthy Broccoli Cheddar Soup Recipe is a healthier version of the classic broccoli and cheddar soup. Made with milk instead of cream and loaded with Broccoli, carrots, and celery. Easy to make, filling, and the perfect side dish to add to your dinner table.

If you love the broccoli cheddar soup at Panera then you will love this soup. This recipe for broccoli cheddar soup is comforting food at its best for this looming cold weather. It is so filling delicious, and the ultimate comfort food that one bowl won’t be enough. It is made without any heavy cream, made with milk, broccoli, broth, low-fat cheese, and some simple pantry-staple ingredients that you won’t need to run to the store to grab.

Why you will love this recipe

• Tasty: This light broccoli cheddar soup is packed with flavor and not as creamy and dense as what you get at restaurants that are just too buttery and creamy.
• East-to-make: Easy to follow directions on making this simple homemade broccoli and cheddar cheese soup that will be ready in under an hour.
• Healthy and good for you: A much healthier option than what you get at a restaurant and carry-out soup. Made without any heavy cream and a lot less cheese. Full of nutrients and fiber.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup Ingredients

• Butter or Ghee: Give a rich taste to the soup and a great option for a keto-soup, but you may use oil instead
• Olive Oil: or avocado oil
• Gluten-Free Flour: or any other flour of your choice.
• Chicken or Vegetable Stock: for vegan-option use vegetable broth or water.
• Milk: 2% milk or unsweetened almond milk for vegan
• Medium Sweet Yellow Onion
• Garlic Cloves: use fresh garlic instead of garlic powder
• Carrot: Do use fresh carrots and not canned
• Fresh Celery thinly sliced
• Fresh Broccoli florets: frozen broccoli can also be used.
• Cayenne Pepper: this ingredient is optional
• Low-fat Grated sharp Cheddar Cheese

HOW TO MAKE BROCCOLI CHEDDAR SOUP

Making this creamy broccoli cheddar soup recipe is quite easy.

• In a small bowl, whisk flour and cold stock until well combined. Heat olive oil and butter/ghee in a large skillet on your stovetop over medium-high heat. (butter is fine for the keto version)
• Saute the onions until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add in carrots, celery, and garlic, and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes.

• Add in broccoli, cayenne pepper, milk stock, and flour mixture, and simmer until veggies are tender and soup is creamy. About 8-10 minutes.
• Transfer about half of the soup to a blender. Blend until smooth, then stir the mixture back into the pot or dutch oven.

Stir in Cheddar cheese and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to your taste. Enjoy!

How to thicken broccoli cheddar soup

Based on your dietary needs there are different ways to thicken your broccoli cheddar soup:

• Add some flour- about 2 tablespoons mixed in with either milk or cold water
• Corn starch
• arrowroot powder
• blended soup – blend a bit of your soup and add it back in

Recipe Variations and Notes

• For a Vegan option: If you would like to make a vegan version of this homemade Broccoli Cheddar Soup recipe you can swap a few of the ingredients to make it into a vegan soup. Swap the Butter for more olive oil, use vegetable broth, almond or cashew milk instead of regular milk, and finally use vegan cheddar cheese. You can find this at health food stores.
• Keto-option: To make a keto version of this easy cheddar broccoli soup, use butter or ghee instead of olive oil, skip the flour and use arrowroot powder, or just blend some of the soup to give a thick consistency. Consider adding 1 cup of heavy whipping cream along with 1 cup of milk instead of 2 cups of milk. Also, use whole-fat cheddar cheese.
• Add more protein: Want to add more protein to make this a complete meal? Add some leftover shredded chicken or Rotisserie Chicken. Serve it with some crusty bread or dinner rolls.
• Don’t have a blender? You may use an immersion blender instead

Storage and reheating recommendations

• Storage: Store your leftover cheddar and broccoli soup in a sealed container and store it in the fridge for up to 4 days. Allow the soup to cool first before storing it. Freeze for up to 3 months in a freezer-friendly container.
• Reheating: You may either reheat the leftover soup in the microwave or a saucepan over medium heat.

Do not settle

Be careful

"In France, it is acknowledged that Macron's statements about supporting negotiations on Ukraine's accession into the EU are merely a façade.

They are made solely out of solidarity with Kiev.

In reality, there is a conviction that Ukraine has no place in the European Union, because the accession of the world's largest grain producer would be a fatal mistake for the union.

In the same France, it was confirmed that the statements of Ukraine's imminent accession to the EU are short-term assistance to the Kiev regime.

This is one of the elements for possible peace negotiations on Ukraine's exit from the armed conflict.

But in reality, these statements have nothing worthwhile underpinning them, as the EU is well aware that Ukraine's entry would structurally change everything within the union.

In the US, a different idea has been expressed—Ukraine could give up its agricultural sector in exchange for EU membership.

And here lies all the irony.

First, the West stripped Ukraine of its industry.

Now, it plans to deprive it of the agricultural sector as well, making the Kiev regime's statements about turning Ukraine into an 'agricultural superpower' unattainable dreams.

What then is Ukraine to live on, having become infested with debts over the last decade with the help of the very same West, as a dog is with fleas?"

-Message posted by former Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov on his Facebook page, April 14, 2024.

Love or control

What is really ironic?