Paradise News

Category: Security

  • Obama’s new Netflix film bashes white people

    Former President Barack Obama is currently receiving backlash for a new Netflix film, which he served as a consultant on, over a scene that openly bashes white people by warning against trusting them.

    According to Newsweek, Obama, who previously signed a Netflix deal to produce television series and films for the streaming giant and launched the Higher Ground production company with Michelle Obama, recently worked as a consultant on the film, “Leave the World Behind.” The film, which was directed by Sam Esmail, was based on Rumaan Alam’s novel, which was also titled “Leave the World Behind.”

    Netflix’s synopsis of the movie states, “Starring Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, and Ethan Hawke, the apocalyptic thriller from Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail tells the story of two families as they fight for survival amid an inexplicable blackout.” Both Barack Obama and Michelle Obama are listed as producers for the film.

    READ MORE: Obama privately warns Biden: Trump is ‘formidable candidate’: Report

    According to The Western Journal, the controversy surrounding the film centers around a scene where a daughter tells her father, “I’m asking you to remember that if the world falls apart, trust should not be doled out easily to anyone, especially white people.”

    A video clip of the was shared Libs of TikTok on X, formerly Twitter, alongside the caption, “Netflix film called ‘Leave The World Behind’ produced by the Obamas includes a scene demonizing white people. White people are the only group you’re allowed and celebrated to be racist towards and it will be put into movies by the most influential people.”

    End Wokeness also shared the video clip from “Leave the World Behind” on social media, questioning the film for potentially featuring “predictive programming” by centering the plot around a cyberattack that “cripples” the United States and warning that the Obamas were able to “sneak in a scene bashing white people.”

    According to Newsweek, the Obamas agreed to help produce the film last year, allowing the former president to offer his advice regarding the portrayal of events in the movie.

    Vanity Fair reported that Esmail consulted with Obama while developing the script for the movie in an attempt to help “ground” the story.

    “He had a lot [of] notes about the characters and the empathy we would have for them,” Esmail told Vanity Fair regarding Obama’s involvement as a consultant and producer for the film. “I have to say he is a big movie lover, and he wasn’t just giving notes about things that were from his background. He was giving notes as a fan of the book, and he wanted to see a really good film.”



    Source

  • Daddy Yankee announces devotion to faith after final concert

    Daddy Yankee is trading in his days at the club for more days at church.

    As he wrapped up the final show of his La Última Vuelta (the Last Lap) world tour last week in his native Puerto Rico, Daddy Yankee — whose legal name is Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez — stated to the packed crowd at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan that he was honored by their reception and gave fans a sneak peak at what lay ahead for him.

    “This day for me is the most important day of my life, and I want to share it with you all because living a successful life is not the same as living a life with purpose,” the 46-year-old rapper told the crowd. “For a long time, I tried to fill an emptiness in my life that nobody could fill.”

    The “Gasolina” artist explained that winning awards and having the external validation of adoring fans all over the world could not fill that void. But now those days are behind him because he’s found someone to fill that emptiness: God.

    “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” he said, paraphrasing a Bible verse from the book of Matthew. “And that’s why tonight I recognized and am unashamed to tell the world that Jesus lives in me and that I will live for him.”

    Daddy Yankee then thanked his fans for their support throughout his career and urged them all to “follow Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth and the life.”

    As a group of drones in the shape of a cross flew over the stadium, the “Despacito” rapper supplicated for God’s assistance, saying, “Father, I hope you allow me to evangelize the world from Puerto Rico. Amen.”

    The reggaetonero’s pivot from the often racy themes of reggaeton music to the traditionally more laced-up values of Christianity may seem like an unprecedented move, but it’s not all that uncommon among some of the genre’s biggest names.

    Just last year, reggaeton artist Farruko, perhaps best known for his mega hit “Pepas,” announced during a concert in Miami that he was sorry for the vulgar lyrics in his tracks and spoke at length about God throughout his set.

    Others who have shifted to a life of faith include genre icons El General, Héctor El Father, Julio Voltio, Kartier and Jomar El Caballo Negro. Reggaeton historian Katelina “La Gata” Eccleston discussed this trend in a 2020 episode of her podcast “Perreo 101.” She pointed to the guilt over sexually explicit lyrics, the desire to go to heaven and the particular relationship that Latino cultures have with organized religion as some of the reasons these artists may have chosen to redirect their lives.

    ___

    © 2023 Los Angeles Times

    Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.



    Source

  • Military flyover at Chiefs game had call sign that paid tribute to Taylor Swift

    If you had not already noticed, the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce relationship has seeped into places you may not have ever expected.

    Politicians have talked about it, the romance has inspired the creation of a pizza in Des Moines, Iowa, and holiday decorations that popped up across the nation.

    On Sunday, the celebrity love story was part of the military flyover before the Chiefs-Bills game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Sort of.

    T-38 Talon jets from Randolph Air Force Base in Texas flew overhead, as the video from the Chiefs shows.

    How’s that linked to Swift and Kelce, besides his reaction to seeing the quartet of planes? A number of people online took note of the call sign for the flyover.

    It was Swifty1.

    Yep, either the United States Air Force has taken note of the power couple … or the air traffic controllers came up with the sign.

    ___

    © 2023 The Kansas City Star

    Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.



    Source

  • Netflix’s casting of Denzel Washington as Hannibal sparks backlash in Tunisia

    Netflix’s casting of Black actor Denzel Washington as the ancient Carthaginian general Hannibal in an upcoming film has sparked criticism in Tunisia.

    Hannibal, who was born near modern-day Tunis, is considered one of history’s greatest military leaders. During the war against Rome in 218 B.C., he led his troops and African war elephants across a high pass in the Alps to strike at his adversaries from the north.

    While Hannibal’s skin color is not known, most historians agree he was of Phoenician descent, a region encompassing modern Lebanon and Syria. Earlier in November, Tunisian news outlet La Presse published an article claiming that the casting represented a “historical error.”

    Social media users accused Netflix of promoting “woke culture,” with thousands signing an online petition to cancel the “pseudo-documentary,” The Guardian reported. The petition also urged the Tunisian Ministry of Culture to “take action against the attempt to steal our history.”

    Following the announcement from Netflix regarding Washington’s role, Tunisian MP Yassine Mami questioned Culture Minister Hayet Ketat Guermazi about the project in parliament.

    “The ministry should take a position on the subject,” Mami said, adding, “This is about defending Tunisian identity and listening to the reactions of civil society.”

    Speaking in the assembly, Guermazi explained that her ministry was instead focused on negotiating with Netflix to shoot some of the film’s scenes in Tunisia.

    “It’s fiction; it’s their right. Hannibal is a historical figure, even if we’re all proud that he’s Tunisian … What could we do?” Guermazi said. “What matters to me is that they shoot even one sequence in Tunisia and mention it. We want Tunisia to become a platform for foreign films again.”

    The issue of racial identity has gained prominence in Tunisia, particularly with the recent influx of sub-Saharan migrants. President Kais Saied faced criticism for his unsubstantiated claims in February that these migrants were part of a plot to change Tunisia’s predominantly Arab demographic to “purely African,” The Guardian reported.

    The announcement of Washington’s role came after a similar controversy on race and representation in neighboring Egypt over Netflix’s casting of Adele James, an actor of mixed heritage, as Cleopatra. The Egyptian Antiquities Ministry later issued a statement claiming that the pharaonic ruler had “white skin and Hellenistic characteristics.”

    Netflix and Washington, who has previously portrayed Malcolm X and Shakespeare’s Scottish Macbeth, have not commented.

    ___

    (c) 2023 the Arab News

    Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.



    Source

  • Passengers stay in military barracks after Delta flight to Detroit has to land in Canada

    Passengers on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit dealt with a delay that lasted for more than a day and resulted in them having to stay at a military barracks in Canada over the weekend. According to Fox 2 Detroit, the Delta flight was forced to make an emergency landing Sunday due to a problem with the plane’s de-icer.

    A passenger on the flight said the pilot told passengers that if the de-icer wasn’t working properly, it could cause a problem with the engine, which would be a much bigger issue. Delta later confirmed the plane experienced mechanical issues on board.

    The plane landed in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador where hundreds of passengers were then moved to military barracks as the airline made arrangements to get another airplane to the airport to finish the journey.

    However, weather and runway issues at Goose Bay Airport in Newfoundland and Labrador led to a problem with crew duty times, further delaying the trip. Eventually, the airline was able to get a different plane to the airport and the passengers landed in Detroit Monday, a day after their originally scheduled arrival.

    ___

    © 2023 Advance Local Media LLC

    Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.



    Source

  • Russia’s goal is “conquering Ukraine”, say Western media…Not so, say experts

    By Uriel Araujo

    The Ukrainian former defense minister Oleksii Reznikov recently stated that the Kremlin’s goal is to “destroy” Ukraine completely, “assimilating” its citizens into the Russian Federation. Such wild claims have not been much challenged by journalists and opinion-makers in the West. After all, according to Western media Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “plan” is and has always been “to conquer” Ukraine all along. This pervasive Western narrative, also pushed by Kyiv, far from being a kind of self-evident truth, is challenged by voices within the US Establishment such as Jeffrey Sachs and by many respected scholars in the West, including some who are very critical of Moscow. Such a one-sized narrative in fact removes any context regarding the current crisis and completely ignores Russian perspective, goals, and security concerns.

    Although a harsh critic of Russian ongoing military campaign in Ukraine, Wolfgang Richter (a Senior Associate in the International Security Division at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik – SWP) acknowledged, for example, in a 2022 article that in December 2021, Moscow had “made clear in two draft treaties” what it was after: “preventing a further expansion of NATO to the east and obtaining binding assurances to this end.” The Alliance and Washington, however, according to Richter, “were not prepared to revise the principles of the European security order” and thus Moscow obviously “did not accept this and resorted to the use of force.”

    According to this expert, although the US is “far from the theater of conflict in Europe”, French and British nuclear weapons and “the deployment of US sub-strategic nuclear weapons in Europe and NATO’s conventional forces on Russia’s borders” are indeed a security risk in the European continent from Moscow’s perspective. This is so, he argues, quite convincingly, because Russia understands that a future threat could arise from the new American intermediate-range weapons in the continent, which could even reach Russian strategic targets (in the European part of the country) “should Washington and NATO partners decide to deploy them.” Moreover, NATO’s enlargement “has created more potential deployment areas in Central and Eastern Europe.” The Kremlin sees the Atlantic Alliance today, after all, as merely an American tool to advance its geopolitical interests (to the detriment of Russian security).

    READ ALSO: My administration has resettled over one million displaced persons, says Gov. Zulum

    Sometimes, critics claim that the fact that Moscow cooperated in varying degrees with NATO from the nineties to around 2010 “proves” that Russian claims about NATO’s enlargement should not be taken seriously. This fact, if anything, corroborates Moscow’s arguments.

    In his 2018 associated professorship habilitation thesis, Sao Paulo University History Professor Angelo de Oliveira Segrillo describes Putin as a moderate (albeit ambiguously) “Westernist”, rather than an Eurasianist, citing as evidence for it the Russian President’s well know admiration for Peter the Great. Segrillo argues that Putin was never a radical Westernist such as Boris Yeltsin, but rather a pragmatic and moderate one, while also being a gosudarstvennik, that is, someone who advocates for a strong State, in line with Russia’s political tradition. The Brazilian professor thus compares Putin to the French leader Charles de Gaulle, who often opposed Washington and NATO not simply out of an “anti-Western stance” but as someone who is in a position of defending the national interests of one’s own country.

    Alas, whether the aforementioned thesis is fully accurate or not, that being something which interests mostly historians and biographers anyway, one can in any case argue that far from being staunchly “anti-Western” due to the supposed personal inclinations of the President (as Western propaganda would have it), the Kremlin in fact has had to take a defensive and counter-offensive approach towards the US-led West over the latter’s many provocations and developments which, from a Russian perspective, constituted crossing red lines.

    In the NATO-Russia Founding Act of May 1997, NATO in fact pledged to limit the number of stationed troops, promising not to bring about any “additional permanent stationing of sub­stantial combat forces”, while  claiming it had no plan to deploy nuclear weapons in the accession countries. Such agreements eroded over several episodes, as Ritter demonstrates. Countries that did not belong to the CFE started joining the Alliance in 2004 and, to make matters worse, Washington in 2007 established a permanent military presence on the Black Sea. The US had withdrawn from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002 which for the Kremlin was a threat to strategic stability, a perception enhanced by Washington’s 2007 bilateral agreements with the Czech and Poland to deploy missile defense systems in these countries (allegedly to counter an Iranian “threat”).

    NATO’s war against Serbia in 1999 (denounced by Russia) had of course already violated the ban on the use of force, and the 1997 and 1999 agreements. Moreover, the brutal invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003 demonstrated America’s capacity and willingness to break international law, by relying on a “coaling of the willing” of new Eastern European partners and allies (even without NATO consensus). One could also cite Western recognition of Kosovo’s (unilateral) declaration of independence and the 2008 offer of the prospect of joining NATO to Ukraine and Georgia which, according to Richter, was “the breaking point in NATO’s relations with Russia.”

    The 2014 Crimea referendum and the Donbass War might have been the culmination of the erosion of an already declining European security order, argues Richter but such erosion “had already begun in 2002 with the growing potential for conflict between Washington and Moscow”, George W. Bush having played an important role in this.

    Which brings us to the current situation. For American political scientist John Mearsheimer, if Kyiv and Moscow had reached a deal, which could have happened if it were not for Western interference, Ukraine today would control a greater share of territory. As he writes, “Russia and Ukraine were involved in serious negotiations to end the war in Ukraine right after it started on 24 February 2022”. Regarding that, he adds: “everyone involved in the negotiations understood that Ukraine’s relationship with NATO was Russia’s core concern… if Putin was bent on conquering all of Ukraine, he would not have agreed to these talks.” The main issue was NATO.

    To sum it up, although at times Russia considered the possibility of engaging in further dialogue and cooperation with NATO, there have always  been tensions about the Atlantic Alliance’s expansion, and Moscow security concerns pertaining to it, far from being a mere excuse, are in fact well-founded.

    Uriel Araujo (PhD candidate (UnB), is a journalist and researcher with a focus on international and ethnic conflicts

  • 8 NATO envoys to visit Seoul to discuss Indo-Pacific security

    A delegation of representatives from eight NATO member countries is set to visit Seoul later this week, in a rare collective visit reflecting the transatlantic security alliance’s heightened interest in the Indo-Pacific region amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.

    The three-day visit from Wednesday to Friday aims to “engage in discussions on the security situation in the Indo-Pacific region and other pertinent issues,” South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Monday.

    The participating countries are the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Romania and Poland, according to the ministry.

    The NATO ambassadors are scheduled to meet with South Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister Chang Ho-jin on Wednesday. Throughout their visit, they will also meet Defense Minister Shin Won-sik and partake in various events coordinated by the US Embassy in Seoul.

    The upcoming meetings between Shin and the NATO ambassadors will “involve an assessment of the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and surrounding areas and center around defense cooperation between NATO and South Korea,” Jeon Ha-kyu, the spokesperson for South Korea’s Defense Ministry, said Monday.

    NATO, short for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is a security alliance formed during the Cold War as a response to threats posed by the then Soviet Union. Currently, NATO comprises 31 member countries.

    The Korea Herald has learned that the upcoming “field trip” was not officially organized by NATO. Instead, the responsibility for coordinating the trip’s itinerary lies with the US Embassy in Seoul.

    The collective visit by NATO allies’ representatives is seen as the first of its kind, and aligns with NATO’s increased collaboration with its four Asia-Pacific partners, referred to as AP4, a government source who wished to remain anonymous told The Korea Herald when asked about the implications of the visit.

    The AP4 coalition comprises South Korea, Australia, Japan and New Zealand.

    “NATO member countries have substantial interest in South Korea and Japan’s stances regarding North Korean nuclear and missile threats, as well as regarding the broader security landscape in Northeast Asia,” the government source said.

    “Consequently, the visit by NATO ambassadors to South Korea, alongside their visit to Japan, mainly aims to deepen their comprehension of the situation on the Korean Peninsula, in Northeast Asia and in the Indo-Pacific.”

    The inaugural presence of AP4 leaders, including South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, at the NATO Summit in 2022 and their subsequent participation in the Vilnius NATO Summit this year underscore NATO’s increasing focus on the Indo-Pacific region.

    The focus also falls in line with NATO’s first-ever acknowledgment of challenges posed by China in a joint statement during the 2022 summit. The new “Strategic Concept” emphasizes the significance of the Indo-Pacific region and underscores NATO’s commitment to addressing the “systemic challenges” posed by China to Euro-Atlantic security.

    The unnamed government source also explained that NATO members have a “heightened interest in South Korea’s strategy in countering cyber threats emanating from North Korea.”

    Cybersecurity stands as a pivotal realm of collaboration between South Korea and NATO. The South Korean military engaged for the first time in NATO’s cyber exercise, the Cyber Coalition, which took place from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1.

    The upcoming visit also holds particular significance considering the heightened coordination between South Korea and NATO, which was emphasized with the adoption of the Individually Tailored Partnership Programme during Yoon’s attendance at the NATO summit in Vilnius in July.

    The ITPP outlines 11 sectors of collaboration, covering areas such as dialogue and consultation, cooperation in anti-terrorism efforts, disarmament and nonproliferation, emerging technologies, cybersecurity, and public diplomacy. The initiative represents an advancement from the Individual Partnership and Cooperation Programme, which South Korea signed in 2012.

    In Vilnius, South Korea and NATO also concurred on enhancing cooperation in military intelligence sharing.

    Further strengthening diplomatic ties, South Korea established a Diplomatic Mission to NATO in Brussels in November 2022, enhancing opportunities for political dialogue with the organization.

    In a parallel development, a US congressman has introduced the Indo-Pacific Treaty Organization Act, which is aimed at assessing the need for establishing a NATO-esque coalition between the US and like-minded partners in the Indo-Pacific region.

    “This legislation will establish a task force to analyze the security situation in the Indo-Pacific and determine whether a NATO-like coalition between the United States and Indo-Pacific partners would be an effective deterrent to aggression emanating from China and North Korea,” said Rep. Mike Lawler, who introduced the bill on Dec. 5.

    Lawler highlighted the necessity of the coalition in light of closer alignment among the US’ adversaries, namely China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

    “A collective security agreement has the potential to deter aggression and protect the forces of democracy in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.

    ___

    (c) 2023 the Asia News Network

    Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.



    Source

  • NH man arrested for death threat against presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy

    An FBI investigation led to the arrest of a New Hampshire man who threatened to assassinate presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

    The Justice Department accuses Tyler Anderson, 30, of responding to a text message notification about a political event with a threat to an unidentified candidate and that person’s supporters.

    “Great, another opportunity for me to blow his brains out!” the Dover, New Hampshire, man allegedly replied. “I’m going to kill everyone who attends and then (expletive) their corpses.”

    The event referenced in court records was reportedly scheduled for Monday morning in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

    New Hampshire station WMUR confirmed Anderson’s intended target was longshot Republican contender Ramaswamy. His campaign told CNN it was “grateful” law enforcement handled the matter effectively.

    Ramaswamy was the only candidate slated to host an event in Portsmouth on Monday, according to NBC in Boston. The “buffet-style breakfast” was the first of three New Hampshire stops on his Monday schedule.

    Feds were assisted by the Dover and Portsmouth Police Departments to arrest Anderson, who was due in court Monday afternoon. He faces a sentence of up to five years in prison.

    Ramaswamy promised “ major surprises” to his New Hampshire supporters on social media Monday morning. He’s polling under 5% and has proven unpopular with fellow GOP candidates, including Nikki Haley, who called him “scum” during a debate last month.

    Donald Trump, who leads the Republican field, has declined to participate in party debates. Ramaswamy, more than the other three GOP candidates still in the race for the party’s 2024 nomination, has most closely mirrored Trump’s conspiratorial rhetoric and confrontational behavior during those meetings.

    Trump declared Ramaswamy the winner of the fourth and most recent debate last week in Alabama.

    “It’s so easy to be a critic, but who on this subject would be better than me,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social social media platform. “Vivek wins because he thinks I’m great.”

    ___

    © 2023 New York Daily News

    Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.



    Source

  • Retired generals from Lancaster County urge lawmakers to address ‘crisis’ in military recruitment

    The Pentagon’s struggles to recruit enough volunteers for the armed services is linked to competition for workers across the economy and the obesity epidemic, according to two retired U.S. Army generals from Lancaster County.

    Both challenges, they said Monday, are mendable with proper funding for education, nutrition and physical fitness programs.

    Lt. Gen. Dennis Benchoff, of Manheim Township, and Brig. Gen. George Schwartz, of Manheim Borough, were in Harrisburg representing Mission: Readiness, an education advocacy group composed of retired military officials.

    The organization’s recent report noted the Pennsylvania National Guard and Air National Guard missed their 2023 recruiting goals by about 25% and 45%, respectively. Nationally, the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force had a combined deficit of more than 20,000 recruits in fiscal year 2023.

    “The military today is facing a recruiting crisis,” said Benchoff, who served in the Army’s 101st Airborne Division’s 20th Chemical Detachment in Vietnam. “This is a national security issue.”

    Both generals pointed to a 2020 Department of Defense report that found 77% of people between the ages of 17 and 24 do not meet the eligibility requirements for the military. Obesity was the leading cause of disqualification, at 11%. However, 44% weren’t eligible because of other conditions, including drug abuse and certain medical conditions.

    Steve Doster, Pennsylvania director for the organization, said addressing the obesity crisis requires a “multi-faceted approach,” and that his group supports the universal free breakfast program for all students that was included in this year’s state budget.

    Doster said his group also works with policymakers to address food insecurity at the federal level by supporting funding for programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

    Although federal budget negotiations are ongoing, with a deadline approaching on Jan. 19, SNAP allocations were extended through next Sept. in a stopgap funding bill passed last month.

    Workforce and education funding

    According to the Mission: Readiness report, Pennsylvania’s older population is the fifth-largest in the country, meaning all employers, including the military, are competing for a smaller pool of workers than in many other states.

    “Our economy is demanding an all-hands-on-deck workforce to fill existing jobs both in the private and military sectors,” said Schwartz, who served in Germany during the Cold War and did a combat tour in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks.

    Schwartz said early education programs, child care funding, and adequate basic education funding are essential to fix the issues.

    Doster said those programs include Pennsylvania’s Pre-K Counts program, the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program, and Level-Up, which provides extra money to underfunded public schools.

    Level-Up’s $100 million funding was included in a list of spending items that are stalled until the General Assembly passes the needed authorizing legislation, often referred to as “code bills.”

    The state’s basic education funding formula was ruled unconstitutional earlier this year. A bipartisan commission, headed by Democratic state Rep. Mike Sturla of Lancaster and Republican state Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill of York, has been tasked with finding a more equitable model of funding.

    Sturla said the committee members recognize that education spending plays a pivotal role in ensuring Pennsylvanians can serve in the military. Funding education “is for all of our futures,” he said.

    State Sen. Ryan Aument, who served as a captain in the U.S. Army and introduced legislation to bolster youth literacy programs in the state, said the shrinking pool of eligible military recruits is turning into a security concern.

    “While promoting healthy lifestyles and ensuring high-quality education and care from birth through graduation will help close this gap, I strongly believe that we must work harder to instill the desire to serve in the next generations,” Aument, a Republican from West Hempfield, said in a statement. “Without the willingness to selflessly serve your country and fellow Americans, military recruitment will continue to fall and our mission readiness will continue to suffer.”

    Mission: Readiness is a member of the Council for a Strong America, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit that boasts 8,000 members in “nearly every Congressional district”, according to its website. Its members advocate for lawmakers to invest in policies supportive of early childhood care, education, after-school programs, nutrition and physical activity.

    “All you see about the military on TV are the tanks, the planes, the ships,” Benchoff said. “That’s the picture of our military that’s most prominent. However, the real assets we have are the men and women who man those high-tech pieces of equipment.”

    ___

    (c) 2023 LNP

    Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.



    Source

  • Iran-backed terrorists attack oil tanker, US Navy responds

    Iran-backed Houthi terrorists attacked a Norwegian commercial oil tanker Monday evening as it traveled between the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea in the Middle East, prompting a U.S. Navy ship to respond to the tanker’s “mayday call.”

    United States Central Command released a statement regarding Monday’s Houthi attack on X, formerly Twitter.

    “At around 4 p.m. EST on December 11, the Motor Tanker STRINDA was attacked by what is assessed to have been an Anti-Ship Cruise Missile (ASCM) launched from a Houthi controlled area of Yemen while passing through the Bab-el-Mandeb,” U.S. Central Command stated.

    U.S. Central Command explained that the STRINDA reported that the attack resulted in a fire on the vessel; however, no casualties were reported from the missile attack.

    The statement released by U.S. Central Command added, “There were no US ships in the vicinity at the time of the attack, but the USS MASON responded to the M/T STRINDA’s mayday call and is currently rendering assistance.”

    According to Reuters, Yehia Sarea, a Houthi spokesman, claimed that the terrorist organization launched a missile attack against the oil tanker because it was delivering crude oil to an Israeli terminal; however, Norway’s Mowinckel Chemical Tankers noted that the oil tanker was traveling to Italy with biofuel feedstock, not crude oil.

    READ MORE: US Navy captures terrorists

    Prior to the U.S. military confirming the Houthi attack against the oil tanker, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations shared an alert on social media warning regarding an “incident affecting a vessel in the vicinity of the Bab El Mandeb.”

    According to The Daily Wire, President Joe Biden has been facing increasing pressure for not directing a strong military response to the string of attacks launched by Houthi terrorists and other terrorist groups backed by Iran over the past two months.

    Multiple U.S. defense officials recently told POLITICO that the president’s response to the attacks launched against U.S. forces in the Middle East and commercial vessels in the region has only allowed the situation to continue to escalate despite attempting to avoid tensions from further escalating.

    Former commander of the U.S. 5th Fleet, retired Vice Adm. John Miller, told POLITICO that the United States was “not taking this seriously” since the attacks by terrorist organizations in the Middle East “have gone largely unanswered.” Miller added, “We’re not deterring anybody right now.”



    Source