Podcasts about bombers

4 - Libs push ‘Russian bombers' hoax to justify more military spending by Australian Citizens Party

So Close but still no win, Review of the game against the Bombers & Wafl Wrap

Damian Barrett and Josh Gabelich bring you the latest footy news on AFL Daily. The latest on the expected ACL tear to Bulldogs young gun Sam Darcy. The Dogs continued their winning ways despite the adversity led by the return of Marcus Bontempelli in a best on ground performance. Essendon is in need of another ruck with Sam Draper joining Nick Bryan on the Bombers long-term injury list. There's worries emerging at the Swans who haven't posted a win at home this year, while Port Adelaide have found a new and effective role for Connor Rozee. Subscribe to AFL Daily and never miss an episode. Rate and review wherever you listen to podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tony and Dalts talk about the new commissioner of the CFL. They also talk sms casualties from the BC Lions and they preview the 2025 Calgary StampedersPartnered with Sports Interaction. Go to sia.com/rouge and your first deposit is matched up to 100%Sponsored by Manscaped. go to manscaped.com and enter ROUGE for a 20% discount and free worldwide shipping

**Music Mick's Mick's Vibez Show Replay On Trax FM & Rendell Radio. This Week Mick & The Mixvibez Show Gave Us 70's & 80's Grooves/Dance Classics From Narada Michael Walden, Lamont Dozier, Ten City, Kleeer, Katmandu, Jesse Green, Jazzy Dee, I Level, Madonna, Shirley Jones, Skyy, Slave, Bombers, Anita Ward, Metropolis, John Gibbs & The U.S Steel Orchestra, King Errisson, Eddie Henderson & More. #originalpirates #soulmusic #boogiefunk #disco #danceclassics #boogie Catch The Music Mick's Mixvibez Show Every Saturday From 4PM UK Time On Trax FM & Rendell Radio Listen Live Here Via The Trax FM Player: chat.traxfm.org/player/index.html Mixcloud LIVE :mixcloud.com/live/traxfm Free Trax FM Android App: play.google.com/store/apps/det...mradio.ba.a6bcb The Trax FM Facebook Page : https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092342916738 Trax FM Live On Hear This: hearthis.at/k8bdngt4/live Tunerr: tunerr.co/radio/Trax-FM Radio Garden: Trax FM Link: http://radio.garden/listen/trax-fm/IEnsCj55 OnLine Radio Box: onlineradiobox.com/uk/trax/?cs...cs=uk.traxRadio Radio Deck: radiodeck.com/radio/5a09e2de87...7e3370db06d44dc Radio.Net: traxfmlondon.radio.net Stream Radio : streema.com/radios/Trax_FM..The_Originals Live Online Radio: liveonlineradio.net/english/tr...ax-fm-103-3.htm**

A Very Raw and honest Jake Waterman in the rooms, following a heartbreaking loss to the Bombers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A thrilling game on Good Friday Footy, The Bombers just getting the job done over the Eagles on 6PR. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of NYY Takes, Coles recaps the Yankees' sweep of the Kansas City Royals and talks about the Bombers' recipe for success for the 2025 season.

Ian and Jono analyse another successful Gather Round victory against the Demons. They look at how this weekend's news has impacted our ruck situation before previewing the Bombers' trip across the Nullarbor to face the Eagles.    Listen to The Medical Room and our Post Match First Thoughts exclusively on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/donthestat Follow Us on Twitter and Bluesky: Jono at twitter.com/JonathanJWalsh / https://bsky.app/profile/jonathanjwalsh.bsky.social Ian at twitter.com/Kyptastic1 / https://bsky.app/profile/kyptastic.bsky.social Don The Stat Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/donthestat

Damian Barrett and Sarah Olle bring you the latest footy news on AFL Daily. The elder statesman of the competition continue to shine brightly and prove that age is merely a number in 2025. Sydney has gaps it needs to fill, and fill fast after their disappointing loss to Collingwood. West Coast still hasn't hit rock bottom according to Damo with stark numbers to match, and are the Bombers better than Brad Scott would have us believe? Subscribe to AFL Daily and never miss an episode. Rate and review wherever you listen to podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Karma Deep Cut episode, we explore the jaw-dropping story of Operation Paul Bunyan—where the U.S. military responded to a border confrontation with an unforgettable act of malicious compliance. It all started with a tree, a rule, and an ambush that pushed tensions in the Korean DMZ to the brink. What followed was a paperwork-approved military flex so extreme, it still echoes through history. This is compliance turned up to 11.Submit your own stories to KarmaStoriesPod@gmail.com.Karma Stories is available on all major Podcasting Platforms and on YouTube under the @KarmaStoriesPodcast handle. We cover stories from popular Reddit Subreddits like Entitled Parents, Tales From Tech Support, Pro Revenge and Malicious Compliance. You can find new uploads here every single day of the week!Rob's 3D Printing Site: https://Dangly3D.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/karma-stories--5098578/support.

The boys lamented another soul crushing defeat this time against the Bombers in Gather Round.

Catch up on all the footy news from AFL 360, Monday the 14th of April with Gerard Whateley and Garry Lyon. Port Adelaide prove they've still got it with a shock win over the Hawks - are they finally clicking into gear? The pressure mounts on Simon Goodwin as Melbourne slump to another worrying loss, this time to the Bombers. Where to next for the Dees and Simon Goodwin? And over in the west… the Eagles' horror show against Carlton has fans and pundits asking serious questions. We break it all down in this week’s ep. For more of the show tune in on Fox Footy & KAYOSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bombers improved defense provides back to back wins by The Lunchtime Catch Up

It's time to Fight, time to show some pride & hunger and start to Hunt. We dissect the game against Carlton, review the WAFL, and preview Friday night's game against the Bombers.

Stevie gets reprimanded by the boss GWS’ Will Powell joins us for a chat Bus detour to Richard Champion show, Good bad & ugly - gather round edition Ryano’s footy news - Dee’s slum, Blues injuries, & Nat Fife comeback! Mason Reddog Redman interview - Essendon are moving Harley Reids managers, Breaking the Buffet rules Janine Goiter, Baz, Saints radio See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week's Yankees highlights include Devin Williams' struggles, as Evan and Tiki wonder if Pete Alonso broke the Yankee closer, while Chris McMonigle believes that he will be just fine. Plus, BT and Sal sound off on the volatile nature of the Bombers lineup, and concerns about Carlos Rodon's makeup.

This week's Yankees highlights include Devin Williams' struggles, as Evan and Tiki wonder if Pete Alonso broke the Yankee closer, while Chris McMonigle believes that he will be just fine. Plus, BT and Sal sound off on the volatile nature of the Bombers lineup, and concerns about Carlos Rodon's makeup.

This week's Yankees highlights include Devin Williams' struggles, as Evan and Tiki wonder if Pete Alonso broke the Yankee closer, while Chris McMonigle believes that he will be just fine. Plus, BT and Sal sound off on the volatile nature of the Bombers lineup, and concerns about Carlos Rodon's makeup.

Els dos investigats per la jutge de Catarroja per la gesti

The 2025 MLB season is underway, and the Yankees are flexing early! In Episode 93 of Chase for 28, Chris and the Podcast Padre break down a wild first week that saw the Bombers go 5-2 and crush a franchise-record 9 home runs in a single game. From Judge proving doubters wrong to the bullpen's ups and downs, we've got you covered. Plus, what's the deal with the torpedo bat?In This Episode:Yankees start the season 5-2 and sit atop the AL EastA historic 20-9 blowout vs. Milwaukee featuring 9 home runsWhat happened to Nestor Cortes and his rough outing?The “Torpedo Bat” controversy – helpful or hype?Throwback chat: multiple Yankees captains at once?Shoutouts:Listener Alex for a solid trivia guessJohn Sterling (in spirit) for what could've been an epic 9-HR callYankees Trivia

| Middle Of The Night (Vocal/Long Version)  | Taka Boom  | 1985 | Let Her Feel It (Vocal)  | Simplicious  | 1984 | Tell The World How I Feel About 'Cha Baby  | Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes  | 1975 | Let's Get Together Now  | Aristocrats  | 1973 | Under The Skin  | The Brothers  | 1976 | (Everybody) Get Dancin'  | Bombers  | 1979 | Let's Dance  | Bombers  | 1979 | Good Lovin'  | Al Mason  | 1990 | How Did You Know?  | True Solace  | 1999 | Tell Me How Much  | Christopher Williams, China  | 2004 | The Survivor (feat. Phyllis Hyman)  | Joe Sample  | 1985 | Standing Tall  | The Crusaders  | 1981 | Rodeo  | Kirk Whalum  | 1985 | Hot Pants Road  | The J.B.'s  | 1972 | Pick Up The Pieces One By One  | A.A.B.B.  | 1975 | Blood Is Thicker Than Water  | William DeVaughn  | 1974 | Here I Am  | Sharon Bryant  | 1989 | Anywhere  | Barbara Weathers  | 1990 | Heartbeat (Club Version) (Larry Levan Mix)  | Taana Gardner  | 1981 | Why You Wanna Play Me Out? (LP Version)  | Trisha Covington  | 1994 | That's The Meaning/Boogie Motion (12" Version)  | Beautiful Bend  | 1978

Can You Segway?Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.So exactly who was going to be sympathetic to their plight, who we cared about?Beyond my fevered dream of making a difference there was a pinch of reality. See, the Cabindans and the people of Zaire were both ethnic Bakongo and the Bakongo of Zaire had also once had their own, independent (until 1914) kingdom which was now part of Angola. The Bakongo were major factions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) -(formerly for a short time known as the nation of Zaire, from here on out to be referred to as the DRC and in the running for the most fucked up place on the planet Earth, more on that later)- and Congo (the nation) yet a minority in Angola. Having an independent nation united along ethnic and linguistic lines made sense and could expect support from their confederates across international boundaries.The Liberation Air ForceThe Earth & Sky operated under one constant dilemma ~ when would Temujin make his return? Since they didn't know and it was their job to be prepared for the eventuality if it happened tomorrow, or a century down the line, they 'stockpiled', and 'stockpiled' and 'stockpiled'.That was why they maintained large horse herds and preserved the ancient arts of Asian bowyers, armoring and weapons-craft. That was why they created secret armories, and sulfur and saltpeter sites when musketry and cannons became the new ways of warfare. They secured sources of phosphates and petroleum when they became the new thing, and so on.All of this boiled over to me being shown yet again I worked with clever, creative and under-handed people. The Khanate came up with a plan for a 'Union' Air Force {Union? More on that later} within 24 hours, and it barely touched any of their existing resources. How did they accomplish this miracle? They had stockpiled and maintained earlier generation aircraft because they didn't know when Temujin would make his re-appearance.They'd also trained pilots and ground crews for those aircraft. As you might imagine, those people grew old just as their equipment did. In time, they went into the Earth & Sky's Inactive Reserves ~ the rank & file over the age of 45. You never were 'too old' to serve in some capacity though most combat-support related work ended at 67.When Temujin made his return and the E&S transformed into the Khanate, those people went to work bringing their lovingly cared for, aging equipment up to combat-alert readiness. If the frontline units were decimated, they would have to serve, despite the grim odds of their survival. It was the terrible acceptance the Chinese would simply possess so much more war-making material than they did.Well, the Khanate kicked the PRC's ass in a titanic ass-whooping no one (else) had seen coming, or would soon forget. Factory production and replacement of worn machines was in stride to have the Khanate's Air Force ready for the next round of warfare when the Cease-fire ended and the Reunification War resumed.Always a lower priority, the Khanate military leadership was considering deactivating dozens of these reserve unit when suddenly the (Mongolian) Ikh khaany khairt akh dáé (me) had this hare-brained scheme about helping rebels in Africa, West Africa, along the Gulf of Guinea coast/Atlantic Ocean, far, far away, and it couldn't look like the Khanate was directly involved.They barely knew where Angola was. They had to look up Cabinda to figure out precisely where that was. They brought in some of their 'reservist' air staff to this briefing and one of them, a woman (roughly a third of the E&S 'fighting'/non-frontline forces were female), knew what was going on. Why?She had studied the combat records and performance of the types of aircraft she'd have to utilize... back in the 1980's and 90's and Angola had been a war zone rife with Soviet (aka Khanate) material back then. Since she was both on the ball, bright and knew the score, the War Council put her in overall command. She knew what was expected of her and off she went, new staff in hand. She was 64 years old, yet as ready and willing to serve as any 20 year old believer in the Cause.Subtlety, scarcity and audacity were the watchwords of the day. The Khanate couldn't afford any of their front-line aircraft for this 'expedition'. They really couldn't afford any of their second-rate stuff either. Fortunately, they had some updated third-rate war-fighting gear still capable of putting up an impressive show in combat ~ providing they weren't going up against a top tier opponents.For the 'volunteers' of the Union Air Force, this could very likely to be a one-way trip. They all needed crash courses (not a word any air force loves, I know) in Portuguese though hastily provided iPhones with 'apps' to act as translators were deemed to be an adequate stop-gap measure. Besides, they were advised to avoid getting captured at all cost. The E&S couldn't afford the exposure. Given the opportunity ~ this assignment really was going above and beyond ~ not one of these forty-six to sixty-seven year olds backed out.No, they rolled out fifty of their antiquated aircraft, designs dating back to the 1950's through the mid-70's, and prepared them for the over 10,000 km journey to where they were 'needed most'. 118 pilots would go (72 active plus 46 replacements) along with 400 ground crew and an equally aged air defense battalion (so their air bases didn't get blown up). Security would be provided by 'outsiders' ~ allies already on the ground and whatever rebels could be scrounged up. After the initial insertion, the Indian Air Force would fly in supplies at night into the Cabinda City and Soyo Airports.The composition,14 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 jet fighters ~ though she entered service in 1959, these planes' electronics were late 20th century and she was a renowned dogfighter. 12 were the Mig-21-97 modernized variant and the other two were Mig-21 UM two-seater trainer variants which could double as reconnaissance fighters if needed.14 Sukhoi Su-22 jet fighter-bombers ~ the original design, called the Su-17, came out in 1970, the first 12 were variants with the 22M4 upgrade were an early-80's package. The other 2 were Su-22U two-seat trainers which, like their Mig-21 comrades, doubled as reconnaissance fighters. The Su-22M4's would be doing the majority of the ground attack missions for the Cabindans, though they could defend themselves in aerial combat if necessary.6 Sukhoi Su-24M2 supersonic attack aircraft ~ the first model rolled off the production lines in the Soviet Union back in 1974. By far the heaviest planes in the Cabindan Air Force, the Su-24M2's would act as their 'bomber force' as well as anti-ship deterrence.8 Mil Mi-24 VM combat helicopters ~ introduced in 1972 was still a lethal combat machine today. Unlike the NATO helicopter force, the Mi-24's did double duty as both attack helicopter and assault transports at the same time.4 Mil Mi-8 utility helicopters, first produced in 1967. Three would act as troop/cargo transports (Mi-8 TP) while the fourth was configured as a mobile hospital (the MI-17 1VA).4 Antonov An-26 turboprop aircraft, two to be used as tactical transports to bring in supplies by day and two specializing in electronic intelligence aka listening to what the enemy was up to. Though it entered production in 1969, many still remained flying today.2 Antonov An-71M AEW&C twin-jet engine aircraft. These were an old, abandoned Soviet design the Earth & Sky had continued working on primarily because the current (1970's) Russian Airborne Early Warning and Control bird had been both huge and rather ineffective ~ it couldn't easily identify low-flying planes in the ground clutter so it was mainly only good at sea. Since the E&S planned to mostly fight over the land,They kept working on the An-71 which was basically 1977's popular An-72 with some pertinent design modifications (placing the engines below the wings instead of above them as on the -72 being a big one). To solve their radar problem, they stole some from the Swedish tech firm Ericsson, which hadn't been foreseen to be a problem before now.See, the Russians in the post-Soviet era created a decent AEW&C craft the E&S gladly stole and copied the shit out of for their front line units and it was working quite nicely ~ the Beriev A-50, and wow, were the boys in the Kremlin pissed off about that these days. Whoops, or was that woot?Now, the Khanate was shipping two An-71's down to Cabinda and somewhere along the line someone just might get a 'feel' for the style of radar and jamming the Cabindans were using aka the Swedish stuff in those An-71's. The Erieye radar system could pick out individual planes at 280 miles. The over-all system could track 60 targets and plot out 10 intercepts simultaneously. NATO, they were not, but in sub-Saharan Africa, there were none better.Anyway, so why was any of this important?Why the old folks with their ancient machines? As revealed, since the Earth & Sky had no idea when Temüjin would return, they were constantly squirreling away equipment. World War 2 gave them unequaled access to Soviet military technology and training.Afterwards, under Josef Stalin's direction, thousands of Russian and German engineers and scientists were exiled to Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan who were then snatched up (reportedly died in the gulags/trying to escape) and the E&S began building mirror factories modeled on the 'then current' Soviet production lines.So, by the early 1950's, the E&S was building, flying and maintaining Soviet-style Antonov, Beriev, Ilyushin, Myasishchev, Mikoyan-Gurevich, Sukhoi, Tupolev and Yakovlev airplanes. First in small numbers because their pool of pilots and specialists was so small.The E&S remedied this by creating both their own 'private' flight academies and technical schools. They protected their activities with the judicious use of bribes (they were remarkably successful with their economic endeavors on both side of the Iron Curtain) and murders (including the use of the Ghost Tigers).By 1960, the proto-Khanate had an air force. Through the next two decades they refined and altered their doctrine ~ moving away from the Soviet doctrine to a more pure combined-arms approach (the Soviets divided their air power into four separate arms ~ ADD (Long Range Aviation), FA (Front Aviation), MTA (Military Transport Aviation) and the V-PVO (Soviet Air Defenses ~ which controlled air interceptors).).It wasn't until the collapse of the Soviet Union and the independence of the various former SSR's that the E&S program really began to hit its stride. Still, while Russia faltered, China's PLAAF (Peoples' Liberation Army Air Force) began to take off. Since the Chinese could produce so much more, the E&S felt it had to keep those older planes and crews up to combat readiness. The younger field crews and pilots flew the newer models as they rolled off the secret production lines.Then the Unification War appeared suddenly, the E&S-turned Khanate Air Force skunked their PLAAF rivals due to two factors, a surprise attack on a strategic level and the fatal poisoning of their pilots and ground crews before they even got into the fight. For those Chinese craft not destroyed on the ground, the effects of Anthrax eroded their fighting edge. Comparable technology gave the Khanate their critical victory and Air Supremacy over the most important battlefields.What did this meant for those out-of-date air crews and pilots who had been training to a razor's edge for a month now? Their assignment had been to face down the Russians if they invaded. They would take their planes up into the fight even though this most likely would mean their deaths, but they had to try.When Operation Fun House put Russia in a position where she wasn't likely to jump on the Khanate, this mission's importance faded. The Russian Air Force was far more stretched than the Khanate's between her agitations in the Baltic and her commitments in the Manchurian, Ukrainian, Chechen and Georgian theaters.With more new planes rolling off the production lines, these reservist units began dropping down the fuel priority list, which meant lowering their flight times thus readiness. Only my hare-brained scheme had short-circuited their timely retirement. Had I realized I was getting people's grandparents killed, I would have probably made the same call anyway. We needed them.The KanateThe Khanate's #1 air superiority dogfighter was the Mig-35F. The #2 was the Mig-29. No one was openly discussing the Khanate's super-stealthy "Su-50", if that was what it was, because its existence 'might' suggest the Khanate also stole technology from the Indian defense industry, along with their laundry list of thefts from South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, the PRC, Russia and half of NATO.Her top multi-role fighters were the Su-47, Su-35S and Su-30SM. The Su-30 'Flanker-C/MK2/MKI were their 2nd team with plenty of 3rd team Su-27M's still flying combat missions as well.Strike fighters? There weren't enough Su-34's to go around yet, so the Su-25MS remained the Khanate's dedicated Close Air Assault model.Medium transport aircraft? The An-32RE and An-38. They had small, large and gargantuan transports as well.Bombers? The rather ancient jet-powered Tu-160M2's and Tu-22M2's as well as the even older yet still worthwhile turboprops ~ from 1956's ~ the Tu-95M S16.Helicopters? While they still flew updated variants of the Mil Mi-8/17 as military transports, the more optimized Kamov Ka-52 and Mil Mi-28 had replaced them in the assault role.Bizarrely, the Khanate had overrun several Chinese production lines of the aircraft frames and components ~ enough to complete fairly modern PLAAF (Peoples Liberation Army Air Force) FC-1 and J-10 (both are small multi-role fighter remarkably similar to the US F-16 with the FC-1 being the more advanced model, using shared Chinese-Pakistani technology and was designed for export,).They did have nearly two dozen to send, but they didn't have the pilots and ground crews trained to work with them, plus the FC-1 cost roughly $32 million which wasn't fundage any legitimate Cabindan rebels could get their hands on, much less $768 million (and that would just be for the planes, not the weeks' worth of fuel, parts and munitions necessary for what was forthcoming).Meanwhile, except for the An-26, which you could get for under $700,000 and the An-71, which were only rendered valuable via 'black market tech', none of the turboprop and jet aircraft the Khanate was sending were what any sane military would normally want. The helicopters were expensive ~ the 'new' models Mi-24's cost $32 million while the Mi-17's set you back $17 million. The one's heading to Cabinda didn't look 'new'.The Opposition:In contrast, the Angolan Air Force appeared far larger and more modern. Appearances can be deceptive, and they were. Sure, the models of Russian and Soviet-made aircraft they had in their inventory had the higher numbers ~ the Su-25, -27 and -30 ~ plus they had Mig-21bis's, Mig-23's and Su-22's, but things like training and up-keep didn't appear to be priorities for the Angolans.When you took into account the rampant corruption infecting all levels of Angolan government, the conscript nature of their military, the weakness of their technical educational system, the complexity of any modern combat aircraft and the reality that poor sods forced into being Air Force ground crewmen hardly made the most inspired technicians, or most diligent care-takers of their 'valuable' stockpiles (which their officers all too often sold on the black market anyway), things didn't just look bleak for the Angolan Air Force, they were a tsunami of cumulative factors heading them for an epic disaster.It wasn't only their enemies who derided their Air Force's lack of readiness. Their allies constantly scolded them about it too. Instead of trying to fix their current inventory, the Angolans kept shopping around for new stuff. Since 'new'-new aircraft was beyond what they wanted to spend (aka put too much of a dent in the money they were siphoning off to their private off-shore accounts), they bought 'used' gear from former Soviet states ~ Belarus, Russia and Ukraine ~ who sold them stuff they had left abandoned in revetments (open to the elements to slowly rot) on the cheap.To add to the insanity, the Angolans failed to keep up their maintenance agreements so their newly fixed high-tech machines often either couldn't fly, or flew without critical systems, like radar, avionics and even radios. Maybe that wasn't for the worst because after spending millions on these occasionally-mobile paperweights, the Angolans bought the least technologically advanced missile, gun and rocket systems they could get to put on these flying misfortunes.On the spread sheets, Angola had 18 Su-30K's, 18 Su-27, 12 Su-25's, 14 Su-22's, 22 Mig-23's, 23 Mig-21bis's and 6 Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano (a turboprop aircraft tailor-made for counter-insurgency operations), 105 helicopters with some combative ability and 21 planes with some airlift capacity. That equated to 81 either air superiority, or multi-role jet fighters versus the 12 Union Air Force (actually the Bakongo Uni o de Cabinda e Zaire, For as Armadas de Liberta  o, For a Area ~ Liberation Armed Forces, Air Force (BUCZ-FAL-FA) Mig-21-97's.It would seem lopsided except for the thousands of hours of flight experience the 'Unionists' enjoyed over their Angolan rivals. You also needed to take into account the long training and fanatic dedication of their ground crews to their pilots and their craft. Then you needed to take into account every Unionist aircraft, while an older airframe design, had updated (usually to the year 2000) technology lovingly cared for, as if the survival of their People demanded it.A second and even more critical factor was the element of surprise. At least the PRC and the PLAAF had contingencies for attacks from their neighbors in the forefront of their strategic planning. The Angolans? The only country with ANY air force in the vicinity was the Republic of South Africa (RSA) and they had ceased being a threat with the end of Apartheid and the rise of majority Black rule in that country nearly two decades earlier.In the pre-dawn hours of 'Union Independence Day', the FAL-FA was going to smash every Angolan Air base and air defense facility within 375 miles of Cabinda (the city). Every three hours after that, they would be hitting another target within their designated 'Exclusion Zone'. Yes, this 'Exclusion Zone' included a 'tiny' bit of DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) territory. The DRC didn't have an air force to challenge them though, so,Inside this 'Exclusion Zone', anything moving by sea, river, road, rail, or air without Unionist governmental approval was subject to attack, which would require neutral parties to acknowledge some semblance of a free and independent B U C Z. Worse for Angola, this 'Zone' included Angola's capital and its largest port, Luanda, plus four more of their ten largest urban centers. This could be an economic, military and humanitarian catastrophe if mishandled.The Angolan Army did not have significant anti-aircraft assets. Why would they? Remember, no one around them had much of an air force to worry about. The FAL-FA in turn could hit military convoys with TV-guided munitions 'beyond line of sight', rendering what they did have useless. It got worse for the Army after dark. The FAL-FA could and would fly at night whereas the average Angolan formation had Zip-Zero-Nadda night fighting capacity.Then geography added its own mountain of woes. As far as Cabinda was concerned, there was no direct land line to their border from Angola. Their coastal road only went as far as the port of Soyo where the Congo River hit the South Atlantic Ocean. Across that massive gap was the DRC where the road was not picked back up. Far up the coast was the DRC town of Muanda (with an airport) and though they did have a road which went north, it did not continue to the Cabindan border.Nope. To get at Cabinda from the south meant a long, torturous travel through northeastern Angola, into the heart of the DRC then entailed hooking west to some point 'close' to the Cabindan frontier before finally hoofing it overland through partially cleared farmland and jungle. Mind you, the DRC didn't have a native air force capable of protecting the Angolans in their territory so,In fact the only 'road' to Cabinda came from the Republic of Congo (Congo) to the north and even that was a twisted route along some really bad, swampy terrain. This had been the pathway of conquest the Angolans took 39 years earlier. The difference being the tiny bands of pro-independence Cabindan guerillas back then couldn't hold a candle to the Amazons fighting to free Cabinda this time around in numbers, zeal, training and up-to-date equipment.Next option ~ to come by sea. They would face a few, stiff problems, such as the FAL-FA having ship-killer missiles, the Angolan Navy not being able to defend them and the Unionists having no compunction to not strike Pointe-Noire in the 'not so neutral' Republic of the Congo if they somehow began unloading Angolan troops. It seemed the Republic of the Congo didn't have much of an Air Force either.Before you think the FAL-FA was biting off more than they could chew, Cabinda, the province, was shaped somewhat like the US State of Delaware, was half the size of Connecticut (Cabinda was 2,810 sq. mi. to Conn.'s 5,543 sq. mi.) and only the western 20% was relatively open countryside where the Angolan Army's only advantage ~ they possessed armed fighting vehicles while the 'Unionists' did not (at this stage of planning) ~ could hopefully come into play.Centered at their capital, Cabinda (City), jets could reach any point along their border within eight minutes. Helicopters could make it in fifteen. To be safe, some of the FAL-FA would base at the town of Belize which was in the northern upcountry and much tougher to get at with the added advantage the Angolans wouldn't be expecting the FAL-FA to be using the abandoned airfield there, at least initially.Where they afraid attacking Angolan troops in the DRC would invite war with the DRC? Sure, but letting the Angolans reach the border unscathed was worse. Besides, the DRC was in such a mess it needed 23,000 UN Peacekeepers within her borders just to keep the country from falling apart. Barring outside, read European, intervention, did "Democratically-elected since 2001" President (for Life) Joseph Kabila want the FAL-FA to start dropping bombs on his capital, Kinshasa, which was well within reach of all their aircraft?Congo (the country), to the north, wasn't being propped up by the UN, or anything else except ill intentions. In reality, it hardly had much of a military at all. Its officer corps was chosen for political reliability, not merit, or capability. Their technology was old Cold War stuff with little effort to update anything and, if you suspected corruption might be a problem across all spectrums of life, you would 'probably' be right about that too.If you suspected the current President had been in charge for a while, you would be correct again (1979-1992 then 2001- and the 'whoops' was when he accidently let his country experiment with democracy which led to two civil wars). If you suspected he was a life-long Communist (along with the Presidents of the DRC and Angola), you'd be right about that as well. Somehow their shared Marxist-Leninist-Communist ideology hadn't quite translated over to alleviating the grinding poverty in any of those countries despite their vast mineral wealth,At this point in the region's history, little Cabinda had everything to gain by striving for independence and the vast majority of 'warriors' who could possibly be sent against her had terribly little to gain fighting and dying trying to stop them from achieving her goal. After all, their lives weren't going to get any better and with the Amazons ability ~ nay willingness ~ to commit battlefield atrocities, those leaders were going to find it hard going to keep sending their men off to die.And then, it got even worse.See, what I had pointed out was there were two oil refineries in Angola, and neither was in Cabinda. Cabinda would need a refinery to start making good on their oil wealth ~ aka economically bribe off the Western economies already shaken over the Khanate's first round of aggressions.But wait! There was an oil refinery just across the Congo River from Cabinda ~ which meant it was attached to mainland Angola. That had to be a passel of impossible news, right?Nope. As I said earlier, it seemed the people of northern Angola were the same racial group as the Cabindans AND majority Catholic while the ruling clique wasn't part of their ethnic confederacy plus the farther south and east into Angola you went, the less Catholic it became.But it got better. This province was historically its own little independent kingdom (called the Kingdom of Kongo) to boot! It had been abolished by Portugal back in 1914.The 'good' news didn't end there. Now, it wasn't as if the leadership of Angola was spreading the wealth around to the People much anyway, but these northerners had been particularly left out of this Marxist version of 'Trickle Down' economics.How bad was this? This northwestern province ~ called Zaire ~ didn't have any railroads, or paved roads, linking it to the rest of the freaking country. The 'coastal road' entered the province, but about a third of the way up ran into this river, which they'd failed to bridge (you had to use a single track bridge farther to the northeast, if you can believe it). It wasn't even a big river. It was still an obstacle though.How did the Angolan government and military planned to get around? Why by air and sea, of course. Well, actually by air. Angola didn't have much of a merchant marine, or Navy, to make sealift a serious consideration. Within hours of the 'Union Declaration of Independence' anything flying anywhere north of the Luanda, the capital of Angola, would essentially be asking to be blown out of the sky.Along the border between Zaire province and the rest of Angola were precisely two chokepoints. By 'chokepoints', I meant places where a squad (10 trained, modernly-equipped troopers) could either see everything for miles & miles over pretty much empty space along a river valley and the only bridge separating Zaire province from the south, or overlook a ravine which the only road had to pass through because of otherwise bad-ass, broken terrain.Two.Zaire Province had roughly the same population as Cabinda ~ 600,000. Unlike Cabinda, which consisted of Cabinda City plus a few tiny towns and rugged jungles, Zaire had two cities ~ Soyo, with her seventy thousand souls plus the refinery at the mouth of the Congo River, and M'banza-Kongo, the historical capital of the Kingdom of Kongo, spiritual center of the Bakongo People (who included the Cabindans) and set up in the highlands strategically very reminiscent of Điện Biàn Phủ.Of Zaire's provincial towns, the only other strategic one was N'Zeto with her crappy Atlantic port facility and 2,230 meter grass airport. The town was the northern terminus of the National Road 100 ~ the Coastal Road. It terminated because of the Mebridege River. There wasn't a bridge at N'Zeto though there was a small one several miles upstream. N'Zeto was also where the road from provinces east of Zaire ended up, so you had to have N'Zeto ~ and that tiny bridge ~ to move troops overland anywhere else in Zaire Province.So you would think it would be easy for the Angolan Army to defend then, except of how the Amazons planned to operate. They would infiltrate the area first then 'rise up in rebellion'. Their problem was the scope of the operation had magnified in risk of exposure, duration and forces necessary for success.The serious issue before Saint Marie and the Host in Africa were the first two. They could actually move Amazons from Brazil and North America to bolster their numbers for the upcoming offensive. Even in the short-short term, equipment wouldn't be a serious problem. What the Amazons dreaded was being left in a protracted slugfest with the Angolan Army which the Condottieri could jump in on. The Amazons exceedingly preferred to strike first then vanish.There was reason to believe a tiny number could have stayed behind in Cabinda to help the locals prepare their military until they could defend themselves. They would need more than a hundred Amazons if Cabinda wanted to incorporate Zaire. The answer was to call back their newfound buddy, the Great Khan. While he didn't have much else he could spare (the Khanate was ramping up for their invasion of the Middle East after all, the Kurds needed the help), he had other allies he could call on.India couldn't help initially since they were supposed to supply the 'Peace-keepers' once a cease-fire had been arranged. That left Temujin with his solid ally, Vietnam, and his far shakier allies, the Republic of China and Japan.First off ~ Japan could not help, which meant they couldn't supply troops who might very well end up dead, or far worse, captured.. What they did have was a surplus of older equipment the ROC troops were familiar with, so while the ROC was gearing up for their own invasion of mainland China in February, they were willing to help the Chinese kill Angolans, off the books, of course.The ROC was sending fifteen hundred troops the Khanate's way to help in this West African adventure with the understanding they'd be coming home by year's end. With Vietnam adding over eight hundred of her own Special Forces, the Amazons had the tiny 'allied' army they could leave shielding Cabinda/Zaire once the first round of blood-letting was over.To be 'fair', the Republic of China and Vietnam asked for 'volunteers'. It wasn't like either country was going to declare war on Angola directly. Nearly a thousand members of Vietnam's elite 126th Regiment of the 5th Brigade (Đặc cáng bộ) took early retirement then misplaced their equipment as they went to update their visas and inoculations before heading out for the DRC (some would be slipping over the DRC/Cabindan border).On Taiwan, it was the men and women of the 602nd Air Cavalry Brigade, 871st Special Operations Group and 101st Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion who felt the sudden desire to 'seek enlightenment elsewhere, preferably on another continent'.They too were off to the Democratic Republic of Congo, man that country was a mess and their border security wasn't worth writing home about, that's for damn sure, via multiple Southeast Asian nations. Besides, they were being issued fraudulently visas which showed them to be from the People's Republic of China, not the ROC/Taiwan. If they were captured, they were to pretend to "be working for a Communist Revolution inside Angola and thus to be setting all of Africa on fire!" aka be Mainland Chinese.There, in the DRC, these Chinese stumbled across, some Japanese. These folks hadn't retired. No. They were on an extended assignment for the UN's mission in, the DRC. OH! And look! They'd brought tons of surplus, outdated Japanese Self Defense Forces' equipment with them, and there just so happened to be some Taiwanese who had experience in using such equipment (both used US-style gear).And here was Colonel Yoshihiro Isami of the Chūō Sokuō Shūdan (Japan's Central Readiness Force) wondering why he and his hastily assembled team had just unloaded,18 Fuji/Bell AH-1S Cobra Attack helicopters,6 Kawasaki OH-6D Loach Scout helicopters,12 Fuji-Bell 204-B-2 Hiyodori Utility helicopters,6 Kawasaki/Boeing CH-47JA Chinook Transport helicopters and4 Mitsubishi M U-2L-1 Photo Reconnaissance Aircraft.Yep! 46 more aircraft for the FAL-FA!Oh, and if this wasn't 'bad enough', the Chinese hadn't come alone. They'd brought some old aircraft from their homes to aid in the upcoming struggle. Once more, these things were relics of the Cold War yet both capable fighting machines and, given the sorry state of the opposition, definitely quite deadly. A dozen F-5E Tiger 2000 configured primarily for air superiority plus two RF-5E Tigergazer for reconnaissance, pilots plus ground crews, of course.Thus, on the eve of battle, the FAL-FA had become a true threat. Sure, all of its planes (and half of its pilots) were pretty old, but they were combat-tested and in numbers and experience no other Sub-Saharan African nation could match.The Liberation Ground Forces:But wait, there was still the niggling little problem of what all those fellas were going to fight with once they were on the ground. Assault/Battle rifles, carbines, rifles, pistols, PDW, SMGs as bullets, grenades and RPG's were all terrifyingly easy to obtain. The coast of West Africa was hardly the Port of London as far as customs security went. They were going to need some bigger toys and their host nations were going to need all their native hardware for their upcoming battles at home.And it wasn't like you could advertise for used IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicles), APCs (armored personnel carriers) and tanks on e-Bay, Amazon.com, or Twitter. If something modern US, or NATO, was captured rolling around the beautiful Angolan countryside, shooting up hostile Angolans, all kinds of head would roll in all kinds of countries, unless the country,A) had an Executive Branch and Judiciary who wouldn't ask (or be answering) too many uncomfortable questions,B) wasn't all that vulnerable to international pressure,C) really needed the money and,D) didn't give a fuck their toys would soon be seen on BBC/CNN/Al Jazeera blowing the ever-living crap out of a ton of Africans aka doing what they were advertised to do and doing it very well in the hands of capable professionals.And politics was kind enough to hand the freedom-loving people of Cabinda & Zaire a winner, and it wasn't even from strangers, or at least people all that strange to their part of the Globe. If you would have no idea who to look for, you wouldn't be alone.That was the magic of the choice. See, the last three decades had seen the entire Globe take a colossal dump on them as a Nation and a People. They were highly unpopular for all sorts of things, such as Crimes Against Humanity and 'no', we were not talking about the Khanate.We would be talking about Република Србија / Republika Srbija aka Serbia aka the former Yugoslavia who had watched all their satellite minions (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo and Macedonia) slip away. Despite being reduced to a tiny fraction of their former selves thus fighting two incredibly brutal and bloody World Wars for nothing, Serbia insisted on maintaining a robust armaments industry.Mind you, they didn't make the very best stuff on the planet. That didn't stop them from trying though. Of equal importance was their geographic location and the above mentioned desire for some hard currency without asking too many questions. The geography was simple, you could move even heavy gear unnoticed from central Serbia to the Montenegrin port of Bar by rail and load them up on freighters and off to the Congo you went.The Serbians produced an APC called the BVP M-80A's which weren't blowing anyone's minds away when they started rolling off the production lines back in 1982, plus some over-eager types on the Serbian Army's payroll sweetened the deal by offering 'the rebels' some BVP M-80 KC's and a KB as well.Then they slathered on the sugary-sweet Maple syrup by upgrading a few of the M-80A's to BVP M-98A's. Why would they be so generous? The KC's and KB were the Command & Control variants, so that made sense (C = company & B = battalion commander). The -98A had never been tested in the field before and they were kind of curious how the new turrets (which was the major difference) would behave. 'Our' procurement agents didn't quibble. We needed the gear.Besides, these Slavic entrepreneurs gave them an inside track on some 'disarmed/mothballed' Czech (introduced in 1963) armored mobile ambulances and Polish BWP-1 (first rolled out in 1966) APC's which were either in, or could be quickly configured into, the support variants those ground-fighters would need. The 'disarmed' part was 'fixable', thanks to both the Serbians and Finland. The 'missing' basic weaponry was something the Serbians could replace with virtually identical equipment.It just kept getting better. Unknown to me at the time, the Finnish firm, Patria Hágglunds, had sold twenty-two of their 'most excellent' AMOS turrets ~ they are a twin 120 mm mortar system ~ then the deal fell through. Whoops! Should have guarded that warehouse better. Those bitches were on a cargo plane bound for Albania inside of six hours.The ammunition for them was rather unique. Thankfully, it was uniquely sold by the Swiss, who had no trouble selling it to Serbia, thank you very much! Twenty-two BWP-1's became mobile artillery for the Unionist freedom fighters, though I understood the ship ride with the Serbian and Chinese technicians was loads of fun as they struggled to figured out how to attach those state-of-the-art death-dealing turrets to those ancient contraptions.To compensate, the Serbians added (aka as long as our money was good) two Nora B-52 155 mm 52-calibre mobile artillery pieces and one battery of Orkan CER MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System) for long-range artillery, two batteries of their Oganj 2000 ER MRLS for medium range carnage and six batteries of their M-94 MRLS for 'close support' as well. More field-testing new gear for the "freedom fighters" We also managed to 'purchase' ten M-84AS Main Battle tanks plus an M-84A1 armor recovery vehicle. It should have been twelve tanks, but two had 'loading issues'.Not to be deterred, our busy little procurement-beavers discovered four tanks no one was using, in neighboring Croatia. Why wasn't anyone immediately keen on their placement? They were two sets of prototypes, Croatia's improvements on the M-84; the M-95 Degman which was a 'failed redesign' and the M-84D, which was a vast up-grade for the M-84 line which had been sidelined by the 2008 Global economic collapse, after which the project stagnated.It seemed they were all in working order because late one night 'my people' exited a Croatian Army base with them, never to be seen again, until two weeks later when an intrepid news crew caught the distinctive form of the M-95 sending some sweet 125 mm loving the Angolan Army's way. Whoops yet again! At least they hit what they were aiming at and destroyed what they hit, right?By then, millions of other people would be going 'what the fuck?' right along with them as Cabinda's camouflage- and mask-wearing rebel army was laying the smack-down on the Angolans. That was okay; over a million 'free Cabindan Unionists' were in the same boat. Over a thousand Asians with their mostly-female militant translators were right there to prop up their 'Unionist Allies', but then they were the ones with the tanks, armored vehicles, planes and guns, so they were less worried than most.To pilot these tanks, APC, IFV and man this artillery, they had to go back to the Khanate. Sure enough, they had some old tankers used to crewing the T-72 from which the M-84's and -95 Degman were derived. They'd also need drivers for those BVP M-80A's and Polish BWP-1's and OT-64 SKOT's... who were, again, derived from old Soviet tech (just much better). The Serbian artillery was similar enough to Soviet stuff, but with enough new tech to make it 'more fun' for the reservists to 'figure out' how to use.More volunteers for the Liberation Armed Forces! More Apple sales, great apps and voice modulation software so that the vehicle commanders would be heard communicating in Portuguese if someone was eavesdropping. As a final offering the Turkish Navy spontaneously developed some plans to test their long range capabilities by going to, the South Atlantic.On the final leg they would have six frigates and two submarines, enough to give any navy in the region, which wasn't Brazil, something to think about. This was a show of force, not an actual threat though. If anyone called their bluff, the Khanate-Turkish forces would have to pull back. These were not assets my Brother, the Great Khan, could afford to gamble and lose.If someone didn't call that bluff, he was also sending two smaller, older corvettes and three even smaller, but newer, fast attack boats, a "gift" to the Unionists ASAP. The frigates would then race home, they had 'other' issues to deal with while the submarines would hang around for a bit. The naval gift was necessitated by the reality the Unionists would have to press their claim to their off-shore riches and that required a naval force Angola couldn't hope to counter.As things were developing, it was reckoned since a build-up of such momentous land and air power couldn't be disguised, it had to happen in a matter of days ~ four was decided to be the minimum amount of time. More than that and the government of the Democratic Republic might start asking far too many questions our hefty bribes and dubious paperwork couldn't cover. Less than that would leave the task forces launching operations with too little a chance of success.Our biggest advantage was audacity. The buildup would happen 100 km up the Congo River from Soyo, the primary target of the Southern Invasion, in the DRC's second largest port city, Boma. Though across the river was Angolan territory, there was nothing there. The city of roughly 160,000 would provide adequate cover for the initial stage of the invasion.There they grouped their vehicles & Khanate drivers with Amazon and Vietnamese combat teams. The Japanese were doing the same for their 'Chinese' counterparts for their helicopter-borne forces. Getting all their equipment in working order in the short time left was critical as was creating some level of unit dynamic. Things were chaotic. No one was happy. They were all going in anyway.What had gone wrong?While most children her age were texting their schoolmates, or tackling their homework, Aya Ruger ~ the alias of Nasusara Assiyaiá hamai ~ was getting briefings of her global, secret empire worth hundreds of billions and those of her equally nefarious compatriots. She received a very abbreviated version of what the Regents received, delivered by a member of Shawnee Arinniti's staff.When Aya hopped off her chair unexpectedly, everyone tensed. Her bodyguards' hands went to their sidearms and Lorraine (her sister by blood), also in the room on this occasion, stood and prepared to tackle her 'former' sibling to the ground if the situation escalated into an assassination attempt. No such attack was generated, so the security ratcheted down and the attendant returned her focus to her Queen. Aya paced four steps, turned and retraced her way then repeated the action three more times."How many people live in the combined areas?" she asked."The combined areas? Of Cabinda and Zaire?""Yes.""I," the woman referenced her material, "roughly 1.1 million.""What is the yearly value of the offshore oil and natural gas production?""Forty-nine billion, eighty hundred and sixty-seven million by our best estimates at this time,""How many live in Soyo City proper?""Roughly 70,000.""We take Soyo," she spoke in a small yet deliberate voice. "We take and hold Soyo as an independent city-state within the Cabindan-Zaire Union. From the maps it appears Soyo is a series of islands. It has a port and airport. It has an open border to an ocean with weaker neighbors all around.""What of the, Zairians?""Bakongo. As a people they are called the Bakongo," Aya looked up at the briefer. "We relocate those who need to work in Soyo into a new city, built at our expense, beyond the southernmost water barrier. The rest we pay to relocate elsewhere in Zaire, or Cabinda."By the looks of those around her, Aya realized she needed to further explain her decisions."This is more than some concrete home base for our People," she began patiently. "In the same way it gives our enemies a clearly delineated target to attack us, it is a statement to our allies we won't cut and run if things go truly bad.""In the same way it will provide us with diplomatic recognition beyond what tenuous handouts we are getting from Cáel Wakko Ishara's efforts through JIKIT. Also, it is a reminder we are not like the other Secret Societies in one fundamental way, we are not a business concern, or a religion. We are a People and people deserve some sort of homeland. We have gone for so long without.""But Soyo?" the aide protested. "We have no ties to it, and it backs up to, nothing.""Northern Turkey and southern Slovakia mean nothing to us now as well," Aya debated. "No place on Earth is any more precious than another. As for backing up to nothing, no. You are incorrect. It backs into a promise from our allies in the Earth & Sky that if we need support, they know where to park their planes and ships."Aya was surrounded with unhappy, disbelieving looks."The Great Khan is my mamētu meáeda," she reminded them, "and I have every reason to believe he completely grasps the concept's benefits and obligations."The looks confirmed 'but he's a man' to the tiny Queen."Aya, are you sure about this?" Lorraine was the first to break decorum."Absolutely. Do you know what he sent me when he was informed of my, ascension to the Queendom?""No," Lorraine admitted."We must go horse-riding sometime soon, Daughter of Cáel, Queen of the Amazons."More uncertain and unconvinced looks."He didn't congratulate me, or send any gifts. He could have and you would think he would have, but he didn't. He knew the hearts of me & my Atta and we weren't in the celebratory mood. No. The Great Khan sent one sentence which offered solace and quiet, atop a horse on a windswept bit of steppe."Nothing.Sigh. "I know this sounds Cáel-ish," Aya admitted, "but I strongly believe this is what we should do. We are giving the Cabindans and Bakongo in Zaire independence and the promise of a much better life than what they now face. We will be putting thousands of our sisters' lives on the line to accomplish this feat and well over two hundred million dollars.""What about governance of the city ~ Soyo?" the aide forged ahead."Amazon law," Aya didn't hesitate. "We will make allowances for the security forces of visiting dignitaries and specific allied personnel, but otherwise it will be one massive Amazon urban freehold.""I cannot imagine the Golden Mare, or the Regents, will be pleased," the attendant bowed her head."It is a matter of interconnectivity," Aya walked up and touched the woman's cheek with the back of her small hand. "We could liberate then abandon Cabinda with the hope a small band could help them keep their independence. Except we need the refinery at Soyo so the people of Cabinda can truly support that liberty.""So, we must keep Soyo and to keep Soyo, we must keep Zaire province. There is no other lesser border which makes strategic sense ~ a river, highlands, a massive river, an ocean ~ those are sustainable frontiers. You can't simply keep Soyo and not expect the enemy to strike and destroy that refinery, thus we must take Zaire province.""But the Bakongo of Zaire cannot defend themselves and will not be able to do so for at least a year, if not longer. That means we must do so, and for doing so, they will give us Soyo and we will be honest stewards of their oil wealth. We cannot expect any other power to defend this new Union and if we don't have a land stake we will be portrayed as mercenaries and expelled by hostile international forces.""So, for this project to have any chance of success, we must stay, fight and have an acknowledged presence, and if you can think of an alternative, please let me know," she exhaled."What if the Cabindans and Bakongo resist?""It is 'us', or the Angolans and they know how horrible the Angolans can be. Didn't you say the average person their lives on just $2 a day?""Yes.""We can do better than that," Aya insisted."How?" the aide persisted. "I mean, 'how in a way which will be quickly evident and meaningful?'""Oh," Aya's tiny brow furrowed. Her nose twitched as she rummaged through the vast storehouse of her brain."Get me in touch with William A. Miller, Director of the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service. He should be able to help me navigate the pathways toward getting aid and advisors into those two provinces ASAP.""I'll let Katrina know," the attendant made the notation on her pad."No. Contact him directly," Aya intervened. "We established a, rapport when we met. I think he might responded positively to a chance to mentor me in foreign relations.""Really?" Lorraine's brows arched."Yes," Aya chirped."Are you sure, Nasusara?" the attendant stared. She used 'Nasusara' whenever she thought Aya had a 'horrible' idea instead of a merely a 'bad' one."Yes. He owes me. Last time we met I didn't shoot him.""Didn't?" the woman twitched."Yes. I drew down on him with my captured Chinese QSW-06. I didn't want to kill him, but I felt I was about to have to kill Deputy National Security Advisor Blinken and he was the only other person in the room both armed and capable of stopping me.""Why is he still alive?""Cáel Ishara saw through my distraction and then took my gun from me, asked for it actually," she shyly confessed."Would you have shot him?" the aide inquired."What do you think?" Aya smiled.And Then:So, given t

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It's Tuesday, April 1st, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 125 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Kevin Swanson Myanmar earthquake death toll tops 2,000 The death count resulting from a major earthquake centered in Myanmar has topped 2,000, reports The Guardian.   The quake which registered 7.7 on the Richter scale, affected the areas of Mandalay and Sagaing.  (Look at a shake map of Myanmar that shows the areas most affected by the earthquake.) Rescue efforts in the area of Sagaing have been hampered by the nation's military, as that area has the reputation of resisting the junta since the coup of 2021.  The major Christianized areas of Myanmar include the Chin State in the northwest and the Karen State in the southeast.  The earthquake affected the center of the country. Help Samaritan's Purse pay for Myanmar field hospital Franklin Graham announced that the Samaritan's Purse DC-8 jet departed Greensboro, North Carolina just yesterday, heading for Myanmar with medical supplies and a fully-equipped field hospital, complete with doctors and nurses.   You can make a donation to this emergency medical response through a special link in our transcript today at www.TheWorldview.com. 1,000 dead in Gaza from recent Israeli attacks War is heating up in the Middle East.  Al Jazeera reports 80 deaths in Gaza in the past 24 hours, and 1,000 deaths since the ceasefire broke two weeks ago. On Sunday, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to intensify attacks on Hamas until Israeli hostages are released. U.S. deployed B-2 Bombers, two air craft carriers to Middle East The United States has deployed a quarter of its B-2 Bomber fleet to the Middle East, based on the island of Diego Garcia, just south of the nation of Iran.  Also, the two aircraft carriers, the U.S.S. Carl Vinson and the U.S.S. Harry S Truman, have been moved into the Persian Gulf area, for a more significant military buildup. Trump threatened military action if Iran doesn't stop nuclear program President Donald Trump has sent a letter to Iran demanding a settlement on the nation's nuclear program.  He threatened military action, but has received no response in two months.   Trump told NBC News that "If they don't make a deal, there will be bombing. It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before." Iran's skyrocketing inflation and severe water shortages Iran's internal pressures are rising as well. First, inflation remains at a staggering 40%. The Iranian rial, their currency, has lost significant value — crossing the 1,000,000 rial-to-dollar threshold recently. And second, because rainfall decreased by 25% last year, Iran's major dams are only at 6% capacity. The National Council of Resistance in Iran issued a recent report that summarizes the Iranian situation this way: “The sharp increase in water shortages, poverty, inflation, and systemic corruption has turned Iran into a powder keg, with officials scrambling to prevent an explosion that seems all but inevitable.”  Trump's tornado of tariffs This is the big tariff week for the Trump Administration.   What is called “reciprocal tariffs” are on schedule to take effect tomorrow, probably affecting India and Brazil most heavily - due to their tariff imbalances.   In addition to the reciprocal tariffs, auto import duties of 25% will kick in on Thursday — mostly affecting Mexico with $20 billion in tariffs, Japan with $10 billion in tariffs, South Korea with $9 billion in tariffs, Canada with $8 billion in tariffs, and Germany with $6 billion. Plus, about half of the cars sold in the U.S. will be subjected to the 25% tariff. Let's keep in mind these general principles from the Proverbs. “Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; though they join forces, none will go unpunished. … When a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” That's Proverbs 16:5 and 7.  Governor DeSantis wants to eliminate Florida's property tax Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis indicated on X that he would support an initiative to eliminate property tax in his state. He noted that “taxing land/property is the more oppressive and ineffective form of taxation.” Both Pennsylvania and Florida are considering the elimination of this onerous taxing of the American people. States with the lowest property tax are Louisiana, Hawaii, Alabama, Delaware, and West Virginia.  The states with the highest property tax rates are New Jersey, New Hampshire, Texas, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Declining Catholic population Catholics are losing ground – fast -- in America. In 1980, Catholics represented 29% of the U.S. population.  In 2024, Pew Research's recent survey found only 19% of Americans self-identified as Catholics. That's a 24% decline in 17 years. For every 10 people joining the Catholic Church, 84 are leaving. Mainline liberal Protestants have seen bigger drop By contrast, Protestants have declined by 19% over the last 17 years. Evangelicals have dropped from 26% to 23% of the population. That's only a 12% drop. Not surprisingly, mainline liberal Protestant denominations have seen a 39% drop in 17 years. 50% of parents support adult children Savings.com reports that half of U.S. parents support their adult children at an average of $1,474 per month. Interestingly, 40% of those same parents say they plan to cut off funds to their freeloading adult children within two years. Gold up, stocks down Gold continues on its upward surge, topping $3,120 per ounce on Monday. Meanwhile, stocks dipped again. The Nasdaq Composite scraping 17,000, about 3,000 points off of a February 19th high, reports the Associated Press. Disney's woke Snow White bombing at box office And finally, Disney is still losing big money on its woke projects. The new release of Snow White featured advocacy of girl power and socialism, not to mention computer-generated dwarves. Not surprisingly, it saw a 66% drop off from the first to the second week, marking this film in the “weak performer” category.   The $270 million film pulled in just $67 million at the box office over two weekends. Let's remember the lesson from 1 Samuel 12:25. It says, “If you do not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you.” And that's The Worldview on this Tuesday, April 1st, in the year of our Lord 2025. Subscribe by Amazon Music or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

America has become very individualistic over the years, which has also created a more individualized view of Christianity, and in particular, baptism. However, what does the Bible say about this topic? The Bible mentions household baptism and whole households being saved. Are household baptisms appropriate? What about sprinkling vs. immersion? When can we be sure that regeneration has occurred? It's good to chew on and be thoughtful about these questions.This program includes:1. The World View in 5 Minutes with Adam McManus (Disney's woke "Snow White" bombing at box office; Myanmar earthquake death toll tops 2,000; U.S. deployed B-2 Bombers, two air craft carriers to Middle East)2. Generations with Kevin Swanson

From 2009- Andrei Cherny discusses his book "The Candy Bombers: The Untold Story of the Berlin Airlift and America's Finest Hour." The book chronicles the extraordinary and inspiring story of how a small group of Americans planned and carried out the airlift to the beleaguered citizens of West Berlin during the Soviet blockade of that city.

The boys are back after technical difficulties last week, with plenty to discuss including the Bombers, Dees, Lions, Power, Blues and much, much more.

We've got a massive episode for you today—so big that we had to split it into two! AFL Hall of Famer and five-time Hawthorn premiership star Dermott Brereton joins us, bringing a treasure trove of legendary stories from his playing days and time in the media. Friendship with Viv Richards Bob Hawke cheating at golf Fixing Butts' goal kicking in a bar in 2004 Meeting Eddie McGuire in a bar for the first time Infamous V-lining of the Bombers huddle 'Brand Brereton' Enjoy plums and remember to GET THE KNEES UP! We're on Youtube! Full episodes now will drop Wednesday nights: https://www.youtube.com/@200PlusPodcast Send us your voice messages here: https://memo.fm/200pluspodcast/ Produced by Josh Moffitt 200 PLUS Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/200pluspod/ Sam Draper: www.instagram.com/drvper/ Nick Butler: https://www.instagram.com/nick_butler10/ Charlie Comben: https://www.instagram.com/charliecomben/ Clubby Sports: https://www.instagram.com/ClubbySports Producey: https://producey.com/

With a record-tying 15 homers through just three games, it's safe to say the Yankees are in an early power groove. Drawing most of the attention, though, are the new (and legal) shaped bats some of the Bombers are deploying with staggering success. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Yankees CRUSH the Brewers headlined by a historic weekend from reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge. We delve into his four-homer series alongside Jazz Chisholm's dominant start to the year, the young Bombers showing up, and MORE all on today's podcast!

Best of the Yankees on Opening Day week includes reactions to the Bombers beating the Brewers in their season opener, Evan and Tiki's predictions for the season, BT and Sal debating the chances of a Subway Series in October, and McMonigle's optimism in Carlos Rodon stepping up in Gerrit Cole's absence.

Best of the Yankees on Opening Day week includes reactions to the Bombers beating the Brewers in their season opener, Evan and Tiki's predictions for the season, BT and Sal debating the chances of a Subway Series in October, and McMonigle's optimism in Carlos Rodon stepping up in Gerrit Cole's absence.

Best of the Yankees on Opening Day week includes reactions to the Bombers beating the Brewers in their season opener, Evan and Tiki's predictions for the season, BT and Sal debating the chances of a Subway Series in October, and McMonigle's optimism in Carlos Rodon stepping up in Gerrit Cole's absence.

Send us a textWelcome back to the Ones Ready Podcast! Today, we've got a fresh load of Pentagon nonsense, including SignalGate fallout, B-2 bombers strutting their stuff, and how the Air Force is trying to keep up with China's space game. Let's break it down:

Hour 1: The Tara Show - “The Table Rock Fires The Largest Fires in Carolina History” “Trump's Mass Deportation Plan” “Tesla Bombers Caught” “Liberals Gone Wild” full 1990 Fri, 28 Mar 2025 14:26:36 +0000 9CcDF1QCFJPaotyyW503p2xZPNGQwZTy news The Tara Show news Hour 1: The Tara Show - “The Table Rock Fires The Largest Fires in Carolina History” “Trump's Mass Deportation Plan” “Tesla Bombers Caught” “Liberals Gone Wild” Tara presides over the Upstate's #1 all news/talk morning show every weekday on News/Talk 989 WORD.Tara's faithful listeners are affectionately known as "Tara-ists" because of their passion and participation in the show. Tara was named 2021 Best News Talk Show and Best overall Personality, AGAIN, by the South Carolina Broadcasters Association! Tara took home the same honors in 2018 and was also named 2016 "Personality of the Year!" In addition, Tara has also won over two dozen state and national journalism awards for column writing, news reporting and investigative reporting while working for three newspapers and writing for a variety of national publications. She won a first place reporting award from the North Carolina Press Association for an investigative series about the weaknesses in Charlotte's overburdened court system, which regularly let murderers off the hook with less than 15 years in prison. Due to her work, that system has been reformed. Tara is also a winner of the prestigious first place Green Eyeshade Award, a national award for column writing from The Society of Professional Journalists. Tara took to the airwaves about 15 years ago to do a radio show heard up and down the coast and fell in love with bypassing her editors to talk straight to the people. Tara hasn't stopped reporting, and still brings her investigative journalism to the show. Tara is a mom, wife and talk radio convert-- and weekday mornings she's live and local on News/Talk 989 WORD. Are you a "Tara-ist"? It's time to get captured!      2024 © 2021 Audacy, Inc. News False https://player.amperwavepodcasting.com?feed-link=https%3A%2

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief:   •  The U.S. military is reinforcing its presence at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, with stealth bombers and transport aircraft reportedly on the ground—raising the stakes for Iran and the Houthis.   •  NATO's Secretary-General Mark Rutte urges Europe to step up militarily after a blunt message from Washington: America won't always be there to protect you.   •  “Signal Gate”: The Atlantic releases a trove of leaked texts from top U.S. intelligence and military leaders—revealing private conversations that were never meant to surface.   •  And in today's Back of the Brief: Four U.S. soldiers reportedly killed in a training exercise in Lithuania.   To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President's Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Kikoff: Build credit fast and get your first month for just a dollar at https://GetKikoff.com/mike today. Thanks to Kikoff for sponsoring us! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a textWelcome back to the Ones Ready Podcast! Today, we've got more chaos straight from the Pentagon's playbook of “How to Ruin Everything and Pretend It's Fine.” Here's the latest mess:

Stealth bombers in the Indian Ocean. Uprisings in Gaza. A prophetic trumpet echoing through geopolitics. From ancient scrolls to modern war rooms, the signs are converging. This isn't just news—it's the unfolding of destiny. Don't miss one moment today on the Endtime Show! --------------- 📚: Check out Jerusalem Prophecy College Online for less than $60 per course: https://jerusalemprophecycollege.com 📱: It's never been easier to understand. Stream Only Source and access exclusive content: https://watch.osn.tv/browse   ⭐️: Birch Gold: Claim your free info kit on gold: https://www.birchgold.com/endtime ☕️: First Cup Coffee: use code ENDTIME to get 10% off: https://www.firstcup.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The team spend the first 10 minutes unloading all their mail on each other, before touching on how Essendon can respond tonight after last week's belting. Bombers star Matt Guelfi joins the crew as he rehabs from injury, then Jay Z has a brand new segment - 'The Chief's Agenda' K-Mac grills the boys with Kathy's Questions, then it's time for a deeper dive on the Bombers public messaging this season.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to a Wide World of Sports update. A snapshot of the latest sport stories from the 9News team including: Rabbitohs' first half blitz stuns the premiers Bombers pick up first win of AFL season with fast finish against Port Reason behind Sua'ali'i's positional change for Waratahs return The biggest sport stories in less than 5 minutes delivered twice a day, with reports from the 9News team across Australia and overseas. Subscribe now to make it part of your daily news diet. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I almost feel stupid talking about the idiocy of Signalgate.We are going to be discussing the US Navy Vs. the Houthis, why the US strategy won't work, and we'll start with the massive Operational Security debacle that is called Signalgate, and what we can learn from it. Yes, Pete Hegseth our stalwart secretary of defense, is a complete idiot. We're also going to be talking about how the US just deployed a wing of US stealth bombers to the Diego Garcia Airbase in the Indian Ocean - escalation or show of force?

Nathan Schmook and Michael Whiting bring you the latest footy news on AFL Daily. Port Adelaide have owned Essendon in recent times, will that trend continue tonight at Marvel Stadium on the back of the week of scrutiny Brad Scott and the Bombers have faced? The rescheduled season opener will be held on Saturday night, is it going to be an early precursor to what we see in September later this year? Despite West Coast and Fremantle being 0-2, there's plenty of spice leading into the Derby on Sunday afternoon. Subscribe to AFL Daily and never miss an episode. Rate and review wherever you listen to podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Catch up on all the footy news from AFL 360, Wednesday the 26th of March with Gerard Whateley and Garry Lyon. AFL 360 hosts Gerard Whateley and Garry Lyon break down the huge Thursday night clash at Marvel Stadium between the Bombers and Port which Garry labels as 'winnable' for Essendon. Port give a special debut for the clash, while West Coast and Fremantle get set to fight it out for their first win of the year. For more of the show tune in on Fox Footy & KAYOSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

David Zita, Max Laughton and Ben Waterworth review Round 2 and preview Round 3 of the 2025 AFL season on the Fox Footy Podcast, with breakdowns of the teams who've impressed and concerned us including the apparently rebuilding Bombers, plus Fair or Farce, the Mailbag, Sheeds' Wisdom and much more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Catch up on all the footy news from AFL 360, Tuesday the 25th of March with Gerard Whateley and Garry Lyon. AFL 360 hosts Gerard Whateley and Garry Lyon continue to break down the Bombers’ latest setback at the ‘G—can they handle the heat? Meanwhile, the Brisbane Lions are celebrating as the Queensland Premier locks in a brand-new stadium ahead of the 2032 Olympics. All that and more on AFL 360! For more of the show tune in on Fox Footy & KAYOSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Catch up on all the footy news from AFL 360, Monday the 24th of March with Gerard Whateley and Garry Lyon. AFL 360 hosts Gerard Whateley and Garry Lyon turn the spotlight on Essendon and ask the big question: Is the club in a rebuild and are the Bombers facing their most challenging years, or is there hope for the future? Meanwhile, Lyon shares his thoughts on Melbourne's heavy defeat, calling it a ‘slaughter’ and suggesting the problems may lie with the coaching. For more of the show tune in on Fox Footy & KAYOSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this bonus episode, Cavetone Records recording artists, The Ex-Bombers and The League of Erics join me to discuss Caveton Records upcoming 17th Anniversary Concert!

The Yankees worst nightmares are coming true in real time.  First Giancarlo Stanton, then Luis Gil, and now - maybe the scariest - Ace Gerrit Cole could be down for the count with Tommy John.  Case gives his thoughts on what the Yankees need to do to fill in the blanks and also gives some words of inspiration to the fighting Bombers. Jac Caglianone goes deep again for the Royals.  We make our case for why the Royals super prospect should open camp with the big league club in KC. Plus, Casey previews his trip to hang with the Milwaukee Brewers tomorrow (which we hope to have a guest from!) https://bleav.com/