Podcasts about russian army

Spies In My Blood: A Polish Family's Secret Fight Against Nazis & Communists (Polestar-Media, 2025) is the true story of two brothers raised in New York by WWII exiles and their journey to Poland. Each takes a different path to infiltrate the Communist secret police on a mission to uncover the truth about their family of soldiers, spies, and assassins. Which brother would go into the family business?Alex Storozynski was the first in his family born in the United States, a new leaf on the family tree. When he set out to find his roots in Poland during the Cold War, his Mama stitched secret pockets into boxer shorts where he could hide his cash, passport, and important documents. Before he left to go behind the Iron Curtain, his mother warned him: “Be careful of your brother's friends.” His big brother George, a banker, told him, “Mama doesn't want you to go into the family business.”As an aspiring journalist, Storozynski interviewed Polish rock stars, filmmakers, and artists fighting censorship. He navigated the black market and learned to thrive in the surreal and repressive system. He persuaded the Communist government to give him a scholarship to write a doctoral dissertation about the most hated man in Poland, the military regime's press spokesman, Jerzy Urban. But he asked too many questions.Storozynski attended Urban's press conferences with American journalists and met underground Solidarity activists trying to overthrow the government. He translated interviews with opposition leaders like Lech Wałesa for The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Boston Globe.There's a Polish saying, “You can't fool your genes; it's in your blood.” The Communist secret police (SB) stole Storozynski's visa and interrogated him. When Senator Ted Kennedy arrived in Warsaw to give The Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award to Adam Michnik and the parents of martyred opposition priest Father Jerzy Popiełuszko, Storozynski spent time with the Kennedy clan and taught them to sing Sto Lat (May He Live 100 Years) to the opposition.The SB had enough. After investigating Alex Storozynski, they wrote: “The findings in the case show that he is familiar with the working methods of special services.” Storozynski was declared an “enemy of the state” and banned from Communist Poland.This is the true story of Alex Storozynski's quest to uncover the nitty-gritty of three generations of spies in his blood.Winston Churchill's words serve as a stark warning: “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” With the Russian Army again trying to move the border between East and Western Europe, the dormant Cold War has reignited a hot war. Russia's invasion of sovereign nations and killing of Ukrainians is a grim reminder of the need to avoid repeating history. Motorized terror squads are once again murdering Jews, and civilian bombing deaths are written off as collateral damage. The gravity of the situation cannot be overstated. Alex Storozynski is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, award-winning author, filmmaker, songwriter, and President Emeritus & Chairman of the Board of The Kosciuszko Foundation.Stephen Satkiewicz is an independent scholar whose research areas are related to Civilizational Sciences, Social Complexity, Big History, Historical Sociology, military history, War studies, International Relations, Geopolitics, as well as Russian and East European history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Spies In My Blood: A Polish Family's Secret Fight Against Nazis & Communists (Polestar-Media, 2025) is the true story of two brothers raised in New York by WWII exiles and their journey to Poland. Each takes a different path to infiltrate the Communist secret police on a mission to uncover the truth about their family of soldiers, spies, and assassins. Which brother would go into the family business?Alex Storozynski was the first in his family born in the United States, a new leaf on the family tree. When he set out to find his roots in Poland during the Cold War, his Mama stitched secret pockets into boxer shorts where he could hide his cash, passport, and important documents. Before he left to go behind the Iron Curtain, his mother warned him: “Be careful of your brother's friends.” His big brother George, a banker, told him, “Mama doesn't want you to go into the family business.”As an aspiring journalist, Storozynski interviewed Polish rock stars, filmmakers, and artists fighting censorship. He navigated the black market and learned to thrive in the surreal and repressive system. He persuaded the Communist government to give him a scholarship to write a doctoral dissertation about the most hated man in Poland, the military regime's press spokesman, Jerzy Urban. But he asked too many questions.Storozynski attended Urban's press conferences with American journalists and met underground Solidarity activists trying to overthrow the government. He translated interviews with opposition leaders like Lech Wałesa for The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Boston Globe.There's a Polish saying, “You can't fool your genes; it's in your blood.” The Communist secret police (SB) stole Storozynski's visa and interrogated him. When Senator Ted Kennedy arrived in Warsaw to give The Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award to Adam Michnik and the parents of martyred opposition priest Father Jerzy Popiełuszko, Storozynski spent time with the Kennedy clan and taught them to sing Sto Lat (May He Live 100 Years) to the opposition.The SB had enough. After investigating Alex Storozynski, they wrote: “The findings in the case show that he is familiar with the working methods of special services.” Storozynski was declared an “enemy of the state” and banned from Communist Poland.This is the true story of Alex Storozynski's quest to uncover the nitty-gritty of three generations of spies in his blood.Winston Churchill's words serve as a stark warning: “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” With the Russian Army again trying to move the border between East and Western Europe, the dormant Cold War has reignited a hot war. Russia's invasion of sovereign nations and killing of Ukrainians is a grim reminder of the need to avoid repeating history. Motorized terror squads are once again murdering Jews, and civilian bombing deaths are written off as collateral damage. The gravity of the situation cannot be overstated. Alex Storozynski is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, award-winning author, filmmaker, songwriter, and President Emeritus & Chairman of the Board of The Kosciuszko Foundation.Stephen Satkiewicz is an independent scholar whose research areas are related to Civilizational Sciences, Social Complexity, Big History, Historical Sociology, military history, War studies, International Relations, Geopolitics, as well as Russian and East European history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/national-security

Spies In My Blood: A Polish Family's Secret Fight Against Nazis & Communists (Polestar-Media, 2025) is the true story of two brothers raised in New York by WWII exiles and their journey to Poland. Each takes a different path to infiltrate the Communist secret police on a mission to uncover the truth about their family of soldiers, spies, and assassins. Which brother would go into the family business?Alex Storozynski was the first in his family born in the United States, a new leaf on the family tree. When he set out to find his roots in Poland during the Cold War, his Mama stitched secret pockets into boxer shorts where he could hide his cash, passport, and important documents. Before he left to go behind the Iron Curtain, his mother warned him: “Be careful of your brother's friends.” His big brother George, a banker, told him, “Mama doesn't want you to go into the family business.”As an aspiring journalist, Storozynski interviewed Polish rock stars, filmmakers, and artists fighting censorship. He navigated the black market and learned to thrive in the surreal and repressive system. He persuaded the Communist government to give him a scholarship to write a doctoral dissertation about the most hated man in Poland, the military regime's press spokesman, Jerzy Urban. But he asked too many questions.Storozynski attended Urban's press conferences with American journalists and met underground Solidarity activists trying to overthrow the government. He translated interviews with opposition leaders like Lech Wałesa for The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Boston Globe.There's a Polish saying, “You can't fool your genes; it's in your blood.” The Communist secret police (SB) stole Storozynski's visa and interrogated him. When Senator Ted Kennedy arrived in Warsaw to give The Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award to Adam Michnik and the parents of martyred opposition priest Father Jerzy Popiełuszko, Storozynski spent time with the Kennedy clan and taught them to sing Sto Lat (May He Live 100 Years) to the opposition.The SB had enough. After investigating Alex Storozynski, they wrote: “The findings in the case show that he is familiar with the working methods of special services.” Storozynski was declared an “enemy of the state” and banned from Communist Poland.This is the true story of Alex Storozynski's quest to uncover the nitty-gritty of three generations of spies in his blood.Winston Churchill's words serve as a stark warning: “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” With the Russian Army again trying to move the border between East and Western Europe, the dormant Cold War has reignited a hot war. Russia's invasion of sovereign nations and killing of Ukrainians is a grim reminder of the need to avoid repeating history. Motorized terror squads are once again murdering Jews, and civilian bombing deaths are written off as collateral damage. The gravity of the situation cannot be overstated. Alex Storozynski is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, award-winning author, filmmaker, songwriter, and President Emeritus & Chairman of the Board of The Kosciuszko Foundation.Stephen Satkiewicz is an independent scholar whose research areas are related to Civilizational Sciences, Social Complexity, Big History, Historical Sociology, military history, War studies, International Relations, Geopolitics, as well as Russian and East European history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/eastern-european-studies

Russian army targeted by Android malware hidden in mapping app Attackers hit security device defects hard in 2024 Critical Commvault Command Center flaw warning Huge thanks to our sponsor, Dropzone AI Alert investigation is eating up your security team's day—30 to 40 minutes per alert adds up fast. Dropzone AI's SOC Analyst transforms this reality by investigating every alert with expert-level thoroughness at machine speed. Our AI SOC Analyst gathers evidence, connects the dots across your security tools, and delivers clear reports with recommended actions—all in minutes. No playbooks to build, no code to write. Just consistent, high-quality investigations that free your team to focus on what matters: stopping actual threats. Meet us at RSA Booth ESE-60. Find the stories behind the headlines at CISOseries.com.

Edition No128 | 15-04-2025 - A new commander has been appointed to the Eastern frontlines of Ukraine, and according to Euro Maidan Press, is bringing about a transformation of the performance of Ukraine's armed forces. General Mykhailo Drapatyi has overseen an increase in combat effectiveness, in the Kharkiv, Luhansk, and Donetsk directions, that is crippling Russian artillery and armour. Ukrainian forces are shattering Russian artillery in record-breaking numbers, according to reports, countering Russia's rumoured plans for a massive offensive in the Borova-Lyman sector. General Drapatyi commands the Third Assault Corps and has built a ferocious defensive line that is stopping Russian forces, as well as assembling an elite force. Human and material losses on a phenomenal scale will be the reality for any major Russian offensive plan.----------Links: https://euromaidanpress.com/2025/04/09/frontline-report-ukraines-new-commander-appointment-transforms-eastern-battlefield/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR71oSs3EaGft4OxzcgwqUrMBuCnpH6Gp_SKL3dtGF-01A8X8arAXQ2O7JtYTA_aem_BwLFc8jH6cEW6rRA4YcaDAhttps://nypost.com/2025/04/12/world-news/moscow-wont-be-able-to-afford-troops-in-ukraine-past-2026-experts/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgkm7lly61do----------Easter Pysanky: Silicon Curtain - https://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/easter-pysanky-silicon-curtainCar for Ukraine has joined forces with a group of influencers, creators, and news observers during this special Easter season. In peaceful times, we might gift a basket of pysanky (hand-painted eggs), but now, we aim to deliver a basket of trucks to our warriors.This time, our main focus is on the Seraphims of the 104th Brigade and Chimera of HUR (Main Directorate of Intelligence), highly effective units that: - disrupt enemy logistics - detect and strike command centers - carry out precision operations against high-value enemy targetshttps://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/easter-pysanky-silicon-curtain----------SILICON CURTAIN FILM FUNDRAISERA project to make a documentary film in Ukraine, to raise awareness of Ukraine's struggle and in supporting a team running aid convoys to Ukraine's front-line towns.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------SILICON CURTAIN LIVE EVENTS - FUNDRAISER CAMPAIGN Events in 2025 - Advocacy for a Ukrainian victory with Silicon Curtainhttps://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasOur first live events this year in Lviv and Kyiv were a huge success. Now we need to maintain this momentum, and change the tide towards a Ukrainian victory. The Silicon Curtain Roadshow is an ambitious campaign to run a minimum of 12 events in 2025, and potentially many more. We may add more venues to the program, depending on the success of the fundraising campaign. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasWe need to scale up our support for Ukraine, and these events are designed to have a major impact. Your support in making it happen is greatly appreciated. All events will be recorded professionally and published for free on the Silicon Curtain channel. Where possible, we will also live-stream events.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:Save Ukrainehttps://www.saveukraineua.org/Superhumans - Hospital for war traumashttps://superhumans.com/en/UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukrainehttps://unbroken.org.ua/Come Back Alivehttps://savelife.in.ua/en/Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchenhttps://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraineUNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyyhttps://u24.gov.ua/Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundationhttps://prytulafoundation.orgkharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemyślhttps://kharpp.com/----------

Hell Rains Down.Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels. Would you choose ephemeral beauty, or rugged determination? Brief Segway :Senator Susan Collins of Maine, JIKIT's Congressional mentor, at our urging had proposed an amendment to the Taiwan Relations Act Affirmation and Naval Vessel Transfer Act of 2014 which would allow 'Turkey' to purchase six 'Oliver Perry class frigates for $10 million each. The same act already proposed four such vessels to be sold to Taiwan for the same amount as well as giving two to Thailand (and two to Mexico) free of charge.Things had immediately bogged down in the 113th US Congress. It was too easy for Democrats in both Houses to take the President's position that any additional weapons into the South China Sea area would further destabilize the region. The pro-PRC lobby was equally opposed to the bill. Under normal conditions, that would have been good enough to send the measure off to the procedural graveyard.Except in the current contrary nature of the US's chief legislative body, this meant Republicans found themselves drawn to the anything the White House opposed. They could claim they found the anti-Communist, anti-Islamic Extremists stance of the Khanate to be attractive to them though none of them felt the need to actually talk to anyone in the Khanate to find out what they were really all about.We were happy with that policy because true congressional oversight was the last thing we needed. They might start asking uncomfortable questions like...'Who gave you the authority to do any of the crap you pulled?'(No one. We lied like big dogs, purloined resources and cloaked ourselves in 'National Security'. Plus we let our elite personnel have a crack at doing what they had so dedicatedly trained to do, wreck things.)'Wasn't that, that, and that an act of war against the People's Republic of China?'('No comment'. If that didn't work, we would try 'they will never find out'.)'Why are 90% of all the names on these documents redacted? We are the freaking Congress! You work for us.'(Work for them? Not to our way of thinking. We earned our paychecks without any slavish devotion to corporate campaign contributions. We were working so that the lives of Americans and Brits abroad would be that much safer, the world more orderly and for the US and UK to have an ally they could really rely on. We couldn't tell them that. They'd throw us in jail. We'd redacted the records because the names were for people that did not officially exist, or existed in a capacity that didn't imply they were elite warriors, spies and assassins.)Besides,('Those are private citizens not in the employ of this group, or any other government agency we are aware of'.)'We don't care if they are private citizens. We want to know.'('You don't want to know' followed by some major gobbledygook with the term 'deniable assets' interspersed relatively often.)'What do you mean ~ you don't want to know? We asked you a question.'(We meant you people leak information like a sieve and the people we are protecting aren't going to be afraid of getting revealed. They are going to murder people to ensure they are not ~ basically you don't know what is going on and we don't want to tell you, for both our safety's sake.)So,('Trust us. There are factors we are taking into account that you are unaware of because you don't know what's going on'.)'Of course we don't know what's going on. That's why we are asking you.'('You really don't want to know.' We are your highly trained and underpaid experts on this, we aren't raging assholes and we are telling you that bad shit will happen if you force this, thus 'you really don't want to know'.)'What do you mean ~ you really don't want to know?? Yes, we do. We are warning you,'(Okay. Execute Plan B. 'Excuse us for a moment, {create a plausible lie.}'.){Pregnant pause,}Congressman-type: 'It is rather odd that they all had to go into another room to take that phone call.'{Minutes pass}'Go see what is taking them so long.''What do you mean they are all gone? Find them!''What do you mean they seem have left the building? Find them!''Who do I call about this? The FBI, Homeland Security, or the CIA?And finally,'What do you mean they appear to have fled the country? Find them, damn it!'(Hey, I worked with some real shady characters.)Then would come the international manhunts, the flight to avoid prosecution and then resurrecting my life under a different ID in another country which hopefully had a dim view of handing me over to the FBI, or the Navy SEALs.Now back to our regularly scheduled diversion :'It has to do with giving something to the Khanate if you expect them to do anything for you.'Tony: 'You can't appreciate how that is going to look. Besides, that is a political decision, way above your pay-grade.'(Not a good time to remind him that he didn't pay me.)'What precisely do you want us to do? Please be specific.'Tony: 'How is the Khanate going to react to an intervention on the part of the United States?''They will ignore you.'Tony: 'What if the President makes public statement.''What is he going to say?'Tony: 'That the US is dedicated to a peaceful resolution of the unrest in Thailand.''They won't care. They truly believe that actions speak louder than words. If Thailand requested our intervention, or was a client state,'Tony: 'A what?''Client state, a country beholding to the US, or UK for their external security.'Tony: 'I know what client state is. That is 20th Century Imperialist thinking. No one does stuff like that anymore. Besides, the UN is responsible for the external security of its member states, which Thailand is.''The Khanate doesn't see it that way. We won't let them into the UN, so they see no reason to play by the UN's rules. The President can evoke the UN Charter all he wants. Unless he makes UN acceptance dependent on their cooperation, they will see no reason to cooperate.'Tony: 'That's not going to happen.''What part of that won't happen?'Tony: 'The President is not going on international television and endorsing the Khanate as a prospective UN member. What happens if we imply through back channels that the President will support such an action at a later date?''You want us to lie to them? Do you have any idea how badly that will compromise our working relationship with the Khanate?'Tony: 'We will deal with that later. Would they accept such a bargain?''So you are going to lie to them, Mr. Blinken, they will never forgive this act of treachery.'Tony: 'No, you are going to lie to them.'Addison: 'I will resign. I suspect that the rest of the team will quit as well.'Tony: 'What is wrong with your team, Ms. Stuart (Addison)? Can't anyone over there do their damn jobs?''We are doing our damn jobs, Mr. Blinken. We are telling you this is a diplomatically fatal move that will not only reduce this taskforce to uselessness, it will have long term consequences for all future Khanate-American relations.'Tony: 'That is a ridiculous assessment.''That is our experienced assessment. They believe treachery is only forgiven by death. They do believe in loyalty and keeping one's word. In our country, perjury is an unfortunate side effect of the judicial progress. To the Great Khan, it is reason enough to cut your head off.'Tony: 'Fine. I am ordering you to open back-channel talks with the Khanate concerning their admittance to the UN contingent on them taking a reasonable course of action.''Even if we were to do such a moronic thing, the Great Khan will ask Cáel directly to verify this. It is that important to him and his state.'Tony: 'Okay.''Perhaps you could suggest to me what form of coercion I should employ to make Cáel to commit such a blasphemous act?'Tony: 'Tell him to do it. That is what we pay him for.''Mr. Blinken, Mr. Nyilas is an unpaid consultant. At the job he is on sabbatical from, he makes more money than I do. He has an Irish diplomatic passport, been nominated to be the Prince of Albania, Georgia and Armenia, been proclaimed a warrior-prince of Transylvania and is a hero in both Hungary and Romania. He has no brothers, or sisters. His parents are both dead. His only surviving kin are people he is not particularly close to. Since economic and social blackmail are off the table, I am asking you if you are ordering me to use enhanced interrogation techniques to exacting his cooperation in this foolhardy endeavor.'Tony: 'You mean torture him?''I would never go on the record using that word. I don't advise you to use it either.'Tony: 'What kind of people are you?''The kind you engage to take on a mission of this delicate nature. You honestly don't want to know what we've done in the name of our constituent national bodies. You employ us so that you don't have to know. As you said, we 'get it done'. Until now, you have never asked us 'how' we got things done. You wanted the intelligence so we got it for you.'Tony: 'No member of this administration ever asked you to violate US, or International Law.''Which is precisely why the government employs me, so that you can keep your hands clean while mine are steeped in blood. Nothing our team has done will ever blow back on you, so don't worry about that. Why don't we get back to our current dilemma?'(I think until that moment Tony had convinced himself that Addison was another civil servant drone and people like her only existed in the 'black bag' fantasies of conspiracy theorists, hackneyed movie scripts and questionable 'true' spy novels. People like Addison and Lady Fathom weren't standard issue intelligence officers by any stretch of the imagination. They were almost unique in that they did what they did for the very beliefs they had sworn an oath to uphold, to serve their countries.There were no personal vendettas going on. No slush funds were vanishing into Cayman Island accounts. Neither had a God Complex. There was no desire for personal power, career advancement, or fame. I was beginning to think that was why Temujin used them, and me, because we could be counted on to do the right thing when required and only when required. Addison and Fathom had damned themselves forever because someone had to pay the price and get the job done. I imagined they really felt blessed for the opportunity. I worked with maniacs.)Tony: 'Thailand, yes. What if we put troops on the ground in Thailand?''How many?'Tony hummed and hawed so we had to guess.'A Marine Expeditionary Unit? If that is all, they better have an exit plan. Sir, if you want to impress the Khanate with the White House's resolve, you need to start landing troops from the Rapid Deployment Force starting tomorrow. Base aircraft out of Thai air bases. Threaten to ram any Indian Naval vessels that get in your way.'Tony: 'Is that what it would take?'('Yes. It would take the US to growing some balls, damn it!' was not the diplomatic reply though it desperately needed to be said. Hey, I could be a bit of a jingoist when I feel the lives of my loved ones are in danger.)'That is our current assessment of the situation. The Khanate has no reason to take any American threat of force seriously. They won't see anything short of a full-court press as nothing more than posturing for the home audience and what allies we have left.'Tony: 'What does that mean?''It means you are taking the cooperation of Taiwan and Philippines for granted. Our people tell us they see American influence in the region waning and we have been letting the Chinese push them around. Now the Khanate appears and knocks the Chinese back three decades on the World Stage. The Khanate is trying to create a ring of allies around the PRC and a few of them are curious why the US is dragging its heel about such a critical regional issue.'Tony: 'You don't dictate US foreign policy.'(No, we simply enacted foreign policy without your knowledge.)There were probably a large number of Special Forces operators who would be shaking their heads in bewilderment when they found out the US was trying to face down the Khanate over, of all places, Thailand. Hadn't they just busted their humps trying to make the Great Khan see their nations (the US and UK) as potential worthy allies?Working with the Khanate had been 'interesting'. If you asked them for anything, they got it for you, danger and consequences be damned. They'd try anything for the men they considered 'brothers in the struggle'. If you were pinned down by fire from a hillside and asked for fire support, they would napalm the whole damn mountain if that was what it took. The man/woman on the other end of that radio cared for your life, not the human rights of the scumbag shooting at you, or any of the people they might be hiding behind.You also know if they couldn't get it done, it was only because the resources didn't exist. The Khanate Special Forces hadn't acted like co-belligerents, or allies. They treated you like their own kin. They would and had died to make sure some of them got home to their families. If ordered to, they would definitely take the fight to the Khanate. I believed many of them would be asking what had it all been for.'We wouldn't dream of it,' Addison lied.'Good. You have your marching orders. Now get to it,' and Tony hung up on us. Everyone in the room was looking around. What exactly were our marching orders? Had I'd missed that part of our conversation?"Well," Fathom sighed, "there is only one thing we can do." I seriously prayed she would ask me to lie to Temujin."Understood," Mehmet nodded. "Somehow we get the Khanate to launch their offensive into Thailand in three days.""Can they do that?" I blurted out."They do it, or everyone in this room is in a shitload of trouble when they get around to it next week," Addison grinned. "The Khanate high command isn't going to back down just because we ask them to. I wouldn't if I were them.""What happens if they can't make the three day window?" I asked."Then you call up your blood-brother and ask him to fuck over his nation to save us from lengthy prison sentences, or outright assassination," Fathom smirked."If he says 'no'," I looked into her eyes."That's the real tragedy in all this, he won't," she gave me a comforting look. "He isn't going to leave you hanging in the wind. He'll call off his attack dogs because he isn't the kind of man to fuck you over because it is politically expedient. I'm staking all our lives on that. I always have."The Black Lotus? We'd explain to them the ugly reality that neither of us could afford to be painted into a corner over this Thailand issue. We were doing our best, but our political masters were dead set on making a colossal error and we had to follow through with those directives. The Khanate would do everything in their extensive power to support the Black Lotus and if they could invade in three days with some nebulous chance at success, they would go.The Black Lotus, the entire 9 Clans knew JIKIT had no power except what we finagled from the US and the UK. We had borrowed their resources to accomplish what we'd done. The Black Lotus had profited from some of those operations and both the Khanate and JIKIT would owe them big, but we were good for it. That truism was why they worked with us.My personal problem was that I knew the Great Khan would not forgive, or forget this interference by the US. It wasn't in his nature. Worse, the politicians and bureaucrats in Washington would see this as a victory and an expression that the US remained the globe's premier super power. Too few would remember the price of this sense of superiority would be born on the back of Thailand's masses. The revolution would fail after a short, brutal civil war. The tyrant would remain in power and the voice of the Thai people would be stilled.The end result of that late night phone call? We weren't told.What follows is pure conjecture on my part, fueled by intelligence information provided by other JIKIT resources and knowledge about how much the political landscape of Southeast Asia had been transformed by the PCR being driven back to their own coastline, leaving a power vacuum India, Vietnam and the Khanate were eager to fill.The Republic of China/Taiwan --'Aren't you the same people who said only a week ago that sending more weapons into the region would only escalate tensions? And now you want to use our airbases against our latest ally in the region? Do you understand how much internal political turmoil this will cause? Half of us are jumping for joy that someone big and fierce embraces our independence. The other half think it is time to retake China.Yes, we mean the territory currently under the oppressive yoke of the People's Republic of China. Yes, the China the Khanate just kicked the crap out of. The nation that might not be able to protect say, Zhusanjiao. That would be the Pearl River Delta to you Westerners, that huge area on the mainland adjacent to Hong Kong. Hainan is looking pretty ripe for conquest as well. That would be that big island off the coast of, yes, we have indeed suspected you could read a map.At the moment we are expecting the permission of the Khanate to use Woody Island as a forward staging area and logistic base to help us do just that. Take Hainan, yes, that large island currently, and temporarily, under the illegal occupation by those illegitimate bastards in Beijing.What do you mean 'don't declare war on them'? We've been at war with the People's Republic since 1945. No, we are pretty sure we would recall signing a Peace Treaty with them. No, we can't 'get over it' either. Why are you even asking us that? Don't you know our history?Anyway, if we help you, can we expect the same level of cooperation from you as we are getting from the Khanate? In case things go sour, Yes, a shooting war would qualify. See, your people at JIKIT have been helping the Khanate and us, your people, at JIKIT, we are pretty sure it is made up of Americans and British personnel. Why would we think that? Are you serious? Because that's what your governments told us, that's why. Besides, why are you asking us what your people have been doing? Don't they work for you?Speaking of the US government helping us out, what progress is there on the Taiwan Relations Act Affirmation and Naval Vessel Transfer Act of 2014 ? We sure could use those vessels. While we are at it, how about sharing some of the technology used in the F-35. We'll build our own, or a model vaguely similar to it. We value your friendship and know you will help us out in a pinch.Right?'The Philippines --'Sigh. If you really think this will help. By the way, aren't your fighters going to need some in-air refueling? What are you going to do if the Khanate engages them over Philippine airspace? What are you going to do if you get into a shooting war with the Khanate? Will you defend us from their ballistic missile threat? We have a long history as your allies, but the Khanate is totally ruthless, and they scare us. Can you hold our hand, say for the next twenty years?'(The Philippines rolls out their Wish List)Maybe you could give us some advanced fighters?We are a poor country and can't afford to buy any before 2018.We are not greedy, 72 F-16s will do and you are upgrading to the F-35 anyway so we know you have some lying around. Could you also help us with the maintenance cost? We are a poor country, but very large.Some of your decommissioned naval vessels would go a long way in showing us some love. One of those Tarawa-class amphibious assault ships would be really nice and you've got the USS Peleliu decommissioned and about to be scrapped. We have hundreds of islands in our Republic so moving stuff around is pretty tough. Can you help us out?If you could toss in the ship's complement of 20 AV-8B Harrier 2 and 12 V-22 Ospreys with a fifteen year maintenance package that would be even better!We are a poor country. We could never afford to buy any of that stuff.Maybe a frigate, or three? You have a dozen Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates sitting around. We can finally retire some of our World War 2 relics and make one our new flagship.We know you aren't going to give us one of those powerful nuclear submarines, but maybe you could secure a few loans so we could buy some of those nifty German-made, diesel-powered Type 214's. We hear they are pretty cool, very silent and practically a steal at $330 million per boat! We love you guys! And, we are poor.Oh, and some helicopters!We were going to refurbish some Vietnam-era Iroquois, but since your Marine Corp is retiring the far superior Bell AH-1 SuperCobra, can we have a dozen of those instead?We were going to fix up some of our aging Sikorsky S-76s as air ambulances. Getting new ones would be far superior, don't you think?You also have those cool Blackhawks. You have so many. Could you spare us, say twenty? You're the best!And some guns. And artillery. And some APC's.Did we mention we are a poor country going through an expensive force modernization program?Got any amphibious vehicles lying around? We could use a few of more of those small unit riverine craft (SURC)'s we bought from you recently. They are excellent counter-insurgency tools. You want us doing well fighting the War on Terror, don't you?Did we mention that we are a poor country? And we love you guys!The Federation of Malaysia --We like this idea. Give us say a week to ten days and we can jump right in.You want to go in four days? With what precisely? Compared to the force projections you have been providing us, Who? JIKIT, of course. Who else would you send us to when we requested intelligence on Khanate activities from you? Did we believe them? Why wouldn't we? They are your people,When do you think Thailand will let us intervene? We've asked the Prime Minister if he needs our assistance and he politely declined. Apparently he thinks he's got things well in hand. He does retain command of over 200,000 troops and the opposition is much smaller. I hope you have better luck than we did in convincing him he's in serious trouble.Also, what do you plan to do about the Indian Navy's South China Sea taskforce? It is pretty big, not something we can tackle on our own.Yes, we kind of need to know what you are doing before we decide what we are doing. You do realize that the Gulf of Thailand is currently under the complete domination of the Indian/Khanate/Vietnamese Axis, right?48 combat aircraft? What gave you that idea? The Vietnamese have been refurbishing their Mig-21's like crazy, using Khanate stockpiles, plus there are nearly a 150 Su-22's. Sure, they are both older than manned flights to the Moon, but they can drop bombs, fire rockets and launch ground attack missiles with the best of them. They are still jet aircraft.Worried? You are aware that those antiquated pieces of crap can bomb the northern part of my country, aren't you? So 'yes', we are worried about those 300 flying deathtraps being more than a 'manageable' nuisance.What about our air force? I imagine it will be doing what we trained it to do, defend Federation air space because I doubt those relics will be coming at us unescorted. We can already tell you that the Mig-29's and Su-30's the Khanate and Vietnamese will be flying are excellent aircraft. We fly them too, just not as many.Of course you can base your F-22's out of Sultan Ismail Petra Airport as long as you supply the logistical support. How many? A lot? Could you please be more specific? Two squadrons? My, that's going to get pretty dicey. I believe you when you say the F-22 is a highly advanced stealthy fighter. I also believe that they are a lot less stealthy when they are sitting on the ground re-arming and refueling.Do we think they will really threaten us? They are threatening us, over our Spratly Island claims, are you sure you know what you are getting into? By the way, when this blows over, do you think you can pressure the Khanate into giving us their Spratly island airbase? It is rapidly approaching completion and is over 3000 meters long.How did they do that? They are dredging the ocean floor, it is a man-made island. Didn't your government protest the environmental damage they were causing?No, not the Khanate, the Chinese.Yes, the Khanate currently controls it. They stole it from the PRC hours before the ceasefire. So, can we have it?Yes, we know it belonged to the People's Republic, but it doesn't anymore. Besides, we both opposed it when the Chinese were dredging it up the island from the sea floor, so giving it to us isn't all that egregious, or unexpected, action. It would also go a long way in supporting our just and worthy claims to the Spratly Islands. We really don't want those greedy Chinese, yes, both the People's Republic and the 'Republic of', or, those incompetent Filipinos to steal them from us.Both of us knocking the Vietnamese back on their heels will be going a long way to getting those Communist knuckle draggers to back off as well. Hey, if they do get antsy, can we also take the Vietnamese base in the Spratly's? It isn't as big as the one the Khanate stole, but it is finished, and closer to us. We are sure that if we help you out, you will do the right thing when the time comes. Right?The President of the United States --'They want what? Have they lost their fucking minds?The Philippines is talking about a billion dollar aid package and guaranteed loans we doubt they can ever repay. We only want to use their air bases for a month, maybe two, not deflower their teenage daughters. It isn't as if we are really going to go to war with the Khanate over Thailand. Besides, the last time we 'got involved' like that, George Bush ran up a trillion dollar deficit, and his party was thrown out of office. Doesn't anyone care we are facing a difficult mid-term election in November?So, the Taiwanese think this is the appropriate moment to invade mainland China? And they want our help? Do they know how expensive that can get? Do they understand how much that will unbalance the already shake state of Asian affairs? It is another land war in Asia for the love of God!'And, the Malaysians are going to help us, but not actually help us and they want tens of billions square miles of ocean for the measly concessions they are making? What do they expect us to do with all the Filipinos, Chinese and Vietnamese who already live there?What do you mean none of those islands are actually inhabited? They are just military bases, some of them nothing more than rusting iron hulks on submerged reefs? OH, God damn it! Why don't we take the God damn Spratly Islands for ourselves if they are that fucking important? We have a Marine Corp. Aren't they good at taking islands? I read about it somewhere.No, I'm not changing the damn mission. I'm venting because the world seems to be inhabited with greedy assholes who can't appreciate peaceful discourse without trying to lift my wallet.Okay, okay, I've got this. We are going to form a new international commission to resolve this Spratly Island's nightmare. Have the French chair it. They love that kind of stuff. Makes sure the Germans are on the commission too. They need to look less like money-grubbing douchebags after that fiasco over the Greek economic collapse. Then invite Russia, India and Pakistan. That will pretty much guarantee nothing gets accomplished.That will allow us to keep our promises to those three leeches without having to deliver anything and, when it fails, it won't be seen as my fault. (Groan) What we really need is new videos of Khanate soldiers bayoneting babies, another ISIS atrocity, or more indisputable evidence the Russian Army's involvement in the Ukraine. The Great Khan really screwed us over Tibet (you know, by allowing them to become a free and democratic society), Putin is an evil cuck (who most likely laughs at me behind my back) and another round of Islamophobia-bashing to remind everyone how this is all Bush's fault.No wonder George spent so much time at Crawford Ranch. Navigating international relations is totally thankless and no matter how rosy we paint the latest economic numbers, someone still finds a way to make me look bad. Oh well, if this blows up in my face, I only have two more years in this shooting gallery. Maybe then I might change my mind and decided I really was born in Kenya, or Indonesia. I really wish Hawaii was an independent country. I'd like to retire there if there weren't so many of those damn contentious Americans.The US President wanted to run this operation on a shoestring, not engage in 'nation-building', much less backing an invasion of anybody. In fact, he was trying to stop an invasion.The Philippines was a poor country. So what? It wasn't his fault. He had poor people in the US too and they cast votes.Taiwan suddenly thought it could take on China? They were insane. Of course he would be ignoring a major stated political goal of the ROC for the past 65 years ~ reunification on their terms. Any high-level technological transfer wasn't going to happen because if the Republic ran off the reservation, the President would bloody well be sure no one could trace that decision back to anything he'd done.At least Malaysia was on board, sorta/kinda. They wouldn't actually be able to help until day ten, or fourteen and, unlike the Republic of China, they had a small air force that might not be able to protect forwardly deployed troops. If he ended getting of those National Guard yahoos killed his party would be murdered in November.For a split second, he wondered if he should attempt to make a personal call to the Great Khan, potentate to potentate, except he had this sinking feeling that a winning smile and a handshake would be worse than useless. The man would look him straight in his eyes and start making demands. He would demand action and when the Leader of the Free World prevaricated, he knew the Khanate would call his bluff.And they would fight. The alternative was a grand spectacle of public humiliation and that he could not accept. The US military machine would fight and they would win. They would win because he needed them to win, fast and clean and home for Christmas. Maybe he would authorize the mobilization of those California airmen. Just in case.In the end, Secretary Kerry gave POTUS what he asked for.The Philippines would let them use their country's bases for logistics and strategic assets (aka bombers).The ROC would extend their air umbrella out 200 km to the east, south and west, acting like a shield between the Khanate and US Pacific assets moving through the tight Formosan Straits.Malaysia gave them an airbase from which they could strike into Thailand, or Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. The US Air Force would have the opportunity to be lethally effective.Had they known the sum total of the US commitment, they would have been appalled. The Khanate did not fuck around.One Carrier Strike Group,Forty (maybe sixty) Air Force fighters,Lumbering B-52's flying half way around the globe,Hadn't they been watching the dogfights over China for the past month? Maybe they would like to dive down and examine the wreckage of the PLAN carrier Liaoning and see just how it met its grisly fate?Apparently not.(I live, love and have loved)"What are you doing here?" she got the preliminary nonsense out of the way. With the way she was dressed, I was an expected visitor. She was expecting some make-up sex. I was thinking 'paying for my past mistakes' sex because I was already seeing way too many women who required me to do things outside the bedroom, non-sexual things. I had my dress jacket swung over my shoulder. It would only get in the way later."I brought you motorcycle over. You left it parked by my place," I kept any appearance of lust, or glee off my face."It is one o'clock in the morning," she glowered."I was called into work. I'm on call 24/7.""Let me guess, you can't talk about it.""You wouldn't believe me if I did, so suffice it to say I was doing things I didn't want to do instead of coming over here, waking you up from a sound sleep.""I wasn't asleep. I was angry," I pointed out."I apologize. Maybe I should have waited until morning." She didn't think I should have waited as long as I had. Keeping her waiting until morning would have left her volcanic."I wasn't asleep.""Your bike is in the parking lot across the street," I handed her the lot ticket."How did you find it?""There are only two places in my neighborhood that allows parking and the second one is poorly lit," I replied."And the attendant let you steal it?" she frowned."He knows me. I do a ton of business with him and it wasn't as if I was dressed like your average carjacker.""How did you start it?""Chaz showed me how to spoof the lock. He's got this spiffy lock-pick set on him.""That he carries with him for such contingencies?""Hey, he's the spycraft professional. I'm the amateur who tags along because karma is a bitch," I grinned."Did you ruin the ignition?""No. He's got this skeleton key thingy. I need to get me one of those," I added. See, I was drifting down the path to becoming a hardened criminal and she had to save me. Girls love saving bad boys from themselves. There is an entire literary genre devoted to the topic."Get in here," Anais barked. She emphasized that command by grabbing my tie and dragging me into her room. Now I could ogle her in her bra, panties and dress shirt left open. As I said moments ago, she was expecting me. Anais had thick, light-brown, just-past-the-shoulders hair with blonde highlights. Her dusky skin tone suggested some ancestral link to the South of France while her deep green eyes suggested Celtic ties.She was definitely someone I would describe as possessing an hourglass figure. She worked out just enough to stay fit, practiced judo (in and outside of the bedroom) and ate right. Her ass was the correct mix of firm and fleshy, her breasts were pleasant without too much bounce and she sported broad, but short, nipples that liked to get bitten.With her bare foot, she kicked the door shut, spun me around by my tie until I slammed, back first, into the wall in the short hallway that led to her bedroom."I repeat, what are you doing here?""I never actually apologized for how things ended up," I sodomized the truth. "Anais, I am truly sorry for how badly I fucked up our affair. I acted without a thought for the possible consequences, or thinking about how betrayed you would feel. Can you accept my apology?""You came here to have sex," she declared. She stepped up tightly against my body, her eyes boring into mine. I had around six inches on her so she had to tilt up her chin to do so."That too," I shrugged."I ought to throw you out the window," she growled. We were on the seventh floor. The window didn't open and the safety glass looked alright."I'll go then," I nodded. Now to make her beg for/demand sex."You are not going anywhere," she snarled. Then she kissed me, a tongue-grapple ensued and she finished things by biting my lower lip so much I tasted blood afterwards. I dropped my jacket. I was about to need both my hands."I think us having sex would be a mistake," I pushed her buttons. I wasn't some wimp acquiescing to her demands. I was a free-willed being; a strong man who needed to be wrestled down and forced to perform.She pulled me down into a second kiss. This was an 'I will leave you incapable of thinking about anything but me' kiss. Yes, I had names for kisses too. They were similar to naming the ingredients of a choice meal. I propelled her back until we slammed into the opposite wall. Anais was a tough chick and a bit of banging around was par for the course.I cupped each ass cheek and pulled her up. She responded by wrapping her legs around my hips. We were still kissing. Anais slipped her hands along my sides before linking them up at the small of my back. She pulled me hard against her while she ground her crotch against mine."Clothes," she rumbled from deep within. As in 'why was I still dressed?'"Been a while," I taunted her. Since she was glommed on to me, I used my freed up hands to rip off my tie."Yes. I bet it hasn't 'been a while' for you," she sizzled."Long as in 5:30 this morning," I teased back. At this point in the foreplay that revelation was akin to throwing gasoline on a fire. I was being an unrepentant dog and she was taking me to confessional, between her thighs."Bastard," she condemned me as well as the entire male side of the species."It doesn't mean I haven't missed you, this, us," I riposted. She retaliated by turning her humping motion into to more of a grind. Bad kitty. Bad kitty wanted to be spanked. Woot!"You are never going to change," she dug her fingernails into my flesh. I yanked my shirt off."If I hadn't changed, you wouldn't be here," I reminded her while nipping at her nose and lips."You are still an egocentric bastard," she growled."Hey, I always took care of your needs," I countered. I had. She knew I had and since she currently wanted me to take her to that higher erotic plane, she wasn't going to contest that fact. Instead, she began working her shirt off and in doing so, squishing her boobs against my chest.Holding her tight, my left hand under her right buttock and my right hand on her mid-back, pressing her torso into mine. We dance through two slow circles before crashing, side by side, on the bed. Anais rolled us over so that she was on top. I didn't let her get in a totally dominant pose, oh no. I had a kitty to take care off. I grabbed her firm ass and propelled her up until I was face first with her gusset.I might not remember to check my bank balance, or the atomic number of Technetium (I once had a girlfriend who would rate my performance on the periodic table in the midst of our fucking, I never made it higher than Copernicium before she passed out), but I can recall the precise taste, texture and topography of every cunt I've had face to face contact with. I knew right where to tongue-fuck Anais to twist her up inside.Control-orgasm, control-orgasm, Anais was pig-headed and wanted to keep dictating our reunion. She also wanted to return to the level of sexual bliss we had shared so often before. Her compromise was to hump my face; really grind it in. Black silk underwear is an excellent medium for transferring force and wetness between partners.She rubbed her love-nub against my upper lip/teeth while I did tongue-ups into her cunt. She was wetter than Bangladesh in the rainy season. That was an indicator of some serious masturbatory sessions stopping just short of orgasm before I arrived. I had some aching sensations to play with and I wasn't cruel. I maneuvered a hand between her thighs, underneath the band of her underwear and exposed her vaginal opening to my fingers and tongue while keeping that silky feel for her clitoris."Rurr," she began growling from the depths of her diaphragm. That was how she always was, thundering like a female grizzly bear in heat. It was an expression with deep subharmonic components that caused the heart to flutter and her flesh to shimmer with the vibrations mixed with her bodily sweat."Come on, Baby," I urged her on.That pissed her off. She was trying to hold off her orgasm for a few more seconds. My 'baby' crack shifted her resolve into anger allowing her climax to overwhelm her."Rah," she howled. It didn't sound like a female coming to fruition. It was more akin to the sound European soccer hooligans made when their team scored a goal. The muscles in Anais' thighs were strumming along like the cords of a piano, her belly was undulating in and out, and her head had rolled back so that she was screaming to the ceiling.The countdown was on. The people next door/across the hall/above or below us would be waking up, think that someone had unleashed a wild animal in the hotel, figure out they were not immediately on the menu, then call the front desk, stating their fears as justifiable fact. Anais and I had been down that road before.I gave Anais' flank a light smack to get her attention. Sure she looked back at me with simmering anger, yet she also knew the score. That had been round #1 in a nightlong bout of sexual conquest, rebellion and re-conquest. She drew her knees to her chest so she could pull off her damp panties in one swift motion. I worked off my shoes, pants, socks and underwear. While she soaked up my naked flesh (muscles, scars and all), she retrieved the phone from the side table and placed it beside her. She wouldn't want to break up our rhythm when the phone rang.No romantic small talk interrupted our shared lust. She wanted that cock and I wanted to give it to her. I moved between her inviting thighs while she examined me, her upper body uplifted by her arms resting on her elbows. Bite-kissing-biting resumed. I slowly pushed her head to the bed with the force of my kisses and strength of my upper body pushing down on her. Somewhere along the way, I slipped into her.Condom? Crap. I was slipping. I would have to pull out, because stopping to put a condom on would earn me some serious ferocity on her part. I plunged in. Anais placed her hands on my hips, claws beneath my kidneys, guiding my pace and power. I may have been on top, but she wasn't giving up on one ounce of control."Damn you," she hissed."Yes?" I leered."Fuck you.""I'm working on it. Is there anything," I teased."Bastard," she looked away, "You remember how I like it.""Whatever made you think I would forget?" I kept at it."Don't look so smug.""I'm working on it," I looked smug. Anais dug her fingernails in. I had to be punished, just ask her."When do you have to go back to work?" she huffed."Six a.m. When do you have to go back?""I have two days off.""Good to know," I stole a kiss from her lips painlessly. Good to know.(Painful dreams)I edged back into consciousness realizing that I was not alone. The muffled sense of my surroundings informed me that I wasn't really awake. She sat on my side of the bed, feet on the floor, side to me."Good evening, Dot," I yawned."Good morning, Cáel," the Goddess Ishara let her melodic voice float over me."Hold on," I interrupted her. I weaved as I leaned over, pawed at my pants (still trapped in the real world) and finally drew forth my offering."A fortune cookie," she chuckled. "I admire your dedication.""It is a simple enough request and I aim to please." I hesitated. "We don't have much time, do we?""You are dreaming, not concussed, so we will be alright if we tread carefully," she told me. "This time, I have no cryptic warnings, or specious pieces of information. I am giving you a gift. Take my hand."I did, not that I had much choice. We 'went', where to, I wasn't sure yet I suspected we were skirting the Weave itself where concepts like Time and Distance had little meaning.The Goddess released my hand and I stepped out of the fog brought about by the abrupt nature of our progress to see a woman sitting beside a pool, no, a sunken bath. She looked up at our approach. Oh shit, it was,"Cáel? You are Cáel, aren't you," she smiled. She stared at me with her blind eyes while waiting for my response with deaf ears."Yes, Tad fi, I'm Cáel. How did you know?""I bear our shared life inside me," she graced me with her serene presence."Ah, I was warned," I stopped myself. I was going to add 'this might happen'. That would be unfair as she appeared pleased with this alteration of her life path. "I was warned by the Goddess that she had something to show me. How are you feeling? Is there anything I can do for you?"She put her hand over her lower abdomen and rubbed the spot with her palm."Seeing you and giving you the news in person is enough," she glowed with happiness."Have you picked out a name yet?" seemed weak."I will leave that up to you.""Oh, come on," I relaxed slightly. "This is something we are doing together.""No, it is not, kind Cáel.""Just because she will most likely end up an Isharan doesn't,""No, Cáel. This birth will cost me my life. I am not destined to ever see my daughter draw her first breath," she confided in me."No!" I recoiled. "That's unfair." What else could I say? 'I take it back. I shouldn't have listened to my Goddess and screwed you out of what little life you had left.'"I am content with my fate, Cáel Nyilas Wakko Ishara. Our daughter will be the first female of the Isharan line in nearly 1600 years. Rejoice that we have been confronted by Destiny and triumphed. The light of the Peacemakers will shine once more among our sisters.""It is not worth the cost of your life," I responded bitterly. This was colossally unfair to all three of us."That you grieve for the short time I have left gives me strength, knowing our daughter will grow up with a strong, caring father. I,"I could sense Ishara close by my side."You must go, my Cáel. We will next see each other in the Halls of our Ancestors. Take our daughter and raise her well. I have faith in you," she sighed pleasantly, as if I had sheltered her from the rainstorm with my umbrella."We must go," Ishara whispered in my ear and then we left. I was back in the hotel room, looking down at the tears on my sleeping face and it hurt so much."You gave me that command knowing what it would cost her," I sounded so hollow, chin on my chest, eyes closed instead of looking at my feet."We are not an easy people to love, Cáel. We are harsh. Endless centuries of suffering, pain and mistrust have made us this way. Please understand that what you see as one life passing is really one life coming into being. It is a life Fate would have denied the line of Ishara. I took you to meet Tad fi because I wanted you to greet your daughter with understanding, not sorrow. I owed you.""Steal my anger why don't you?" I chuckled bitterly. "Can I even blame myself for this tragedy? It isn't like you made me do anything. I did it because I wanted to and never gave much thought to the frail health Tad fi was hanging on to. This is so wrong and I don't know what to do.""Wake up. Keep living. If this news turns your heart, or fills your mind with doubt, then both of us have failed you. Tad fi didn't have to tell you. I didn't have to bring you to her. I believed you were owed the chance to say good-bye.""I didn't say that," I exhaled sadly."You openly grieved and let her comfort you. That is more of a 'goodbye' than most people are able to convey. She knows your heart. You were honest in your sorrow. She saw that and that eased her suffering knowing that you are a person who is free with their heart. For a woman who expected nothing but wickedness from men for so long, that was the ultimate gift. You did help her. You truly did.""I," I woke up. Anais was looking down at me, concerned."You've been crying," she noted by touching my cheek with a finger then showing me the dampness."Do you believe a person's soul can fracture?" I murmured. That sort of talk was unlike the 'me' she once knew."Do you believe that another can help you put your soul back together if that happens?" I continued."You are not talking about us, are you?" she studied me."No. I'm thinking about being a parent, not just a father. Can I fuck that up as much as I've screwed up so many of the other women I've cared for, am I going to be worthy of being a Dad?""Oh, I don't know. You are not the man I knew two years ago. I think you have changed for the better. You are still far from perfect yet, you seem to be trying so much harder than previously.""You think I'm going to screw things up, don't you?""Yes. Yes, I do, but I also think you will only make the same mistake once. That is better than most men can hope for," she let her gaze soften."This is us breaking up,""Yes. I think if I stayed, you would break my heart; and I am starting to believe neither one of us wants that," she nodded. "One more time?""I'd love to," I smiled at her. I still hurt. I was using sex to bandage my pain. Anais knew that and was giving me this unlooked for piece of kindness. It was the best break up I'd ever had, or could ever hope for.{5:45 am, Saturday, August 30th ~ 9 Days to go}"You look like someone strangled your kitten," Pamela told me as I exited Anais' hotel room. She was leaning against the wall across the hall. I had the feeling she had been there a while. Of course I hadn't been allowed to wander off alone; most likely, Chaz had kept an eye on me until Pamela relieved him."I, I got Tadifi killed," I unloaded on her.Pamela immediately dropped her casual fa

Companions, History and Heroism.By FinalStand. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels.There are two distinct phases of falsehood. In the first, you realize you can lie to those closest to you. In the second, you realize you shouldn't.(And the stars continue to shine forth)"Stop trying to save me," Pamela remarked, once she was sure we were alone once more."Ask me to do something I'd at least consider doing," I sighed. "Let's go back to the party, I'm not sure where we are.""You've been walking in one big circle, Dummy," she chided me.Why was she letting me off the hook for walking off with the Grand Villain in the scheme of things? Well, if she started hitting me, she probably wasn't sure she could stop."One of these days I'm going to screw up and not get out of it," I noted sadly."That is the epitaph of anyone who has ever taken up a weapon and a cause," Pamela smiled.Maybe she wasn't angry with me."Why aren't you more pissed off?" I wondered."You are a good guy, Cáel," Pamela enlightened me. "That means you are going to reach out to people you think you can save. Personally, I don't think Alal can be, but then I'm biased.""Guy coming back from the dead?" I inquired."Damn right. No more surefire way to anger an assassin than to come back from the dead," she related. "Did you take note of his body?""Not really. What did I miss?" I requested."It didn't look right," Pamela shook her head. "Nothing more specific than that. I was hoping, since you touched him, you might have picked something else up.""Nope. I was too busy slipping a GPS locator on him," I grinned."You don't have one and the technology doesn't work that way, ya numbskull," she play slapped my left bicep."Wouldn't it be cool if it did?" my grin broadened."Laugh it up, Monkey-boy," Pamela countered. "Buffy would have you tagged like a mule deer in Yellowstone.""Eek," I gasped. "Point taken.""Well, " Pamela huffed."He's going to kill my soul," I observed. "Now I'm sure of it. All of that discussion was just gauging my personality so that when he offs me, he can become Cáel Nyilas / Wakko Ishara." Pause."Good for you," Pamela let go of a tense breath. She didn't have to ask."The whole Condottieri situation is a scam," I passed on that bit of information I'd first put together with the Vizsla. "It never left Granddad's control. Currently he's going to use various other factions to kill off the Condottieri and Illuminati leadership that oppose him, then it is Unity Time.""If he takes your place, that gives him leverage on the Amazon Council plus your appeal to the 9 Clans and the Earth  and  Sky," Pamela helped me work things through. "He couldn't get his hooks into the Egyptians because they knew too much about him. Matters of race stymied his efforts with the Earth  and  Sky and Seven Pillars.""Except I saved Temujin and he's been supplying them with weapons and tech for over fifty years," I told her. "Even when he was dead, his plan was working, he had predicted the path that warfare would take, invested wisely and left orders to implement his plans. When the time came, they were ready to take out the Seven Pillars.""Without you saving Temujin, the E and S wouldn't have cared, but you," Pamela nodded. "If it comes down to his coalition of Illuminati, Condottieri, Amazons and 9 Clans, the Egyptians will join him, Global Unification has been their goal all along," she continued. "Besides, you made one hell of a positive impression on them the only time you've met. Bang up job, Stud.""Temujin will join as well. He's anything but suicidal," I finished the roll call of my fate. We were almost back to the rave by this time. "You know, you could kill me and short-circuit all of this mess," I reminded her."No way. I plan to win, damn it," Pamela patted me on the back. "Save the Dum-sel in Disrepute, slay the Evil Warlord and re-retire with a boatload great-grandbabies to spoil.""I gave the Vizsla a clue," I let Pamela know the possible complications to her plan. "In 1847, one General of the Condottieri tried to have the Italian Black Hand kill another. Unfortunately, the victim in question was a puppet for Grandpa and the assassin team attacked them both. Because they saw his face, he hunted them back to their base and slaughtered the entire Verona Chapter house of the Wolf.""He must have fucked up a few other times as well," Pamela assured me. Speaking of miscalculations, Anya, Katalin and Orsi broke from the thrashing mob and ran up to me."Your crazy ex-girlfriend called," Anya seemed steamed. "She insisted must she talk to you." At first glance, it would be 'which crazy ex-GF', except only one had Anya's phone number. I took her phone."Bonjour, ma petite amie méchante ," I greeted Anais, the Mountie, in French. Yes, I was calling her a 'meanie'."Cáel, how are you? Where are you?" she was truly concerned. I didn't doubt her sincerity. I also didn't doubt she was convinced she knew what was best for me, as well."I've talked with the Hungarian Police too," I let my pique come through. "You screwed me over. I asked you to let me handled this and you didn't.""You are still a Jerk," she snapped. "I've been trying to help. And from the sounds of it, you are at a party.""It's a rave. It is a rave brought about by the police keeping people penned up in the town all afternoon. Now, if you would stop treating me like a freaking child, you would realize that I'm actually safer in a crowd than I am alone, holed-up in some room without a weapon because you've made it so that the TEK is now keeping a sharp eye on me," I retorted."Can't you tell I'm trying to help you?" she got loud, on the cusp of becoming enraged."Yes. I called you, asking for help. I also called to apologize, without making it sound like some lame stupid stunt to get you back. I'm in real trouble here and I've put other people in danger at the same time," I told her. And yes, I planned to get some 'Anais' when I got back to North America."I'm telling you," she persisted, "let Hungarian law enforcement help you.""I'm trying to make you understand," I countered, "that this is a situation that the police can't help me with. I called you because I believed I could trust you, even though you hate me.""I'm angry with you, Cáel. I don't hate you," she grumbled. "I am trying to help.""If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't still be talking to you, Anais," I allowed. "What did Timothy tell you?""Is that all you care about?" she grumbled."Actually, this is me trying not to be a selfish jackass," I said. "People are in danger because of me and I need to make sure they are safe before I take care of myself.""That's, very unlike you," Anais sounded unsure."I've been doing some growing up since graduation," I replied. "I only wish I'd grown smarter.""I, I'm sorry about your Papa," she quieted down."They gunned him down in his own home," I told her. "Dad never touched a gun in his life and they shot him with an assault rifle.""Oh, well, I understand your Federal Justice Department is investigating the matter," Anais tried to comfort me. "I talked with your Prosecutor Castello. She wouldn't tell me much.""Pity," I mumbled. "I know they are having difficulties.""It is an American problem," she noted."Not really," I sunk in my hooks. "We've been working with MI-6 and the CIA. They are all part of that international task force I told you about {see last chapter}.""Yes, how did you get Irish diplomatic status? That doesn't make any sense," she perked up. Anais liked puzzles. Actually, she liked solving conundrums. It made her a great cop."We are missing the party," Monika protested, in German."That's right. Tell your EX-girlfriend good-bye, Cáel," Anya insisted loudly."Who is that?" Anais groused."It is Anya, the Bulgarian mechanical engineer. We've had sex since you and I last talked and I think she's feeling a tad possessive," I explained.Pause."Bastard," Anais seethed. I was sure her cunt was twitching already. "Fine. I talked with your roommate, he says you have my uniform in a dress bag and my boots in a sealed box, so I forgive you. Anyway, he said Odette called, and she gave him a number to give to you."Since it didn't have 555 in it, I had hopes it was genuine. This was not the time to give Anais the quick kiss-off."I appreciate it, Anais," I sighed with relief. "Have you decided which restaurant you want to go to when I get back?""I haven't given it much thought, Cáel," I could feel her defrosting further. "How can I keep in touch with you?""Ugh, I don't have my own phone right now. Tomorrow I'm going to steal some means of conveyance and, " I grinned."Don't tell me that," Anais complained. "I'm still an officer of the law.""Well, the new 'me' is trying to be more honest with you, Anais. I've got to get out of town tomorrow. Would you rather I lied to you, again?" I confounded her."Well, no. Try to be careful, prends soin de mon amour," she sighed."I will call you as soon as I'm able. Thank you again," I signed off."I still say, 'that one' is confused about her 'ex' status," Orsi teased me."Do you know what is worse than having one woman save your soul?" I tossed out to them. They could not divine an answer. "Having three women do it at the same time, for different reasons. Now I believe we have a party starving for our attention."(Reunions)Pamela had convinced me the motorcycle driver who belonged to our newly acquired BMW K1600 GT would be at least four hours regaining consciousness and getting himself untied. We had stopped at a petrol station along the 431, between Kiszombor, Hungary and the Romanian border. She wanted to fuel up before the border crossing, in case things didn't work out, you know, with our guns and this stolen vehicle.She was already peeved that I'd stopped in Szeged to pick up a few pounds of paprika. Rumor had it that the fields around that stretch of the Tisza produced the highest quality of that spice on the planet, especially the sweet kind. Pamela pointed out I knew 'jack' about cooking. I agreed. What I did know was cooks, the female variety.Fresh spice from the 'source' was way better than a dozen roses, even with a box of chocolates added. Did I have a cook lined up in New York? No, but I was sure I could find one. Wait! Yasmin, my Brazilian, ex-Super Cop, hottie should be back in town by now. If she didn't cook, she'd definitely have a friend I could seduce.Honest to Ishara, I was starting to believe this constant 'work-work-work' was ruining my normally poor judgment where sex and fidelity were concerned.Pamela was getting some lunch for us while I gassed up my crotch-rocket. My luck kept being, exceptional. Two Hungarian motorcycle troopers showed up; both were women and they apparently had decided that I was worthy of attention. Hey, I'm good-looking, and I was wearing a ballistic vest. (The durability of my long coat wasn't so obvious.) "Nice bike," the first one, the one directly confronting me, said. "Thanks. It is a KT1600 GT, 2009," I smiled. "What are you two on?" "Yamaha FJR1300A's," she answered. I put up the nozzle, capped the tank and walked over to her conveyance. It was a really sweet ride. "You have a gun," she noted calmly. She and her partner both had their hands on their holstered weapons. Since the flaps were still down, I wasn't panicking. "Yes. More than one in fact," I kept pretending to look over her bike while I was really scoping her out. I'd nailed all six boat girls and then had the Macedonian babe for breakfast. So I still had three good sexual bangs in me before dusk and these two were nice and pleasant enough. "Do you have permits for those?" she asked. Her partner was calling something in. "Are we still in Hungary?" I mused. The question was a joke. "I believe we are," she smiled. Sure, I may have been a dangerous felon, but I was a nice looking and engaging one."Nope. I'm afraid not," I sighed. She understood my English. "Why are you so armed?" she kept calm. "Are you law enforcement somewhere?" "Does a secretive, non-governmental, paramilitary organization count?" "No," she sighed. "That sounds rather criminal. So, what are you carrying?" That was a nice way of saying 'give me your gun'."Left, right, back, or ankle?" I replied. "Which one do you want first?" "Let's try this again. Can I see some form of ID?" she remained rather comfortable despite this having to be the most bizarre traffic stop of her career."I'm reaching around to my right rear jean pocket for it," I related. Something dating Anais had taught me was that you always tell an on-duty cop what you are doing before you do it.She nodded, so I pulled out my NY Driver's license, my US passport and my Irish Diplomatic ID. She began looking them over. "You are Cáel Nyilas?" she looked over my documents. "If that who it says I am, then yes," I grinned.For a second, she was P-O'ed, then she realized I was playing with her. She snorted in amusement and returned to looking over my stuff.   "Nyilas is a Hungarian name," she hummed. "Székely," I clarified. "My family emigrated to America at the end of World War II. I've actually come back here to look over the homeland." "You couldn't land in Bucharest?" she handed me my ID back. "What?" I feigned an insult to my intellect. "Hungarian women are far prettier.""You don't appear to be Dortmund Schuyler," her partner looked me over.

Good and bad unintended consequences.By FinalStand. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels.The highest cost of losing a war is the rage of your children."Maybe the Canadian is not so much an 'ex' girlfriend?" Orsi leered. It was the old 'if he is so good that she still wants him back after a colossal screw up, I wanted a taste' expression."Do you think she will help you?" Katalin inquired."She'll help," Pamela huffed playfully. "My grandson has plenty of ex-girlfriends. Most of them want him back, despite his colorful lifestyle. It is one of his more amusing qualities.""Let's get something to eat," I tried to turn the conversation away from my past sexcapades."You are engaged?" Jolan didn't miss a beat."It is complicated," I sighed. "Let's just say I really like her, but she's seven years older, divorced with one young daughter and has a father who hates that I live and breathe.""Do you have any male friends?" Monika joined the Cáel Quiz Bowl."Yes," I replied with confidence. "My roommate Timothy and I are great friends.""He's gay," Pamela pierced their disbelief. "He and Cáel are true brothers-in-arms, I'll give Cáel that much.""Do you have any straight male friends?" Orsi was enjoying taunting me."Do Chaz or Vincent count?" I looked to Pamela."They are straight males, but they don't really know you yet," Pamela failed to be of much help. "I think Vincent insinuated he'd shoot you if you dated any of his three daughters. It was friendly of him to warn you. I supposed that could be construed as liking you.""Are all your acquaintances violent?" Anya seemed worried."Vincent isn't violent. He's with the US FBI," I retorted. Pause. "Okay, he carries a gun and shoots it, he's a law officer. They can do that.""You seem to be stressed," Orsi put an arm around my waist. "Let us ease your worries." Hallelujah!Note: One of History's LessonsIn the last 75 years of military history, airpower had been a decisive factor in every major conflict, save one. Most Americans would think the one exception was US involvement in Vietnam and they'd be wrong: right country, wrong time. Indochina's War of Independence against France was the exception. There, the French Air Force was simply inadequate to the task.Yes, the United States and its allies eventually lost the struggle in Vietnam. But it was their airpower that kept the conflict running as long as it did. For the most part, the Allied and Communist military hardware on the ground were equivalent. While the Allies had superior quantities of supplies, the Communists countered that with numbers, and therein lies the rub.Airpower allowed the Allies to smash large North Vietnamese formations south of the Demilitarized Zone and thus prevented the numerical advantage from coming into play. The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong made one serious stab at a conventional militarily challenge to the Allies, the Tet Offensive, and after initial successes, they were crushed.With the NVA unable to flex their superior numbers, the Allies were able to innovate helicopter-borne counter-insurgency operations. The North Vietnam's Army (NVA) was forced to operate in smaller units, so the Allies were able to engage them in troop numbers that helicopters could support. The air forces didn't deliver ultimate victory, but air power alone had never been able to do so on land. It was only when the US lost faith in achieving any positive outcome in Viet Nam and pulled out, that the North was finally able to overrun the South 20 months later. But every major power today understands the lesson.End of Note(Big Trouble in Little China)The military importance of airpower was now haunting the leadership of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). Their problem wasn't aircraft. Most of their air fleet consisted of the most advanced models produced during the last two decades. The problem was that 80% of their pilots were dead, or dying. Their ground crews were in the same peril. Even shanghaiing commercial pilots couldn't meet the projected pilot shortfall.Classic PLA defense doctrine was to soak up an enemy (Russian) attack and bog down the aggressor with semi-guerilla warfare (classic small unit tactics backed up with larger, light infantry formations). Then, when the invaders were over-extended and exhausted, the armored / mechanized / motorized forces would counter-attack and destroy their foes. This last bit required air superiority through attrition.The twin enemies of this strategy were the price of technology and the Chinese economic priorities. With the rising cost of the high-tech equipment and a central government focus on developing the overall economy, the Chinese went for an ever smaller counter attack striking force, thus skewing the burden of depth of support far in favor of their relatively static militia/police units.So now, while the PLA / PLAAF's main divisions, brigades and Air Wings were some of the best equipped on the planet, the economic necessities had also meant the militia was financially neglected, remaining little more than early Cold War Era non-mechanized infantry formations. To compensate, the Chinese had placed greater and greater emphasis on the deployment capabilities of their scarcer, technologically advanced formations.When the Anthrax outbreak started, the strike force personnel were the first personnel 'vaccinated'. Now those men and women were coughing out the last days and hours of their lives. Unfortunately, you couldn't simply put a few commercial truck drivers in a T-99 Main Battle Tank and expect them to be anything more than a rolling coffin. The same went for a commercial airline pilot and a Chengdu J-10 multi-role fighter. The best you could hope for was for him/her to make successful takeoffs and landings.A further critical factor was that the Khanate's first strike had also targeted key defense industries. The damage hadn't been irreparable. Most military production would be only a month to six weeks behind schedule. But there would be a gap.It was just becoming clear that roughly 80% of their highly-trained, frontline combatants were going to die anyway. Their Reserves were looking at 30~40% attrition due to the illness as well. In the short term (three months), they would be fighting with whatever they started with. Within the very short term (one week), they were going to have a bunch of high-priced equipment and no one trained to use it. With chilling practicality, the Chinese leaders decided to throw their dying troopers into one immediate, massive counter-offensive against the Khanate.Just as Temujin predicted they would. Things were playing out according to plan.Note: World Events SummaryRound #1 had seen the Khanate unite several countries under one, their, banner. Earth  and  Sky soldiers had rolled across the Chinese border as their Air Force and Missile Regiments had used precision strikes to hammer Chinese bases, sever their transportation network and crippled their civilian infrastructure.Next, the frontier offensive units had been obliterated, the cities bypassed and the Khanate Tumens had sped forward to the geographic junctures between what the Khanate wanted and from whence the PLA had to come. In the last phase of Round #1, the Khanate prepped for the inevitable PLA / PLAAF counter-strike.Round #2 had now begun:Step One: Declare to the World that the Khanate was a nuclear power. As history would later reveal, this was a lie, but no one had any way of initially knowing that. Hell, the Khanate hadn't even existed 72 hours ago. Satellite imagery did show the Khanate had medium-range strategic missiles capable of hitting any location in the People's Republic. In Beijing, a nuclear response was taken off the table.Step Two: Initiate the largest air-battle in the history of Asia. Not just planes either. Both sides flew fleets of UCAV's at one another. It wasn't really even a battle between China and just the Khanate. Virtually all of the UAV technology the Khanate was using was Japanese, South Korean and Taiwanese in origin, plus some US-Russian-shared technology thrown into the mix.When the South Korean design team saw the footage of their bleeding-edge dogfighting UCAVs shooting down their PRC opponents, they were thrilled (their design rocked!), shocked (what was their 'baby' doing dominating Chinese airspace?) and anxious (members of South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration, DAPA, were rushing over to chat with them).Similar things were happening in Japan, Taiwan, Russia and the United States. The Communist Party leadership in Beijing were beginning to seriously consider the possibility that everyone was out to get them. Of course, all the Ambassadors in Beijing were bobbing their heads with the utmost respect while swearing on the lives of their first born sons that their nations had nothing to do with any of this.These foreign diplomats promised to look into these egregious breaches of their scientific integrity and were saying how sorry they were that the PLA and PLAAF were getting ass-raped for the World's viewing pleasure. No, they couldn't stop the Khanate posting such things to the internet, something to do with freedom. Paranoia had been creeping into the Potentates' thoughts since the Pakistan/Aksai Chan incident.As they watched their very expensive jets and UCAV's being obliterated, distrust of the global community became the 800 pound gorilla in the room. To add habaneros to the open wounds, the United States and the United Kingdom began dropping hints that they had some sort of highly personal communication conduit with the Khanate's secretive and unresponsive leadership. Yes Virginia Wolfe, the Western World was out to get the People's Republic.'Great Mao's Ghost', all that claptrap their grandfathers had babbled on about (1) the Korea War, (2) the Sino-Soviet grudge match, (3) the Sino-Vietnamese conflict and (4) the persistent support for the renegade province of Formosa all being a continuous effort by the liberal democracies and post-colonial imperialist to contain Chinese communism, didn't sound so crazy anymore.Step Three: Plaster all those PLA ground units that had started moving toward them when the air war began and the Chinese envisioned they would control the skies. The T-99 was a great tank. It also blew up rather spectacularly when it was stuck on a rail car (you don't drive your tanks halfway across China, it kills the treads).As Craig Kilborn put into his late night repertoire:"What do you call a Khanate UCAV driver who isn't an ace yet? Late for work.""What's the difference between me coming off a weekend long Las Vegas bender and a Khanate pilot? Not a damn thing. We've both been up for three days straight, yet everyone expects us to work tonight."Some PLA generals decided to make an all-out charge at the Tumens. Genghis's boys and girls were having none of that. They weren't using their Russian-built Khanate tanks to kill Chinese-built PLA tanks. No, their tanks were sneaking around and picking off the Chinese anti-air vehicles.The Chinese tanks and APCs engaged the dismounted Khanate infantry who, as Aksai Chin had shown, possessed some of the latest anti-tank weaponry. In the few cases where the PLA threw caution to the wind, they did some damage to the Khanate by sheer weight of numbers. For the rest, it was death by airpower.With their anti-air shield gone, the battle became little more than a grisly, real-life FPS game. It wasn't 'THE END'. China still had over 2,000,000 troops to call upon versus the roughly 200,000 the Khanate could currently muster. The PLA's new dilemma was how to transport these mostly truck-bound troops anywhere near the front lines without seeing them also exterminated from the air.After the Tumens gobbled up the majority of the PLA's available mobile forces, they resumed their advance toward the provincial boundaries of Xinjiang and Nin Mongol. There was little left to slow them down. The Chinese still held most of the urban centers in Xinjiang and Nei Mongol, yet they were isolated. And Khanate follow-up forces (the national armies they'd 'inherited') were putting the disease-riddled major municipalities under siege.All over the 24/7 World Wide News cycle, talking heads and military gurus were of two minds about the Khanate's offensive. Most harped on the fact that while the Khanate was making great territorial gains, it was barely making a dent in the Chinese population and economy. Uniformly, those people insisted that before the end of November, the Khanate would be crushed and a reordering of Asia was going to be the next great Mandate for the United Nations.A few of the braver unconventional pundits pointed out the same thing, but with the opposite conclusion, arguing:1.There were virtually no military forces in the conquered areas to contend with the Khanate's hold on the regions.2.Their popularity in the rural towns and countryside seriously undercut any hope for a pro-PRC insurgency.3.Driving the Khanate's forces back to their starting points would be a long and difficult endeavor that the World Economy might not be able to endure.When the PLAAF was effectively castrated after thirty-six hours of continuous aerial combat, a lot of experts were left with egg on their faces. One lone commentator asked the most fearful question of all. Where was the Khanate getting the financing, technical know-how and expertise to pull all of this off? There was a reason to be afraid of that answer.And while I was entertaining my six sailor-saviors, there were two other things of a diplomatic nature only just revealing themselves. Publically, Vladimir Putin had graciously offered to mediate the crisis while 'stealthily' increasing the readiness of his Eastern Military District. If there was any confusion, that meant activating a shitload of troops on the Manchurian border, not along the frontiers of the former nations of Mongolia and Kazakhstan.After all, Mongolia was terribly poor. Manchuria/Northeastern China? Manchuria was rich, rich, rich! From the Kremlin, Putin spoke of 'projecting a presence' into the 'lost territory' of Manchuria, citing Russia's long involvement in the region. By his interpretation of history, the Russians (aka the Soviet Union) had rescued Manchukuo (the theoretically INDEPENDENT Imperial Japanese puppet state of Manchuria) from the Japanese in 1945. They'd even given it back to the PRC for safekeeping after World War II was concluded.Putin promised Russia was ready and willing to help out the PRC once again, suggesting that maybe a preemptive intervention would forestall the inevitable Khanate attack, thus saving the wealthy, industrialized province from the ravages of war. Surely Putin's Russians could be relied on to withdraw once the Khanate struggle was resolved? Surprisingly, despite being recent beneficiaries of President Putin's promises, the Ukraine remained remiss in their accolades regarding his rectitude.In the other bit of breaking news; an intermediary convinced the Khanate to extend an invitation to the Red Cross, Red Crescent and the WHO to investigate the recently conquered regions in preparations for a humanitarian mission.That intermediary was Hana Sulkanen; for reasons no one could fathom, she alone had the clout to get the otherwise unresponsive new regime to open up and she was using that influence to bring about a desperately needed relief effort to aid the civilians caught up in that dynastic struggle. A Princess indeed. No one was surprised that the PRC protested, claiming that since the territory wasn't conquered, any intervention was a gross violation of Chinese sovereignty.End of Note(To Live and Die in Hun-Gray)Orsi may have been the troupe leader, but Anya needed me more, so she came first."I need a shower before we catch some dinner," I announced as we meandered the streets of Mindszent. My lady friends were all processing that as I wound an arm around Anya's waist and pulled her close. "Shower?" I smiled down at her, she was about 5 foot 7. It took her a few seconds to click on my invitation."Yeah, sure, that would be nice," she reciprocated my casual waist hold. Several of her friends giggled over her delay. We were heading back to the Seven Fishermen's Guest House."Do you do this, picking up strange girls you've barely met for, you know?" she said in Bulgarian, as she looked at me expectantly."Yes and no," I began, in Russian. "I often find myself encountering very intriguing women, for which I know I am a fortunate man. I embrace sensuality. That means I know what I'm doing, but I'm not the 'bring him home to meet the parents' kind of guy.""What of your fiancée? Do you feel bad about cheating on her?" Anya pursued me."Hana is wonderful. I've met her father and it went badly both times," I confessed."How?" Anya looked concerned for me."Would you two speak a language the rest of us can understand?" Monika teased us."Very well," I nodded to Monika, and turned back to Anya, "The first time, his son raped a girl and I threatened the young man's life," I revealed. "Jormo, Hana's father, wasn't happy when I did so. The second time, he hit me twice, once in the gut and once in the head," I continued."Why did he hit you?" Orsi butted in."I'd rather not say. You may think less of me," I confessed. Pamela gave me a wink for playing my audience so well. I'm glad she's family (kinda/sorta)."The boy, he is dead?" Magdalena guessed. "Hana's brother?""I really shouldn't talk about that," I evaded. "It is a family matter." That's right. The family that my grandmother had brought me into as her intern / slayer-in-training. There is no reason to create a new lie when you can embellish a previous one."Do you ever feel bad about what you do?" Katalin asked Pamela. We love movies."As I see it, if I show up looking for you, you've done something to deserve it," Pamela gave her sage philosophy behind being an assassin."Are you, bi-sexual?" Jolan murmured. Pamela smacked me in the chest as I laughed. "Did I say something wrong?" Jolan worried. Pamela was a killer."No, you are fine," Pamela patted Jolan's shoulder. "I'm straight and happily so. It just so happens that most of my co-workers are women. Day in, day out, nothing but sweaty female bodies working out, sparring and grappling together, and afterwards, the massages."That was my Grandma, poking all the lesbian buttons of the women around me. Best of all, she did it with the detached air of a sexually indifferent matron. She was stirring up the lassies while keeping them focused on me. We walked into the courtyard of our guest house."Don't take too long, you two," Orsi teased us."Ha!" Pamela chuckled. "That's like asking the Sun to hurry up and rise, the Moon to set too soon, or the sea to stay at low tide forever.""Anya," I whispered into her ear. "How many orgasms do you want?" Anya's eyes expanded. Her eyes flickered toward her friends, then back to me. She held up one finger, I grinned speculatively. Anya held up two fingers. I kissed her fingers.

Putin Over 30 Years Has Brought Deaths To  Countries - Zelenskyyhttps://osazuwaakonedo.news/putin-over-30-years-has-brought-deaths-to-countries-zelenskyy/23/02/2025/#World News #Africa #Biden #Europe #Kellogg #MiddleEast #Putin #Russia #Syria #Trump #Ukraine #US #Zelenskyy ©February 23rd, 2025 ®February 23, 2025 11:34 am Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has continued his phone conversations with World leaders with a video and written press statement on Saturday saying that the world leaders must ensure that the Russian President, Vladimir Putin is not allowed to deceive the world again, insisting that Putin has used Russian Army, Intelligent Services and Mercenaries over 30 years to bring deaths to America, Europe, Africa, Middle East, Syria, this, Zelenskyy stated after he began special defence campaign with phone conversations with world leaders following strained relationship with one of the countries that has majorly assisted Ukraine in its defence against Russia since 2022 when the war began, United States, US President, Donald Trump who threatened to stop military aid to Ukraine, claiming that Ukraine started the war it knows it cannot win, calling President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a modestly successful comedian and a dictator that deceived the immediate past US President, Joe Biden to commit over $350 billion of US taxpayers money on a war the North America country will not get any profit in return with Ukrainian President accusing Donald Trump of disinformation and saying that Putin led Russia has intensified attacks and launched massive bomb destructions on Ukraine cities and villages during the week of Donald Trump's outburst. #OsazuwaAkonedo

When a fire threatens to destroy a small town, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi extinguishes the fierce flames with a glance. Later, a Russian Army captain who had sent soldiers to unsuccessfully fight the fire shares a story about the holy Baal Shem Tov with the Rebbe.

For review:1.  IDF Warplanes Strike Hezbollah Weapon Depots in Lebanon.2. Three Israeli Hostages set for release on Saturday morning from Gaza Strip. Israel will release 183 Palestinian prisoners in return.3. In a speech from Tehran, the Iranian Supreme Leader vows Iran will respond to any threat or violation of the country's security by the US.4. Iran Unveils IRGC Navy Drone Carrier. According to an IRGC Navy Commander- the drone carrier is capable of carrying several squadrons of unmanned aerial vehicles, launching and landing unmanned fighter jets, deploying various reconnaissance and combat drones, launching and recovering various light and fast combat vessels, as well as carrying and deploying various combat and support helicopters.5. US Special Envoy to Ukraine & Russia- Keith Kellogg- will participate in the Munich Security Conference from 14-16 February. Though he will speak at the event, Mr. Kellogg denied that he will release the US Peace Proposal to stop the fighting between Russia and Ukraine. Mr. Kellogg: "The person that's going to present the peace plan is the President of the United States, not Keith Kellogg."6. Russian Army receives first batch of BMP-3 Fighting Vehicles. The BMP-3 is armed with a 100-millimeter gun launcher, a 30-millimeter autocannon, a grenade launcher, machine guns, and an optional remote weapon station with a 57-millimeter autocannon.7. France Sends Mirage Fighters to Ukraine. Sébastien Lecornu, France's Armed Forces Minister, said last year that the Mirage 2000 Fighters would be equipped with air-to-ground weapons and new electronic warfare equipment.8. UK to Chair Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Brussels. United Kingdom Secretary of State for Defense John Healey will chair the event as it gathers for its 26th time next week in Brussels, marking the first time an American defense secretary has not convened the meeting in its three-year history.9. Dutch military renews focus on the strategic importance of rail transport for heavy military equipment and supplies.10. Panama declines to renew Panama Canal infrastructure agreement with China after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit.

Edition No93 | 07-02-2025 - Ukraine has struck again in the Kursk direction, advancing up to 6km it is claimed. Russian reports described being struck ‘Like a Bolt from the Blue', raising the question of preparedness of Russian troops and lack of effective monitoring of Ukrainian preparations. So far, the only information we have is from Russian Mil bloggers, and Z-patriots, so we need to be cautious about the details, as the Ukrainian side is observing tight operational silence. According to these sources, Ukrainian troops launched a surprise offensive in Kursk with 500 personnel and 50 armoured vehicles. It is alleged that gas pipelines were damaged and the strike comes as a blow to Russian control in the area, as well as to Putin image. ----------We ran two events in Ukraine in the last two weeks. Lviv (part 2) and Kyiv. The event we ran in August 2023 was a huge success, and had a great impact. Now our aim is even more ambitious. Two cities. Two events. Multiple panels consisting of the best experts, and all filmed in high definition for the channel.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasBut it costs. Last time the overall cost was £3,500 for Live in Lviv, and we covered 80% of this through ticket sales. This time the costs are higher, and there's less opportunity to sell tickets at the available venues and studios, so I'm creating a campaign to raise £5,000 to make this trip a reality. We also have a much more ambitious programme to film interviews around Kyiv and Lviv for the channel. This project will have an impact, so please help if you can. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------Kursk has become not just a significant meat grinder to sap Russia's human resources, but a metal grinder, destroying huge amounts of Russian armour and kit. It is interesting to end this episode on some quotes and conclusions from the ISW report: - A small group of Ukrainian troops in Kursk Oblast have complicated the Russian military's efforts to advance in Ukraine over the last six months. - Roughly a division's worth of Ukrainian troops has undermined the Russian military's ability to launch or renew offensive operations in lower-priority areas of the frontline and to reinforce priority efforts with elite airborne (VDV) and naval infantry units. - The Ukrainian incursion in Kursk Oblast is a partial proof of concept of how limited Ukrainian battlefield activity that leverages vulnerabilities in Russia's warfighting capabilities and that integrates technological adaptations with mechanized manoeuvre can have theatre-wide impacts on operations. - It showed that surprise is still possible even on a partially transparent battlefield and that rapid manoeuvre is possible under the right conditions. The war in Ukraine, in other words, is not permanently stalemated. - Either side can potentially restore manoeuvre and begin to gain or regain significant territory. Russia will be able to do so if the West reduces or cuts off aid. Ukraine may be able to do so if Western support continues to empower Ukrainian innovation.----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------

Edition No88 | 02-02-2025 - Strelkov is back with more pronouncements. It has been many months since the untimely reports of his demise spread around the Z-blogosphere. Of course we are not concerned about his health, or even his welfare. He is a war criminal and bears even more responsibilities for this horrific war than most Russians. His views on the state of the Russian army may hold some interest, however, as he has been known to occasionally give critical assessments of the competence and performance of the Russian army, some of which have been far closer to reality than the manipulative discourse of Russian propagandist and Z-patriots. ---------- We ran two events in Ukraine in the last two weeks. Lviv (part 2) and Kyiv. The event we ran in August 2023 was a huge success, and had a great impact. Now our aim is even more ambitious. Two cities. Two events. Multiple panels consisting of the best experts, and all filmed in high definition for the channel. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras But it costs. Last time the overall cost was £3,500 for Live in Lviv, and we covered 80% of this through ticket sales. This time the costs are higher, and there's less opportunity to sell tickets at the available venues and studios, so I'm creating a campaign to raise £5,000 to make this trip a reality. We also have a much more ambitious programme to film interviews around Kyiv and Lviv for the channel. This project will have an impact, so please help if you can. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras ---------- He's in prison yes, but it's the wrong prison, and he's not incarcerated for his crimes against Ukraine and humanity, but for disloyalty to the regime that approves of those war crimes. He was an FSB officer who went to Donbas with a gang of thugs, supported by resources from oligarch Konstantin Malofeev, and started provocations and murders there. He blazed a trail for the Russian army to intervene, and for today's full-scale invasion. But during the full-scale war Strelkov assessment of the actions of the Russian army was nearly uniformly negative. These statements are not because he disapproves of the invasion, but because he fears it is neither being conducted efficiently, or ruthlessly enough. “But in the long term, I emphasize, if we continue to fight, or rather, continue to operate as we are now, we will not hold anything, even the Kremlin will not hold it over time.” ---------- SILICON CURTAIN FILM FUNDRAISER A project to make a documentary film in Ukraine, to raise awareness of Ukraine's struggle and in supporting a team running aid convoys to Ukraine's front-line towns. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras ---------- NEWS SOURCES: This episode is adapted from a report that appeared on Michael Naki's YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRDDItFxoQc&t=5s ---------- SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ---------- TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND: Save Ukraine https://www.saveukraineua.org/ Superhumans - Hospital for war traumas https://superhumans.com/en/ UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukraine https://unbroken.org.ua/ Come Back Alive https://savelife.in.ua/en/ Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchen https://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraine UNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyy https://u24.gov.ua/ Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation https://prytulafoundation.org NGO “Herojam Slava” https://heroiamslava.org/ kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemysl https://kharpp.com/ NOR DOG Animal Rescue https://www.nor-dog.org/home/ ----------

A World War 2 story of compassion, loyalty and love.By FinalStand. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories.Both Men and Nations make ware, but only men make love.Introduction: The Nazi Regime was evil; the German Army of the time, the Heer, did horrible things, but in the end armies are made up of ordinary men and this is a story of ordinary men in bad situationsTwo hours before sunset Day 1.Sergeant Heinz Klausenbach pressed himself through the waist deep snow toward the outpost of the neighboring 3rd Battalion. They sat on the extreme north of his own company's position, if you could consider what was left of his command a company. Right now every one of his soldiers was praying to see New Year's Day of 1942, and a prayer was about all they had. The German Wehrmacht was reeling from the massive Soviet Winter offensive and its very existence was in danger.Heinz looked around, trying to get his bearings in the heavy snowfall. He was sure he should have crossed a sentry by now. He checked the bolt on his Mauser rifle; it still worked even in this terrible cold. He snuck up on a figure slumped against as tree. He had on a German helmet so Heinz tapped him and whispered."Hey, don't let your officers find you asleep." The man didn't move. The Sergeant placed a gloved hand on the man's shoulder and was immediately impressed with the cold emanating from him. It bit harder than the lethal winds. Heinz turned the man around and gasped. Even in the cloud-covered failing light the man was an icy blue. He was frozen solid.Heinz didn't want to think about how long the man had to have been out for this to happen. With a sense of dread he pressed on to the last known location of the battalion HQ. He soon came across more frozen corpses. Some looked like they'd died in their sleeps but a few had this look of horror on their faces, as if something had overtaken them.The German came upon the edge of the encampment and slowed down. Nothing seemed to stir in the camp. Heinz endeavored to make it to the battalion radio and relate this disaster. His entire regiment's position was compromised and it was worth his life to save his comrades. As he rounded the main tent and headed for the entrance he found a woman in bare-feet standing over a small clump of frozen men.She had on a loose white gown, cinched at the waist by a black rope. Her skin was alabaster, her hair was waist long, black and seemed to billow about the woman; her lips were a ruddy blue as were her eyes, and her breath came in deep, labored puffs."Comrade," he called out softly in German.The woman turned to face him fully. She was clearly very close to freezing to death. With a moment's hesitation he leant his rifle against the closest tree and tore off his great coat. Steam wafted off his body and the cold intensified as the woman drew close. She was reaching for him when he stepped beside her and wrapped his coat around her chilly shoulders.The woman looked at Heinz in confusion."I know you can't understand me," he continued in German, "but if I don't get you to a fire soon you will die. Let me get you some boots and a spare coat and I'll take you back to me fire."The woman silently regarded him with her dark eyes framed in her classic Slavic features.She seemed to be a very beautiful Russian woman who had experienced a rough time of late. Heinz didn't worry about any of that. If they both stayed out here too long, he would die alongside her. She was so cold it hurt his arm where she grabbed him to steady herself as he put some fur boots on her feet. He took an officer's trench coat and grabbed her chilly hands.The hands felt too bitter to hold so Heinz brought them up to his face and blew hot breath on her. A glimmer of a smile crossed the woman's lips. She said something in Russian, but he hadn't a clue what it was. When the radio proved wrecked he began to drag her back to his own men's position. The woman was careful to follow in the path he stomped through the snow. Twice he stopped to blow again on her freezing hands. Each time she gave that ghost of a smile."Halt," hissed a voice in the twilight."Gunner, I'm back. Get ready to pull back as soon as I give the word," Heinz instructed the private on picket duty."What happened?" he called out carefully. Sound carried far over the snow. "Who is with you?""The 3rd Battalion is gone," Heinz whispered back. "She's the only one I could find.""They left us? The bastards," Gunner growled."No, they are all dead. I didn't find anyone alive this side of the HQ. We need to get the hell out of here," the Sergeant said.Heinz led the woman to his own little command post. His lieutenant had gone to his own battalion HQ two days ago right before the last big push by the Soviets and hadn't been seen since. Heinz had been husbanding the lives of his remaining forty-five men. A few quick orders and his men began to move out. He wouldn't bother radioing Battalion until he'd made his move because he knew what their demands would be.He rolled in his pickets and began his retreat, Fuhrer Orders be damned. The Great Leader ordered that every German stand fast to the last bullet. That was Berlin; in Russia Sgt. Klausenbach had decided to make sure as many of his men as possible lived to see Germany once again. If he followed his conscience they might shoot him. If he stayed, the Russians would definitely kill all of them."Sir, what do we do with the girl?" one of his corporals asked. Heinz looked her over."We'll leave her at the next village we come to. If we abandon her we might as well shoot her. She'll never survive out here on her own," Heinz responded. He offered the woman his hand which she took. Together they led the little German troop in their retreat further west.Two hours later the weary men trudged up to the 'next' village. It wasn't much; twelve houses and two communal buildings. A quick scouting mission revealed that the village hand no soldiers, German or Russian, in it. Heinz had his command move stealthily into the settlement, capturing and securing the various homes as the entered.That done, the German's rounded up the male villagers. Heinz put them to work creating walk ways through the deep snows. His scroungers dug up food supplies which he had the majority of women cook into a hot meal. Using a trick he had picked up in France, Heinz fed the entire village from the prepared food. All the while he felt the eyes of the woman upon him, somehow weighing him in judgment. He was too tired to care.Unfortunately none of the Russians spoke German and the best translator in his unit could only get rudimentary things across. After some finagling, the Sergeant was able communicate to the head of the commune that he was trying to find out who the strange woman belonged to. He talked to the woman who responded in a way that he didn't like. The head man shrugged to the German's.When Heinz went out to check the men he'd placed around the outer buildings, the woman insisted in coming along, no matter how much he tried to dissuade her. When they got back he made a point to wrap her in a blanket and lay her down next to the fire. Even as he put himself up against a post in the building to grab the few hours of sleep allowed a non-com, she was still looking him over.Next sunrise Day 2:"Sergeant Klausenbach, you do realize that you have compromised our entire position," snapped the colonel's adjutant. Sergeants didn't get to talk to the real 'powers that be'. "You need to move back and reestablish the line at once.""Sir, the 3rd Battalion is all gone sir, or at least the two companies I ran across. Sir they were frozen to death. There is no way my forty-five men can plug a hole that wide.""If you fail to follow your orders Sergeant, you will be arrested and returned to Regimental command to stand trial for cowardice in the face of the enemy," the officer threatened. Heinz looked over at the few men in the communal barn with him. The woman studied him intently as well. Heinz was beginning to suspect she understood more than she was letting on."I can't do it sir," Heinz sighed. "What you want me to do can't be done and I'm not going to have all my men die trying to fulfill this insane command just to save my own life. Do what you must." There was no response for the longest time; seconds became minutes."Sergeant Klausenbach, can you defend your current position?" the adjutant asked."I'm in a small village and I've got a good view of the terrain. I can hold it against anything short of a determined attack. Is there any hope of artillery support?" Heinz asked."We will do what we can," the officer answered."Unless they throw a battalion at me, I'll hold this position Sir.""I'll get you some supplies as soon as we figure out where you are," was the man's final statement before the connection ended and Heinz was left looking at his men. One of his men stuck a hot cup of ersatz-coffee which tasted like crap but warmed the blood. He offered half of the cup to the girl who drank it and made a face that had to say 'are you trying to poison me?'Heinz quickly formed some plan for the defense of the village. Once he figured out the best building to hold on to, he moved the families into the houses closer to the center. He fortified the strongpoints and set the other buildings up to be burned if he needed to get rid of them. Convinced he was doing the best he could, he took out a small patrol east to see if he could spot the Russians but there didn't seem to be any around for miles.4 hours later Day 2:As he came back to the village from the east he heard supply trucks coming in from the west side of the village. Heinz took deep sigh and despite the icy daggers in his lungs, he felt happy. With the proper supplies in his current fortifications, he knew his men could hold out as needed. Only when the trucks came close to village did Heinz start to get a funny feeling about things.There were not enough trucks and too much protection. There was a jeep, two half-tracks guarding only two trucks. It was lavish protection for the resupply for one under-strength company. When the leader stepped out one of the soldiers with him grumbled. For Heinz it was more a matter of raw anger that came with desperate disappointment. They were an SS security detail.Everyone in the Army had heard rumors of these detachments. Their generous critics called their actions 'anti-partisan' operations; others whispered accusations of villages leveled and mass executions. Heinz had little hope he was here to help them hold off actual Russian soldiers. The leader was the SS equivalent of a Captain, though he had no rank in the Heer."Sergeant Klausenbach," the Captain said scanning the bundled up German soldiers. Heinz stepped forward."That would be me. Have you come to resupply us?" Heinz asked in even tone."No," the SS man began."Have you come to relieve us?" Heinz interrupted."No," the man continued."Then why in the hell are you in my village?" Heinz snapped. The closest armed SS guards bristled at the treatment of their officer, but the Captain merely smiled in an effete gesture."As I have been trying to tell you Sergeant, there has been a report of unusual activity and my unit is here to investigate," he smiled like a predatory cat. Heinz tried not to feel like its next meal."Like what, sir?" Heinz inquired."A whole battalion froze to death; I need to know if you noticed anything unusual when you scouted the scene," the Captain questioned. Two the closest German soldiers shot Heinz a quick look. The woman who was right behind him stayed motionless."Nothing sir, except a number of men frozen solid with a few of those clearly terrified before they died," Heinz lied."Oh, a pity; I will need you to lead me and some of my men to the site," the SS captain said with a white toothy grin."Sir, you have to realize that the whole area has to be crawling with Communists by now. I can't justify throwing the lives of my men away on such a foolish errand," Heinz protested."First Sergeant, this wasn't a request. I have orders from your regiment to accord me, my men, and my mission every available resource. Secondly, the only guide I need is you. Leave your men in safety. Finally, it shouldn't be the Russian soldiers you should be afraid of," he grinned."What does that mean?" Heinz asked."That is not important to you," the Captain pointed out, rubbing his clean shaven jawline. Heinz stepped forward and extended his hands. With a great show of forbearance the SS Captain (whose name turned out to be G Sierech) gave Heinz his orders who read them. A cold wind threatened to steal the paper away. Heinz swore under his breath."I've only now come in from patrol Captain Sierech. Let me warm myself by the fire and get a bite to eat. You and your men can join us," Heinz suggested. The SS Captain acknowledged the wisdom of the gesture and soon thirty SS men were inside the communal barn with nearly half the villagers."You need to stay here with the others," Heinz pleaded with the woman when they had a moment alone. "Listen, I don't know if you can understand any of this, but I think they are after you and if they figure out who you are they will kill you. Please understand that." She looked into his eyes then past him."Who is the woman?" Captain Sierech inquired politely having snuck up close enough to hear voices but clearly not their intent."She is my woman," Heinz offered."You have good taste in woman. Too bad she's a Slav," Sierech noted contemptuously. "Woman, do you pleasure him?""I prefer to think that she has good taste in men," Heinz countered. The woman made no sign that she understood the SS officer."She doesn't speak much German, does she?" he smiled in that chilling way of his."She doesn't need to speak for what I want," Heinz highly exaggerated. He was far too exhausted for sex and even if he had, he couldn't stomach rape or rapists.Three things happened in rapid succession. Sierech moved to snatch the woman by the hair, the woman stumbled away, and Heinz snapped up his arm and batted the officer's arm aside.The officer reached for his pistol then froze. Heinz had a knife to his throat."Be careful with your next action, Sergeant," hissed Sierech. All over the room German soldiers and SS men were pointing weapons at one another. There were more SS in the room, but it wouldn't help Sierech; Heinz would kill him. The Captain's chest heaved in anticipation."Button up your pistol Captain," Heinz said angrily. "As you said, be careful with your next action." The officer shrugged and buttoned up his holder and moved his hand away. Heinz put his knife back in its sheath and told his men to stand down."Let me finish here and I'll be ready to be your guide in five minutes, Sir."Sierech gave the Hitler salute which Heinz was obliged to follow and once he had a moment, he pulled the woman aside."Does this have anything to do with you?" Heinz asked. He got no reply. "If I got you some provisions could you make your way to the Russian lines?" Again, no reply."Damn it," Heinz pleaded, "I'm trying to save you and I know you know more about what is happening here than you are letting on." By this time the SS were gathering for the mission. "I can't be here to protect you," which brought a smile to her lips. He'd even dressed her down like one of his soldiersWhen he got into the truck he found and odd assortment of gear. Some of it was weird electronic detection units. There were also a good many White Phosphorus grenades and flame throwers. The also had light mortars and plenty of ammunition. Heinz was stepping up when the woman came running up to him. She kissed him as if we were old lovers, deep and rich and something so strong it rattled his toes. Fear, fatigue and even the cold vanished in this surge of warmth. He couldn't have appreciated it more it if had been a three day pass.Heinz convinced them that the best bet was to go around the north then trying due east along 3rd battalion designated retreat route. With the trucks left behind, the SS team made good time until they got close to the battalion parameter. They seemed interested in the frozen bodies as a matter of research and Heinz with two years of university knew just enough that something worse than the wretched winter was at work here.4pm Day 2:I quickly became clear that the soviets come this way, but decided to go around it and continued on to the north. At the camp thing were pretty much as he had left them. No sooner had they arrived the SS began searching the ground for tracks. They found what they were looking for too. Bare woman's footprints. Heinz did his best to appear skeptical without offering any explanation. After some work they determined that the woman had stalked Heinz back to his camp and then followed his troops in the direction of the village."What did you do here?" the SS Captain Sierech commanded. He had the polished wood case of a sniper rifle on his back. Somehow that choice of weapons suited him."I walked the perimeter, came in looking for survivors among that stack of bodies thinking that some survivors would have buried themselves f

A World War 2 story of compassion, loyalty and love.By FinalStand. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories.Both Men and Nations make ware, but only men make love.Introduction: The Nazi Regime was evil; the German Army of the time, the Heer, did horrible things, but in the end armies are made up of ordinary men and this is a story of ordinary men in bad situationsTwo hours before sunset Day 1.Sergeant Heinz Klausenbach pressed himself through the waist deep snow toward the outpost of the neighboring 3rd Battalion. They sat on the extreme north of his own company's position, if you could consider what was left of his command a company. Right now every one of his soldiers was praying to see New Year's Day of 1942, and a prayer was about all they had. The German Wehrmacht was reeling from the massive Soviet Winter offensive and its very existence was in danger.Heinz looked around, trying to get his bearings in the heavy snowfall. He was sure he should have crossed a sentry by now. He checked the bolt on his Mauser rifle; it still worked even in this terrible cold. He snuck up on a figure slumped against as tree. He had on a German helmet so Heinz tapped him and whispered."Hey, don't let your officers find you asleep." The man didn't move. The Sergeant placed a gloved hand on the man's shoulder and was immediately impressed with the cold emanating from him. It bit harder than the lethal winds. Heinz turned the man around and gasped. Even in the cloud-covered failing light the man was an icy blue. He was frozen solid.Heinz didn't want to think about how long the man had to have been out for this to happen. With a sense of dread he pressed on to the last known location of the battalion HQ. He soon came across more frozen corpses. Some looked like they'd died in their sleeps but a few had this look of horror on their faces, as if something had overtaken them.The German came upon the edge of the encampment and slowed down. Nothing seemed to stir in the camp. Heinz endeavored to make it to the battalion radio and relate this disaster. His entire regiment's position was compromised and it was worth his life to save his comrades. As he rounded the main tent and headed for the entrance he found a woman in bare-feet standing over a small clump of frozen men.She had on a loose white gown, cinched at the waist by a black rope. Her skin was alabaster, her hair was waist long, black and seemed to billow about the woman; her lips were a ruddy blue as were her eyes, and her breath came in deep, labored puffs."Comrade," he called out softly in German.The woman turned to face him fully. She was clearly very close to freezing to death. With a moment's hesitation he leant his rifle against the closest tree and tore off his great coat. Steam wafted off his body and the cold intensified as the woman drew close. She was reaching for him when he stepped beside her and wrapped his coat around her chilly shoulders.The woman looked at Heinz in confusion."I know you can't understand me," he continued in German, "but if I don't get you to a fire soon you will die. Let me get you some boots and a spare coat and I'll take you back to me fire."The woman silently regarded him with her dark eyes framed in her classic Slavic features.She seemed to be a very beautiful Russian woman who had experienced a rough time of late. Heinz didn't worry about any of that. If they both stayed out here too long, he would die alongside her. She was so cold it hurt his arm where she grabbed him to steady herself as he put some fur boots on her feet. He took an officer's trench coat and grabbed her chilly hands.The hands felt too bitter to hold so Heinz brought them up to his face and blew hot breath on her. A glimmer of a smile crossed the woman's lips. She said something in Russian, but he hadn't a clue what it was. When the radio proved wrecked he began to drag her back to his own men's position. The woman was careful to follow in the path he stomped through the snow. Twice he stopped to blow again on her freezing hands. Each time she gave that ghost of a smile."Halt," hissed a voice in the twilight."Gunner, I'm back. Get ready to pull back as soon as I give the word," Heinz instructed the private on picket duty."What happened?" he called out carefully. Sound carried far over the snow. "Who is with you?""The 3rd Battalion is gone," Heinz whispered back. "She's the only one I could find.""They left us? The bastards," Gunner growled."No, they are all dead. I didn't find anyone alive this side of the HQ. We need to get the hell out of here," the Sergeant said.Heinz led the woman to his own little command post. His lieutenant had gone to his own battalion HQ two days ago right before the last big push by the Soviets and hadn't been seen since. Heinz had been husbanding the lives of his remaining forty-five men. A few quick orders and his men began to move out. He wouldn't bother radioing Battalion until he'd made his move because he knew what their demands would be.He rolled in his pickets and began his retreat, Fuhrer Orders be damned. The Great Leader ordered that every German stand fast to the last bullet. That was Berlin; in Russia Sgt. Klausenbach had decided to make sure as many of his men as possible lived to see Germany once again. If he followed his conscience they might shoot him. If he stayed, the Russians would definitely kill all of them."Sir, what do we do with the girl?" one of his corporals asked. Heinz looked her over."We'll leave her at the next village we come to. If we abandon her we might as well shoot her. She'll never survive out here on her own," Heinz responded. He offered the woman his hand which she took. Together they led the little German troop in their retreat further west.Two hours later the weary men trudged up to the 'next' village. It wasn't much; twelve houses and two communal buildings. A quick scouting mission revealed that the village hand no soldiers, German or Russian, in it. Heinz had his command move stealthily into the settlement, capturing and securing the various homes as the entered.That done, the German's rounded up the male villagers. Heinz put them to work creating walk ways through the deep snows. His scroungers dug up food supplies which he had the majority of women cook into a hot meal. Using a trick he had picked up in France, Heinz fed the entire village from the prepared food. All the while he felt the eyes of the woman upon him, somehow weighing him in judgment. He was too tired to care.Unfortunately none of the Russians spoke German and the best translator in his unit could only get rudimentary things across. After some finagling, the Sergeant was able communicate to the head of the commune that he was trying to find out who the strange woman belonged to. He talked to the woman who responded in a way that he didn't like. The head man shrugged to the German's.When Heinz went out to check the men he'd placed around the outer buildings, the woman insisted in coming along, no matter how much he tried to dissuade her. When they got back he made a point to wrap her in a blanket and lay her down next to the fire. Even as he put himself up against a post in the building to grab the few hours of sleep allowed a non-com, she was still looking him over.Next sunrise Day 2:"Sergeant Klausenbach, you do realize that you have compromised our entire position," snapped the colonel's adjutant. Sergeants didn't get to talk to the real 'powers that be'. "You need to move back and reestablish the line at once.""Sir, the 3rd Battalion is all gone sir, or at least the two companies I ran across. Sir they were frozen to death. There is no way my forty-five men can plug a hole that wide.""If you fail to follow your orders Sergeant, you will be arrested and returned to Regimental command to stand trial for cowardice in the face of the enemy," the officer threatened. Heinz looked over at the few men in the communal barn with him. The woman studied him intently as well. Heinz was beginning to suspect she understood more than she was letting on."I can't do it sir," Heinz sighed. "What you want me to do can't be done and I'm not going to have all my men die trying to fulfill this insane command just to save my own life. Do what you must." There was no response for the longest time; seconds became minutes."Sergeant Klausenbach, can you defend your current position?" the adjutant asked."I'm in a small village and I've got a good view of the terrain. I can hold it against anything short of a determined attack. Is there any hope of artillery support?" Heinz asked."We will do what we can," the officer answered."Unless they throw a battalion at me, I'll hold this position Sir.""I'll get you some supplies as soon as we figure out where you are," was the man's final statement before the connection ended and Heinz was left looking at his men. One of his men stuck a hot cup of ersatz-coffee which tasted like crap but warmed the blood. He offered half of the cup to the girl who drank it and made a face that had to say 'are you trying to poison me?'Heinz quickly formed some plan for the defense of the village. Once he figured out the best building to hold on to, he moved the families into the houses closer to the center. He fortified the strongpoints and set the other buildings up to be burned if he needed to get rid of them. Convinced he was doing the best he could, he took out a small patrol east to see if he could spot the Russians but there didn't seem to be any around for miles.4 hours later Day 2:As he came back to the village from the east he heard supply trucks coming in from the west side of the village. Heinz took deep sigh and despite the icy daggers in his lungs, he felt happy. With the proper supplies in his current fortifications, he knew his men could hold out as needed. Only when the trucks came close to village did Heinz start to get a funny feeling about things.There were not enough trucks and too much protection. There was a jeep, two half-tracks guarding only two trucks. It was lavish protection for the resupply for one under-strength company. When the leader stepped out one of the soldiers with him grumbled. For Heinz it was more a matter of raw anger that came with desperate disappointment. They were an SS security detail.Everyone in the Army had heard rumors of these detachments. Their generous critics called their actions 'anti-partisan' operations; others whispered accusations of villages leveled and mass executions. Heinz had little hope he was here to help them hold off actual Russian soldiers. The leader was the SS equivalent of a Captain, though he had no rank in the Heer."Sergeant Klausenbach," the Captain said scanning the bundled up German soldiers. Heinz stepped forward."That would be me. Have you come to resupply us?" Heinz asked in even tone."No," the SS man began."Have you come to relieve us?" Heinz interrupted."No," the man continued."Then why in the hell are you in my village?" Heinz snapped. The closest armed SS guards bristled at the treatment of their officer, but the Captain merely smiled in an effete gesture."As I have been trying to tell you Sergeant, there has been a report of unusual activity and my unit is here to investigate," he smiled like a predatory cat. Heinz tried not to feel like its next meal."Like what, sir?" Heinz inquired."A whole battalion froze to death; I need to know if you noticed anything unusual when you scouted the scene," the Captain questioned. Two the closest German soldiers shot Heinz a quick look. The woman who was right behind him stayed motionless."Nothing sir, except a number of men frozen solid with a few of those clearly terrified before they died," Heinz lied."Oh, a pity; I will need you to lead me and some of my men to the site," the SS captain said with a white toothy grin."Sir, you have to realize that the whole area has to be crawling with Communists by now. I can't justify throwing the lives of my men away on such a foolish errand," Heinz protested."First Sergeant, this wasn't a request. I have orders from your regiment to accord me, my men, and my mission every available resource. Secondly, the only guide I need is you. Leave your men in safety. Finally, it shouldn't be the Russian soldiers you should be afraid of," he grinned."What does that mean?" Heinz asked."That is not important to you," the Captain pointed out, rubbing his clean shaven jawline. Heinz stepped forward and extended his hands. With a great show of forbearance the SS Captain (whose name turned out to be G Sierech) gave Heinz his orders who read them. A cold wind threatened to steal the paper away. Heinz swore under his breath."I've only now come in from patrol Captain Sierech. Let me warm myself by the fire and get a bite to eat. You and your men can join us," Heinz suggested. The SS Captain acknowledged the wisdom of the gesture and soon thirty SS men were inside the communal barn with nearly half the villagers."You need to stay here with the others," Heinz pleaded with the woman when they had a moment alone. "Listen, I don't know if you can understand any of this, but I think they are after you and if they figure out who you are they will kill you. Please understand that." She looked into his eyes then past him."Who is the woman?" Captain Sierech inquired politely having snuck up close enough to hear voices but clearly not their intent."She is my woman," Heinz offered."You have good taste in woman. Too bad she's a Slav," Sierech noted contemptuously. "Woman, do you pleasure him?""I prefer to think that she has good taste in men," Heinz countered. The woman made no sign that she understood the SS officer."She doesn't speak much German, does she?" he smiled in that chilling way of his."She doesn't need to speak for what I want," Heinz highly exaggerated. He was far too exhausted for sex and even if he had, he couldn't stomach rape or rapists.Three things happened in rapid succession. Sierech moved to snatch the woman by the hair, the woman stumbled away, and Heinz snapped up his arm and batted the officer's arm aside.The officer reached for his pistol then froze. Heinz had a knife to his throat."Be careful with your next action, Sergeant," hissed Sierech. All over the room German soldiers and SS men were pointing weapons at one another. There were more SS in the room, but it wouldn't help Sierech; Heinz would kill him. The Captain's chest heaved in anticipation."Button up your pistol Captain," Heinz said angrily. "As you said, be careful with your next action." The officer shrugged and buttoned up his holder and moved his hand away. Heinz put his knife back in its sheath and told his men to stand down."Let me finish here and I'll be ready to be your guide in five minutes, Sir."Sierech gave the Hitler salute which Heinz was obliged to follow and once he had a moment, he pulled the woman aside."Does this have anything to do with you?" Heinz asked. He got no reply. "If I got you some provisions could you make your way to the Russian lines?" Again, no reply."Damn it," Heinz pleaded, "I'm trying to save you and I know you know more about what is happening here than you are letting on." By this time the SS were gathering for the mission. "I can't be here to protect you," which brought a smile to her lips. He'd even dressed her down like one of his soldiersWhen he got into the truck he found and odd assortment of gear. Some of it was weird electronic detection units. There were also a good many White Phosphorus grenades and flame throwers. The also had light mortars and plenty of ammunition. Heinz was stepping up when the woman came running up to him. She kissed him as if we were old lovers, deep and rich and something so strong it rattled his toes. Fear, fatigue and even the cold vanished in this surge of warmth. He couldn't have appreciated it more it if had been a three day pass.Heinz convinced them that the best bet was to go around the north then trying due east along 3rd battalion designated retreat route. With the trucks left behind, the SS team made good time until they got close to the battalion parameter. They seemed interested in the frozen bodies as a matter of research and Heinz with two years of university knew just enough that something worse than the wretched winter was at work here.4pm Day 2:I quickly became clear that the soviets come this way, but decided to go around it and continued on to the north. At the camp thing were pretty much as he had left them. No sooner had they arrived the SS began searching the ground for tracks. They found what they were looking for too. Bare woman's footprints. Heinz did his best to appear skeptical without offering any explanation. After some work they determined that the woman had stalked Heinz back to his camp and then followed his troops in the direction of the village."What did you do here?" the SS Captain Sierech commanded. He had the polished wood case of a sniper rifle on his back. Somehow that choice of weapons suited him."I walked the perimeter, came in looking for survivors among that stack of bodies thinking that some survivors would have buried themselves f

This week on Electrek's Wheel-E podcast, we discuss the most popular news stories from the world of electric bikes and other nontraditional electric vehicles. This time, that includes new laws and regulations in California regarding electric bicycles, the return of ONYX and the company's electric mopeds, a review of the Xtracycle Hopper, Russian soldiers on electric scooters, and more. The Wheel-E podcast returns every two weeks on Electrek's YouTube channel, Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter. As a reminder, we'll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in. After the show ends, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps: Apple Podcasts Spotify Overcast Pocket Casts Castro RSS We also have a Patreon if you want to help us to avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming. Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the Wheel-E podcast today: Starting today, California is coming for your e-bike throttles New California law makes crystal clear which electric bikes are now ‘illegal' Retro-themed electric moped brand ONYX returns, with 55+ MPH bikes Xtracycle Hopper review: A better cargo e-bike at a better price Russian soldiers are turning to electric scooters in failed assaults against Ukraine I bought a weird motorized suitcase in China and rode it home. Here's what happened Here's the live stream for today's episode starting at 7:00 a.m. ET (or the video after 8:00 a.m. ET): https://www.youtube.com/live/To4w_OMVDgE

Capitol rioter who tried to join Russian army is sentenced to prison for probation violation Please Subscribe + Rate & Review KMJ’s Afternoon Drive with Philip Teresi & E. Curtis Johnson wherever you listen! --- KMJ’s Afternoon Drive with Philip Teresi & E. Curtis Johnson is available on the KMJNOW app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever else you listen. --- Philip Teresi & E. Curtis Johnson – KMJ’s Afternoon Drive Weekdays 2-6 PM Pacific on News/Talk 580 & 105.9 KMJ DriveKMJ.com | Podcast | Facebook | X | Instagram --- Everything KMJ: kmjnow.com | Streaming | Podcasts | Facebook | X | Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Capitol rioter who tried to join Russian army is sentenced to prison for probation violation Please Subscribe + Rate & Review KMJ’s Afternoon Drive with Philip Teresi & E. Curtis Johnson wherever you listen! --- KMJ’s Afternoon Drive with Philip Teresi & E. Curtis Johnson is available on the KMJNOW app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever else you listen. --- Philip Teresi & E. Curtis Johnson – KMJ’s Afternoon Drive Weekdays 2-6 PM Pacific on News/Talk 580 & 105.9 KMJ DriveKMJ.com | Podcast | Facebook | X | Instagram --- Everything KMJ: kmjnow.com | Streaming | Podcasts | Facebook | X | Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

00:00:00 - What happened since our last convo 00:05:45 - What is the Donbass like nowadays? 00:13:00 - Russell "Texas" Bentley and the Volunteer Ethos 00:32:00 - More on the Donbass; Russian music for foreign volunteers 00:43:40 - Western volunteers on the other side 00:48:00 - Energy drinks and video games Alex and Jay both lost some of their equipment since we last spoke. Gear is very precious in a war zone, and we thought we'd support our friends by doing a little fundraiser for them so they can get some new mostly peaceful stuff. Please consider sending some of your crypto to the wallets below, dear whales and HODLers. 100% of the money will be sent to Alex and Jay and of course we'll show you the receipts. BTC: bc1q2vq3apd3yfjtdxqmpraak7yjx0tlf97th9fve3 ETH: 0x56dF594f6A5EED5D53B07D4d10fd6E63076C0c40 XMR: 45Asrm4N6dAFedCRLH4T9H69HJd38EDiHWRa5F8gKB2VBdgYVZVd9LfUP9d6UGeoLw6Q83jQ1Bi84XJE3ppLWC5QQrVGnyj USDT (TRX): TKsRskL4hUWWwkHUWaZZ2rBJk9B8sdxepe

Day 997.Today, we assess the state of the Russian army, hear new revelations from inside the Biden administration, and look deeper at the impact of this war in other theatres, such as Korea and Africa.Contributors:Francis Dearnley (Assistant Comment Editor). @FrancisDearnley on X.Roland Oliphant (Senior Foreign Correspondent). @RolandOliphant on X.With thanks to Dr Samual Ramani of the Royal United Services Institute and Oxford University. @SamRamani2 on X. Dr Samuel Ramani's latest book is Putin's War on Ukraine:https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/putins-war-on-ukraine/Articles Referenced:The best books on Ukraine in 2024, from Chernobyl to Zelensky (Ada Wordsworth in The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/non-fiction/best-ukraine-books-2024-zelenskyy/Record Death Toll: What We Know About Russia's Losses in Ukraine by November (BBC):https://www.bbc.com/russian/articles/cjr4zy2nye5oThe ‘Deathonomics' Powering Russia's War Machine (Wall Street Journal):https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/russia-ukraine-war-military-death-pay-6cfe936e?mod=Searchresults_pos6&page=1Biden's escalation paralysis has devastated Ukraine (The Hill):https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/4988504-biden-administration-ukraine-war/Former Governor Confirms Russian Military Engaged in Looting in Kursk Region Villages (Meduza):https://meduza.io/news/2024/11/14/byvshiy-gubernator-podtverdil-chto-rossiyskie-voennye-zanimalis-maroderstvom-v-selah-kurskoy-oblastiPutin cuts payments for wounded in war against Ukraine (Kyiv Independent)https://kyivindependent.com/putin-approves-reduction-of-payments-for-injured-in-war-against-ukraine/?mc_cid=f0af270ac7&mc_eid=08d0680a95In echo of Soviet era, Russians are informing on each other over Ukraine (Reuters)https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/more-russians-denounce-each-other-over-ukraine-echo-soviet-era-2024-11-15/Subscribe to The Telegraph: telegraph.co.uk/ukrainethelatestEmail: ukrainepod@telegraph.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What do you think? Send us a textOf all the reasons I've heard for Nepalis migrating to work abroad, this one was the most shocking: to fight for the Russian Army in its invasion of Ukraine. The news first reached the mainstream media in mid-2023 but long before that, photos of young Nepali men posing in Russian Army uniforms had been circulating online. For the unemployed, or under-employed, Russia quickly became the newest, fastest way to earn foreign currency, topped up in some cases with the promise of an appealing foreign passport. But soon after, news of growing numbers of battlefield deaths began making headlines, and calls grew for the Nepal Government to intervene. It did ask the Russian government to prevent recruitment, which seems to have happened in recent months, according to reports. But the government says 40 Nepalis are confirmed to have died fighting for Russia and an even larger number of corpses are undergoing DNA tests. Today's guest, Khakendra Khatri, was planning to go work in South Korea when he was approached by a Nepali recruiter in Dang district. At first he wasn't interested but the man persisted for more than a month to sell him the dream. Finally, Khatri agreed that the conditions offered were worth his recruiter's fee of 7 lakhs (700,000 rupees or 5,200 USD) to buy a spot. He was promised a 5-lakh monthly salary, permanent residency in Russia after 1 year, and the chance to procure a visa in a western country. Khatri was told that he would be cooking for the soldiers, behind the front lines, but when he got closer to the battlefield he saw that wasn't accurate—he had been designated as a fighter. The Nepali man  quickly started negotiating a way out. A quick note before we start: SLC means school leaving certificate, or a grade 10 diploma. You'll notice that the sound quality isn't at its usual level in this episode. That's because we were missing some equipment in the studio so we had to go to Plan B to produce this one. Apologies for that. ResourcesArticle about Khakendra Khatri, Centre for Investigative Journalism Nepal40 deaths confirmed of Nepalis fighting in Russian Army – Kathmandu Post articleSend us feedback and ideas. We'll respond to every message:LinkedInInstagramFacebookVoicemailMusic by audionautix.com.Thank you to Himal Media in Patan Dhoka for the use of their studio.

PREVIEW: UKRAINE/NORTH KOREA: Colleague John Hardie of FDD observes what is known of the reported North Korean elements joining the Russian Army in Ukraine - and where. Details tonight. 1951 USMC in Korean War

PREVIEW: KERENSKY/RUSSIAN ARMY: Conversation with Professor Nick Lloyd of King's College London re the final days of the Russian Army 1917 in the hands of the inadequate and excuse-making Alexander Kerensky. More soon.

In “The Deserter,” Sarah A. Topol reports the story of Ivan, a captain in the Russian Army who fought in Ukraine and then ultimately fled the war and his country with his wife, Anna. Topol spoke to 18 deserters while reporting in eight countries across four continents over the last year and a half; their experiences helped paint a vivid picture of the Russian war operation and its corruption, chaos and brutality.Narrated by Liev Schreiber.“The Deserter” is a five-part special series in collaboration with The New York Times Magazine.

In “The Deserter,” Sarah A. Topol reports the story of Ivan, a captain in the Russian Army who fought in Ukraine and then ultimately fled the war and his country with his wife, Anna. Topol spoke to 18 deserters while reporting in eight countries across four continents over the last year and a half; their experiences helped paint a vivid picture of the Russian war operation and its corruption, chaos and brutality.Narrated by Liev Schreiber.“The Deserter” is a five-part special series in collaboration with The New York Times Magazine.All five parts of this audio feature can be found here or by searching for “The Deserter” on the NYT Audio app or wherever you get your podcasts.The text version of the story can be found here. 

In "Russians at war", Anastasia Trofimova films a Russian Army battalion in Ukraine over the span of a year as it continues its invasion across Eastern Ukraine The post “Russians at war”, interview with director Anastasia Trofimova appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: We kick off with a chilling update on the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. New details reveal that the accused gunman, Ryan Wesley Routh, hid in his sniper's nest for nearly 12 hours before being spotted by the Secret Service. Next, we head to Israel, where the Israeli Defense Forces have been ordered to prepare for a potential military campaign in Lebanon. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warns that the window for a diplomatic solution with Hezbollah is rapidly closing. As the war in Ukraine grinds on, Russian President Vladimir Putin is ramping up military forces, ordering an additional 180,000 troops to bring Russia's army to 1.5 million strong. In today's Back of the Brief: some tragic news from the IDF as they admit that three hostages were accidentally killed during an airstrike targeting Hamas commanders. 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. Email: PDB@TheFirstTV.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to the latest SBS Hindi news from India. 13/09/2024

It's Tuesday, September 10th, A.D. 2024. 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 Russian army has destroyed or harmed 630 Ukrainian churches Mission Eurasia reports that 630 Ukrainian church buildings have been harmed or destroyed, in the ongoing war with Russia — including 206 Evangelical “houses of prayer.” This includes 73 in the Kiev area, and the majority in the south and east areas of Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kherson.   Those affected include the Ukrainian Pentecostal Church which had 94 buildings harmed or destroyed, Evangelical Christian-Baptists which had 60 buildings harmed or destroyed, and the Seventh-Day Adventists, which had 27 buildings harmed or destroyed. According to the report, “The Russian armies have conducted searches, made lists of the church members who were present, and collected their personal and biometric information, which they used for further surveillance. After such raids, the faithful were forbidden from conducting any activity in their religious community's premises. In seized church buildings, occupation authorities sawed off crosses and used the premises to house their administrative institutions as bases for Russian soldiers and offices of the Kremlin's political party, United Russia.”  And by the spring of 2023, “almost all non-Orthodox churches in occupied territories were stripped of their right to hold church services.” In one Ukrainian region controlled by Russia, the report found “only one out of 20 religious communities active in the first denomination, none are left out of 16 communities in the second denomination, and four remain out of 48 communities in the third denomination.” Brazilian public revolt over banning of X social media platform What has been touted as the largest free speech rally in the world took place on the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil on Saturday. Tens of thousands of people flooded into the streets to protest the Luiz Lula government's banning of Elon Musk's X platform.   Former president Jair Bolsonaro joined the crowd, elements of which called for the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Moraes ordered a nationwide ban of X on August 30th, assigning a $9,000-a-day fine for any Brazilians who use Virtual Private Networks to access their X accounts. Former GOP Congresswoman Liz Cheney endorsed Kamala Harris Last Wednesday, former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming,  announced that she will be voting for Kamala Harris. She made the remarks at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina to the applause of the liberal students, reports The Duke Chronicle. LIZ CHENEY: “As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this. Because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris.” (students applaud) Former Vice President Dick Cheney also endorsed Kamala Two days later, her father, former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, tweeted that he will also vote for Kamala Harris in the upcoming November election. Cheney served with Republican President  George W. Bush between 2000 and 2008.  Meanwhile, George W. Bush has stated he will not be endorsing any candidate for the presidential race. In fact, Bush did not vote for either major candidate in the 2016 and 2020 elections, distancing himself from the Trump campaigns. Colorado parents suing school district over dangerous transgender policy Several Colorado parents are suing the Jefferson County School District after their children were allegedly forced into transgendered situations, reports Fox News. One 11-year-old girl had to share a bed with an 11-year-old boy who was pretending to be a girl. Another young boy reports to have been assigned a female counselor pretending to be a man, sleeping in the boys' cabin, and supervising boys' showers. The lawsuit submitted by Alliance Defending Freedom accuses the school district of not providing truthful information to parents concerning school-sponsored trips. God's Word reminds us that, “A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman's garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the Lord your God.” (Deuteronomy 22:5) Korean dog strollers outselling baby strollers A South Korean online marketer, Gmarket, has pointed out that dog strollers are now outselling baby strollers. The nation touts the lowest birth rate in the world — at 0.71 children per woman.  South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is married without children — and, according to one news source, owns at least 10 dogs and cats.  Deuteronomy 28:15-18 reminds us of God's judgment upon nations: "But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.” Filipino cult leader arrested for child sex trafficking A Filipino cult leader, Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, has surrendered to police after a two-week standoff with 2,000 officers at his compound in Davao City.   Quiboloy faces charges of child sex trafficking in the Philippines and the United States. James Earl Jones, the actor with the authoritative voice, died at 93 And finally, remember this signature voice? JONES: “This is CNN.” Actor James Earl Jones died yesterday at the age of 93, reports ABC News. He starred in blockbusters like Hunt for Red October and Field of Dreams. And through his voice alone, he starred in the Star Wars series as Darth Vader. JONES: “Luke, you do not yet realize your importance. You have only begun to discover your power. Join me, and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy.” A Catholic convert, Jones said one of his greatest honors “came when I was asked to read the New Testament on tape.”   JONES: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men, And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.” Amazingly, he once stuttered so badly, he went mute from age 8 to 14. It's remarkable to think that God redeemed the vocal chords that were once mute to glorify Himself as Jones read the Word of God. Close And that's The Worldview on this Tuesday, September 10th, in the year of our Lord 2024. 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.

For more information, I recommend reading the TRADOC G-2's recently published The Operational Environment 2024-2034: Large-Scale Combat Operations athttps://oe.tradoc.army.mil/2024/07/31/the-operational-environment-2024-2034-large-scale-combat-operations/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Analysis from Christopher Muller, Ukraine Correspondent for the Financial Times.

A more apt title for this should be The Battle for Stalingrad, because that exactly what this was in every sense of the word. After the Nazi invasion of Russia during Operation Barbarossa failed to capture Moscow, Hitler needed a win and decided to pivot and capture Russia's oil fields in the south, fueling his war machine and starving the Russian Army. Stalingrad, named after ol' J Stalin himself just happened to be in the area. Now if you've listened to our episodes on Hitler you know that Dolph was not a fan of Stalin, and taking over the city with his name attached was too sweet of a treat to pass up. What the Nazi did not anticipate was the next 6 1/2 months. Stalingrad was the origination of Urban Warfare. The Nazi bombings had reduced the city to rubble, rubble where snipers, guerrilla fighters, and the Red Army were lying in wait to make them pay for every inch of ground. Join us as we discuss the deadliest battle this planet has ever seen.

Cash Cows and the IT Privacy and Security Weekly Update for the week ending August 27th 2024 8/27/2024 0 Comments Episode 205The cash cow is in your house and you sit staring at it.How did it get in? We'll give you the latest on cloned RFID cards that will let you into almost any door using them.Google gets shady with its collection practices and ends up back in court.The FBI receives an order to clean house from the Dept. of Justice Inspector General.Uber gets spanked in the Netherlands for sending private data across the worldAnd finally the Russian Army looks dazed and confused as their main form of communication gets locked away. We may be in the dog days of Summer, but all we're seeing are cows! Find the full transcript for this podcast here.

2024-08-18 | Relatives of Russian conscripts are looking for their sons who disappeared after fighting in the Kursk region. “I think Putin doesn't even know that our sons were sent there.” Reports the Russian oppositional media Mediazona on August 16, 2024. ---------- The Kursk border region is guarded predominantly by conscripts, like many other “second tier” areas, that were previously thought to be safe from large-scale Ukrainian assaults. At the start of Ukraine's new offensive conscripts found themselves on the front line. But rather than pull them back in favour of experienced and full-time soldiers, Putin seems to be doubling down, and sending more units of untrained and ill-equipped fighters to take on the battle-hardened and highly motivated Ukrainian troops. Contract solders are now surrendering in huge quantities but also dying like flies, to save Putin's skin. Many of the so-called ‘kontraktniki” have been captured or are listed as missing. New conscripts from other units from other units are being rushed to the border regions, though equally unprepared. But perhaps the scale and ambition of Ukrainian plans to seize extensive further border territory are underestimated and underappreciated both by Russia and by some allies. Authorities have not confirmed the deaths of the conscripts, but reports of some individual deaths are started to come out. 22-year-old Artem Dobrodumsky died in the Kursk region. His obituary was published at the karate sports club where Dobrodumsky trained for many years. According to his coach he died three days before his birthday, but the details of his passing are not known. “All that is known today is that he served in military service and died near Kursk,” according to his coach. Neither the publication nor the coach asks the crucial question “for what did he die?” ---------- Sources: https://zona.media/article/2024/08/16/drafted ---------- SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ---------- TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND: Save Ukraine https://www.saveukraineua.org/ Superhumans - Hospital for war traumas https://superhumans.com/en/ UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukraine https://unbroken.org.ua/ Come Back Alive https://savelife.in.ua/en/ Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchen https://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraine UNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyy https://u24.gov.ua/ Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation https://prytulafoundation.org NGO “Herojam Slava” https://heroiamslava.org/ kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemyśl https://kharpp.com/ NOR DOG Animal Rescue https://www.nor-dog.org/home/ ---------- PLATFORMS: Twitter: https://twitter.com/CurtainSilicon Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/siliconcurtain/ Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4thRZj6NO7y93zG11JMtqm Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finkjonathan/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ---------- Welcome to the Silicon Curtain podcast. Please like and subscribe if you like the content we produce. It will really help to increase the popularity of our content in YouTube's algorithm. Our material is now being made available on popular podcasting platforms as well, such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Russia's military has admitted that Ukrainian forces have advanced far into its territory, stating that it struck troops and equipment located about 30 kilometers from the border. We get the latest from BBC Ukraine Correspondent James Waterhouse.

Send us a Text Message.In this episode, I speak with William Yeske on signing up to the US Army Special Forces, the story of a squad killing IED,  having a grenade thrown at you and living a life you can be proud of. ★ William's Bio: ★ “DAMN THE VALLEY” was a phrase regularly uttered by the men that spent any amount of time in the Arghandab River Valley during the deployment of 2 Fury to Afghanistan in 2009–2010. The valley has claimed bodies from the troops of Alexander the Great, the British Empire, and more recently, the Russian Army. Operating in the valley was like nothing the men could have envisaged, they called it the “meat grinder.”It was a deployment that the media didn't talk about, and the government doesn't acknowledge. Three of the company were KIA, more than a dozen suffered life-changing injuries, and half the company had Purple Hearts—not many modern-day deployments have a 52% casualty rate. At one point, the entire prosthetics ward at Walter Reed was full of the men who patrolled that deadly area of the world.Since their return, many of the survivors have struggled to move on with their lives, and the unit has been declared at "extraordinary risk" by the Department of Veteran Affairs. No one who entered that region was left unscathed. This book shares the perspective of the men that were on the ground for that deployment during the fighting season of 2010.Connect with William:https://damnthevalleybook.com

Send us a Text Message.Thank you to listener Trilok for pointing out a typo that was on the Nepal Now webpage for almost 4 years, from episode #1. I'm embarrassed but grateful to his sharp eyes.  Please keep the feedback coming, via LinkedIn, as Trilok did, or at the other social channels listed below. You can also email: nepalnowpod(at)gmail.com, or text the show at the link at the top left. It's a US number so the usual messaging charges would apply. I don't think we have many listeners who use Google Podcasts but if you do, that option will soon be discontinued according to reports, so you'll need to find a new app. We're available on most of them — Apple Podcasts, Spotify, PocketCasts, Deezer, and many more — so don't forget to make the move. Recent news about migration and Nepal included a poignant report in Nepali Times that quoted family members of 12 migrants who ended up fighting for the Russian Army and died on the battlefield. This reflects the desperation people must feel to earn money to keep their families afloat. You can hear other news items in the audio, and check out the links below. Coming up next weekWe speak with Prakash Gurung, who keeps trying to move overseas but is yet to succeed. Why does he keep trying? Resources -       Remittances and farm households' income-       Nepali Times – migrants' deaths in Russia-       Nepali youth in Hong Kong Send us feedback and ideas. We'll respond to every message:LinkedInInstagramFacebookVoicemailMusic by audionautix.com.Thank you to the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters of Nepal and Himal Media for use of their studios.

Oleksandr Musienko is a military and political expert, political and legal adviser, and head of the Centre for Military-Law Research. He is a United24 Media ambassador and hosts his own very popular military analytical channel on YouTube in the Ukrainian language. ---------- Interview created in partnership with United24 Media UNITED24 Media is an English-language modern-format digital media offering short content stories and reels on Ukraine, its culture, history, businesses, people, and, most importantly, the ongoing war with Russia. Ukraine is fighting for freedom and independence against absolute evil. Owner: Office of the President of Ukraine Created by: Ministry of Digital Transformation Headquarters: Kyiv, Ukraine Launched: July 21, 2022 ---------- LINKS: https://www.youtube.com/@Musienko_channel/ https://united24media.com/ ---------- SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ---------- TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND: kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemyśl https://kharpp.com/ Save Ukraine https://www.saveukraineua.org/ Superhumans - Hospital for war traumas https://superhumans.com/en/ UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukraine https://unbroken.org.ua/ Come Back Alive https://savelife.in.ua/en/ Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchen https://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraine Ukrainian Freedom News https://www.ukrainianfreedomnews.com/donation/ UNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyy https://u24.gov.ua/ Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation https://prytulafoundation.org NGO “Herojam Slava” https://heroiamslava.org/ NOR DOG Animal Rescue https://www.nor-dog.org/home/ ---------- PLATFORMS: Twitter: https://twitter.com/CurtainSilicon Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/siliconcurtain/ Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4thRZj6NO7y93zG11JMtqm Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finkjonathan/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ---------- Welcome to the Silicon Curtain podcast. Please like and subscribe if you like the content we produce. It will really help to increase the popularity of our content in YouTube's algorithm. Our material is now being made available on popular podcasting platforms as well, such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Edition No46 | 27-05-2024 ~~~~~ SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ~~~~~ NEWS SOURCES: KYIV INDEPENDENT https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-war-latest-syrskyi/ https://kyivindependent.com/explainer-russias-most-recent-offensive-into-kharkiv-oblast/ https://kyivindependent.com/russian-missile-strike-reduces-kharkiv-printing-press-to-ashes/ https://kyivindependent.com/media-explosions-reported-across-occupied-crimea/ https://kyivindependent.com/uk-man-arrested-on-suspicion-of-helping-russian-intelligence/ https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-war-latest-uk-defense-secretary-says-intelligence-has-evidence-of-chinese-lethal-aid-to-russia/ https://kyivindependent.com/opinion-russias-shadow-fleet-strategy-draws-from-irans-playbook/ https://kyivindependent.com/estonian-authorities-say-russian-border-guard-removed-river-border-markers-from-estonian-territory/ THE MOSCOW TIMES https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/05/23/deputy-chief-of-russias-general-staff-arrested-for-bribery-a85199 https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/05/22/how-patrushevs-paranoia-consumed-the-kremlin-a85198 https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/05/23/putin-signs-decree-allowing-for-seizure-of-us-property-in-russia-a85206 https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/05/23/kremlin-condemns-calls-for-kyiv-to-use-us-arms-in-russia-a85208 KYIV POST https://www.kyivpost.com/post/33168 https://www.kyivpost.com/videos/33098 https://www.kyivpost.com/post/33060 https://www.kyivpost.com/post/33161 https://www.kyivpost.com/post/33136 THE ECONOMIST https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2024/05/10/a-russia-linked-network-uses-ai-to-rewrite-real-news-stories https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2024/04/29/who-is-supplying-russias-arms-industry https://www.economist.com/europe/2024/05/12/russia-is-ramping-up-sabotage-across-europe https://www.economist.com/europe/2024/04/07/the-kremlin-wants-to-make-ukraines-second-city-unliveable NAVAYA GAZETA https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2024/05/23/deputy-chief-of-russias-general-staff-arrested-for-large-scale-bribery-as-post-shoigu-purge-continues-en-news https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2024/05/18/exile-and-the-empire-en ~~~~~ USEFUL LINKS: Vatnik Soup https://twitter.com/P_Kallioniemi http://www.medbat.org.ua/en/ Real World News https://kyivindependent.com/ https://www.kyivpost.com/ https://english.nv.ua/ https://www.themoscowtimes.com/ https://meduza.io/en https://meduza.io/ https://novayagazeta.eu/ https://www.newsweek.com/topic/russia... Analysis https://www.ft.com/russia https://www.economist.com/ https://www.foreignaffairs.com/ https://cepa.org/ https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/ https://www.theatlantic.com/search/?s... YouTube Channels / @timesradio1 / @khodorkovskyru / @popularpolitics / @macknack / @plushev / @tvrain / @fake_news / @feyginlive ~~~~~ TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND: Save Ukraine https://www.saveukraineua.org/ Superhumans - Hospital for war traumas https://superhumans.com/en/ UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukraine https://unbroken.org.ua/ Come Back Alive https://savelife.in.ua/en/ Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchen https://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraine UNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyy https://u24.gov.ua/ Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation https://prytulafoundation.org NGO “Herojam Slava” https://heroiamslava.org/ kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemysl https://kharpp.com/ NOR DOG Animal Rescue https://www.nor-dog.org/home/ ~~~~~ Welcome to the Silicon Curtain podcast. Please like and subscribe if you like the content we produce. It will really help to increase the popularity of our content in YouTube s algorithm. Our material is now being made available on popular podcasting platforms as well, such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Joining me today is Army MAJ (Ret) Ruslan Emelyanov. Ruslan was born and raised in the former Soviet Union.  When he turned 18, he was conscripted into the Soviet Army in 1989 and chose to be a Paratrooper.  Over the next couple years, he accepted an invitation to attend the newly formed Russian Military Academy.  He graduated in 1995 and was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Russian Army.  He had also earned his Jumpmaster status at that time.  His first assignment was to join his new unit already fighting in the First Chechen War.  At the conclusion of the war, his unit redeployed in December 1996.  Ruslan was then reassigned to Moscow and transferred to the Military Police.  In 1998 as a Captain, he resigned his Commission and left the Russian Army. Family relatives who lived in California applied for a Green Card for Ruslan, and in 2000, he joined his relatives in Carmel, CA.  When the Sep 11th attacks occurred in 2001, he contacted an Army recruiter about the possibility of joining the U.S. Army.  The recruiter said he could enlist with a Green Card and signed him up as an 11B Infantry MOS.  At 28, he attended Basic Training at Ft. Benning, GA.  After graduating Basic, he attended Jump School and earned his U.S. Parachute Badge.  His first assignment was to B Co., 2/35th Infantry at Schofield Barracks, HI.  In 2003, he renounced his Russian citizenship and was sworn in as a U.S. citizen.  In April 2004, his unit deployed to Afghanistan for a year tour.  Upon returning, he was promoted to SGT.  He also earned Jumpmaster in the U.S. Army.  A few years later, he was recommended for OCS at Ft. Benning, and in 2007 he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Infantry.  In 2009, Ruslan changed branches to Civil Affairs and spent the next 12 years working with Special Operations Forces out of Ft. Bragg, NC.  He retired from the Army in 2023.

PREVIEW: #SAHEL: The Moscow planned vision of developing a Central Africa railroad from Tripoli to the Central African Republic for resource extraction and market economies -- alongside security provided by the ex-Wagner mercenaries, now regular Russian Army called the Africa Corps. More later. 1823

Desperately low on troops for its protracted war with Ukraine, the Russian military is relying on men from countries like India to fill its ranks. Journalist Shalu Yadav tells the story of a man who was tricked into joining the army and managed to escape. This episode was produced by Hady Mawajdeh, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Rob Byers, and guest-hosted by Haleema Shah. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained Support Today, Explained by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#LONDIUM90AD: Gaius & Germanicus comment on the the Bundestag briefing of a planned four phase invasion of Germany by the Russian Army. Mentioning the Baltics conviction that Russia ias attacking them next. Michael Vlahos #FriendsofHistoryDebatingSociety https://menafn.com/1107927798/Germany-creates-Russia-NATO-war-scenario 1943 Occupied Russia

This is the Catch Up on 3 Things for the Indian Express and I'm Flora Swain.It's the 1st of March and here are the top stories of the week.The week began with the Rajya Sabha election show on Tuesday. Cross-voting by Congress and SP MLAs took centrestage which resulted in BJP victories and dramatic upsets for Congress and SP in Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. It was followed by the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh facing a risk of collapse after six of its MLAs voted in favour of the BJP candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls in Himachal Pradesh.The Trinamool Congress has decided to suspend for six years its party leader Shahjahan Sheikh, the main accused in the Sandeshkhali land-grab and sexual assault allegations. The TMC strongman in Sandeshkhali had been on the run for the last 55 days, and was arrested by the West Bengal Police early on Thursday. Following his court appearance, the TMC leader was brought to the CID headquarters at Bhavani Bhawan in Kolkata. According to sources, the case is likely to be handed over to the CID.Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap, and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla as India's astronauts-designate for Gaganyaan, India's first crewed space mission. All four Indian Air Force officers have had extensive experience as test pilots and are currently in training for the mission. Modi, who bestowed them with the prestigious astronaut wings, described them as “four forces” who represent the aspirations and optimism of 1.4 billion Indians.Days after stating that the government was “actively pursuing” cases of Indians seeking discharge from the Russian Army, the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said 20-odd people are stranded in the country. Asserting that the government was trying its level best for their early discharge, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Indians in Russia have been advised not to venture into the war zone or get caught into situations which are difficult.The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved three chip-related projects worth around Rs 1.26 lakh crore, including what could be India's first semiconductor fabrication plant. The Tata Group will set up the foundry in partnership with Taiwan based Powerchip (PSMC) at an estimated cost of Rs 91,000 crore in Gujarat. The plant will have a capacity to produce 300 crore chips every year, which will cater to industries like high-performance computing, electric vehicles, defence, and consumer electronics, among other things.This was the Catch-Up on the 3 Things by The Indian Express.

This week, The Daily is revisiting some of our favorite episodes of the year and checking in on what has happened in the time since they first ran.Days after Russia invaded Ukraine, the Kremlin made it a crime to oppose the war in public. Since then, it has waged a relentless campaign of repression, putting Russian citizens in jail for offenses as small as holding a poster or sharing a news article on social media.Valerie Hopkins, an international correspondent for The Times, tells the story of Olesya Krivtsova, a 19-year-old student who faces up to 10 years in prison after posting on social media, and explains why the Russian government is so determined to silence those like her.Guest: Valerie Hopkins, an international correspondent for The New York Times, covering Russia and the war in Ukraine.Background reading: Listen to the original version of the episode here.Oleysa's story has underlined the perils of using social media to criticize the war in Ukraine.The authorities are determining who will take custody of a 13-year-old girl whose single father has been sentenced for “discrediting” the Russian Army.For more information on today's episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Putin Q & A. Confident with SMO, huge Russian army, Black Sea coast end game

Photo:  1923 Belgrad Hotel Moscow No known restrictions on publication. @Batchelorshow TONIGHT: The show begins at the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan where hundreds of  hapless migrants waited in soaring heat to be called by the city for shelter and food.  Ranging from the Moscow suburb scene of Stalin's mass murder of the Communist Party in 1937 to a 2023 meeting in Moscow between Tehran's IRGC and the Russian Army.  Also visit Guatemala City, Quito, Buenos Aires and Brasilia.  End in Uganada and Somalia.

Photo: 1921. No known restrictions on publication. @Batchelorshow PREVIEW: Victor David Hanson answering the inquiry, does the Russian (Soviet or Imperial Russian Army) quit when losing? Victor Hanson, Hoover.

Days after Russia invaded Ukraine, the Kremlin made it a crime to oppose the war in public. Since then, it has waged a relentless campaign of repression, putting Russian citizens in jail for offenses as small as holding a poster or sharing a news article on social media.Valerie Hopkins, an international correspondent for The Times, tells the story of Olesya Krivtsova, a 19-year-old student who faces up to 10 years in prison after posting on social media, and explains why the Russian government is so determined to silence those like her.Guest: Valerie Hopkins, an international correspondent for The New York Times, covering Russia and the war in Ukraine.Background reading: Oleysa's story has underlined the perils of using social media to criticize the war in Ukraine.The authorities are determining who will take custody of a 13-year-old girl whose single father has been sentenced for “discrediting” the Russian Army.For more information on today's episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.