Russia could launch an attack on NATO that could trigger a global conflict involving American troops, US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday, while urging Congress to pass a $111 billion national security package.

The bill, which was backed by Democrats, included funding for Ukraine Israel and Taiwan. Biden also lashed out at Republicans – who have refused to support his bill due to disputes over security at the southern US border – claiming they “are willing to give [Russian President Vladimir] Putin the greatest gift he could hope for.”

“If Putin takes Ukraine, he won’t stop there,” Biden argued. “If Putin attacks a NATO ally…, well, we’ve committed as a NATO member that we’d defend every inch of NATO territory,” he stated, adding that Washington would like to avert this kind of a stand-off because it could result in “American troops fighting Russian troops.”

Webmaster addition: Biden is ramping up the fear porn to garner public support for his war agenda. It's not going to work.

Venezuela on Wednesday arrested an opposition member for alleged treason, after the attorney general said earlier there are arrest warrants out for several people connected to the campaign of opposition presidential nominee Maria Corina Machado for crimes including treason.

A lawyer for Machado's Vente Venezuela party said earlier in the day the staffers have always acted correctly.

The wife of Roberto Abdul, a member of the commission which planned the primary where Machado was elected the opposition's 2024 candidate, has confirmed his arrest, Alfredo Romero, head of non-governmental organization Foro Penal said on social media.

Guyana said it’s intensifying security measures and engaging the US military to help it protect the oil-rich region of Essequibo, describing Venezuela’s intentions to grant oil exploration licenses in the area as a threat to its territorial integrity.

The United Nations Security Council plans to hold a closed-door meeting on the issue Friday, according to two people familiar with the matter. Both sides will have the chance to speak before the council’s 15 members. Guyanese President Irfaan Ali Guyanese President Irfaan Ali said in an earlier statement that his country had asked the Security Council to take appropriate action, but no immediate decision is expected at this point, according to the people.

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro further escalated tensions with Guyana over Essequibo with an order Tuesday evening that state-owned oil and mineral companies start granting exploration licenses for deposits in the region.

Webmaster addition: I have to wonder if this is being fanned up to distract from the impending collapse of Ukraine and the war crimes in Palestine.

What are the rates of literacy in the United States?

Four in five U.S. adults (79 percent) have English literacy skills sufficient to complete tasks that require comparing and contrasting information, paraphrasing, or making low-level inferences—literacy skills at level 2 or above in PIAAC (OECD 2013). In contrast, one in five U.S. adults (21 percent) has difficulty completing these tasks (figure 1). This translates into 43.0 million U.S. adults who possess low literacy skills: 26.5 million at level 1 and 8.4 million below level 1, while 8.2 million could not participate in PIAAC’s background survey either because of a language barrier or a cognitive or physical inability to be interviewed. These adults who were unable to participate are categorized as having low English literacy skills, as is done in international reports (OECD 2013), although no direct assessment of their skills is available.

Adults classified as below level 1 may be considered functionally illiterate in English: i.e., unable to successfully determine the meaning of sentences, read relatively short texts to locate a single piece of information, or complete simple forms (OECD 2013).

The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter, urging the UN Security Council to act on the war in Gaza.

The rare move on Wednesday comes as the 15-member Security Council is yet to adopt a resolution calling for a ceasefire between Israel, Hamas and their allies.

Article 99 allows the secretary-general to “bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security”.

In his letter to the council’s president, Guterres invoked this responsibility, saying he believed the situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, “may aggravate existing threats to the maintenance of international peace and security”.

Guterres – who has been calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” since October 18 – also described “appalling human suffering, physical destruction and collective trauma across Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories”.

Article 99 is a special power – and the only independent political tool given to the secretary-general in the UN Charter – that allows him to call a meeting of the Security Council on his own initiative to issue warnings about new threats to international peace and security, and matters that are not yet on the council’s agenda.

Austin police announced they have a suspect in custody; there is also speculation that the suspected shooter is connected to homicides in the San Antonio area.

Webmaster addition:

According to reports, the FBI knew about Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop for nearly a year before the story broke. In October 2020, the New York Post published a story about the computer, revealing some of its shocking content.

Intelligence officials (some of whom now work for President Biden) quickly signed a letter claiming the laptop was fake, produced by Russia to spread “disinformation.” Yet the FBI had known all along that the laptop was real.

But not only did they not investigate the laptop, according to earlier reports, but Wray claims the agency did not refute claims the computer was fake because it was an “election season.” This seems to suggest the agency refused to set the record straight, because of how it would affect the outcome of the election.

Last month, election polls came out that sent shockwaves through the Democratic Party. Despite all the negative coverage and Democrat-led indictments, Donald Trump was leading.

He was not only leading among Republican candidates, but he had a slight lead over Joe Biden.

Democrats started to ask if they should find someone else to run for president. Now, they are sure to panic, after this swing state report hits their desks.

From The Post Millennial:
A new poll released on Tuesday revealed that 2024 GOP frontrunner Donald Trump is leading in all six swing states less than a year out from the election.

If his approval polls are any indication, Joe Biden’s presidency has been an overall failure. The man promised in 2020 to “build back better.”

But it does not appear Americans believe he’s done the job. His biggest “victories” have come in the form of massive spending bills and controversial executive orders.

Biden’s most ambitious plan, however, was to force America into a “green” economy. He shut down drilling on federal land. And he got Congress to approve billions in green investments. Now, reports are revealing, that this too, has been a failure.

From Politico:
Congress at the urging of the Biden administration agreed in 2021 to spend $7.5 billion to build tens of thousands of electric vehicle chargers across the country, aiming to appease anxious drivers while tackling climate change.

Two years later, the program has yet to install a single charger.

In recent days, it appears some Democrats have turned on Joe Biden. Many in the media have questioned his ability to win the election.

And some within his own administration have rebelled against his policies.

Individual staffers have come under fire for making bold claims against Biden. But now, an entire group of interns are turning on the president. And they are making a demand that will have many Americans outraged.

From Breitbart:
Forty-plus White House interns have sent a letter to President Joe Biden demanding a permanent ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization, further accusing him of having “ignored” the “pleas of the American people.”

“We, the undersigned Fall 2023 White House and Executive Office of the President interns, will no longer remain silent on the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people,” the interns began.

The United States military has ordered its entire fleet of V-22 Ospreys grounded one week after eight airmen died aboard a CV-22 that crashed off the coast of Japan.

On Wednesday evening, Air Force Special Operations Command said that Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, the group's commander, had directed an 'operational standdown' of the Air Force's CV-22 fleet.

The grounding was put into place to 'mitigate risk while the investigation continues.

Out an 'an abundance of caution,' Naval Air Systems Command said it will also ground the Navy and Marine Corps' V-22s.

A statement from the Navy said that the preliminary investigation into the crash 'indicates a potential materiel failure caused the mishap, but the underlying cause of the failure is unknown at this time.'

Webmaster addition: The V-22 Osprey has been plagued by numerous failures since its introduction. There were problems with the transfer shaft that allows the engines and roters to work together. The aircraft had four crashes and 30 deaths during its initial development. The U.S. Air Force grounded its Ospreys for two weeks last year over worries about gearbox problems. Like so many other US military weapons, the V-22 is costly and prone to failure.

 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday accused the entire world of anti-Semitism for staying "silent" on Israel's unproven claim that Hamas committed "mass rapes" on an unprecedented scale on Oct 7.

The mayor’s unexpected collapse is certainly reminiscent of the dozens of videos showing people, including many athletes and entertainers, suddenly passing out amid the Covid-19 vaccine rollout, with the jab suspected to be behind the alarming fainting spells.

President Biden and his administration are monitoring the situation in Venezuela and warning against any violence after the Maduro regime has made moves toward annexation of territory while neighboring Guyana pleas for political support.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby spoke about the increasingly tense situation at the White House Wednesday after a referendum in Venezuela for annexing potentially oil rich territory from neighboring Guyana, a neighboring South American Country on the Caribbean.

'It's concerning. We're watching this very, very closely as I said, I think last week,' Kirby said.

'The arbitral decision needs to be respected. We obviously don't want to see any violence occur here or conflict occur. And we're obviously in touch with all our partners,' he added.

A military helicopter carrying five senior Guyanese officials plus two crew members vanished in stormy weather on Wednesday near Guyana's contested border with Venezuela, as the president of the former British colony said he had enlisted the United States, UK and UN to guarantee their safety against the 'outlaw nation'.

Venezuela on Sunday held a referendum asking their citizens if they wanted to revive historic claims to a region of Guyana rich in minerals and oil.

President Nicolas Maduro announced that his nation overwhelmingly thought the area - Essequibo - belonged to Venezuela, and on Tuesday he unveiled a new map for official government purposes showing two thirds of Guyanese territory annexed to Caracas.

Guyana's military on Wednesday dispatched a brand new Bell 412 EPI aircraft to the border region, carrying the five senior officials.

The vital Panama Canal shipping route has suffered its worst drought ever, threatening Christmas supplies in America.

The water levels have seen a significant drop, with ships struggling to pass through.

The Panama Canal Authority has slowly decreased the number of vessels allowed to pass since August from 36 to 32 per day to address the issue.

It plans to bring the number down further to 18 by February through monthly reductions.

Reports of growing military activity on Guyana's border have heightened concerns that Venezuelan dictator Nicholas Maduro is planning to grab by force a huge chunk of his neighbor.

He claims a sham referendum at the weekend has given him an overwhelming mandate to do so. The saber-rattling rhetoric from Caracas is intensifying.

Indeed, on Tuesday, Maduro unveiled a frightening new map showing two thirds of Guyana 'reclaimed'.

Yet the world continues to shrug its shoulders and look the other way — if it knows anything about it at all.

There has been barely a trickle of coverage in the media. No ally has spoken up for Guyana, least of all the United States, the only friend with the military clout to deter any Venezuelan adventurism.

Webmaster addition: See below article about the US lifting sanctions on Venezuelan oil.

In response to Venezuela’s government and a faction of its opposition formally agreeing to work together to reach a series of basic conditions for the next presidential election, the U.S. agreed Wednesday to temporarily suspend some sanctions on the country’s oil, gas and gold sectors.

Tuesday’s agreement between President Nicolás Maduro’s administration and the Unitary Platform came just days before the opposition holds a primary to pick its candidate for the 2024 presidential election.

The U.S. Treasury issued a six-month general license that would temporarily authorize transactions involving Venezuela’s oil and gas sector, another that authorizes dealings with Minerven — the state-owned gold mining company — and it removed the secondary trading ban on certain Venezuelan sovereign bonds.

Pesticides are damaging human health and the environment in numerous ways, and now one commonly used insecticide has been singled out for its role in the rise in erectile dysfunction among young men.

This is according to a study that was published in the Journal of Endocrinological Investigation, which found that being exposed to chlorpyrifos as well as other pesticides in the organophosphate family was linked to the development of erectile dysfunction. This adds on to the significant body of scientific evidence demonstrating that exposure to pesticides leads to reduced fertility in men, including abnormal sperm development, a lower sperm count and reduced sperm quality.

COP28 President Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber sent the alarmists scrambling for damage limitation this week when he said there was "no science" that says phasing out fossil fuels will limit global warming at 1.5°C.

Debbie Lerman sets out chapter and verse of how the Covid mRNA vaccines were developed in the U.S. under a military protocol for responding to biological weapons that imposed no safety oversight requirements.

 Cornwall is set to switch off more than half of its street lights - around 35,000 - within the next few months as part of a cost cutting exercise, leaving swathes of the county in darkness.

The campaign group Workers for a Free Palestine said it had targeted sites in Bournemouth, Glasgow , Brighton and Lancashire, some of which are operated by defence giant BAE Systems. The company's shipyard in Glasgow was targeted in the early morning protests, which the campaign group said demonstrated it was escalating its action after previous blockades. The demonstrators are urging BAE and other companies to end their ties with Israel and cease all weapons, defence and supplies trading with them.

Nobody gets fined for refusing to buy the Guardian newspaper, and a good thing too.

The Guardian is an estimable product, but plenty of us do not agree with its opinions or with its priorities. So we can choose not to buy it, or to buy something else.

Why then are we threatened with being dragged to court if we do not pay for the BBC, which is more or less the exact broadcast equivalent of the Guardian? And now the BBC wants us to pay even more to be hosed down with its incessant propaganda and unacknowledged bias.

There is a simple solution to the BBC's demand for another increase in its licence fee. If it won't even try to be impartial - and it is not trying very hard at the moment - freeze the fee which will then quickly dwindle thanks to inflation.

Unprecedented conditions have seen water levels in the vital 50-mile shipping route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans fall to their lowest since the mid-1900s.

Dozens of massive container ships carrying presents and festive items including Apple's new iPhones, TVs, exercise bikes, clothes and tree lights are experiencing delays of up to four weeks – and the crisis could yet last for several months.

Congestion in the canal could have a wider impact across the global supply chain - with experts warning that Christmas in the UK and Europe could be impacted.

The cost of food and energy prices could also rise because grains and fuels are among other major supplies transported through the canal now experiencing delays.

Experts have warned that the disruptions at the canal are likely to remain in place for 'some time to come', with some fearing the restrictions could continue into 2025.

After years of anticipation, the trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6 finally emerged online yesterday.

Millions of eager gamers flocked to watch the trailer, which quickly set the record for the most YouTube views in 24 hours after racking up nearly 100 million hits.

Now, it seems cybercriminals have jumped on the bandwagon, and are targeting unsuspecting gamers with fake download links.

Worryingly, clicking on these links can flood your device with malware capable of tracking you or stealing your personal data.

Researchers estimate 8-inch Jorō spiders are likely to spread as far north as Canada. Jorō venom is as toxic as a bee sting, only posing a threat if the victim is allergic, experts advise. The jury is still out, however, on the impact that this gentle giant spider, which is believed to have first arrived in the US via shipping containers in Georgia in 2013, might have on local wildlife and ecosystems