//The Wire//2300Z June 14, 2025// //PRIORITY// //BLUF: CONGRESSWOMAN ASSASSINATED, SENATOR WOUNDED IN MINNESOTA. ASSAILANT REMAINS AT LARGE. NATIONWIDE 'NO KINGS' PROTESTS REMAIN LARGELY LOW-INTENSITY DURING DAYLIGHT, THOUGH SEVERAL INCIDENTS REPORTED. NATIONWIDE COUNTER-ICE PROTESTS REMAIN MORE KINETIC.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE----- -International Events- Middle East: The Israeli/Iranian War continues as before, with both nations continuing to trade missiles overnight. Israeli forces have conducted more strikes targeting Iranian Petroleum, Oil, and Lubricant (POL) production facilities, and Iranian forces have responded by striking the POL refinery in Haifa. -HomeFront- USA: Most of the "No Kings" protests did go ahead as planned, though as expected turnout was comparatively low throughout the morning in most areas. During the daytime protest events, most of the participants at most of the "No Kings" protests have been elderly, which resulted in most of the No Kings events remaining relatively low-impact. However, many Counter-ICE protests were conducted separately around the nation, many of which became kinetic. Standard cases of vandalism, civil unrest, and violence were reported in Los Angles, Chicago, NYC, Seattle, and several other major cities. Minnesota: Overnight, an individual posing as a police officer conducted multiple assassination attempts at the homes of two local politicians in Minneapolis. State Senator John Hoffman and his wife were ambushed at their home in Champlin by a gunman who posed as a police officer. Both were wounded during the attack. Later that same night, State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark were ambushed in their home in Brooklyn Park. Both Hortman and her husband were killed in the attack. Due to the similarities in their names, and these incidents taking place in close proximity to each other, the full casualty count regarding these attacks is as follows: Senator John Hoffman - Wounded at the scene in Champlin, expected to survive Yvette Hoffman (his wife) - Wounded at the scene in Champlin, expected to survive Representative Melissa Hortman - Killed at the scene in Brooklyn Park Mark Hortman (her husband) - Critically wounded at scene in Brooklyn Park, later died at the hospital. The assailant remains at large, and a manhunt is underway in the Brooklyn Park area to locate the suspect. The suspect's vehicle (which was camouflaged to appear as a police cruiser) was recovered at the scene of the second series of murders. Inside the vehicle, were stacks of handwritten leaflets marked "No Kings", referencing today's planned protest events. Also found inside the vehicle was a hit list referencing targeting efforts of other politicians, however the details of this document have not yet been released. Texas: This morning a fire was reported at the Marathon Refinery in Texas City. In Austin, the State Capitol was evacuated this afternoon, after an unidentified threat was presented to lawmakers. As of this afternoon, no amplifying information has been released regarding this incident. Virginia: A vehicle ramming attack was attempted in Culpeper, as an individual drove his vehicle into one of the "No Kings" protests that was dispersing. Local authorities state that Joseph Checklick Jr. intentionally accelerated into the crowd, striking one person in the process. The assailant was arrested at the scene. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: At the moment, the assassinations (and attempts) in Minnesota are highly controversial topics and speculation does not often make the situation any better. However, in this case some speculation is needed to convey the potential future threats that may be ongoing due to the fugitive remaining at large. When time is of the essence, speculation that aids in the success of an investigation is doctrinally acceptable. As such, the possibility must be considered that this may have been the actions of not just a lone gunman and/or a mental case, but rather a deliberate assassination at the behest of significantly powerful organizations and/or populations. A few days ago, Rep. Hortman crossed party lines to be the only Democrat that voted with the Republicans to support a bill that would ban illegal immigrants from receiving Minnesota state welfare benefits. Most notably, Rep. Hortman participated in several media interviews being visibly upset for begrudgingly supporting the bill. Clearly, local authorities also suspect the link to be related to a political issue (since Hoffman and Hortman worked together). After the report of the shooting at Hoffman's home, authorities raced to Hortman's home a few miles away to "preemptively check on" the Congresswoman. After arriving at Hortman's house, police ran into the shooter, who was exiting the structure having already committed the shootings inside. After a brief small arms skirmish, the suspect evaded capture and departed from the area, prompting the large manhunt. Regarding the shooter's identity, authorities claim that the individual is Vance Luther Boelter, a senior advisor and political activist who was appointed by Gov. Tim Walz to serve on the Governor's Workforce Development Board back in 2019. However, details surrounding the suspect's connections will be confusing until more information becomes public. While it's easy to assume the connection to Hortman due to her voting history, at the moment it's possible she wasn't the primary target...Hoffman and his wife were targeted first. Considering that a hit list was discovered at the scene, it is extremely likely that the officers who had the idea to check on Hortman saved lives. Unfortunately, Hortman and her husband did not survive the assassination attempt, but the officers engaging the suspect (and thus causing him to flee on foot) very likely prevented the shooter from continuing down his hit list to the next target. Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground

//The Wire//2300Z June 29, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: VEHICLE RAMMING ATTACK REPORTED IN LONDON. USA AND IRAN AGREE TO RESTART CEASEFIRE AFTER WEEKEND TARGETING EFFORTS. LEBANON INVASION CONTINUES. MASS SHOOTING REPORTED IN GERMANY. DISASTER AID TO VENEZUELA RAMPS UP AMID LOCAL TENSIONS.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE----- -International Events- Persian Gulf: Over the weekend, the war continued as both Iran and the United States conducted mutual targeting efforts after the stock market closed on Friday. Several strikes were reported within Iran, along with the Iranian targeting of another merchant vessel on Saturday. Sunday morning, Qatar stated that a small merchant vessel was struck by an Iranian munition somewhere off their coastline, which resulted in one fatality. After these tit-for-tat targeting efforts, the U.S. and Iran have allegedly agreed that the ceasefire is back on. Lebanon: Following the signing of the agreement between the U.S./Israel and the Lebanese government, the IDF's invasion has continued within southern Lebanon. Lebanese citizens have continued fleeing the city of Nabatiyeh, with airstrikes being reported all along the eastern front over the past few days. United Kingdom: On Saturday a vehicle ramming attack was reported in London after a Somalian man rammed his vehicle into a crowd of people outside a row of shops on The Broadway. A total of five people were wounded during the attack, and the suspect has been identified as Timir Ahmed Mohamed. He has been charged with multiple counts of attempted murder. Germany: This morning a mass shooting was reported in Stade, a small city in northern Germany west of Hamburg. At least one gunman conducted a small arms attack on Dankersstraße, in the residential sector of the town. A total of 5x people were killed during the attack, and the assailant was reportedly detained at the scene. In addition to the shooter, one other individual was also arrested at the scene. No further details have been provided, and the scene remains heavily locked down. Venezuela: Earthquake rescue and recovery efforts continue as the casualty count rises. Officially the death toll stands at over 1,719 confirmed fatalities, with tens of thousands of people either injured or displaced after their homes were destroyed. Several aftershocks with an estimated magnitude of M5.0 struck the disaster zone since the two main earthquakes devastated the region. This resulted in a few more building collapses, and has made rescue operations extremely dangerous for all involved. Analyst Comment: Concerning the American rescue efforts, U.S. Marines from Combat Logistics Battalion 8, Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 365, and the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit were on the ground immediately after the earthquakes, delivering aid and logistics as part of the American aid effort. The priority at the moment is the repair of Simón Bolívar Airport in Catia La Mar and Francisco De Miranda Airport in Caracas, both of which suffered significant damage which will need to be repaired for more heavy machinery and disaster aid to be flown in. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: In Venezuela, local corruption complaints have also begun to manifest, which has complicated rescue and recovery efforts. Uniformed Bolivarian soldiers have allegedly been observed looting from collapsed buildings, and many local politicians and military leaders have also been accused of hindering recovery efforts so as to extract bribes. Corruption throughout South America is extremely engrained throughout all levels of governance and society, and as a result even the most devastating disasters ever seen also attract those seeking to capitalize on the chaos. This hits especially hard due to the sheer scale of the disaster, which has left many communities to fend for themselves. Disasters almost always bring out the very best and the very worst of society, and Venezuela was already struggling beforehand. These hardships have in turn lead to the population turning their anger toward government almost immediately after the dust settled, and the US operation to capture Maduro earlier this year has complicated the situation significantly. For instance, one of the government figures who is involved in disaster aid is Minister of the Interior Diosdado Cabello (Rondón), who has been observed allegedly hindering disaster aid. For context, Cabello is currently wanted by the United States, and has a $25 million bounty on his head, which is still active. Yet, American rescue agencies on the ground are being given the runaround by him and his staff. Even the Venezuelan politicians hand-picked by the White House to lead in Maduro's absence are having trouble. Delcy Rodríguez, the individual who became President after the United States captured Maduro, was not very popular even before the earthquakes and was simply the only leader that seemed like a feasible puppet for the United States to control in the wake of the Venezuelan conflict. Managing the current disaster would be a challenge for anyone, but in this case Rodríguez is new on the job and the government was already barely functioning due to the political infighting that always occurs when a dictator is suddenly removed from the equation. Rodríguez also showing up to talk to impoverished disaster victims while wearing luxury clothing that costs more than the average yearly salary for most Venezuelans did not do her any favors either. In the western world, this would be considered a political gaffe, or something that is generally in poor taste considering that the victims have lost everything they have. But in South America, this is the kind of misstep that usually results in more discontent than one might think. As a result, the situation is tenuous all around; political infighting, corruption, and power-plays are all on the table while tens of thousands of victims attempt to dig through the rubble, and try to figure out what to do next. Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.

//The Wire//2300Z June 29, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: VEHICLE RAMMING ATTACK REPORTED IN LONDON. USA AND IRAN AGREE TO RESTART CEASEFIRE AFTER WEEKEND TARGETING EFFORTS. LEBANON INVASION CONTINUES. MASS SHOOTING REPORTED IN GERMANY. DISASTER AID TO VENEZUELA RAMPS UP AMID LOCAL TENSIONS.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE----- -International Events- Persian Gulf: Over the weekend, the war continued as both Iran and the United States conducted mutual targeting efforts after the stock market closed on Friday. Several strikes were reported within Iran, along with the Iranian targeting of another merchant vessel on Saturday. Sunday morning, Qatar stated that a small merchant vessel was struck by an Iranian munition somewhere off their coastline, which resulted in one fatality. After these tit-for-tat targeting efforts, the U.S. and Iran have allegedly agreed that the ceasefire is back on. Lebanon: Following the signing of the agreement between the U.S./Israel and the Lebanese government, the IDF's invasion has continued within southern Lebanon. Lebanese citizens have continued fleeing the city of Nabatiyeh, with airstrikes being reported all along the eastern front over the past few days. United Kingdom: On Saturday a vehicle ramming attack was reported in London after a Somalian man rammed his vehicle into a crowd of people outside a row of shops on The Broadway. A total of five people were wounded during the attack, and the suspect has been identified as Timir Ahmed Mohamed. He has been charged with multiple counts of attempted murder. Germany: This morning a mass shooting was reported in Stade, a small city in northern Germany west of Hamburg. At least one gunman conducted a small arms attack on Dankersstraße, in the residential sector of the town. A total of 5x people were killed during the attack, and the assailant was reportedly detained at the scene. In addition to the shooter, one other individual was also arrested at the scene. No further details have been provided, and the scene remains heavily locked down. Venezuela: Earthquake rescue and recovery efforts continue as the casualty count rises. Officially the death toll stands at over 1,719 confirmed fatalities, with tens of thousands of people either injured or displaced after their homes were destroyed. Several aftershocks with an estimated magnitude of M5.0 struck the disaster zone since the two main earthquakes devastated the region. This resulted in a few more building collapses, and has made rescue operations extremely dangerous for all involved. Analyst Comment: Concerning the American rescue efforts, U.S. Marines from Combat Logistics Battalion 8, Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 365, and the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit were on the ground immediately after the earthquakes, delivering aid and logistics as part of the American aid effort. The priority at the moment is the repair of Simón Bolívar Airport in Catia La Mar and Francisco De Miranda Airport in Caracas, both of which suffered significant damage which will need to be repaired for more heavy machinery and disaster aid to be flown in. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: In Venezuela, local corruption complaints have also begun to manifest, which has complicated rescue and recovery efforts. Uniformed Bolivarian soldiers have allegedly been observed looting from collapsed buildings, and many local politicians and military leaders have also been accused of hindering recovery efforts so as to extract bribes. Corruption throughout South America is extremely engrained throughout all levels of governance and society, and as a result even the most devastating disasters ever seen also attract those seeking to capitalize on the chaos. This hits especially hard due to the sheer scale of the disaster, which has left many communities to fend for themselves. Disasters almost always bring out the very best and the very worst of society, and Venezuela was already struggling beforehand. These hardships have in turn lead to the population turning their anger toward government almost immediately after the dust settled, and the US operation to capture Maduro earlier this year has complicated the situation significantly. For instance, one of the government figures who is involved in disaster aid is Minister of the Interior Diosdado Cabello (Rondón), who has been observed allegedly hindering disaster aid. For context, Cabello is currently wanted by the United States, and has a $25 million bounty on his head, which is still active. Yet, American rescue agencies on the ground are being given the runaround by him and his staff. Even the Venezuelan politicians hand-picked by the White House to lead in Maduro's absence are having trouble. Delcy Rodríguez, the individual who became President after the United States captured Maduro, was not very popular even before the earthquakes and was simply the only leader that seemed like a feasible puppet for the United States to control in the wake of the Venezuelan conflict. Managing the current disaster would be a challenge for anyone, but in this case Rodríguez is new on the job and the government was already barely functioning due to the political infighting that always occurs when a dictator is suddenly removed from the equation. Rodríguez also showing up to talk to impoverished disaster victims while wearing luxury clothing that costs more than the average yearly salary for most Venezuelans did not do her any favors either. In the western world, this would be considered a political gaffe, or something that is generally in poor taste considering that the victims have lost everything they have. But in South America, this is the kind of misstep that usually results in more discontent than one might think. As a result, the situation is tenuous all around; political infighting, corruption, and power-plays are all on the table while tens of thousands of victims attempt to dig through the rubble, and try to figure out what to do next. Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.

//The Wire//2000Z March 3, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: DRONE AND MISSILE ATTACKS CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE PERSIAN GULF. SAUDI FORCES DEPLOY TO QUELL RIOTS IN BAHRAIN. MAJOR OIL FACILITIES SHUT DOWN THROUGHOUT MIDDLE EAST DUE TO STRIKES. ISRAEL LAUNCHES GROUND INVASION OF LEBANON.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----   -International Events- Middle East: The Gulf War continues as Iranian forces begin shifting to strategic targets. Most of the drone/missile attacks overnight targeted oil production facilities, such as the Fujairah Industrial Zone in the UAE, which has been taken offline. Otherwise, the attacks on American installations continue, with the American Embassy in Riyadh being hit multiple times by drones overnight. Bahrain: Significant riots have broken out around the country, as the majority-Shia population begins expressing dissent with the Sunni government, and more specifically the American presence within the nation. Saudi Forces crossed the bridge this morning with anti-riot forces to help quell the more kinetic protests, which have become intense over the past 24 hours. Analyst Comment: Politics in Bahrain were complicated before the war, as the population is mostly Shia (and aligned with the Ayatollah), but the country is ruled by a Kingdom that is Sunni. Even before the shooting started the situation was tenuous at best, and the assassination of the Ayatollah might have been the spark needed to kick off a civil conflict within the island nation. This is a complicating factor for the United States, as Bahrain has long served as a major Center of Gravity for American combat power in the region. Now that some locals are getting rowdy (and are also aligned with Iran), this will make things more difficult. Lebanon: This morning Israeli forces launched a ground invasion in the south, opening up another front so as to seize terrain along the border. Lebanese Army forces have withdrawn from the border as Israeli units advance. Analyst Comment: It is not clear as to if this is a legitimate, full-scale ground invasion, or limited border incursions that Israel is known to do throughout southern Lebanon. So far, Israeli forces haven't crossed their limit of advance set during the height of the conflict two years ago. United Kingdom: A stabbing attack was reported in Edinburgh, which resulted in a standoff lasting several hours yesterday afternoon. One unidentified assailant began stabbing people an apartment building, which resulted in two people being wounded. After the attack, the suspect fled into the apartment building, which resulted in a standoff situation that lasted seven hours. Eventually, police were able to breach the building and detain the suspect. Separately, in Birmingham a different stabbing attack was captured on film this morning, which involved an assailant stabbing a man on the street outside a Catholic school in Alum Rock. This attacker was arrested at the scene, and very few details remain public regarding his identity. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: Yesterday afternoon the US State Department published the list of nations that Americans should evacuate from, which includes the entire Middle East. The "depart now" order has been issued for the nations of: Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the UAE, and Yemen. However, the US State Department has stated that Americans are on their own regarding evacuations. Even though the start of this combat operation was easily predicted down to the exact day (and nearly the exact hour) that it began, the United States somehow believes that they needed to maintain the element of surprise. The State Department believed that if they made attempts to evacuate the Middle East before the attack, the world would know that the war was imminent. This is also why many American bases appear to not be fortified as much as they could have been. In many cases, the Pentagon appears to not understand that their operation was very observable to the public, and their attempts to maintain the secrecy that they thought they had, resulted in little preparation in some areas. False sense of operational security aside, what this means at the moment is logistical challenges because everyone is having to sit tight for the moment until the war calms down enough to make evacuation flights reliable. A handful of flights have been able to make it in and out of Dubai, despite heavy GPS jamming efforts in the region. The governments of Britain and Poland are tentatively looking to start militarily-organized evacuation flights throughout the region over the next few days, however details are not yet solidified regarding these efforts. Italy has already conducted the military evacuation of some of their citizens from the region, who arrived back in Italy this morning. So far, the official policy of the US State Department is that US Citizens are on their own, and not a single evacuation flight of Americans has yet taken place to evacuate American citizens from the region. Right now, it might not seem like much, but time is in fact running out. Every single western-aligned Arab nation in the region is running out of interceptor missiles, with some nations reporting that they have burned through many years worth of their supply in just the past two days. Just this morning alone, the UAE blew through 172 interceptor missiles to take out 172 Iranian munitions that would have otherwise impacted targets inside their country. While it is unconfirmed hearsay at the moment, the rumor throughout the region is that the US has declined to restock these supplies, as most stockpiles of interceptor missiles have been allocated for Israel. As a result, this war is now a marathon to see who has more missiles, the Iranians or the other Persian Gulf states. At the moment, hundreds of drones and missiles are being intercepted out over the Gulf every day...the viral videos of drones slamming into targets on land are merely the munitions that have made it through missile defenses, which is a drop in the bucket compared to the true number of drones and missiles that are being launched. This has lead many to the false assumption that this war will fade away within a few days, because they can't visually see the interceptions that are taking place out over the water. However, it's now Day Four of this conflict, and the drone attacks have remained constant. When/if missile interceptors dwindle, these munitions will have nothing stopping them from reaching their targets. Last night, President Trump stated that American stockpiles of munitions are at adequate levels, and that "Wars can be fought 'forever'" at current stockpile levels of medium-grade munitions. Despite the rather unfortunate choice of vocabulary in this post, the cold hard truth is that the US has not been supplying the Arab nations that are now getting hit, with the munitions necessary for their defense, or more importantly, the defense of American assets (and citizens) in the region. This will complicate the self-evacuation of Americans over the next few weeks, in addition to sharply increasing the potential for more widespread drone strikes over the next few days. Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.

//The Wire//2300Z March 31, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: STARLINK SATELLITE EXPERIENCES "ANOMALY" IN ORBIT. FPV DRONE ATTACKS REPORTED AT RUSSIAN BASE IN MALI. WAR IN MIDDLE EAST INTENSIFIES WITH INCREASE OF AMERICAN BOMBING AND IRANIAN DRONE ATTACKS.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----   -International Events- Middle East: Several escalations occurred overnight, with substantial strikes being reported throughout the region. Satellite imagery indicates that the strikes within Iran have increased in scope, though most of the targeting efforts remain concentrated in the western part of the country. Last night American forces struck an ammo dump in Isfahan, which resulted in significant secondary explosions at the site. This strike supplements many other strikes throughout the area, which have destroyed most of the military infrastructure throughout Isfahan. In the Persian Gulf itself, Iranian targeting of merchant vessels continued overnight, as two ships reported being targeted. The M/T *AL SALMI* was struck by an Iranian drone, sustaining damage from the subsequent fire that broke out on board after the strike. Another unidentified vessel reported a close-call, with an unidentified munition landing in the water close to the vessel. Pacific: Yesterday the Marshall Islands declared a state of emergency for at least the next 90 days, due to fuel shortages caused by the reduction of petroleum production in the Middle East and with travel through the Strait of Hormuz being restricted. President Heine signed the declaration yesterday, and various committees have been formed to determine what steps to take as the war continues. Mali: This morning a local insurgent group posted a video claiming credit for a drone attack on a military outpost in the remote town of Anefis. The Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) is a small insurgent group that has been waging war in the region for a while, with combat operations intensifying over the past few weeks. Analyst Comment: While a couple of FPV drone strikes are mostly insignificant on the battlefield, this does indicate that even in the most far-flung regions of the earth, drone warfare is becoming a concern that even large nationstates continue to struggle with. For instance, the site struck by FLA yesterday was also allegedly being used by Russian advisors, and this is the second instance in about a week of FLA militants using munitions attached to FPV drones to carry out attacks. -HomeFront- USA: Starlink announced a malfunction with one of their satellites, with the satellite experiencing some level of breakup in orbit. Satellite imagery from a craft with a higher orbit captured the satellite in orbit, which indicates it's still mostly intact even though hundreds of particles have been detected separating from this platform. The cause of the malfunction has not yet been disclosed, with this incident only being described as an "anomaly". -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: Indications and warnings are growing that the intensification of the war in Iran might be what is colloquially known in the targeting world as Shaping Fires, in other words blowing up a lot of stuff in preparation for a future objective. Since the start of the war, the United States has been working through a High Payoff Target List (HPTL), which is basically a list of targets arranged by which ones should be struck first. In an air war, the targets at the top of the list are usually missile defense sites, radar arrays, or any other targets which might be more important to take out first. As time goes on, eventually lower-priority targets can be struck. However, in going through this process, the world eventually finds out what targets were on that list. And right now, a month after the war began, the targets that are being struck are probably an indicator of what is being planned for. As an example, the US completely leveled the entire headquarters for the 33rd and the 44th Artillery Groups, which included dozens of impact craters being observed on satellite imagery in the boneyard of old artillery pieces that have been in this same location since the Iran-Iraq War. These field artillery units, while certainly valid military targets in a declared state of Armed Conflict, aren't exactly a high priority for meeting the strategic objectives conveyed by the White House. These artillery pieces, however, would have been of great use for defending against forces on the ground. As at least one Brigade Combat Team (BCT) from the 82nd Airborne arrives in CENTCOM to supplement the two MEU's already on station, many are speculating on the potential for a US ground invasion of Iran. This is debatable to the point that many people believe such a possibility is unthinkable, and the rhetoric of the war winding down any day now has been a constant factor for consideration. However, this rhetoric is not reflected by the raw information available at the present moment concerning the situation on the ground. Operations so far indicate that if a ground invasion were on the menu, the targets that are being struck right now are the exact sites that would need to be struck for any ground combat element to have any chance of success at all. Nevertheless, aside from the forward deployment of troops to the region, many more boxes must be checked before any ground operation would be feasible. MMost military doctrine dictates that at "the defensive form of warfare is stronger than the offense" (Clausewitz), which makes the task ahead much more difficult since the most effective way to conduct littoral operations in a contested environment is to effectively disrupt the enemy's kill-chain (i.e. their own manner of identifying and prosecuting their own targets) BEFORE operations are conducted within the enemy's weapons engagement zone (WEZ). Conducting operations within the WEZ is an expectation of the Marine forces currently deployed, as this mission set is their bread and butter. However, at this point, that kill-chain has not been disrupted to a sufficient degree, and Iranian forces routinely conduct over-the-horizon targeting capability. So in short, it may be some time before even the most basic ground operation will be feasible under current military doctrine. However, the textbook can always be disregarded at any point, and decision-makers are going to do whatever they so choose. Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.

//The Wire//2300Z May 14, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: SITUATION IN CUBA DETERIORATES AS OIL SUPPLY RUNS OUT. INDIA BANS EXPORT OF SUGAR AS FUEL CRISIS IMPACTS PRODUCTION. IRANIANS SEIZE SHIP IN GULF OF OMAN. DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS CONTINUE IN CHINA.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----   -International Events- Middle East: Overnight Iranian forces seized a vessel near the Gulf of Oman, which was lying at anchor off the eastern coast of the UAE. Separately, a smaller regional cargo vessel was struck by an Iranian munition this morning, sinking somewhere near the Strait. Otherwise, the IRGCN stated that roughly 30x vessels (mostly Chinese) had transited the Strait of Hormuz overnight, with permission from the Iranians. Analyst Comment: The ship that was seized in the Gulf of Oman is not just any merchant vessel, it was the M/V *HUI CHUAN*, a secretive vessel known to be used by Chinese paramilitary forces to serve as a floating armory for various counterpiracy efforts in the region. While not specifically classed as a warship, this vessel likely had significant stockpiles of weapons and intelligence collection sensors onboard. India: A ban on exports of sugar has been implemented until September 30th, with the Directorate General of Foreign Trade stating that the export ban is being implemented to ease the sharp increase in the price of sugar domestically. Analyst Comment: While this appears to be a standard decision based on routine agricultural practices, this is actually more important than it seems as it's probably directly related to the international fuel crisis. India relies heavily on sugarcane for the production of ethanol for gasoline. Last year, India began more heavily relying on sugarcane for this process instead of just molasses, and India now finds itself in trouble because they cannot grow enough sugarcane to meet the rising demand for local fuel production. The Hormuz crisis has the entire world watering down their fuel supply with ethanol, and now India is running out of sugar. India is also one of the biggest suppliers of sugar in the world, with most of their export partners being located in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. United Kingdom: This morning Health Secretary Wes Streeting resigned, continuing the political turmoil in the wake of the latest election cycle. Analyst Comment: Most expect Streeting to challenge Starmer's leadership of the party sometime within the next few days, in an attempt to oust him from office. Considering the number of high-ranking resignations over the past few days, this would make sense, so it's likely that the political situation in the U.K. will get busy soon. Cuba: This morning, Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy stated that the entire nation is out of diesel and fuel oil as the American blockade of the island nation continues. The United States has offered to send an aid package of $100 million, in exchange for significant changes within the Cuban government. Analyst Comment: Prior to the capture of Maduro, nearly all of Cuba's petroleum supply came from Venezuela and Mexico. Now that the American government is more or less ruling Venezuela, all shipments of petroleum distillates to Cuba have been halted. Cuba has little domestic production capacity, and as a result the already desperate situation in the country has become worse over the past few months, as the United States has threatened to impose tariffs on any nation that provides energy to Cuba. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: President Trump's state visit to China continues, with various diplomatic talks and speeches taking place throughout the day. So far, nothing much of note has been discussed, beyond the generalities of the U.S. and China expressing mutual intent to work together. One of the bigger issues not mentioned is the Taiwan situation, which is being avoided by all sides so as to not derail the trip outright. As customary for the region, the farther East one goes, the more indirect diplomacy becomes. Nothing is ever plainly spoken, and China has been speaking more vaguely than normal, with the exception of President Xi specifically mentioning the hope that the United States and China can avoid the Thucydides Trap in terms of the expansion and growth of both nations. Most of the atmospherics of the talks so far has been amiable, with the U.S. and China agreeing on the need to re-open the Strait of Hormuz, along with other general agreements on the pressing need to return the region to the state it was in before the war. Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.

//The Wire//2300Z May 14, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: SITUATION IN CUBA DETERIORATES AS OIL SUPPLY RUNS OUT. INDIA BANS EXPORT OF SUGAR AS FUEL CRISIS IMPACTS PRODUCTION. IRANIANS SEIZE SHIP IN GULF OF OMAN. DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS CONTINUE IN CHINA.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----   -International Events- Middle East: Overnight Iranian forces seized a vessel near the Gulf of Oman, which was lying at anchor off the eastern coast of the UAE. Separately, a smaller regional cargo vessel was struck by an Iranian munition this morning, sinking somewhere near the Strait. Otherwise, the IRGCN stated that roughly 30x vessels (mostly Chinese) had transited the Strait of Hormuz overnight, with permission from the Iranians. Analyst Comment: The ship that was seized in the Gulf of Oman is not just any merchant vessel, it was the M/V *HUI CHUAN*, a secretive vessel known to be used by Chinese paramilitary forces to serve as a floating armory for various counterpiracy efforts in the region. While not specifically classed as a warship, this vessel likely had significant stockpiles of weapons and intelligence collection sensors onboard. India: A ban on exports of sugar has been implemented until September 30th, with the Directorate General of Foreign Trade stating that the export ban is being implemented to ease the sharp increase in the price of sugar domestically. Analyst Comment: While this appears to be a standard decision based on routine agricultural practices, this is actually more important than it seems as it's probably directly related to the international fuel crisis. India relies heavily on sugarcane for the production of ethanol for gasoline. Last year, India began more heavily relying on sugarcane for this process instead of just molasses, and India now finds itself in trouble because they cannot grow enough sugarcane to meet the rising demand for local fuel production. The Hormuz crisis has the entire world watering down their fuel supply with ethanol, and now India is running out of sugar. India is also one of the biggest suppliers of sugar in the world, with most of their export partners being located in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. United Kingdom: This morning Health Secretary Wes Streeting resigned, continuing the political turmoil in the wake of the latest election cycle. Analyst Comment: Most expect Streeting to challenge Starmer's leadership of the party sometime within the next few days, in an attempt to oust him from office. Considering the number of high-ranking resignations over the past few days, this would make sense, so it's likely that the political situation in the U.K. will get busy soon. Cuba: This morning, Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy stated that the entire nation is out of diesel and fuel oil as the American blockade of the island nation continues. The United States has offered to send an aid package of $100 million, in exchange for significant changes within the Cuban government. Analyst Comment: Prior to the capture of Maduro, nearly all of Cuba's petroleum supply came from Venezuela and Mexico. Now that the American government is more or less ruling Venezuela, all shipments of petroleum distillates to Cuba have been halted. Cuba has little domestic production capacity, and as a result the already desperate situation in the country has become worse over the past few months, as the United States has threatened to impose tariffs on any nation that provides energy to Cuba. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: President Trump's state visit to China continues, with various diplomatic talks and speeches taking place throughout the day. So far, nothing much of note has been discussed, beyond the generalities of the U.S. and China expressing mutual intent to work together. One of the bigger issues not mentioned is the Taiwan situation, which is being avoided by all sides so as to not derail the trip outright. As customary for the region, the farther East one goes, the more indirect diplomacy becomes. Nothing is ever plainly spoken, and China has been speaking more vaguely than normal, with the exception of President Xi specifically mentioning the hope that the United States and China can avoid the Thucydides Trap in terms of the expansion and growth of both nations. Most of the atmospherics of the talks so far has been amiable, with the U.S. and China agreeing on the need to re-open the Strait of Hormuz, along with other general agreements on the pressing need to return the region to the state it was in before the war. Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.

//The Wire//2300Z June 9, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: ATTEMPTED BEHEADING REPORTED IN IRELAND, RIOTS UNDERWAY. U.S. ARMY HELICOPTER SHOT DOWN IN GULF OF OMAN. KARMELO ANTHONY FOUND GUILTY OF MURDER.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE----- -International Events- Middle East: Overnight one U.S. Army AH-64 helicopter crashed feet-wet off the coast of Oman. Both the pilot and the co-pilot/gunner managed to egress from the aircraft, and were rescued two hours after the crash. At the time of the crash, CENTCOM did not disclose the reason for the incident, however this afternoon President Trump confirmed that this aircraft was shot down by Iranian forces. Analyst Comment: Two hours in the water is a long time in terms of Combat Search and Rescue, and it's a miracle that they were rescued. Of note, some sources are claiming that the rescue method for the downed aviators took the form of an unusual source...an American Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV). If this is true (which we may never know), this would be the first instance of an American drone boat being used for rescue operations in a combat zone. Northern Ireland: Yesterday evening an extremely graphic beheading attempt was reported on a residential street in Belfast. One Sudanese national attacked a local, gouging out his eyes with a knife and attempting to behead him. The exceptionally brutal attack was captured on tape, and the video circulated widely in the moments after the attack. The status of the victim remains unclear, but he is receiving medical care for his many wounds. The victim has not been identified by name, however he's reportedly from Scotland and also hard-of-hearing, leaving him more vulnerable to the attack. Analyst Comment: The attacker was initially hospitalized at The Mater, the main hospital in Belfast. It is unclear as to if the attacker is still physically located at this site, but he was spotted in the hospital by local intelligence networks as he was being given a medical exam post-incident. The suspect is most likely being held at the Musgrave Custody Suite on Victoria Street, which is one of the more protected sites in Belfast and can hold high-security detainees. Despite the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) not charging this individual under terrorism charges, there's a very high likelihood that the attacker would not survive the first night once other detainees found out what he did. The assailant was granted asylum status as a refugee a few years ago, though the exact nature of this legal status is not entirely clear. -HomeFront- Texas: This afternoon Karmello Anthony was found guilty of the murder Austin Metcalf. So far limited protest activity has been observed outside the courthouse. Analyst Comment: No big mobilizations or riots have been observed yet, however more significant efforts might take some time to organize as it's only a Tuesday. Too soon to tell if this is going to become a hot state of unrest, but seeing as tension has been building on this for a while, it could go either way. The next big decision point will be sentencing, which will be decided soon by the same jury. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: As one might expect, the situation in Northern Ireland has reached a boiling point. Mass riots are already underway as of this report (and likely planned for the next few weeks), as the Irish begin to organize and mobilize. Tonight, local paramilitary groups have requested all residents of Belfast to turn off their doorbell cameras, and PSNI checkpoints are already established around the city preparing for the events of the next few days. Concerning the site of the mutilation, the location of the attempted beheading has been host to violence before. This exact apartment building has been the site of violent murders in the past. In 2019, two bodies were found brutally murdered inside Kinnaird Close, with the trial for the murderer concluding a couple of years ago. Of note, the attack yesterday evening was halted by Irishmen who intervened to attempt to stop the murder. Matthew McKiernan (Gaelic spelling: Maitiu Mág Tighearnán) has been identified as the man who clubbed the African with a hurley stick, attempting to stop the attack. He and other pedestrians did what they could, but by the time they were able to intervene, exceptionally grave wounds had already been sustained by the victim. They did their best, but there was only so much they could do as taking care of the problem was not a viable option as police were seconds away from the scene and would have absolutely arrested citizens for continuing the counterattack on the African after they arrived. Nevertheless, the entire city of Belfast is calling for blood right now, and tonight they might just get it. For historical context, this brutal attack took place in one of the most contentious districts on Earth. Belfast was one of the epicenters of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and the northwest quadrant of the city is still host to many "peace lines" to this very day. Granted, most of the old maps designating the Catholic/Nationalist/Republican (CNR) areas from the Protestant/Ulster/Loyalist (PUL) areas of the city are a bit outdated and not as strictly delineated in real life as it is marked on the map sometimes. Plus, the old history of political ideology, infamous organizations, and current political leadership is incredibly complicated. In short, neither side can rightfully point the finger at the other on this issue, because elements on both sides have resulted in furthering mass migration into Ireland. On the ground, this attack took place in a strong CNR community, right along a historic dividing line, so multiple communities have a vested interest in handling the situation. Even before sunset this evening communities which have quite literally killed each other over dividing lines, are at least beginning to acknowledge the seriousness of the current migration situation, while also acknowledging that singing songs and holding hands is still unlikely between Protestants and Catholics in many of these communities. Though the situation is incredibly complicated, when it comes to beheadings in the streets, the seriousness of the situation is stratifying along bigger lines than the history of the region. At his core, an Irishman is an Irishman, regardless of affiliation, and much like most of Western Civilization, the unofficial national sports are drinking, fighting, and blowing stuff up. As a result, there are solutions to these problems, if attention on all sides can be focused appropriately. There may indeed be more room for slight-cooperation between age-old factions which might have the chance to re-examine what lines of division are worth postponing for a time, as more pressing threats are already inside the fence....threats which are neither Catholic nor Protestant. Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.

//The Wire//2300Z June 9, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: ATTEMPTED BEHEADING REPORTED IN IRELAND, RIOTS UNDERWAY. U.S. ARMY HELICOPTER SHOT DOWN IN GULF OF OMAN. KARMELO ANTHONY FOUND GUILTY OF MURDER.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE----- -International Events- Middle East: Overnight one U.S. Army AH-64 helicopter crashed feet-wet off the coast of Oman. Both the pilot and the co-pilot/gunner managed to egress from the aircraft, and were rescued two hours after the crash. At the time of the crash, CENTCOM did not disclose the reason for the incident, however this afternoon President Trump confirmed that this aircraft was shot down by Iranian forces. Analyst Comment: Two hours in the water is a long time in terms of Combat Search and Rescue, and it's a miracle that they were rescued. Of note, some sources are claiming that the rescue method for the downed aviators took the form of an unusual source...an American Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV). If this is true (which we may never know), this would be the first instance of an American drone boat being used for rescue operations in a combat zone. Northern Ireland: Yesterday evening an extremely graphic beheading attempt was reported on a residential street in Belfast. One Sudanese national attacked a local, gouging out his eyes with a knife and attempting to behead him. The exceptionally brutal attack was captured on tape, and the video circulated widely in the moments after the attack. The status of the victim remains unclear, but he is receiving medical care for his many wounds. The victim has not been identified by name, however he's reportedly from Scotland and also hard-of-hearing, leaving him more vulnerable to the attack. Analyst Comment: The attacker was initially hospitalized at The Mater, the main hospital in Belfast. It is unclear as to if the attacker is still physically located at this site, but he was spotted in the hospital by local intelligence networks as he was being given a medical exam post-incident. The suspect is most likely being held at the Musgrave Custody Suite on Victoria Street, which is one of the more protected sites in Belfast and can hold high-security detainees. Despite the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) not charging this individual under terrorism charges, there's a very high likelihood that the attacker would not survive the first night once other detainees found out what he did. The assailant was granted asylum status as a refugee a few years ago, though the exact nature of this legal status is not entirely clear. -HomeFront- Texas: This afternoon Karmello Anthony was found guilty of the murder Austin Metcalf. So far limited protest activity has been observed outside the courthouse. Analyst Comment: No big mobilizations or riots have been observed yet, however more significant efforts might take some time to organize as it's only a Tuesday. Too soon to tell if this is going to become a hot state of unrest, but seeing as tension has been building on this for a while, it could go either way. The next big decision point will be sentencing, which will be decided soon by the same jury. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: As one might expect, the situation in Northern Ireland has reached a boiling point. Mass riots are already underway as of this report (and likely planned for the next few weeks), as the Irish begin to organize and mobilize. Tonight, local paramilitary groups have requested all residents of Belfast to turn off their doorbell cameras, and PSNI checkpoints are already established around the city preparing for the events of the next few days. Concerning the site of the mutilation, the location of the attempted beheading has been host to violence before. This exact apartment building has been the site of violent murders in the past. In 2019, two bodies were found brutally murdered inside Kinnaird Close, with the trial for the murderer concluding a couple of years ago. Of note, the attack yesterday evening was halted by Irishmen who intervened to attempt to stop the murder. Matthew McKiernan (Gaelic spelling: Maitiu Mág Tighearnán) has been identified as the man who clubbed the African with a hurley stick, attempting to stop the attack. He and other pedestrians did what they could, but by the time they were able to intervene, exceptionally grave wounds had already been sustained by the victim. They did their best, but there was only so much they could do as taking care of the problem was not a viable option as police were seconds away from the scene and would have absolutely arrested citizens for continuing the counterattack on the African after they arrived. Nevertheless, the entire city of Belfast is calling for blood right now, and tonight they might just get it. For historical context, this brutal attack took place in one of the most contentious districts on Earth. Belfast was one of the epicenters of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and the northwest quadrant of the city is still host to many "peace lines" to this very day. Granted, most of the old maps designating the Catholic/Nationalist/Republican (CNR) areas from the Protestant/Ulster/Loyalist (PUL) areas of the city are a bit outdated and not as strictly delineated in real life as it is marked on the map sometimes. Plus, the old history of political ideology, infamous organizations, and current political leadership is incredibly complicated. In short, neither side can rightfully point the finger at the other on this issue, because elements on both sides have resulted in furthering mass migration into Ireland. On the ground, this attack took place in a strong CNR community, right along a historic dividing line, so multiple communities have a vested interest in handling the situation. Even before sunset this evening communities which have quite literally killed each other over dividing lines, are at least beginning to acknowledge the seriousness of the current migration situation, while also acknowledging that singing songs and holding hands is still unlikely between Protestants and Catholics in many of these communities. Though the situation is incredibly complicated, when it comes to beheadings in the streets, the seriousness of the situation is stratifying along bigger lines than the history of the region. At his core, an Irishman is an Irishman, regardless of affiliation, and much like most of Western Civilization, the unofficial national sports are drinking, fighting, and blowing stuff up. As a result, there are solutions to these problems, if attention on all sides can be focused appropriately. There may indeed be more room for slight-cooperation between age-old factions which might have the chance to re-examine what lines of division are worth postponing for a time, as more pressing threats are already inside the fence....threats which are neither Catholic nor Protestant. Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.

//The Wire//2300Z May 18, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: CRIME AND SHOOTING SPREES RUN RAMPANT IN UNITED STATES. VEHICLE RAMMING ATTACK REPORTED IN ITALY. WAR IN MIDDLE EAST CONTINUES AS STRIKES REPORTED AT EMIRATI NUCLEAR FACILITY. U.S. STRIKES ISIS LEADERSHIP IN NIGERIA. FUEL CRISIS RESULTS IN SHARP INCREASE IN SHIPPING PRICES WORLDWIDE.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----   -International Events- Middle East: The situation remains as before, with most of the focus remaining on the restriction of travel through the Strait of Hormuz. As of this morning, all diplomatic efforts between the United States and Iran have failed to open the Strait, and traffic remains stagnant through the waterway. A handful of tankers have transited out of the Strait via the Iranian route, but Project Freedom has not resulted in any western-aligned merchants transiting the Strait since the initial skirmishes on it's first day. Around the region, limited targeting efforts continue to take place. Yesterday, the UAE reported drone strikes at the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in Al Dhafra. Three drones were detected and two were shot down, but one drone successfully stuck the compound. None of the reactors at the facility were breached, and no release of radiological material was reported. Nigeria: Hostilities have increased sharply over the past few days, with the United States conducting several airstrikes targeting ISIS facilities. President Trump himself announced the completion of a raid targeting Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, a senior commander within the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) insurgent group. Analyst Comment: Prior to a few days ago, the United States was only supporting Nigeria with intelligence and surveillance assets, and not openly engaging in the war themselves, at least as far as the public is concerned. The weekend raid on an ISIS stronghold is a major escalation of US involvement in the war, even though the mission may have initially been to capture al-Minuki. A good bit of reading between the lines is needed (along with a bit of speculation) to interpret what happened, as this announcement is different than other targeting efforts throughout the continent. The wording of all official reports implies that this was a ground operation to capture the leadership who had congregated together inside a compound. At some point, this ground operation transitioned to airstrikes taking out the target, with the High-Value Targets (HVTs) being killed during the strike. Speculating a bit, it's possible that when the ground force experienced significant resistance and everyone scattered from the meeting site on motorcycles, the US bombed the building and got al-Minuki by happenstance. This is a tale as old as time in the targeting world (especially in Africa), and aligns with the previous strikes within Sokoto, which targeted senior ISIS leadership in the same area back in December. Italy: Over the weekend a vehicle ramming attack was reported in Modena, as a terrorist rammed his vehicle into a crowd of people on Via Emilia Centro, a historic street in the center of town. A total of 10x people were wounded during the attack, with 4x victims remaining hospitalized in critical condition. The assailant has been identified as Salim El Koudri, and local authorities have not commented on motive. -HomeFront- Texas: Over the weekend a shooting spree was reported in Austin, as three suspects conducted approximately 12x small arms attacks around the city. The incident began Saturday with the theft of firearms from a local store, and also the theft of a vehicle from an apartment complex in north Austin. From there, the suspects conducted a joyride around the city, shooting at random citizens. One of the first targets was Fire Station 26 on Wentworth Drive, along with Fire Station 32 near Rollingwood. Throughout the city, over 20x different shooting calls were reported, with over 12x different shooting victims resulting from the shooting spree. At some point during the series of attacks from Saturday afternoon until Sunday morning, police made the connection that all of these attacks were related and involved the same suspects. A BOLO notice was put out by Austin PD, which was picked up by Manor Police Department, with one patrol officer visually observing the vehicle as the BOLO was put out on the radio. This immediately turned into a pursuit, with the suspects eventually crashing in a muddy field on state road 973, near a residential area in Manor. After the pursuit ended, the occupants of the vehicle scattered, and a large shelter-in-place order was issued while the manhunt was conducted to find the suspects. Two of the suspected shooters were captured immediately, a 17 year old and a 15 year old, both of which have long criminal records. A third suspect remained at large until nightfall, when he was discovered and arrested. California: This afternoon, an active shooter incident was reported at the Islamic Center of San Diego. Analyst Comment: No word yet on casualties or any other details yet as this is a developing situation. However, a media helicopter captured a video of a very clearly deceased individual located at the front entrance to the facility, so at least one person (possibly the shooter) was killed during the attack. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: Around the world, fuel prices remain a growing concern. Over the past few days, sharp increases in the price of freight has been observed as the cost of diesel makes it more expensive to move cargo within the homeland. At the national level, the LMI Transportation index indicates that freight costs are the highest in recent memory, with the latest numbers for April being released and confirming what we already know...moving cargo is now extremely expensive. At the more operational level, this sharp increase in shipping costs can be seen with the price of moving a standard Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) shipping container. Before the war began, this container (on average) cost $980 to ship from China, to the Middle East (via the Red Sea route, not through the Strait of Hormuz). Right now, this same container costs about $4,131 to ship along the same route. During the COVID era, the maximum price observed was about $3,900 so as it stands, the oil shock has already impacted shipping costs more than COVID did. These costs are being observed right now within the United States both in terms of goods rising in price, but also availability. Throughout the Middle East, lots of talk continues and there isn't really any indicator for when this crisis might end. This afternoon, President Trump stated that the large-scale bombing of Iran was scheduled to continue tomorrow, but he has decided to hold off on the resumption of the war while a negotiated settlement is allegedly imminent. At the moment, it's not clear as to if this is just diplomatic posturing, or a genuine diplomatic effort. This exact situation was also alleged during the halt to Project Freedom, which stopped after one day due to a settlement that never came. In this case, this could be a negotiating tactic, but overall the war is certainly not over, and the effects of the war (i.e. the global petroleum crisis) remain largely unmitigated. Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.

//The Wire//2300Z May 18, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: CRIME AND SHOOTING SPREES RUN RAMPANT IN UNITED STATES. VEHICLE RAMMING ATTACK REPORTED IN ITALY. WAR IN MIDDLE EAST CONTINUES AS STRIKES REPORTED AT EMIRATI NUCLEAR FACILITY. U.S. STRIKES ISIS LEADERSHIP IN NIGERIA. FUEL CRISIS RESULTS IN SHARP INCREASE IN SHIPPING PRICES WORLDWIDE.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----   -International Events- Middle East: The situation remains as before, with most of the focus remaining on the restriction of travel through the Strait of Hormuz. As of this morning, all diplomatic efforts between the United States and Iran have failed to open the Strait, and traffic remains stagnant through the waterway. A handful of tankers have transited out of the Strait via the Iranian route, but Project Freedom has not resulted in any western-aligned merchants transiting the Strait since the initial skirmishes on it's first day. Around the region, limited targeting efforts continue to take place. Yesterday, the UAE reported drone strikes at the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in Al Dhafra. Three drones were detected and two were shot down, but one drone successfully stuck the compound. None of the reactors at the facility were breached, and no release of radiological material was reported. Nigeria: Hostilities have increased sharply over the past few days, with the United States conducting several airstrikes targeting ISIS facilities. President Trump himself announced the completion of a raid targeting Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, a senior commander within the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) insurgent group. Analyst Comment: Prior to a few days ago, the United States was only supporting Nigeria with intelligence and surveillance assets, and not openly engaging in the war themselves, at least as far as the public is concerned. The weekend raid on an ISIS stronghold is a major escalation of US involvement in the war, even though the mission may have initially been to capture al-Minuki. A good bit of reading between the lines is needed (along with a bit of speculation) to interpret what happened, as this announcement is different than other targeting efforts throughout the continent. The wording of all official reports implies that this was a ground operation to capture the leadership who had congregated together inside a compound. At some point, this ground operation transitioned to airstrikes taking out the target, with the High-Value Targets (HVTs) being killed during the strike. Speculating a bit, it's possible that when the ground force experienced significant resistance and everyone scattered from the meeting site on motorcycles, the US bombed the building and got al-Minuki by happenstance. This is a tale as old as time in the targeting world (especially in Africa), and aligns with the previous strikes within Sokoto, which targeted senior ISIS leadership in the same area back in December. Italy: Over the weekend a vehicle ramming attack was reported in Modena, as a terrorist rammed his vehicle into a crowd of people on Via Emilia Centro, a historic street in the center of town. A total of 10x people were wounded during the attack, with 4x victims remaining hospitalized in critical condition. The assailant has been identified as Salim El Koudri, and local authorities have not commented on motive. -HomeFront- Texas: Over the weekend a shooting spree was reported in Austin, as three suspects conducted approximately 12x small arms attacks around the city. The incident began Saturday with the theft of firearms from a local store, and also the theft of a vehicle from an apartment complex in north Austin. From there, the suspects conducted a joyride around the city, shooting at random citizens. One of the first targets was Fire Station 26 on Wentworth Drive, along with Fire Station 32 near Rollingwood. Throughout the city, over 20x different shooting calls were reported, with over 12x different shooting victims resulting from the shooting spree. At some point during the series of attacks from Saturday afternoon until Sunday morning, police made the connection that all of these attacks were related and involved the same suspects. A BOLO notice was put out by Austin PD, which was picked up by Manor Police Department, with one patrol officer visually observing the vehicle as the BOLO was put out on the radio. This immediately turned into a pursuit, with the suspects eventually crashing in a muddy field on state road 973, near a residential area in Manor. After the pursuit ended, the occupants of the vehicle scattered, and a large shelter-in-place order was issued while the manhunt was conducted to find the suspects. Two of the suspected shooters were captured immediately, a 17 year old and a 15 year old, both of which have long criminal records. A third suspect remained at large until nightfall, when he was discovered and arrested. California: This afternoon, an active shooter incident was reported at the Islamic Center of San Diego. Analyst Comment: No word yet on casualties or any other details yet as this is a developing situation. However, a media helicopter captured a video of a very clearly deceased individual located at the front entrance to the facility, so at least one person (possibly the shooter) was killed during the attack. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: Around the world, fuel prices remain a growing concern. Over the past few days, sharp increases in the price of freight has been observed as the cost of diesel makes it more expensive to move cargo within the homeland. At the national level, the LMI Transportation index indicates that freight costs are the highest in recent memory, with the latest numbers for April being released and confirming what we already know...moving cargo is now extremely expensive. At the more operational level, this sharp increase in shipping costs can be seen with the price of moving a standard Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) shipping container. Before the war began, this container (on average) cost $980 to ship from China, to the Middle East (via the Red Sea route, not through the Strait of Hormuz). Right now, this same container costs about $4,131 to ship along the same route. During the COVID era, the maximum price observed was about $3,900 so as it stands, the oil shock has already impacted shipping costs more than COVID did. These costs are being observed right now within the United States both in terms of goods rising in price, but also availability. Throughout the Middle East, lots of talk continues and there isn't really any indicator for when this crisis might end. This afternoon, President Trump stated that the large-scale bombing of Iran was scheduled to continue tomorrow, but he has decided to hold off on the resumption of the war while a negotiated settlement is allegedly imminent. At the moment, it's not clear as to if this is just diplomatic posturing, or a genuine diplomatic effort. This exact situation was also alleged during the halt to Project Freedom, which stopped after one day due to a settlement that never came. In this case, this could be a negotiating tactic, but overall the war is certainly not over, and the effects of the war (i.e. the global petroleum crisis) remain largely unmitigated. Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.

Hello again everyone and welcome back to the underground. This is the intel update for May 24th through the 30th of 2026. This week seems to have flown right by as many different events have come to a head over the past few days. Around the world, all of the current wars continue pretty much the same as before. In Europe, the war in Ukraine has intensified once again as the yearly summer fighting season has resulted in major offensive and counteroffensive actions being conducted by both sides. Most of the war remains fairly stagnant in terms of the front lines actually moving, but major offensives are being conducted far behind the lines in both Russia and in Ukraine via drones and missiles. And the Ukrainian attacks in particular are striking a lot of Russian oil infrastructure, which is affecting the global oil market. As a result, the war in Ukraine has served to put the squeeze on Europe even more than the war in the Middle East already has as Ukrainian forces continue to strike targets that indirectly make Europe's fuel supply even more expensive. Similarly, the Middle East remains in a state of stagnation or stalemate, however you want to put it, with a few engagements being reported this week, both in the Strait of Hormuz, within the Persian Gulf War, but also within Lebanon and Gaza as the Israelis continue offensive actions along multiple fronts. The Israelis are expanding their operations uh to conduct their land invasion into Lebanon, but they're also looking to annex more of Gaza than they already have with Israeli politicians stating that they plan to annex roughly 70% of Gaza. So whether that will actually happen is debatable, but nevertheless, the situation in the Middle East remains tense on many different fronts. Most importantly for us, the global oil inventories have begun to approach minimum operation levels in some parts of the globe this week, mostly in Asia as the shock to the global oil supply continues to be affected more seriously. Closer to home, kinetic strikes continue on fast boats in the Eastern Pacific as the United States begins to accelerate the counter narcotics mission down south. But there are very few details on this. So there's not much to note other than that the strikes happened generally in the Eastern Pacific. Within the homeland itself, civil conflict in the form of street takeovers and routine crime continues as before with no real change from last week. The situation is still insane. These street takeovers are still occurring in dozens of cities around the country pretty much every day. So it's hard to keep track of all of these. But the deteriorating situation in Newark, New Jersey has once again emboldened the anti-ISE demonstrations and served as a good barometer for other unrest which might develop if so desired. So very much a busy week all around. On the strategic movement front, the major military movements for this week have remained much the same as before. No big changes from last week with the little caveat that Cuba is still a central focus. This week, US Southern Command announced that a meeting had taken place at the perimeter fence of Guantanamo Bay between General Donovan and a collection of cheery fellows from various levels of Cuban senior military leadership. Not a whole lot of smiles down in Gitmo, which is probably appropriate, but this meeting does highlight tensions in the region because it's not something that is normally conducted. These meetings like this are pretty rare, and this one's not really clear as to what it was all about. Per their post on social media, the reason for the meeting was very vague and only mentioned stuff like operational security and general perimeter security. Who knows what the real reason for the meeting was all about. Maybe it was just a PR event, more about conveying the seriousness of the situation. It's really impossible to know for sure, but the end result is keeping Cuba at the forefront of the news cycle and reminding us that American aspirations in Cuba are still being formulated, whatever they are. As of right now, there's not really a clear explanation of why the United States is interested in Cuba. Of course, there is the general strategic implications of having a hostile nation, or rather a nation which is more amenable to your adversaries, Russia and China. That makes a lot of sense. The Chinese have a lot of radio listening post down in Cuba. So, it would make sense for the United States to be interested in that sort of behavior and getting them to uh push the Chinese out of Cuba would probably be in our strategic interest as a nation or really any nation would have these strategic interests. But the United States has not made that argument. So I don't want to speak for the White House and make arguments that they have not made. And so far they have not articulated exactly why the United States is interested in Cuba. What what's the point? What do we want from Cuba? That has not really been disclosed other than the general uh consensus of well, they're just bad guys. Okay. Well, that's not really an explanation for anything, so we're just going to have to wait and see. But at the moment, the aspirations for Cuba, either control of it or some kind of influence operation or puppet state, I don't really know. I don't know what the point of this is, but that has never stopped us in the past. So, we'll keep an eye on it. Make sure that uh we prepare for any kind of impact from another war breaking out in terms of the economic situation. I don't know. It's too early to say if this is going to make that cross from diplomacy to actual warfare. these days, those uh two sides of the coin tend to blend together quite well. So, we'll just have to wait and see. But anyway, Cuba is still on the menu, and we'll have to wait and see how it all works out. Within the homeland United States this week, the theme has of course been an increase in horrific crime, man-made horrors beyond comprehension, and far-left riots in New Jersey. So, pretty much situation normal at this point. In New Jersey, the riots at the Delaney Hall detention facility have continued and remained fairly kinetic each night. Over the past few days, a full-blown encampment has been set up on site to help the riers with logistics and to provide them with material aid. This was a substantial effort with an entire party tent for like weddings and such being set up on site along with other tents and really your standard Antifa style autonomous zone kind of arrangement. I don't know if that's what they were calling it on site, but that's kind of what they were building over the past week or so. However, last night substantial reinforcements arrived. The New Jersey State Police have been activated and are on site to assist with security of the main compound and also to keep riers from breaching the perimeter. The state police also ordered these encampments to be removed. Uh so the state police is in invested in trying to get that area cleaned up. And as of this morning, the riers essentially just left a bunch of trash behind. Now, the situation is most certainly not over yet. The riots are certainly not over and protesters remain on site pretty much persistently. With the fences being put up overnight, the chance of the compound being overrun is much reduced. But these logistical efforts propping up immediately are an indicator that money is behind these efforts. If we were to zoom out the map just a little bit, we can see that the New York, New Jersey area is absolutely packed with safe houses used by illegal immigrants. And all of these yellow diamond symbols depict an NGO or an agency that is dedicated to helping illegal immigrants evade capture and commit crimes. Now, you might be asking yourself, "Hey, that's a lot of different safe houses of people that are openly committing crimes." Well, yeah, welcome to my world. I've got thousands of these on the maps, and I'm not even uh speculating here. I'm just using what these people put on their own websites. So, if you were to tap one of these icons on my maps and just put the address, the street address that I have listed for that facility into Google, you'll find out exactly what's at that facility. I can't put the name of the facility down. Uh but they can't uh copyright strike me with a mailing address because you can't copyright mailing addresses. So that's how I have to get around that for now. But by and large, all of these yellow diamonds on the map marked safe, that is the uh mill 2525 symbology symbol for a safe house. That's what I've used to settle in on all of these places where illegal immigrants are being staged and taken care of and provided aid and stuff like that. But anyway, I wanted to focus on Delaney because this is kind of an interesting one. This has been the site where a lot of politicians and congressmen and general big figures come to make speeches and rile the crowd up because it's really close to New York. So, of course, everybody's going to go there in grandstand, which is why this uh protesting started off to begin with. I believe it originally started with an alleged hunger strike at the facility among the uh inmates, detainees, whatever you want to call them, uh waiting deportation, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense because these illegals are not held here that long. Uh but maybe they are now. I don't know. Either way, it transcended into just kind of a big mess over the past uh week or so. And due to the close proximity to other things, again, why intelligence preparation of the battle space is quite important. If we see that they are within driving distance of a few dozen different uh milliondoll law firms and groups that are willing to provide them with free legal support and any kind of uh support they want. Well, now you see why this is kind of a big deal. You add in the fact that the White House is really really not interested in cracking down anymore after the whole Minneapolis fiasco and you get kind of a recipe for destruction. So hopefully now that the state police are on scene and kind of involved in this, this will simmer down quite a bit at this one facility. But again, there are many other places within driving distance. There are at least a dozen different federal buildings that these uh people can go cause problems at throughout the greater New York, New Jersey area, and there's not a whole lot that anybody can do about it but play whack-a-ole and just I mean you can't secure them all and these people have the numbers to uh dial up tensions to 11 if they so choose. So suffice it to say that this area has a lot of big money and the federal administration is really really desperate to avoid another Minneapolis. Once again, people get all been out of shape about how the immigration issue is on display in the street. Uh, but it's, you know, it's mostly boomers, neocons, normies, and people who don't understand how important crowd control really is. They may not understand looking at a crowd, reading the crowd, understanding what these people are doing, how they're dressed, what kind of insignia they're wearing. They they don't view the world through the lens of counterterrorism. So, they look at this and they just say, "Well, why are the police being mean?" Well, okay. They're they're trying to prevent somebody from getting killed here. And unfortunately, crowd control is a rather blunt instrument sometimes. So, the average normie Fox News watcher out there might not like it when Abua gets a little tearyeyed from the tear gas. But if it saves her from getting shot in the face because she threw a brick at a cop, then you know that maybe maybe there's a a place for crowd control. So either way, it's a delicate balance. Minneapolis showed that the federal government is not interested in maintaining their side of that balance, and Newark has confirmed it as well by being slow to react, by not using tear gas, by not using less lethal crowd control measures. And this is why we now have a thing to talk about. Right. Again, I don't want to focus on this too much, but when it comes to these counter ice things, this is a major concern. It is a much bigger concern than what's going on in Iran. It's a much bigger concern than paying almost $5 for gas, if we're being perfectly honest here. And so far, the immigration issue, specifically being heavy-handed at some of these riots, this is one of the only subjects where the White House actually cares about public perception and opinion, and they care about the public perception and opinion of their own political enemies, which is just an odd thing. But this is also why this minor policing issue has spiralled into a full-blown situation here. So once again, I don't want to make a molehill into a mountain over this sort of thing. This is one facility. This is in New Jersey because of course it is. And it looks like it's starting to simmer down now. At least the fences will make it a little bit harder for them to damage stuff. So there's that. But I haven't talked about immigration stuff in a while. And it's worth keeping these things on the back burner because as important as it is to understand what's going on around the world, it's even more important to understand what's going on here at home. So far, I do not know of a single agency, group, charity, whatever that has actually been shut down for encouraging these riots and for funding them. So, all it takes is the will and you know, just not seeing it. So, enough of that. Let's move to the Middle East for this week. And like a broken record, the situation remains about as tense as before. And let's start by working chronologically uh by walking through what chaos has unfolded in the region this week. Please forgive me if the details and timelines are a little bit off this week. The strangle hold on information has become much more substantial since the ceasefire went into effect. And it's harder to verify the timeline of events, but the general situation is that the war became kinetic again a few days ago, at least in a limited scope. Shortly after the announcements of an all but finalized peace deal last Friday that we discussed in last last weekend's brief, the United States carried out bombings within Iran on Monday, Memorial Day. During this series of strikes, the United States claimed to have taken out a few fastboats along with a SAM site and Bondara Boss. Sentcom did not acknowledge this series of strikes on their social media page. They have stopped providing press releases on engagements and no video was provided. The only reason that we know that it was the United States who conducted these strikes is because Sentcom spokesman Captain Tim Hawkins has been verbally confirming these strikes with reporters in mainstream media interviews. So after the American strikes on May 2526, the Iranians waited a day then launched their sort of proportionate response counterattack, whatever you want to call it, they launched their own attack again. This attack took the form of one ballistic missile targeting Ali Salam air base in Kuwait along with a handful of drones targeting Kuwait as well. At the time, the battle damage caused by this strike was completely censored and impossible to find out. However, as of last night, we now know that as many as five service members and a few contractors were wounded during this attack. So, casualties are still rolling in even from just one missile strike. Remember how I said that Sentcom is no longer posting their engagements on social media, or at least they're not posting all of them. They're just posting some of them. Well, this was quite handy because Sentcom did post about this Iranian counterattack on their page while pretending that the United States did not launch the first strike. They call this an egregious ceasefire violation and an unjustified Iranian aggression. But in reality, it was the United States which broke the ceasefire first by conducting the Memorial Day strikes. Interestingly enough, in this same exact post, Sentcom directly stated that Kuwaiti forces had successfully intercepted this ballistic missile, which might be a technically factual statement if we stretch the meaning of the word intercepted. However, it's also misleading because the missile actually hit the base anyway, wounding five people and damaging two MQ9 drones. So, it sounds like it hit an aircraft hanger. To me, this sounds like a cover for a failed interception. But that's my own personal opinion. I think they're just lying. I think the the missile actually did hit the base. But anyway, I just found this whole exchange completely baffling because believe it or not, propaganda works. In this case, all that needs to be done is to not disclose the fact that the US conducted strikes in Iran. And when the Iranians counteratt attacked, it'll be like the first time, which is exactly what happened. The US attacks on Memorial Day 1st. The Iranians counterattack on May 28th. And on that same night, the United States counter counterattacked the Iranians claiming to strike a drone that was about to be launched along with a few other undisclosed targets in Bond Abbas. Probably. This brings us to yesterday when President Trump posted this message on his social media platform, which contains a lot of information. President Trump outlined the rough criteria for what the United States would accept as part of a peace deal. But on the more tactical level, he also stated that the US would lift the American side of the blockade. Throughout the day yesterday, nothing much happened on this. And right now, it's hard to determine if this is the truth because no ships are transiting the strait due to what happened next. Yesterday evening, as everyone was trying to figure out what is going on, the UK MTO came in from the top rope with a pile drive to the peace process. For those who are just joining us now, the UK MTO or the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center is the leading authority for most maritime security issues in the Middle East. They cover other areas too, but the Middle East is their main focus. And they are like a British fusion cell run by the Royal Navy that works directly with US Navscent to help civilian ships know what security threats are present around the world. So, think of them like a British government agency that's like mostly civilian run, but they're still like directly tied into the government. They're not like a third party private company. So last night they published two advisory notes, both of which are incredibly interesting. The first one was an announcement that is comparatively rare and is not exactly good news. This was a notice of military operations being conducted north of the Musandam peninsula of Oman, which is this area of Oman, the peninsula that juts out north into the straight of Hormuz. So the UK MTO is saying that the US is going to be conducting military operations north of that. Well, that's in the middle of the street of Hormuz. Specifically, this notice warns of additional Iranian mine laying activity, and that US forces are on high alert. The notice also mentions that Iran continues to attempt to impede mine clearance efforts, which is the first public acknowledgement that the Iranian mines are indeed a threat, and that the United States can't exactly get in there to clear them. The notice goes on to mention that, quote, "Any vessel that does not comply with the direction of US forces may be determined to be an imminent threat and subject to proportionate measures of self-defense in accordance with international law." This sentence alone gives us a lot of information. Uh, for one, this further solidifies developments that took place last week, namely that the US is now conducting air strikes on Iranian vessels based on self-defense criteria. For the three of you who remember my anatomy of an air strike video from a while back, you may know that this is an indication that the US has completely revamped the concepts of kinetic targeting and the lines between deliberate targeting and dynamic targeting are not so clear anymore. Anyway, the US has now decided to allow target engagement authorities or TIAS, TEAS, at lower and lower levels of command to conduct self-defense strikes, which would normally be considered offensive strikes under all prior targeting doctrine as outlined by Sentcom's targeting guidance, JP360, and and a bunch of other long-standing guidance. This document from the UK MTO puts this in writing and is intended to warn the maritime shipping community that the United States will be conducting kinetic strikes in the strait very soon. The second document provided by the UK MTO is a warning that the blockade of Iranian ports is still in effect which takes the wind out of the sales regarding the lifting of the American blockade. So according to US Navent as in United States Naval Forces Central Command, the blockade is still in effect and this notice was published many hours after President Trump's announcement on social media. So somebody is lying about the blockade being lifted. In fact, these two notices are major indications and warnings of the war kicking off again soon and a primary focus is being placed on the straightup Hormuz. This notice directly states that the US Navy cannot guarantee the safety of neutral or merchant shipping, which seems pretty clear to me. And I don't think that any merchant shipping, at least any Western shipping, is going to go through the straight anytime soon unless they pay the Iranian toll. And if they pay the Iranian toll, then the US might pick them up, too. Because funny enough, as I'm recording this right now, I just see a notice come in from Sentcom stating that they disabled a non-compliant vessel in the Gulf of Oman to prevent blockade violation. So, I don't even know what's going on anymore. President Trump says the blockade's lifted. Uh, this looked pretty clear to me. Maybe I'm just stupid or something. I just can't read very well. And now Scom is saying, "Well, we're shooting at vessels which violate the blockade." So, I don't get it. Um, or maybe I do get it. Maybe I do understand it quite well. Uh because this type of well, we're going to let you go, but then when you get there, we're going to bomb you kind of mentality is really prevalent. I'm sure many of you have picked up on where this idea is coming from because there's somebody else in the world who tends to do this sort of thing. We're definitely not going to shoot. You can definitely go through this area. Oh, we bombed you. Okay. Yeah, now we see where this is coming from, right? At least that's my own general theory and I'll leave it at that. But anyway, I'll let that go for now. Uh maybe one day people will start reading between the lines and understand what's really going on here. But if maritime shipping needed any more reason to stay out of the straight this morning something else happened. Observers in Oman spotted a floating object that they assessed to be a naval mine which they say is currently floating to the west of the inshore traffic zone which is the new name that has been given uh to the alternative traffic separation scheme going through Omani waters. So there's a mine floating out there uh somewhere. what they think is a mine. Who who knows what it could actually be, but that's what they said. So, as of this morning, that's pretty much how things stand. We are on day 91 of the war, 3 months in, and the potential for peace remains very much off the menu for the time being. I would venture a guess to say that the hesitance to enter the straight of Hormuz from a western aligned vessel is roughly the same as it was during the height of the shooting. Otherwise, vessels are taking the Iranian route. They're paying the toll and they're just going on their merry way. I don't know if these vessels are being intercepted by the US Navy eventually at some point or what's going on, but right now the most hardest hit, the most affected vessels in the Persian Gulf that are stranded for 3 months now, a full quarter of the year are Western aligned vessels, American vessels, and tanker ships that are not aligned with the Iranians. Of course, things could change rather quickly. Uh, like I've said for months now and many others have said for months, the cleanest ending for this war, well certainly the quickest, but also the cleanest ending for the war is literally for the US to just walk away, declare victory, and privately cut a deal with the Iranians to give them whatever they want to open the straight again. So, we always have to consider the fact that that might happen. It could happen. We could just see a Trump social post one day and the Iranians confirm it that says the war is over. The straight's open, and we're all going to go home, right? That could happen. Those types of posts have been made several times before and they weren't true in the past, but it could happen. I don't want to neglect the fact that one day this could just be over. Personally, I don't think that's what's going to happen at all. I think that this war is going to drag on for a while longer, especially when we have a couple more months of strategic petroleum reserve left in the tank and the markets, the oil markets continue to be completely divorced from reality. some more mainstream sources are starting to catch on to what has been obvious for about 3 months now, which is that oil prices are not reflective of the situation at hand and that the bigger concern is the petroleum supply itself. As bad as prices are right now at the gas pump, it turns out that taking 20 million barrels per day out of the worldwide supply chain will eventually result in actual shortages of petroleum products. Uh the week before last, the United States has drained the strategic petroleum reserve at a higher rate than at any point in history. At least that's the claim that's going around. I don't know if the numbers actually match up, but it certainly seems to based on the charts. Gas is almost $5 per gallon in many places around the country, and this is actually artificially low. Like I said last week, gas prices should be much higher than they actually are right now. And one of the reasons that this has not happened is the wholesale draining of our strategic petroleum reserve. in addition to other nations doing the same from their end and a global tightening of the belt when it comes to petroleum products. So all in all, supply chain issues are seriously on the menu the longer this goes on. As we've known from the very start, time is a finite resource, and as of last night, there are even talks of extending the ceasefire by another 60 days. If that is the intent, we might be in a bit of a pickle because if we continue to drain these strategic reserves at the current rate of rise, we might not have that much time left before supply shortages begin and gas pumps in the US start running dry. Of course, this is not a major concern right now, even though it should be. But the Feds keep kicking that can down the road, and there's not a whole lot of uh expediency toward figuring this solution out. We're 91 days into this and there's not really a whole lot of interest in uh finding a solution anytime soon. It's like, well, let's schedule the meeting for two weeks from now. Well, okay. Uh but that's two weeks of very little oil making its way out of the region. So, not a super great look when the summertime travel season is just beginning right about now. And most Americans are going to be uh shaking their head at the gas pump unless something is done to fix this situation. And as of last night, it looks like many, many indicators are stacking up that point to the United States seeking more of a military solution rather than being interested in some sort of negotiation. But once again, a lot of this is going to be speculation. It'll be over when it's over, but right now it's not over. We just have to take it one day at a time and see what we can do on our end to be more prepared no matter what happens. So that's all I've got for today and let's wrap up with the Ghost Net reports for this week. Great net again all around this week and I think a lot of people are participating because weather is great this time of year. So I picked up way more people than I normally do from my own radio station. This week I heard quite a lot of people testing relaying messages around the world, testing other modes and frequencies. Some people trying to hit Australia, which is always really cool. I haven't hit Australia yet. That's pretty that would be pretty cool to uh do. It's pretty hard to hit Australia here from the east coast, but but otherwise, I saw a lot of people checking in to see who's up on the network and exchanging information completely off the grid. Radio networks like this one and others are really helpful when the power goes out, when the grid is completely down, and uh you have to operate completely offline, and maybe even in an environment where there's a lot of jamming. Resilient and capable communications are really helpful to have, especially when things are not going super well. So, that's all I've got for today. Thanks to all of you who support the work here on Patreon and thanks to all of you for sticking around as the summertime rolls in and everything gets more complicated. I have made some progress on the more educational material side of the house this week and I hope to have more at tech tutorials and more more well-rounded informational content out soon to help us navigate these strange and interesting times. There's never enough time in the day and I know that we're all trying to do our best. So, we'll continue on and try to stay one step ahead of the chaos as best we can. The goal of the Ghost Net and most of this other stuff too is to be an asset to the community even when times get tough and everything is collapsing around us. Hopefully things don't ever get that serious, but having these capabilities will be very handy and allow us to have the confidence to face whatever hardship comes next. So, let's get after it and I'll see you next time. And as always, fight in the shade.

Hello again everyone and welcome back to the underground. This is the intel update for July 5th through the 11th, 2026. It's been a busy week as usual, so let's get right to it. Around the world this week, the two main wars that we've been watching for a couple of years now have flared back up with several very serious developments taking place in Europe and the Middle East this week. In Africa, the Russians are involved in intense fighting against the FLA militants in Mali, which have taken control of most of the north and eastern parts of the country. And even though wars in the Sahel region are quite common, this conflict has really served as a window for showing us how the third world has adapted to the modern battlefield when it comes to the use of drones and warfare. Here a bit closer to the home front, similar concerns are emerging as the summer fighting season this year south of the border has been hosted to a rise in drone attacks between rival cartel factions in Mexico. The more desolate and far-flung regions of the earth are starting to use drones in their mostly tribal conflicts. And as the Russians are finding out in Mali and the cartels are finding out in Mexico, drone warfare is most certainly a major concern that is very, very hard to counter. Within the homeland, important events this week have largely been within the political realm as several security improvement efforts are underway in Washington DC. This has not gotten a lot of press, but it's still interesting to note as this gives us an indication of where a lot of concerns are starting to mount. So, let's go ahead and start right there because the security improvements that have been observed this week are rather interesting in Washington. In short, the White House has demonstrated a growing concern regarding the safety of President Trump over the past few weeks. This came to light most publicly during President Trump's visit to Turkey for the NATO summit a few days ago when the Secret Service had to switch back to the old Air Force One due to an undisclosed security concern. This was kind of a big deal at the time because this was supposed to be the inaugural flight for the new Air Force One platform. Initially, President Trump claims that switching back to the old airframe was due to sending the new Air Force One ahead to show it off at various bases around Europe. But eventually, they let slip that this was actually due to security recommendations by the Secret Service. And despite the assurances from the Secret Service that this was just done for no reason and not tied to any specific threat, the Secret Service never does anything for no reason. And the logistical nightmare involved in switching planes during an international trip is such a hassle that it's more likely than not that the Secret Service got spooked about something and they needed to pull a fast one and play the shell game again. Who knows what it was? Maybe they found a pager on board or maybe it wasn't anything specific and they just got a bad feeling. I don't know about this one. It's kind of interesting, but that's not all we have to work with this week. In Washington DC, there have been major security renovations at the White House ongoing for the past couple of months at least. For one, we have the major ballroom construction project, which has gotten a lot of attention from everybody for a variety of reasons. But if we skip past the assorted screeching to realize that the new ballroom is mostly just a cover for the massive compound that's being built underground, this is very obviously a project to build a massive compound for C2 or command and control purposes. It's not exactly a big secret. You can look at this and see this is very clearly what's going on. And this is also something that's not unique to Trump. This has been in the works for a while. So, the ballroom itself is honestly not that interesting. What is more interesting is the new fencing that's been put up and the various perimeter expansions that have been requested to be made over the past couple of weeks. They've been testing out a bunch of different arrangements, but the general gist of the plans is to expand the White House perimeter a bit more so as to improve the security situation. They're still working on it. Nothing is finalized yet, but the general plan would involve closing a lot of public access spaces. So, that's going to be a delicate thing to balance in terms of allowing tourists to still get selfies while preventing small arms attacks. In addition to the fencing, the White House is also conducting security upgrades on the North Portico, which began yesterday. Once again, sources differ on why this construction project is going on. Some sources claim it's restoration work. Others claimed that this was a security breach or something to do with the Secret Service requesting a change to the building in some way. I don't know. There's very little information on this. Of course, the Secret Service is not going to comment on anything like this. And there are a lot of renovations being undertaken all over the White House now. So, it's hard to determine which ones are standard restoration work kind of projects and which construction projects are actually security upgrades. Once again, this is kind of early on in the process and there's not a whole lot to sink our teeth into. I've just been noting this over the past couple of weeks and I haven't really had a lot of time to talk about it. A lot of those can of course get dismissed very easily by saying of course the Secret Service is concerned with the threats to the president because he's lived through at least four different assassination attempts depending on how we're counting them. But at least three of those attacks were actually really close calls. The Butler shooting, the Trump International Golf Club shooting, and the Hinckley Hilton attack just a couple months ago were all too close for comfort. So, it would make sense for the Secret Service to try to be more on the ball than they have been in the past, especially in the context of recent comments by President Trump himself, indicating that he has taken personal contingency plans to conduct strategic strikes on Iran in the event of his assassination. He posted this uh message on Truth Social last night. And well, suffice it to say that the concerns are real uh that a very serious event might take place. Of course, we can't really quantify gut feelings on things most of the time, and that's okay, but it also makes it hard to add weight to decisions that are made. But I did want to mention it because again, it's something that I and many others have noticed over the past uh couple of months, but mostly the past couple of weeks, and the shorter daily reports are not exactly conducive to conveying wild hunches or theories, but I guess I also do that far too often anyway. So anyway, it is interesting though that all of these security upgrades and concerns are coming about at the alleged end of a war when the risk of an Iranian attack would be fairly low, but the risk of somebody else being upset is rather high. Just thinking in terms of the old Columbbo style means, mode of an opportunity right now, who in the whole world would have the means, mode of an opportunity to carry out an attack on the White House or some other important figure and the Iranians get blamed for it? Who could that possibly be? Well, chances are if you're watching this, you're probably uh not going to be fooled by it. But rest assured, most people probably would immediately suspect the Iranians, if anything, happened to President Trump. So either way, no matter what happens, it's interesting to make note of these things. Quiet security upgrades, quiet security practices being enacted. This is most certainly something to be aware of moving forward. And speaking of the war this week, let's transition to the Middle East where things are moving rather quickly once again as contradictory actions are taking place all around the region. Simply put, the United States is both escalating the war, but also deescalating quietly. So, let me explain a bit. As we all know, the war reignited somewhat earlier this week with dozens of strikes taking place throughout Iran. I'm still consolidating all of the geoloccation efforts from the past few days, but it looks like most of the targets were along the coastline in the vicinity of Bucher and Chabahar naval bases at the northwestern and southeastern ends of the coastline of Iran, respectively. Keshum Island was also hit several times over the past couple of days along with the scattering of fast boat bases on the eastern side on the eastern coast of the straight of Hormuz. Continuing the trend, a lot of the rhetoric has been contradictory and confusing. So, we just kind of have to let that sit for this week. But what is a lot more clear and a lot more easily verifiable are the strategic moves that have been made. Namely, that the United States is drawing down forces in the Middle East, at least when it comes to aircraft. The B-52s, which were stationed in England, or at least most of them that were stationed in England, have already come back home. And by my account, a couple of flights of F-15s have also departed. And the F-22s that the US had stationed at Ovda Air Base in Israel, they also departed yesterday. So, a lot of aviation is heading back home to the US or back to their normal bases in Europe. What is not changing is the US Navy's posture. The Bush and Lincoln carrier strike groups are still on station in the Middle East and the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group or ARG has moved back on station after having uh to divert back to port for some repairs a couple of weeks ago. But in terms of potential ground troops, these guys have already been on the station since the war started really now. All of that being said, what has surged into the region that is new is mostly a lot of bombs and missiles. When the ceasefire was announced, then that time frame between the ceasefire being announced and theou being signed, the United States surged a lot of cargo flights into the region. C7s, C5s, standard military cargo flights. Of course, we can't confirm or figure out what's on these military cargo flights. It's not like they're going to publish their cargo on the internet for us to see, but we can guess that this was probably a huge resupply effort to restock and rearm while they could be relatively sure that they would not get targeted on the tarmac. Though another clue that things are very interesting on the strategic front is that the US has begun to stage a lot of tankers at Aludit Air Base in Qatar. As you guys probably remember, if you've been following this war for 5 months of your life now, you will remember that this air base was evacuated early on because the Iranians started hitting it right during the early stages of the war. The United States figured out that it was probably not a super great idea to have a bunch of very expensive refueling tankers on the ground within very close range of the Iranian missile systems. So, the United States emptied this base out over a period of a couple of weeks. This also happened during Operation Midnight Hammer last year. This is how we were able to be decently sure that those strikes were going to go ahead because by the time the last plane left Aluded, well, guess what? The bombs were just a couple of days after that. So, this base is a good a good indicator. I'm sure the DoD knows what they're doing. They know that they can be seen and they're moving a lot of these tankers back into Alud air base. Lot of very very valuable targets on the ground within range of the Iranian missile systems. Now, I don't know if they're doing this because they're stupid and they're just gambling that the Iranians won't hit it. I mean, it's not like they haven't done that before already. That's why we lost an Awax uh during the height of the war. We parked it at an air base. We didn't think the Iranians would have the guts to hit. And surprise, surprise, they actually did. So, I don't know what's going on with this, but generally speaking, if you're seeing a lot of aircraft being staged at IUD, that just means that's where they're normally stationed. And it's a pretty good indicator that the Pentagon doesn't think they're going to get hit there. And if they think they're not going to get hit there, that probably means the Pentagon is not planning any major offensive. At least so the logic goes, if that makes any sense at all. So again, to recap, we have a very strong discrepancy between the rhetoric and the targeting and what's being moved around. The US is moving and has already moved a lot of aircraft out of the Middle East entirely. And the aircraft that remain in the region are now back at the bases where they were struck at during the height of the war. And yet the targeting flared up earlier this week. So, I don't know what's going on. Um, in terms of how this affects us here at home, the energy crisis really mostly just continues. It's like nothing has changed because the straight of Hormuz has only seen very tepid traffic since theou was signed. And now that the ceasefire is officially over, this is President Trump's own words. The ceasefire is over. We're basically back to where things were before the ceasefire was originally announced. So, back to technically a state of war. And as we end the 19th week of the war, we're on week 19 now. Peace does not appear to be a viable option for the time being. So, not a whole lot of closure. It's very much a state of limbo and I think we're going to probably be there for a while. Continuing the trend of wars flaring back up again. The war in Ukraine has begun to spill outside the main conflict zone. So, let's go over to Europe and discuss that conflict. There has not been much media focus on Europe this week. However, the war in Ukraine is beginning to be quite concerning at this point. On the Russian side, the Russians have been consolidating gains in the vicinity of Costantinovka with most reports agreeing at this point that Russia has taken the city for the most part. This was a major objective for Russia to capture and also for Ukraine to defend as it's a comparatively large city in the Donbass, which has been a milestone for a while. Similarly, uh gains are being made up in Sunumi on the northern border. The Russians also continue to slam as many drones and missiles into Odessa as they possibly can with large waves of drone attacks taking place pretty much every night for the past couple of weeks. The Ukrainians are doing the same thing from their side. So, you know, it's kind of a tit fortat sort of thing. And aside from the gains that are being made by the Russians on the Eastern front, the Ukrainian targeting of petroleum sites around Russia within Russia has been the most important factor for stability in Europe. This week, uh, the Ukrainians and the American advisers working with them have continued to strike Russian petroleum infrastructure at many different sites around Russia. Oil refineries and export terminals have been the main target, and many of these places are in extremely remote terrain, which is why it's so hard to geollocate. The Luga oil terminals near St. Petersburg have been hit a few times over the past couple of months, especially over the past couple of weeks. And a few days ago, hit a refinery in Omsk, which is a long way from the front lines. That's an old old school Soviet city and it's a very long way from the fightings. Other than those uh two main attacks, there have also been hundreds of attacks on refineries and fuel storage depots in Moscow. And this week, Ukraine has escalated drone attacks on Russian merchant ships transporting petroleum in the Sea of Az. Once again, the map is misleading. Sorry about that. I'm still trying to catch up. But there have actually been a few dozen attacks on merchant vessels in this general location in the Sea of Azov. The Ukrainians are claiming to have struck 73 vessels in the Sea of Azov over the past week. That's their number and I can't verify it independently but again that's their claim. Regardless of the exact numbers uh this is having an effect in Russia as their supply chain has been disrupted significantly. Fuel shortages have continued throughout the country but how serious this is. It's anybody's guess. It is true that Russians themselves admit there are gasoline and diesel shortages due to the attacks. But the severity of this is up for debate. The Ukrainians of course claim that Russia is on their last legs and it's like Mad Max over there trying to get gas. and the Russians of course claim that this is merely a minor setback that is being addressed. The truth as always is probably somewhere in between. Hitting one refinery is going to disrupt supply somewhere. Uh so you're going to see, you know, footage of long gas lines in various places, but because Russia is so big, it might take a couple of days for another refinery to start shipping oil to those uh more far-flung regions. So again, how bad is this? I don't really know. Either way, regardless of how bad it is, time will tell. I guess the next events to look out for are what Russia is going to do in response. So far, we haven't seen uh an arresting missile slam into the ground in downtown Kiev, but if uh Ukraine keeps this up, I think that's probably going to happen. So, you know, not trying to take sides here, but I think that's probably what's coming down the pipeline. Either way, we shall see how this war develops over the next few weeks. But things are not looking super great in terms of stability throughout Europe. So the Ukrainians and Russians are starting to target each other more significantly and the potential for slowly sleepwalking into a wider conflict remains pretty high. So not super great. It's not the end of the world as always, but something to be aware of even here in the homeland as the United States is substantially invested in the war in Ukraine and the war in Iran. So we've got two major wars that we are either fighting directly or spending a substantial amount of resources on uh kind of keeping going. So, even though it doesn't seem like either of these conflicts affects us, things uh things have a way of catching up to us pretty quickly as the shadow wars around the world keep marching on. And on that note, that's all I have for today. So, let's go ahead and roll things up with the ghost net reports for this week. Again, a fantastic ghost net. It was thunderstorming rather severely uh this week when I was trying to send and receive messages, but that's okay. Still was able to get a lot of uh messages exchanged back and forth, and that's pretty good. On a bit of an administrative note, some of you may have noticed this week I am now hosting my wire reports uh throughout the week on the Nomad Net. And I know I've not explained this just yet or provided a tutorial showing exactly what this is. Uh fear not, it's coming down the pipeline. I'm still getting things organized for the moment, but I'm going to be diving into this a lot more later this year. This project revolves around a communication system that works over the Reticulum network, which is a project that is right up my alley and something I think will be very useful to integrate into the Ghostnet at some point. I'm pretty sure most of you have probably heard of Reticulum before by now, maybe just parenthetically, but just in case you haven't, this is an open- source communications uh ecosystem which allows users to link up in whatever means that they have. If you want to give it a try right now and just kind of copy what I'm doing, you can use any client you want, but right now I'm using Mesh Chat X, which is a client. It's an app you can install on your phone or uh you can download it to your computer and it allows you to access the infrastructure which is Reticulum. It's still a little bit developmental, but I think it works pretty good. And in the spirit of the ghost net, this will be a very good tool for communicating using a variety of different means. You can use Laura devices like meshtastic devices that you buy and flash with mesh meshtastic firmware. You can use ham radios. Uh you can even use a server running on the internet, which is uh kind of what I'm using right now. And it's all going to sync everything up together and allow information to flow across this entire ecosystem. It's not exactly a perfect analogy, but think of this as an app that you have on your phone, which essentially lets us reinvent the internet. Maybe not totally, but the general utility of it. All of it peer-to-peer completely anonymously. And if the entire internet goes down, this will still work via radio. Specifically regarding my work, the wire reports. One thing you can do with Reticulum is host very primitive web pages, kind of like uh the good old days of dialup. But the difference is this can all work over radio. So the same hardware that runs your meshtastic devices. You can do a lot of other cool stuff with it too. You can send files, full-size images, and you can even send voice notes and voice messages through the system. I'm right now using a Halo node that I have set up with this phone out here in the middle of the woods. And it's a pretty cool way of ensuring uh different kinds of communication can be obtained even if you're completely off-rid. I think that's pretty cool. It's like Meshtastic on steroids, but it's a completely different ecosystem and a whole a whole lot heavier than just Meshtastic. So, right now I have my own Nomad Net page up and running connected to the internet. But the general idea is that if one day the internet goes out, the system itself will switch over to radio and we'll still have the same capabilities even during a total apocalyptic scenario. Again, I'm making a whole tutorial on this. So, if you have no idea what I'm talking about, fear not. This is really just for those of you who are interested in the more nerdy kind of radio stuff. All will be made clear in due time. Just like with the ATAC series I'm currently working on, we are rapidly developing a lot of capabilities that help in many different ways, not just in terms of censorship prevention, but also resiliency during natural or man-made disasters. I know it's not exactly an exciting prospect sometimes and the radio stuff is pretty hard to understand and kind of boring, but just think about how you would know what happened if you lost connection to the outside world. Information that goes nowhere is useless. And I myself have been constantly relearning that over the past couple of months. You may not have noticed this, but over the past uh couple of weeks or so, I've been able to research, write, produce, and publish several wire reports while my power was out due to severe storm damage. Hopefully the experience was as seamless as possible, but that's the end goal. Resiliency even during a disaster situation when everything is going wrong. You have a million other things to do and you still need to maintain a link with the outside world so that you can be aware of threats before they get within your area. In my case, I think Reticulum is a pretty good candidate for allowing me to always always always be able to work and provide a wire report or some other kind of report no matter what. I know the end user doesn't really care. uh they just want the information and that's perfectly fine. But I'm getting closer to being able to provide a decently professional product in extremely adverse conditions if need be. If the power goes out, I can still get information to write my report and I can then make sure that that report gets disseminated to other people who might also be in adverse conditions as easily and as seamlessly as possible. And once I get more experience with this sort of thing, once I iron out the details, I can teach you guys how I did it and what I'm doing so that you can replicate everything that I'm doing if you want on your end. Now, maybe we can see the utility of the ghost net. If you have an HF radio and you can send and receive messages on JS8 call, you're about 95% of the way there. There's not really much more to learn. Instead of sending short text messages over JSA call, imagine if you could send photos, short videos and files. You could even maybe potentially even have voice calls. All of this is technically possible to do right now over the ghost net. It's just that the FCC's rules kind of get in the way right now. So, we'll have to work around that somehow and overcome the uh cultural problems within amateur radio. But the general idea is that we are working toward having some serious capabilities very very soon. The ghost net itself is going to stay the same for a long time. I'm not going to make any changes anytime soon, so don't worry about any imminent changes. But this just goes to show what is actually possible. It used to be that if doomsday arrives, in the worst possible case fantasy scenario you can conjure up, doomsday arrives and you go out in your yard and fire up your radio, you'd be able to talk to a few hundred or a few thousand of us who would also do the same and fire up the ghost net and we can exchange information around the world in a textbased format. Well, now at least theoretically, we can send images, send files, even host our own off-grid web pages, which I think is pretty cool. So, with all of that in the pipeline for later on, uh that's all I have for today. Hey, thanks to all of you on Patreon for the support to keep going and sticking with me as I've been trying to figure all this stuff out. I could not have done this without you guys, so I really do appreciate it. And thanks to all of you for watching, and I hope to improve a lot of this resiliency over the next few weeks. So, thanks again, and I'll see you next time. And as always, fight in the shade.

Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to the underground. This is the intel update for May 10th of 2016 2026. Things are getting crazier by the day, and we're going to be a little bit more spicy today with the topics we have to cover, so let's get right to it. This week, the more serious consequences are starting to emerge as we arrive at today 77 of the war in the Persian Gulf. Shortages of petroleum products and distillates are beginning, and multiple companies are issuing warnings of impending supply chain outages. Throughout Europe, the migration crisis has come to a head once again with high-profile murders and new migration centers being implanted throughout the continent to the sharp disapproval of native populations. Right now, as I'm recording this, throughout the United Kingdom, large-scale protests and counter-protests are underway throughout the nation as the United Kingdom demonstrations bring large crowds to London. Within our own hemisphere, Cuba is on the menu once again, and high-profile diplomatic endeavors have taken place this week just off the coast of Florida. And within the homeland itself, the governance situation is not going super well, and disapproval is high on a variety of issues. All the while, violence from the usual suspects continues to be the norm around the country. Moving to strategic movement for this week, most major deployments continue from last week, with the biggest change being that the Ford Carrier Strike Group has arrived home in Virginia from her long deployment. Just as a bit of context for how long the Ford has actually been at sea, I'll have to check the actual numbers, but I think she's been at sea for well over 300 days, which is the longest deployment that any American aircraft carrier has seen since Vietnam. So, she was definitely stressed beyond her max, and she suffered a lot of catastrophic damage from the toilet situation in Venezuela to the laundry fire situation in the Middle East, the Ford has had one very arduous deployment. So far, the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is slated to replace her in the Middle East. I don't know if they've departed port yet and formed up or not. It is interesting, though, that the Ford did not wait for the Ike to get on station. Usually, they conduct handover in region, but I guess the Ford said, "We've had enough," so they came on back early a little bit, or rather late, because this was a long deployment. But But any case, the Eisenhower is uh to take up station somewhere in CENTCOM. However they want to work that out is up to them. But either way, there will be a total of three aircraft carriers in the region once again in a week or so. Bottom line, there has been no cessation of American assets in the Middle East at the present time. Everything has been in a state of resupply, reconfigure, all that kind of stuff. And everything is still in place and ready to resume fighting if that is the chosen option moving forward. Around the homeland this week, there are several items of note to be aware of from a risk management perspective. A lot of the time we may be tempted to ignore a security concern because we don't want to get called names or get slapped with a label or some kind of ist or ism or whatever. And since nobody else wants to talk about this stuff in public, I will because it has very real security implications. You know when I caveat stuff like that, we have to read between the lines quite a bit. And this week there have been many potential flash points that may or may not escalate into something more serious over the next few weeks. But nobody in the counterterrorism or security space wants to talk about it. For one, we have the Chud the Builder scandal, which took place in Tennessee a few days ago. For those of you who don't know what this is all about, fear not. I'm also late to the party, but Chud the Builder is the screen name for Dalton Eatherly, who is a social media influencer, content streamer sort of figure who is infamous for conducting what is being described as like rage bait style content, street interviews, confrontations, uh stuff like that. A lot of his content is either political or mostly racial in nature or focused on that issue. So, a few days ago he was involved in a defensive shooting outside the Clarksville Courthouse in Tennessee after a black man attacked him, resulting in Eatherly shooting the individual. And let me just say, details on the whole incident are really sketchy. I don't think that any content was being made at the time, so I don't think this was one of those confrontations gone wrong kind of situations, but again, I don't know. Right up front, nobody wants to say whether this was a good shoot or not because of the kind of content that this individual makes, I guess. I don't really know. I don't really watch live stream stuff myself. So, I'm kind of in the normie camp myself with this, I guess, but I haven't seen the evidence, but I can guess because of what happened afterwards. So, the judge set the bail really high despite the fact that Eagley did not kill the guy and the courthouse surveillance tape of the incident has not been released. There was also a police officer right there during the entire incident and his body cam is apparently not available or something like that. I don't know. So, regardless of anyone's feelings on Eagley personally or on the style of content he creates, this is now a huge racial thing that's kind of in society now. So, and I think that the multiple videos of the incident not being leaked yet is quite telling because, well, we all know how this goes, right? It's also a free speech sort of thing now. Uh there's that angle to it as well because this is now an issue to answer the question of whether or not insulting speech justifies a physical attack. That's the question that's being asked. So, the risk assessment part of this trial is to decide whether or not minorities have the right to attack someone because they thought they overheard a racial slur. That's really what we're dealing with here. Nobody wants to say it. Again, people get offended by everything nowadays. Even conservatives get really offended about stuff like this, but that's kind of the issue that's on the table and the court's going to have to decide that and I don't think it's looking super great, but again, this just happened a couple of days ago. The complicating factors are his own social media posts, which are going to make it very, very easy for the prosecution to put him away or secure a conviction. So, in effect, if you want to think of it simply, this is like a very high stakes version of the Shiloh Hendrix case. The issue here is that we're not entirely certain that this guy, Chud the Builder, did anything wrong. He might have just been randomly attacked. We just don't know. He also could have instigated the thing. Again, we don't know. There's 15 different video angles of this and nobody seems to have any of them, and the the one video that has leaked is extremely blurry. It's like a Bigfoot video, right? So, I think we know how this is going to work out, but the bottom line that I wanted to mention this today is because it's setting conditions. So, this is going to set conditions for a lot of rhetoric, a lot of tensions, a lot of other problems that are going to compound this summer. This is also just the first landmine that we have to know about today because in a similar vein, there are two other big trials on the menu for the next few weeks. In North Carolina, the De Carlos Brown Jr. situation remains unresolved for the time being after Brown has been found incompetent to stand trial for the murder of Irena Zaretska. No hate crime charges have been filed, and Brown has been determined to be incompetent to stand trial on the charges that do remain. So, it's not really clear as to what's going to happen to him. There are still a few competency hearings, and the next one I think is on June 9th, but it's not really clear how this is going to work out because the defense is literally trying to get him released from custody into psychiatric care. I don't know if that's going to happen, but this is the uncomfortable truth that we seem to be living in right now in the United States, and from a risk management perspective, people might scowl and click their teeth, but the fact of the matter is that if you're a minority in this country, you can kill a white guy or a white girl on a train, a judge labels you incompetent to stand trial, and then you just get out. That seems to be a very common thing from murder one all the way up at the Irena Zaretska level all the way down to smaller crimes. So, this whole trend of oh, they're too mentally unwell to go through a trial, well, let's just let them out. You know, that's the alternative solution that's selected, and I think they're trying to go for it. I think they're trying to go for it with this situation in Charlotte. I think they're going to do it. I don't know if they're going to succeed, but I think they're trying for it, and if that occurs, if De Carlos Brown gets off for the murder of Irena Zaretska because he's too mentally ill to stand trial, I think that's going to be kind of like an O.J. Simpson situation times a million. So, once again, is another political topic that nobody wants to talk about, but look man, I I got to warn you guys if your city is going to be burning down here, and I think that that might actually happen if some of these trials end up with a lot of these criminals walking even after conducting very brutal murders. And I say that not because the victims in this case are going to riot or anything like that, but because when these criminals get off, when they're let off by a judge or, you know, something you know, you you basically get away with murder, other murders are going to happen because now they know that murder is legal as long as you say you're crazy first. That's the kind of situation we find ourselves in, and we're just kind of tiptoeing around it, you know? Uh and sometimes we just got to got to say it like it is, and this is the way that it is, especially with the situation in Texas. In a couple of weeks, the Carmelo Anthony trial is set to begin, and this one is also not looking good, either. So, this is the trial for the murder of Austin Metcalfe, who was murdered by Carmelo Anthony, who stabbed him in the heart during a track meet at Memorial High School in April of last year. Note that I did not say allegedly murdered, because Anthony has confessed to the crime. He himself specifically said, and I quote, "I'm not alleged, I did it." Even though his lawyers have claimed self-defense on his part, so this is now a self-defense trial to begin in a couple of weeks. And we'll see how it goes, because once again, this is a huge racial thing at this point, with Anthony's family setting up a massive GoFundMe campaign for him, the killer. A lot of very high-profile and prominent attorneys and social media figures in the black community have rallied behind Anthony, saying that that this was a good thing, and supporting him for killing this kid at the track meet. So, I've covered all of this abhorrent behavior before, trying to be as neutral as possible, but this was a very public event. It's captured on video. There's a thousand witnesses to this crime, and the killer confessed to it right then and there. Again, seems fairly open and shut, you know, at face value on a societal level. Again, that's what trials are for, to, you know, iron out things that are not so open and shut, but still, this one's pretty pretty clear as to what's really the driving factor behind this. So, that's on the menu to be aware of over the next few weeks because this has really stirred up a lot of racial hatred all around, and of course, that drives up risk. Since we're basically jumping on top of landmine topics today, I also wanted to mention that many states have revamped their food stamp programs over the past 2 months to delist a lot of foods and products from what is eligible to purchase by EBT cards. Now, this is another hot-button issue, and I'm not bringing this up to examine the entire program itself. The whole, um, idea of welfare in the United States, that's a big issue. I'm specifically talking about one component of it because this could be a factor moving into the summertime. So, we've got the perfect storm for what I'd call cultural violence, uh, because a lot of people are being told that they can't buy certain foods with their EBT cards, which is a problem for a major fraud scheme that many people might not be aware of, which is the selling of plates on Facebook. Many of you may have seen this parenthetically or seen people talk about this. This has been going on for quite literally decades. Uh, it's not all fraudulent, but a lot of it is because this is a major way of laundering EBT money. The scam works by someone going to the grocery store and buying a lot of food with their EBT card, and they take it home, they package it up, and they resell it for a profit. Once again, the scale at which this is occurring is staggering. One woman in Michigan was arrested on fraud charges a few months ago because she was using her EBT card to literally buy supplies for her professional brick-and-mortar bakery. She was running an entire storefront where the stock and supply for her business was paid for by EBT. It's pretty easy to be a small business owner when you have exactly zero overhead and free supplies being provided by the taxpayer. And now that a lot of goods have been delisted from EBT in the first place, this is now a major income source that has taken a huge hit over the past few months. So, in isolation, this doesn't really matter a lot, right? But you couple this with gasoline prices getting super high and you've got the perfect storm for crime because a lot of this income is fixed, but gas prices take money out of the pockets of Americans universally. But at the state level, you might say, "Okay, you're getting a thousand dollars worth of EBT per month and because you're delisting a lot of products, now you're saying that that person can only launder half of that, so $500. And now you're spending double the money that you normally would on gas to ride around town." So, again, gas prices complicate everything. Same with drug dealers and human traffickers, high gas prices are serving as an unofficial tax on everybody. And now that we have not one but three high-profile, highly racially motivated criminal trials on the menu, things are not looking super great on the civil unrest front and the natives are a bit restless, if you get my meaning. Once again, I want to add another closing caveat. There's always going to be this angle to push a lot more of the societal division and a lot of this is being done intentionally, I think. I think that the the the tensions are intentionally being stoked by a lot of people, parties, media figures, stuff like that. So, I don't want to don't want to make this out to be like a complete apocalyptic Armageddon here for the summertime, but I'm saying that the conditions are starting to line up for that eventuality. Some of it's organic, though. Some of it's just tensions that have been there for a very long time. Some of it is probably being stoked. I don't know. All I can say is that the dominoes are stacking up. Will the Will those dominoes fall over? I don't know. I can just tell you that the dominoes are stacked up, right? So, it's up for you to decide what to think about this sort of stuff from a planning perspective. So, So, bottom line, everyone's asking, "Does this mean we're going to have another summer of Floyd again or another summer of love?" I don't know. I don't think so unless something major happens. It's more likely that a lot of these gas prices are just going to drive people crazy and you're going to have a lot more low-level crime, organized stuff like the whole BLM riots of the past few years. That's going to take a lot more organizational effort and that's That's not materialized just yet. But, for those of you guys who have to rely on public transit or you have to walk, you know, to work through a city and it's not a super great area, uh keep your head on a swivel. Just be careful. All right? So, you know, situation normal. Just be careful. So, yeah, I'll just leave it at that. Talked about this too much already, but this does lead into another growing concern that is becoming more realistic with every passing day, which are the supply chain disruptions that are coming about from the war in the Middle East cutting off a good chunk of the global energy supply. This week, several companies and automotive groups have warned that they are having to cut back on oil changes because there is a growing shortage of certain weights of motor oil. Some companies are dealing with a 40 to 50% drop in the availability of some petroleum products, which is staggering. It is far too early to panic, but it would not be a bad idea to start thinking about what your needs might be if this conflict continues for much longer, which I think it will. You all know how panic buying sets in super quickly and in this case, once the word gets out to the normies, it's going to be on like Donkey Kong, possibly quite literally, and store shelves are very likely to be wiped out by people who think that they need to buy 10 years worth of oil changes all at once. So, that's going to be fun to deal with over the next few weeks, but the petroleum sector is is slow to change and shortages take a very long time to materialize because we're dealing with a slow drip problem set. 20% of the world's energy supply being offline due to the war is a big deal, but it's also not 100%. So, that means that there's a bit of elasticity to the markets, and the biggest impact that the war is having right now is high prices for everything. But, motor oil and other distillates coming into short supply is definitely a canary in the coal mine for more serious logistical problems later on. Right now, it's still in the early stages, though. Another canary in the coal mine to be aware of on the forefront over the next few weeks is Cuba. Since the war in the Middle East slipped into more of a long-term problem, increased rhetoric has been issued by the White House regarding American aspirations for Cuba. In short, a lot of talk was circulating, mostly originating from remarks made by President Trump himself, indicating that the US might seek to conduct some sort of military operation in Cuba to obtain control over the nation in a similar manner as to how the operation in Venezuela worked out. Maybe not the operation itself, but the follow-on effect, as in Venezuela becoming a puppet state for the United States. Well, the United States wants the same thing for Cuba. Weeks ago, this was just talk, and nobody really took it seriously, kind of like the Greenland aspirations. Um, and right now, it still looks fairly unlikely, but less unlikely than before. American delegations of diplomats have visited Cuba to conduct talks, and the American blockade of Cuba is a very strong move to tighten the screws on the Cubans. Once again, the United States has completely, full stop, shut off all the energy supply to Cuba. That is not an embargo, that is a straight-up blockade. If you want to be doctrinally correct, you can crack open your textbook and say that this is an act of war, but we don't really care about terms and words and things anymore, so I guess that doesn't really matter. Either way, the Cubans are hurting right now. Most of that is being done by their own government over the past few years, but a lot of that is now starting to be more directly uh, result of American action. So, the Leeden Doctrine is most certainly at play with Cuba, which is the idea that every 10 years or so, the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall just to show the world we mean business. At least that's the quote, which is the origin of the doctrine. So, whether you agree with it or not, this is most certainly a good chunk of President Trump's mentality towards foreign policy, especially when it comes to smaller nations. It's what we did in Venezuela. It's what we're trying to do in Cuba. It'll have to look a lot differently, but in any case, just want to set the groundwork for me dropping a lot of red diamonds on Cuba in the next few weeks because as we all know, Sun Tzu always said that when you're in a war with multiple nations on multiple fronts, it always helps to open up another front. And that definitely seems like our plan. So, we'll definitely see how it goes, but I'm going to start preparing for that like I said a couple of weeks ago. I'm going to actually do it for real this time. Going to start preparing for Cuba just in case the United States seems to be interested in that sort of thing. So, moving overseas to the United Kingdom, tensions remain rather high due to the revelation of a rather grizzly murder that took place a couple of years ago coming to light this week. So, what happened back in 2023 and why is this case both so interesting and also so incredibly tragic? In December of 2023, Henry Noack was stabbed by Vikram DeGua on the street in Southampton. At first glance, this appeared to be a rather routine uh, stabbing attack with neither the victim nor the perpetrator knowing or really interacting with with each other before the incident. Noack, being stabbed with a ceremonial Sikh dagger, was severely wounded and called for police while trying to escape. DeGua continued to pursue the victim. He followed him down the street, stabbing him multiple times, and eventually when police arrived, DeGua, the stabber, told police that the victim had made a racial comment toward him. The responding officers promptly arrested Noak, who was still bleeding rather profusely from the stabbing and placed him in handcuffs. Over a period of several minutes, Noak bled out on the street. The entire attack was captured on video on the victim's phone, which had been found in Deeg's pocket as he robbed the victim after stabbing him. Due to the nature of the British legal system, in nearly all high-profile cases, the fact that a crime occurred in the first place is obscured so the general public is not aware of crimes when they take place, and in this case, the crime occurred 3 years ago, but the details are just being known now. The reason for talking about this incident now, years after the fact, is twofold. For one, if we don't talk about it now, then we never will, and this could be another Southport moment, and more unrest is possible due to the horrific details of the crime. Secondly, this crime is bringing about very specific cultural considerations that are tough to talk about, but must be noted purely from a threat analysis perspective. This information is useful for you if you live in the United Kingdom, but it also will benefit you if you live in Canada or the United States. So, the Sikh community has a very particular reputation around the Western world, as the Sikh culture is not just a religious sect or movement, but there is also a very strong nationalist movement which seeks to use violence to achieve their goals, or at least it has since the 1980s. Within India itself, many major terror attacks have been conducted by the Sikh community, and many notable Sikh political leaders have actually been exiled from India, having been convicted of terrorism at some point during the Khalistan uprising incidents back in the 1980s. These guys did pretty much everything. They brought down civilian airliners with explosives, small arms attacks, hostage stuff, all kinds of violent attacks throughout India, mostly in their own region they were trying to seek autonomy within. So, this is kind of like India's version of the PLF. If you guys remember that from the 1960s and 1970s, all that violence and the airline hijackings and bombings and all kinds of stuff like that that was occurring in Europe and the Middle East. Well, India was dealing with that within India itself from the Sikh community. Cut to today and many of this organizational leadership has actually ended up settling down in the Western world such as in Canada and the United Kingdom, both of which are nations that require this back pocket knowledge to be conveyed in hushed tones because it's in effect illegal to know this information in public. It is unfortunate to talk about because it's a very complicated issue and because you're dealing with this sort of religious aspect to it. You don't want to re- you know, insult somebody's religion, right? That really gets you nowhere, but this information is critical for one's survival because as angry as Britons are about this case, the Sikh community is starting to rally around their own flag. Tensions have been growing among the Sikh community throughout Europe for a while and the details of this case are likely to cause further confrontations and incidents. Also, the officers which helped to murder Noac, if you want to phrase it like that, which I certainly would, it's possible these guys are still on the police force and therefore public interest remains in figuring out if the officers who handcuffed a man and let him bleed out to death were of the same national origin and culture as the attacker because if that's the case and it may be, I don't know, it's speculation, but if that's the case, if there's a link there, yeah, this could get even more ugly than it already is. Unfortunately, these cultural aspects are a major part of the case because in the United Kingdom, Sikhs have been granted a religious exemption for the ban on carrying knives and Kirpan, the murderer in this case, was open carrying an 8-in ceremonial knife at the time at which he used to conduct the murder. So, while everyone else in the United Kingdom has to go to extreme lengths to comply with UK knife law, the Sikhs have been granted permission under a religious exemption that allows them to carry long daggers known as kirpans. That alone would be a very, very hot button topic in British society and even in like Canadian society where the same kind of crackdown on, you know, weapons and stuff like that is a big concern there, too. The other issue, and I think the main issue, is why does this religious exemption exist? Again, this is one of the articles of the Sikh faith because all Sikhs are required to carry a blade on their person. And in their religion, this dagger is exclusively intended to be used as a weapon. To put this in context, imagine if Pope Leo said that all Catholics had to carry around a Beretta and shoot anyone who is perceived to be in violation of the Vatican's policies. To us, the first part sounds kind of entertaining, but the second part, the idea of carrying around a weapon for the exclusive purposes of hurting people for religious reasons, that's absolutely insane. We don't do that here in Western society, but within the Sikh faith, which is heavily centered around violence, and since the 1980s, they have linked their cultural aspirations with their religious aspirations, to them this is normal. So, if you Google this, they try to say that it's for self-defense and that the five K's of Sikhism are all about defending the weak or something like that. But, if you scratch away the paint, you see that this is really just a bit of word play because they have the concept of Dharam Yudh, which loosely translates to holy war or war for justice. This concept within Sikhism is the reason for why India has had a problem with counterterrorism in Punjabi territory. And if you read a lot of internal Indian politics, I know nobody really wants to do that, but it's very interesting from a counterterrorism perspective. If you read a lot of their internal news about internal counterterrorism and and policing stuff, they're having a really big problem with this, and they've had a big problem with this over the years because the Sikhs use this belief system to justify terrorism as part of the Khalistan independence movement. So, in the West, this {quote} defending the weak and self-defense aspect of their faith, these guys are not the Mandalorian, okay? These guys are not just trying to immortalize like the second amendment in their faith. This is really just a cover that allows them to carry knives and be ready at all times to carry out attacks against anyone who they subjectively perceive to be against them. So again, anytime we talk about defense and self-defense, it gets kind of cagey because everybody has a bunch of different views on that sort of topic, which is understandable. However, we have to look at this through the context of this specific region on earth and the belief system that came from this region, which again is not it's not universal to all Indian people. It is not It is not Hinduism. This is Sikhism. This is a different thing. And again, even in the United States, this is a big deal because many of you may have been familiar with Sikh culture through our kind of problems we've been having with trucking. So trucking in the United States, Indian dude, you know, runs off the road, kills somebody. There have been a few high-profile crimes like that occur over the past couple of years, which have gotten a lot of attention on the Sikh community and occasionally, as in nearly 100% of the time, what you will do is look at the cab, look at the the photos from the actual crime scene itself, and you'll see the same guy on all the trucks. So again, I went down this rabbit hole a while ago. So just to digress for a bit because this kind of matters in the context of talking about Sikhism. If you see this on the highway, this is what this is. A lot of times you'll see this on a lot of more Sikh truck drivers. They have these decals all over their trucks of this guy this guy with a turban carrying an AK-47. So what is this about? This is a decal. These are images of a guy called Sidhu Moose Wala. He is as a Sikh rapper who was killed in a gunfight a few years ago, and since then he's become kind of a musical or artistic expression of Sikh nationality, ethno-nationalism, that sort of thing. So, that's what this is all about. If you're kind of confused as to why you're seeing do pictures of do the same guy with an AK on the side of a trailer or a truck, you know, a big rig going down the highway, this is probably what you're dealing with. So, think like the Punjabi version of like the Crips and the Bloods kind of arrangement. This is what's going on within India politics. Again, nobody cares. Nobody should have to care about internal Indian politics in a small region in Central India. But, because this culture is literally in governance in a lot of the world now, it's worth being aware of. I've been looking at this for a while now, and again, I have to put the boilerplate statement on there. I don't know if everybody's like this. This could just be a cultural thing. It's kind of foreign to the United States, but it's here now, and you know, it's here to Western Europe. The United Kingdom is, of course, having to deal with it more strongly than the than the United States does. The context from which we're talking about this. And again, I can't say that all Sikhs of, you know, all 20 million Sikhs or however many there are, I don't know if everyone in this culture is on board with this kind of ethno-religious nationalism violence kind of mentality. I don't I don't know if everyone's on board with that. I'm sure there are probably varying degrees of it. However, when it comes to the United Kingdom knife laws and the kid that got stabbed to death on the street, I cannot speak to anything but the data. And the raw fact is that in the United Kingdom, 100% of Sikhs have been granted an exemption to carry weapons in the UK, and 100% of Sikhs are required to do so by their religion. It's not a personal, it's not an insult, it's just a fact that this particular belief system is completely alien to the West. And by their own admission, they do not assimilate, nor are they compatible with Western culture. Because if they were compatible and they wanted to assimilate, they would not get laws changed to accommodate them, and those laws would not involve them being able to carry a weapon everywhere they're going to go so they can kill their political enemies if they so choose. You can bring this into the self-defense space if you wish. I'm not taking it there. I'm just saying that the Sikhs somehow have the right to carry weapons, daggers, machetes on the streets without any question whatsoever. And if you question that, you're going to get arrested. And the ethnic Britons have they they can't even get a Swiss Army knife, right? That's the reasoning before the censorship in this case. It has everything to do with the knife itself, the religious aspect to it, the culture behind all of this, the political stuff, the decals on the trucks. It's all one big mess. This was not a random stabbing attack. It was a Sikh using his kirpan as intended. These weapons are carried by Sikhs for them to kill people with it. So we have hostile intent and hostile action. And they have been allowed to do so via the religious exemption in the UK. Coming back to the actual case itself, which is why I've spent so much time on this today, is there's another factor to this as well, which is honestly the least surprising detail of the case, which is that Diguva is not the only person on trial. His mother took the bloody knife and hid it in the family home, aiding Diguva in covering up the crime. So she's on trial as well for aiding and abetting the murder. Several other family members on that night were also arrested and initially charged, but these charges were dropped over the past 2 years. So you've got people who probably knew about the crime, were trying to cover it up, but they couldn't stick them with anything and they're just walking around. This involvement with the Sikh community closing ranks to protect one of their own, this is likely to exacerbate tribal violence on the streets of Britain for the foreseeable future because right now the Punjabi communities of London are trying to figure out how to keep that kirpan exemption. And as a result, even more adversarial perspectives are likely to emerge. I would expect many Sikhs to start carrying larger kirpans in public throughout the United Kingdom to dominate and flex on the laws being tailored specifically to them. That's just kind of their style. And once again, I'm not trying to dunk on anybody's religion. I really don't want to do that because again, it gets you nowhere. But if your gurus require you to carry a long knife and that you are to use that long knife to carry out a holy war and I also cannot carry a knife myself to defend myself from you, we're going to have a problem. And that problem has manifested in this case for the British people. I know ethnic Britons, everyone who lives in the UK who listens to me are probably fuming about that because you may not know this as an American, but in the UK, intent is a huge part of British knife law. If you're carrying a plastic fork in your pocket and you tell a police officer that you intended to carry that plastic fork to defend yourself with, you go straight to jail because it's extremely, extremely, extremely illegal to carry anything expressly for the purposes of self-defense. If you have a potato in your pocket and you say that's for self-defense, straight to jail. Do not collect $200. You are toasted. But if you're a Sikh and you say that my religion says that I have to carry this machete so that if I think a holy war is justified, I can murder people, the British police will arrest anyone who disagrees with you. That's the That's the level of of seriousness we're dealing with here. So, this case completely revolves around cultural and religious lines and also line of action on the part of the police. And all of this is why this case was buried for as long as possible, years in fact. So, now that the truth is out, tensions will remain palpable while Deegol's trial continues, which is why it's worth getting to the bottom of this cultural issue. Once we go down into the weeds, we can see that there are really four completely separate issues which have a high potential of driving unrest and violence moving forward. For one, we've got the Sikhs being allowed to carry weapons, but ethnic British citizens not being allowed to do the same. So, there's thing one. Secondly, the British police instinctively sided with a murderer who was covered in blood and arrested the 18-year-old kid who was actively bleeding to death. That's your second issue. Thirdly, the reason for why the Sikhs even carry the blade in the first place is very concerning because there's a lot of history and cultural violence behind it. And fourthly, the British government covered all of this up for years. So, once again, many different aspects four flashpoints to emerge, all of which are really tough concerns to even talk about in the first place. So, enough of Punjabi land. I know everyone's tired of of it, but I wanted to get that out there because this is kind of a complex uh canary in the coal mine, I should say, for a lot of the issues going on in the United States as well. So, worth talking about in a long-form format anyway. So, finally, I wanted to wrap up today with a few notes from the recent presidential state visit to to China. As with all diplomatic visits, 99% of this trip was useless banter and tourism, but that last 1% can get pretty interesting. First of all, the objective of the trip itself is not entirely clear. The State Department can church it up with flowery language all they want, but it's not really clear as to why the president and a huge delegation would take a trip abroad while their nation is at war. To me, that alone is pretty interesting because it implies there is a reason as to why a trip to China is more important than the war that we're actively fighting, but anyway, whatever that reason is, I don't know, but it's still interesting. Secondly, by far the most interesting part of the trip came from an offhand remark made by President Trump on board Air Force One as they were heading back to the US Thursday night. I will play the clip just in its entirety because it touches on the Taiwan issue, and this is probably one of the more interesting parts of the diplomatic endeavor, so here's the clip. Would the US defend Taiwan if it came to it? I don't want to say that. I'm not going to say that. There's There's one person that knows that. You know who it is? Me. I'm the only person. That question was asked to me today by President Xi. I said, "I don't talk about that." He asked you today. He asked you if you would send troops, if you would defend He asked me if I'd defend them. I said, "I don't talk about that." He told him that. I know it's a little hard to hear. I'm sorry about that. The audio was not great when it was being recorded, but the gist of the conversation kind of came out. Now, obviously, we cannot put a whole lot of weight on one short clip. That's really a bad idea when it comes to President Trump because he himself is not exactly a man who has hard and fast positions on anything. But, in this clip, a couple of things happened. For one, President Trump stating that he will not reveal as to if the US will defend Taiwan. That's completely normal. In fact, this is a continuation of the very long train of China policy, which back during the Kissinger era was referred to as strategic ambiguity. Meaning that the United States would not reveal whether or not we will militarily back Taiwan. So, we're going to leave that as a question for China to figure out. Will they, won't they? Will they defend? Will they Will they will not defend? If we If the Chinese do this, will the United States do that? Again, strategic ambiguity. No real hard red lines in the sand or in the island chain, so to speak. Anything to deal with Taiwan in the diplomatic spaces has been handled incredibly delicately over the years. And, like him or not, it is undeniable that President Trump often, and rather ironically, acts like a bull in a china shop on pretty much everything he does, for better or for worse. And so, he let slip that there would be a war if China invaded Taiwan. Whether he means that or not, I don't know. It could be a lie. It could be a genuine thing. I don't know. He changes his mind a lot and doesn't really speak plainly on stuff like this, which is fair enough, I guess, but it's still interesting. However, the most interesting part about this short exchange on Air Force One is that President Trump said that Xi asked him the same question directly. And kind of hilariously, you can even see the journalist who asked him the question kind of taken aback by this because if this is true, and I want to stress that this is a big if, this is very surprising. The Chinese, just as a matter of cultural and diplomatic policy, they absolutely never ask direct questions like this, let alone President Xi. So, if this actually happened, we might be closer to Taiwan kicking off than we might think. Granted, this is a huge debate right now, so some say the timeline is for 2027 invasion, others say that China is never actually going to invade. Uh they're actually not going to use military force at all, but rather take over diplomatically, and all of the military force that we're seeing them use is actually for other aspirations throughout the maybe second and third island chains. Hope not on that front, but I, you know, that that's the argument anyway. I don't know what to think personally on that front. It's all in the international space, and it's kind of hard to figure out who's going to do what because there's so many factors to consider, but the bottom line is that the Far East is not looking to stay in their period of peace and tranquility for too much longer. And President Xi directly asking Trump to his face, "Hey, are you guys going to get involved in Taiwan if we go take it?" If he's asking that directly, mhm, that's not a very good sign. But again, we're placing a lot of weight on a very short exchange and personal testimony from one person, not something that we can make a whole lot of decisions off of, but again, indications and warnings are stacking up. So, knowing how the American involvement in Iran has worked out, the Chinese have been taking a lot of notes on that endeavor. They have been very, very interested in how our war has gone out gone on in the Middle East, and this uh situation becoming a little bit of a fiasco here has maybe emboldened them to think that they might have a chance against the United States in the Pacific now since we've depleted our stockpiles for the moment. Their whole defense policy is hundreds of thousands of anti-ship cruise missiles and they already know that the Iranians who only launched a few hundred missiles at us, you know, all total throughout this conflict directly at our ships. China with hundreds of thousands of munitions is that's pretty significant and they know that they probably have the upper hand at least to when it comes to Taiwan. So, so they might attack before we can rebuild our own military stockpiles because they know without a doubt that we cannot defend Taiwan. Taiwan is off the table. It just is. You may not like it. I don't like it, but it is. Uh based on how the war in Iran has gone. But, on the other hand, the Chinese are also looking at how the most technologically advanced military in the world is having a really tough time winning a war against a vastly inferior foe or at least a foe that is vastly inferior on paper. And that imbalance is taking place mostly due to terrain. If Iran looked like Iraq, we would have won the war 5 minutes into it, right? But, it's not. Iran is nothing in the world but hundreds of trillions of tons of granite. So, maybe the Chinese are second-guessing the success that their own operations might have in Taiwan. Other than these very tiny aspects of the trip, not much else came out of the state visit from what I can see. No real commitments to anything were achieved on either side, just very coy statements from the Chinese as you would expect. I'd expect nothing less. And right now, the trip mostly appears to be a giant pile of nothing other than buying a bit of time to focus on things other than the current war that the US is fighting in the Middle East. So, that's where we stand for today. Flashpoints all around both overseas, in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, and also here at home with a lot of domestic unpleasantness being plopped on our plates this week. And our friendly redcoats across the seas having to deal with a lot of complicated issues as well. Thankfully, all of this uh rather unfortunate topics that we have to cover sometimes, these have given us some idea of what to prepare for and how important it is to remain situationally aware and keep your head on a swivel. High gas prices make people do crazy stuff all around and right now it is a very high risk time for any of the dozen or so bubbling tensions to reach another flash point. We don't have to do them in gloom, don't ever do that, don't ever black pill, no black pilling allowed, but we have to be aware, we have to be attentive, we have to talk about unfortunate things sometimes even if it's a little embarrassing or culturally inappropriate or we have to talk about it just purely because you need the information to be able to survive walking down the street sometimes. So with that, let's roll it up for today and talk about the Ghost Net reports for this week. Once again, this radio net that we use to exchange information around the world is very, very helpful sometimes. And it was a good net all around from everyone. Now that the summertime weather has arrived for most of us, a lot more people are joining the party, which is always good to see. The more mundane weekly testing and practice sessions are not always super high speed. They're just not. But in our case, this isn't just practice, this is also practical utility, right? So we can find some interesting information that many of us might not have heard before, which is always good to see. It's already been a pretty crazy year and with hurricane and wildfire season upon us once again, it's a good time to dust off the comms gear and make sure everything works. Even if you are not into the world of HF radio or Meshtastic, if you don't want to get into anything like that, if it's too much of an investment, there's always free or low-budget ways to get into this stuff, but even then the the educational barrier is pretty high. Working on that, going to bring that barrier down. There's a lot of other dudes out there doing good stuff to make sure that radio is more accessible to more people. Even so, you can always make sure that your own radios work, make sure that you have good communications plan put together, even if you don't have radios at all. Just make sure that if you haven't heard from somebody in a while, make sure you have a plan for that. Just so that you have a way to know how how get in touch with friends and family just in case regular lines of communication fail. Cyber attack season is also here and constant. That's a yearly thing. It's always going around, but these things always tend to come around when there's times of international tension and conflicts and stuff like that. And you never really know when a server is going to go down somewhere just due to some random hacking group getting a hold of things. So, again, just being prepared, doing the bare minimum to make sure that you know what to do and you have some kind of plan ahead of time. That's going to help out quite a lot. That's all I have for today, everyone. I know things are getting a little heavy out there in the world, but it's going to be okay. We're we're going to take things one day at a time and do the best we can. That's all we can do, anyway. So, thanks for sticking with me and all of my research and geospatial data is all available, all for free at the links below along with all of my source material that I use throughout the week. I'm still working on the A-TAC series. It's It's a lot of work a lot of work to get this stuff done, but I'm going to try to power through a lot of this more A-TAC and communications kind of doctrine and tutorials and educational stuff this summer time and we'll see how it works out. I hope it I hope it helps a lot. So, if you're interested in using A-TAC or communications or stuff, check out the playlist on my YouTube channel and you will be able to find all of the prior content I've made on that in addition to the new stuff that I'm trying to make. So, thanks again, everyone, and I'll see you next time. And as always, fight in the shade.

Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to the underground. This is the Intel update for April 5th through the 11th, 2026. Hope everyone has had a good Easter week or Holy Week, respectively. Christ is risen indeed, and I hope everyone got some downtime to take a little bit of rest this week because around the world, it has been a rather tense roller coaster of events over the past few days. Of course, in the Middle East, the ceasefire has gone into effect, but it has been hanging by a thread since its inception, which we'll get into later. Throughout Western Europe, protests continue to grow in size and scope in Ireland due to both the fuel crisis and also the growing concerns of government overreach. Protests have become more kinetic throughout the day, and as I'm recording this, things have gotten a little bit spicy, so we'll have to cover this uh once things calm down a little bit and see how it works out. And on the home front this week, general crime and terrorism concerns remain as crime season throughout the United States is well underway. So, starting off with the homeland this week, there have been a series of brutal murders and attacks carried out by the usual suspects. While we have been focused on the Middle East, there have been several items of note that took place last weekend and also throughout the week. In Maine this week, more details have come to light regarding four men who were apprehended by Border Patrol in the vicinity of the St. Zachary Port of Entry on Golden Road shortly after crossing into the United States from Canada. At the time this story was announced, it did not get much traction due to most headlines beginning with four British men detained or something like that. However, a few days ago, more details were released, and it turns out that the four British men were actually four British men after the Border Patrol released their names, which are as follows: Ali Muhammad Ali Abdullah, Hamid Muhammad Nagui, Ibrahim Ayub Khan, and Muhammad Sultan Salah. Additionally, all four men were found hiding in a concealed position by sugar maple workers who were operating in the general area near the actual port of entry. The suspects had bypassed the checkpoint on foot and attempted to hide after hearing people in their general vicinity, but ended up getting caught anyway. After search of the surrounding area, Border Patrol agents tracked their position back to the Canadian side of the border where they found a vehicle which had run out of gas, and after they searched the vehicle, they found a handgun under the driver seat. One of the main reasons as to why we know so much about how this incident unfolded is due to the suspects recording the entire illegal border crossing on a GoPro camera. The footage from this GoPro confirms that they were indeed attempting to cross into the United States illegally, and they confessed all of their series of crimes on the video. The suspects also Googled how to get to Boston using their phones that were found on them at the time of their arrest. Considering the sheer amount of incriminating evidence the suspects compiled on themselves, it's possible that these guys were not exactly terrorists, but more like freeloaders who have been known to cross into the US from Canada knowing that the southern US border is much harder to penetrate nowadays. It's not impossible, but it's far easier to get into Canada and from there into the United States just by walking through the woods, which appears to have been the case here. So, despite the immediate reports saying that these guys were just lost hikers who accidentally stumbled into the United States, well, Border Patrol's testimony is that they've got a video of the guys uh them talking themselves about how they knew they were trying to get into the United States illegally. So, we can't really be sure what uh details have not been conveyed to the public yet, and it's quite likely that we can't see the whole story. So, definitely something to keep in mind, especially if we're uh going to be on kind of heightened alert for terrorism attacks over the next few months. The northern border with Canada is most certainly porous, and if these idiots got found, I can only imagine that somebody with more experience and more deliberation who's not going to be walking and talking loudly through the woods recording their crimes for Instagram on a GoPro might have a little bit of better chance of success. Nationwide, around the country, murder season is well underway, unfortunately. In Fort Myers, Florida, one suspect was arrested after murdering a woman with a hammer outside a gas station a few days ago. This extremely graphic murder was captured on the security cameras at the gas station, and it's so graphic that I can only show one frame from it. The murder took place after the suspect was observed hitting the victim's car with a hammer, and when the victim exited the store to confront the suspect, she was murdered in an exceptionally brutal manner. The suspect has been identified as Robert Joachim, an illegal immigrant from Haiti who was released into the United States in 2022. Over in Ohio last week on Easter night, a potential terror attack was reported in Franklin after a very suspicious series of events. Initially, the situation began after one suspect drove his vehicle into the driveway of a private residence seemingly at random. The suspect exited his vehicle and began Islamic prayer in the driveway. After some time and after security cameras notified the homeowners that there was someone outside their house, the suspect approached the front door of the residence and attempted to make entry. After being denied entrance by the homeowner, the homeowner eventually exited the residence to confront the suspect. The suspect then threatened the homeowner with a knife and told him that he would kill him in the name of Allah. The homeowner retreated, and the suspect departed the location. A short time later, the suspect was apprehended after ramming or attempting to ram his vehicle into someone else in Clear Creek. The suspect was eventually identified as Anthony Long, and very few details have indicated what this entire situation was all about. This could have been a just random crime sort of thing, or it could have been something more organized. I don't know. There really hasn't been any comment from the local authorities on this one, so we're going to have to keep this one on the back burner and flag it roughly as being a just a random crime until we know more information. Moving to North Carolina this week, DeCarlos Brown Jr., the assailant who murdered Irina Zurutsky in Charlotte back in August of last year, has been found mentally incompetent to stand trial on state murder charges. This finding actually took place back in December, but just came to light this week after his public defender filed court documents requesting a continuance based on this designation. The federal charges still stand, and right now, there are conflicts between the state and the feds regarding how to proceed with this trial because the state is arguing that since he's in federal custody, he can't be evaluated by the state, and since he can't be evaluated by the state, the competency hearing can't go forward. As to what this means for this very high-profile murder case, it's not entirely clear at the moment. This is Charlotte, after all, and it's become quite a unique place to be since there is a lot of emotion and uh social attention on this case, and there's no telling what might happen. So, this is something to keep an eye on just in case this individual ends up getting the slap on the wrist that everyone is expecting. Moving to Texas last week on Easter Sunday, one assailant attempted to carry out a mass shooting at a church in Houston. Local authorities state that Emmanuel Mombevi initially gained entry to the church and began handing out flyers to congregants during the service. After being approached by security on site, he was removed from church grounds, but after some time, he returned to the church armed with a firearm and 100 rounds of ammunition, and after he attempted to draw the firearm in the church, he was tackled by the security team. During the fray, he also allegedly attempted to detonate an IED with his cell phone, but afterwards, it became clear that he did not have any explosives on him. So, quite a kinetic week for the United States this week. Don't want to dwell on it too much, but the risks are quite paramount. Whether or not you want to call these terrorism incidents or just the state of what general crime has transitioned into is uh going to be up to you, but the brutality of these kinds of things has uh definitely become quite paramount this week. Moving to the Middle East, so far, the ceasefire continues as well as to be expected for a ceasefire in the Middle East, which is a huge caveat. For those who are not aware of the cultural traditions of the region, ceasefires don't usually mean a whole lot, and they don't usually mean a total ceasefire, but rather a cessation of major attacks. Since the ceasefire went into effect, several drone strikes have been reported in both the UAE and in Kuwait, and the UAE did conduct some targeting efforts after the ceasefire went into effect as retribution for the Iranians hitting their oil refineries very hard. The UAE was not going to sit back and let the Iranians hit their oil facilities and then the ceasefire go into effect the next day. The UAE was definitely going to settle the score on that front, and that took place after the ceasefire went into effect. And of course, the Israelis have been carrying on targeting as usual, though they weren't really carrying out that much targeting within Iran over the past couple of weeks anyway because they are fighting a very hot war in Lebanon, so their forces are spread pretty thin. Concerning the terms of the ceasefire itself, or really, we should probably be causing calling it more of a pause than a ceasefire because nothing has been written down. Not much is known regarding the exact details of what this ceasefire or pause is all about, and there's certainly really no indication of how the general state of peace talks might go. Historically speaking, this is perfectly normal, and one of the reasons as to why ceasefires are usually transitioned into a lasting peace agreement to settle a conflict. Perhaps the most notable exception to this rule would be the Korean War, which is mostly just a ceasefire which was put into place without really hammering out a complete and final settlement to the conflict. So, considering the history of the past, I don't know, half a century or so of warfare, ceasefires normally transition into some kind of peace agreement or some kind of peace understanding over a period of time, but not always. The fighting can always resume as has happened several times in Ukraine, for instance. There have been several ceasefires in Ukraine which have taken effect, they have gone into effect, and they have ended, and the fighting has resumed. So, the same thing might happen in Iran. In terms of the tactical situation on the ground, there are a few items of note that I'm keeping an eye on this week. First and foremost, the minefield in the Strait of Hormuz. This is the bounding box for where the Iranians have stated that they have laid mines, but as the United States is finding out this week, the Iranians don't really have any demining capability. So, they can place mines, but they can't recover them. And the White House has stated that the Iranians don't exactly know where their mines are located within this zone. As strange as it sounds, this Wile E. Coyote mine-laying operation is actually part of standard Iranian doctrine because remember, when the Ayatollah was taken out and their comms were severed at the beginning of the war, their decentralized command structure entered into its fight to the last man mode. So, they were not expecting to ever win the war. They were expecting for everyone to fight to the death, essentially. When this level of defense doctrine is is in any nation, not just Iran, but any nation that is pushed into a corner like this. You don't really care so much about picking up mines later on. In the initial days of the war, the Iranians were fighting for their very lives and certainly were fighting a state of unrestricted warfare where nothing was off limits, at least on the first couple of days. This was by design and after a few days the higher-ups were able to get control again. I suspect, and this is total speculation, that in those early days of the war individual commanders at bases were acting independently and they probably deployed some of their mines out while they could assuming that they might be dead in a few days anyway. Thinking from the perspective of a local IRGC commander, that's what I would have done. You're sitting in a dusty bunker watching the Americans bomb everything in your country, comms are severed, reports are coming in of Tehran being hit, the Ayatollah's dead, and we're on our own here, right? So, get on the boats and get our munitions out there based on the plans that have been cooked up decades ago. It's a fire sale, everything must go right now. Or at least that's what these guys would have been thinking. The drone launchers send everything they have. Anybody who can do so gets in the fight and the small boats with one or two mines on board put to sea and get their mine in the water knowing that they probably won't see the sunrise the next day. That's the mindset these guys were operating from during the early days of the war. Fast forward to today when the Iranian regime has not collapsed and the world has not ended for them and their military posture can be more measured. Well, at this point the mines are already in the water and when Abdul was burning out the engine in his small boat to get his crew's mine in the water in the dead of night, he probably wasn't looking so closely at his GPS, which was probably being by his own people anyway. Now, other means of implacing mines probably came from submarines because a huge mission of their submarine fleet is to emplace mines underwater in the strait. Rumor has it, again, I don't have photos to show you, but rumor has it, at least a lot of the long-standing doctrine that has existed before this war was put into the mainstream civilian consciousness, it has been an assumption that a lot of the IRGC's mini submarines are actually launched from James Bond Dr. No style like caves that they've cut into the side of the waterway there on the coast of the Persian Gulf so that you can't really hit them. They're like submarine pens during World War II. Very hard to target, very hard to get at, and the submarines are so small they can just go out into the comparatively shallow Persian Gulf and do whatever they want to without really being detected very easily. Now again, maybe the US sunk every single one of these mini subs during the initial phases of the war. I don't know. Maybe we struck all these places. I don't know. That's the whole point of all of this is an unknown. And for sure this was certainly a multi-layered approach that we don't have a lot of fidelity on simply because we don't know what the Iranians did during the initial phases of the war. And honestly, at this point it's quite possible that the Iranians themselves don't know either because if a little miniature submarine goes out and lays two or three mines or if a fast boat goes out and, you know, lays one mine and they get sunk with an airstrike before they get back to base, it's pretty likely that nobody, not even the Iranians, are going to know where that mine is actually located because they didn't make it back to base to tell everybody, "Hey, we put the mine at this grid." You know? So, suffice it to say this is a major concern that can only be alleviated by the US Navy. Lloyd's of London, the main insurance corporation that underwrites high-risk insurance policies such as those for ships transiting the strait, is not going to approve a single policy unless the US Navy clears the minefield and very publicly transits through the minefield area with their AIS transponder turned on so that the whole world can see that the route is safe. This is the bare minimum expectation for returning to normal in the strait. And I say that because this morning when I'm recording this, there are reports of US Navy vessels, which have been in port in the Persian Gulf this entire time, that may be moving toward the Strait of Hormuz. If that is the case and if they can start ensuring the freedom of navigation through the alleged minefield, this would be a very positive development for getting things back to normal. However, it's also possible and quite likely that the Iranians will tell them to turn around or fire anti-ship missiles at them and then we're back at this again. But once again, this is a developing situation that is going on right now, so more details are to be expected later on. Another situation I am monitoring is the buildup on all sides during this lull in the war. The Iranians have claimed to have repaired several of the bridges that were struck just a few days ago, which is hard to believe, but construction projects in the third world go rather quickly when you don't have to worry about OSHA, and the Iranians are heavily motivated to put down their rivals and grab their e-tools while they still have time. Similarly, the United States has been pouring resources into the Middle East replenishing resources as best they can. As a result, we will have to wait and see how the ceasefire works out. If it turns into a full-fledged peace plan, that's good. There's no harm, no foul, and maybe we can put this all behind us. But if a deal cannot be reached and the fighting resumes, it's going to be intense if things pop off once again. As a result, for those who may be breathing a sigh of relief that the war is over and, you know, the Trump tacoed and it's all over, I wouldn't be so sure about that just yet. Let's not count our chickens before they hatch here and I very highly doubt that the forces that have driven this war so far are going to be looking to let go from this conflict so easily. This conflict has been half a century in the making at least and I don't think this is over just yet. Of course, the war in Lebanon is a complicating factor for all of this as well, but by and large, at this point the strategic goals for all parties, but particularly the United States, is simply to undo the effects of the war and return to the normal state that existed before hostilities commenced. That seems to be the strategic goal, to get back to the way things were before we started this war, which is not necessarily a good sign, but that's what we seem to be trying to do, to get back to the way things were in terms of the strait being considered to be international waters, back to the merchant shipping carrying on as usual, back to the US being able to have military bases in the Middle East, and back to the way things have been for decades. However, even though this is clearly a goal at this point, in many ways there will be no going back. Iran maintains a lot of power right now and over the next few weeks the United States is going to have to play catch-up with regards to achieving their military objectives, which the United States might be preparing for as resupply and rearmament efforts continue around the region. In short, we are most certainly not out of the woods just yet and not only is peace not a certainty, but it's looking pretty unlikely on the diplomatic front unless the United States and Israel are willing to accept a lot of concessions and by default allow the Iranians a strategic victory. This does not seem very possible at the moment unless the war actually went way worse for us than we thought it did and we're willing to now make a lot of concessions, but otherwise doesn't seem very possible in the in the short term at least. But again, staying on the hopeful side of things, anything can happen. There are a lot of moving parts and things are changing by the hour, so hopefully we can see how things work out on the diplomatic front over the next few days. And on that note, that's all I have for today. So, let's finish up with the intercepted Ghost Net reports for this week. For those who are not aware, I don't just make PowerPoint slides and maps, I also manage another line of effort called the Ghost Net, which is a project to bring a more informational side to the world of radio. If you do not physically own the wires, you do not own the communication. And if your communications, your messages, your DMs, your emails, your newsfeeds, all that stuff, if all that's going over somebody else's cable, then they have the ability to influence it somewhat. Though it may seem to be an odd combination to try to smash together the world of geopolitics and the world of amateur radio, this is a good way to ensure that resiliency is possible even during more contingent situations. In short, if Twitter goes down or there's some kind of cyber attack that takes out a major data centers, we'll still be able to have some sort of effectiveness in exchanging information during a crisis. As a side note, that's one of the ways that the world of intelligence is separated from the world of journalism. Journalism is supposed to convey just the raw facts of what happened in the past. They may not do that these days, but that's what they're supposed to do. Whereas intelligence is a career field that uses those raw facts to figure out what's going to happen next so that people can make decisions for the future. Journalism is facing rearwards to the past and intelligence is facing forward to the future, which is a major difference. Sometimes we get so caught up with what we think is just political commentary because we're so oversaturated with that sort of thing most of the time from the mainstream media, but in reality what we want to do is help provide information and that dreaded opinion to help make decisions. In the professional world, intelligence analysts are almost never asked by their bosses for source material or raw information. That just That just never happens. Decision makers want purely their opinion on what to do or what is going to happen next. But it's also a constantly evolving process that requires a solid bedrock of communications infrastructure to even work. Of course, in the civilian world expectations are radically different and no analysis will be accepted without first providing the raw source material. That's just kind of where we're at right now, I think. Opinions and organic thought is just not really allowed in nearly all cases unless a primary source is provided. And to do all of this, we need an ecosystem for exchanging that information that is very resilient and hard for malign actors to take offline. When it comes to having that forward-facing ecosystem, we need to have capabilities to help make decisions even when everything is failing around us. Nobody would expect a Fox News anchor to take off their suit and tie, fire up a ham radio, and transmit a report from the field. Nobody would expect an ambulance driver to be the same guy who builds that ambulance in the factory or fixes it when it breaks down. But for the prepared citizen, that might be an expectation for us because we're not moving information to improve ratings, but rather to save lives sometimes. In our world, he who has the information or analysis has the responsibility to ensure that it can make it into the hands of whomever needs it. In our case, we have to not just be responsible for gathering information and processing it into intelligence, but also providing that analysis in a way that allows others to make decisions. And on top of all of that, we have to make sure that this flow of analysis can take place when all communications networks are down. It's a tall order. It's a hard thing to do, but the Ghost Net is a decent starting point toward building out that ecosystem. And now that there is an Android version of JS8Call, the main software package that we use for this, it is now even easier to become involved and start sharing information. So, this week I did pick up many of your transmissions via this method, and I'm starting to get a little bit more familiar with the Android app of JS8Call. I was able to get it to work with one of my radios, but not the other, unfortunately. Uh and it's going to take a little bit of work around to get a receive-only arrangement working for those of you who don't have any kind of interest in ham radio. If you just want to receive the news via radio, you can still do it. It's just a little bit of work around for the moment. So, just to test this out on Thursday night, I set up one of my phones via audio coupling, as in I literally just laid my headphones on top of my phone's microphone, so that the signals could be transmitted from the speaker in the headphones to the microphone on the phone, and it was decoded that way. So, that did work. A very, very ad hoc way of doing it. Seemed to work decently well enough. That's not That's not normally how you'd want to do it, but it can work. Longer messages did not decode, but again, this is a work in progress, and I hope that we can get this working even better over the next few months. So, please stay tuned for that. I'm going to do a little bit more testing on this and try to get this working a little bit better, so that we can have even better tools to exchange information. So, that's all I have for today. Thank you all for sticking around, and we'll get back at it next week. Thank you again to all of you on Patreon who keep the project going. I really do appreciate it. I could not do any of this without you. So, thank you again, and I'll see you next time. And as always, fight in the shade.

Hello again everyone and welcome back to the underground. This is the intel update for December 7th through the 13th, 2025. And things are just as crazy as always. So, let's get right to it. Overall, the past few weeks have been more kinetic than usual for this time of year in a few different ways. First up, here in the homeland, violent attacks continue as before, and most of these attacks have not garnered much media attention despite how serious they are. Overseas, vandalism incidents and desecration acts continue at churches and Christmas markets around Europe, so that's definitely been a concern. In the political realm, there have also been a few coup attempts over the past few days to be aware of. A rogue colonel in the nation of Benon attempted to overthrow the government only to fall to the classic blunder of forgetting this step where he actually overthrows the government. So, that attempt kind of fizzled out a bit. In Bulgaria, a more successful change of power took place the day before yesterday as the prime minister resigned amid the Zoomer uprising taking place throughout the nation. Mass protests and demonstrations of mostly younger people have been ongoing for months regarding the topic of corruption as the Bulgarian government is legendary for being openly corrupt to an extreme degree. This is kind of the culture of Bulgarian government to be honest and it's been that way for many decades. So these protests came to a head the other day when parliament was finally pressured into conducting a vote of confidence and right before the vote the prime minister resigned capitulating to the desire to hold new elections and generally reform government in some way mostly just to be less corrupt. Right? That's kind of what the demonstrations are all about. So far the Bulgarians don't really seem to actually have a plan for what comes next because it seems like nobody really expected the mass demonstrations and protests to actually work. So, it's going to take some time before uh we figure out how this all shakes out. But either way, things are changing in Bulgaria. On the topic of warfare, the conflict in Southeast Asia is back on again as Cambodia and Thailand recommence hostilities toward one another once more. Details are incredibly suspect regarding what actually reignited this war again because both sides are legendary for openly lying about pretty much everything. But it looks like Thailand is the one who started hostilities, at least when it comes to dropping actual munitions. Although Thai sources claimed that they started the fight because Cambodia moved some troops into the sort of neutral zone, kind of demilitarized zone along the border region that both sides have been fighting about for a few decades now. Some sources claim this isn't true. Uh that Thailand just started the war unprovoked. I very highly doubt that. Both sides whenever they do anything, usually it's because they're both uh moving towards a general state of unrest with each other. So, usually when it comes to Thailand and Cambodia, both sides are at fault in some way. It's really hard to say, though, uh, in this case, so don't really want to pick sides as to who's to to blame for starting the fight. It's a very complicated fight, and most of the fighting has taken the form of the classic third world warfare tactics, mostly in terms of extremely intense bombing and rocket attacks, which result in almost zero casualties. Of course, there are casualties, and almost all of them are civilian. uh because both sides are basically shooting at each other from so far away that even though dozens of battles are being reported each day, there have only been a handful of casualties on each side so far. So yeah, same as usual. Uh of note, considering that the US made a big deal about securing a peace agreement and ending the fighting from a few months ago, President Trump has weighed in once again and stated that phone calls have been conducted between Cambodia, Thailand, and the United States, and that a ceasefire has been agreed upon. So according to the White House, the whole thing is over. We're done. They've gone back to their ceasefire agreement. However, this morning, Thailand came out and said that this was blatantly not true. No agreement has been reached and heavy fighting continues as before. So again, what the truth is is anyone's guess at this point, but the fighting does seem to continue despite American efforts to get both sides to honor the previous peace agreement. And finally, down south, the potential war continues to loom like it has for the past few months now. However, recent statements and actions by the White House have pointed to the war being closer than ever before. So, let's take a look at the strategic movement for this week because once again, all eyes are on Venezuela for a few reasons. This week, the main topic has been the American seizure of the merchant tanker Skipper, the Venezuelan tanker that was part of the shadow fleet of vessels smuggling oil around the world, mostly to the Iranians, but the Russians are also involved as well. This vessel seizure is not really out of the ordinary. It's it's happened before, but it's also the first major step towards a conflict. as this confirms that a state of soft blockade exists with Venezuela. And it's not just the fast boats that are on the menu when it comes to either interdiction operations or targeting operations either. And if the United States is interested in continuing this soft blockade of Venezuela, there are certainly plenty of other vessels to grab. As of this morning, and really any given day, there are roughly a few dozen tankers transferring oil from Venezuela just anchored right off the coast and not really trying to hide their presence or where they're going. So, speaking of future targeting efforts, we do have to mention the increasing rhetoric from the White House this week, which has mostly taken the form of President Trump stating that land-based strikes within Venezuela and potentially other nations are coming soon. He has said this multiple times at this point. I think it's quite clear that this is going to happen, like it's not an if but when sort of situation. Now, on the other hand, it's not exactly a good idea to hang on President Trump's every word for stuff like this. But when the president says we're going to bomb a country that we've never bombed before and potentially other countries as well, whatever that means, right? I'm thinking probably Colombia, Bolivia, places like that. If we're going to kick this pig, then we've got to make decisions based off of that information because he's openly telling us what we're going to do. So, you know, pardon me for, you know, kind of making decisions based off of that. Like many other people have said before, pretty much all of the indicators displayed so far point to the US conducting some sort of operation in Venezuela purely for regime change. And really the only variable is the timing of of when all of this is going to pop off. I will also mention it. I'm not going to get into detail, but I'll mention it because other people have mentioned it first and the cat's kind of out of the bag, but there are other resources moving into the region that have been seen moving from around the world. So, there are some combat search and rescue units that have been observed transitioning to the general theater. I'll phrase it like that and just kind of leave that detail there and you guys can maybe fill in the blanks on your own. But suffice it to say that's a pretty big indicator uh for a conflict kicking off is when CESAR assets start moving into the region. But once again, the Venezuelans already kind of know this. They are looking at things as well. They're not particularly bright when it comes to hiding their own operations, but the US, you know, it's kind of hard to move these assets around without anybody noticing. And once the internet notices, it's kind of forever. So, uh, the US is having certainly a hard time moving things around. Rest assured, when the actual fighting starts, you're not going to see anything on an ADSB tracker. You're not going to see anything on an Osent page that says, you know, uh, this aircraft has flown into Venezuela. It's going to all be dark. It's going to be secret. So, so once again, we'll find out that Venezuela has been invaded or struck when we see videos from the Venezuelans on the ground of something blowing up. So, we're not going to get really any indicator that this is going to get kicked off because, oh, this plane took off or this plane moved over here. No, it's not going to happen like that. It's going to be completely secret. Transponders are going to be turned off. We're never going to know until it happens, right? That's just how military operations work. So, until we get some handheld, cell phone, uh, you know, flip phone shaky cam grainy footage from a Venezuelan on the ground of something blowing up, we're not going to know what happened, right? And we're just going to have to hold fast until that happens. So, that's it for Venezuela. Moving to the homeland for this week, there have been quite a few serious incidents to be made aware of, several of which have received very little media attention for obvious reasons. First up is the stabbing attack at the flagship Macy's store, which took place the other day. It was also another horrific acid attack down in Georgia, which resulted in very severe wounds for the victim. A stabbing was carried out at a high school in North Carolina, which isn't out of the ordinary, but we'll get into the misinformation that has spread from that one in a moment. Similarly, the Charlotte light rail stabbing from last week has taken a bit of an unfortunate turn as the hero from that story turned out to be a violent criminal as well. And finally, something that I did not mention in the wire this week was the arson and vehicle ramming attack that took place at a swanky winery in the Bay Area of California. Turns out an Indian millionaire went insane and tried to burn down the building during a wine tasting event a few days ago. After the other guests tried to stop him from setting the place on fire, he started attacking everyone before fleeing the scene in his Tesla, which he used to ram his way out of the venue before crashing some distance away. As to why he conducted this attack, nobody seems to know what went on here. Uh could be that he was simply drunk and became belligerent. It's a pretty common thing that happens at these sorts of parties, but there are some other theories circulating that maybe there was more of a financial aspect to all of this. I don't know. There there aren't a whole lot of details on this, but I wanted to mention it because we don't often see millionaires conducting arson attacks at supernized venues. Breaking out into the regions for this week. I wanted to start with Washington DC because we actually have some very good news this week. Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolf is doing much better during his recovery process after he was shot uh during that terrorist attack in DC a few weeks ago. In the update provided by his family and the hospital, he is now breathing on his own and he can even stand up uh which is fantastic to hear. So, good progress is being made and I'm sure prayers are very much encouraged all around. Moving up to New York, the stabbing attack conducted at Macy's the other day did not receive a whole lot of media attention, so I wanted to mention it again because it gives us a lot of information for our own riskmanagement thought processes. Details on the incident are hard to come by, but the general story is that the victim entered the restroom on the seventh floor of Macy's to change her infant's diaper as the family was out shopping during the holiday season. At that point, the attacker identified as Carrie Erin was also located in the restroom and randomly started stabbing the victim in the back. Um, from there, a state of pandemonium broke out and the victim's husband entered the restroom to engage the attacker. At this point, the stories diverge somewhat. Some sources still say that the attacker was kind of pinned down and held there uh until authorities arrived. Others state that she was able to actually escape and get away before being detained by security. So, those details have yet to be ironed out right now. But regarding the motive for the attack, right now it looks like they're going for an insanity defense. Uh, all of the mainstream media articles that have mentioned this case have stated that the attacker was released from a psych ward on the morning of the attack and that the voices in her head told her to do it because of course they did. Uh, personally, I'm not convinced that's what happened. And I think that I think we need a lot more information. Obviously, since it was in a restroom, there's not going to be any kind of security camera footage of the attack. But maybe, I don't know, maybe outside the restroom, maybe there might be some security camera footage that can help us kind of glean some information on what's actually going on with this one. Uh, it's hard to say just based off the information that we have been given so far. More generally, it is very true that a huge chunk of society has very crippling mental health problems nowadays. But something about this one makes me think that there's something else a foot here. Maybe there's some other detail that we we don't understand. And I don't know, either way, I'll keep my eye on it and see what comes out when the court documents drop in a few weeks. But more broadly, this attack does highlight the importance of readiness, right? Like we were talking about last week, you know, on the one hand, we we really shouldn't have to live our lives in a constant state of concern that we might be stabbed randomly at any moment. Like that's a that's a really unfortunate way to live. But it does not hurt to be a little bit more aware of one's surroundings, even when in environments and situations where we're not typically expecting an attack. In this case, I can't blame the victim at all. Nor can I say she did anything wrong. I mean, this was truly a random attempted murder that just came completely out of nowhere. So, from a planning perspective, this is one of those things that you can't really plan for at all. And when it comes to managing the risk of something like this, really, the only thing that can be done is one to be prepared to fight and to carry medical supplies to mitigate the aftermath of a stabbing like this. So, generally, we try to be a little bit more proactive, right, to stop attacks before they occur. But in situations like this where somebody just randomly goes insane in most cases the most that you can do is just be reactionary. But yeah, that's it's just a rough situation all around. But that's why we prepare, right? We want to mitigate the things that we can't explicitly prepare for sometimes. So that's probably the key takeaway from this incident. Moving over to the Midwestern region out in Illinois this week, a bit of controversy has erupted following an ICE raid that took place on the outskirts of Chicago a few days ago. This was a fairly standard ICE raid targeting a low-level TDA commander or shot caller for the area. But the reason for the controversy is that this raid was leaked ahead of time. So when ICE agents showed up to arrest this guy, somehow demonstrators knew that ICE was going to be in the general area. They didn't know that that this guy was specifically sought, but they knew what block that ICE was going to. So they were already there when ICE agents tried to uh conduct the raid. So this kind of pointed out that these demonstrators were a lot quicker on the scene than they normally are. They were a lot more organized than they normally were. So they kind of tipped their hand a little bit and revealed that they had prior knowledge of this uh raid being planned. So yesterday Tom Hman stated that they think that these leaks are coming from within the FBI. This not only confirms the fact that there are leaks. Uh this has been a thing that has been growing uh over the past few weeks. ICE shows up to an area and suspiciously everybody already knows where they're going to be, right? So, that's kind of a pretty big indicator of leaks uh being quite rampant. But now officially Tom Hman has pointed the finger at the FBI, which honestly sounds about right. But either way, this inter agency fighting has become a lot more public over the past few days, which is it's kind of complicated this whole immigration situation somewhat. But again, not surprising in the slightest considering how the FBI uh runs things, but still something to be aware of. Moving down to North Carolina, there are two incidents of note that have been subject to extreme media manipulation this week. First up is an update to the Blue Lion stabbing incident in Charlotte from a couple of weeks ago. So right after this stabbing attack came to light and the names of the individuals involved became publicized. The main victim in this case, a guy who was stabbed quite severely, Kenyan Dobby, he was lauded as a hero for stopping the attack because, you know, he intervened, stopped the the illegal immigrant from Honduras from bothering and harassing people on the train there and in the process got stabbed himself. So So as you might expect, the local media put him up on a pedestal and tried to say he's a hero, good Samaritan, all that kind of stuff. But it turns out the situation is a little bit more complicated because after he conducted these media interviews and his face was on television, he was promptly arrested as soon as he was cleared from the hospital because he had active warrants out for his arrest. And they weren't just any warrants. Uh he was actually wanted on many counts for beating his pregnant girlfriend so severely that she was put in the ICU with skull fractures. So this one's a little bit of a wash, it seems. But the other incident that occurred this week, which was worthy of of coverage because of the media manipulation on it, is the stabbing attack that took place at Foresight High School, which was a pretty standard high school uh bathroom stabbing. These things have become quite common in many areas. In some places, it's just a daily occurrence. But this one was kind of interesting because in this case, the attacker was identified as Cameron Graham, and he attempted to stab another student to death over a marijuana or THC vape pin in a restroom at the school. So again, very common uh kind of dispute in public schools these days. But in the ensuing Frey, the attacker himself was stabbed by his own knife and he bled out in the bathrooms. So this is important to remember because all of the media reports have tried to paint this guy as the victim. They've actually used that word quite a bit, victim, right? When in reality, he accidentally stabbed himself while he was trying to murder somebody else. this whole argument of, "Oh, he was such a sweet but troubled boy that the media is trying to portray. Yeah, that's that's just not true, right? That that act is not going to cut it. You don't get to call yourself a victim if you try to murder somebody and you are so stupid that you end up stabbing yourself." In classic fashion, the media is also using very, very young school photos of the attacker, trying to make him seem like he's just just this innocent victim in all of this, when in reality, he was the aggressor. So when you Google this guy's name and you look at all the local news media reports, remember he started it. He tried to stab somebody to death and he ended up getting killed in the process. So something else to be aware of is that local authorities have decided to not file any charges in this case because obviously the kid he was tried to murder, turn the knife back around on him. And there the local uh local authorities are just basically calling this one uh even I suppose. But that doesn't seem to matter too much because the family of the attacker, right? The family of the attacker has announced that they're going to be suing the other kids involved in the fight because of course they are. So fairly standard, right? Their kid tries to murder somebody in the bathroom, but gets killed in the process and they're launching a lawsuit over that. So this is completely unsurprising. We all know how this goes, but it's just something to be aware of. So moving down to Georgia for just a brief moment. I wanted to touch on the acid attack that took place in Foresight Park in Savannah a couple of days ago. At the moment, I don't have hardly any information on this at all, so I expect to have a lot more details on Monday. But right now, the short overview of the story is that a woman was walking down the street after work trying to go home for the day. Random black guy comes up behind her and pours acid on her. She gets very horrifically burned over a good chunk of her uh head and torso area. And the black guy gets away. local authorities put out a very blurry and lowresolution photograph of the suspect or who they think the suspect is, but in classic fashion, that's basically all they've put out. So, the authorities are not exactly interested in finding this guy, it seems. Uh, which is pretty standard for Georgia. We all know how it goes. It's infuriating. I get it. But, this is just a continuation of the the same kinds of attacks that have been taking place over the past few, honestly, decades. But, but anyway, the guy is still on the loose. Hopefully, maybe we can pressure the Savannah police authorities to release some more information about this guy. Maybe get a slightly higher resolution photo of him. He was clearly captured on security cameras. He was clearly walking down the street uh in the security camera. So, he presumably walked into another camera that maybe got him a little bit more clearly. I don't know. He's wearing a Bugs Bunny hoodie is what it looks like. And it's a very uh poor quality photo. So, that's something to go off of, right? it would be very easy to spot somebody like that walking from one uh camera footprint to another field of view. So either way, hopefully we can get some more clarity on this because this kind of thing is just unacceptable and we've got to be we've got to be a little bit more vigilant with stuff like this. So I expect to have more information on Monday. Hopefully we can catch this guy and uh stop these kinds of attacks from happening. But it's going to take one at a time, right? Because this is a very gargantuan task for many different reasons. And speaking of other significant efforts, let's move over to Western Europe for today and to talk about the various vandalism incidents that continue to be reported at Christmas events and markets around Europe. I have put all of these on the the tracking maps. So, for those of you who want to use my ArcGIS maps, of course, the links are in the video description of every video. I update these maps. It's a gargantuan effort, but I do it because I think it's important. And uh this this time of year, unfortunately, we have a lot of attacks that take place at Christmas type events or churches in general. So in the United Kingdom, a World War I memorial tree, which was uh decorated for Christmas, was cut down with a chainsaw. And as of this morning, I saw that at least one suspect has been arrested in that case. And one other suspect, so a total of two people are being investigated for this crime. So the names and the photos of these suspects have not been released, which is highly interesting. Usually in the UK when they don't release the name or the photo of the suspect that's been arrested, we tend to have a pretty good idea of who did it. Um, but either way, we're just going to have to wait and see. But either way, they've stated that the suspect is a 26-year-old male uh who is suspected of cutting down that tree. So, once again, we'll follow up once we have a picture of the guy, but may or may not happen anytime soon. We'll have to see. Over in Germany, there have been several incidents this week. Uh, a living nativity scene was desecrated and two donkeys uh named Max and Lily were abused by their attackers in Airb. Max and Lily are doing okay now. They've been removed back to their farm uh to recover from the attack. But this was a pretty kinetic event because uh the attackers not only did they destroy parts of the nativity and hurt the animals, but they also broke into the church uh just a short distance to the north of the Christmas market and they caused a bunch of damage there as well and desecrated the place and just caused general mayhem. Right. No description of the attackers, but again, I think it's probably the usual suspects at this point. With regards to these two cases, both the the United Kingdom Christmas tree cutting and the airbach attack in Germany. In both of these cases, the vandalism, the desecration acts, uh these were not just random events. The attackers did not just show up, cause damage, and leave. They were actually on scene for quite a while and had been causing problems throughout the day of the attacks. So, from a threat detection perspective, these could have been stopped ahead of time. Like, it was very easy to stop these sorts of things. the attacker showed up, started acting foolishly, started tampering with things and messing around with stuff and nobody called them on it. So, they escalated it, right? That's exactly what happened in both of these cases. So, it would have been very easy to arrest these guys beforehand and, you know, stop these actions from taking place. And interestingly, no surveillance footage has been provided of any of these attacks, even though they took place like right in the most heavily populated parts of a town square. So, very, very interesting. Very, very interesting indeed. more generally throughout Europe at large, if we're not talking specific acts of vandalism and specific attacks and property damage, there have been a lot of uh pro Palestine events. So, the pro Palestine activists, they're not really doing themselves any favors this season uh because they've taken to targeting Christianity first and foremost, but we all know how that goes, I guess. Uh so, Christmas markets in Brussels have been hit with graffiti and mass protests have been conducted pretty much all over the continent. uh mostly in Austria was probably the biggest one because Austria has a very very legendary uh Christmas market in Vienna. Very big arrangement there in Vienna. They love Christmas markets there. And uh on the day of the opening of that, the Palestinians decided to protest it. So kind of interesting. I think they're tipping their hand a little bit with that uh to show that it's not really so much about the Palestinian movement as it is about uh Islamic domination of a Christmas event because even in Palestine, even in Gaza, there are a lot of Christmas celebrations because there's a pretty good uh sizable Christian community there. So, so interesting that these things are happening in Europe. But either way, there's no real way to sugarcoat this sort of thing. It's going to continue to happen throughout the Christmas season. And really, this is just this is not really a political thing so much as it is a a domination thing. It's uh really an attempt to dominate and harass Christians during their main holiday season uh throughout Europe. And that's just kind of the way that it is. Again, not surprising in the slightest. This kind of thing has been going on for a long time now. So, we're just kind of acknowledging that these things are occurring. It's also not something that we can do a whole lot about right now. But it does remind us to be vigilant, be aware, be prepared, do the best you can and be as safe as you can when you're out conducting festivity operations and holiday cheer shaping initiatives. It'll be okay. They're not going to win in the end. But until then, keep your head on a swivel and be as prepared as you can because you never know when you're going to be called on to be the first responder to something. So, that's pretty much all I have for today. Let's roll it up with the intercepted ghost net reports for this week. I don't know if it's more people uh engaging in the net itself or if it's more people transmitting more often than nor than they normally do, but a lot of traffic this week, which is great to see. I even saw a few people sending long form reports on turbo mode, which the range isn't as great with turbo mode on JS8 call, but it means that you can send sometimes pages of text, right? It's it's still going to take a long time, but I saw a lot of people sending longer form reports than normal for this uh for this sort of thing. Normally messages are pretty short. Maybe a paragraph at at tops, you know, usually maybe a sentence or two per transmission, but people experimenting around trying to see if they can send some longer form reports, which is pretty cool to see. So, that's pretty much all I have for today. Uh, thank you guys for sticking with me. Really do appreciate it. Thank you again to those of you on Patreon. I really could not do any of this without you guys' support. You guys know how the internet's doing these days. The algorithms are going crazy. Everything's going crazy. But I really do appreciate the support anyway because uh throughout this crazy world, I think that we have a lot of opportunities to do some good stuff. So, we'll continue to do that as best we can and we'll see you next week. So, thanks again for watching and don't forget, fight in the shade.

hello again everyone and welcome back to the underground this is the Intel update for January 18 2023 happy New Year everyone looks like this New Year is already getting pretty spicy so let's go ahead and kick things off by talking about significant incidents and concerns in the Northeast region one of the biggest incidents that got a lot of mainstream news media coverage was the polar vortex or whatever kind of buzzword you want to call the winter weather storm that hit around the beginning of December uh last month particularly the actions uh that actually happened within the City of Buffalo New York now a lot of people got got a lot of news coverage on this so I'm not going to beat it to death but the situation in Buffalo New York and how that whole winter kind of situation worked its way out was very indicative and a very good demonstration of a lot of the issues that we've been talking about previously we had a lot of infrastructure problems we had a lot of traffic incidents we had a lot of you know censored medical issues I'll say it like that and we had a lot of um release date actions right so there were a lot of issues to kind of unpack with this incident and though none of these are particularly surprising it's very important that we all kind of keep these in the back of our mind here right for instance one of the biggest elements of this whole incident that kind of caught my eye was the implementation of military police to serve in a domestic policing role in Buffalo New York uh to keep drivers off of the roads and you know underneath the kind of Quasi curfew that was uh that was enforced really it was just a ban on driving personal vehicles on the road during the snowstorm now I know a lot of people whenever I talk about curfews people don't really like it because there are a lot of people out there that actually support curfews for whatever reason but I'm just saying it's probably a good idea to kind of keep an eye on incidents like this especially considering that now we have the word curfew as part of our daily vocabulary in a lot of a lot of cases around the country there are a lot of persistent curfews that have been in place for years and they're just keeping they just keep popping up in a lot of places around the country and I you know don't think that's a super great thing so that's why I want to keep talking about these kinds of incidents because I think we all kind of have a a shared understanding of the seriousness of curfews and any kind at any time you're using the National Guard or any uh green Suiter military force in in the United States against uh potentially against citizens that's not a good thing I don't care how friendly the relationship seems It's not a super great thing so the Buffalo incident was not great uh granted it was a very serious issue and really highlights a lot of um you know prepping concerns about how you really need to be prepared for extreme severe winter weather uh I think way more severe than is is kind of normal for the area but at the same time you also need to be concerned about the things that nobody likes to talk about like uh you know domestic policing actions that's kind of a Hot Topic that again really people don't want to think about uh but you're not really going to see a whole lot of prepping you know kind of culture publicly embracing the idea idea of all right well now this is part of our daily life here you know to talk about curfews and driving bans and okay now there's a you know a uniform Soldier telling me I can't drive on the road you know we're here now um and as scary as it is we kind of have to acknowledge the fact that this has become a norm in the country and that's why I wanted to mention it moving on to some more unfortunate news of a green Suiter nature I wanted to talk about an incident that occurred in New Jersey way back in actually in November of last year but I'm just finding out about it now uh the short and sweet version of this incident was a a parent in North Hanover posted a photograph and made a post on Facebook of illicit content explicit content uh that was displayed at the entrance of her child's school now I think that we all know what kind of content this is I'm not going to go into many more details than that because you can easily Google this and find out the real story here and I'm not going to show the photo because I consider that content to be explicit and I'm trying to be you know at least a little bit more family friendly with these kinds of videos so I do want to say though that nothing in this original Facebook post uh was threatening in any way it was just a photo of the explicit content that this parent's child saw at the entrance of the school no no hint of violence it was anywhere near the social media post well despite this an Army lieutenant colonel took issue with this mom's Facebook post and immediately reported it directly to the local police chief using the internal lines of communication that were pre-established per their own words this military base communicates directly with the police chief for security reasons it kind of makes a lot of sense if you think about it in in a in a perspective of like a peacetime military you want to make sure that you know your guys with guns on the military base also are kind of tied in with local law enforcement because there's a lot of incidents that occur you know there's weird jurisdictional things so there being a kind of shared understanding between a federal you know service like a military base and a local law enforcement agency it makes a lot of sense for lines of communication to be open however that's basically where the common sense stops because these lines of communication in this case were used to Target parents just as we saw the FBI do with regards to targeting parents all over this country for you know voicing their opinion at school board meetings so long story short parent posts a photograph and and a post showing the the explicit content at her child's School some Army Lieutenant Colonel sees the post and gets the police chief to investigate and harass the local parent now on a brief admin note I'm not going to drop this specific lieutenant colonel's name right now because of several reasons uh for one this guy is clearly trying to Target people so uh you know that's that's not good but also I want to make absolutely certain that this actually is the guy because so far the documents that I have seen and reviewed uh have had many names okay so it's not just this one guy there are a lot of people in this this chain here right so I just want to make sure before we drop any names or if we drop any names you can easily Google this this guy's name you can once you figure out you know hey just Google the story this is made national press uh back in November or actually I think in December is when I think Fox News picked it up either way I can tell you that the interesting part about this story is the next part so I started looking into this Lieutenant Colonel right and I just Googled his name and one of the absolute first results that popped up was this stock photo from a stock photo website uh detailing his recent change of command and wouldn't you know it look at what unit he was the commander of a military information support Battalion hmm would you look at that you might know this kind of unit colloquially as psyops so what this story looks like is a psyops commander directed a local police chief to Target a parent because her child saw something obscene at school man I I tell you I I don't think I can comment on what that means and how serious this is so so I'm just gonna move on and let this kind of stew for a bit and if you guys want some homework go read into this story a little bit but I can tell you that this doesn't seem to be an isolated incident okay uh this has happened before and this is not the last time this is going to happen I can guarantee that so moving to the Southeast region we get to more traditional stuff uh and that is the well let's start with the Gulf Coast for a minute um there have been an awful lot of Refinery and Pipeline and terminal issues down in the Gulf Coast uh for a variety of reasons it's really kind of hard to explain we could probably talk about this for for quite a bit more but let me just give you the kind of short and sweet version is that the the winter weather that we had last month the kind of you know whatever buzzword Arctic blast uh went through the country uh broke a lot of stuff but not just that because we can kind of compensate for maintenance issues a lot of times but things that we can't really fix that that quickly are staffing issues and someone who doesn't know how to do their job and just other maintenance deficits or or other kinds of problems it doesn't appear like all these refineries at least in the Gulf Coast in this specific instant I'm talking about all these issues that we saw with the winter weather or that you know kind of popped up around the the same time last month these don't appear to be particularly nefarious because it just looks like there's there's a lot of things going on here and it's just kind of snowballing into just bad stuff right parts not being there staff not being there cold weather breaking things people not knowing how to fix things people not knowing how to prevent things from happening you know we're getting to the point now where our infrastructure is crumbling and I think it's quite obvious and when you look at places like Pol refiner areas and pipelines places that have some of the most skilled work in the entire country you know what happens when you have a a non-skilled person or someone who's not experienced working at some of these places you get a lot of a lot of issues now that doesn't I want to separate these issues out from all the other ones we've seen I don't think that anyone in the country can look at refineries Catching Fire all over the country in the past year and say that that's normal it's it's not it's clearly not we know this instinctively it's just a gut feeling we don't even need to look at any data to to see how often refineries Catch Fire however when it comes to you know severe weather or or any kind of slightly out of the norm weather we have a lot of problems that pop up and are the result of many things it's really hard to pinpoint and point the finger at one thing all we know is that it just sucks and that's just the way that it is now I'm going to keep an eye on the refineries as usual and see which ones you know kind of miraculously have an accident next because that's a norm apparently every time we brief something something else has had some kind of incident at it but so again we'll keep keep an eye on this stuff and I just want to let everyone know that you know we're not out of the woods yet with our infrastructure we still have a long way to go and we're just beginning to see I think uh the the the the the snowball at the top of the hill right and we're about to see it uh accelerate rapidly uh just based on the amount of uh things we've seen happen right even just none taking nefarious things out of it even just some out of accidents we've seen happen genuine accidents and the amount of genuine maintenance problems that alone uh can be very crippling to any infrastructural system moving on to the topic that has United many Americans more than I have seen in recent years uh the potential gas stove ban so the Biden regime is planning to or floating the idea of potentially outright Banning natural gas stoves uh the reasoning behind this ban is very much unknown at the moment we're hearing about this from the consumer product safety commission and they have not provided really any of the research but we're getting anecdotal evidence as a brief side note many of you have noticed that apparently news headlines are law because that is the way that a lot of companies and entities and agencies have been treating things over the past year or so we all remember how for instance the IRS came out with that whole uh 600 limit thing you've got a report you know his income kind of thing well guess what all of the platforms out there PayPal venmo uh cash app all of these Services went ahead and implemented that policy even though no one had ever actually seen the policy so it's like what's going on here so I think that's what's happening with this gas stove ban thing it's not an official policy nothing has been signed nothing has even been written just yet it's just kind of an idea that has floated to the news media and since the news media now apparently make law or something to that effect what I think is going to happen is a lot of states and localities are going to ban gas stoves at the local level without the feds having to get involved in it it's brilliant honestly if you think about it from a nefarious like you know Devil's advocacy kind of situation if you were the Biden regime what would you do because remember we've been briefing this for a couple of years now The Binding regime has actually had a pretty hard time in some cases with virtue signaling a lot of times the news media doesn't know how to spin a story so and the Biden regime is not able to answer you know hey how should I spin this story and I'm CNN writing an editorial on something around the Atlantic writing an editorial on something and they they don't know how to spin the story because they don't know what the federal government wants they don't know what the Biden regime wants them to say so they just kind of wing it and really that's a problem because sometimes they get it wrong well this is quite clear the Biden regime has signaled to all of the virtue signaling entities your media your local governments your local city council your local your local County Commissioners all of these agencies in entities now are fully aware of what the feds want and they want a ban on gas stoves right so the feds don't have to lift a finger they don't have to write anything because again Biden can just sit at his desk and wave his magic wand and apparently a news head news news headline will become law so that's kind of the situation as as I see it and the really really the big concern moving forward we don't have any information other than that nothing has been signed nothing's been published we don't even have the research that led the consumer product safety commission to say that gas stoves are harmful for people we just have General anecdotal evidence I challenge you to find what the what the consumer product safety commission is actually talking about because so far all I've seen is circular reporting One news agency says oh well the cpsc says they're harmful well and they cite another news agency who then cites another news agency who then cites some guy on Twitter who then cites some random employee at cpsc and they can't actually find me a directive for something so again by the time this goes out I'm sure they will be something in writing because the modern regime doesn't like to wait on things like totalitarianism but it's interesting this is another illustration of how laws can get in effect made like it's a de facto law it's a de facto regulation people are following laws that don't exist yet and it's happening all over the country so I would very much recommend people to kind of look into this a little bit more now to walk a lot of this back and to bring this back to a more uh a more clear perspective I guess we have to be aware that this might quite literally be the most palpable case of gaslighting we've ever seen okay and I trust me the irony is not lost on me on this now what I mean by that is the Biden regime can float this idea okay they can float this idea they can leak it to the press the Press freaks out every American freaks out because guess what I've seen some data you know again studies and and statistics are made up nowadays so who knows if this number is accurate but apparently rarely as many as 30 percent of the entire country thirty percent potentially a third of the citizens of this country use gas stoves so you're now telling them that they're going to have to go buy a new uh stove or something we don't we don't know when the government's telling us right because there's no information but either way what I mean is if this is going to happen this is going to be very very very severe and the impacts of this will be very widely felt now where the gaslighting comes in is the vitamin regime can say oh no no no you misunderstood we never meant to ban gas stoves we meant to ban like this kind of gas stove or like this kind of connector that nobody uses or or some some specific technical jargon that nobody understands or that isn't actually used right so they can walk it back and they can say well no no you were spreading misinformation we weren't going to ban gas stoves despite the fact that's exactly what we said uh we were never going to ban gas stoves and you're just spreading misinformation and shame on you and you know know there you go so they can walk it back very easily and Gaslight the heck out of us if they want um which I think is probably what's going to happen because man I tell you if you if anybody bans gas stoves oh boy uh man I I don't know the impacts of that uh I can tell you it's not going to be good um oh boy and then the next question is all right well what about gas heat because good let me tell you something a lot more people rely on gas heat uh than you think and uh that's not going to be good um I did see one Theory and and I I agree that it's kind of an interesting idea is that I forgot where I saw it so sorry if if you know you had this idea first I've literally just forgot where I saw it uh somebody had the idea that this might be the result or or it might be intended to drive a wedge between urban and rural populations yet another divide right and it's not a bad idea because uh natural gas is not available in the middle of nowhere like I live in the middle of nowhere now and I there there's no gas line anywhere near me I don't think there's any natural gas in my entire County to be honest you know that's a interesting thing you know natural gas is really kind of a big thing in cities but not so much in the rural areas so rural people are not going to be affected by this really at all but people in cities will be it's an interesting Theory I just wanted to mention it because like I said I saw it somewhere or maybe it's just a fever dream I had I don't know but I thought I wanted to mention it so very very severe stuff very uh significant stuff if it actually comes to fruition the other thing I wanted to mention and I'll mention it here because the decision took place in Washington DC so I figured I might as well throw it in here and that is the pentagons floating idea or submitting The Proposal I suppose is the best best way of describing it for a zero trust infrastructure for well the internet at large I guess now the idea of a zero trust infrastructure in the field of cyber security fairly a fairly simple construct but it gets really complicated in actuality uh now I again have stated many times I am not a cyber security expert so I am most certainly not going to go into the details of how this all works but I can say that I know enough to to know that this kind of thing is very concerning now to explain zero trust concepts for the layperson which includes me it really is kind of a a complex idea think of it like this in the past or even today actually uh you have passwords for things right you have a username you have an email account and you log into a website with a password even physical security you have a physical badge that gets you access into facilities or a PIN number you can put in to open or unlock a door okay once an entity or a company or an agency has given you access to something you have access to it right you may not have Total Access real it's not how it usually works like after all I can't log in to you know say Gmail for instance and get access to Google servers no no I just have access to the client side kind of stuff right if I were to use Gmail and likewise if you have a badge or some kind of key code to get into a building chances are you're not going to have you know a master code right the whole concept of access to things whether it's cyber security or physical security relies on a person being the the the vector by which trust can be given it's not so much talking about trusting an individual person or not trusting a traditional person it's about removing this this this construct altogether because here's the thing we gave Edward Snowden trust right he was trusted by the NSA he got he got a really high security clearance and he got a lot of passwords and logins and a lot of stuff same thing with Bradley Manning right so maybe using the concept of you know access or no access is not really the construct to move forward maybe we need something else maybe we need something that is you know various applications various you know tools that that are on the software side of things that can make sure that everything is running smoothly because as we all know we're in an age of cyber attacks right someone gets access to a system they can shut it down whether it's a you know a tractor sitting in a field that's connected to some server you know or cell tower or something or if it's you know a colonial pipeline right either way using if you remove the the the understanding of providing access to someone based on a trust or no trust you know criteria if and if you go to a whole new system itself that's kind of the way forward with regards to cyber security that's a little bit hard to understand and I fully admit I don't completely understand it myself either because there's a lot of there's a lot of ways to kind of get to where you want to go with with zero trust infrastructure the bottom line for why you the average citizen should care about this is that this is a fantastic way to lock you out of the internet if they don't like you on it and here's what I mean by that one of the closest ways that you get to kind of a zero trust infrastructure is what we already kind of know throughout the cryptocurrency world and that is the dreaded kyc or know your customer in other words the bane of anyone who has ever tried to buy cryptocurrency newsflash it's not exactly 2010 right you can't just go online and buy cryptocurrency with the you know with a credit card or something uh anonymously it doesn't work like that even if you were using you know a credit card that wouldn't be anonymous but the point is is that if you want to buy cryptocurrency today in 2023 you're gonna have to put your social security number in somewhere uh now there are some things and ways around this but to be honest in terms of most cryptocurrency there really isn't especially the most common cryptocurrencies so this is kind of one of those the kind of the closest way I can think of explaining a zero trust infrastructure is I can guarantee you kyc requirements are going to be a huge part of a zero trust infrastructure um or at least while the system's kind of getting its way out you know getting working its way out through through the development and stuff like that so again bottom line this is your indication and warning this is the video that you can look back in a couple of years time and point back and say I Told You So when you are locked out of your email account or your bank or your company because of something you said or thought or something you didn't say this kind of infrastructure the zero trust infrastructure for me not being a cyber security guy not being a technical expert it on the one hand it seems kind of the way forward when it comes to cyber security but on the other hand it seems like a great way to prevent me from getting on the internet at some point right it's it's a great way to build a off an authorized list of users on the internet which is going to be kind of a basic requirement for this moving forward and go from there again I'm not doing a super good job of explaining this and you I'm sure far more technical experts will pop up in the in the comments to to kind of explain this a little bit better but the point is is here's the timeline 2020 7 this is from their own slide this is the dod's actual product that explains what the dod is working on and I don't know about you but look you know living in the world today and knowing how the world Works anytime the dod does something I'm very suspicious okay you know I I've hey I hate that I have to explain that at this point but anytime the dod develops something it's going to be used against Americans at some point so I'm really kind of concerned that the timeline for this is so short and the dod is going to figure out a way to do this and this would be a great way to implement you know social credit this would be a great way to implement you know some kind of you know social ban on any kind of any any of the systems that keep our society running so I wanted to kind of bring this out as kind of homework for you guys if you were more interested in this I'm not particularly surprised and honestly you don't really need to know much more information beyond what I've already told you to make a decision and the decision you know it should be look hey you need to start kind of moving away from these kinds of systems because let me tell you something the reason that we don't have such a great Communications infrastructure as is is because of how big these problems are the nature of the internet uh in and of itself you know servers connected to other servers that are controlled by other people the way that https traffic works it is an infrastructure that is very helpful if you don't want people on it and if you control the way internet traffic works at the very base level you control a lot of things and I'm very concerned about that so that's why I wanted to to mention it here so I'll just kind of leave it at that and move on to the next wildly different topic which is something that I realized recently has a name which I didn't think it did and that is transnational repression transnational repression is fascinating and terrifying and here's what it is transnational repression is something that we kind of we know happens we know this happens but we think that it's on a small scale so small in fact that I didn't even think that it had a name I thought it was just oh wow okay that was kind of a rare thing this is when a foreign government chooses to intimidate assault imprison arrest or whatever its citizens while they are in another country now that should ring a bell because CNN ran this article from a while back I think it was last month yeah in which CNN of all places admitted that China is operating over 100 police stations across the world with the help of some host Nations report claims that's the actual headline of this news article from CNN I'm shocked right again this is something that's not new at all we we have known that this occurs all over the world particularly with China China is a nation that is obsessed with its citizens and more accurately I suppose obsessed with controlling its citizens because that's how it maintains power it China is a communist Nation they quite literally are Xi Jinping or Xi Jinping however you pronounce his name he is not the president of China China does not have a president he is the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist party it's right there on this Wikipedia page so when communist Nations do things like this when they are very concerned with citizens of theirs outside of their Nations uh we have things like the East-West Berlin Dynamic back during the Cold War we have very interesting things occur well the same thing's happening today and we now know it's become public record that there are secret Chinese police stations all over the United States that secretly detain and sometimes torture their citizens for saying or doing something and thinking that being in the US they're outside the reach of China well they most certainly are not the scary part about all of this you might think okay well this is kind of this is still pretty rare right it's pretty fascinating and and slightly terrifying that China you know is concerned about their own citizens this much but you know any historian is going to tell you this is not surprising at all so if we recognize this is happening and you know even though your average citizen out there in the United States is going to say well you know how does this affect me I you know after all I'm not a Chinese National living in the United States you know for those people man it sucks and you know I would be very concerned about you know being either you know assassinated or captured or imprisoned you know in some safe house that the Chinese government has set up in New York I'd be very concerned about that if I was a Chinese citizen you know not so much if I'm an American here's where it gets a little concerning for the American citizens listening and that is that the feds are now on to this and it has become so much of a problem that the FBI has set up a a a website and a hotline and and all kinds of threat intimidation guides to help citizens Escape their own Nation now again this is the FBI and it is very clear that the FBI has their own goals and those goal goals I do not think align with anything good but I it is very interesting that now the FBI is is quietly trying to spread the word about this and trying to address this issue of foreign police officers exerting their influence and taking jurisdiction on the U.S soil I have to be very careful when describing this because I don't want the runaway trains of the past we all remember that four month period of time where I was getting about 200 emails a day regarding uh people claiming that China had invaded Canada or that uh there were remember all those um uh cargo ships off the coast of California yeah yeah those uh shipping containers were all full of Chinese agents and Chinese spies and the Chinese military were planning to invade Via San Francisco yeah I've lived that nightmare of trying to walk that back and kind of show people that yes okay concerns valid it's not true moving on when it comes to this this is very much true and it is so much true that the FBI is now issuing memos to lower uh law enforcement you know local law enforcement agencies trying to explain to them that this is a huge threat now and to what should a local police officer do if they encounter a Chinese police officer trying to arrest a Chinese citizen on U.S soil that is a huge concern because the FBI doesn't do anything unless it has already become too much of a problem too too big of a problem so I just wanted to kind of point that out that uh this is a much bigger problem than just to see in an article there are actual agencies tracking this and trying to figure out what to do about it because again this is a foreign Nation conducting policing actions on U.S soil and that's a huge problem again for the average citizen out there what can you do about it I don't know I mean I'm just going to be completely honest with you and say look I don't think that the you know you can contact the FBI you know they've got a hotline they've got a number but I don't think it's going to help because at that stage good grief you know it's kind of a serious problem so so again I wanted to bring this up and make everyone aware that this is an issue so that when it becomes more of an issue in the in the future we can under have a basis for understanding of how all this works now again let me walk it back a little bit and say look I don't think you're going to walk into a Chinese police officer in your everyday life this is going to be a very select problem for a select few but hey if you're at a university you know and you've got the majority of say a nuclear engineering class is you know Chinese Nationals I mean when I was in college I had to take a few uh courses and uh the courses which were about things like uh energy policy and nuclear engineering turned out to all be Iranian students in one class I was one of three U.S passport holding American citizens and the rest of them were um either Iranian or Chinese Nationals so that's another problem for another day I suppose but for these people um you know if they're not spies themselves which I think you know a good portion of them are uh it's it's a it's a concerning thing especially for Chinese Nationals trying to flee China or flee Hong Kong or or things like that or or you know big names that have already left the country uh China is again a nation that is obsessed uh with not being humiliated and uh if you tend to humiliate China and you are a Chinese National well that doesn't tend to end well for you so again just wanted to bring it up and make everyone aware of this because this is going to be a huge problem for the foreseeable future I think moving on to the East Central midwestern region let's bring it back to our old standby of chemical manufacturing plants catching on fire and in this case our our winner for this time around is LaSalle County Illinois specifically Keras chemical hopefully I pronounced all that right uh they had a very large fire slash an explosion at their chemical plant and this one is very suspicious because the ex it started first of all with an explosion that began from inside a shipping container and um yeah kind of kind of suspicious there of course was nobody around the I don't know if the facility was occupied at the time of the explosion or not uh but there was no one around the shipping container when it exploded and also there is uh apparently Hazmat concerns because immediately following the explosion and multiple alarm fire uh a green oxidizing substance was observed to be leaking from the facility uh which had to be neutralized uh via you know various you know chemicals uh by firefighters so again not a super not a super great thing again when we talk about factories or or chemical plants or stuff like that you know blowing up or Catching Fire we have to look at you know everything we have to look at all sources right and one of the major things that I personally look for is all right was a facility abandoned at the time because if it was abandoned at the time that's going to be a a huge indicator that it it might not be as nefarious as you think because what is the point of a Black Ops wet work team you know attacking a facility that has no one working at it what is the point of some kind of social movement or domestic group I should say attacking a facility that's not in use right however we do see places that are abandoned burned down all the time due to drug use due to vagrancy due to a variety of factors right even even accidents or lightning strikes are the result of a lot of this with this plant they had just Broken Ground on a 20 million dollar expansion of the plant in August of 2022. so they were doing pretty good it seems they were expanding the plant they were looking at growing I've got a dozen photos online about you know showing their their grand expansion right and now suddenly their plant gets crippled by some kind of incident that we're not really sure about that started inside a shipping container very interesting I don't know if this plant has a history of safety violations my quick you know Google Foo did not really reveal anything usually if you Google one of these company names like the one last time I forget the name they had like a laundry list of fires and and and maintenance problems and staff having problems and it was just like an accident a day for years until you know the thing finally just just had enough and blew up this one I didn't really find anything now I'm sure somebody out there knows uh the history of this plant especially locals might know uh what's going on there but uh just let everybody know I wasn't able to find any kind of significant history of negligency at this plant at least for my my brief search so again we'll chalk that one up to some kind of you know incident and we'll just keep it in our memory and move on and wait for the next one moving on to the West Central midwestern region you guys get a reprieve from the bit of bad news this time around I wasn't able to find anything uh that occurred that was worth mentioning uh this time around I'm sure next time I'll find something but but let's go ahead and move on down to the southern border region and uh for the rest of the states that are in this you know kind of area I didn't really have much I really just kind of wanted to focus on the Texas border again and like I mentioned last time uh sorry I haven't really had time to drill down and and provide a lot of the information that I wanted to for this so let me just say this and that is the Border crisis is continuing and growing worse however the response to it is getting a little bit better in some areas but it certainly looks like the events over the past month or so especially with Biden's high profile visit down there uh this is a this is a losing battle particularly with the cross-border violence that is likely to occur from the incidents going on in Mexico now I know a lot of you wanted me to have a dedicated slide on this I got it I'm working on it I'm still building the maps for this and trying to figure out what's going on because I am not a South America analyst I'm not a Central America analyst I've never been there and I'm having a lot I'm having to do a lot of learning because um just you know spoiler alert the cartel situation in South and Central America and in Mexico is kind of complicated and it goes back kind of a long way so really what you need to know for now is that El Chapo's son one of the biggest cartel leaders in the area really the signaloa cartel right everybody's everybody's seen sicario right so no further explanation needed right well no really El Chapo's son was arrested and and uh the signaloa boys have have gotten a little spicy and they've basically declared a general mobilization against the Mexican Government until they release him well the Mexican Government is not going to release him he's going to be extradited to the United States or at least that's what they claim so far either way I I will I I will delve into the the situation in Mexico a little bit more at some point when I get time to actually learn about the situation and then I can you know speak more intelligently on it all we know is that you can hop on social media right now and see an awful lot of warfare going on in pretty much all over Mexico right now because of this now when it comes to the United States uh coming into the coming into the situation uh this just makes a bad situation worse right it makes an already tense board situation where there are thousands of active duty soldiers thousands and and hundreds of law enforcement from every badge you can imagine every agency you can imagine is down there at the border and you can argue whether or not that's enough people or not everybody knows that in no operation are you going to have enough people to do what you want to do but there are an awful lot of people down there it's a very tense situation there is a very high chance for international incidents right we have already seen cartel members attacking U.S soldiers who are standing guard on the border at some of these more high profile locations and it's not good there have been dozens of incidents since the start of this whole border crisis which granted is decades in the making but the bottom line is that right now it's pucker Factor 9.5 down there and it's not likely to get any better anytime soon so please be advised that this is a situation that's going to develop further now again to to keep things in perspective I don't think we have to worry so much about you know the cartels invading the United States that's not what I'm saying is going to happen uh we certainly have to worry about the humanitarian crisis we have to worry about the the immigration crisis or we have to worry about a lot of things but I'm not so much looking for cartel members trying to invade the United States that's that's not what's going on here what I mean is you're probably going to have a lot of U.S soldiers targeted uh either for political reasons or just because they're guys with guns in close proximity to other guys with guns who are probably very upset about the situation in their country right now so even though there is really no motivation whatsoever for the violence that's going on in Mexico to spill over into the United States there might be a little bit of a reason for justification now a huge flash point to look out for is when you see start seeing news headlines saying that the extradition of ovidio Guzman the El Chapo's son right uh when his extradition has happened okay because right now uh a judge in Mexico has has halted his extradition while they figure out what's going on here so again when that extradition takes place because it will most likely take place the US has been trying to hunt this guy for a long time ever since you know we got El Chapo himself this guy's a very senior member of the Sinaloa cartel so we're not going to let this guy get away if we have to go down there and get him ourselves which is most likely what's going to happen either way uh the bottom line is that for guys down there on the border if you see this dude's extradition is taking place because you're most likely not going to know about when it takes place ahead of time uh it's going to be handled by very special people in very special ways right they're going to sneak this guy back across the border into the U.S somehow well when that happens it's going to make the news and you need to be very careful about the situation down there on the border because then all those dudes with with guns were very upset about their their senior boss getting arrested uh they're now going to have a justification to start pointing those barrels towards the border so I just wanted to bring that up and mention that this is kind of a big deal and even though I'm not an expert on it right now I can clearly see the writing on the wall and that's probably probably not very good so again something to keep an eye on for the future and moving out west getting back to the tradition of things we have many many attacks that have occurred on electrical substations so again I'm not going to mention all the ones that have occurred in the Pacific Northwest in Oregon and Washington there have been around half a dozen or so within the past couple of months and they have ranged from possible theft to vandalism to tampering to actually like shooting it you know uh Transformers and things like that it's really kind of hard to say because a lot of these things are not they're not making the press in the way that you'd want them to make the Press because the major media is running the headline there's no information there because well you know Federal authorities are not going to release the details of these attacks to the mainstream public which on the one hand makes a lot of sense because the feds are obviously not going to want to encourage or or provide targeting guidance for people trying to Target other places around the country you know so keeping those details secret is it makes a lot of sense however by keeping things secret the general public and you know ourselves included are not able to discern why these places were attacked or if there was something that we could do to prevent it because for instance we're sending hundreds of millions of dollars to another country that shall not be named uh but if we can't afford a 50 padlock for a facility then that's a problem you know if we're not going to it's cheaper to file an insurance claim to get a half million dollar Transformer out to a specific site than it is to you know buy that you know security guard to stand there and watch it all day either way the result for people like you and me is the same we don't have electricity for a few days and this is a concern especially for uh incidents like the one that occurred at the PG and E facility uh really just a small uh substation well it really wasn't a substation it's actually a solar farm it provided uh power to a lot of the casinos in Las Vegas now this incident was very interesting and this was a I'm going to call it I have it on the slide Harris probable I'm going to call it an almost certain Islamic terrorist attack really the attack Vector was this it was a guy drove his vehicle into the mega array the solar array that provides power again for MGM Resorts uh in Las Vegas he rammed his vehicle through the gate and then some press reports are reporting that he siphoned gasoline out of the tank and set the Ablaze including the Transformer or some kind of electrical apparatus that he drove his vehicle into now you might note the date on this this occurred on January 7th slash eighth right we became aware of it on the eighth and it probably occurred overnight on the January on January 7th now this coincides interestingly enough with Al qaeda's usual yearly press statement so for the past few years Al Qaeda has you know still been around there's still a thing uh and they have issued uh directives slash like a happy New Year death to America message right and the one for this year specifically recommended uh their people to carry out attacks on U.S soil I think this is just me spitballing with very little evidence to back it up so just be aware of that but I think that's what the reason for this attack was I think that your your Lone Wolf attacks probably funded by some domestic U.S agency uh carry out these kinds of attack that's why I think we saw another attack in New York City Times Square on New Year's Eve a police officer was attacked with a machete uh and I think that's also why we're seeing some of these attacks right that message came out and you know your Lone Wolf extremists here in the United States were motivated to do stuff like that again it just kind of shows you that the counterterrorism has never really been an easy job but at the same time I would be willing to bet that these kinds of things are would have been easily preventable had the right people been working in the in the counterterrorism industry and had the counterterrorism agencies in the United States actually being concerned with tracking uh foreign terrorists rather than uh trying to Target parents at school board meetings but again you know there's no real way for me to describe this these kinds of things in neutral language anymore you know I just have to call it like I see it and you know I would be willing to bet my my thought is that around New Year's time we saw Al Qaeda release their message and boom now we have uh a few a handful of attacks happening in the United States low level attacks it really didn't have too much of of an effect but still it's like man hey a rookie analyst could have could have called this you know I mean these federal agencies are spying on us no matter what and they're investigating people for for speaking out of school board meetings but yet they can't actually dedicate time to conducting counter-terrorism operations that are relatively easy to do these guys would have been very easy to find because it's always like you know they were known to the FBI beforehand but anyway that's a whole lot of speculation that I'm sure you guys don't really want to hear so I'll just end my kind of ranting and raving on that for now and let's move to something a little bit more interesting and that is uh we're gonna skip over the entirety of Europe for now sorry guys and we're gonna move to kind of the the I don't want to call it a bigger threat but an interesting threat and that is the Far East yes the invasion of Taiwan by China the ultimate will they won't they this is something that has been debated by military strategists that get paid a lot more than me for a very long time and no one seems to have a really good answer for any of this will China invade Taiwan nobody knows uh we know generally what it would look like uh very very generally and we know that China has been making very strong aspirations toward the small island nation over the past well year few years but really the past few months for instance last month they launched one of their largest uh military exercises the largest one they've ever done which was like 70-something aircraft including bombers Fighters you name it it looked like it the party was about to start but uh they would have to have thousands of aircraft in the air for that but again I am not a Far East analyst I've never spent any time at paycom and nobody else here has either so I'm having to kind of get spun up on that as well the reason you might care about an invasion of Taiwan by China is well for a few reasons but really the the main theory is the the island chain Theory which states that if China is going to invade Taiwan they're going to have to keep going and they know that if they take Taiwan it's going to take the vast majority of their military and they're going to have to kind of expand into South southeast Asia and especially the South China Sea if they have any hope of winning that conflict uh really you can kind of very generally see where China is going to have to do exactly what Japan did during World War II they're going to have to take these small island chains Island hop as far as they can before before well the world mobilizes against them will this cause World War III I don't know um back in the day man when I was kind of like a junior analyst I always though

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