(December 6, 2025 at 12:15 pm)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: This whole double-tap thing gets more bizarre with each passing day. Now, Admiral Bradley has said that the boat in question wasn’t head to the US at all, but was trying to rendezvous  with a larger vessel that was bound for Suriname and transfer its drugs to that boat. Bradley justified the second strike by saying there is always the possibility that drugs in Suriname could eventually wind up in the US. This despite the fact that your DEA says that trafficking routes through Suriname are almost always destined for European markets.

At first, I was upset about Bradley being thrown under the proverbial bus. Now, I’m not so sure.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/05/politics/...ke-bradley

Boru

Quote:Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) took his criticism of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth a step further Friday, claiming the Pentagon chief’s recent decisions have “ruined his credibility.”

“I’ve been on the record already,” he told Politico’s Dasha Burns, who also hosts “Ceasefire” on C-SPAN. “After Signalgate, I think I’ve seen enough. What I really wanted to see was someone take responsibility — own to a mistake.”

“And then when he blamed the media or the, you know, the journalist for the story, it just — it ruined his credibility,” he added.

The Nebraska Republican noted that Hegseth “had some issues” going into confirmation hearings, after President Trump tapped him to lead the Pentagon. But, once he was confirmed, Bacon continued, he wanted to give the former Fox News host “a fair chance.”

“But I — what I’ve seen is what I call just poor decision-making,” the lawmaker, who will retire at the end of the term, told Burns.

(December 6, 2025 at 1:08 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: I don't normally post stuff both here and AD, but this merits an exception because it's spot-on:

Quote:Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) took his criticism of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth a step further Friday, claiming the Pentagon chief’s recent decisions have “ruined his credibility.”

“I’ve been on the record already,” he told Politico’s Dasha Burns, who also hosts “Ceasefire” on C-SPAN. “After Signalgate, I think I’ve seen enough. What I really wanted to see was someone take responsibility — own to a mistake.”

“And then when he blamed the media or the, you know, the journalist for the story, it just — it ruined his credibility,” he added.

The Nebraska Republican noted that Hegseth “had some issues” going into confirmation hearings, after President Trump tapped him to lead the Pentagon. But, once he was confirmed, Bacon continued, he wanted to give the former Fox News host “a fair chance.”

“But I — what I’ve seen is what I call just poor decision-making,” the lawmaker, who will retire at the end of the term, told Burns.

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/56367...criticism/

(December 6, 2025 at 4:27 am)Paleophyte Wrote:

(November 27, 2025 at 11:48 am)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: I happily bow to your superior geocological knowledge!

Boru

If you're interested, Episode 38 is currently ramping up to max. There will likely be fire fountains at Kilauea this weekend or early next week.

(Yesterday at 12:18 am)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: Remind me to not piss off the Earth.

(Yesterday at 12:44 am)Fireball Wrote:

(Yesterday at 12:18 am)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: Remind me to not piss off the Earth.

  It's not nice to fool with Mother Nature (quoting an old butter commercial).

Quote:A new neuroscience study reports that the psychedelic compound DMT disrupts a key brain rhythm linked to self-awareness, providing new insights into how the brain shapes our sense of self.

The research, published in The Journal of Neuroscience, investigated how DMT alters the coordinated brain rhythms linked to self-referential thought and internal narrative known as alpha waves. The team noticed this connection when they identified a neural signature associated with ego dissolution in study participants during the peak effects of DMT.

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Researchers used an electroencephalogram (EEG) to monitor the participants’ alpha waves. As volunteers reached the peak effects of DMT, these rhythms not only weakened but also changed, indicating a measurable shift away from the brain’s normal balanced state.

Participants rated how strongly they experienced ego dissolution as the drug took effect. The researchers found that changes in alpha activity were associated with stronger reports of ego dissolution. This connection between subjective experience and brain activity suggests how the brain organizes the ongoing narrative that supports identity.

Quote:As Russia’s Africa Corps fights in Mali, witnesses describe atrocities from beheadings to rapes

A new Russian military unit that replaced the Wagner mercenary group is carrying out abuses including rapes and beheadings as it teams up with Mali ‘s military to hunt down extremists, dozens of civilians who fled the fighting have told The Associated Press.

The Africa Corps is using the same tactics as Wagner, the refugees said, in accounts not reported by international media until now. Two refugees showed videos of villages burned by the “white men.” Two others said they found bodies of loved ones with liver and kidneys missing, an abuse the AP previously reported around Wagner.

“It’s a scorched-earth policy,” said a Malian village chief who fled. “The soldiers speak to no one. Anyone they see, they shoot. No questions, no warning. People don’t even know why they are being killed.”

The military governments of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have turned from Western allies to Russia for help combating the fighters affiliated with al-Qaida or the Islamic State group.

When the Africa Corps replaced Wagner six months ago, weary civilians hoped for less brutality. The United Nations says they have been abused by all sides in the conflict.

But refugees described a new reign of terror by Africa Corps in the vast and largely lawless territory, and legal analysts said Moscow is directly responsible.

“They are the same men, paid by the government, and continue the massacres. There is no difference between Wagner and Africa Corps,” said the village chief.

Malian authorities have never publicly acknowledged the presence of Wagner or Africa Corps. But Russian state media in recent weeks have published reports from Mali, praising Africa Corps for defending the country from “terrorists,” and Russia’s Foreign Ministry has confirmed that the unit is active “at the request of the Malian authorities,” providing ground escorts, search-and-rescue operations and other work.

https://apnews.com/article/mali-russia-a...9e1dde61f2