This piece ….

⭕ 🇨🇳🇺🇸 China’s Ministry of Defense puts the Asia-Pacific region on heightened alert amid US military deployment. “The Chinese military pays close attention to the actions of the United States and will firmly protect China’s maritime rights, security and sovereignty in the region,” said Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian.
Let us note that the picture is gradually taking shape, and Beijing is closely monitoring this. Obviously, the United States is restoring the military airfield on the island of Tinian

Is from Reuters.  So far it does not exist in the China Ministry of Defense site or any of the major Chinese media.

I know someone high profile that was going to work on the campaign – a specialist job – but decided not to.

The man refuses to see, as his own staff has briefed him.

As to Yemen’s Houthis, this is the important thing!

Activity at the port of Eilat in Israel is almost at a standstill.

It is a spectacularly successful marine blockade.  Haaretz says:

THE YEMEN FRONT “presents an entirely new threat to the economy because it is targeting Israel’s international trade. The Houthi attacks are already pinching Israel’s maritime trade. Cargo traffic at Eilat port is down by 80 percent and the cost of marine insurance for Israeli-owned (and now presumably Israel-bound) vessels is soaring. Companies like Israel’s Zim are rerouting their ships away from the Red Sea, having them go around Africa instead – a change that adds two weeks to the voyage. All of this will add to the costs of imports, which will be passed on to the Israeli consumer.”

Info on the ‘Houthis’. Few of us know this. https://t.me/VanessaBeeley/22053

I still see people misrepresent the Houthis as “Iran backed” blah blah which just feeds the Western media complex. A reminder :

“Seeing a lot of people confused by these news. “These are Houthis, not the Yemeni government” some people screech. You’re wrong. Here’s a quick crash course on some background history, the political landscape in Yemen & appropriate terminology:

1. The “Houthis” (known officially as the Ansarallah) is a broad grassroots movement with only a few defined political keypoints. This is deliberate, as the movement seeks to incorporate and represent the Yemeni people in its entirety across both Islamic and political differences. The movement has a right-wing, a centre-wing and a left-wing, each organized into separate unions and interest groups. For example, the left-wing is organized into what is called the “Cultural Front Against the Aggression”, just to be very specific.

2. The “Houthis” ceased being a rebel group in late 2014 with the advent of the September 21st Revolution and the signing of the UN-sponsored Peace & National Partnership Agreement.

Prior to 2014, the group could indeed be described as a rebel movement as it fought 6 consecutive wars against the corrupt Saudi-backed government of Ali Abdullah Saleh. In September 2014, when the “Houthis” entered Sana’a to topple said government, more than 2/3rds of the entire Yemeni Armed Forces switched and took their side instead of the side of the government, giving the “Houthis” access to missile stockpiles and heavy weapons. More on that further down.

3. There are currently two competing governments in Yemen, one based in the constitutional capital Sana’a, and one de-facto based in Aden – although the Aden-based government remains unable to exercise its authority there. The “internationally-recognized government” based in Aden doesn’t actually operate from within Yemen, but from a shadow cabinet based in the luxurious Ritz Carlton hotel in Riyadh where they’ve been exiled since February 2015.
Their direct authority is limited to warlord figures and tribal factions doing their bidding, representing less than 15% of Yemen’s total population. In turn, the so-called “Houthi rebels” are part of what is called the Government of National Salvation, which exercises direct authority over 85% of Yemen’s entire population.

4. The forces which have launched drones, ballistic & cruise missiles towards Israel are the forces aligned with the Government of National Salvation. They are far from being a “rag-tag rebel group”, but operates as a truly conventional army. They don’t “represent” the “Houthis”, nor do they wage war on behalf of one party or group against another. They represent all of Yemen, and fight on behalf of all of Yemen without exception. They are the only Armed Force in Yemen loyal to a government with a parliamentary mandate to exercise authority – a mandate the Saudi-backed “government” does not have.

It was indeed the Yemeni Armed Forces which launched the attacks against Israel.

“But aren’t they Iran-backed”?

Sure. Nobody is denying this. But the assistance Iran has been giving the “Houthis” does not even compare with the assistance it has given to Iraqi groups or even Hezbollah. Iranian assistance to the “Houthis” has thus far been limited to technical assistance and political support, such as recognizing the Government of National Salvation as the legitimate government of Yemen and opening a Yemeni embassy in Tehran.

On the technical aspect, the Iranian government has supplied the “Houthis” with blueprints for missiles and drones, as well as technical expertise for assembly and design. All missiles that the “Houthis” currently possess are manufactured locally inside Yemen based on the technical assistance supplied by Iran.

There has been a concerted effort by the US, UK, Saudi Arabia and the UAE to amplify the “Iran-backed rebels” narrative in hopes of stripping the “Houthis” of their national and local agency.

I still see people misrepresent the Houthis as “Iran backed” blah blah which just feeds the Western media complex. A reminder :

“Seeing a lot of people confused by these news. “These are Houthis, not the Yemeni government” some people screech. You’re wrong. Here’s a quick crash course on some background history, the political landscape in Yemen & appropriate terminology:

1. The “Houthis” (known officially as the Ansarallah) is a broad grassroots movement with only a few defined political keypoints. This is deliberate, as the movement seeks to incorporate and represent the Yemeni people in its entirety across both Islamic and political differences. The movement has a right-wing, a centre-wing and a left-wing, each organized into separate unions and interest groups. For example, the left-wing is organized into what is called the “Cultural Front Against the Aggression”, just to be very specific.

2. The “Houthis” ceased being a rebel group in late 2014 with the advent of the September 21st Revolution and the signing of the UN-sponsored Peace & National Partnership Agreement.

Prior to 2014, the group could indeed be described as a rebel movement as it fought 6 consecutive wars against the corrupt Saudi-backed government of Ali Abdullah Saleh. In September 2014, when the “Houthis” entered Sana’a to topple said government, more than 2/3rds of the entire Yemeni Armed Forces switched and took their side instead of the side of the government, giving the “Houthis” access to missile stockpiles and heavy weapons. More on that further down.

3. There are currently two competing governments in Yemen, one based in the constitutional capital Sana’a, and one de-facto based in Aden – although the Aden-based government remains unable to exercise its authority there. The “internationally-recognized government” based in Aden doesn’t actually operate from within Yemen, but from a shadow cabinet based in the luxurious Ritz Carlton hotel in Riyadh where they’ve been exiled since February 2015.
Their direct authority is limited to warlord figures and tribal factions doing their bidding, representing less than 15% of Yemen’s total population. In turn, the so-called “Houthi rebels” are part of what is called the Government of National Salvation, which exercises direct authority over 85% of Yemen’s entire population.

4. The forces which have launched drones, ballistic & cruise missiles towards Israel are the forces aligned with the Government of National Salvation. They are far from being a “rag-tag rebel group”, but operates as a truly conventional army. They don’t “represent” the “Houthis”, nor do they wage war on behalf of one party or group against another. They represent all of Yemen, and fight on behalf of all of Yemen without exception. They are the only Armed Force in Yemen loyal to a government with a parliamentary mandate to exercise authority – a mandate the Saudi-backed “government” does not have.

It was indeed the Yemeni Armed Forces which launched the attacks against Israel.

“But aren’t they Iran-backed”?

Sure. Nobody is denying this. But the assistance Iran has been giving the “Houthis” does not even compare with the assistance it has given to Iraqi groups or even Hezbollah. Iranian assistance to the “Houthis” has thus far been limited to technical assistance and political support, such as recognizing the Government of National Salvation as the legitimate government of Yemen and opening a Yemeni embassy in Tehran.

On the technical aspect, the Iranian government has supplied the “Houthis” with blueprints for missiles and drones, as well as technical expertise for assembly and design. All missiles that the “Houthis” currently possess are manufactured locally inside Yemen based on the technical assistance supplied by Iran.

There has been a concerted effort by the US, UK, Saudi Arabia and the UAE to amplify the “Iran-backed rebels” narrative in hopes of stripping the “Houthis” of their national and local agency.

Where is this comment Sudhi?  I have seen critique.

AHH, I thought you were going to take some time out this weekend?   This is yet another process my friend.

In the beginning of the SMO we were just about mindboggled with Russia will win in the Ukraine in, what was it, 3 days, 2 weeks as each war correspondent and military experts told us, but the time stretched with nobody really saying they were completely wrong in the time aspect.  And now the west is completely wrong in thinking that Israel or whoever can eliminate the resistance groups and Hamas. https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/11/12/714477/Top-Hezbollah-official–Israel-delusional-it-can-eliminate-Hamas,-other-resistance-groups

Nasrallah for his part, is keeping it just a tad below boiling point and does not call for escalation.  I don’t truly understand why .. but more killing is just what escalation should amount to more killing.  Perhaps he is overly cautious.

We are dealing with the criminally delusional and this, because it is so foreign to our natures, will consume our energy.

Now, I know we are dealing with a whole other contingent of human beings being massacred here – the soft part of our hearts.  I watched a video this morning where a nurse testified that he had to leave his patients and he just looked completely shellshocked, and not able to comprehend how these words could actually leave his mouth.

This massacre will probably take longer than we think.  I am completely stunned and fighting hatred toward the rulers of the world .. all of them – but I also slept for something like 10 hours and woke this morning with a little strength.  But fact remains, we have to rest.  Who will write if we do not?  We are all unique and we do our part even if things fall apart as they have now.

Please take time out today for self-maintenance!

I’m stunned.  I never knew Ayan Rand was a Russian, and she was not only a Russian, she was a Jewish Russian.  It changes the whole world of … a lot!

It was something that Smootie covered.  It is a bloody awful thing.

What a strange place to be in AHH. Did you ever think we would have an ongoing thread on coups in Africa? Yes, Chad is not a place that I would like to visit for sure. They have to keep their cool. Violence on a bigger scale will invite violence from Colonial Overlords.

What a time! The Africans eject their overlords and the overlords cry like babies – No Mommy, I wanna stay, stamping feet! What visions come up in the head … see this Frenchie swinging his baguette and weeping to stay. And what a denouement of the French, unbelievable. I mean, we knew they were crooked, but we just did not know how crooked.