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Weekly Update by Mark Armstrong – January 12, 2024

Mark Armstrong — Fri, 12 Jan 2024 23:48:35 +0000

Greetings from Tyler,

They tell us protest is what the United States is built upon. We’ve seen “protests” go wrong, ending up in mass looting events, with no effort to put a stop to it. Protesters have free reign, because they’ve got arguments! Police have to suppress any feelings and put up with their antics.

Well now there are protests from the other side. Nothing is being stolen, but…traffic is backed up. Apparently the farmers in Europe have had just about enough of the government’s high and mighty rules and regulations. This is happening in Germany and all over Europe. There are details in the demands, but you get the picture. They say it’s all about government subsidies. I think it’s about global warming mandates.

The concept of protest is the darling of the left. They can be so self righteous in their insistence that something is unfair. What happens when the tables are turned? Have you seen the pictures of the tractors at the Brandenburg Gate? All this lecturing, contrary to common sense, has gotten old.

There are big meetings going on and about to go on in Europe. They talk about the “transition to green energy” as if it’s an article of faith. But there’s a huge wild card, unspoken. You know who. If he should defy all the odds, win the legal cases, all their pie in the sky speeches may mean nothing.

Finally America has struck back against the Houthis. We’ve bombed them high and low, and hope they’ve gotten the message. They’ve been menacing world shipping in the Red Sea for a while now, and that’s a big deal. Much was made of the fact that nothing had been done to make them stop, but finally the U.S. hit them with dozens of airstrikes. Mind you, they are “coalition” air strikes, that way they have to take revenge on lots of us. Many nations have stayed out of the fray, hoping they won’t become a target.

As much as I’ve enjoyed the scandals of Fani Willis, dare not go into it here. You’ll have to look on your own if interested. I don’t think they’re banking on losing to Trump’s lawyers, but it may turn out that way, assuming the judges aren’t swayed by the common logic. But they may be. They’ve tried to ban Trump from the ballot, on the pretext that he caused “an insurrection.” Colorado ruled against allowing him to participate based on their own conclusions, borne of kindergarten talk. Other states have gone down this road, to no avail.

Meanwhile everybody’s worried about our “democracy.” They think democracy is fine, as long as the authoritarians get to tell us what’s up.

Texas Governor Gregg Abbott has apparently decided that the flood of illegal immigrants has gone far enough. He sent the Texas National Guard to replace federal border agents, taking control of significant acreage comprising a state park in Eagle Pass. (Why didn’t this happen about 10 million ago?) He sent in the state’s national guard to dislodge the federal agents who are choreographing the invasion. And wouldn’t you know it. The Biden regime is suing! You’re going to love their statement. “Texas’ new actions demonstrate an escalation of the State’s measures to block Border Patrol’s ability to patrol or even to surveil the border and be in a position to respond to emergencies.” It seems that we already have an emergency, that the feds are facilitating. Just a personal observation.

If they over-run Texas, and end up being able to vote, we’re done. Texas has been a bulwark for conservatism. If this state gets over-run, it may well be a harbinger of things to come.

Mark

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Weekly Update by Mark Armstrong – 7 January 2022

Mark Armstrong — Sat, 08 Jan 2022 01:21:20 +0000

Greetings from Tyler,

A brief illustration, if you don’t mind. If you ever attended a live taping of Johnny Carson, you know that the audience was whipped up ahead of the show. They’d see which part of the room could cheer the loudest, or laugh the hardest. By the time Ed McMahon said, “Heeeeeeer’s Johnny” the crowd was wildly enthusiastic. All metaphors break down at some point.

Have we ever seen a time where everything the news, of nearly every stripe reports, is misdirecting the public on a continual basis? Even with our understanding, it’s hard to fathom. There were several shills on January 6^th. There’s video of that frigid day, and some show guys that were actively involved in using persuasion and stoking anger with the help of a bullhorn. Imagine that irritable crowd, freezing in the biting wind, being urged to move forward and breach the Capitol. Strangely, the guys trying to manage the crowd are nowhere to be found. They are not among the two hundred some odd charged with trespassing, and they’re not among those being held with more serious charges of having grappled with police. Some have been identified, but not held or charged.

Meanwhile we’re treated to daily news comparing the incident and it’s anniversary to 9-11 or the attack at Pearl Harbor. It’s unseemly that such statements can be made without being treated as an attempt at comedy. You know full well who’s saying it, and the anchors nod with furrowed brow. They think if they can hang the blame on the former President, it will destroy any hope of a comeback.

Coronavirus fear is high on the agenda. You’d have thought they’d have run out of records to break, but no. It looks like the latest “variant” is the common cold, but hair is still burning on the heads of every news reporter. It’s their job, after all. How do they not choke when shown what they’re supposed to read? Australia just detained the number one tennis player in the world, Novak Djokovic, upon his arrival to Melbourne. He thought his medical exemption had been accepted, but there is some confusion. The Australian Prime Minister explained to the public, “Rules are rules, especially when it comes to our border.” Djokovic is being deported, and won’t be playing in the Australian open. He was apparently treated poorly, having all his belongings including his wallet taken away while detained in a room with police guards. But the it’s already been figured out. The mainstream will call him an “anti-vaxer” and a weirdo, so you can forget any sympathy. He might just be a weirdo who’s seen the videos of healthy young people collapsing amid competition. This story just might have legs. But then again…

Australia is a patchwork of rules, regulations and penalties. Unvaccinated people are not allowed to go their way in the Northern Territory. Movements are limited to strict necessities, and that doesn’t include work. Apparently the population has determined to suffer in silence, and supports the heavy-handed approach.

We know, thanks to the unapproved media available on the Internet, that there have been large demonstrations all over Europe, some of them we illustrated in the new 21^st Century WATCH. That kind of information has no place in the narrative-driven mainstream. Here at home, we are a polite and long-suffering people. We assume the Constitution and Bill of Rights will hold up, sooner or later, and the spate of authoritarian regulations will be struck down. But the courts have been all over the place on this. The Supreme Court is weighing the merits of OSHA regulations that the Occupant decreed must include vaccination for companies that employ more than 100 people. We won’t know the outcome until the end of the month.

It’s astounding that people have put up with all kinds of authoritarian edicts, closures, rules and penalties. We’ve had a relatively mild situation here, with a governor who is suing the Feds over vaccinations for the Texas National Guard.

You know how the media loves an obsession. They love to repeat what you’ve heard over and over as if for the first time. We’re going on two years with the corona bologna, and they show no signs of slowing down the fear express. Without that factor, they’d never have been able to destroy careers with a wave of the finger. You don’t suppose they’re enjoying the power? No. We can’t think that way. They’re just trying to keep everybody safe. But our founding documents weren’t written to keep everybody safe. But they were what we counted on to keep us free. For now, that’s just not the case in the U. S. and much of the formerly free world.

Mark

P.S. Now that you’re temporarily depressed, let me share some wonderful news. My Son and Daughter-in-law have a brand new baby boy, James Mark Armstrong. (Hopefully that middle name won’t turn out to have been a mistake.) He’s perfect and everybody’s doing fine, especially his big sister Anna who will no doubt be of great help through the stages. We’re very happy.

Source: http://www.intercontinentalcog.org/fridayupdates.php

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Texas governor approves miles-long steel barrier of police vehicles to deter the more than 8,000 migrants in Del Rio

Amir Vera, Carma Hassan and Priscilla Alvarez, CNN — Wed, 22 Sep 2021 22:16:47 +0000

(CNN)With 8,600 migrants remaining under the Del Rio International Bridge, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday officials are using “unprecedented” methods to deter migrants from crossing into the state, including parking Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety vehicles for miles along the border to create a “steel barrier.”

The surge of migrants — many of whom are Haitian — was the result of messages by word of mouth or social media that the border at Del Rio was open, US Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz said. Chaotic scenes at the bridge, including law enforcement officers on horseback using aggressive tactics against migrants, have sparked anger in both local and federal officials. Some have even called the makeshift camps under the bridge inhumane.

“What you see underneath the bridge, that is not humane,” said Brandon Judd, National Border Patrol Council president.

Abbott blamed President Joe Biden’s administration for the current situation in Del Rio, saying the federal government is not doing enough to secure the country’s southern border. That, Abbott argued, has led to thousands of migrants camped under the Del Rio International Bridge waiting to get processed by US immigration authorities.

“When you have an administration that is not enforcing the law in this country, when you have an administration that has abandoned any pretense of securing the border and securing our sovereignty, you see the onrush of people like what we saw walking across this dam that is right behind me,” Abbott said at a news conference in Val Verde County.

The Biden administration is still relying on a Trump-era border policy linked to the coronavirus pandemic that allows border authorities to swiftly remove migrants apprehended at the US-Mexico border. Over recent days, the administration has ramped up those removals and increased the pace of repatriation flights.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the administration hopes to clear out the migrant camp under the bridge within the next nine or 10 days.

“We expect to see dramatic results in the next 48 to 96 hours, and we’ll have a far better sense in the next two days,” he told senators during a Senate panel hearing Tuesday.

Thousands of Haitians are in South America waiting to come to US

There’s been an unprecedented flow of migrants, including Haitians, crossing the Colombia-Panama border this year.

“It’s extremely concerning,” Panama’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Erika Mouynes previously told CNN.

There are up to 30,000 Haitians in Colombia who may be seeking to travel north, and Panama expects 80,000 migrants to cross its borders on the way to the US by end of this year. As of early September, more than 70,000 migrants arrived in Panama in 2021, more than 30,000 of whom are from Haiti.

More than 97% of Haitians migrating to the US do not come directly from Haiti, but rather were residents of countries in South America, such as Chile and Brazil, according to the Panamanian government.

Many Haitians camping under the bridge are believed to have been living in South America since the catastrophic 2010 earthquake in their native country. The economic toll of the pandemic on the region further fueled migration to the US southern border.

Haiti is a “dangerous country” now because of the recent presidential assassination and the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that hit the country in August, said Nicole Phillips, the legal director for Haitian Bridge Alliance, an advocacy group for Haitian migrants.

“People still have yet to get drinking water and medical care,” she said. “So what needs to happen is to stop the deportation flights to Haiti effective immediately and instead welcome Haitians to screen them for asylum … so they don’t have to return to where they fled.”

Some of the Haitians who amassed under the Del Rio bridge have already begun returning to Mexico, according to a Homeland Security official who added that fewer arrivals are anticipated as the administration ramps up repatriation flights.

DHS Secretary grilled over situation in Del Rio

Gov. Abbott requested an emergency declaration Monday because of the number of migrants at the bridge. The rush of migrants in Del Rio has also led to the closing of the bridge temporarily, with traffic being rerouted to ensure the uninterrupted flow of trade and travel, said Ortiz, the US Border Patrol chief.

DHS is also relying on other Customs and Border Protection facilities along the border to process migrants from Del Rio. More than 1,000 have been taken to El Paso, with 500 expected per day, according to El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego

“We’re getting some from there because of their inability at this point to handle them,” Samaniego said. “They need a lot of help from us and El Paso is always ready to help out.”

A US Border Patrol agent on horseback tries to stop a Haitian migrant from entering an encampment on the banks of the Rio Grande near the Acuna Del Rio International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas, on September 19, 2021.

Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw said Gov. Abbott has made it clear that “Texas doesn’t need anybody’s permission to protect Texas.”

McCraw said securing the border is imperative because it poses a public safety threat, a homeland security threat and it allows cartels to “exploit” gaps leading to an increase in human trafficking and issues with drugs.

“Today we reached the all-time high in Texas and that’s 1.1 million apprehensions not including what you see over here,” McCraw said, referring to the Del Rio bridge.

Abbot said Border Patrol officers are “overwhelmed with the amount of work they’re required to do and they’re suffering the consequences of an administration that is not providing them either the personnel or the resources they need.”

An exhausted Haitian father cradles his son on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande from Del Rio, Texas, on September 19, 2021, in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico.

The crisis at the border has raised many questions in Washington about DHS’s response. US Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri grilled DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about the Del Rio crisis during a Senate panel hearing Tuesday.

“Are you happy with your progress?” Hawley asked Mayorkas.

“Senator, we need to do better and we need to do more, and we are committed to doing so, and we are doing so,” Mayorkas said, adding that the increase of migrants, primarily from Haiti, was “unprecedented.”

Hawley said the current situation took place under Mayorkas’ watch and the humanitarian conditions should not be minimized.

“Frankly, you’re responsible, you and your administration are responsible,” Hawley told Mayorkas. “Tens of thousands of people living in conditions that are startling, startling, brought here because of your policies.”

Mayorkas also addressed the images of Border Patrol agents aggressively confronting migrants Tuesday, saying in addition to launching an internal investigation, DHS alerted the inspector general of the incident.

CNN’s Brad Parks, Rosa Flores and Geneva Sands contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/21/us/del-rio-texas-border-crisis/index.html

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No Telling How Long US Troops Will Stay on Southern Border: NORTHCOM Commander

Richard Sisk — Tue, 23 Jul 2019 00:46:38 +0000

U.S. Air Force Gen. Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy, commander, United States Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, briefs the media and Department of Defense about Hurricane Michael at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., Oct. 10, 2018. (DoD photo/Angelita M. Lawrence)

The general in charge of U.S. troops on the southern border said Monday there is no telling how long they will have to remain in support of the law enforcement effort against illegal immigration.

“How long this will go will be interesting to see,” said Air Force Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy, commander of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command.

In an address and follow-up question-and-answer session at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, O’Shaughnessy was not pressed to expand on his remark about the U.S. troop presence on the border.

He also gave no indication of whether the Defense Department is going ahead with the plan to house up to 1,400 migrant children at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, to ease the strain on overcrowded facilities at the border.

Related content:

Over the weekend, there were more demonstrations at Fort Sill’s gates against housing migrant children on the base, including some protesters who are descendants of Japanese-Americans detained there during World War II, local news outlets reported.

Policy decisions dealing with the border crisis are not his to make, O’Shaughnessy said.

“We’re not the lead federal agency” in responding to the flow north of asylum seekers and “don’t want to be,” he said of the military’s role.

O’Shaughnessy said a mix of active-duty and National Guard troops continue to support the Customs and Border Protection and Department of Homeland Security mission at the border.

Active-duty troops have been on the border since late October 2018, when they began deploying to meet President Donald Trump’s demand to stop the caravans of migrants seeking to enter the U.S. About 2,100 National Guard troops have been on the border since April 2018.

Last week, Acting Defense Secretary Richard V. Spencer approved sending 2,100 more troops to the border in a move that would eventually bring the total there to more than 7,000.

About 1,000 of the 2,100 additional troops would come from the Texas National Guard; the rest would be active duty, according to a Pentagon news release.

Currently, about 5,000 military personnel are deployed for the border mission — about 3,000 active duty and 2,000 National Guard, according to the Pentagon.

— Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.

Source: https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/07/23/no-telling-how-long-us-troops-will-stay-southern-border-northcom-commander.html

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