Saturday 19 February 2022

Kiev Seeks to Clear Donbass of Russian-Speaking People, DPR Says, Citing Intercepted Military Plan

 

Kiev Seeks to Clear Donbass of Russian-Speaking People, DPR Says, Citing Intercepted Military Plan

Serviceman of the People's Militia of the DPR with a Kalashnikov assault rifle - Sputnik International, 1920, 19.02.2022

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) intelligence obtained a plan for a Ukrainian offensive operation against the republics, Eduard Basurin, a spokesman for the DPR militia said on Saturday.
"The purpose of the Ukrainian offensive operation is to 'cleanse' the territory of the people's republics of the Russian-speaking population, squeeze it into the territory of Russia, and gain control over the entire territory of the people's republics'," Eduard Basurin said.
"During the course of the hostilities, it is planned to encircle and block the large cities of Donetsk, Lugansk, Gorlovka and Alchevsk," Basurin added.
Kiev's planned offensive involves a main strike in the direction of Kramatorsk-Debaltsevo, Basurin said.

"The direction of the main attack of the Ukrainian army is Kramatorsk - Debaltsevo. The strike will be delivered by the forces of the 30th mechanised, 17th tank and 95th air assault brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the support of the 26th artillery brigade. The next task is to reach Alchevsk - Yenakiyevo. The final task of the group is to reach the Russian border within two days," he said.

According to Basurin, Ukrainian armed forces have concentrated up to 25 mobile special forces groups on the line of contact to organise terrorist attacks.
Kiev's forces have already sharply boosted their fire, so the DPR is forced to respond with fire, too, Basurin said.
On Thursday, the Ukrainian army launched an attack against the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, with Donbass authorities warning that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could order a full-scale offensive against the republics at any time.
In turn, on Friday, the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics announced the evacuation of their citizens to Russia's Rostov Region over a dramatic escalation of tensions along the line of contact and a possible full-fledged offensive by the Ukrainian army.
The situation on the contact line between Ukraine and the DPR and LPR has worsened in the past days after Kiev intensified shelling of the territories of the republics.

https://sputniknews.com/20220219/kiev-seeks-to-clear-donbass-of-russian-speaking-people-dpr-says-citing-intercepted-military-plan-1093175499.html

Easy Dutch Oven Minestrone Soup

 

Easy Dutch Oven Minestrone Soup

Ingredients

  • 2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) beef broth
  • 1 jar (24 ounces) marinara sauce
  • 3 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
  • 1 can (15-1/2 ounces) navy beans, rinsed and drained
  • 24 frozen fully cooked Italian meatballs, thawed

  • 5 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (about ½ cup)
  • 1 package (9 ounces) refrigerated cheese tortellini
  • Shredded Parmesan cheese
Directions
  1. In a Dutch oven, combine broth, marinara sauce and mixed vegetables. Bring to a boil; add beans, meatballs and spinach. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Stir in tortellini; cook 7 minutes longer. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

Nutrition Facts

1-1/3 cups: 384 calories, 15g fat (6g saturated fat), 36mg cholesterol, 1467mg sodium, 44g carbohydrate (7g sugars, 9g fiber), 21g protein.


https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/easy-dutch-oven-minestrone-soup/?_

New York City Crime: AOC Defends Career Criminal Shoplifters

REVEALED: The 12 shoplifters AOC defended after they stole diapers and formula are repeat offenders with arrests for assault, robbery, arson and strangulation

  • Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 32, slammed the NYPD for demonizing Bronx shoplifters as 'monsters'
  • Arrest records released by police show all but one of the 12 have multiple prior arrests, many for violent crimes
  • Most were arrested for drug possession as well as having stolen goods
  • The liberal congresswoman represents an upper middle class section of Western Queens and parts of the Bronx
  • Diapers and baby formula are often stolen because they are easier to resell on the streets
  • Crime in the 44th Precinct where the shoplifters were arrested has spiked by nearly 30 percent 
  • Overall, crime is up 46.5 percent across the five boroughs 

The accused New York City shoplifters that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defended as struggling families forced into a life of crime due to lack of federal support are actually repeat offenders who have lengthy rap sheets.

After a string of shoplifting thefts of retail stories in the Bronx, NYPD officers in the 44th Precinct arrested a dozen people on February 8, 9, 11 and 12. Police touted the arrest on Twitter with photos of the arresting officers and the $1,800 worth of household goods, including diapers, recovered.

In response, Ocasio-Cortez, who represents the upper middle class Long Island City neighborhood in Queens and portions of the Bronx, cast doubt on the legitimacy of the arrests, suggesting that police had gone after impoverished people who were stealing to supply their own babies with diapers and formula.

‘It’s much easier to frame people who steal baby formula and medicine as monsters to be jailed than acknowledge our politics and economic priorities create conditions where people steal baby formula to survive,’ she had tweeted on Thursday.

But a look at the defendants’ criminal records released by the NYPD indicates that this was far from the criminals' first run-in with the law, except Jose Perez, 42, of Soundview. His first arrest came on February 8 when he was arrested for shoplifting, possession of stolen goods and drugs.

Among the dozen arrested, Weston Coot, 38, of Grand Concourse, had been convicted of assault after he glassed a man in the face in a Hell's Kitchen bar fight in 2009. It was his second felony arrest. He has eight arrests in his rap sheet. 

Tanya Thomas, 43, has 26 priors, including prostitution and robbery. Euniya Morales, 34, of Claremont Village, has been arrested 22 times, including for assault. Annieza Saulmarshall, 39, of Highbridge, has a past arson charge in addition to burglary, evidence tampering and contempt. Carlos Bonet landed in jail after obstructing someone's breathing, in addition to 15 other criminal offenses over his lifetime. He has something in common with Urayoan Reyes, 39, who was busted for strangulation, along with criminal mischief and other violent crime.

 Jennifer Pino, 43, of Concourse, Prince Singleton, 38, of East Harlem, Eugene Morrison, 46, of South Ozone Park, Queens, Shahana Taylor, 64, of Highbridge, and Santos Negron, 41, of Wakefield, were also busted for shoplifting and have lengthy prior records.

In addition to making the shoplifting arrests of the dirty dozen, police closed 23 warrants and recovery of $1,800 worth of merchandise, according to the NYPD. 

This is the second time Ocasio-Cortez has blamed the city's spiraling crime rate on child tax credits being withdrawn. In an interview published with The New Yorker on Monday, she said 'we don't want to say some of the thing that are obvious, like gee, the child-tax credit just ran out ... and now people are stealing baby formula.'

Crime is on the rise throughout New York City, especially in the South Bronx where the arrests were made. In the 44th Precinct, overall crime has jumped 27.5 percent, according to NYPD statistics. Car theft spiked 177 percent since last year, records show, and robbery has spiked by 45 percent. 

Overall, crime is up 46.5 percent across the five boroughs.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed cops for demonizing shoplifters who she says are forced into crime by the lack of federal aid. She chided her colleagues in Congress for not furthering the child tax credit.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed cops for demonizing shoplifters who she says are forced into crime by the lack of federal aid. She chided her colleagues in Congress for not furthering the child tax credit.

11 OF THE 12 SHOPLIFTERS AOC DEFENDED HAVE LENGTHY CRIMINAL RAP SHEETS 

A look at the defendants’ criminal records released by the NYPD indicates that this was far from the criminals' first run-in with the law.

All but one - Jose Perez, 42, of Soundview - has a lengthy criminal record and appears to be quite schooled in shoplifting. In addition to shoplifting, Perez was charged with stolen property and drug possession. 

Tanya Thomas, 43, of Highbridge, was arrested for petit larceny and possession of stolen property. She has 26 prior arrests for robbery, criminal trespassing, drug possession, prostitution, drug dealing and burglary.

Santos Negron, 41, of Wakefield, got hit with stolen property and petit larceny charges. Before that he had been arrested nine times for robbery, drug dealing, trespassing, grand larceny and petit larceny.

Euniya Morales, 34, of Claremont Village, was arrested for drug possession, petit larceny and having stolen property. Her criminal history includes 22 arrests for assault, criminal mischief, drug possession, trespassing, petit larceny and robbery.

Weston Coot, 38, of Grand Concourse, also landed drug possession and petit larceny charges. He has been arrested eight times before for gang assault, pot possession, assault, turnstile jumping, petit larceny and possession of stolen goods.

Jennifer Pino, 43, of Concourse, had a busy day on February 9. She was charged with burglary, criminal trespass, possession of stolen property and drug possession. She was also hit with 14 other petit larceny charges for a different theft. She’s racked up 27 prior arrests over her career for assault, robbery, driving on drugs, drug possession, drug dealing and trespassing.

Prince Singleton, 38, of East Harlem, was booked on drug, stolen property and petit larceny charges. He’s been arrested seven times before for criminal mischief, grand larceny, robbery and drug possession.

Eugene Morrison, 46, of South Ozone Park, Queens, was charged with shoplifting and drugs and possession of stolen property. He has 46 prior arrests for drug possession, robbery, reckless endangerment, forgery, trespassing, turnstile jumping, criminal mischief, burglary and forgery.

Urayoan Reyes, 29, of Claremont, has priors for strangulation, criminal mischief, assault, drug dealing and shoplifting. He was arrested on February 9 for shoplifting, drug possession and having stolen merchandise.

Cops arrested Annieza Saulmarshall, 39, of Highbridge, for two counts of drug possession, shoplifting and possessing stolen goods. He’s been charged in the past for arson, burglary, evidence tampering, criminal contempt and shoplifting.

Shahana Taylor, 64, has 38 arrests on his rap sheet for assault, menacing, drug possession, robbery, drug dealing, grand larceny, shoplifting and trespassing. She was charged on February 12 with shoplifting, drug possession and having stolen goods.

Carlos Bonet, 26, of Woodlawn Heights, was caught shoplifting on February 12 as well and charged with possession of stolen goods. Before that he has 16 priors for weapon possession, criminal obstruction of breathing, drug possession, robbery, burglary and shoplifting.

 

Ocasio-Cortez was slammed for her comments in The New Yorker, which came after a 35-year-old Asian advertising creative, Christina Yuna Lee, was knifed to death in her Chinatown apartment by a free-on-bail homeless career criminal.

Brian Chin, Lee's landlord, called the left-wing firebrand 'unbelievably naïve and completely irresponsible' for the comments.  

Assamad Nash, 25, was arrested for the Sunday morning murder of Lee and was charged with sexually-motivated burglary by prosecutors Monday, as it was revealed Lee was found topless in the bathtub of her Chinatown apartment in the early hours of the morning. He is currently being held without bail. 

In her comments to The New Yorker, Ocasio-Cortez said: 'We don't want to have that discussion. We want to say these people are criminals or we want to talk about ''people who are violent,'' instead of ''environments of violence,'' and what we're doing to either contribute to that or dismantle that.' 

Chin said: 'That is an unbelievably naïve statement and completely irresponsible on behalf of her, but it also shows the amount of distance that our elected officials have from the community themselves.'

He continued: 'All of the crimes he committed, including the assault in the subway station, were just steps away from the building. This man was a menace to the community. He was an outright danger.'

Americans with children received a monthly $250 to $300 stipend from the federal government over the course of the pandemic. The temporary support was set to be permanent in President Biden's multi-trillion-dollar Build Back Better funding project, but the sweeping legislation died in the Senate.

Christina Yuna Lee, 35, was stabbed to death in her New York City apartment by a 'homeless serial criminal' who was free on bail
Assamad Nash, 25, has been accused of murdering her in her Chinatown apartment while on bail for a prior assault

Christina Yuna Lee, 35, (left) was stabbed to death in her New York City apartment by a 'homeless serial criminal', Assamad Nash (right) who was free on bail

Chin told Fox News on Tuesday that the left-wing firebrand was 'unbelievably naïve and completely irresponsible' for her comments

Chin told Fox News on Tuesday that the left-wing firebrand was 'unbelievably naïve and completely irresponsible' for her comments

In this week's shoplifting bust where the 12 people were arrested, police did not say from where the items were stolen, but across the country pharmacy chain stores like Duane Reade, CVS and Walgreens have complained of brazen and widespread shoplifting, sometimes by organized rings. 

Ocasio-Cortez also claimed in December that there was no data to back up rising crime rates, especially in retail, where rings have targeted stores for multiple thefts. 

'A lot of these allegations of organized retail theft are not actually panning out,' she told the Washington Times. 'I believe it's a Walgreens in California cited it, but the data didn't back it up.' 

She was slammed by the head of the Retail Industry Leaders Association, Jason Brewer, who said 'she has no idea what she's talking about'. 

'Both the data and stack of video evidence makes fairly clear that this is a growing problem in need of solutions,' he said. 

Crime in New York is up over 41 percent compared to last year, with transit incidents up 74 percent compared to this time in 2021

Crime in New York is up over 41 percent compared to last year, with transit incidents up 74 percent compared to this time in 2021

Nearly every single police precinct in New York City has seen spikes in crime so far this year - including five in which the rate has doubled, new data from the NYPD shows

Nearly every single police precinct in New York City has seen spikes in crime so far this year - including five in which the rate has doubled, new data from the NYPD shows

In January, four shoplifters armed with hammers broke into a Bay Area Walgreens and nabbed $2,400 worth of cosmetics and other goods. 

In November, a van smashed through a Baltimore Walgreens and thieves stole a cash machine.

A lawyer for the pharmacy said that their business was suffering because of the thefts. 

'Organized retail crime is one of the top challenges' the company is facing, he said. Crime 'has evolved beyond shoplifting and petty theft to the sale of stolen and counterfeit goods online.'

In Manhattan, where the newly sworn in District Attorney Alvin Bragg vowed not to prosecute on non-violent shoplifters, some stores have closed because the thefts had gotten so bad.

NYPD officers wrestle with shoplifter inside Queens store
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Shelves are already bare in the Rite Aid store, located at the corner of 80th Street and 2nd Avenue because it will shut its doors for good on February 15, the manager told DailyMail.com, a day after a thief was caught on video boldly sauntering out with shopping bags full of stolen goods

Shelves are already bare in the Rite Aid store, located at the corner of 80th Street and 2nd Avenue because it will shut its doors for good on February 15, the manager told DailyMail.com, a day after a thief was caught on video boldly sauntering out with shopping bags full of stolen goods

Empty store shelves at the Rite Aid in the Upper East Side
Empty store shelves at the Rite Aid in the Upper East Side

Empty shelves are seen at Rite Aid on the Upper East Side just three weeks before they're set to close. The store's closure is just one of many in the city. On February 8, a Hell's Kitchen store which has been rife with robberies in recent months will close, and on the Upper West Side, another store which experienced daily thefts shut down in Novembe

The Upper East Side Rite Aid pharmacy was forced to close its doors on February 15 because shoplifting had gotten so bad.

In January, Actor Michael Rappaport, who lives close to the store, recorded a brazen shoplifter, boosting two shopping bags worth of goods from the store without fear of reprisal.

 'Back in my Rite Aid,' he said in a video posted to his on Sunday. 'And there's nothing to steal because this Rite Aid like so many other Rite Aids is closing down because everybody stole everything. And the workers here don't know if they're getting jobs.

Michael Rapaport returns to Rite Aid where shelves are ALL empty
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Rapaport said the man in his footage filled two bags with stolen goods before nonchalantly strolling past security and leaving

Rapaport said the man in his footage filled two bags with stolen goods before nonchalantly strolling past security and leaving

The Rite Aid in the video will be closing on February 15, with thefts a major reason, the pharmacy chain announced late December

The Rite Aid in the video will be closing on February 15, with thefts a major reason, the pharmacy chain announced late December

 Another store in Midtown Manhattan and a Rite Aid in Brooklyn Heights were also forced to close because of thefts.

The chain announced last year that it was shutting down about 63 stores across the US in the next few years, citing cost-cutting measures to save $25 million a year - but workers say that the thefts are part of the reason for the closures as inventory dwindles. 

Walgreens shuttered five stores in San Francisco last year, in part, the company says because of thefts, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

PERCENT INCREASES IN CRIME FOR ALL PRECINCTS

 Manhattan

1st Precinct – 75%

5th Precinct – 51.67%

6th Precinct – 67.71%

7th Precinct – 75.38%

9th Precinct – 53.7%

10th Precinct – 29.89%

13th Precinct – 55%

Midtown South Precinct – 48.98%

17th Precinct – 91.07%

Midtown North Precinct – 44.78%

19th Precinct – 32.56%

20th Precinct – 26.32%

Central Park Precinct – No change 

23rd Precinct – 12.62%

24th Precinct – 52.63%

25th Precinct – 29.55%

 

 Brooklyn

60th Precinct – 4.55%

61st Precinct – 36.19%

62nd Precinct – 65.88%

63rd Precinct – 37.84%

66th Precinct – 44.44%

67th Precinct – 58.04%

68th Precinct – 26.87%

69th Precinct – 105%

70th Precinct – 39.25%

71st Precinct – 30.49%

72nd Precinct – 107.14%

76th Precinct – 60.71%

78th Precinct – 23.19%

73rd Precinct – 35.66%

75th Precinct – 40.07%

77th Precinct – 62.16%

79th Precinct – 4.96% (decrease)

81st Precinct – 19.15%

83rd Precinct – 9.74% (decrease)

84th Precinct – 27.96%

88th Precinct – 21.43%

90th Precinct – 45.05%

94th Precinct – 28.57%

 

 Queens

100th Precinct – 66.67%

101st Precinct  – No Change

102nd Precinct – 39.78%

103rd Precinct – 67.44%

105th Precinct – 8.66%

106th Precinct – 67.68%

107th Precinct – 118.06%

113th Precinct – 5.31%

104th Precinct – 29.75%

108th Precinct – 53.47%

109th Precinct – 82.61%

110th Precinct – 142.42%

111th Precinct – 73.44%

112th Precinct – 35.09%

114th Precinct – 18.79%

115th Precinct – 56.89%

 

 Bronx & Staten Island

 Bronx 

40th Precinct – 20.41%

41st Precinct  - 71.95%

42nd Precinct – 20.75%

43rd Precinct - 75%

44th Precinct – 27.59%

45th Precinct – 31.68%

46th Precinct – 43.95%

47th Precinct – 30.91%

48th Precinct – 51.97%

49th Precinct – 51.64%

50th Precinct – 77.92%

52nd Precinct – 9.6%

Staten Island 

120th Precinct – 55.38%

121st Precinct – 31.88%

122nd Precinct – 13.51% (decrease)

123rd Precinct – 39.2