World News: Suspected Chinese 'spy balloon' flying over US, Canada

 

Suspected Chinese 'spy balloon' flying over US, Canada

Fighter jets were mobilized but military leaders advised against shooting the balloon out of the sky for fear of debris could pose a safety threat.

By REUTERS, FEBRUARY 3, 2023 

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-730482

 

A balloon flies in the sky over Billings, Montana, U.S. February 1, 2023 in this picture obtained from social media. (photo credit: Chase Doak/via REUTERS)

A Chinese spy balloon has been flying over the United States for a couple of days, US officials said on Thursday, in what would be a brazen act just days ahead of a planned trip to Beijing by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Fighter jets were mobilized but military leaders advised President Joe Biden against shooting the balloon out of the sky for fear debris could pose a safety threat, advice Biden accepted, US officials said.

The United States took "custody" of the balloon when it entered US airspace and had observed it with piloted US military aircraft, one of the officials told reporters on condition of anonymity.

Separately, Canada's defense ministry said a "high-altitude surveillance balloon" was detected and that it was monitoring a "potential second incident," without giving further details, adding that it was in frequent contact with the United States.

Exclusive: Pentagon tracking suspected Chinese spy balloon in U.S.

The news initially broke as CIA Director William Burns was speaking at an event at Washington’s Georgetown University, where he called China the "biggest geopolitical challenge" currently facing the United States

"The United States government has detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now," Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Patrick Ryder told reporters.

"The balloon is currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground."

The Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

US officials said they raised the matter with their Chinese counterparts through diplomatic channels. "We have communicated to them the seriousness with which we take this issue," a US official said.

"The United States government has detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now,"

Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Patrick Ryder

One US official said the balloon was assessed to have "limited additive value from an intelligence collection perspective."

Blinken is expected to travel to China next week for a visit agreed to in November by Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping. It was not clear how the discovery of the spy balloon might affect those plans.

US Senator Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate intelligence committee, said the spy balloon was alarming but not surprising.

"The level of espionage aimed at our country by Beijing has grown dramatically more intense & brazen over the last 5 years," Rubio said on Twitter.

Republican Senator Tom Cotton called for Blinken to cancel his trip.

Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he would request a "Gang of Eight" briefing, referring to a classified national security briefing for congressional leaders and Republican and Democratic leaders of the intelligence committees.

Relations between China and the United States have soured in recent years, particularly following then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan in August, which prompted dramatic Chinese military drills near the self-ruled island.

Since then, Washington and Beijing have sought to communicate more frequently and prevent ties from worsening.

Chinese foreign ministry response

Speculation and hype are not conducive until the facts are clear around a spy balloon the United States said has been flying over the US, the Chinese foreign ministry said at a press briefing on Friday.

"We are learning about the verification of this matter," Mao Ning, a foreign ministry spokesperson, said in answering a question on the matter. "We hope both sides can handle the matter calmly and prudently."

Potential safety risk

US military leaders considered shooting down the balloon over Montana on Wednesday but eventually advised Biden against it because of the safety risk from debris, the official told reporters.

The Billings, Montana, airport issued a ground stop as the military mobilized assets including F-22 fighter jets in case Biden ordered the balloon be shot down.

"We wanted to make sure we were coordinating with civil authorities to empty out the airspace around that potential area," the official said.

"But even with those protective measures taken, it was the judgment of our military commanders that we didn't drive the risk down low enough. So we didn't take the shot."

Billings resident Chase Noak, who filmed the balloon on Feb. 1, said at first he thought it was a star.

"But I thought that was kind of crazy because it was broad daylight and when I looked at it, it was just too big to be a star,” he told Reuters.

The official said the current flight path would carry the balloon over a number of sensitive sites, but did not give details. Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana is home to 150 intercontinental ballistic missile silos.

A separate US official said the spy balloon had been tracked near the Aleutian Islands and Canada before entering the United States.

Such balloons typically operate at 80,000-120,000 feet (24,000-37,000m), well above where commercial air traffic flies. The highest-performing fighter aircraft typically do not operate above 65,000 feet, although spy planes such as the U-2 have a service ceiling of 80,000 feet or more.

Craig Singleton, a China expert of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said that such balloons had been widely used by the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War and are a low-cost intelligence-gathering method.

Spy balloons have flown over the United States several times in recent years, but this balloon appeared to be lingering longer than in previous instances, one of the US officials said.

Pud says: America do not ignore this Chinese spy balloon, find a way to shoot it down ASAP, show the Chinese that America is still No:1 and not to be toyed with!

🐪🗻🐪🗻🐪🗻🐪🗻🐪🗻🐪🗻🐪🗻🐪🗻🐪

The easiest way to open a Coconut is to whisper it a joke & it will crack up with laughter

Please Recommend this page and follow us at

https://disqus.com/home/forum/the-coconut-whisperer

How Denmark Radically Reduced Muslim Immigration

How Denmark cut down asylum applications by 82% and radically reduced Muslim immigration to maintain its nearly homogenous European population

FEBRUARY 1, 2023 BY BARENAKEDISLAM2 COMMENTS

The Danish ‘left-wing’ government’s continued push against mass Muslim immigration is producing tangible results, including a dramatic reduction in asylum applications as well as a sharp reduction in overall immigration. The government continues to be unique in all of Europe, featuring the only ruling left-wing bloc seriously opposed to mass Muslim immigration.

REMIX News The numbers speak for themselves, with an 82 percent drop in asylum applications recorded and overall immigration falling 28 percent, according to a new in-depth report from the Foundation for Political Innovation (Fondapol).

Instead of illegal alien Muslim migrant-wannabes waiting in Denmark for their asylum request to be processed, the country’s left-wing government will now begin deporting them to Rwanda after the African country agreed to accept them in a bilateral agreement.

The various hurdles and restrictions enacted by the government have made Denmark far less attractive for immigrants, and have kept the country nearly entirely ethnic European, with the vast majority of the population of Danish descent.

Despite the lack of diversity in Denmark, the country is routinely ranked one of the happiest on Earth, and it excels in terms of per capita wages, quality of life, inequality measurements, corruption, crime rates, and a range of other important metrics.

Many of the European countries run by the left-liberal establishment, which champions diversity as an intrinsic good, may want to examine the case of Denmark. Here are 10 ways the country has put a lid on immigration and satisfied the demands of a population opposed to more arrivals.

Migrants face restrictions at every level

Denmark’s policy is “characterized by a drastic reduction in migration flows, a demanding integration program, difficult access to nationality and, from now on, the willingness to use a third country outside Europe to process visa applications.”

According to the French paper, Denmark’s approach to immigration is described as “restrictive” at every level, including from the moment migrants enter the country to the point they apply for housing, social benefits, and work.

Transparent data

While countries like Germany are racing to hide migrant crime, Denmark has the most transparent data on the topic of nearly any country in the Western world. It not only tracks migrant crime but also breaks down this data between European and non-European offenders.

According to the data, which was examined by French magazine RAGE, non-European migrants commit vastly more crimes than European migrants and Danish citizens. Not only are non-European migrants vastly overrepresented in the crime data, but for certain serious offenses like murder, assault, and rape, the overrepresentation is astounding.

For example, for murder, non-European first-generation migrants are 279 percent more likely to commit murder, 464 percent more likely to commit rape, 220 percent more likely to commit assault, and 53 percent more likely to commit drug trafficking.

“From the second generation, the descendants of non-European immigrants peak at +98% overrepresentation in the crimes committed. Danish figures show that the second generation of non-European immigrants is less integrated than the first, and has an 18% higher chance than their parents of being tried for a crime,” writes RAGE magazine.

Honest rhetoric

The country’s socialist prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said in 2020: “Every fifth young man with a non-Western background born in 1997 had broken the law before turning 21. There are too many young men who take the freedom of others, steal children’s futures, intimidate prison guards – and leave behind a long trail of insecurity.”

Girls are called derogatory names because they are Danish. Or girls who are subjected to social control because they have become too Danish. A sausage cart in Brønshøj that is attacked with firecrackers (by Muslims) because it sells pork,” she added.

Her candid description of the troubles Denmark faces from Muslim immigrant communities would not be out of place in a speech from France’s Marine Le Pen or from Hungary’s Viktor Orbán. Yet, Frederiksen’s rhetoric on the issue has also been backed by action, and given her left-wing credentials, she has been remarkably immune from criticism from the international press, even if there are occasional hit pieces directed at her.

Demanding integration policies

Denmark’s integration efforts are also extremely rigorous, requiring immigrants to have a command of the Danish language, agree to the country’s values, and know its history. If immigrants are unable to pass the necessary tests in these areas, they will not receive citizenship.

Denmark’s policy flies in the face of current trends. In Germany, for example, the country’s left-liberal government is introducing a new law that will relax language standards for a wide range of migrants, including those over 65 years of age, as well as drop requirements for knowledge about Germany’s history and culture. Such lax requirements are likely to entice more immigrants, whereas many migrants know Denmark is not worth the effort.

Tough policies that discourage immigration

Any migrant issued a prison sentence, even a suspended one, is permanently barred from ever obtaining Danish citizenship. In addition, asylum seekers who show up at the border with jewelry, cash, or any other belongings can have them confiscated in order to cover the costs of processing their asylum claims and housing them.

While such measures may only serve as a minor deterrent for migrants individually, when they are added up, many migrants decide Denmark is best to be avoided. Furthermore, they serve as a symbol that the government and the people of Denmark are not especially keen on more immigrants, which serves as a powerful form of dissuasion in itself.

Explaining immigration’s costs from a left-wing perspective

The left-wing government points to the environmental costs of continuous population expansion due to immigration as well as the extreme burden on Denmark’s generous social welfare model.

In fact, the government describes Denmark’s model as a “social nationalism assumed in the name of the welfare state.” Denmark has recognized it cannot defend its generous social model with an open borders policy, as the world’s poor will swamp the country and, in turn, ruin what Danes have built up over centuries.

Pressure rejected asylum seekers out of the country

For those migrants seeking social benefits in northern European countries, they have a tougher time of it in Denmark, especially if their asylum application is rejected. For asylum seekers with rejected claims, the Danish government halts benefits, allowances, and even sends them to prison, all in an effort to push them out of the country.

Just to the north, Sweden is notorious for handing out citizenship, even for the most questionable foreigners, many of whom feature criminal convictions and a poor lack of integration. In addition, even those who have raped children, participated in gang rapes, or tortured their own pregnant girlfriend are allowed to remain in the country.

Advertise abroad

The Danish government has also advertised abroad, pointing out that the immigration process in Denmark is far less favorable than in other countries. These ads detail how new rules would see a 50 percent reduction in social benefits to new refugees and a one-year delay before they can apply for family reunification.

 They send a clear message that Denmark is unfriendly to the idea of mass immigration. This message is reinforced by the political class, such as Minister of Immigration and Integration Mattias Tesfaye, who has gone on record saying multiple times that “my dream is zero asylum seekers.”

Legal carveouts and third-country processing

As a member of the EU, the Schengen Area, and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Denmark has managed to pursue its unique policy by negotiating a series of derogations (op-outs) from the European treaties.

This allows the Danes to legally treat third-country nationals according to their own rules, and has led to Denmark’s groundbreaking program to send migrants to African countries while their asylum claims are being processed, a policy the EU has fiercely opposed but which is supported by the Danish public.

These provisions highlight how institutions such as the ECHR and even the EU itself are designed in such a way to neuter countries’ ability to fight mass immigration and preserve their people, culture, and demographic future.

Success breeds success

These drastic policies implemented by Denmark have had two notable effects. First, the collapse of migrant flows. Immigration fell by 28 percent between 2014, the year before the refugee crisis, and 2019, the year before the Covid-19 health crisis. The total number of asylum applications fell by 82 percent, from 14,792 to 2,716, for a country of 5.8 million people. If this ratio were applied to France, the country would have only 31,000 asylum applications per year, compared to 132,000 in 2019. Just in 2022, France set a record in terms of immigration.

Denmark has one of the highest shares of ethnic Europeans in the country, and the share of non-European births in the country is at approximately 11 percent. In France, for example, it is estimated that 35 percent of all births are non-European, while in Germany it is 24 percent.

Denmark’s success against mass immigration begets more success, and such policies are consistently awarded at the ballot box. While Denmark’s society has some unique elements that enable it to go its own way on the issue of immigration, there is no doubt that if the rest of Europe emulated the country’s policies and attitude, both legal and illegal immigration would see dramatic reductions across the West.

FILED UNDER: MUSLIM INVADERS

Tiny Deadly radioactive capsule fell off truck in remote Aussie desert, miraculously found

Deadly but tiny radioactive capsule that fell off a truck on a remote desert road is miraculously found after three weeks

• Deadly missing radioactive capsule found
• It went missing in Western Australia
• Believed to have fallen off truck transporting it

A tiny but deadly radioactive capsule missing in Western Australia has been miraculously found on an outback road after it fell off a truck.

WA authorities on Wednesday said the 'radioactive substance' lost for three weeks had been located and 'contained' by after an extensive search along a remote stretch of road.

The successful search for the caesium-137 capsule, across a 1400km route, has been likened to finding 'a needle in a haystack'. 

A tiny but deadly radioactive capsule missing in Western Australia has been miraculously found on an outback road

WA government officials said the capsule had been found on Wednesday just south of Newman on the Great Northern Highway

While the capsule was lost urgent warnings were issued that anyone who believed they might have touched it should 'seek immediate medical advice... or visit a hospital emergency department.'

 'The radioactive substance has been found and no longer poses a risk to the community,' the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) said in a statement.

The 8mm by 6mm item fell out of a density gauge while being trucked from a Rio Tinto mine in the Pilbara to Perth last month.

The capsule was located just south of Newman on the Great Northern Highway.

WA Authorities said the capsule (left) is similar to the size of an Australia 10 cent coin (right)

The item was detected by a search vehicle travelling at 70km/h when specialist equipment picked up radiation emitting from the capsule.

Portable search equipment was then used to locate it two metres from the side of the road.

The search teams included the specialists from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation and DFES. 

Crews had spent six days scouring the highway for the capsule which can cause radiation burns or sickness or even death if handled.

Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson said the discovery was remarkable considering the scope of the search.

'This is an extraordinary result ... they have quite literally found the needle in the haystack,' he told reporters.

The search teams included the specialists from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation and WA's Department of Fire and Emergency Services

Portable search equipment was then used to locate it two metres from the side of the road

Despite its size, the capsule contained 'quite a large radiation dose'.

source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11699937/A-tiny-deadly-radioactive-capsule-missing-Western-Australia-miraculously-found.html

Excerpts from earlier articles:

Desperate search for radioactive capsule continues after it fell off a truck in the outback three weeks ago: 'It's the most bizarre scenario I've ever come across'

• Search crews using radiation detectors to locate unit 

If anyone picked up the capsule it would cause significant harm.

'What you'd probably start to notice is that if it was in your hand for a substantial period of time, you'd start to notice some radiation burns and then some tissue damage around the surrounding area.'

Severe health conditions including cancer could stem from prolonged exposure.

'As a source, it emits both beta rays and gamma rays. So if you have contact or have it close to you, you could either end up with skin damage, including skin burns, over a period of time.'

'If you have it long enough near you, it could cause what's known as acute radiation sickness.' 

Contact could also result in impacts to the immune and the gastrointestinal systems.

Teams with handheld radiation detection devices and metal detectors have been deployed by the Department of Fire and Emergency Services.

Search crews are now carrying out a painstaking foot survey along the lengthy stretch of dessert road.

'They're using radiation survey equipment that's calibrated for the right energies that the source would be giving out.'

'Doing it step by step, [they're] using the equipment and looking for the signals that would be elevated if it was in or around the source.'

'What we're not doing is trying to find a tiny little device by eyesight'

'We're using the radiation detectors to locate the gamma rays.'

Authorities are also using the truck's GPS data to determine the exact route the driver took and where it stopped after it left the mine on or about January 10.

Search crews are concentrating on populated areas north of Perth and strategic sites along the Great Northern Highway (pictured)