Military Madness > What Legacy media won't tell you about the Ukraine War

 

What I have been saying for years and legacy media would never suggest.

Ukraine a ‘gold mine’ for Western arms makers – Moscow

Russian UN envoy Vassily Nebenzia says Western arms supplies to Kiev benefit defense firms and just fuel the conflict further

Ukraine has become a lucrative opportunity for Western arms manufacturers, who profit from weapons supplies that prolong the conflict, Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia has claimed.

Speaking at a United Nations Security Council briefing on Friday, Nebenzia accused NATO member states of exploiting the conflict in Ukraine to enrich their defense industries.

“It is well known that Ukraine has become a genuine gold mine for the military-industrial complex of the [US and UK] and their allies. But it is American companies that are profiting the most from the conflict,” he stressed.

The Russian diplomat alleged that Western countries are prioritizing economic gains over peace.

“According to the latest data, half of total arms sales in 2023 were processed by 41 US corporations out of the top 100. They received $317 billion, or 50% of global arms-sales revenues,” Nebenzia said.

The Russian UN representative cited a recent report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), noting that the combined revenues of the world’s 100 largest weapons manufacturers in 2023 reached $632 billion.

“It would be naive to expect that these unscrupulous traders, who have tasted the flavor of lucre, will give up riding this gravy train for the sake of those miserable Ukrainians,” he argued.

Nebenzia went on to suggest that Western military companies “often act in cahoots with the Kiev regime,” citing the example of 25 foreign lobby and consulting firms that began representing Ukraine’s interests free of charge after the conflict began. He specifically mentioned BGR Government Affairs, whose leadership has publicly advocated for increased military assistance to Kiev and which also represents Raytheon Company, a major US arms supplier. Nebenzia also alleged that the US military-industrial complex funds think tanks, whose conclusions are later cited by the media.

On Wednesday, the Defense Ministry in Moscow reported that Ukraine fired six US-donated ATACMS and four UK-made Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles, at the Kamensky chemical plant in Rostov Region in southern Russia. On Friday, in retaliation to the attack, the Russian military claimed it struck a Ukrainian command center and targeted installations of US-supplied Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems.

Russia has consistently stated that Western aid cannot prevent its forces from accomplishing the objectives of their military operation or alter the final outcome of the conflict. Moscow has argued that by supporting Kiev, they only prolong the conflict.

But, lives mean nothing to war industry oligarchs.

Climate Change > Big Oil reducing investment in renewable energy

 

Oil giant BP to ‘significantly reduce’ investment

in renewable energy for rest of decade

Europe

British oil giant BP is significantly reducing its investment in renewable energy for the “rest of this decade”, it said in a statement Monday, noting it was instead entering a joint venture with Japanese power company Jera to create one of the world’s largest offshore wind businesses. Since Murray Auchincloss became BP’s new chief executive in January, the company has scaled back on its climate targets.

Issued on: 09/12/2024 - 18:20

1 min

By:

NEWS WIRES

Industrial chimneys near the Ruhr Oel petroleum refineries of BP Gelsenkirchen GmbH in Gelsenkirchen, western Germany on March 8, 2022. © Ina Fassbender, AFP/File picture

British oil giant BP announced Monday it will “significantly reduce” investment in renewable energy through to 2030, as it combines its offshore wind business with that of Japanese power company Jera.

The equally-owned joint venture, Jera Nex BP, is set to advance the companies’ existing wind projects and create one of the world’s largest global offshore wind businesses.

However, the standalone business will “significantly reduce BP’s anticipated investment into renewables through the rest of this decade”, the British group said in a statement.

Together the companies will invest up to $5.8 billion by 2030, with BP contributing $3.25 billion.

It marks a sharp drop from previous suggestions that BP would invest around $10 billion in offshore wind between 2023 and 2030.

BP chief executive Murray Auchincloss has scaled back on the group’s key climate targets, putting more emphasis on oil and gas to boost profits, since taking the helm in January.

The new venture “will be a very strong vehicle to grow into an electrifying world, while maintaining a capital light model for our shareholders”, said Auchincloss.

The move follows an announcement by rival Shell that it will no longer develop new offshore wind projects and will separate its power division into two connected businesses.

Offshore wind is one of the major sources of renewable energy that Europe is counting on to decarbonise electricity production, but in recent years projects have been mired by soaring costs and supply chain issues. 

BP and Shell recently reported falls to their third-quarter profits.

(AFP)

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Corruption is Everywhere > Two more incidents of terror on Boeing passenger jets yesterday

 

Boeing plane skids off runway, injuring 11

at Senegal airport

A Boeing passenger plane came off the runway during takeoff in Senegal early Thursday, injuring 11 people and shutting the international airport near the capital Dakar for almost 12 hours, management said.

Issued on: 09/05/2024 - 15:23

2 min

By:NEWS WIRES

The B737/300 aircraft, an Air Senegal flight chartered by privately-owned Transair, was carrying 78 passengers and headed for the Malian capital Bamako,  airport managers LAS said in a statement after the early hours drama left four passengers seriously hurt.

The jet "came off the runway during its takeoff phase" around one am (0100 GMT), said LAS, made up of Turkish group Limak, the publicly-owned airport operator AIBD and another Turkish entity, Summa.

Eleven people were injured, four of them seriously. Six other passengers were taken for medical check-ups inside the airport, LAS said.

The group said the airport at Diass, 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Dakar, had reopened shortly after midday.

"We inform you that Blaise Diagne international airport has reopened. Airport operations have resumed as normal," LAS stated.

The aircraft was "immobilised" away from the runway and an emergency plan triggered by airport authorities as soon as they were alerted, the group said.

"All the airport emergency services have been mobilised for the evacuation of passengers and their care, as per the plan," LAS went on.

Online images showed a large hole in the left engine and the wing covered in firefighting foam.

"The exact circumstances of the incident remain to be determined, but an investigation is already under way to establish the reasons" why the aircraft left the runway.

"Aviation specialists along with representatives of the airline concerned are on site to examine closely the airline log data and interview crew members," LAS said.

The incident comes with Air Senegal having already endured months of criticism with passengers regularly complaining about delays to domestic and international flights.

The state-owned entity began operating in May 2018 after emerging from the April 2016 collapse of Senegal Airlines. The latter had itself replaced in 2009 Air Senegal International, in which Senegal and also Morocco had stakes.

The launch of the carrier's latest incarnation is part of a three-stage plan to turn Dakar into a regional air hub around  the international airport, inaugurated in December 2017, and revamped provincial airports.

The Blaise Diagne airport at Diass, which bears the name of the first African lawmaker elected to the French Parliament (1872-1934), replaces the Leopold-Sedar-Senghor International Airport (AILSS), in the suburbs of the capital, which has been converted into a military facility.

Transair, founded in 2010, is based at Blaise Diagne and serves a dozen destinations across West Africa, including Sierra Leone's Freetown as well as Nouakchott, Banjul and Conakry. According to its website it carries some 90,000 passengers a year.

Thursday's incident came a day after a Boeing 767 Fedex cargo plane touched down at Istanbul airport without its front landing gear which failed to open, though nobody was hurt, the US Federal Aviation administration said.

(AFP)

Another week - two more terrifying incidents with Boeing passenger jets

Boeing Plane Drags Nose Across Runway

in Istanbul After Landing Gear Fails

ABC 7 Chicago

832K subscribers

A Boeing cargo plane landed nose-down on a runway at Istanbul Airport after its landing gear failed to deploy, according to Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu.

No injuries were reported.

Corruption is Everywhere - Another day, another Boeing plane loses a part

 

Sacrificing safety for the sake of profits is a despicable form of corruption.

United Airlines crew finds panel missing on Boeing 737 plane after landing

By Naomi Barghiel  Global News

Posted March 16, 2024 12:42 pm

 Updated March 16, 2024 2:54 pm

 3 min read

Boeing incidents raise more safety concerns

WATCH: Joe Scarpelli is joined by Capt. Richard J. Levy, Former Commerical Pilot and Aviation Expert, to discuss recent issues with Boeing airplanes that have raised concerns about reliability and safety

A Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by United Airlines flew Friday with a large part of its exterior missing, according to the airline, marking the latest in a series of malfunctions to plague the manufacturer.

The flight from San Francisco to Oregon landed safely, but upon arrival crews discovered a broken exterior panel on the 25-year-old aircraft.

According to a statement from United Airlines, no emergency had been declared and the missing piece was not discovered until all 139 passengers and six crew members safely disembarked from the plane.

“We’ll conduct a thorough examination of the plane and perform all the needed repairs before it returns to service,” the airline said.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says it has launched an investigation into the incident. It marks the seventh reported incident involving a Boeing plane just this week.

Despite travelers’ growing fears of flying with Boeing, aviation expert Richard Levy says this latest incident is not a concern.

“The airplane did not just come out of the Boeing factory. It was an older aircraft. The airplane landed safely. Yes, it’s going to be an investigation because of the recent news with Boeing. But as far as safety, this does not concern me whatsoever,” said Levy, who is also a former commercial pilot.

A picture of the underbelly of a United Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft that landed in Oregon with a missing panel Friday. This unverified photo is sourced by the Rogue Valley Times.

According to FAA records, the Boeing aircraft Friday was built in late 1998.

Boeing has been facing intense scrutiny over the quality of its aircrafts after an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 was forced to make an emergency landing on Jan. 5, when a panel called a door plug blew out of the side of the plane shortly after takeoff from Portland, Oregon.

Three passengers who were on board the flight have since sued the airline and Boeing, claiming the incident was caused by negligence.

Levy notes that the Boeing aircraft used by United Airlines was not a ‘Max’, which is the model associated with the Alaska Airlines incident and most under probe.

“Boeing makes great airplanes. We know that Boeing is under the spotlight right now… but would you also believe that Airbus has issues? Not daily, but almost every day,” Levy told Global News.

Airbus is another major aircraft manufacturing company with planes commonly operated by Air Canada.

5:33

How will Boeing bounce back after slew of flight incidents?

Levy says he would have “zero hesitation” flying with his wife on any Boeing model, including the 737, 777, Max 8 or 9.

“I flew these Boeing airplanes 41 years, had a great time flying them, and I had really no engine shutdowns,” Levy said.

Since the January incident, Boeing has frequently made headlines for seemingly unrelated safety and quality issues.

Earlier this March, a tire fell off a Boeing jetliner shortly after takeoff at San Francisco International Airport, breaking through a fence in a parking lot below and smashing into cars.

Also in January, the nose wheel of a Delta Air Lines Boeing 757 passenger jet fell off and rolled away as the aircraft waited on the runway for takeoff clearance at Georgia’s Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

On Monday, at least 50 people were injured after a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner dropped abruptly in what LATAM Airlines described as a “strong movement” mid-air.

The FAA launched an investigation into Boeing in March 2023, almost a year before the Alaska Airlines incident, following fatal crashes of Boeing 787 MAX-8 planes flown by Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines in 2018.

1:35

United Airlines Boeing 777 plane loses tire during takeoff in San Francisco

The report concluded in February that Boeing is not as committed to safety as it says it is. It said the FAA “observed documentation, survey responses, and employee interviews that did not provide objective evidence of a foundational commitment to safety that matched Boeing’s descriptions of that objective.”

A few weeks early, FAA head Michael Whitaker told told U.S. lawmakers that Boeing’s oversight system “is not working.”

“I certainly agree the current system is not working because it’s not delivering safe aircraft, so we have to make changes to that,” he said.

Regarding the most recent incident Friday, Levy says the public shouldn’t hesitate to travel on a Boeing aircraft.

“Boeing will be producing more and more airplanes that are going to be good airplanes, safe airplanes,” he said.

Corruption is Everywhere > Another day, another emergency landing for Boeing

 

Sacrificing safety for profits whether in the building of an airplane or the maintenance of it, is corruption at thoroughly indecent levels.

American Airlines Boeing flight makes emergency

landing at LAX over ‘mechanical issue’

By 

Social Links forRichard Pollina

Published March 14, 2024, 3:20 a.m. ET

Deja vu.

An American Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday night over a “possible mechanical issue,” according to KTLA.

The flight, which was arriving from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, safely landed at LAX on Runway 25 around 8:45 p.m., an official from American Airlines told the outlet.

American Airlines Flight 345 on the runway at LAX after making an emergency landing Wednesday evening.

Passengers safely exited the Boeing aircraft through the jet bridge after the aircraft pulled into the gate.

There were no reports of injuries onboard, according to the outlet.

There were reports of a blown-out tire, but AA officials only cited the pilot’s claim of a “possible mechanical issue,” according to the outlet.

It remains to be seen what the issue was. 

The scare is the latest in a surfeit of mechanical and safety issues Boeing aircraft have faced in the last two weeks — and the second aircraft to make an emergency landing at LAX in March.

A United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Japan diverted to Los Angeles International Airport on March 7 after one of the landing gear on the Boeing 777-20 fell off after takeoff.

Distressing footage shows the plane losing one of its six tires on the left side as it ascended.

All 235 passengers, 10 flight attendants and four pilots on board safely landed at LAX.

On Monday, a United Airlines Boeing 777-300 aircraft suffered a midair fuel leak and was forced to make an emergency landing.

United Airlines Flight 830 took off for a 14-hour journey from Sydney to San Francisco, but was redirected two hours into the flight over a “maintenance issue.”

Boeing said in a memo to employees on Tuesday that the company is implementing weekly compliance checks for every 737 work area and additional equipment audits to reduce quality problems.

John Barnett, a former Boeing quality inspector of three decades, was found dead from a “self-inflicted” gunshot wound in his truck in the parking lot of his South Carolina hotel on Saturday.

The engineer, who retired in 2017, had provided his first testimony in a bombshell lawsuit against the company, the Charleston County coroner told the BBC.

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