Random News and Notes 13 March
We kick off this Friday the 13th edition of RNN in Cuba where Miguel Diaz Canel, the current President and General Secretary of the Cuban Communist party, went on television and admitted the regime was in talks with the US.
The historic moment when the dictator of Cuba, Miguel Díaz Canel, announces on national broadcast that they have given in to the pressure and are officially in negotiations with the United States.
The Cuban regime completely surrendered, on the brink of death.
Cuba is currently experiencing a severe economic and energy crisis exacerbated by a U.S.-imposed fuel blockade leading to acute oil shortages, hyperinflation, GDP contraction of around 15% over recent years. There is widespread food and fuel scarcity, and a near-collapse of basic services amid U.S. pressure for regime change or reforms. Power outages have become extreme and daily, with many regions facing blackouts lasting up to 20 hours per day and recent massive grid failures have caused nationwide or regional shutdowns lasting 16+ hours at a time, severely disrupting daily life, businesses, and essential infrastructure.
There were a pair of islamic terror related incidents yesterday. The first happened at Old Dominion University in Norfolk VA. The goat-f*cker there – 36-year-old Mohamed Bailor Jalloh – entered an ROTC classroom shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ and opened fire. Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, a decorated veteran with multiple combat tours and two Bronze Stars, died from his wounds; two cadets were injured but stable. The scumbag was subdued by the rest of the cadets despite them not having guns. It seems he was stabbed 22 times however, and died of his wounds.
Oh, and Jalloh was tried and convicted of providing material support to ISIS a few years back. He was sentenced to 11 years and was released by the Biden administration after only serving 8 years.
The other incident was at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township (a Detroit suburb) in Michigan. Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Lebanon, drove a truck through the synagogue’s doors and down a hallway, causing the vehicle to catch fire and fill the building with smoke. The suspect, armed with a rifle, exchanged gunfire with synagogue security guards. Security fatally shot him, ending the threat.
It seems the FBI conducted active shooter training with the staff at Temple Israel at the end of January. The quick reaction of the security personnel ended the threat quickly and effectively. No one was hurt but the attacker, who got his 72 goats.
Epic Fury News
All 6 crewmembers aboard a KC-135 are dead after a mid-air collision between two of the refuelling aircraft. The crash happened around 2 p.m. ET on March 12. No enemy or friendly fire was involved in the crash.
The second KC-135 landed safely in Israel with damage to the vertical stabilizer visible.
For those of you not familiar, there is a significant portion of the stabilizer missing. This incident brings the number of dead in Epic Fury to 13. There were 6 killed in a drone strike on a TOC in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait and another died from wounds sustained at an attack at Prince Sultan airbase in KSA.
Until Valhalla.
There are reports that the US took out an Iranian sub with a HIMARS rocket. I have to assume it was tied up alongside and not underway.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth approved a request to deploy the Japan-based USS Tripoli and its 31st Marine expeditionary unit to the CENTCOM AO. A MEU typically consists of about 2500 combat Marines and their associated equipment.
The Tripoli carries up to 30 F-35B fighters, 20 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, and a variety of rotary wing aircraft. The other ships associated with the 31st MEU are the San Antonio-class amphibious transport docks USS New Orleans and USS San DIego and the Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship the USS Rushmore.