https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/us-fre...er/3460866

Quote:US freezes passport applications with 'X' gender markers following Trump order
State Department staff directed to suspend passport applications with 'X' sex markers per executive order, Guardian reports
Rabia Iclal Turan  | 24.01.2025 - Update : 24.01.2025

 



WASHINGTON
The US State Department has stopped processing passport applications with “X” gender markers following an executive order from President Donald Trump which states that the US recognizes only two sexes: male and female, according to reports.
According to an internal email obtained by The Guardian, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, following the executive order signed by Trump on Monday, instructed department staff to enforce the new guidelines, stating: “The policy of the United States is that an individual’s sex is not changeable.”
Trump's executive mandate declares that the US recognizes only “two sexes, male and female,” which he describes as an “immutable biological reality.”
The executive order, titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” requires government-issued IDs, including passports, visas and entry cards, to reflect “immutable biological classification as either male or female.”
The State Department first issued passports with the nonbinary “X” gender marker in April 2022.
On Thursday, State Department staff were instructed to “suspend any application requesting an X sex marker” and to “suspend any application seeking to change their sex marker” in accordance with the executive order, according to the Guardian.
The NOTUS news site reported, citing the White House, that Monday’s executive order does not apply retroactively or invalidate existing passports, but renewals must reflect the sex assigned at birth.
Anadolu reached out to the State Department for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

So here is pretty much every political ideology explained in under 5 minutes using as example your mom doing the laundry as comparison. Enjoy!

Interesting presentation. It's short, 21 min.

We had a rare treat of getting some snow fall here in the southeast United States tonight. I've only seen snow a few times so this was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. I had to go outside and just be in the snow. I geared up with a bunch of layers and headed out. I was amazed at how eery it felt to me at first being engulfed in a flurry of white specs all around. The snowflakes seemed huge to me, as I watched them whip around in my ultra bright flood lights i had switched on to be able to witness this rare site.

I had a quiet thought creep into the back of my mind.

The snow didn't feel "real" to me. I had one of  those old tin hat moments, and thought to myself, "I wonder if this is weather manipulated snow?"

I brushed it off, but it crept back in as I caught a few of these snowflakes on my tongue; A few even hit me in the eyes. But, I went back to enjoying this experience both visually,
and even audibly. Snow makes the most peaceful sound the way it falls. This was something i wont soon forget.

I go back inside so i dont die from pneumonia, sitting back watching some youtube, and I run across this video of people who are having this rare snow in the south.

They are burning the snow and it's not melting. It's burning. 

Skip to the 2 min mark and you'll find what im talking about.


I got my tin foil hat on and walked back outside and collected some snow and put a lighter to it...

It burned like a foam. Never really catching fire. Just a very very slow burn that did turn brown.
Almost like when you burn Styrofoam,  but much much slower. .

It never meltedNo water at all came from this experiment. The results of my test were exactly like the second example in the video.



If you're in this snow storm, gather some snow and take a lighter to it, and watch. 

At this point I'm thinking, First the mystery fog.

Now it's burning snow.

I see that this is an old topic, but was wondering what my fellow rogues thought of this.

So weird. 

 Ancient history is something I have been dabbling in a little bit lately, and as I have been looking into some of the different creation stories and learning about a lot of the different ancient gods I came across this Xolotl and thought he was one of the more interesting deities, and worth sharing.
I had never heard of him until tonight.
Great backstory. Its amazing the things our minds come up with when it comes to interpreting the "gods" and creation itself.



The Chilling Story Of Xolotl, The Aztec God Who Helped Create Humanity — And Then Tried To Cheat Death 

One version of the Aztec creation myth tells how Xolotl, the dog-headed god of lightning and fire, slayed his fellow deities and then transformed himself into a salamander in an attempt to hide from death.


The Aztec deity Xolotl was seen as the twin brother of Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent god linked with life and light. In many ways, Xolotl was Quetzalcoatl’s opposite. He was associated with sickness, deformities, and even death, but he was not considered evil.

Xolotl didn’t bring death to the Aztecs. Rather, he was a psychopomp, or someone who guided souls to Mictlan, the Aztec Underworld. In the culture’s mythology, dogs were also believed to help their masters travel to the afterlife, so Xolotl was often depicted with a dog’s head.

The deity also played a major role in the Aztec creation myth. He helped Quetzalcoatl retrieve bones from Mictlan to create modern humans — but he also killed his fellow deities and then tried to cheat death himself.

Overall, Xolotl is a perfect representation of the Aztec belief system, in which life and death are interconnected, transformation is constant, and balance is essential for the stability of the universe. And, like his twin brother Quetzalcoatl, Xolotl’s place in history extended beyond the Aztecs.

The Ancient Origins Of Xolotl, The Dog-Headed Aztec God
Like in any ancient culture, tales involving Xolotl were passed down through oral tradition, making it difficult to trace the exact origins of when the deity first emerged.

Xolotl is similar to other canine gods worshipped by the Maya and the Zapotecs — particularly in his association with lightning — suggesting his true roots may lie in earlier Mesoamerican cultures.



However, Xolotl is differentiated from other deities by his association with Quetzalcoatl. As twins, Xolotl and Quetzalcoatl represented opposing forces. Quetzalcoatl was associated with life, light, and the morning star, while Xolotl embodied death, darkness, and the evening star. They balanced each other out and created cosmic harmony.

Although Xolotl was the god of lightning and fire, he was also tied to twins, dogs, deformities, sickness, and misfortune. Depictions of the deity often included a dog’s head atop a skeletal body. Often, his feet were backward and his eye sockets were empty.

In addition to leading souls to Mictlan, Xolotl was tasked with guiding the Sun through the land of the dead every night until it rose again each morning.

Furthermore, Xolotl was known to represent transformation, as evidenced by his own ability to change into various forms, including the maize plant and, as his name suggests, the axolotl. He also served as a psychopomp, guiding the souls of the deceased through the nine levels of Mictlan, the Aztec Underworld. What’s more, his role in Mictlan also helped lead to the creation of humanity.

Xolotl’s Role In The Aztec Creation Myth
While the four Aztec creator gods were brothers Quetzalcoatl, Xipe Totec, Huitzilopochtli, and Tezcatlipoca, Xolotl also played an important role in the culture’s creation myth.

The legend tells of the “Five Suns,” or five cycles of creation, destruction, and rebirth that some ancient Mesoamericans believed the universe experienced. Xolotl’s story comes in during the creation of the Fifth Sun, which is the current era of humanity.



While there are several versions of the myth, one interpretation tells how Xolotl and Quetzalcoatl traveled to Mictlan at the end of the Fourth Sun to retrieve the bones of past generations and form them into new people.

They faced numerous challenges set by Mictlantecuhtli, the lord of the Underworld, but they eventually secured the bones. Quetzalcoatl then ground them and mixed them with his own blood, giving birth to the humans of the Fifth Sun.

Meanwhile, the new Sun remained still. The gods soon realized that additional sacrifices would be necessary to set the Sun in motion and sustain its journey across the heavens. Some versions of the creation myth tell how the gods realized they would have to die for the advancement of humanity, and they tasked Xolotl with killing them before taking his own life.



Xolotl, however, was reluctant to face death. After slaying the other deities, he attempted to flee. He transformed himself into a maize plant and a salamander known as an axolotl to hide, but the wind god Ehecatl ultimately found him and killed him.

Other iterations of the tale state that Xolotl was so sad after killing the other gods that he cried until his eyes fell out of their sockets. This is why he was often depicted with empty eyes in Aztec art.

Ultimately, the sacrifice of the deities set the Sun in motion, and their sacrifices were, in turn, rewarded by various human sacrifices in their honor ever after.


Xolotl ultimately came to be venerated as the god of fire and lightning, but the duality of his nature was not lost on the Aztec people who worshipped him. Offerings made in his honor included food, incense, and, in some instances, animal sacrifices. All of these were meant to appease Xolotl, ensuring his guidance and protection, particularly in matters related to death and the afterlife.

There were several festivals and celebrations held in Xolotl’s honor, the most notable of which was Hueymiccaihuitl, or the Great Feast of the Dead. The festival occurred during the 10th month of the Aztec calendar and was dedicated to honoring deceased ancestors. It involved rituals that acknowledged Xolotl’s role as a guide for souls to the Underworld.

During the festival, families presented food, flowers, and other goods to honor their departed loved ones, asking for Xolotl’s assistance in helping the souls of the deceased find their way to Mictlan safely. They also lit bonfires that were meant to symbolize light guiding souls through the darkness of the Underworld — which, of course, also represented Xolotl’s nature as a god of fire.


Ultimately, however, it is impossible to discuss Xolotl without mentioning Quetzalcoatl. While referenced as separate gods in modern writing, the two were inseparably worshipped, each representing the twin phases of Venus. They were two sides of the same coin — distinct gods, but each one half of a greater entity.

The relationship between these two deities is representative of the larger context of Aztec mythology. Throughout Aztec myths, duality, transformation, and an interconnectedness between life and death are common motifs, and they are perhaps no better illustrated than by the stories of Quetzalcoatl and Xolotl.

https://allthatsinteresting.com/xolotl

Quote:The transcript explores the rapid development of AI-powered robots like robotic dogs, humanoids, and drones, highlighting their potential to revolutionize warfare and reshape global power dynamics. It delves into advancements in China and the USA, focusing on autonomous machines’ mass production, their military applications, and the risks of unregulated AI technologies escalating into global conflict. With chilling examples of "killer robots" and the AI arms race, it paints a picture of a future where technology outpaces human control, posing both opportunities and existential threats. Key Topics:

• The rapid rise of AI-powered robots like robotic dogs, humanoids, and drones
  
• China's and the USA's advancements in military robotics and autonomous warfare technologies
  
• Real-world examples of "killer robots," mass production, and their implications for global security
  

What You’ll Learn:

• How AI-driven robots are transforming modern warfare and industrial applications
  
• The role of autonomous machines in reshaping power dynamics between nations
  
• Why these advancements could pose both groundbreaking opportunities and existential threats
  

Why It Matters: This video examines the chilling advancements in AI robotics, exploring their potential to revolutionize industries, redefine warfare, and challenge humanity’s ability to control these powerful technologies. DISCLAIMER: This video highlights the latest developments in AI-powered robotics, focusing on their applications, risks, and global impact on society and security.

to miss the Advertisement skip to 4:00

Quote:Radiation and Rapid Evolution | The Wolves of Chernobyl Reveal Human Potential Scientists discovered something impossible in Chernobyl's radioactive ruins - life is thriving where nothing should survive. Animals aren't just living in lethal radiation zones, they're evolving faster than nature should allow. From Chernobyl to Bikini Atoll, creatures are activating ancient genetic sequences designed to process radiation. These same genes appear in human DNA, raising profound questions about our own origins. The implications stretch from Earth's ancient past to humanity's future among the stars. What we're learning about life in Earth's most radioactive places is changing our understanding of human potential.

Quote:President of MSNBC Suddenly Resigns

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Mother of 4 Found Dead in Dumpster
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Ambulette Driver Found Beaten to Death in Vehicle


Rashida Jones, the president of MSNBC, has announced her immediate resignation. This comes as the network faces the most significant ratings dip in its history, and a forthcoming corporate restructure will separate the channel from NBCUniversal.
“After four incredible years at the helm of MSNBC and 11 years at NBCU, I have made the decision to pursue new opportunities,” Jones penned in a memo to staff. 
The network has been experiencing a remarkable loss of viewers. MSNBC’s primetime programming, which attracted an average of 1.8 million viewers in October 2024, has seen its audience numbers fall to just 808,000 viewers since election night. This represents a 54% decline. The network’s daytime performance is also struggling, with a 16% fall in total day viewers and a significant 57% decline in the important 25-54 age demographic that is highly sought after by advertisers. 
Several major programs on the network have reached record-low viewership. “Alex Wagner Tonight,” “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” “Chris Jansing Reports,” “Deadline: White House” with Nicolle Wallace, “José Díaz-Balart Reports,” Joy Reid’s “The ReidOut” and “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” all reported their smallest audiences of the year. “All In with Chris Hayes” marked its lowest viewership since May 10, 2016. 
As Comcast gets ready to split its cable assets into a new publicly traded company known as “SpinCo,” this leadership transition is crucial. The restructuring might compel MSNBC to leave its longtime home at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. Rebecca Kutler, a former CNN executive and present senior vice president of content strategy, will take over as interim president. 
Mark Lazarus, who is slated to head the newly separated company, commended Jones’ tenure in a staff memo, stating that she had “expertly navigated MSNBC through a years-long, unrelenting and unprecedented news cycle.” 
In an attempt to address the ratings issue, the network has unveiled significant programming changes. Rachel Maddow, whose show averaged 2.5 million viewers in 2024, will temporarily return to a five-day-per-week schedule during the first 100 days of the incoming administration. Alex Wagner, whose show recently recorded its lowest ratings since its 2022 debut, will switch to special assignments during this time.
The comparison with competitor Fox News is striking. While MSNBC’s total audience has shrunk by 46% compared to early 2024, Fox News has claimed 70% of the cable news audience and experienced a 58% rise in primetime viewership compared to 2024 averages. The network’s viewership increased by 61% following election night, while MSNBC lost 26% of its year-to-date totals. 
Increasing viewer discontent has become more evident. Sharon Waxman, founder and CEO of TheWrap and a longtime MSNBC viewer, expressed her disappointment with the network’s declining appeal candidly.
The drop mirrors a similar decline after Trump’s 2016 victory but is now intensified by growing consumer distrust in traditional news outlets and an ongoing move away from cable TV subscriptions. 
During Jones’ tenure, MSNBC had its moments of victory. Under her guidance, MSNBC surpassed CNN to become the second-most-watched news channel and scored its first-ever election night ratings triumph over CNN. However, industry analysts suggest the election night success might have been an anomaly, with viewers tuning in specifically for the network’s event coverage. 
Multiple factors contribute to MSNBC’s losses. Johanna Dunaway, a political science professor at Syracuse University, said that partisan viewers tend to disengage when the opposing side experiences postelection euphoria.
This trend isn’t unique to MSNBC. CNN, another left-leaning network, reported a 46.7% drop in primetime viewers, while Fox News saw its audience expand.
This decline also underlines a broader shift in how Americans access news. Streaming platforms, on-demand podcasts, and digital-first outlets are becoming more popular. MSNBC is not only struggling to keep its core audience but also competing with these newer platforms. This shift highlights what Jones termed an “existential crisis” for traditional cable news.
MSNBC’s future is fraught with challenges. Besides the falling cable subscriptions impacting all networks, MSNBC must navigate its new corporate structure while trying to rebuild its audience. Despite Lazarus confirming that the network will retain its name after the spin-off, its previous average of 1.22 million viewers in primetime during 2024 has significantly dwindled. 

Just for fun.  

The Village people did their YMCA song and dance at Trump's victory rally.

The cowboy was missing his six shooters.

Construction guy was sans his nail gun.

Police guy was unarmed.

Chief has misplaced his tomahawk.

Army guy was missing arms.

The last one (never knew what he was ) is unarmed.

Good security!

lol

P

Quote:THE PHENOMENON OF THE UNMARKED SHIPPING CONTAINERS

January 17, 2025 / Joseph P. Farrell

A number of you spotted this story during the Christmas-New Year's holdays, and sent it to me, and I have to admit, I'm quite intrigued by the story, so thank you to all of you who did so.

The story itself is simple enough, but fraught with all sorts of "high octane implications", a few of which I want to explore today. The "simple story" itself concerns the fact that many shipping containers that pile up at American ports (and therefore, presumably, at ports in other nations), simply have no container or manifest numbers, or if they do, they are quickly erased. Here's the story:

Quote:The Mystery of Unmarked Shipping Containers at America’s Ports

Notice, however, that according to the article, these containers and the attempts to investigate them fall into a pattern:

Quote:Ports run like clockwork. Every container has a code. Every shipment has paperwork. Every move is logged. The entire system is designed to keep track of goods moving through.


But for months, workers have been spotting containers that somehow slip through the cracks. These containers don’t follow standard patterns. They weigh more than they should. Their paperwork marks them as empty, yet their movement suggests otherwise.

What’s more, equipment around these containers often fails without explanation—scales, temperature sensors, GPS systems, and even phones mysteriously stop working. And then there’s the security. Teams that no one recognizes show up, handle the containers, and vanish. No uniforms. No markings. Just quick, efficient work like they’ve done this a hundred times before.

All of this began, according to the article, with a port worker at Long Beach noticing an odd container with an odd number:

Quote:Two months ago, a veteran customs inspector at Long Beach saw something so odd, he couldn’t let it go. A container with the number KZU 7793554 had a format different from any he’d seen in 15 years. Standard containers have four letters and seven numbers. This one had eight numbers.

The paperwork said it was empty, but the scale told a different story—27,000 pounds instead of the 5,000 pounds typical of empty containers. When he tried to flag it in the system, his entire computer crashed. By the time systems rebooted, the container was gone—moved in minutes by a crew and equipment no one recognized.

The next day, it was as if the container never existed. Its spot on the shipping manifest had been replaced. Security footage of those 20 minutes? Blank.

The inspector started watching, and he saw more of these containers. Same odd number formats. Always heavier than they should be. Always “empty.” Always moved by unfamiliar crews.

One night, he got close enough to hear something coming from inside. It wasn’t machinery. It wasn’t cargo shifting. It was… something else.

With that, we come to a first high octane speculation, because in this instance the "shifting contents" of the mysterious container suggests some thing, or some things, that is or are alive: wild animals, perhaps even some unknown species, or perhaps a laboratory "creation", or perhaps even smuggled human or animal cargoes.  Indeed, toward the end of the article, an incident is alleged that included a strange living creature:

Quote:Most refrigerated containers don’t go below -20°C. This one read -80°C—impossible. Its equipment wasn’t standard, and it drew massive amounts of power for unknown purposes.


A reinforced viewing panel caught his attention, and despite his better judgment, he looked inside. Behind the frosted glass, a massive shape moved, deliberate and fluid. It seemed to shift as though it couldn’t decide if it wanted to be solid or liquid.

When its eyes turned toward him, they didn’t just reflect his light—they absorbed it. Then the sound came: a deep, bone-rattling thrum that felt alive. The worker backed away, only to find himself confronted by men in Hazmat gear. They questioned him for hours, forced him to sign non-disclosure agreements, and transferred him to a different job the next day.

Yet another incident involved yet another strange creature:

Quote:Sometimes, damaged containers need inspection. One night, a night shift worker approached a cracked container. What he found inside still haunts him.

Through the crack, he saw movement. At first, he thought it was shadows. Then, he realized: it was massive, at least seven feet tall. Its skin looked alive, neither fur nor scales, shifting like liquid adapting to the darkness. Its eyes? Too large and too aware, reflecting light like an animal’s but with an intelligence he could feel.

Then came the smell. Like ozone and wet dirt but with an unnatural sting. His flashlight flickered off. His phone died. And the sound—it was a low vibration, almost like a growl, at a pitch that rattled his teeth.

Within minutes, men in unmarked uniforms arrived. They labeled it a chemical leak, cleared the area, and moved the container using specialized equipment. The next day? No record of damage. No sign anything had happened at all.

The article continues with more repetitions of the pattern of a mysterious container, failing equipment, and mysterious "dock crews" showing up:

Quote:A crane operator with 20 years of experience shared his own unsettling encounter. He could lift almost any container blindfolded—it was part of the job to “sense” how containers move. But three months ago, he came across one that didn’t feel right.

The container, KZU 77951 Z2, was marked empty. But when he lifted it, his instruments failed. The weight sensor went dead. His radio stopped working. Even the container itself swayed unnaturally, like something inside was moving deliberately.

And the strangest part? The panels on the side of the container. They weren’t standard cooling panels but something far more advanced. When he got close, he heard a humming sound that made his teeth hurt. His attempts to document the oddities failed—his phone shut off, and the photos he’d previously taken turned to blank screens.

Thus the pattern is always the same:

Quote:The evidence is overwhelming. Mysterious containers marked as empty but far too heavy. Equipment malfunctions that seem intentional. Security teams who appear, handle the situation, and leave without a trace.

Needless to say, I find the story fascinating, because it itself implies that something - an exotic life form or life forms of some sort - is being moved by such a system. But moved from where, to where, and by whom, and for what purpose? We don't know. But the story is an indicator that some sort of global system is in place for moving - and monitoring - clandestine shipments, which could be used for anything: smuggling human cargo for whatever nefarious purpose, from sex rings, to slavery, organ harvesting, you name it; to smuggling other kinds of cargo, from technologies to artifacts. The possibilities are virtually limitless, and may even include the covert smuggling of nuclear weapons or dirty bombs.

Oddly enough, the article contains a few clues in the container numbers it alleges to be involved, and that detail is suspicious enough. Whence did the numbers come to its author? By what route? why were these very specific details included in an article otherwise of a more general nature?

It is  as if someone is trying to say: "Look here."

So... I looked...

Or rather, glanced, because I obviously did not and do not have time to investigate the claims more fully, nor do I have the financial resources to do so. But my glance did turn up something rather interesting, if not completely unexpected. The container numbers mentioned in the article began with the letters "KZU". I did q quick internet search, and discovered that these letters were the letters assigned to a Turkish air cargo company based in Istanbul called "Kuzu Cargo Airlines":

https://airlinehistory.co.uk/airline/kuz...-airlines/

As that website notes:

Quote: ULS Airlines Cargo was established and started operations in Jun2004 as Baron Air Cargo. Renamed to Kuzu Cargo Airlines in Oct2004 and was rebranded to current name on 03/Jul/2009 after it has been taken over by ULS Group, a New York based shipping and logistics company

with Kuzu Cargo Arilines being an

international cargo airline headquartered in Istanbul with its main base is Istanbul Atatürk Airport.

My attempts to follow these clues on the internet led to more or less of a complete dead end. Searching for "Baron Air Cargo" led to "Baron Aviation" a small air cargo company based in Missouri, and not New York, as claimed by the website. And ULS is simply the rebranded Kuzu Cargo Airlines with its own website: https://airlinehistory.co.uk/airline/kuz...-airlines/

In any case, we are looking are cargo air services, and not at oceanic shipping, unless the article is trying to suggest some weird connection between the two, and with Turkey.

The basic core of my high octane speculations, however, remains: there is something going on at the world's ports: some thing or some things are being smuggled, and smuggling operations of that scale require an infrastructure and monitoring, and the probable connivance of port (and airport) authorities and the complicity of cargo and shipping companies.

In short, we're perhaps at the very beginnings of a mystery and a story here that would seem to bear some watching...