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Like something out of a scene from a famous movie, a ship sailing into a Russian port after an ordeal at sea caught the attention of onlookers -- and its valuable frozen freight was unrecognizable thanks to all the ice.

The Port of Los Angeles has announced plans to begin charging ocean carriers a dwell fee for empty containers lingering in marine terminals to combat congestion, adding pressure for carriers to pick up empties for transport back to Asia. The fee will be similar to the import container dwell fee announced in late October, which has yet to be implemented. The new empty fee is still subject to approval by the Los Angeles Harbor Commission and would take effect on January 30, 2022, at the discretion of the Executive Director.

On the way to Loma Linda VA today we observed what had to have been at least a one mile back up of cars parked to the curb in a queue that was over a mile long awaiting access to Moreno Valley Kaiser Permanente. I guessed at the time it must be something to do with Covid 19. We took care of business in Loma Linda, and took the same route back home passing the Kaiser facility once again. The line was no shorter then than it had been on the way to Loma Linda. About two hours between passings....

U.S. Navy ships this week seized approximately 1,400 AK-47 assault rifles and 226,600 rounds of ammunition from a stateless fishing vessel during a flag verification boarding in the North Arabian Sea on December 20, the Navy’s 5th Fleet said in a statement. The U.S. Navy patrol coastal ships, USS Tempest (PC 2) and USS Typhoon (PC 5), found the weapons during a search conducted by embarked U.S. Coast Guard personnel in accordance with customary international law. The illicit weapons and ammunition were later transported to guided-missile destroyer USS O’Kane (DDG 77) where they await final disposition.

Thank you to all who sent their prayers previously to another thread awhile ago. I have now been diagnosed after a year as having stage four cancer. The Oncologist we visited today has decided to attack the lungs with Chemo Therapy, which will begin in two weeks. He said it doesn't look good, but maybe will slow this aggressive cancer enough to get me through my 75th birthday coming up one month after Christmas. We shall see. Thanks again everyone for your kind thoughts, and prayers. We appreciate them. Prayers are powerful medicine. RQSR

Prayer Request: RQSR is in deep doo doo. The Cardio at the VA, GOD Bless them fixed my fluttering Heart problem several weeks ago, and am taking follow-up medication (Blood thinners), and other meds at this time, but I am down to one lung, and some other suspicious characters are involved with my Liver according to the PET Scan. Currently on Oxygen round the clock. The BEST medicine in the World is Prayers. Please, I need them more than anything. My friend from the old days at another site years ago has me on several prayer lists. I need to...

Is that Demo-Mouse I am hearing? The sound of teeth munching/shredding our Constitution, our traditions like a subtle background sound is what I believe I'm hearing. It's like a mild form of Tinnitus. I'm almost certain it's Demo-Mouse busily working to demolish our beautiful system of governance while Demo-Mouce's Cousin Speculation-Mouse, and lying-Mouse loudly smother as much of the sounds as they can so the Demo-Mice can do as much damage as possible before we all wake up, see what's going on, and sound the alarm. Demo-Mice are all too clever to be caught in cheesy traps.

Happening now. Don't know any more at this time.

A thick sludge of crude oil has been washing up on vast stretches of Brazil’s coast for nearly two months, and authorities and experts have been baffled by its origin.

The CIA, NSA, DNI and FBI were compromised. It was actually these corrupt pieces of the U.S. apparatus of State that led the coup and solicited foreign nations to play a role, so this was a wise—but completely unexpected – move by Trump. That’s his specialty, and that is what will save him.

A storm will strengthen rapidly and bring a dose of drenching rain, high winds and even some high-elevation snow to the northeastern United States into Thursday. The latest indications are the storm will strengthen at a fast enough pace into Thursday to be classified as a bomb cyclone. The barometric pressure has to fall at least 24 millibars, or 0.71 of an inch of Mercury, in 24 hours for the bomb cyclone criteria to be met.

The White House is warning Chinese shipping companies against turning off their ships’ transponders to hide Iranian oil shipments in violation of U.S. sanctions, two senior administration officials said. “We’ve been messaging very heavily to the shipping companies, you don’t want to do this, it’s not worth it,” said one official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. “It’s incredibly dangerous and irresponsible behavior.”

Norwegian authorities are warning shipowners and operators about the dangers associated with lithium-ion battery systems after a fire and subsequent gas explosion on board a diesel-electric ferry in Norway.

Trauma creeps up on you when you are distracted. Someone bends down to pick up a piece of paper that fell on the floor of the MTR train carriage, and even if your eyes are on your phone, you catch that movement with your peripheral vision, and your heart skips a beat. The images come back unsolicited, and play in the inscrutable theatre of one’s brain: people begging to be spared, kneeling in that same metallic, silvery doorway, crying for help and mercy. Police officers don’t care: they storm the train, they beat people they suspect of being protesters with...

The ability to deploy twenty-three ships in five days, including four that had been identified in March 2019 as “Not Mission Capable,” is a questionable achievement. The ships that sailed on Saturday can transport 3.3 million square feet of cargo, 24 barges, 7,000 containers, and provide a repair base for a Marine Corps aviation wing. However, the successful departures do not mean all is well with the surge sealift fleet. It is not definitively known what caused the delays or how the ships performed once clear of the sea buoys.

The U.S. Department of Defense has ordered a large-scale turbo activation of ships in the U.S. Maritime Administration’s (MARAD) Ready Reserve Force fleet. The turbo activation is part of a large-scale activation exercise ordered by the U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) on September 16. The activation calls for a total of 28 RRF fleet vessels to transition from reduced operating status to fully crewed and full operating status within 5-days. Activations are commonly followed by immediate sea trials.

I can't find anything on it yet other than it registered initially at 3.9 apparently at USGS. Will probably see some updates around later. Wife, and I were having lunch at 1:20 P.M. when we heard "THE SOUND" we hear often before the quake hits us. "THE SOUND" the quake makes traveling towards us, and then the inevitable WHAM, JUMP, SHAKE, and the "THE SOUND" as the quake moves on to surprise more unsuspecting luncheoneers across its path in Southern California. No damage. Just shook us up in the middle of egg salad sandwiches, and potato salad. Glad it wasn't...

"U.S. Army Maritime capabilities will be radically reduced this year as the service deactivates and divests itself of numerous vessels, watercraft equipment, watercraft systems, Soldiers, and Units. At least eighteen (18) of its 35 Landing Craft Utility (LCU) will be sold off or transferred to the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office (DRMO). Landing Craft Utility (LCU), a versatile 174- foot landing craft capable of carrying 500 tons of cargo, personnel and containers, is the workhorse of the Army Watercraft field."

About 35 minutes into the video Maria calls out a lying Democrat. Great to see she minced no words.

Police said they were dealing with a complex situation on board the vessel. A spokesman for Grimaldi Lines, which runs the Grande Tema cargo ship, said four stowaways had threatened the ship’s staff.