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Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Opinion        Politix   
Police Confirm Multiple Suicide Bombings in Borno, As Death Toll Rises
Today's Headlines
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Page 6: Politix
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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Colorado arms K-9 units with life-saving opioid antidote
[FoxNews] Colorado law enforcement agents across the state were outfitted with 4,000 kits of Narcan on Wednesday amid an uptick in the amount of K-9 units exposed to dangerous opioids while on the job. The move follows similar programs implemented by officers in Wisconsin and other states.

“Criminals out there transporting narcotics are getting creative,” Sgt. Keith Sanders, a K-9 handler with the Montrose County Sheriff’s Office, told FOX 31 Denver. “They’re coming up with different ways to throw the dogs off, poison the dogs.”
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Beast: Heroin Overdose Antidote Now Costs Double
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/19/2017 10:44 Comments || Top||


Meteor rattles West Texas with sonic boom
[FoxNews] A very bright meteor over West Texas last weekend prompted emergency phone calls over a possible explosion.
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  One over northern Finland as well.
Posted by: phil_b || 11/19/2017 5:09 Comments || Top||


Argentina missing navy submarine: Search stepped up
[BBC] The Argentine navy is stepping up its search in the South Atlantic for a 44-crew submarine that has been out of radio contact for three days.

President Mauricio Macri said all national and international resources were being deployed to help find the San Juan as quickly as possible.

A Nasa research plane has joined the search for the vessel.

Britain and countries in the region have offered help after it disappeared 430km (267 miles) off the coast.

"We have not been able to find, or have visual or radar communication with the submarine," navy spokesman Enrique Balbi told a news conference.

The diesel-electric submarine was returning from a routine mission to Ushuaia, near the southern-most tip of South America, to its base at Mar del Plata, south of Buenos Aires.

Its last contact with the navy command was on Wednesday morning.
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The diesel-electric submarine was returning from a routine mission to Ushuaia, near the southern-most tip of South America, to its base at Mar del Plata, south of Buenos Aires.


Routine mission >2000nm round trip with no tenders or bunker support? Moving the Nazi gold or something more precious hidden from orbital eyes.
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/19/2017 10:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Looks like a standard patrol: North Base > Probe Falklands Malvinas Zone > South Base > Rinse & Repeat. Give the sub force experience in the war zone if they ever want to grab the Falklands...
Posted by: magpie || 11/19/2017 12:54 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Thinni government approves funding for 4th evaporator at Tobruk desalination plant
[Libya Herald] Plans dating back to 2013 to boost the water supply in Tobruk with the installation of a fourth evaporator at the town’s desalination plant are back on track with the Beida-based interim government of Abdullah Thinni approving a LD 29-million letter of credit (L/C) for international water technology company VA Tech Wabag.

The contract for a fourth evaporator was given in 2013, but the political crisis prevented it from being implemented.

According to CEO of the Austrian branch of Wabag, Mahmut Gedek, the fourth evaporator will have nothing to do with the existing plant which was built by La Belle France’s SIDEM between 1997 and 2000. It has seen a significant reduction in output because of maintenance problems since the revolution. The new evaporator, with a production capacity of 13,333 cubic metres of water a day, will have its own new seawater intake.

Once the L/C is issued, Wabag says that the work should take no more than 18 months.

Posted by: Fred || 11/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Africa Subsaharan
'We are president, not monarchs,' Khama tells Mugabe
[Al Jazeera] Ian Khama, the president of Botswana, has urged Mugabe to step down, saying the Zimbabwean leader has no regional diplomatic support.

"I don't think anyone should be president for that amount of time," Khama told Reuters news agency, referring to Mugabe's 37 years in power.

"We are presidents. We are not monarchs. It's just common sense," added Khama.
Posted by: Fred || 11/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ah, but so many Presidents for Life(tm)
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/19/2017 8:45 Comments || Top||

#2  All people of color, rejoice!
Your strongman's in favor of choice!
He'll stand right beside you
To cheerfully guide you,
Ensure you're not lied to
And help you decide, too...
And when you are due -- whew! --
He'll ditch you and ride...
To the polls in his armoured Rolls-Royce.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 11/19/2017 16:38 Comments || Top||

#3  Whew, indeed. Taking a galloping poetic license with your poetic license, Zenobia F. :-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/19/2017 19:03 Comments || Top||


Now ruling Zanu-PF wants Mugabe gone -party source
[THEEASTAFRICAN.CO.KE] Leaders of Zim-bob-wean President Bob Muggsy Mugabe
Nonagenarian President-for-Life of Zim-bob-we who turned the former Breadbasket of Africa into the African Basket Case...
’s party are making plans to force him from office if the 93-year-old leader resists pressure from the army to quit, a senior party source said on Friday.

The self-styled grand old man of African politics, the only leader Zim-bob-we has known since independence in 1980, insists he is still in charge. But the source, a senior member of Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party, made clear the party wanted him gone.

"If he becomes stubborn, we will arrange for him to be fired on Sunday," the source said. "When that is done, it’s impeachment on Tuesday."

Zim-bob-we’s official newspaper, the Herald, ran photographs late on Thursday that showed a grinning Mugabe shaking hands with military chief General Constantino Chiwenga, who seized power this week.

That suggested Mugabe was managing to hold out against Chiwenga’s coup, with some political sources saying he was trying to delay his departure until elections scheduled for next year.

Dismissal plan
The Zanu-PF source said that was not the case. Anxious to avoid a protracted stalemate, party leaders were drawing up plans to dismiss Mugabe at the weekend if he refused to quit, the source said.

"There is no going back," the source told Rooters. "It’s like a match delayed by heavy rain, with the home side leading 90-0 in the 89th minute."

Mugabe’s options look limited. The army is camped on his doorstep. His wife, Grace, is under house arrest, and her key political allies are in military custody. The police, once a bastion of support, have showed no signs of resistance.

Furthermore, he has little popular backing in the capital, a hotbed of support for the opposition, which has tapped into the anger and frustration at his handling of the economy, which collapsed after the seizure of white-owned farms in 2000.

Unemployment is now running at nearly 90 per cent. Chronic shortages of hard currency are driving up the price of imports as much as 50 per cent a month.

'People of Zim'
On social media, Zim-bob-weans circulated a spoof message to Chiwenga demonstrating the depth of anger at Mugabe.

"If Mugabe refuses to resign, let the army take him to First Street and leave him there. People of Zim will negotiate with him," the message read.

In a statement broadcast on national television, the military said it was "engaging" with Mugabe and would announce an outcome as soon as possible.

Posted by: Fred || 11/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Robert Mugabe breaks down in tears as he's given until noon on Monday to step down: Dictator cries for his FIRST wife and dead son after being replaced by 'The Crocodile' as head of party
Posted by: Frank G || 11/19/2017 10:19 Comments || Top||

#2  On a hunger strike, because he's 93 and in great health


*snort*
Posted by: Frank G || 11/19/2017 10:19 Comments || Top||

#3  hunger strike?

So he's on the standard prol Zim Diet plan.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/19/2017 10:51 Comments || Top||

#4  I never thought I'd see this day. I thought Mugabe would live to be 115 and still be in power.

Of course, the new guy doesn't look much better, but I really thought Mugabe had it made.
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 || 11/19/2017 13:56 Comments || Top||

#5  Is there any guy in all of Africa that would look better, Herb?
Posted by: AlanC || 11/19/2017 14:33 Comments || Top||

#6  What about the farms? Asking for a former white owner.
Posted by: bbrewer126 || 11/19/2017 16:02 Comments || Top||


Gambians enjoy new freedoms
[THEEASTAFRICAN.CO.KE] At Banjul International Airport, there are three jets on the runway inscribed Republic of The Gambia
... The Gambia is actually surrounded by Senegal on all sides but its west coast. It has a population of about 1.7 million. The difference between the two is that in colonial days Senegal was ruled by La Belle France and The Gambia (so-called because there's only one of it, unlike Guinea, of which there are the Republic of Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, New Guinea, the English coin in circulation between 1663 and 1813, and Guyana, which sounds like it should be another one) was ruled by Britain...
They are part of four aeroplanes that were a symbol of former president Yahya Jammeh’s 22-year autocratic rule over the impoverished small West African nation.

An airport official said that the 54-year-old former leader had wanted to leave the country with the jets after he was ousted from power in the December 2016 election.

However,
by candlelight every wench is handsome...
his successor, President Adama Barrow, made sure the jets were impounded.

"He wanted to take the planes because he had personalised them. They were for him and his family. Everything belonged to him," the airport official said.

The seemingly new and well-maintained jets are a stark contrast to the dilapidated Banjul airport at which they are parked. The government has said it will sell off the jets.

As we line up in the humid heat waiting for our entry visas, I notice that Banjul Airport has rickety fans that seem like they will fall off the ceiling any minute.

Passengers and the hospitable immigration officials sweat away in the heat. Paint is peeling off the walls and everything, from the conveyor belt to the partitioning, looks old and outdated.

A drive into Banjul ushers you into the reality of what Jammeh’s rule was like ‐poor infrastructure and planning, poverty, unemployment and underdevelopment. Youth and women line the streets hawking merchandise and fruits.

The capital’s streets are dirty and there is no proper drainage. Cows and donkeys are a common sight alongside piles of fresh watermelons and garbage.

When we arrive at the hotel in Brufut, which is a few kilometres outside Banjul, we are told that the 5-star facility was previously owned by Jammeh, like most of the other important facilities in Banjul. The current government is trying to repossess the properties and businesses or put them under the ownership of the government.

Our hotel, the Gambia Coral Beach Hotel, in Brufut Heights, Serrekunda, sits on the pristine, palm tree-dotted beaches of the Atlantic Ocean in Brufut. It had been grabbed by Jammeh from Sheraton, along with another hotel, Coco Beach.

"He owned everything. Every big establishment was his," said Bubacar Ndow, our tour guide as we drove around Serrekunda, a sprawling urban centre at the coast.

Gambians had been ruled by Jammeh for 22 years; he had killed, imprisoned or exiled his political opponents. Now, under President Barrow, citizens say they have the freedom to air their views.

"We believe he will deliver on the political and economic reforms. We are optimistic. He still needs time, but most importantly we can speak our minds and do what we want. That freedom is what we needed," said Pa Bojang, an army veteran who was our security guard and tour guide.

The newspaper headlines tell of former Jammeh officials facing a commission of inquiry on alleged corruption and illegal dealings.

As we move around the busy Serrekunda market under the scorching sun, sifting through piles of goods, mainly imitations from China, an Economic Community of West African States patrol car with gunnies drives by slowly, perhaps to reassure Gambians that Jammeh is now history.

Many still feel the former president, currently in exile in Equatorial Guinea, should be extradited and charged in court or shipped to the International Criminal Court to face charges of crimes against humanity.

"He denied us every right, including education," said Housna Saine, a 24-year old who sells sim cards and airtime along the Serrekunda market road.

Posted by: Fred || 11/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  When we arrive at the hotel in Brufut, which is a few kilometres outside Banjul, we are told that the 5-star facility was previously owned by Jammeh, like most of the other important facilities in Banjul. The current government is trying to repossess the properties and businesses or put them under the ownership of the government.

Enough said
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/19/2017 12:43 Comments || Top||


The Tricky Business of Removing Robert Gabriel Mugabe
[All Africa] The military on Friday changed tack in its determination to remove Zim-bob-we President Bob Muggsy Mugabe
Nonagenarian President-for-Life of Zim-bob-we who turned the former Breadbasket of Africa into the African Basket Case...
from office after he firmly resisted any deal that would prematurely end his leadership of the ruling Zanu-PF party and the country.

During discussions with takeover leader General Constantino Chiwenga brokered by South Africa and Botswana, President Mugabe said he would only agree to a transition plan hinged on the country's Constitution.

In short, he would not leave the chairmanship of Zanu-PF until the party's congress next month or the presidency before elections expected to be held in July or August next year.

Impeachment
With Gen Chiwenga and the army still beholden to President Mugabe as commander-in-chief -- and keen not to lose international support if they took power by force -- the generals have now resorted to a political and legally binding solution that will see the President's support within the party weakened from the grassroots before an impeachment in parliament this week.

"War veterans are the game-changers. The military is there to uphold the Constitution," war veterans leader Christopher Mutsvangwa told journalists in Harare. "We want the grand show of people's power."

Mr Mutsvangwa said if President Mugabe did not resign, the former fighters would "settle scores" at a rally planned for Saturday.

Zim-bob-we's generals are now pursuing a political route to push President Mugabe out within a week of putting him under house arrest.

Away from the capital Harare, Zanu-PF has convened provincial meetings to elect new officials and called a Central Committee meeting, on the orders of the military.

"President Mugabe was stage-managing rallies with his wife," Mr Mutsvangwa said, explaining why the party meetings will be different this time.

A Zanu-PF Central Committee meeting is now scheduled for Sunday, where President Mugabe and his wife will be expelled from the party he helped establish in 1963.

Sacked vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is believed to be the brains behind the army takeover, will be made party president, just a fortnight after the same Zanu-PF structures were being railroaded to pass a vote of no confidence against him.

Days earlier, President Mugabe had fired his long-time lieutenant for "disloyalty and deceit."

Posted by: Fred || 11/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What's tricky about it? Shoot the bastard. Hanging's good too.
Posted by: Barbara || 11/19/2017 17:22 Comments || Top||


Thousands Mass Into Harare Against Mugabe
[All Africa] BLACKS, whites, the old and the young have all came together in Harare this Saturday morning braving the chill weather and speaking one language - President Bob Muggsy Mugabe
Nonagenarian President-for-Life of Zim-bob-we who turned the former Breadbasket of Africa into the African Basket Case...
must go.

Buses and lorries provided by well-wishers were ferrying people from all over the country to the venue of the planned mass rally against the country's 93-year-old ruler.

Mugabe remains under house arrest after Wednesday's takeover of power by the military, reportedly refusing to step down.

Hugs between whites and blacks, which are rarely seen in public, were the order of the morning in the central business district as thousands of Zim-bob-weans joined hands in solidarity with the military for taking over government.

They held placards reading 'Bob's not my uncle', 'No to Mugabe dynasty', 'Make love not war', 'Zim-bob-we army the voice of the people', 'ZANU PF recall back Mugabe', 'SADC, AU stay out of Zim-bob-we Affairs', 'This is the Zim-bob-we we want', 'Selfless not selfish government'.

Some held pictures of defence forces commander General Constantino Chiwenga and ousted Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Others were thanking God for the army and for honouring them with the profession of activism.

And, unlike in the past when the presence of the army on the streets meant that protestors had to run for their lives, this time soldiers are being celebrated while they smile and wave at the demonstrators.

Protest group #ThisFlag appears to be at the centre of the march with nearly a quarter of participants waving the national flag in a show of love for their country and defiance to their oppressors.

Participants believe the battle against the Mugabe regime is already won despite the military having not issued a public statement on how the stand-off with the veteran leader will be resolved.

Mugabe is reportedly resisting pressure from the military generals to step down but matters have now been escalated with his own Zanu PF party declaring no confidence in his leadership and demanding that he leaves office.

Posted by: Fred || 11/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Spanish PM calls 'bodies on the streets' threats a lie
[RUDAW.NET] Alleged comments by Spanish government officials of leaving "bodies on the streets" are "intolerable" claims by officials in Catalonia, expressed Madrid.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dismissed comments on Friday from Catalan leftist politician Marta Rovira who claimed Spanish government sources had threatened to send troops into Catalonia if the region continues its independence push.

Rajoy said the claim of "bodies on the streets" was "an enormous lie" and "shameful."

He said that "in life, not everything goes," and that while people may defend their stances as they wish, this was "intolerable."

The people of Catalonia voted in favor of seceding from Spain on October 1. The binding referendum was approved by the parliament and independence was declared on October 27.

Madrid responded by dissolving the regional government and scheduling snap elections for December 21.

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and his ministers were stripped of their posts by the central government in Madrid.

Puigdemont and four ministers fled to Brussels and were nabbed
Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
by Belgian officials. They now await an extradition court hearing scheduled for December 4.

The judge in the case heard jail conditions where Puigdemont would be held in Spain.

Spain’s Interior Ministry confirmed that it had sent a document answering 14 questions sent by the prosecutor, regarding cell conditions, security guarantees, recreation, hygiene and food at the jails to which Puigdemont and four of his ex-cabinet ministers with him in Brussels would be sent.
Posted by: Fred || 11/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Crunch time for Merkel to build coalition or face new polls
[TheLocal.de] German Chancellor Angela Merkel heads back into tense coalition talks on Saturday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel
...current chancellor of Germany and the impetus behind Germany's remarkably ill-starred immigration program. Merkel used to be referred to by Germans as Mom. Now they make faces at her for inundating the country with Moslems ..
heads back into tense coalition talks on Saturday in a last-ditch effort to forge a coalition government and avert a political crisis in Europe's biggest economy.

The veteran leader won a September 24th vote without a clear majority for her conservative CDU/CSU bloc, largely due to the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), and must now build an unlikely alliance with the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and left-leaning Greens.

Their deep policy differences however, especially on immigration and the environment, have hobbled the month-long negotiating marathon, leading the players to miss a Thursday deadline and declare they will push on until Sunday evening.

Until and unless the motley crew of four parties, which spans the mainstream political spectrum, strikes a deal, Germany's government remains in effective limbo with Merkel serving as caretaker chancellor.

If they fail, Germany is headed for likely snap elections, which would leave Merkel increasingly exposed to a rising band of critics within her own ranks and could further boost the anti-Islam AfD.

Merkel, no longer deemed invincible after delivering a historically poor election result, "now faces the most difficult task of her leadership so far," judged the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  German immigration policy by party:

http://www.dw.com/en/afd-cdu-spd-where-do-german-parties-stand-on-refugees-asylum-and-immigration/a-40610988
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 11/19/2017 15:48 Comments || Top||

#2  Most countries expel illegal aliens without much fanfare. The West (of which Israel might be considered a part) has been far more squeamish. However, Netanyahu has finally gotten the political and legal basis he needs to evict tens of thousands of non-Jewish African migrants:

Israel to deport 40,000 African refugees without their consent
http://www.dw.com/en/israel-to-deport-40000-african-refugees-without-their-consent/a-41443084
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 11/19/2017 15:53 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Top nuclear general says would REFUSE Trump's order to bomb North Korea if disagreed, insists 'we're not stupid people'
[DailyMail] - Air Force General John Hyten said he wouldn't drop a nuclear bomb if he thought Trump's order was illegal

- He said he's studied international war law, and that if it was an illegal order he wouldn't drop the bomb

- Hyten said instead he'd work with Trump to come up with another solution

- This comes amid mounting tensions with North Korea and Kim Jong Un
With all due respect, the General should learn to keep his effing mouth shut.
Yes. The poor dear is hung up on style instead of looking at substance, and on posturing publicly instead of doing his job by advisibg privately, then resigning in protest if he disagrees with his commander-in-chief's orders. But what odds President Trump would order a few MOABs instead of a nuke, completely obviating the need for the clever general's advice?
Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 11/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Wait a few months and retire the sob.
Posted by: 3dc || 11/19/2017 0:34 Comments || Top||

#2  He swore an Oath.
Posted by: newc || 11/19/2017 1:12 Comments || Top||

#3  he is outta there
Posted by: 746 || 11/19/2017 2:13 Comments || Top||

#4  Wait a few months and retire the sob

Why wait?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/19/2017 3:26 Comments || Top||

#5  Message to the US' allies:

The cake nuclear umbrella is a lie.

Message to the US' adversaries:

Asymmetrical WMD attacks on the US and allies can be carried out with impunity. Especially if you maintain some deniability (not necessarily plausible) and if you officially are in possession
of some WMD deterrent.

Gen Hyten just specified the US' "defense perimeter" for the 21st century.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 11/19/2017 4:27 Comments || Top||

#6  A reminder concerning the political context of Gen Hyten's remarks:

8/22/17:
Tillerson Commends North Korea For ‘Restraint,’ Suggests Possible Dialogue

9/3/17:
North Korea tests a 100kt+ hydrogen bomb.

9/23/17:
North Korea could test hydrogen bomb over Pacific Ocean, says foreign minister
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 11/19/2017 7:29 Comments || Top||

#7  Should have been replaced yesterday. Why would anyone reside special trust and confidence in this one? Mattis needs to call the deputy and tell him he's now in charge till further notice. See - National Command Authority.

National Command Authority (NCA) is a term used by the Department of Defense of the United States of America to refer to the ultimate lawful source of military orders. The NCA comprises the President of the United States (as commander-in-chief) and the Secretary of Defense (as the deputy to the commander-in-chief) jointly, or their duly deputized successors, i.e. the and the Deputy Secretary of Defense.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/19/2017 8:37 Comments || Top||

#8  Jazz Shaw has a different take
Posted by: Frank G || 11/19/2017 11:10 Comments || Top||

#9  It's his duty to refuse to follow an ILLEGAL order; AFAICT he does not say nuking NorK would necessarily be illegal.
Posted by: Glenmore || 11/19/2017 11:43 Comments || Top||

#10  Jazz Shaw has a different take

The relevant audience is unlikely to understand these subtle distinctions. They're genocidal totalitarians, theocrats, despots and their corrupt and criminal underlings.

There's now an additional data point supporting the working hypothesis that the Trump administration's threats are empty and safe to dismiss.

The Taliban and Assad survived politically because they ignored strongly worded warnings from Bush and Obama. Bad precedents were set.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 11/19/2017 11:45 Comments || Top||

#11  Maybe NK will stew in a new round of ramped up isolation for awhile and nukes won't be necessary. Meanwhile, the general needs to enjoy his retirement.
Posted by: JohnQC || 11/19/2017 19:26 Comments || Top||


Government
State Department defends reorganization, admits low morale
Some facts and figures to counter the posturing.
[Yahoo] The State Department is hitting back at the growing bipartisan criticism of Rex Tillerson's leadership and accusations he is presiding over a debilitating brain drain of the nation's diplomatic corps. At the same time, it allowed that a lack of communication with employees about Tillerson's intent to reorganize the department had contributed to low morale.

In a letter to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Republican chairman, the department said Tillerson's reorganization plans aren't crippling the agency as reports have claimed. Top ranks aren't being intentionally gutted through attrition, mass retirements and buyouts, it said, and a planned 8 percent reduction of its nearly 75,000 employees had been mandated by the Office of Management and Budget and is proceeding under that order.

In the letter, which was sent to Sen. Bob Corker late Thursday, the department said there are only 108 fewer foreign service officers now than in 2016. The tally is still 2,000 more than there were in 2008, it said.

It said a widely cited figure that 60 percent of diplomats at the highest level had left the foreign service since January is a "distortion" because only six people held the rank known as "career ambassador." Two remain, it said. Since 1980, only from one to seven career ambassadors have ever served at the same time.

Nevertheless, the letter seems unlikely to stem the criticism of Tillerson. Critics also point to departures of senior and mid-level foreign service officers and a hiring freeze of entry level diplomats that has been relaxed only to take on about 100 new employees in the current budget year. That's about a third of recent yearly intakes.

Democratic and Republican politicians also oppose Tillerson's proposal to cut the department's budget by nearly 30 percent, suggesting there will be rancorous exchanges on staffing levels in coming months.

The State Department feels the criticism is unfair. In its letter to Corker, the agency said there are only 20 fewer senior foreign service officers now than there were a year ago (1,048 compared with 1,068). This year's retirements are five fewer than in 2016, it said. Buyouts to induce early retirement of more than 600 diplomats are consistent with a directive to reduce the federal workforce.

It said reorganization is a work in progress, appealing for patience as officials make the department "more efficient and effective within a sustainable budget."
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The State Department's miserable foreign policy resulted in the gutting of American jobs and mass layoffs for everyone but them. Now they're having a single round of layoffs and they're screaming the same excuses we tried to use (don't fire your experts, etc.) It's wonderful to see that justice is finally being done.
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 || 11/19/2017 1:02 Comments || Top||

#2  It's not like State has been a model of competence and efficiency for a long time; with that in mind, why should I care about their morale?
Posted by: Glenmore || 11/19/2017 1:08 Comments || Top||

#3  everyone has faceberg or twitter, no?
Posted by: newc || 11/19/2017 3:17 Comments || Top||

#4  Saudi payments stopped?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/19/2017 3:25 Comments || Top||

#5  Why stop at 8%?
Posted by: gorb || 11/19/2017 4:14 Comments || Top||

#6  Why stop at 8%?

A first-round target, gorb, pending the results of the review of current staffing and projects, with an eye toward changed priorities driving reorganization. Given the proposed 30% budget cut, future reductions of staff are clearly anticipated, suggested by the point about staffing still being 2,000 higher than in 2008 -- at the end of George W. Bush's presidency.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/19/2017 7:27 Comments || Top||

#7  Didn't phase them when with all the worldwide commitments that the Army personal authorization was cut more than 10%. Learn to live with it pin stripes.

2010 - 532,400
2017 - 476,000
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/19/2017 8:44 Comments || Top||

#8  "Don't cut our staff and perks, or we'll just suck even more at our jobs while implementing our own foreign policy!"

Not a convincing argument
Posted by: Frank G || 11/19/2017 10:28 Comments || Top||

#9  The Department of State budget is $50 billion for 70000 employees (most foreign nationals). The budget is twice per employee of the DOD. What does America get for it vs alternatives? How many aircraft carriers does DoS have?
Posted by: Glereth Ebberens5592 || 11/19/2017 14:26 Comments || Top||

#10  It's easier to "go native" if you're already a foreign national
Posted by: Frank G || 11/19/2017 14:31 Comments || Top||

#11  debilitating brain drain

Translation: "All of the high-paying lobbyist jobs are already taken!"
Posted by: PBMcL || 11/19/2017 17:05 Comments || Top||

#12  Rex is presiding over a brain drain in the diplomatic corp. It seems like that is a good thing.
Posted by: JohnQC || 11/19/2017 18:55 Comments || Top||

#13  If Hillary and Obama hadn't crookedly siphoned so much boodle for themselves, there would be more than enough to operate.
Posted by: JohnQC || 11/19/2017 23:03 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
VIDEO: Instructor arrested for attacking conservative students
[CampusReform] A University of Illinois graduate instructor was arrested for assaulting two students during an anti-Trump protest Thursday, stealing the phone of one student and throwing it on the sidewalk.

Tariq Khan is a PhD candidate at the university and has taught courses such as "Constructing Race in America" and "U.S. Gender History since 1877." He is also involved with various anarchist and communist organizations including Black Rose Anarchist Federation and Antifa, in addition to working with the undergraduate socialist students.
Golly. A triple threat.
The event Thursday began as a demonstration to air grievances about President Trump one year after his election. Khan spoke to students, urging them to resist the president’s agenda and fight fascism, but when his speech targeted Turning Point USA members on campus, conservative students who were present took notice.

Joel Valdez, executive board member and campus activism coordinator for TPUSA, asked, "Don’t you have anything better to do? Don’t you have kids?" Khan immediately charged from the Alma Mater statue and accused Valdez of threatening his children.

In video of the altercation obtained by Campus Reform Khan is seen intimidating and confronting two students: throwing a punch at one and stealing and destroying Valdez’s cell phone.

The incident has been reported to University of Illinois police, and Khan was placed under arrest and issued a notice to appear to appear in court for criminal damage to property, with police valuing the cell phone at $700.

This violent altercation comes three weeks after Khan aided the campus student government in shutting down the university’s homecoming parade for including a float celebrating the school’s former mascot "Chief Illiniwek."
Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 11/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The best educational systems that unions can extort.
Posted by: newc || 11/19/2017 1:11 Comments || Top||

#2  Time for a house cleaning in higher education.
Posted by: JohnQC || 11/19/2017 19:07 Comments || Top||


SC basketball team DECLINES Trump invite to White House…
[TheRightScoop] Another championship sports team has declined a Trump invite to the White House ‐ it’s the South Carolina Women’s Basketball team, which was the 2017 NCAA champion team.



Watch below: Gotta' click.

Trump met with 18 NCAA teams Friday, including the Texas A&M women’s equestrian team, Pennsylvania State University’s women’s rugby team and the University of Washington’s women’s rowing team at the White House.

However, Dawn Staley, the head coach of the University of South Carolina’s Gamecocks, said her team would be unable to attend.

"We did hear from the White House about attending (Friday’s) event, but we will not be able to attend," Staley said in a statement. "As I’ve been saying since our practices for this season started, all of our focus is on the season ahead. The only invitation we are thinking about is to the 2018 NCAA Tournament."
Complexions reversed = "racist," no?
Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 11/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Why are sports (entertainment) teams invited to the WH?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/19/2017 8:39 Comments || Top||

#2  A BLM and womyn's story?
Posted by: JohnQC || 11/19/2017 19:12 Comments || Top||

#3  There goes that funding.
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/19/2017 22:06 Comments || Top||


LaVar Ball isn't thankful for President Trump's effort in getting his son out of China
[Twitchy] LaVar Ball is not oozing with gratitude for President Trump’s effort in getting his son and two other UCLA basketball players back to the U.S. after they were allegedly detained in China on suspicion of shoplifting.

If you missed the story, Trump said that he talked with Chinese president Xi Jinping during his recent visit to Beijing about the UCLA players who were being held. The players were subsequently released.

LaVar Ball is a constant seeker of attention, and this response will probably give him quite a bit of it. The big question now is how long it will take Trump to respond.
Tweets at link. A$$hole Entitleistism is hereditary?
Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 11/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hundreds of thousand dead and maimed Union soldiers wasn't enough either, so why would Trump's efforts be any more worthy of gratitude?

You stay classy, LaVar.
Posted by: charger || 11/19/2017 0:36 Comments || Top||

#2  I really don't care about the current batch of self-anointed bassetbaw aristocracy. I really, really don't care about anybody who cares what said ersatz aristocracy says or does...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 11/19/2017 9:53 Comments || Top||

#3  Maybe La Var doesn't like his son?
Posted by: JohnQC || 11/19/2017 19:14 Comments || Top||

#4  No cocaine for YOU!
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/19/2017 22:08 Comments || Top||

#5  You went full retard, Lavar. Never go full retard
Posted by: Regular joe || 11/19/2017 22:16 Comments || Top||

#6  Trump shouldn't have interceded. I'm trying to figure out how this benefits him or the nation, and I honestly can't. These delinquents should have spent years as guests of the Chinese government.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 11/19/2017 23:50 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2017-11-19
  Police Confirm Multiple Suicide Bombings in Borno, As Death Toll Rises
Sat 2017-11-18
  Iraq Forces Retake Last IS-Held Town in Country
Fri 2017-11-17
  Iraqi troops destroy ISIS HQ in Diyala
Thu 2017-11-16
  Zimbabwe’s Military, in Apparent Takeover, Says It Has Custody of Mugabe
Wed 2017-11-15
  Mall of America Stabber Identified as Mahad Abdiaziz Abdirahaman
Tue 2017-11-14
  Pakistani militants among 4 killed in US drone strike in Nangarhar
Mon 2017-11-13
  At least 50 dead in artillery fire, Russian strikes in Syria
Sun 2017-11-12
  US Drone Strike In Somalia Kills ‘Several’ Al-Shabaab Militants
Sat 2017-11-11
  700+ Russian and and Azerbaijani ISIS wimmin busted in Mosul
Fri 2017-11-10
  Turkey detains more than 160 IS suspects in Ankara
Thu 2017-11-09
  Syria declares victory over Islamic State
Wed 2017-11-08
  JeM chief Masood Azhar's nephew killed in IHK operation
Tue 2017-11-07
  ISIS appoints new leader in southeast Asia following defeat in Marawi City
Mon 2017-11-06
  ISIS car bomb attack kills 75 in Deir Ezzor
Sun 2017-11-05
  'At least 27 people killed' at a Texas church

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