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Thirty killed in heavy fighting in Syrian mountains
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 3: Non-WoT
15 18:33 Barbara [3] 
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1 19:49 Deacon Blues [9] 
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1 00:36 lord garth [6] 
3 11:35 airandee [2] 
3 15:02 Thing From Snowy Mountain [2] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
3 20:11 Frank G on the road [9]
3 22:25 JosephMendiola [5]
5 11:25 Rob Crawford [6]
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 4: Opinion
7 19:43 JosephMendiola [5]
7 16:10 Procopius2k [2]
6 20:47 Dale [4]
Page 6: Politix
1 16:42 Zenobia Floger6220 [1]
13 22:39 trailing wife [6]
5 20:52 Dale [6]
16 21:33 Thing From Snowy Mountain [5]
-Lurid Crime Tales-
Sharpton Headline of the Future?: NYPD Gunning Children Down Like Dogs in the Street
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 08/05/2013 03:25 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Define "Children" Trayvon was described as a "Child" But he wasn't.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/05/2013 8:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Shooting at Police is usually fatal.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/05/2013 8:24 Comments || Top||

#3  Moderators, please do not post Sharpton articles next to articles about helicopter crashes. It severely aggravates my Evelyn Wood 'quick scan' depression.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/05/2013 9:07 Comments || Top||

#4  Yes indeed, when a police officer, rookie or no, tells you to drop the rod and get your mitts in the air, you'd better not hesitate.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/05/2013 9:07 Comments || Top||

#5  I thought that was "Suicide by Cop".
Posted by: Bobby || 08/05/2013 12:01 Comments || Top||

#6  good riddance. "He was charged in May with attempted murder after a 15-year-old boy was shot in a Bronx neighborhood where Douse lived"
Posted by: texhooey || 08/05/2013 13:19 Comments || Top||

#7  "It's not fair. It was my sister's only child. You shouldn't have to bury your child," she said.

Sorry Quwana, Shaaliver had to file his childhood card the second he took up people hunting.

And you know what...those parents should not have to bury their sons and daughters because Shaaliver was a homicidal in action.

Nice response officers, good guy with a gun.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 08/05/2013 16:33 Comments || Top||

#8  *en comment with the title, it would be interesting to watch wonder bread Chrissi Mathews stagger his way through these names like an intoxicated John Madden reading the list of Samoan pro-ballers with a mouth full of Reese's pieces.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 08/05/2013 16:38 Comments || Top||

#9  “It’s not fair. It was my sister’s only child. You shouldn’t have to bury your child. My beautiful nephew got shot in the head. A mother of one now has to bury her only child.”

The two officers, ages 26 and 27, were taken to Jacobi Hospital for ringing in the ears and trauma, police said.


Next time, insert your ear plugs before you start chasing a beautiful nephew.

(Also, check out the pic of the doofus in a moonsuit.)
Posted by: KBK || 08/05/2013 17:44 Comments || Top||

#10  "NYPD Gunning Children Down Like Dogs in the Street refuse to allow themselves to be murdered by thugs and thug wannabes"

FTFY

Bad cops - Bad!

What's the world coming to when the cops won't be accessories to their own murders? Does no one care about the children?
Posted by: Barbara || 08/05/2013 18:54 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
Cook Co. PD Takes Down a Tough (95 year old) Guy
Now that all the gang violence is under control they can move up to the tougher cases.
The old man, described by a family member as "wobbly" on his feet, had refused medical attention. The paramedics were called. They brought in the Park Forest police.

First they tased him, but that didn't work. So they fired a shotgun, hitting him in the stomach with a bean-bag round. Wrana was struck with such force that he bled to death internally, according to the Cook County medical examiner.

The Park Forest police version is that on the night of July 26, John Wrana, a resident of the Victory Centre senior living facility, threatened staff and paramedics with a 2-foot-long metal shoehorn and a metal cane. The police statement neglects to mention that the old man also used a walker.
Posted by: Glenmore || 08/05/2013 07:22 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Illinois State Police are investigating the horrific incident but won't comment,

cops don't need a Taser or a shotgun to subdue a 95-year-old man.

I found there are two versions of events: The police version,
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/05/2013 8:18 Comments || Top||

#2  A shoehorn by itself, no problem. When mounted on a cane and attached to a walker.... deadly.

Be proud officer, be very proud.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/05/2013 8:45 Comments || Top||

#3  Cook county? Isn't this the place where 95 pound barristas are properly chastised (i.e.beaten and stomped) by 250 pound law enforcement?
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 08/05/2013 10:30 Comments || Top||

#4  in the mid-80s wimmin were told by the media not to pull over for Cook County Deputy Sheriffs as some were actually hit men for the mob and could rape and kill them.
Posted by: 3dc || 08/05/2013 11:33 Comments || Top||

#5  Surely it will be the fault of the old man because he declined medical attention.

Don't they screen folks for common sense anymore before they let them be officers?
Posted by: gorb || 08/05/2013 12:30 Comments || Top||

#6  Practicing to be Obamacare enforcers.
Posted by: AlanC || 08/05/2013 13:32 Comments || Top||

#7  To those of you with the experience, remember who the various branches of the military were selected to be MP's/SP's, etc?

DHS Thug-Moron wannabes....

Posted by: Uncle Phester || 08/05/2013 13:58 Comments || Top||

#8  Too kind UP, far, far too kind.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/05/2013 15:36 Comments || Top||

#9  Wait until his 75 year old son finds out, may take a swat team to take him down.
Posted by: Airandee || 08/05/2013 17:13 Comments || Top||

#10  "Attempts were made verbally to have the resident comply with demands to drop the articles, to no avail," the police statement reads. "The resident then armed himself with a 12-inch butcher type kitchen knife."

But lawyer Grapsas says that Wrana's family never saw a knife in his room and that staff also told him Wrana didn't have such a knife.

"So where did the knife come from?" Grapsas asked.
Posted by: KBK || 08/05/2013 17:33 Comments || Top||

#11  From a desperate defense lawyer?
Posted by: gorb || 08/05/2013 17:49 Comments || Top||

#12  To be fair, it was a small suburban pd, (think Barney Fife) not the county pd itself, no excuse for the SWAT. These guys think they are on tv and pulling "raids" for almost anything and nothing at all. No excuse, shameless. Retired 30 yrs + CPD.
Posted by: illeagle || 08/05/2013 18:04 Comments || Top||

#13  Bring the shotgun along tough guys, or had to go back to the vehicle to retreive it?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 08/05/2013 18:04 Comments || Top||

#14  I used to live next door to that suburb. I've had patients in that nursing home. I have no idea what the police were thinking.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/05/2013 18:24 Comments || Top||

#15  "The old man, described by a family member as "wobbly" on his feet, had refused medical attention."

Was he under a protective order? Had he legally been declared non compos mentis? (And, if so, did the idjit paramedics who called the cops have a copy of the paperwork in their hands?)

If not, he had the absolute right to refuse medical attention, no matter how much his family/nursing home whined about it.

When I was in the rescue squad, I'd talk and explain and get others to help persuade, and make sure the patient understood the consequences of refusing medical attention (hey - I've got all night). But if the adult patient refused to go, I wouldn't attempt to transport. That's called KIDNAPPING.

And if you're too stupid or stubborn to go to the hospital when you need to, I sure as hell ain't going to go to prison for your sorry ass.
Posted by: Barbara || 08/05/2013 18:33 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Flash floods kill at least 58 in eastern Afghanistan
[Dawn] Heavy rains swept across eastern Afghanistan, leveling homes and killing at least 58 people in five provinces, while an estimated 30 others remain missing, officials said Sunday.

Provincial spokesmen in Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
, Kabul, Khost, Laghman and Nuristan said that all the floods struck early Saturday. Flash floods are common in those provinces and all are fed by rivers that eventually intersect in Nangarhar.

In Kabul's Surobi district, police chief Shaghasi Ahmadi said 34 people were killed in a remote and mountainous area. He said 22 of the bodies from Surobi were later found downstream in Laghman.

Surobi has a number of rivers running through it. It is also rife with Taliban activity.

Ahmadi said food, tents and other emergency supplies were being sent to the district from the capital.

Downstream in the adjacent province of Nangarhar, a government statement said 17 people were killed by the floods.

President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
's office said another seven died in Khost and Nuristan. Rains can quickly weaken the structures of the mud-walled homes that dot the countryside in Afghanistan, causing the buildings to quickly collapse during heavy downpours.
Posted by: Fred || 08/05/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It is also rife with Taliban activity.

Flash floods are common in those provinces

NO sympathy.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/05/2013 8:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Allan's Will.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 08/05/2013 19:43 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Yemen's Main Pipeline Attacked, Crude Flow Stops Again
[Ynet] Tribesmen blew up Yemen's main oil export pipeline late on Saturday, halting the flow of crude, the state news agency reported on Sunday.

The pipeline started pumping crude oil again last week after repairs that took several days, following a similar attack by rustics. Earlier this year, the pipeline was pumping around 125,000 barrels per day.
This is why they can't have nice things, including adequate food and drinking water..
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/05/2013 00:29 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
U.S. military helicopter crashes inside base on Okinawa
A U.S. military helicopter has crashed on Okinawa on Monday. The crash took place at a maneuvering ground inside the U.S. Marine's Camp Hansen in central Okinawa, said an official, adding that there were no casualties among local residents but that he had no information about the military crew.

Video footage showed smoke rising from a fire on a remote mountainside and the local official said fire fighters had been dispatched. NTV said that the aircraft was a CH-46 helicopter.
Posted by: ryuge || 08/05/2013 05:33 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Pakistan warns of more rain after flood deaths hit 45
[Al Ahram] Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority warned that more thunderstorms and heavy rains were expected on Monday and some rivers may flood.
Unexpectedly, just like every year. And the bereft survivors will never be able to leave their refuges.
Posted by: Fred || 08/05/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Global Warming! I mean Climate Change!
Naah, Allan's Will. I wonder who the beneficiary of Allan's Will is? Who were the Attorney's who filled it? Has anyone been allowed to read it? I call dibs on the Virgins. Oh, wait. I don't have enough Vlliagra. My Doctor won't give it to me. He said, "Why would you want to put a brand-new flagpole on that old, condemned building"?
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 08/05/2013 19:49 Comments || Top||


Falling prey to 'Halal' investments
[Dawn] "I was blinded by the false promises made by friends who had invested money in Modaraba (an Islamic investment system) for I was made to believe that by doing so, I would be following the path of the Prophet (PTUI!)."

This was how Mohammad Ejaz, who runs a local restaurant in Saddar Rawalpindi, explains who he ended up investing in an illegal investment venture operated by Mufti Ehsanullah of Rawalpindi.

By investing Rs500,000 in the 'Islamic' venture, Ejaz hoped to reap the benefits of both worlds with a single transaction.

However,
the hip bone's connected to the leg bone...
soon after he made his investment in the beginning of this year, he found out that the National Accountability Bureau was investigating the investment venture.

Within months, the venture was found to be illegal and shut down.

Ejaz also found that many such ventures existed across the country in which people invested money with clergy, thinking it to be Islamic and interest-free only to find out later that these ventures were illegal and perhaps even shady operations.

Background conversations with NAB officials and others have revealed that these ventures are basically operated by a network of clergy, which ensured the faithful of the spiritual benefits and hefty returns (for example Ejaz was promised Rs8,000 per month on every Rs100,000 deposited) and though investors were provided documentation verifying their 'investment', the transactions were illegal and the investors had little idea about where the money was being invested and in what sort of businesses.

But people were lured in because the clergy promised a lucrative deal that was devoid of interest and other 'impurities' which they argued were present if the money was kept in banks or invested in regular companies.

The investors were assured that the profits would also be reaped from Halal sources.

Like other investors, Mr Ejaz was attracted by the holy talk especially as the people who headed these people were Muftis (in hierarchy of Sunni Islam, a Mufti is highly educated holy man).

The main contact between the investors and muftis were the directors of the companies, who were operating the venture. These directors tended to be active preachers. This made interaction with potential investors easier.

The director through whom Mohammad Ejaz invested the money was a local preacher in Rawalpindi who operated out of a small office at Choor Chowk, Rawalpindi.

All this came to light when NAB started to look into Mufti Ehsan, the head of the venture Ejaz had invested into.

Codenamed the 'Mufti Scandal' within NAB, the Bureau nabbed the Mufti behind the operation and imprisoned him for two months after which he offered to pay Rs450 million in exchange for his freedom. Another Rs100 million are still to be recovered and Ehsan's name has been placed at the Exit Control List (ECL).

In order to reclaim their investments, some 85 investors, including Mr Ejaz, had filed a written application with the NAB about a month ago.

However,
the hip bone's connected to the leg bone...
not all investors in these illegal ventures were as lucky.

When this scandal came to light, another similar venture, run by Mufti Osama, fell apart because its operators bravely ran away fearing investigation. Those who had invested in it have now lost their money.

According to NAB officials, Mufti Osama, the operator of this illegal Modarba business, escaped to United Arab Emirates (UAE) along with the investors' money.

He belongs to Southern Punjab and is said to be linked to Lal Masjid (Red Mosque). However,
the hip bone's connected to the leg bone...
the Lal Masjid management denies this.

Furthermore, a NAB official said Mufti Khalid, the partner of Mufti Osama who lured people to invest in the Islamic business, was also close to the Lal Masjid.

Originally from Fatehjang, the holy man holds sway over major seminaries in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, he added.

The building of the Mosque has now posted a message stating that they had nothing to do with such investment schemes. Maulana Abdul Aziz has regularly denied any links with such Islamic investment schemes.
Posted by: Fred || 08/05/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  that Rs500,000 investment was equivalent to about $5k - a lot by Pakistan standards but small claims court stuff in much of the USA
Posted by: lord garth || 08/05/2013 0:36 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
US GAO reports on the navy's LCS program
Link via Real Clear Defense

This has been the subject of some discussion over at the Officers Club, as to whether the program will deploy a working ship that has some benefit to US naval doctrine.

From TFA, part of the executive summary. The report itself is a downloadable PDF:

GAO found that the Navy has made progress in addressing some of the early design and construction problems on the LCS 1 and LCS 2 seaframes, and quality defects and unit costs are declining, now that the seaframes are in steady production. Based on projected learning curves, shipyard performance can be expected to continue to improve over time.

This expected progress could, however, be disrupted, as the Navy is considering potentially significant seaframe design changes. For example, the Navy is currently studying changes to increase the commonality of systems and equipment between the two ship variants, primarily with regard to the ships' combat management systems, and add new capabilities. In addition, the Navy still has outstanding gaps in its knowledge about how the unique designs of the two variants will perform in certain conditions.

The lead ship of the Freedom class is currently on an extended deployment to Southeast Asia, and the Navy views this as an important opportunity to demonstrate some of the ship's capabilities and allow the crew to obtain first-hand experience with operations. Yet, developmental testing of the seaframes is ongoing, and neither variant has completed shock and survivability testing, which will demonstrate that the ship designs can safely absorb and control damage.

Importantly, operational testing of the LCS with its mission modules is several years away, which I will discuss later. Late discoveries of problems while the seaframes continue to be constructed could lead to further design changes.
Posted by: badanov || 08/05/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What is its mission? I know what my M1A2 does in the Army, I know what the mission of the B52 is and just how effective it can be, I even know the mission of the Marines Osprey, the Navy subs, cans, gators, cruisers and carriers -- and can therefore make some semblance of a pass at what tactical and strategic impact these military vehicles have, and therefore how well they are fulfilling their mission better than any other thing we could put in its place.

So what does the LCS do better than any other ship, what is its tactical function and strategic mission, and how does it rate?

Right now the primary mission seems to be making money for contractors, and teaching the navy all about how not to design and build a ship.
Posted by: OldSpook || 08/05/2013 1:36 Comments || Top||

#2  ...well, maybe, before 'destroyers' morphed into much larger 'frigates' (aka Light Cruisers), they could actually get in real close to the shore, sometimes to provide direct fire (eye ball) support to marines and troops. However, when you can deliver ordnance on target just as effectively via other systems, maybe that redundancy isn't called for anymore.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/05/2013 8:50 Comments || Top||

#3  I discovered there's a FRAM-ified Gearing Class Destroyer about an hour down the road. I took some pictures the last time I passed through, I guess I'll have to see how they came out when I get time.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 08/05/2013 15:02 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
More guns, less crime in Virginia
Posted by: Skidmark || 08/05/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Democrat OOPS.

How dare they buy guns, don't they know that the guns run down the street KILLING PEOPLE (Unhumaned).
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/05/2013 8:36 Comments || Top||

#2  A friend posted this and I'm passing it along.



Posted by: Dale || 08/05/2013 9:47 Comments || Top||

#3  Let's here it for small business! Green Top moved into a closed Gander Mountain a year ago.

Dealer and ranking 2012 sales 2011 sales Change
1 Green Top Hanover County 26,015 18,387 +41%
2 Superior Pawn Virginia Beach 12,778 6,780 +88%
3 Trader Jerry's Cedar Bluff 10,769 8,179 +32%
4 Virginia Arms Manassas 9,206 6,398 +44%
5 Bob's Gun & Tackle Norfolk 7,708 5,307 +45%
6 Dance's Sporting Goods Colonial Heights 7,368 5,971 +23%
7 SSG Tactical Spotsylvania 6,917 2,430 +184%
8 Dark Sun Surplus Chesterfield 6,798 4,706 +44%
9 Gander Mountain Roanoke 6,039 3,493 +73%
10 Gander Mountain Fredericksburg 5,996 4,637 +29%
Posted by: airandee || 08/05/2013 11:35 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
33[untagged]
4Govt of Pakistan
3Salafists
3Arab Spring
2al-Qaeda in Arabia
2Govt of Syria
1Govt of Iran
1Hezbollah
1Muslim Brotherhood
1Palestinian Authority
1al-Shabaab
1al-Qaeda in Iraq
1al-Qaeda

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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2013-08-05
  Thirty killed in heavy fighting in Syrian mountains
Sun 2013-08-04
  9 Afghans killed in attack on Indian consulate
Sat 2013-08-03
  22 Police, 76 Taliban Killed in Afghan Battle
Fri 2013-08-02
  At least 40 killed in Syrian weapons depot blast
Thu 2013-08-01
  Qaida Chief Says Syria Exposed Hizbullah as Iran 'Tool'
Wed 2013-07-31
  Pakistan Elects Mamnoon Hussain President
Tue 2013-07-30
  Manning Acquitted of Aiding the Enemy
Mon 2013-07-29
  US drone kills 6 suspected militants in Yemen
Sun 2013-07-28
  Report: Hizbullah Wired Money To Bulgaria Bomb Suspects
Sat 2013-07-27
  Muslim Brotherhood claims its supporters massacred in Cairo
Fri 2013-07-26
  Officials: Cafe Bombings, Attacks Kill 42 In Iraq
Thu 2013-07-25
  Hezbollah commander killed in Syria
Wed 2013-07-24
  Reports: Top Syrian Army Commander Killed In Battles With Rebels
Tue 2013-07-23
  Report: Egyptian Army Arrests 18 Terrorist Planning Embassy Attacks
Mon 2013-07-22
  Qaida Suspected as Iranian Diplomat Seized in Yemen


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