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Turkey backed rebel units close on Al-Bab
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 3: Non-WoT
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Page 4: Opinion
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1 09:32 g(r)omgoru [3]
17 20:42 Barbara [1]
Page 6: Politix
3 20:08 vendaval [2]
8 16:37 Mullah Richard [1]
17 20:24 charger [5]
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3 09:30 Procopius2k []
7 14:53 49 Pan []
6 20:32 Barbara [3]
13 21:33 charger [2]
11 20:34 Barbara [3]
-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Two killed as powerful earthquake hits New Zealand
A powerful earthquake and series of aftershocks shook New Zealand early on Monday, killing at least two people and prompting a tsunami warning that sent thousands fleeing to higher ground.

Emergency response teams were dispatched by helicopter to the region at the epicentre of the 7.8 magnitude quake, some 91 km (57 miles) north-northeast of Christchurch in the South Island, amid reports of injuries and collapsed buildings.

Prime Minister John Key told a dawn news conference in the capital of Wellington, where the quake was also felt strongly, that two people had been killed. Police said one of the victims was found in a house in the coastal tourist town of Kaikoura.

"It was the most significant shock I can remember in Wellington," Key told reporters, although he stopped short of calling a national emergency. "There will be quite major costs around roads and infrastructure."

Emergency officials were meeting later on Monday morning, added Key.

Power was out and phone lines down in many areas of the country, while roads were blocked by landslips. But a tsunami warning that led to mass evacuations was downgraded after large swells hit Wellington, in the North Island, and Christchurch, the South Island's largest city.

The first tremor, just 23 km (14 miles) deep, struck the Pacific island nation just after midnight, jolting many from their sleep and raising memories of the 6.3 magnitude Christchurch quake in 2011, which killed 185 people. New Zealand's Geonet measured Monday's quake at magnitude 7.5, while the U.S. Geological Survey put it at 7.8.

New Zealand lies in the seismically active "Ring of Fire", a 40,000 km arc of volcanoes and oceanic trenches that partly encircles the Pacific Ocean. Around 90 percent of the world's earthquakes occur within this region.

St. John Ambulance said it was sending helicopters carrying medical and rescue personnel to Kaikoura, where at least one of the casualties was located. The South Island town, a popular destination for whale watching, was completely cut off and officials said there were reports of a collapsed building.

In Wellington, where frequent aftershocks continued to be felt hours after the first quake, residents heading for higher ground caused gridlock on the roads to Mount Victoria, a hill with a lookout over the low-lying coastal city. Richard Maclean, a spokesman for Wellington City Council, said there was structural damage to several buildings.

Residents were advised to stay away from the central business district on Monday and the train network was closed for checks. Wellington International airport, however, was expected to open as usual on Monday.

In Christchurch, where tsunami sirens continued intermittently, three evacuation centres were accepting residents. Police set up roadblocks to prevent people from returning to lower-lying coastal areas.

Pictures shared on social media showed buckled roads, smashed glass and goods toppled from shelves in shops in Wellington and the upper South Island.

There was initial confusion when emergency services first said there was no tsunami threat. Christchurch Civil Defence Controller John Mackie said that while the earthquake was centred inland, the fault line extended offshore for a considerable distance. That meant that seismic activity could cause movement out at sea, leading to a tsunami.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/14/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Where IS Rosie O'Donnell, anyway?
Posted by: Grunter || 11/14/2016 8:27 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Government Austerity Tops Kuwait Election Campaign
All you really need to know is in the headline, dear Reader, but I've included much of the article for those who prefer their schadenfreude detailed. I'm so glad we don't have to wait until the oil runs out to kick sand in their collective faces.
[AnNahar] Candidates in Kuwait's parliamentary elections have focused their campaigns on unpopular government austerity measures as the oil-dependent Gulf country faces financial stress due to low crude prices.

Kuwait, which sits on around seven percent of the world's proven crude reserves, has resorted to a series of measures to cut spending and boost non-oil revenues in a bid to diversify its economy.

But measures including raising power and water charges and hiking petrol prices have triggered a political crisis, leading to the parliament being dissolved last month and snap polls being called for November 26.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/14/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Bangladesh
6 injured as ‘Home minister’s motorcade’ ploughs into people in Jessore
[Dhaka Tribune] Six people were maimed as a vehicle allegedly a part of Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal’s motorcade ploughed into a crowd in Nurbagh area under Abhaynagar upazila of Jessore district.

The minister was on his way to Dublar Char to attend Rasmela, a Hindu religious festival.

However,
alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk...
Jessore Superintendent of police, Anisur Rahman said: "A public transport may have knocked people down ."

When contacted, Kamal’s Personal Secretary Harun-Ur-Rashid said: "I heard about the incident. An unaffiliated car that had trailed behind our motorcade may have hit some people when taking a turn."

Of the injured, four were identified as Sonia Begum, 24, Asma Begum, 35, Anjira Begum, 45 and Birendranath Datta, 48.

Witnesses said a car in the VIP motorcade rammed people who were waiting at a bus stop around 10:20am on Sunday.

The injured were admitted at Abhaynagar Upazila Health Complex.

Three were reported to be critically injured and later shifted to Khulna Medical College Hospital.

Locals could not identify who the motorcade was escorting. But some locals gathered on Jessore-Khulna highway protesting the incident. Later, Nawapara Municipality Mayor Sushanta Kumar Das went to calm the protesters.
Posted by: Fred || 11/14/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Rape suspect escapes from judge’s chambers
[Dhaka Tribune] One Rafsan Hossain, alias Rubel, arrested for raping a Garo woman, escaped from custody in the court on Sunday afternoon.

Rubel, 30, was arrested on Friday from Airport railway station by a RAB team.

Rubel was taken to court where he was due for his confessional statement.

He escaped from the judge’s chambers where he was supposed to deliver his statement.
"I gotta go to the baffroom!"
"Okay, but don't take long. You gotta make your confessional statement!"

Badda police station officer in-charge (OC) Abdul Jalil confirmed the matter to the Dhaka Tribune.
"Whoa! What did you eat? How about a courtesy flush? I'll be waitin' when you come out!"
OC Jalil said: “We will try to arrest him again.”
"Honest, chief! I'll get right on it!"
“Rubel has been accused in nine cases including rape, extortion, possession of drugs and illegal firearms,” said RAB-1 Commanding Officer Lt Col Tuhin Mohammad Masud.
"Sure hope he don't go to Chuadanga! We'd never find him there!"
"Heh heh!"

Rubel allegedly raped an 18-year-old Garo girl October 25.
"I'd like a ticket for Chuadanga, please!"
"Hokay."
"Can I get a Bangla Chhatra League discount?"

DMP Deputy Commissionar (Media) Masudur Rahman said: “Sub-Inspector Imranul Hasan and Constable Dipok Chandra Poddar of Badda police have been temporarily suspended for their negligence.”
"But, chief! The stench..."
"Out!"

According to the case statement, the victim was raped in Badda on October 25 while visiting her betrothed, one Ripon Mrong, at a mess in Misritola located in North Badda.

The manager of the mess asked Ripon to leave the mess since he had violated rules by bringing a woman there.

A mess resident Salauddin, intimidated the couple with local goons – Rubel, Rony, Sumon, Nazmul and some others who were called to come over.

They threatened Ripon and stole his smartphone and TK 17,000 in cash.

Rubel, Salauddin and Al Amin tried to rape the he girl in a nearby rickshaw garage but as it was full of people they dragged her to an abandoned house near the garage and raped her there instead.

After four days, the victim filed a case with Badda Police Station accusing the two including Rubel.
Posted by: Fred || 11/14/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I don't think I'd want RAB pissed off at me. Might just end up on The Spot™
Posted by: Frank G || 11/14/2016 9:08 Comments || Top||


BCL leader caught red-handed during rape
[Dhaka Tribune] A mob smashed the testicles
Aaaiiieee! I am unmanned!
No, I think it's something more like, "AAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! AAAAAAAIIUIUUEEEEE!!!! again!!! And again, I do say! AAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!!!!
Oh dear. There's no holding back now. Hold tight, dear Reader, it's going to be a bumpy ride.
of a Chhatra League
... the student wing of the Bangla Awami League ...
leader in Chuadanga as punishment after he was caught raping a middle-aged woman on late Friday night.
Here, you! Cease inflicting unwanted carnal knowledge on that lady of mature years!
Bugger off!
Take that, coward, bully, cad, and thief!
Owwwowwwowww!

According to witnesses, Tanim Hasan Tarek, general secretary of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) Chuadanga Govt College unit, raped a woman at gunpoint on the college campus.
"Drop yer drawers, lady! I'm a big shot and you ain't!"
A cry for help from the 40-year-old woman’s son attracted people who mobbed up and caught Tarek.
"Mother! Help!"
The mob gave Tarek a heavy beating and smashed his testicles, leaving him critically injured.
"Aaaarrr!! Rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb! Who's got a brick?"
"I got a brick!"
"I got another brick!"
[SMASH!]
"Mpf?"

Later, some of Tarek’s cohorts rescued him at death's door and rushed him to Chuadanga General Hospital on early Saturday morning. He was moved to some holy man's guesthouse an undisclosed location by the same cohorts on Saturday morning.
"There, there, Tarek! They won't get you here!"
"Mpf?"

Meanwhile,
...back at the saw mill, Scarface Al had tied Little Nell to the log and was about to turn on the buzz saw...
the BCL Central Committee permanently expelled Tarek from the organization, according to a blurb signed by BCL President Saifur Rahman Sohag and General Secretary SM Jakir Hossain on Sunday, after pictures and video of the incident surfaced on social media.
"Tell 'im he's fired!"
"That's the least of his troubles right now, chief!"

The Chuadanga Govt College unit of BCL was dissolved as well, the release says.
"Tell 'em they're all fired!"
On Saturday, the rape victim filed a case with Chuadanga Sadar cop shoppe accusing Tarek, said Tozammel Haque, officer-in-charge.
"He's the one, officer! He dunnit! The guy with the hamburgered snarglies!"
Locals alleged that Tarek and some BCL men often take some college girls to a nearby hotel and rape them.
"Nope. 'Tain't the first time!"
"It'll be the last time for him!"

Rape by the BCL men at the college is a regular incident, said a few sources at the college who preferred to be unnamed. They also demanded exemplary punishment for the rapists.
Getting nut-crunched isn't exemplary?
Posted by: Fred || 11/14/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I guess now he can use the ladies room at Target.
Posted by: Glenmore || 11/14/2016 9:00 Comments || Top||


Economy
Trump looking at fast ways to quit global climate deal
President-elect Donald Trump is seeking quick ways to withdraw the United States from a global accord to combat climate change, a source on his transition team said, defying broad international backing for the plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Since Trump's election victory on Tuesday, governments ranging from China to small island states have reaffirmed support for the 2015 Paris agreement during climate talks involving 200 nations set to run until Friday in Marrakesh, Morocco.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/14/2016 00:03 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Most scientists including me think it is a gigantic scam.

But no one in the MSM is prepared to stand up and say the the UN is running a gigantic scam.
Posted by: phil_b || 11/14/2016 4:40 Comments || Top||

#2  But no one in the MSM is prepared to stand up and say the the UN is running a gigantic scam.

Of course not phil_b. The MSM is collectively too stupid to understand any of it and individually many of them are in on it. Let's not forget Al "the media mogul" Gore, huh?
Posted by: AlanC || 11/14/2016 7:44 Comments || Top||

#3  C'mon, phil_b, it's settled science; get with the program.
This scientist believes fossil fuel combustion affects climate - but suspects the models are not very good at predicting how or how much. I am also quite sure that the 'solutions' being pushed are economic action by our enemies, abetted by useful idiots and scam artists. That does not mean we should stop investigating the science it could even be worse than modelled. Nor that we should waste fossil fuel.
Posted by: Glenmore || 11/14/2016 9:06 Comments || Top||

#4  The models are awful. They keep finding new factors to add to the mix, and discovering that old factors have impacts other than what was previously assumed. Not to mention that some things are self regulating to at least some extent, like increased CO2 causing plants to grow faster, absorbing in the process more CO2. But as far as I can tell at the moment, solar activity, volcanic activity, and -- in the very long run -- tectonic plate movement causing continental wandering and oceanic current changes are the big ones.

I love this quote referenced in an American Thinker piece by S.Fred Singer two years ago:

In the words of physicist Prof Howard "Cork" Hayden:

"If the science were as certain as climate activists pretend, then there would be precisely one climate model, and it would be in agreement with measured data. As it happens, climate modelers have constructed literally dozens of climate models. What they all have in common is a failure to represent reality, and a failure to agree with the other models. As the models have increasingly diverged from the data, the climate clique have nevertheless grown increasingly confident -- from cocky in 2001 (66% certainty in IPCC's Third Assessment Report) to downright arrogant in 2013 (95% certainty in the Fifth Assessment Report)."
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/14/2016 11:10 Comments || Top||

#5  From Steve Milloy's website.
Posted by: JohnQC || 11/14/2016 12:19 Comments || Top||

#6  Niiice. Saved to my climate change file, JohnQC, with thanks.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/14/2016 14:20 Comments || Top||

#7  How about just saying Buh Bye! See You!
Posted by: Herman Tingle9658 || 11/14/2016 18:59 Comments || Top||


Europe
Britain to deploy batteries of long range missiles on Russian's border
First time since the Cold War

  • The long range rockets are set to be moved to Estonia next year

  • Amid fears President Vladimir Putin could be planning to invade country

  • Around 800 UK troops will deploy to Estonia as part of a 15-nation force
  • Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 11/14/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

    #1  That'll show him. Tell me again about the current 'smart' people in charge of lower primate territorial displays to make friends and influence people.
    Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/14/2016 7:46 Comments || Top||

    #2  Ah...advancing perimeter defense before the moat.
    That will put at threat operations and comm channels as well as security teams while offering spot targets. Sounds like one of Badenough's simulations.
    Posted by: Skidmark || 11/14/2016 20:18 Comments || Top||


    The Grand Turk
    Nearly 300 Turkish navy personnel suspended, French journalist detained
    Turkey suspends 291 navy personnel over links to failed coup

    [AlAhram] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
    ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
    suspended from duty 168 officers and 123 non-commissioned officers from its navy over alleged links to a coup attempt in July, the defence ministry said on Sunday, as the government continues its purge.
    It also dismissed 15 officers and 4 non-commissioned officers from the navy, the statement said.

    Since the failed coup attempt, more than 110,000 judges, teachers, police and civil servants have been suspended or dismissed and 36,000 formally incarcerated
    ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
    in a crackdown that President Tayyip Erdogan's critics say is quashing legitimate opposition.

    French Journalist Detained in Turkey

    [AnNahar] A French news website says one of its journalists has been detained in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
    ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
    , and it is demanding his immediate release.

    Les Jours website says Olivier Bertrand was detained Friday, along with a Turkish photographer, while conducting an interview in the city of Gaziantep, near the border with Syria. The photographer was subsequently released.

    No reason was given for Bertrand's detention, Les Jours said, and Turkish officials could not immediately be reached for confirmation.

    The website says Bertrand was working on a series about the aftermath of Turkey's failed coup in July, which resulted in a massive crackdown on the followers of an Islamic movement blamed for the attempt.
    Posted by: trailing wife || 11/14/2016 00:17 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


    Home Front: Politix
    Gwen Ifill, Partisan Democrat, Tango Uniform At 61
    I don't wish death upon others, but I read certain obituaries with great pleasure...
    [Politico] Gwen Ifill, the longtime news anchor who had served as a co-host of PBS’s NewsHour and as moderator of "Washington Week," has died after a battle with cancer, PBS has confirmed. She was 61.

    "I am very sad to tell you that our dear friend and beloved colleague Gwen Ifill passed away today in hospice care in Washington," WETA president and CEO Sharon percy Rockefeller wrote in an email to staff at the public TV station Monday. "I spent an hour with her this morning and she was resting comfortably, surrounded by loving family and friends... Earlier today, I conveyed to Gwen the devoted love and affection of all of us at WETA/NewsHour. Let us hold Gwen and her family even closer now in our hearts and prayers."

    Ifill had been absent from PBS’s election coverage last week due to ongoing health issues. She also took a leave of absence from the public broadcaster in May to get medical treatment.
    Posted by: Raj || 11/14/2016 14:35 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

    #1  RIP
    Posted by: rammer || 11/14/2016 19:02 Comments || Top||

    #2  RIP
    Posted by: Zhang Fei || 11/14/2016 19:53 Comments || Top||

    #3  Bye
    Posted by: Frank G || 11/14/2016 20:24 Comments || Top||

    #4  As Curly Bill would say...

    Posted by: charger || 11/14/2016 20:31 Comments || Top||

    #5  The Dem Plantation will miss a productive worker. Journalism...not so much
    Posted by: Frank G || 11/14/2016 20:39 Comments || Top||

    #6  Best November Ever, and not even half way!
    Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 11/14/2016 21:55 Comments || Top||


    Confirmed: Donald Trump Says He Will Take $1 Salary as President
    [Breitbart] President-elect Donald Trump stood by his promise to reject the presidential salary, during an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes.

    "The answer is no," he said, when asked about his campaign trail promise by CBS interviewer Lesley Stahl. "I think I have to take by law one dollar so I’ll take one dollar a year."

    He admitted that he didn’t even know what the salary was, but when he was told it was $400,000 salary he declined it.

    "I’m not taking it," he said.

    He added that he would not be taking too many vacations either.

    "There’s so much work to be done and I want to get it done for the people," he said. "I want to get it done. We’re lowering taxes, we’re taking care of health care."

    Trump signaled that he wanted to bring the people together, urging both the protesters and his supporters to stop abusing each other.

    Stahl pointed to the recent violence around the country after the election

    "I am so saddened to hear that. And I say, ’Stop it," he said. "If it helps. I will say this, and I will say right to the cameras: Stop it."

    He suggested that many of the protesters were "professional" and that his supporters would have been excoriated by the media if they refused to accept the election results.

    "There is a different attitude. You know, there is a double standard here," he said.

    Stahl specifically told Trump that the gay, Muslim, African-American, and Latino communities were frightened after he was elected.

    He replied that the incidents were probably amplified by the press, but he urged Americans to come together.

    "Don’t be afraid," Trump said. "We are going to bring our country back. But certainly, don’t be afraid."

    Speaking to the entire family, Stahl asked Ivanka Trump if the campaign had hurt the family’s business brand.

    Ivanka Trump replied that she didn’t think it mattered.

    "Who cares? Who cares?" Trump added earnestly. "This is big league stuff. This is our country. Our country is going bad. We’re going to save our country. I don’t care about hotel occupancy. It’s peanuts compared to what we’re doing."
    Posted by: Besoeker || 11/14/2016 09:06 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

    #1  A largely symbolic decision, but bigly effective signal to the Amity Shlaes' 'Forgotten Man.'
    Posted by: Besoeker || 11/14/2016 9:14 Comments || Top||

    #2  Clintons got a lot richer than their salaries ever would have made them. Same for all politicians, AFAICT.
    Posted by: Glenmore || 11/14/2016 9:18 Comments || Top||

    #3  Irrelevant. He needs to be a good president not a propaganda queen.
    Posted by: Crolunter Wittlesbach4284 || 11/14/2016 14:18 Comments || Top||

    #4  True. And as Besoeker said, it's symbolic. But it will sorta negate the "rich bastid collecting a $400K/year salary he doesn't need" trash talk that would eventually crop up.

    The 'good president' part is something we'll have to wait for, 'kay?
    Posted by: Pappy || 11/14/2016 15:53 Comments || Top||

    #5  I guess a lot of professional politicians had a rather unpleasant moment when hearing this.
    Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/14/2016 15:59 Comments || Top||

    #6  ...BTW, CBS got in their first shot - they had that clip where Trump says 'stop it' last Friday, but somehow after a weekend of instigated anti-Trump violence, they didn't see fit to release it until Sunday night.

    Almost as if they wanted the President-elect to seem as if he didn't care.

    Mike
    Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 11/14/2016 17:30 Comments || Top||

    #7  A likely violation of the federal minimum wage law, but whatever.
    Posted by: Iblis || 11/14/2016 19:36 Comments || Top||


    Mexico moves to help migrants after Trump win
    [France24] Mexico is scrambling to ready its diplomats in the United States to handle millions of undocumented migrants' potential needs following Donald Trump's election, its foreign ministry said.
    good... arrange transport home, right?
    The ministry's North American team huddled with Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu Saturday to "analyze the results of the US election and discuss concrete actions concerning the future of the bilateral relationship" between the two countries, according to a statement.

    The meeting follows the Republican billionaire's victory last Tuesday in a campaign which saw him call illegal Mexican migrants "rapists" and pledge to build a wall along the southern US border.
    of course that's not all he said. Nice cherrypicking
    Not only has Trump vowed to make Mexico pay for the wall, but he has also threatened to renegotiate the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Mexico, the United States and Canada

    The United States has an estimated 11-12 million undocumented migrants, mostly of Mexican origin.

    "The rights of Mexicans, inside and outside their country, are not negotiable," the Foreign Ministry stressed.
    How about a nice cup of STFU? Your invaders don't have rights except to return home.
    Posted by: Frank G || 11/14/2016 08:58 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

    #1  Go read your own Article 33 in your own Constitution.

    Second, shut the human pipeline down transiting your country otherwise we take it you have absolutely no interest in being our 'friend'.
    Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/14/2016 9:13 Comments || Top||

    #2  One 'easy' approach might be a significant fee on retail wire money transfers out of the country.
    Posted by: Glenmore || 11/14/2016 9:16 Comments || Top||

    #3  #2; Yes, Glenmore, that pays for the wall.
    Posted by: Canuckistan sniper || 11/14/2016 14:53 Comments || Top||


    India-Pakistan
    Police probe into suicide after woman’s rape on order of panchayat
    [DAWN] GUJRAT: Police have tossed in the slammer
    Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
    some people after a married woman, who had set herself on fire after being raped on the order of a panchayat (village council) in Dhillu Gharbi village of Gujrat district, died in Lahore’s Mayo Hospital about two weeks ago.

    According to sources, the woman was about five-month pregnant when she set herself on fire in the house of her in-laws in a village of the Bhimber district of Azad Jammu and Kashmire on Oct 18.

    In a statement to police at the Mayo Hospital a few days before her death, the woman said she had got pregnant after the rape and that she set herself on fire because she did not want to face her husband who had just returned from abroad.

    The sources said the ordeal of the poor woman began a few months ago when her father was caught attempting to molest a minor girl in Dhillu Gharbi village. She was living at her parents’ home at the time because her husband worked abroad. She was sent to her in-laws’ house after she had been raped on the order of the panchayat.

    Police booked her father for the attempted rape of the minor girl and arrested him on March 30. However,
    if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well...
    he was released after sometime and the matter was brought to the panchayat.

    The panchayat decided that the father of the minor girl would rape the woman in punishment for her father’s attempt to molest the girl.

    The sources said the woman was brought to the Mayo Hospital in a critical condition. Before her death she gave birth to a stillborn baby at the hospital.

    Gujrat District Police Officer Sohail Zafar Chattha told Dawn that the superintendent of police in Bhimber sent a letter to the Gujrat police on Nov 7, informing them that a woman had attempted suicide by setting herself on fire at her in-laws’ house in Bhimber district on Oct 18 and she later died in a hospital in Lahore.

    He said the woman’s father, the minor girl’s father and some members of the panchayat had been taken into custody after registration of a case against them on Nov 10.

    However,
    ... and this is really gonna come as a surprise...
    he added, the matter took a new turn when parents of the dear departed woman, all the suspects in the case and some people in the village denied that any meeting of the Panchayat had been held and that the woman was raped by the minor girl’s father.

    The sources said the police were in search of body of the stillborn baby, who had either been buried somewhere in Lahore or thrown away somewhere after the premature delivery, in order to get a DNA report to establish whether or not the minor girl’s father was the biological father of the baby.

    They said it was not clear who had removed the body from the Mayo Hospital.

    The husband of the woman had produced a piece of cloth from the garbage dump at the hospital in which, he claimed, the stillborn baby had been kept after the premature delivery.

    Posted by: Fred || 11/14/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


    International-UN-NGOs
    Trump looking for way to pull US out of climate agreement
    President-elect Donald Trump
    ...that sounds so much better than "President-elect Hillary Clinton"...
    is reportedly looking at ways for the U.S. to back out of a landmark climate pact, which would defy an agreement to cut carbon emissions across the globe.

    A source on Trump’s transition team told Reuters that the team was looking for ways to bypass the procedure to leave the Paris accord, which was agreed upon last December.
    Did the Senate ratify this treaty? If not, then we never were party to it anyway, despite President Obama's artistic signature, just as, as I recall, the Senate never ratified the thing Vice President Al Gore was involved in way back when.
    Trump has previously stated his disbelief in global warming. Other global governments, including China, have expressed their reaffirming support for the deal.

    "It was reckless for the Paris agreement to enter into force before the election,” the source told Reuters on Tuesday.
    Obama has been working to cement his legacy. In cement shoes...
    One of the alternatives he said was to withdraw from the 1992 Convention that was a parent to the 2015 Paris accord. It would void U.S. participation in the deal in a year’s time. Trump could also “delete” the U.S. signature from the deal.

    Other nations still hope Trump comes around on the climate deal. However, one Moroccan official said that even if the U.S. does pull out it won’t hurt the deal.

    "If one party decides to withdraw that it doesn't call the agreement into question," Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar said.

    U.N. climate chief Patricia Espinosa was still hoping to build a solid relationship with Trump.

    "The Paris Agreement carries an enormous amount of weight and credibility," she added.
    Among all the elites who are now discredited, she means...
    Posted by: Steve White || 11/14/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

    #1  Until ALL those computer models and the data input into them are made completely public and, therefore, fully audited I don't buy any of it.

    The "climategate" e-mails (there's that word again) show that the subject of honesty is not of great moment to the folks involved.

    I have dealt with computer modelling for 30+ years including auditing and know what to look for and this stuff stinks to high heaven.
    Posted by: AlanC || 11/14/2016 7:55 Comments || Top||

    #2  If climate change fails, they'll still have alien abductions, reverse mortgages, and the Russian hacker threats.
    Posted by: Besoeker || 11/14/2016 8:01 Comments || Top||

    #3  Not a Treaty. Not binding. Tear it up on national TV January 21st
    Posted by: Frank G || 11/14/2016 9:06 Comments || Top||

    #4 
    Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 11/14/2016 10:08 Comments || Top||

    #5  Second comment #3. Trump has a pen and a phone.
    Posted by: Knuckles Whaising3001 || 11/14/2016 12:55 Comments || Top||

    #6  i think the proper way to dispence the agreement would be to deliver it to a bonfire on the capitol Mall; via a 1 ton dually diesel 'rolling coal.'
    Posted by: USN, Ret. || 11/14/2016 19:21 Comments || Top||

    #7  Wonder if he can tax the reimported carbon credits?
    Posted by: Skidmark || 11/14/2016 20:22 Comments || Top||


    Israel-Palestine-Jordan
    Netanyahu Backs Bill To Limit Noise From Mosques
    Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he backed a bill limiting the volume of calls to prayer from mosques, a proposal government watchdogs have called a threat to religious freedom.

    Netanyahu, speaking before a ministerial committee adopted the draft bill, said he would support such a move that some have labeled unnecessarily divisive.

    The bill now faces three readings in parliament before becoming law.

    Israeli media reported that the bill would stop the use of public address systems for calls to prayer.

    "I cannot count the times -- they are simply too numerous -- that citizens have turned to me from all parts of Israeli society, from all religions, with complaints about the noise and suffering caused them by the excessive noise coming to them from the public address systems of houses of prayer," Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting.

    While the draft bill applies to all houses of worship, it is seen as specifically targeting mosques.

    Israel's population is roughly 17.5 percent Arab, most of them Muslim, and they accuse the Jewish majority of badly discriminating against them.

    East Jerusalem is also mainly Palestinian and traditional calls to prayer by muezzins through PA systems can be heard in the city.

    The Israel Democracy Institute, a non-partisan think tank, has spoken out against the proposal.

    On Sunday, one of the watchdog's officials accused Israel's right-wing politicians of dangerously using the issue to gain political points under the guise of improving quality of life.

    Nasreen Hadad Haj-Yahya wrote in Israeli newspaper Maariv that "the real aim" of the bill "is not to prevent noise, but rather to create noise that will hurt all of society and the efforts to establish a sane reality between Jews and Arabs".

    Netanyahu heads what is seen as the most right-wing government in Israeli history.
    Posted by: Hupaving Cheregum6186 || 11/14/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

    #1  Instead of doing it with loudspeakers, they should return to the old-fashioned way and have someone yell from the minaret.
    Posted by: gorb || 11/14/2016 0:57 Comments || Top||

    #2  "Netanyahu Backs Bill To Limit Noise From Mosques." Bibi or Hupaving Cheregum6186 has a sense of humor.
    Posted by: JohnQC || 11/14/2016 6:59 Comments || Top||

    #3  Speaking as your Religious Advisor, I recommend flashing neon signs and text messages to the faithful. This *is* the 21st century, for cripes sake.
    Posted by: SteveS || 11/14/2016 10:20 Comments || Top||

    #4  There's probably an app for that...
    Posted by: Pappy || 11/14/2016 11:51 Comments || Top||

    #5  Nah. Being obtuse, braying, violent jackasses is part and parcel to the Mooselimb schtick. Ya see, first ya pull all kinds of offensive crepe until somebody complains. Then, obtusely, ya call the complainer a racist.

    Rinse and repeat.
    Posted by: JHH || 11/14/2016 13:08 Comments || Top||

    #6  Meanwhile the FEDS are mandating all electric and hybrid car makers to make those vehicles noisier to reduce 'stealth-related' deaths and injuries. Sept 1, 2019 is the deadline.
    card. clothes pin. spokes. some assembly required.



    Posted by: USN, Ret. || 11/14/2016 15:00 Comments || Top||

    #7  Gotta prevent all those cyclist run-overs, y'know
    Posted by: Pappy || 11/14/2016 15:50 Comments || Top||


    #9  Let them use sign language...
    Posted by: vendaval || 11/14/2016 20:03 Comments || Top||



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