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German Vice Chancellor calls for ban of Salafist mosques
Today's Headlines
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Congress gets another chance to pass ‘Kate's Law'
[Wash Times] The "Kate’s Law" bill has been introduced into the 115th Congress, giving lawmakers another run at legislation that would impose a mandatory minimum five-year prison term on illegal immigrants who re-enter the U.S. after being deported.

The legislation is named for 32-year-old Kate Steinle, who was shot and killed allegedly by a previously deported illegal immigrant felon in San Francisco. The House passed the bill last year but it died in a filibuster by Senate Democrats.

The bill was introduced again this week in the House by Rep. Steve King and in the Senate by Sen. Ted Cruz.

"Parents should never experience the heartbreak of burying their child, but the Obama administration’s commitment to lawless immigration policy has made that tragedy the new normal," said Mr. King, Iowa Republican.

"In his push for amnesty for criminals, the president ignored the price paid by victims -- the price paid by Kate Steinle as she died in her father’s arms on San Francisco’s waterfront," he said. "Kate’s beautiful life was taken from her on July 1, 2015, when she was shot in the back by an illegal alien who had previously been deported five times and was seeking refuge in a so-called ’sanctuary city.’ "
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/08/2017 00:45 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Perhaps senators Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid will not guarantee the bill's failure by attaching riders and refusing to put it up for a senate vote this time.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/08/2017 0:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Come in, get deported.
Come in again, get room and board for 5 years.
Why does anyone think that is worse than what they came from?

I realize these weak gestures (eliminate ethics?) are simply trial balloons but I didn't vote for accommodation, I voted for resolution.

I suggest application of the three strikes rule, with a bat and a final out.
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/08/2017 2:53 Comments || Top||

#3  Just bring back the status of 'outlaw', outside the protection of the law. They have no standing or appeal in courts upon subsequent return. Add a disbarment of any lawyer who tries to get standing in any court as well.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/08/2017 7:24 Comments || Top||

#4  If they commit murder, execute them and catapult their body back over the border for Mexico to deal with.
Posted by: DarthVader || 01/08/2017 10:10 Comments || Top||

#5  The loss of contributions to society, family, community, and country resulting from the murder of this lovely young lady is incalculable and indeed sad.

Better that I am not king. A wall would not be necessary.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/08/2017 10:49 Comments || Top||

#6  First offense: Deportation after securing positive means of ID, fingerprints, DNA, dental, retinal etc.

Second offense: Hi and thank you for becoming an organ donor, your organs will be used to help the actual citizens of the United States. If you are found to be medically unworthy, you shall receive a complementary 12 Gauge slug to the back of the head. Remember, lead poisoning kills!
Posted by: Silentbrick || 01/08/2017 21:51 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
At least 20 die in cold snap across Europe, Istanbul paralyzed
Hopefully that will cool down the hotheads...
[AlAhram] A cold wave across Europe has left at least 20 people dead in the past two days, including several homeless and migrants, authorities said Saturday, with the frigid temperatures expected to continue through the weekend.

Russia meanwhile celebrated the coldest Orthodox Christmas in 120 years, and Istanbul was covered with a blanket of snow.

Ten of the latest victims of the cold perished in Poland where sub-freezing conditions remain with minus 14 degrees Celsius (seven degrees Fahrenheit) forecast on Saturday.

"Seven people died on Friday in what was the deadliest day this winter," said spokeswoman Bozena Wysocka from the Polish government centre for security (RCB).

"We recorded three other victims the previous day," she said. "This takes to 53 the number of hypothermia victims since November 1."

In Italy in the past 48 hours the cold has been blamed for seven deaths, including five homeless people, two of them Polish nationals, authorities said. There was heavy snowfall in central Italy and also in the southeast where the airports at Bari and Brindisi as well as in Sicily were closed Saturday morning.

Temperatures in Moscow fell to minus 30 degrees overnight and to minus 24 in Saint Petersburg where police found the body of a man who had died of hypothermia.

And in Bulgaria on Friday the frozen bodies of two Iraqi migrants were discovered by villagers in a mountain forest in the southeast of the country near the border with Turkey.

Authorities expect the toll to rise as weather conditions are set to remain unchanged this weekend.

The winter snow storms reached Turkey, paralysing its biggest city Istanbul where hundreds of flights were cancelled on Saturday. Traffic through the Bosphorus strait was also disrupted.

Greece likewise has seen fierce cold weather this past week. In the north near the Turkish frontier a 20-year-old Afghan migrant died of the cold on Tuesday. With more than 60,000 mainly Syrian refugees on its territory, Greece has moved many migrants to prefabricated houses and heated tents. The temperature in Athens on Saturday was zero degrees Celsius and down to minus 15 in the north of the country.

The coldest temperature in Europe so far this winter was recorded on Friday in the Swiss village of La Brevine at minus 29.9 degrees. That was still much warmer than the village's record of the coldest temperature ever in Switzerland at minus 41.8 degrees on January 12, 1987.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/08/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Seems like more evidence pointing to the coming 2nd Little Ice Age.
Posted by: DarthVader || 01/08/2017 10:15 Comments || Top||

#2  First, all temeratures should be tagged C or F. Granted -30 F or C is cold but *30F is worse. 7F is chilly I'll grant but its not the end of the world. OK its the end of the world for a Florida citrus grower. The Upper Midwest, the Plains States, the Northeast and the Mountain States see this every year much less Canada, Scandanavia and other regions. Look at the "clean the stores out" hyteria in Atlanta recently. I think a lot of it is hype on the part of the media. When I was young we never heard about the wing chill. The factors existed. We just didn't hear about it. If we heard it would be 0°F we dressed for it
Posted by: Cheaderhead || 01/08/2017 11:50 Comments || Top||

#3  "Istanbul Paralyzed" is not a statement that would surprise most people who've been there.
Posted by: ed in texas || 01/08/2017 17:33 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
Day 1, 115th Congress Introduces National Concealed Carry Reciprocity
[The Shooter's Log] On the first day of the 115th Congress, Representative Richard Hudson (R-NC) introduced national concealed carry reciprocity legislation. This is a far cry from an actual law, but the fact that it is making its debut so early in the legislative year is promising to millions of self-defense enthusiasts. Best of all, the proposed legislation covers Constitutional carry.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/08/2017 09:22 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'd like to hear of more movement on the hearing protection act to take suppressors off the nfa list.
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 01/08/2017 11:00 Comments || Top||

#2  With rights come responsibilities. If one is carrying one has to be willing to accept the legal risks of using firearms in a self-defence situation. That said just how many chargable firearms violations happened last year where the person charged had a CC P and was carrying. The problem with firearms in this country come not from law abiding but the criminal and those living the criminal life style. If one commits a violent crime using a firearm that individual if convicted should be put away for good. They should have to earn their own keep. I'm not talking about hard labor or chain gangs. Grow their own food. Produce enough surplus that it can be used for charitable purposes at home or abroad. But people in the prison systems should not be used to compete with the outside economy. Note earlier I said nothing about Capital Punishment. The problem I have with CP is not so much the concept but in its excecution, pardon the pun.
Posted by: Cheaderhead || 01/08/2017 12:08 Comments || Top||

#3  This should be hilarious. Hawaii is technically a "may issue" state; in reality, it's a "No Way in Hell!" state. Under this law they'd be forced to let in all those strapped tourists. heheheheheheh. (If it passes, watch how quickly the Dem controlled state gov't changes Hawaii to a no issue state.
Posted by: Mercutio || 01/08/2017 12:24 Comments || Top||


Ga. Tech Climatologist Chooses 'Career Suicide' to Keep Her 'Scientific Integrity'
[PJ] A climatologist at Georgia Institute of Technology resigned from her post because she could no longer navigate the stifling political orthodoxy on climate change.

Former chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Georgia Tech Judith Curry announced her resignation in a blog post on Tuesday. While her resignation is technically "a retirement event," and she is "cashing out" to get her pension, Curry explained that "the deeper reasons have to do with my growing disenchantment with universities, the academic field of climate science and scientists."

Curry is known for her scientifically astute explanations of the uncertainties in climate science. Indeed, she has been attacked as "anti-science" by other researchers who repeat the rote "scientific consensus" that man-made global warming is a catastrophic threat to humanity. In a cruel sort of irony, the universities -- ostensibly the bastion of academic freedom -- have become unsafe for those who, using good scientific methods, are skeptical of the received wisdom on climate change.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/08/2017 00:20 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Trump may be persuaded to set up an honest version of the UN's hopelessly corrupted IPCC, and Dr Curry would be an ideal person to head it.
Posted by: phil_b || 01/08/2017 1:42 Comments || Top||

#2  The scientific commumityg still cat explain the Medieval Warm Period, the possible Roman Warm Period and the possible warm periodduring the Bronze Age. Or the Little Ice Age,the likely cold of the Dark Ages or the possible cold at the end of the Bronze Age. The likely cause of the Sun being slightly more varriable than we think never seems to get much credence. That said IMO the scientific community pushing the Human Global Warming agenda would of been better served if they had sought change in human energy production/usage based on efficency and reducing pollution. Something that the vast majority can agree is generally a good thing. Other issues such as the coal industry being made to clean up its own environmental messes is a whole different matter
Posted by: Cheaderhead || 01/08/2017 10:56 Comments || Top||

#3  Another victim of the Academic-Technology Complex fueled by federal dollars. People have got to protect their phoney baloney income streams.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/08/2017 11:08 Comments || Top||

#4  The likely cause of the Sun being slightly more variable than we think never seems to get much credence

there's no boodle or mandated government control in that
Posted by: Frank G || 01/08/2017 11:18 Comments || Top||

#5  No industry IMO should be allowed to leave a mess for others to clean up. We have enough problems with contaminated mine and industrial sites as it is. Things may have been different in the past but today there is no excuse for that type of corporate behaivor. Personally I'd love to see world where we no longer used oil for transportation needs at least in terms of land or shipping. We are getting close in terms of electric veicles in terms of range and other factors. The Farraday if it lives up to its hype is going to be a possible game changer. But if we go largely electric just where is all the juice going to come from? Two good options IMO are large Solar Thermal operations that put their excess energy into high temerature heat sinks or Thorium Reactors. Thorium gets around a lot of the problems with light water reactors in terms of the waste issue (which is an issue we have to solve even if we don't build any more nuclear power plants). But the more radical Luddites, I mean environmentalits, will oppose any and all solutions. All options involve trade offs. As a society we should be making decisions based on the best options not just in the short term but 10, 20, 50 or even 100 years out. I don't want my grandchildern living in the cold and the dark or an environmental wasteland because we made nothing but short term decisions. Maybe its time to get off of the soap box
Posted by: Cheaderhead || 01/08/2017 11:22 Comments || Top||

#6  If the science is settled why do we waste more time/money studying it?

Posted by: BrerRabbit || 01/08/2017 12:35 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Ghana's new president sworn into office
[AA.TR] The leader of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Akuffo Addo, took the oath of office as Ghana’s new president Saturday, marking the beginning of his first four-year term after defeating ex-President John Mahama at the polls last December.

Following an inauguration ceremony at the Independence Square in the capital, Accra, Akuffo Addo promised economic transformation and ending corruption.

"I shall protect the public purse by insisting on value for money in all transactions," he said in reference to his election promise of fighting corruption.

The veteran politician, who also campaigned on tax cuts, said taxes would be reduced "to recover the momentum of our economy".

"We will rekindle the spirit that made Ghana the leading light of Africa," the new president said.

The 72-year-old lawyer becomes the fifth president since the West African state returned to constitutional rule in 1992.

Posted by: Fred || 01/08/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Bangladesh
BNP announces countrywide riots agitation on Sunday
[Dhaka Tribune] The BNP has called for rallies across Bangladesh on Sunday to mark the third anniversary of the January 5 election which it dubs "Democracy Killing Day."

The BNP has called countrywide demonstration programme for Sunday to mark the third anniversary of the January 5 election which it dubs "Democracy Killing Day."

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi made the announcement at a press briefing at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office in Dhaka on Saturday.
Posted by: Fred || 01/08/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
Maduro Picks a New Veep - Tarek El Aissami
Posted by: Bov Flimbers || 01/08/2017 02:34 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
S. Korea, U.S. hold N. Korea strategy talks
South Korean Deputy National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong met with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington on Friday for talks about strategies to deal with North Korea.

Friday's talks came a day after the No. 2 diplomats of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan held a trilateral meeting and agreed that intensifying pressure on Pyongyang is the best way to get the communist regime to move toward denuclearization.

This week's meetings took place after North Korean leader Fat Boy Kim Jong-un said in his New Year's Day address that the country has reached the final stage of preparation to test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile. The remark was a thinly veiled threat that Pyongyang is close to developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of striking the continental U.S., after five underground nuclear blasts and a series of ballistic missile or rocket launches over the past decade.

After Thursday's trilateral session, Blinken told reporters that the North's weapons capabilities have made a "qualitative improvement" over the past year as a result of an unprecedented level of nuclear and missile tests.

Blinken also said it is "absolutely vitally important that we exercise sustained comprehensive pressure on North Korea to get it to stop these programs, to come back to the negotiating table and to engage in good faith on denuclearization."

The State Department said the two sides planned to discuss the international community's response to North Korea's destabilizing violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions and review progress in holding North Korea accountable for its unlawful actions.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/08/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Ripley: I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/08/2017 11:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Wouldn't this make more sense after the election when Obama's folks are gone?
Posted by: 3dc || 01/08/2017 12:03 Comments || Top||

#3  Yes, but Blinken's gonna loose his job by the end of January, so he has to use up his budget by then.
After leaving government service he'll join the consultant company, "Winken, Blinken, and Nod".
Posted by: ed in texas || 01/08/2017 18:03 Comments || Top||


Europe
German Vice-Chancellor: EU break-up no longer unthinkable
Germany's insistence on austerity in the euro zone has left Europe more divided than ever and a break-up of the European Union is no longer inconceivable, German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel told Der Spiegel magazine. Gabriel, whose Social Democrats (SPD) are junior partner to Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives in her ruling grand coalition, said strenuous efforts by countries like France and Italy to reduce their fiscal deficits came with political risks.

"I once asked the chancellor, what would be more costly for Germany: for France to be allowed to have half a percentage point more deficit, or for Marine Le Pen to become president?" he said, referring to the leader of the far-right National Front.

"Until today, she still owes me an answer," added Gabriel, whose SPD favors a greater focus on investment while Merkel's conservatives put more emphasis on fiscal discipline as a foundation for economic prosperity.

The SPD is expected to choose Gabriel, their long-standing chairman who is also economy minister, to run against Merkel for chancellor in September's federal election, senior party sources said on Thursday.

Asked if he really believed he could win more votes by transferring more German money to other EU countries, Gabriel replied: "I know that this discussion is extremely unpopular."

"But I also know about the state of the EU. It is no longer unthinkable that it breaks apart," he said in the interview, published on Saturday.

"Should that happen, our children and grandchildren would curse us," he added. "Because Germany is the biggest beneficiary of the European community - economically and politically."
Posted by: Steve White || 01/08/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The idea of a European Union has merit. Just get politicians and non elected officials involved it is a recipe for disastar. Sounds like DC
Posted by: Cheaderhead || 01/08/2017 12:18 Comments || Top||

#2  'Yes, but first we have set up a defensive line south of Rome and call it the Gustav line, and then...'
Posted by: ed in texas || 01/08/2017 17:31 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Donald Trump blasts 'fools' who oppose good Russian ties
[BBC] US President-elect Donald Trump has posted a series of tweets condemning those who oppose good relations with Russia as "'stupid' people, or fools".

Mr Trump vowed to work with Russia "to solve some of the many... pressing problems and issues of the WORLD!"
Opening the negotiation. How President Putin responds will determine what President Trump actually does thereafter.
Posted by: John Frum || 01/08/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Even Ronnie took a walk in the woods with Gorby.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/08/2017 7:14 Comments || Top||

#2  This is a typical example of assumption bashing.

There is no logical reason for anyone to oppose good ties with any country.

The devil is ALWAYS in the details. What are the ties? What are the results of the negotiations?

What is the Deal??

That's a phrase I expect to use a lot in the next few years.
Posted by: AlanC || 01/08/2017 8:28 Comments || Top||

#3  There is no logical reason for anyone to oppose good ties with any country.

Opposition to good foreign ties and peace is absolutely illogical. Just because HRC and Obama have failed in their 'reset' efforts should not mean we stop making an effort to get along and make improvements where possible.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/08/2017 8:33 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Why Did America Stop Building the Best (and Most Dangerous) Submarine Ever?
"One of the most powerful submarines ever built was cut short not by enemy action but by history and economics. Despite their advanced, world-beating capabilities, only three Seawolf-class submarines were ever built, doomed by the end of the Cold War and escalating costs. Fast, deep diving and bristling with weapons, the U.S. Navy’s Seawolf subs are more relevant than ever in the face of Russian and Chinese naval ambitions."
Why? Because they were hideously expensive. And the Virginia class subs are on-time, under-budget and getting the job done.
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 01/08/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So exotic technology couldn't keep up with expensive design?
Sounds like a naval 'Death Star'.
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/08/2017 3:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Do we even need submarines now that the F-35 is in service?
Posted by: SteveS || 01/08/2017 14:50 Comments || Top||

#3  From what I've heard, the F-35 is nowhere in service. Yes, they're flying, and no, they're not usable from what I understand
Posted by: Seeking cure for ignorance || 01/08/2017 21:09 Comments || Top||

#4  Superiority
Posted by: james || 01/08/2017 22:18 Comments || Top||


Army allows more uniform exceptions for religious soldiers
The Army has made it easier for Sikhs and observers of other religions to serve in uniform while upholding the tenets of their faiths by simplifying the process to receive a religious appearance accommodation.

Brigade-level commanders now must grant religious accommodations to any soldier seeking to wear a religiously mandated beard, turban or Muslim hijab while in uniform with only a few exceptions, Army Secretary Eric Fanning wrote Tuesday in a memorandum. Previously such uniform exemptions had to be approved by the secretary.

“The soldier’s brigade-level commander will approve a request for a religious accommodation …unless the commander determines the request is not based on a sincerely held religious belief, or identifies a specific, concrete hazard that is not specifically addressed in this directive and that cannot be mitigated by reasonable measures,” Fanning wrote, noting the new policy would be added to Army Regulation 670-1, which defines the Army uniform appearance standards.

The Army has granted several Sikh soldiers temporary appearance waivers in recent years to wear neatly groomed unshorn beards and hair under a turban while serving in uniform. Those waivers were applied on a case-by-case basis, and most of them were granted only after the soldiers filed lawsuits seeking their uniform exemptions.

The new accommodations will be made permanent for soldiers throughout their careers once granted by their brigade-level commander, Fanning wrote in the memo issued in the final weeks of his tenure.

The Sikh Coalition, which helped represent Sikh soldiers seeking exemptions in recent years, was pleased with Fanning’s ruling.

“While we still seek a permanent policy change that enables all religious minorities to freely serve without exception, we are pleased with the progress that this new policy represents for religious tolerance and diversity by our nation’s largest employer,” said Harsimran Kaur, the coalition’s legal director.

Sikhs fought in the Army during both World Wars, the Korean War and in Vietnam, but few Sikhs have served in recent decades because of a 1981 policy mandating they cut their hair and beards.

Sikhism is a monotheistic religion that emerged in what is now India and Pakistan in the 15th century. Sikhs believe resistance to oppression is a religious duty, and military service was considered the highest honor for young Sikh men.

Army officials have said previously their main concerns with allowing Sikhs and other soldiers to wear beards is the interference facial hair can have with properly wearing a gas mask. Nonetheless, the Army has granted more than 50,000 permanent medical exemptions since 2007 to allow soldiers to wear beards. Some special operations commanders have also authorized their troops to wear beards and long hair in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In his memo, Fanning acknowledged some advancements in gas mask design have shown promise in protecting individuals with beards, but he added “further research, development, testing, and evaluation are necessary to identify masks that are capable of operational use [by bearded soldiers] and can be adequately maintained in field conditions.”

Last year, Army Capt. Simratpal Singh, one of the Sikh soldiers granted a temporary appearance waiver, told Stars and Stripes that his beard had not caused him any problems with wearing a gas mask.

The West Point-educated veteran of the war in Afghanistan said he had passed standard gas mask and helmet evaluations with his unit at Fort Belvoir in Virginia, including going through a tear gas chamber.

Sikh soldiers who wear unshorn beards and hair must wear them in “a neat and conservative manner that presents a well-groomed appearance.” They must role their beards to a two-inch length limit in garrison and a one-inch length for field training, physical training or when deployed. Their hair cannot fall their ears or eyebrows and must not touch the collar of their uniforms.

“An Army with Sikhs is an even stronger Army,” said Eric Baxter of Becket Law, which represented several Sikh soldiers. “Sikhs have a history of heroic service in militaries around the world — including in the United States until about thirty years ago. Now their strength will be added back to the Army without the threat of forced shaves and haircuts.”
Posted by: Steve White || 01/08/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Another 'exit bomb' from the Obama team.
So now, what 12(?), guys can wear hats and beards?
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/08/2017 3:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Well, the fit on a gas mask becomes iffy with a beard. The enemy and the battlefield have no care for pols, judges or civvies masquerading as authority. They just want to kill you. The clown posse just makes it easier for them to do it.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/08/2017 7:13 Comments || Top||

#3  How is that turban going to fit into a Kevlar or aviation flight helmet? What happens to that damn thing in blinding rain storm? More multi-cult, politically correct hogwash. Nice thing about being retired, all I have to confront is the reading of this mind-bending ridiciulousness.

Are mandatory squatter commodes and bottled water bumm douches next?

Rantburg multi-cult survival tip O'the day: Never handle or touch a bottled water found in a latrine.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/08/2017 7:24 Comments || Top||

#4  The Sikh fighter pilots remove their turbans. The hair is tied in a bandana. Not a problem.
Posted by: john frum || 01/08/2017 8:06 Comments || Top||

#5  Sikhs ARE good soldiers. That is a fact. Nations , like India, have no problem with whole Divisions of Sikhs.

Sikhs LIKE to fight. Certainty. Wearing a blade IS part of their religion. And they don't particularly care for Moslems either. Historically that is the reason they actually first became Sikhs,
Plus LOYALTY is a big thing with a Sikh. They tend to keep their Word and they don't back down on their Word. If a Sikh says he will take an objective, get out of his way.
Posted by: Choque tse Tung9347 || 01/08/2017 8:19 Comments || Top||

#6  Thanks John. I wasn't aware of the bandana. I'm still not comfortable with the beard thing. If I were an Amish enlistee (hypothetical yes), could I wear my straw hat ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/08/2017 8:29 Comments || Top||

#7  Anyone who believes this has anything to do with accommodating Sikhs is ready to listen to my spiel on cheap ocean front property just outside of Butte.
Posted by: AlanC || 01/08/2017 8:32 Comments || Top||

#8  AlanC: I have a buddy living in Twin Falls, Idaho. Do you think he survived the plate shift? West of Twin Falls..... no issues.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/08/2017 8:39 Comments || Top||

#9  Rastafarians are monotheists. Will their preferred head gear be acceptable too?
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 01/08/2017 8:54 Comments || Top||

#10  Secretary Mattis has some work to do. De-Mabusing the military from top down
Posted by: Frank G || 01/08/2017 9:45 Comments || Top||

#11  Uniform, it's not just clothes. Sikhs do make great soldiers. So create a unit for them where they wear the same uniform. But make the uniform uniform.
Posted by: Pancho Snore8829 || 01/08/2017 15:10 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Indian MP arrested for raping minor girl
[Dhaka Tribune] The victim has accused the 51-year-old politician of sexually assaulting her twice in December after she was sold to him by traffickers.

Indian police have tossed in the slammer
Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw!
a politician from northeastern Meghalaya state on charges of raping a 14-year-old trafficked girl, an officer said on Saturday.

Julius Dorphang, a Lion of Islam commander turned politician, was arrested in neighbouring Guwahati city late Friday after evading police for several days.

"He was arrested last night and has been charged with raping a minor girl and human trafficking," Vivek Syiem, a police officer in Meghalaya’s capital Shillong, told AFP.

The girl told police she was kept at a guesthouse and has accused seven other people, including a guesthouse employee, of trafficking and selling her to the politician.

The guesthouse is owned by a state minister’s son, according to Syiem.

Dorphang founded a Lion of Islam group in Meghalaya in 2000 seeking greater rights for two tribal groups, before laying down arms in 2007 and entering politics.
Posted by: Fred || 01/08/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Moslem Values.

PBUH, yeah.
Posted by: Choque tse Tung9347 || 01/08/2017 8:06 Comments || Top||

#2  I googled the gentleman's name for a biography, because Julius Dorphang does not sound Muslim, and got this from Wikipedia:

Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council
The Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) is a militant organization operating in Meghalaya, India. It claims to be a representative of the Khasi-Jaintia tribal people, and its aim is to free the Meghalaya from the alleged domination of the Garos and the non-tribal outsiders (the "Dkhars"). It was proscribed in India on 16 November 2000, but the ban was later lifted.[1][2]


Our man was their chairman. The group had ties to the National Socialist Council of this and the National Democratic Front of that... Some support from Pakistan's ISI does not offset what looks to me to be plain vanilla Communist revolutionary troublemaking. It's ironic, in an ugly way, that the group at one point launched an operation to publicly punish rapists by torturing them.

Fred's little translation program automatically turns militants and similar words into Lion of Islam, regardless of the circumstances.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/08/2017 11:48 Comments || Top||

#3  Hemingway is a knee-jerk commenter. Emphasis on the word after the hyphen.
Posted by: Pappy || 01/08/2017 13:47 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel cuts $6 million in UN funding after settlements resolution
[IS News Net] PanARMENIAN.Net - Israel said on Friday, January 6 it would cut $6 million in funding to the United Nations in 2017 in protest against a UN Security Council resolution that demanded an end to Israeli settlement building on land Palestinians want for an independent state, Reuters reports.

The United States abstained from the December 23 vote, allowing the 15-member Security Council to adopt the resolution with 14 votes in favor. Israel and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump had called for Washington to wield its veto.

Israel's mission to the United Nations said funding would be cut to UN bodies it described as "anti-Israel," including the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and the Division for Palestinian Rights.

"It is unreasonable for Israel to fund bodies that operate against us at the UN," Israeli UN Ambassador Danny Danon said in a statement. "The UN must end the absurd reality in which it supports bodies whose sole intent is to spread incitement and anti-Israel propaganda."
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/08/2017 06:25 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  OMG, now down to three star restaurants. The humanity of it all!
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/08/2017 7:25 Comments || Top||

#2  New reduced hours coming for the UN lounge bar.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/08/2017 7:28 Comments || Top||

#3  I've always wondered why Israel gave those vermin anything more than $1.00 a year.
Posted by: AlanC || 01/08/2017 8:15 Comments || Top||


Olde Tyme Religion
Bible students are warned...you may find the crucifixion too upsetting!
Theology students at University of Glasgow are given 'trigger warnings'

Uni says it helps to protect the mental health of vulnerable students

Tory, Liz Smith, said it was 'politically correct' and 'patently ridiculous'
First question that popped into my mind: How does one get to be a bible student without knowing about the crucifixion?
Posted by: Bov Flimbers || 01/08/2017 04:17 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I don't think its the crucification itself - but the whole entire idea of sacrificing oneself for someone else is so foreign to them.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/08/2017 13:39 Comments || Top||

#2  The resulting eternal "Salvation" is more than comforting to the Christian believer.
Posted by: Nero White 3083 || 01/08/2017 16:22 Comments || Top||

#3  Yup - there's a lot of bad ways to die (Tweaking copper thieves on live wires, anyone?). If your life and death actually means something, especially for protection and salvation of innocent family members or others, so much the better. Current Islamist martyrdom for self-satisfaction of Houris or 72 raisins virgins is not only NOT self-sacrifice, it's "I'll escape this Islamist shit hole we built by killing myself"
Posted by: Frank G || 01/08/2017 16:31 Comments || Top||

#4  Probably not as upsetting as Jesus reportedly found it.
Posted by: ed in texas || 01/08/2017 16:58 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2017-01-08
  German Vice Chancellor calls for ban of Salafist mosques
Sat 2017-01-07
  ISIS propaganda king killed
Fri 2017-01-06
  Gunman Opens Fire at Fort Lauderdale Airport; UPDATE 3 5 dead
Thu 2017-01-05
  3 girl suicide bombers gunned down in northeastern Nigeria
Wed 2017-01-04
  Turkey Nabs 2 Foreigners at Istanbul Airport over Nightclub Attack
Tue 2017-01-03
  U.S.-led airstrikes kill 4 Fateh al-Sham commanders in Idlib
Mon 2017-01-02
  Islamic State Claims Istanbul Nightclub Terrorist Attack
Sun 2017-01-01
  Top wanted Boko Haram commander arrested at Borno LG Chairman’s house
Sat 2016-12-31
  BREAKING: 'Many injured' in Istanbul nightclub attack
Fri 2016-12-30
  Drone Strike Kills Local Qaida Chief in Yemen
Thu 2016-12-29
  Jordan sentences 5 Islamic State members to death
Wed 2016-12-28
  Yemeni (Saleh) army commander defects
Tue 2016-12-27
  Top Taliban leader leading Kunduz battle killed in Ghazni ambush
Mon 2016-12-26
  Phoenix cops arrest alleged ‘jihadist’ plotting midnight Mass attack: ‘Get down with this ISIS s-t’
Sun 2016-12-25
  Buhari: Last Boko Haram base taken in Sambisa Forest

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