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Iranian brigadier general killed by jihadist militants in northern Hama
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 3: Non-WoT
3 16:09 Matt [5] 
11 22:32 gorb [7] 
9 20:12 KBK [9] 
1 12:08 Canuckistan sniper [5] 
4 23:30 Theatch Thaiting5261 [8] 
19 20:29 KBK [4] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
3 16:06 chris [5]
3 07:27 AlanC [4]
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Page 2: WoT Background
3 12:46 JohnQC [4]
7 11:47 swksvolFF [10]
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3 22:53 Zenobia Floger6220 [6]
4 19:56 Marilyn Snath8125 [17]
1 22:26 gorb [10]
1 20:30 badanov [6]
1 02:57 g(r)omgoru [10]
3 15:06 magpie [8]
2 16:04 magpie [5]
4 22:28 gorb [12]
3 08:43 Neville Elminemp2042 [4]
7 20:47 trailing wife [10]
Page 4: Opinion
3 23:03 james [10]
3 18:39 phil_b [12]
8 23:45 Theatch Thaiting5261 [8]
1 09:01 Marilyn Snath8125 [6]
1 06:08 Frank G [9]
2 19:39 magpie [16]
3 14:29 g(r)omgoru [5]
Page 6: Politix
3 16:32 chris [4]
7 17:30 Ho Chi Ulolutch7127 [4]
6 22:41 gorb [4]
-Short Attention Span Theater-
Gene pool closed for cleaning: Man dies trying to eat doughnut in shop's eating challenge
[Telegraph] A man trying to eat a half-pound glazed doughnut in 80 seconds as part of a Denver doughnut shop's eating challenge choked to death, one of two people who died in such contests this past weekend.

Travis Malouff, 42, died early on Sunday of asphyxia due to obstruction of the airway, a coroner said. He had been participating in a contest to eat a doughnut the "size of a small cake," witness Julia Edelstein said on Tuesday.

Winners get the doughnut for free and a button saying they won the challenge, which Voodoo Doughnuts said it was suspending, according to statement given to Denver news station KUSA-TV.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/08/2017 09:36 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  a/k/a "The Michael Moore Challenge Cup"

Snark of the day.

(Okay, so it was obvious, low-hanging fruit of the snark. But someone had to.)
Posted by: Matt || 04/08/2017 10:17 Comments || Top||

#2  Never eat anything bigger than your head.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 04/08/2017 14:21 Comments || Top||

#3  #1 LOL, Steve
Posted by: Matt || 04/08/2017 16:09 Comments || Top||


A Woman Fell Off California's Highest Bridge While Trying to Take a Selfie
[COSMO] A woman was trying to take a selfie on Foresthill Bridge, the highest bridge in California, when she fell 60 feet off its edge, suffering injuries that left her "lucky to be alive," police say. According to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, the unnamed woman and a group of her friends were walking on the girders underneath the bridge, which is against the law. The woman tried to take a selfie and fell off the girders, landing 60 feet below on a trail.

"They were taking a picture on the bridge, and then the big bolts that are holding the beams together, she stepped on them kind of weirdly and lost balance and fell backwards," her friend, Paul Goncharuk, told CBS Sacramento.

The woman was knocked unconscious, had a deep wound on her arm, and broke bones. She was rushed to a hospital and will need surgery, but she is expected to make a full recovery.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/08/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  California girls are the greatest in the world
Each one a song in the making
Posted by: Crusader || 04/08/2017 1:14 Comments || Top||

#2  Is her name Peg or Eileen? Might be now.
Posted by: Raj || 04/08/2017 1:45 Comments || Top||

#3  Today's Bonus Round winner.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/08/2017 2:41 Comments || Top||

#4  Stupidity is not a crime, but it does cause suffering. Usually, in modern western societies, it's the other people who suffer. So each case like the current should be applauded.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/08/2017 3:03 Comments || Top||

#5  Wonder if she has healthcare coverage.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/08/2017 6:02 Comments || Top||

#6  She'll still be a Democrat, incurable brain injuries and all
Posted by: Frank G || 04/08/2017 6:10 Comments || Top||

#7  Chainsmoker's "Selfie" leaps to the forefront of my mind.

Whiskey Mike's link
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 04/08/2017 9:25 Comments || Top||

#8  and the link didn't show.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuwfZGDWOio
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 04/08/2017 9:26 Comments || Top||

#9  #5 Wonder if she has healthcare coverage.
If ObamaCare, she is probably a goner. Might as well bury her now.
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/08/2017 11:41 Comments || Top||

#10  She survived? No Darwin Award for her. Of course, she can always try again.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 04/08/2017 11:46 Comments || Top||

#11  I frequently refer to my daughter-in-law as 'the perfect California girl', but it seems like the competition is up and it's on!
Posted by: ed in texas || 04/08/2017 12:06 Comments || Top||

#12  So where's the selfie?
I want to see that Dumb, Confused, and Surprised, look on her face on the way down.
Gravity; Not a law you can easily break.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 04/08/2017 13:00 Comments || Top||

#13  and the link didn't show.

I took a look and discovered you'd forgotten to give the link a bit of text to attach to, Whiskey Mike. So I added it. Next time type your text, highlight it, then click on the link icon and paste the URL into the box that pops up. You got the last steps right, and you did paste over the placeholding http://, so the learning curve isn't steep. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/08/2017 14:11 Comments || Top||

#14  "Those obsessed with selfies will fall for anything."
-Confucius
Posted by: swksvolFF || 04/08/2017 15:02 Comments || Top||

#15  Lucky for her she wasn't in the middle of the center span. Pretty bridge though. Why is it thins like this always attract idiots
Posted by: Cheaderhead || 04/08/2017 17:16 Comments || Top||

#16  60 feet is the highest California bridge? I doubt that.
Posted by: KBK || 04/08/2017 20:17 Comments || Top||

#17  Golden Gate is 220 ft, and that's at high tide.
Posted by: KBK || 04/08/2017 20:20 Comments || Top||

#18  Foresthill is 730 feet. She was right at the end.
Posted by: KBK || 04/08/2017 20:22 Comments || Top||

#19  This is how you do Foresthill Bridge.
Posted by: KBK || 04/08/2017 20:29 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
H-1B visa applications hit cap in 4 days
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/08/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I think of it as a test for American education system.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/08/2017 3:01 Comments || Top||

#2  The pols and media are rather missing the point of why H-1Bs are so popular. As important as the salary, is the fact these people are essentially bonded for a fixed period. Hugely important in IT projects when the loss of a person often has a cascade effect on schedules.
Posted by: phil_b || 04/08/2017 4:07 Comments || Top||

#3  So true phil. H1-B is indentured servitude and the Indian (usually) contractors are the ones reaping the rewards.
Posted by: AlanC || 04/08/2017 7:36 Comments || Top||

#4  Modern day tech coolies.
Posted by: Theatch Thaiting5261 || 04/08/2017 23:30 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Maldives Arrests Key Opposition Figure in Crackdown
[An Nahar] The last free opposition leader in the Maldives has been jugged
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
as part of a major government crackdown on rival politicians who narrowly failed to seize control of parliament in the honeymoon islands.

Qasim Ibrahim, who ran for president in 2013 and currently heads the Jumhooree Party (JP), was one of four signatories of an opposition unity deal aimed at toppling President Abdulla Yameen.

The bid failed after Yameen ordered troops to remove the dissenting MPs from the floor of parliament, causing chaotic scenes and prompting the US to urge the Maldives to restore faith in democracy.

Ibrahim was taken into custody on Thursday night after police questioned him about allegations he bribed politicians, according to a coalition of dissidents known as the Maldives United Opposition (MUO).

Posted by: Fred || 04/08/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But I thought no man was an island.
Posted by: Canuckistan sniper || 04/08/2017 12:08 Comments || Top||


Government
The IRS took millions from innocent people because of how they managed their bank accounts, inspector general finds
h/t Instapundit
The Internal Revenue Service has seized millions of dollars in cash from individuals and businesses that obtained the money legally, according to a new Treasury Department inspector general's report.

The report covers IRS cash seizures against businesses and individuals suspected of deliberately trying to avoid federal reporting requirements for large bank deposits.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/08/2017 04:09 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Obama gets credit for this inspector general, I think. The IRS abuses go way back.
Posted by: Glenmore || 04/08/2017 8:28 Comments || Top||

#2  "The IRS took millions from innocent people because":
(a)they can
(b)this what they do.
Posted by: ed in texas || 04/08/2017 12:11 Comments || Top||

#3  Intentionally splitting up large sums of cash into sub-$10,000 amounts to avoid that reporting requirement is known as “structuring” and is illegal under the federal Bank Secrecy Act.

But many business owners engaged in perfectly legal activities may be unaware of the law. ...
While structuring is technically a crime, it's something of a secondary one. The reporting requirements were enacted to detect serious criminal activity, such as drug dealing and terrorism.


THIS PART OF THE LAW IS JUST PLAIN B.S. Congress should repeal it. $10,000 is worth very little after the money printing spree of the Federal Reserve these last 10 years.
Banks tend to look suspiciously at any deposit over $5000 or so, I have found.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 04/08/2017 14:26 Comments || Top||

#4  More from the article:
It is unclear whether structuring forfeiture cases make up a small or large percentage of all IRS forfeitures, because the IRS does not publish that information and denied requests filed under the Freedom of Information Act to make it public.
Couldn't Congress easily mandate reports be published within 12 hours of forfeiture and make it a FELONY for any IRS employee to process a forfeiture without such notice.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 04/08/2017 14:29 Comments || Top||

#5  This "Bank Secrecy Act" looks like a license to steal.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 04/08/2017 14:30 Comments || Top||

#6  The end game is to get rid of cash - electronic fund transfer only, so nothing can be hidden from the tax man, or even from confiscation.
Posted by: Glenmore || 04/08/2017 14:45 Comments || Top||

#7  The end game is to get rid of cash - electronic fund transfer only, so nothing can be hidden from the tax man, or even from confiscation. Posted by Glenmore

I fear you are exactly right Glen.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/08/2017 15:15 Comments || Top||

#8  "Structuring" as a criminal charge is little more than making criminal what one thinks rather than what one does. If I *legally* make $15,000 on Monday, and decide to deposit $7,000 on Tuesday and then decide to deposit the other $8,000 on Wednesday, why should that be declared a criminal offense?
Posted by: Crusader || 04/08/2017 17:14 Comments || Top||

#9  The problem is that there are huge amounts of high denomination currency out there and only a small percentage is actually in circulation. No one really knows what has happened to the rest, but the presumption is that it is used for illegal activities.

There are probably, a few people who get caught unwittingly structuring, but I doubt it's many.
Posted by: phil_b || 04/08/2017 18:30 Comments || Top||

#10  I went into a local bank where I have an account and tried to turn $3000 cash into a bank check to a business I'm associated with, so I could mail the check to its bank (no local branch). "No problem," said the associate. Twenty minutes later he returned, saying the government regs would not allow it. I had to mingle the funds with my personal checking account and write a check, which is exactly what I didn't want to do - it looks a bit shady.
Posted by: KBK || 04/08/2017 20:07 Comments || Top||

#11  How long before the IRS makes things right?
Posted by: gorb || 04/08/2017 22:32 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Google will tell you what is true and what is false..
Keep in mind that Google is very left wing. So you can take a guess what they consider 'true' and what they consider 'false'. Millions of people will believe them because, well they are google! Do no evil and all that. With a particular definition of evil....
Sadly this article is likely true.

[Guardian] Google is to start displaying fact-checking labels in its search results to highlight news and information that has been vetted and show whether it is considered to be true or false, as part of its efforts to help combat the spread of misinformation and fake news.

The fact-checking feature, which was first introduced to Google News in the UK and US in October, will now be displayed as an information box in general search results as well as news search results globally.

The small snippets display information about the claim made by a particular page or site and who made the claim, as well as the results of fact checking on the highlighted claim. The fact checks are not performed by Google, but by named trusted publishers and fact-checkers using an open system to mark claims as having been checked.

Cong Yu from Google and Justin Kosslyn from fact-check partner Jigsaw
AKA the Ministry of Truth. Yes that *is* a 1984 reference.
said: "With thousands of new articles published online every minute of every day, the amount of content confronting people online can be overwhelming. And unfortunately, not all of it is factual or true, making it hard for people to distinguish fact from fiction.

"As we
Tell people what to think and how to think it.
make fact checks more visible in search results, we believe people will have an easier time reviewing and assessing these fact checks, and making their own informed opinions."
How long before its illegal to publish or think so-called 'fake news'? Some are already suggesting making it a criminal offense.

Now pardon me while I either adjust, or strengthen my tinfoil hat.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 04/08/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  First we had behind the scenes manipulation of the algorithms, then the outsiders started Google Bombing, and now we return to start with an open in-your-face Ministry of Truth. The Internet just isn't what they told it would be...
Posted by: magpie || 04/08/2017 1:47 Comments || Top||

#2  A huge opportunity for other search engines?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/08/2017 3:00 Comments || Top||

#3  and don't trust SNOPES either
Posted by: Frank G || 04/08/2017 6:02 Comments || Top||

#4  Trust no one.
Posted by: Glenmore || 04/08/2017 8:28 Comments || Top||

#5  #2 reminds me of another behemoth who said only their 'one size fits all' product will rule the automated world refusing to give the customers what they wanted.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/08/2017 8:41 Comments || Top||

#6  I wonder if this report will be rated true or false.
Posted by: Matt || 04/08/2017 10:47 Comments || Top||

#7  Sometimes I use DuckDuckGo. It is a no frills search engine that does not store cookies and track you.
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/08/2017 12:11 Comments || Top||

#8  Google has retired their old slogan of "Don't be evil" in favor of the new "on your knees, bitch".
Posted by: ed in texas || 04/08/2017 12:13 Comments || Top||

#9  BS. I will tell you what is true and what is false. All you have to do is ask.
Posted by: KBK || 04/08/2017 20:12 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
19[untagged]
11Islamic State
10Govt of Syria
2TTP
2al-Shabaab (AQ)
2Hamas
2Taliban
1Hezbollah
1Houthis
1Boko Haram (ISIS)
1Sublime Porte
1al-Nusra
1Commies
1Thai Insurgency

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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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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2017-04-08
  Iranian brigadier general killed by jihadist militants in northern Hama
Fri 2017-04-07
  U.S. launches cruise missiles against Assad's forces
Thu 2017-04-06
  Al-Qaeda assassinates prominent Free Syrian Army commander in Idlib
Wed 2017-04-05
  Global outcry over suspected Syria chemical attack
Tue 2017-04-04
  ISIS raid in Yemen leaves scores of Houthi troops dead on the battlefield
Mon 2017-04-03
  Reports of an explosion(3) in a metro station in central #StPetersburg, #Russia
Sun 2017-04-02
  IS second-in-command killed in airstrike: Iraqi State TV
Sat 2017-04-01
  South Carolina man charged with trying to join Islamic State
Fri 2017-03-31
  Mortars hit near Somali Presidential Palace, 2 hurt
Thu 2017-03-30
  503 militants surrender in Homs
Wed 2017-03-29
  Taliban commanders among 21 killed in Helmand airstrikes: MoD
Tue 2017-03-28
  33 ISIS troops die in Nangarhar airstrike
Mon 2017-03-27
  Leading member of Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis killed in North Sinai raid: Egyptian army
Sun 2017-03-26
  Police clash with anti-Christian mob in southern Egypt
Sat 2017-03-25
  ISIL withdrawing fighters from southern Syria to concentrate on Raqqa


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