[All Africa] The U.N. refugee agency reports the number of refugees that have fled into Zambia to escape militia violence in Haut-Katanga and Tanganyika Provinces of Democratic Republic of the Congo ...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material... now has topped 12,000.
The agency reports more than 8,400 Congolese refugees have arrived in Zambia in just the last three months, indicating a worsening of the situation in south-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Government forces reportedly are killing many civilians in response to the rebellion in Haut-Katanga and Tanganyika Provinces against the continued rule of the country’s President, Joseph Kabila.
To put the increasing instability in the country in perspective, UNHCR front man, Babar Baloch, notes more than four million people are internally displaced in DRC. He told VOA within the past month alone, 200,000 more people have fled their homes.
"When you do the math, the rough total of internal displacement comes to around 6,500 people being displaced each day. Refugees who are arriving, they fear that as violence is intensifying, they fear that more people could be forced out from DRC into Zambia," said the front man.
Baloch said some 80 percent of the refugees are women and kiddies, driven out by the extreme brutality of rampaging militias. He said civilians reportedly are being killed, women raped, property looted and houses torched.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/05/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
Exhibit A of the failed liberal policy of "colonization is bad"
The people of Angola and the Belgian Congo were not ready for self government when they were turned loose on themselves. They've been a failed state with horrific slaughter ever since.
[All Africa] The secessionist crisis in Cameroon ...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there... 's western region is deepening, with the government promising to crack down hard after anglophone bully boyz rubbed out four soldiers and two coppers last week.
The soldiers were killed in an ambush on a military convoy outside the town of Mamfe on 29 November in Cameroon's anglophone South West Region. The coppers were killed the following night in the nearby town of Eyoumojock.
The secessionist Ambazonia Defense Forces, the armed wing of the Ambazonia Governing Council, grabbed credit for the attacks.
Ambazonia is the name anglophone separatists have given to the homeland they hope to carve out of western Cameroon in this majority French-speaking country.
The shootings bring to 10 the number of security forces killed since last month.
Promising action, Defence Minister Joseph Beti Assomo said on Saturday that "measures will be taken immediately" to "eradicate this inconvenient situation", without elaborating further.
State radio was blunter. "[President] Paul Biya has declared war on these Death Eaters who seek secession," it announced.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/05/2017 00:00 ||
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Come on, Ambazonia? And there's at least 200 anglo phone jocks in this place alone (mainly RJ11's but also some 14's), what's all that about?
[PRESSTV] Zim-bob-we's new president has called for public unity to revive the African country's ailing economy as his new cabinet took the oath of office.
Emmerson Mnangagwa made the appeal after he swore in the 22-member cabinet at State House in the capital Harare on Monday.
"I have sworn in a new cabinet just to finish the term of the former president, which is a period of six to seven months," Mnangagwa said.
"I believe with my team we will stand up to the challenge," the president added, noting, "I want them (Zim-bob-weans) to be united, we must grow our economy."
Mnangagwa has drawn criticism for appointing officers from the military which played a key role in the events leading to his ascent to power. The cabinet includes Air Marshal Perrance Shiri, who was appointed agriculture and lands minister, and Major General Sibusiso Moyo, who is now in charge of foreign affairs.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/05/2017 00:00 ||
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The white farmers and businessmen are eager to return, right after you go back to calling it Rhodesia and return the stolen lands, or just compensation in actual real money, not zimbob bucks. Otherwise, its just another BS line from a tinpot clown in a funny outfit.
[PRESSTV] Despite all this saber-rattling by US officials against North Korea, the United States is not going to launch a nuclear attack on the Asian country, according to Michael Burns, a political and military analyst in New York.
Burns made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Monday while commenting on US threats and projection of military power against North Korea.
On Monday, US F-22 fighter jets arrived in South Korea to start air combat exercises amid escalating tensions between North Korea and the United States.
The stealthy F-22s and F-35s that roared into the sky over South Korea on Monday are among 230 American and South Korean fighters carrying out the annual Vigilant Ace 18 air combat exercises on the Korean Peninsula.
About 12,000 troops are also participating in the war games, which have angered North Korea. They are scheduled to end Friday.
North Korea on Monday warned that the "ceaseless large-scale war games" by the US and South Korea are "creating a situation that a nuclear war may break out any moment" on the Korean Peninsula.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/05/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
...I don't think we're going to start a war - but in all honesty, I fully believe we're ready for Kim Il Fatty to do something stupid so we can take the first punch and then clean his clock.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/05/2017 4:45 Comments ||
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Analyst from New York.....Yeah he knows what Americans want.
#6
It may be conventional weapons on our part, unless PorkBoy launches nukes at US territory or troops, then all bets are off for tactical nukes on our part. HOWEVER, any nuke use leaves a mess in the region for the ChiComs to deal with, and the SKors and the Japanese. So like it or not, all those players need to work with the ChiComs to find a way to have PorkBoy take an imminent dirtnap or AAA-ride, or however the skinny Norks figure out to do him.
#8
I agree, conventional war. By the time the first hour is up Seaul has a lot of rubble (but a fraction of the worst case scenario) and North Korea is out with command and control and major roads destroyed as well as carnage along the North Korean side of the DMZ. I suspect the Chinese might even join in to destroy roads between North Korea and China to contain the refugee crisis.
Then what? We can't force China to deal with them after we blew them up. South Korea would be the natural but China will oppose and South Korea will need rebuilding on her own.
The US should float a plan to have Japanese peacekeepers in North Korea as a way to motivate China to step up and do what they have to do to avoid US action.
[DW] The commotion surrounding a suspicious package at a Potsdam Christmas market is how Germans found out about an extortion case at shipping giant DHL. Usually, companies keep such threats secret ‐ for good reason.
A great deal about the suspicious package planted in Potsdam last week was unusual, but not the fact that it was part of an extortion attempt against a large company. Between 7,500 and 8,000 blackmail cases are reported in Germany every year, says Frank Roselieb of the Institute for Crisis Research at the German University of Kiel. Based on its analysis of crime statistics, the institute concludes that there are on average 150 blackmail threats each week.
Goodness. How anti-social.
But the public only ever finds out about a very few cases, such as this week's DHL incident or the recent supermarket extortion case in which a man threatened to contaminate baby food in stores if the company refused to give into his demand for millions of euros. Most of the threats are kept under wraps. According to Roselieb, no one is interested in "shouting out such threats from the rooftops."
Recalls, not revelations
Delivery service DHL is currently the target of multiple threats
Companies face the dilemma of needing to protect their reputation while at the same time protecting their customers. For this reason, instead of revealing blackmail threats to the public, companies will often issue product recalls for supposed "precautionary consumer protection." Businesses are understandably reluctant to talk about poisoning and extortion.
The risk consulting firm Result Group knows why most cases are concealed. "The worst thing that can happen to a company is that customers turn their backs on it," says Result Group's Christoph Eichel. The consultants recommend that companies prepare themselves "for all eventualities" so that employees are aware of the company's procedures when they are blackmailed.
Last week's threat temporarily shut down a Christmas market in Potsdam
Blackmailers normally don't go public with their demands because they want to avoid the risk of being exposed. That is one reason why Roselieb believes that the DHL blackmailer, for instance, is an amateur. A parcel bomb offers up many clues to Sherlocks, everything from the type of glue to the type of explosive used.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[ARABNEWS] A Spanish judge on Monday ordered that four prominent members of the Catalan independence movement should remain in jug, including the No. 2 of the ousted regional government, who will campaign in a polarized regional election from a jail near Madrid.
The judge set €100,000 ($118,000) bail for the six other Catalan politicians who had been placed in durance vile Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! in early November, and ordered their passports to be confiscated. The six were expected to leave jails near Madrid later in the day.
Meanwhile, ...back at the shootout, Butch shot Ike through the elbow. Take that, Ike! he yelled. Ow! yelled Ike..... Catalan ex-president Carles Puigdemont and four of his separatist allies heard that they will be judged on whether they can be extradited from Belgium to Spain on Dec. 14, exactly one week before the election.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Seems the young punk may be involved in insurance fraud:
[MLive] In 2010, Conyers III reported two laptops and $27,000 in concert tickets were stolen from a government-registered vehicle in downtown Detroit, raising questions about why he was driving a vehicle registered to his father's Congressional district.
The elder John Conyers said in a statement at the time the vehicle was used during the Thanksgiving holiday and said he'd make sure it wouldn't happen again. ...and an aspiring rapper, turning his life around:
In 2013, Conyers III posted a song to his YouTube channel about his experiences in the spotlight. The video contains multiple instances of inappropriate language.
The fabulous online life of John Conyers III, or why his family needs to do damage control immediately For a minority Democrat, it's a resume enhancer.
If they can afford grass ....
[StarTribune] Gov. Scott Walker moved ahead Monday with his plans to make Wisconsin the first state to drug test able-bodied adults applying for food stamps, a move blocked by the federal government or found to be unconstitutional when other states have tried.
Wisconsin's plan was approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature more than two years ago, but it languished because it conflicts with federal rules prohibiting states from imposing additional eligibility criteria on food stamp recipients.
Florida had a drug test requirement for food stamp recipients that a federal appeals court blocked in 2014, finding it violated constitutional protections against unreasonable searches. Walker filed a federal lawsuit in 2015 seeking approval to test food stamp applicants, but it was rejected because then-President Barack Obama's administration had not yet formally rejected the state's request to do the testing.
Walker asked then-President elect Donald Trump's administration in December 2016 to make clear that drug screening is permissible, but it has not taken action and now Walker is moving ahead anyway.
Walker approved a rule change to implement the screening and sent it to the Legislature for review Monday. Walker spokesman Tom Evenson said the governor believes he has the authority to implement the rule.
The Legislature has four months to review the rule and it could take a year after its approval before the testing would begin. Lawsuits by those who oppose the drug testing are expected once it's implemented, assuming the federal government doesn't step in and block it in the meantime.
Under the plan, childless FoodShare participants who fail a drug test would be eligible for state-funded rehabilitation treatment if they don't have any other way to pay for it. FoodShare is Wisconsin's name for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The Walker administration estimated that a small fraction of the program's applicants ‐ 220, or 0.3 percent, of the 67,400 applicants a year ‐ would actually test positive for drugs.
Walker has touted the drug testing as a way to put more drug-free workers into the workplace.
Opponents say that's wrongheaded.
"The state could do far more to expand the workforce by investing in broader access to effective drug treatment programs, rather than spending scarce state resources on the administration of drug screening and testing requirements," said Jon Peacock, research director for Kids Forward, which advocates for children and families in Wisconsin.
Peacock said he was certain there would be a legal challenge over the constitutionality of drug screening food stamp recipients as well as whether such a move would be a violation of federal law governing the food stamp program.
Walker has pushed to expand drug testing for public benefit recipients. The budget he signed this year called for drug screening all able-bodied, childless adults applying for state Medicaid BadgerCare health benefits, pending federal approval. The budget also required drug test requirements for food stamp recipients would be expanded to parents of children ages 6 to 18.
Walker and 11 other governors in 2016 asked the federal government for permission to drug test food stamp recipients.
#1
1. If they can afford weed they don't need my help buying food. (The law specifies 'able-bodied, so presumably excludes medical marijuana.)
2. A cheaper way might be to just exclude Twinkies, Doritos, and Vanilla Wafers from food stamp eligible purchases.
[ZeroHedge] Days after it emerged that former Special Counsel investigator Peter Strzok was fired from Robert Mueller's Trump-Russia probe in August for sending anti-Trump text messages to his mistress while the two were working together on the Clinton email investigation, Sara Carter of Circa told a Fox News panel that there are more anti-Trump messages sent by Mueller's team floating around.
Tangentially, it has been widely reported that Mueller's special counsel is stacked with investigators who have donated to Obama, Clinton or other Democrat causes. As Jessica McBride reported in Heavy:
Andrew Weissmann: Weissmann is a Barack Obama and Democratic campaign donor, according to federal records. "Weissmann, who led the Enron investigation, previously gave $2,300 to Obama’s first presidential campaign in 2008 and $2,000 to the Democratic National Committee in 2006
Jeannie Rhee: donated $5,400 to Hillary Clinton in 2015 and 2016, according to FEC records. The records show she gave $2,500 each to Obama for America and Obama Victory Fund 2012 in 2011
Andrew Goldstein: According to Fox News, "Goldstein contributed a combined $3,300 to Obama’s campaigns in 2008 and 2012"
Greg Andres: FEC records show that Andres has donated at least $2,700 to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
James Quarles: Donated thousands of dollars to the campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. He has also donated money recently to other Democrats, including Friends of Chuck Schumer and two other Democrats. He has a lengthy donation history dating back years. He did donate to two Republicans over the years, however.
Elizabeth Prelogar: A former law clerk to Justics Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagen, gave $250 to Hillary Clinton in 2016, according to FEC records. She also gave $500 total to Obama for America and the Obama Victory Fund 2012.
Brandon Van Grack: gave small amounts to ActBlue, an effort to raise money for Democrats, and to a Democratic candidate for Congress in 2012. In 2008, he gave about $286 to Barack Obama.
Rush Atkinson: donated $200 to Clinton’s campaign in 2016.
Kyle Freeny: In 2012, Freeny gave $300 to Obama. In 2008, Freeny also gave $250 to Obama, FEC records show.
...who were a) on strike, b) whose union was fined $1 million a day by Federal judges because they were in violation of Federal law that said they cannot strike. By that time they had zero union protection because they had no contract, so it was a massively different situation than we have now. Do you think Federal employees are dumb enough to go on strike en masse again?
#8
Set up offices in the most isolated part of alaska and transfer the troublemakers there. If they want a paycheck they can move and continue working, otherwise they can quit.
#10
There is an old, old saying which I think says it all about Trump's tactics with the Mueller probe:
Give a man enough rope and he will hang himself.
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.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[PRESSTV] Zim-bob-we's new president has called for public unity to revive the African country's ailing economy as his new cabinet took the oath of office.
North Korea
