[Khaama] The Ministry of Urban Development and Housing (MUDH) is in lead of the fight against corruption as the government of national unity has stepped up efforts to root out graft from the government institutions.
Syed Sadat Mansoor Naderi, the Minister of Urban Development and Housing, told news hounds in Kabul today that millions of Afghanis received in extra from the housing sector customers were returned to them for the first in the administrative enforcement of the country.
He said the committee to fight corruption has been established under leadership of the minister and the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing has secured the first place in administrative reforms Capacity Building for Results (CBR) process.
Naderi further added that educated and talented cadres have been employed into the ministry which has resulted into the recovery of the ministry’s image which was severely damaged in the past.
He also added that Afghanistan for the first time managed to gain the membership of the UN-Habitat Governing Council, calling it a major step in the housing sector of the country.
According to Naderi, important meetings were held regarding the urban and housing development in Kenya conference with the deputy secretary general of the United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... and UN-Habitat chief.
Separate meetings regarding the urban and housing development were also held with the head of Indian’s urban and housing development as well as the ministers of urban and housing developments of Iraq and Poland, Naderi added.
[Khaama] The Stand Integrated Government Tax Administration System was formally launched in southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan amid optimisms by the local officials that the system will help in transparent and better collection of taxes.
Provincial deputy governor for finance and administrative affairs Abdul Hanan Munib said the activation of SIGTAS in the provincial Revenue Department is vital and helpful step which will help in the collection of taxes in a modern manner besides helping the Revenue Department to expedite its work.
He said the government is committed to provide further facilities for the traders and investors and sideline the available challenges.
The head of the systems department in the Revenue Department of the Ministry of Finance Noorullah Habib said SIGTAS has been activated with an aim to provide better and easy facilities for the taxpayers.
Habib further added that the system will help the government to control the taxes in a transparent and standard way and implementation taxes law in a uniformed manner and keep the documents of the taxpayers safe.
He said the system will also help to keep secure the information of the taxpayers, produce tax statements automatically, and calculate taxes.
The SIGTAS system was launched for the first time in the Ministry of Finance nearly six years ago and the system is fully operational in six provinces of the country.
[PJMedia] In the concluding segment of my exclusive PJ Media interview with former top Egyptian counter-terrorism official Khaled Okasha, currently director of the National Center for Security Studies in Cairo, we get to the most important question: Is the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization?
In the first segment of our interview, Col. Okasha discussed his experience as a counter-terrorism official personally working against the emerging terror networks in Egypt. He also covered the role of Muslim Brotherhood Guidance Bureau member Mohamed Kamal in establishing the terrorist cells following Mohamed Morsi's ouster.
In the second part of the interview, we continued discussing the financing of Mohamed Kamal's terror network, and the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas role in the development of Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, the Islamic State affiliate operating in Sinai.
To conclude our interview, Col. Okasha and I focus on the following topics:
The intentional failure of Mohamed Morsi to address the rise of terror networks in Sinai.
The role of current Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mahmoud Ezzat in activating the Sinai terror networks after Morsi's removal.
The transition of Ansar Beit al-Maqdis to an Islamic State affiliate, and its continued relations with the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas.
The current political debate over designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/22/2017 00:00 ||
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h/t Instapundit
OPEC’s members brought in less cash from selling oil in 2016 than in any of the past dozen years. That grim reality comes to us courtesy of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) earned about $433 billion in net oil export revenues in 2016, the lowest since 2004. In real dollar terms, the 2016 revenue represents a 15% decline from the $509 billion earned in 2015, mainly because of the fall in average annual crude oil prices and, to a lesser extent, because of decreases in OPEC net oil exports.
That 15 percent year-on-year decline is a dramatic example of the fiscal pain these petrostate regimes are enduring as a result of the collapse in crude prices. Those low prices come to us courtesy of American shale producers, whose output contributed to a global glut that brought prices from their $100+ per barrel levels down to the $50 range they occupy today.
#4
I'm sure it would've been a lot more if she'd worn the scarf. - MSM
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/22/2017 12:17 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Alice Roosevelt : Teddy's Daughter
taken from Wikipedia........
"When her father took office in 1901 following the assassination of President William McKinley, Jr. in Buffalo (an event that she greeted with "sheer rapture"[13]), Alice became an instant celebrity and fashion icon at age 17, and at her social debut in 1902 she wore a gown of what was to become known forever afterwards as "Alice blue", sparking a color trend in women's clothing.[14] Alice was known as a rule-breaker in an era when women were under great pressure to conform. The American public noticed many of her exploits. She smoked cigarettes in public, rode in cars with men, stayed out late partying, kept a pet snake named Emily Spinach (Emily after her spinster aunt and Spinach for its green color) in the White House, and was seen placing bets with a bookie.[5]
Alice Roosevelt with her dog, Leo, a long-haired Chihuahua. She was also given a Pekingese named Manchu, by the Chinese Empress Dowager Cixi in 1905
In 1905, Alice, along with her father's Secretary of War, William Howard Taft, led the American delegation to Japan, Hawaii, China, the Philippines, and Korea. It was the largest such diplomatic mission thus far, composed of 23 congressmen (including her future husband Nicholas Longworth), seven senators, diplomats, officials and businessmen.[15]
During the cruise to Japan, Alice jumped into the ship's pool fully clothed, and coaxed Congressman Longworth to join her in the water.[16] (Years later Bobby Kennedy would chide her about the incident, saying it was outrageous for the time, to which the by-then-octogenarian Alice replied that it would only have been outrageous had she removed her clothes.[17]) In her autobiography, Crowded Hours, Alice made note of the event, pointing out that there was little difference between the linen skirt and blouse she had been wearing and a lady's swimsuit of the period.
1902 studio portrait of Alice Roosevelt by Frances Benjamin Johnston.
Once, a White House visitor commented on Alice's frequent interruptions to the Oval Office, often to offer political advice. The exhausted president commented to his friend, author Owen Wister, after her third interruption to their conversation and threatening to throw her 'out the window', "I can either run the country or I can attend to Alice, but I cannot possibly do both." [18]
Alice was the center of attention in the social context of her father's presidency, and she thrived on the attention, even as she chafed at some of the restrictions such attention placed on her. In this, Alice resembled her father. She later said of Theodore, "He wants to be the bride at every wedding, the corpse at every funeral, and the baby at every christening."
[IsraelTimes] US president touts anti-terror partnership, but says Middle East must end ’crisis of Islamic extremism,’ slams Iran, says if religions can coexist, so can Israelis and Paleostinians.
US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... called on Middle Eastern leaders to combat a "crisis of Islamic extremism" emanating from the region, casting the fight against terrorism as a "battle between good and evil," not a clash between the West and Islam.
Trump’s address Sunday was the centerpiece of his two-day visit to Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , his first stop overseas as president. During a meeting of more than 50 Arab and Moslem leaders, he sought to chart a new course for America’s role in the region, one aimed squarely on rooting out terrorism, with less focus on promoting human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. and democratic reforms.
"We are not here to lecture -- we are not here to tell other people how to live, what to do, who to be, or how to worship," Trump said, speaking in an ornate, multi-chandeliered room. "Instead, we are here to offer partnership -- based on shared interests and values -- to pursue a better future for us all."
He urged Moslem countries to ensure that "snuffies find no sanctuary on their soil" and announced an agreement with Gulf countries to fight financing for holy warriors.
Even as the American president pledged to work alongside Middle Eastern nations, he put the onus for combating terrorism on the region. Bellowing into the microphone, he implored Moslem leaders to aggressively fight holy warriors: "Drive them out of your places of worship. Drive them out of your communities."
But he said Middle Eastern countries must "honestly confront the crisis of Islamist extremism and the Islamist terror groups it inspires. [And stand] together against the murder of innocent Moslems, the oppression of women, the persecution of Jews, and the slaughter of Christians."
Trump made almost no mention of Israel, his next stop on the tour Monday, leaving it off a list of countries fighting terror. But he briefly referred to his upcoming meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... "If three Abrahamic faiths can join together, then peace in this world is possible, including peace between Israelis and Paleostinians," he said.
The president has been enthusiastically embraced in Riyadh, where the ruling royal family has welcomed his tougher stance on Iran, its regional foe. Sitting alongside Trump, Saudi King Salman ...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Cutodian of the Two Holy Mosquesand Lord of Most of the Arabians.... declared, "The Iranian regime has been the spearhead of global terrorism."
Trump also devoted much of his speech to railing against Iran, accusing it of trying to destabilize the region.
"The people of Iran have endured hardship and despair due to their leaders reckless pursuit of conflict and terror. Pray for the day that the Iranian people have the just and righteous government they so richly deserve," he said.
"It is a government that speaks openly of mass murder, vowing the destruction of Israel, death to America, and ruin for many leaders and nations in this room," he added.
Read the full transcript of Donald Trump’s speech here.
For those who prefer to watch and listen, Ynet has the 34 minute video here.
He notably refrained from using the phrase "radical Islamic terror," which had been a staple of campaign speeches and which he had chided predecessor Barack Obama I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money... for refusing to utter.
But on Sunday, Trump was full of praise for Moslem world’s history and culture. He declared Islam "one of the world’s great faiths."
White House officials said they considered Trump’s address to be a counterweight to US president Barack Obama’s debut speech to the Moslem world in 2009 in Cairo.
Obama called for understanding and acknowledged some of America’s missteps in the region. That speech was denounced by many Republicans and criticized by a number of the United States’ Middle East allies as being a sort of apology.
That's how I see it, too. And a signed contract and performance perameters against which the 50+ Muslim heads of state will be measured, not the usual meaningless diplomatic dance they've done since oil became a critical resource sometime in the 1930s. If President Trump can stay the course, this will be game changing. But if not, even China is now looking at fracking their own, I've read, so the Muslim Middle East will soon enough run down their bank accounts... and then the criminal side enterprises of the jihadis will be all they have.
#6
Saudi Arabian oil money is drying up. They will need friends (or a place to flee) pretty bad in a couple of decades. Trump could make a lot of hay by promising that if they end Islamic terror before his second term is out he'll do something to shut down fracking.
[Hurriyet] An Ankara court will begin a highly anticipated hearing on May 22 into 221 defendants ‐ most of whom are high-ranking military officers ‐ who are being charged over their alleged connections to the events at the Turkish General Staff on the night of the July 15, 2016, coup attempt.
A group of soldiers allegedly loyal to U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen ... a Turkish preacher living in Pennsylvania whom the current govt of Turkey considers responsible for all the ills afflicting Turkey and possibly the entire world... attempted to overthrow the government in the coup attempt in which warplanes bombed parliament and state offices and opening fire on civilians who resisted the coup plotters. Some 248 people were killed and around 2,700 were maimed during the coup attempt.
Of the 221 defendants, 200 are currently imprisoned, nine are released pending trial, and 12 are on the run, including Gulen himself.
Of the military personnel, there is a four-star general, three lieutenant-generals, four major-generals, 16 brigadier-generals, 26 colonels, lieutenant-colonels, 37 majors and 21 captains, with the rest of lower rank.
Also, 12 civilians, including former teachers, civil servants and tradespeople, will also be tried by the Ankara 7th Court of Serious Crimes.
The first stage of the trial will run until June 16 and seek to determine the suspects’ connections to the coup attempt.
The charges against the defendants include "attempting to abolish the Turkish Parliament by force and violence," "attempting to abolish the Turkish government by force and violence," "managing an armed organization," "attempting to assassinate the president," "killing 250 citizens," "injuring 2,735 citizens," and "restricting the liberty of state officials."
Meanwhile, ...back at the bunker, his Excellency called a hurried meeting of his closest advisors. It was to be his last. They discussed the officers's efficiency rating system... daily Yeni Safak reported on May 19 that the air force major who notified The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... ’s National Intelligence Agency (MIT) early on July 15 about the failed coup attempt gave testimony to the Ankara Chief Prosecutor’s Office on Aug. 11, 2016.
The major, a former Gulenist himself, visited the MIT building at 2:20 p.m. on the day of the coup attempt and met with two officials 10 minutes later, informing them about possible plans for a coup, the newspaper said, basing its claim on the officer’s own testimony.
"I told the two people [at MIT], ’one person will pick up Hakan Fidan [chief of MIT], and I don’t know about the other helicopter.’ They asked me what could happen, and I told them a big action was going to take place, even a coup attempt," the major reportedly told the prosecutor’s office, according to testimonies obtained by the newspaper.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/22/2017 00:00 ||
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[ALMASDARNEWS] Turkey’s President Tayip Erdogan was elected as leader of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Sunday in Ankara. The election was held during an extraordinary assembly of the party in Ankara and resulted in Erdogan becoming the sucessor of Prime Minister Binali Yildirim in the role of the party’s chairman. Erdogan was the only candidate.
Out of 1470 votes in total he gained 1414 positive votes from the delegates. This is the second time Erdogan holds this post. He had already been acting as chairman for 13 years, beginnning the the party’s foundation 2001 until 2014. This sequence ended with him being elected as President of Turke due to a law, that prohibited affiliation of the President with political parties.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
He will win the general election with 105% of the vote next time, topping Kim Jong Un's previous world record of 102%.
Sinjar (BasNews.com) The mass graves of Yezidis are under threat of disappearance and destruction by the Iraqi paramilitary forces engaged in the battle against the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... in the Yezidi areas in southern Sinjar region.
Mahma Khalil, the mayor of Sinjar, said "We have fears that the Iraqi forces may not assist in uncovering these mass graves (of Yezidis) ISIS has made in the area and will be destroyed."
Speaking to BasNews, Khalil stressed that "Baghdad has not done anything for Sinjar," adding that they object to the deployment of Hashd al-Shaabi forces in Sinjar as it will create tensions in the region and put the mass graves of Yezidis under threat of disappearance.
The official called on the Iraqi forces and Hashd al-Shaabi to withdraw from the Yezidi areas and allow the people of Sinjar to rebuild their hometowns. He also demanded the forces to refrain from destroying the mass graves.
Mass graves of Yezidis who were massacred by the IS faceless myrmidons in August 2014 are believed to exist in the areas of Kojo, Tel Banat, Tel Qasab, Siba Sheikh Khidir, Gir Uzeir and Hatima located in southern Sinjar in which the Iraqi military and militia forces have been deployed.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/22/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
Evil first takes your guns.
Then Evil separates the men from their women and children, takes the men away and executes them.
And finally Evil sells the women and children into slavery until they are used up and buries them in mass graves.
Good and Evil is a simple thing. Only God is good. All else is Evil from a minor degree of usefulness to all out demonic, every day. Amen.
#2
For the Left, there is no truth, no good or evil, just power. Thus their ability to work with and on behalf of their share goals of the destruction of Western Civ.
[IsraelTimes] Ahead of US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... ’s visit to Israel and the PA, cabinet ministers approve a package of economic benefits for the Paleostinians on Sunday evening.
Eight ministers of the 10-member security cabinet vote for the package, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who brought the plan to the ministers. But Jewish Home’s Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked vote against.
Among the measures presented by Netanyahu is the opening of the Allenby Bridge crossing between the West Bank and Jordan 24 hours a day, progress in developing West Bank industrial zones near Jenin and Tarkumiya (west of Hebron), and increased building permits for Paleostinians living in Area C of the West Bank.
#2
The Pals should never be given cash and any food aid should be given to the people directly.
If you really want to help them get the Filipino's and Malaysians out of Saudi Arabia and give those guest worker jobs to Palestinians. If they screw around (like they've done at every other opportunity) tell them they and their family will not be allowed to Haj.
[DAWN] US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... on Sunday urged Islamic leaders to take a stand against violence done in the name of religion, describing the struggle against extremism as a "battle between good and evil".
In a highly anticipated speech in Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , Trump lashed out at Iran, accusing Tehran of fuelling "the fires of sectarian conflict and terror" and calling for its international isolation.
Saying he came with "a message of friendship and hope and love", Trump told dozens of Moslem leaders that the time had come for "honestly confronting the crisis of religious extremism".
"This is a battle between barbaric criminals who seek to obliterate human life, and decent people of all religions who seek to protect it. This is a battle between good and evil."
The speech came on the second day of a visit to Saudi Arabia, part of Trump's first foreign tour that will take him next to Israel and the Paleostinian territories and then to Europe.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2017 00:00 ||
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[ALMASDARNEWS] Fifty members of the Raqqa Internal Security Forces (RISF) are currently in training by the US-led coalition, a coalition spokesperson confirmed on Saturday.
“The Coalition began training the first class of the RISF on May 17. This is a vetted local Syrian Arab Coalition force selected to serve as a holding force to guard liberated areas in Raqqa Province against ISIS attack,” the official said.
“This is the initial class, from which a training cadre will be developed to continue training RISF members, with assistance from U.S. trainers. They will be trained in security operations, and the Law of Armed Conflict,” he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2017 00:00 ||
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[Independent] Security forces now fear the Islamist group may hatch a plot to contaminate Western food supplies with formulas that quickly dissolve in liquid
Isis are conducting chemical weapons experiments on "human guinea pigs" before launching attacks on Western targets, according to secret documents.
The extremist group has reportedly poisoned prisoners by spiking their food and water with compounds used in pesticides that are easy to obtain
Security forces now fear the terror network may hatch a twisted plot to contaminate Western food supplies with formulas that quickly dissolve in liquid.
Posted by: Besoeker ||
05/22/2017 00:11 ||
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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.
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.
[Independent] Security forces now fear the Islamist group may hatch a plot to contaminate Western food supplies with formulas that quickly dissolve in liquid
