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Islamic State claims attempted bombing in Algeria -AMAQ
Today's Headlines
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Guess who picks up the tab for the $1m Dakota Pipeline protest clean-up ?
[Breitbart] The U.S. Army Corps will spend more than $1 million to clean up the mess left behind by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and others opposed to the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota. The protesters -- who succeeded in temporarily shutting down pipeline construction under orders from President Barack Obama -- were evicted after President Donald Trump put the pipeline project back online.
"The corps’ contract with a Florida-based company to provide trash removal and environmental cleanup includes the main Oceti Sakowin camp on the north side of the Cannonball River and the smaller Rosebud camp on the south side," the Bismarck Tribune reported on Friday. "Both are on corps’-owned property."

Despite efforts by the tribe to clean up the protest sites, the land was littered with garbage, and even cars and motor homes had to be removed.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/28/2017 04:46 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'm shocked that a Honolulu based firm wasn't contracted for the clean-up.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/28/2017 4:54 Comments || Top||

#2  See what happens when you let trash on the property? The tribes were smarter than that.
Posted by: Bobby || 02/28/2017 7:37 Comments || Top||

#3  But, hey! Your portion is only a few pennies!
Posted by: Bobby || 02/28/2017 7:39 Comments || Top||

#4  What's wrong with this picture. The protesters claim they are worried about oil spills into drinking water and yet these same people [environmentalists, sarc] leave the land a mess with everything imaginable.
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/28/2017 10:21 Comments || Top||

#5  Iron Eyes Cody to the courtesy phone.

Hey, EPA just force these people to watch this and be told they are enemy they despise.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/28/2017 10:57 Comments || Top||

#6  Yes Iron Eyes, your mother is on the phone from Sicily complaining some Native American Senator from Mass. is bothering her for a canoli recipe to include in some updated Pow Wow Chow recipe book...
Posted by: Capsu78 || 02/28/2017 11:41 Comments || Top||

#7  Anyone else think that leaving the protest site trashed is actually part of the plan?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/28/2017 11:51 Comments || Top||

#8  Yes.
Posted by: Pappy || 02/28/2017 12:17 Comments || Top||

#9  Mostly environmentally conscious peaceful protesters.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 02/28/2017 14:13 Comments || Top||

#10  The sad part is apparently they left at least 2 dogs and puppies behind. What kind of sick bastards abandons puppies to freeze?
Posted by: rjschwarz || 02/28/2017 14:16 Comments || Top||

#11  Ah, yes a proud warrior of the The Hekawi tribe and its leader Chief Wild Eagle.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/28/2017 14:18 Comments || Top||


Man sentenced for cutting off woman’s finger and drinking her blood in Juggalo ritual
[KANSASCITY] A Wisconsin man has been sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison for cutting off a woman’s finger and drinking her blood in a ritual to honor a fellow fan of the bankrupt, increasingly impoverished, reliably Democrat, Detroit
... ruled by Democrats since 1962. A city whose Golden Age included the Purple Gang...
rap duo Insane Clown Posse.

Twenty-four-year-old Jonathan Schrap was sentenced Friday on one count of second-degree reckless injury.

A complaint says Schrap and his friends were staging a "ritualistic memorial" at his house in August to commemorate a deceased member of the Juggalos, the name given to Insane Clown Posse fans.

"Where do you go with this? How can this happen? How can this even happen in Green Bay?" Judge John P. Zakowski said at the sentencing, according to the Chicago Tribune.

WBAY-TV reported the woman first allowed Schrap to cut her arm with a machete and drink her blood. She eventually gave permission to Schrap cut off her right pinky finger with a machete, which according to court documents required more than one blow to sever.

"Jon then placed the finger in his freezer where he said he would cook it and eat it later," court documents said. "The group then attempted to stop the bleeding by using a car cigarette lighter which failed. They then used a blowtorch."

The mother of the woman’s boyfriend persuaded her to go to the hospital, and staff members called police. The woman said she was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the ritual.

Schrap’s Facebook page is full of Juggalo imagery.
Posted by: Fred || 02/28/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Finger food ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/28/2017 5:39 Comments || Top||

#2  "Where do you go with this? How can this happen? How can this even happen in Green Bay?" Judge John P. Zakowski said at the sentencing, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Clearly out of touch with mainstream loonery.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/28/2017 7:51 Comments || Top||

#3  Dang - I was expecting some Insane Clown Posse
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 02/28/2017 9:14 Comments || Top||

#4  The mother of the woman’s boyfriend persuaded her to go to the hospital

The girl is lucky that the boyfriend's mother was there. (wtf ?!? Where was she when her scumbag of a son was doing this? Working to support his sorry *ss?)

I believe the girl got into this situation because we're 'publically' not allowed to teach our children to critically think or to make their own decisions anymore. It's raycyst or demeaning or something.

Answers the good Judge's question, though.

Although the blowtorch usage does show some improvisational skills by someone.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 02/28/2017 9:34 Comments || Top||

#5  A complaint says Schrap and his friends were staging a "ritualistic memorial" at his house in August to commemorate a deceased member of the Juggalos, the name given to Insane Clown Posse fans.

Who, his uncle?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/28/2017 11:26 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
#OscarsSoWhat?
[TVLine] Ratings: Oscars Hit 9-Year Low — Can the Downward Trend Be Reversed?
Posted by: charger || 02/28/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  To ape the dude from Office Space, I wouldn't say I 'missed' the Oscars last night...
Posted by: Raj || 02/28/2017 1:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Oscar?
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/28/2017 7:30 Comments || Top||

#3  Reads like dude had to watch it. Sober.

I'd never even heard of those movies.

These people make their money by promoting the entertainment industry, and they say the crème de la crème sucked rotten eggs through a bendy straw...well ok it does make me smile.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/28/2017 11:20 Comments || Top||


Aliens leaving the US
[Video.FoxNews] Worldwide UFO sightings hit all-time high
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/28/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ridley Scott's Aliens?
Posted by: JFM || 02/28/2017 7:26 Comments || Top||

#2  China already relocating their recent purchase of much of Hollyweird?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/28/2017 7:42 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Counterfeit Pope?
Unnerved by the proliferation of papal-themed T-shirts, snow globes and tea towels around the world, the Vatican has warned it intends to "protect" the image of Pope Francis and "stop situations of illegality that may be discovered." It also wants to protect the crossed keys emblem of the Holy See.

"The secretary of state will undertake systematic surveillance aimed at monitoring the way in which the image of the Holy Father and the emblems of the Holy See are used, intervening with opportune measures when necessary," the Vatican said in a statement.

To back up this declaration, the Vatican has hired the global law firm Baker McKenzie to protect its intellectual property rights, the Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported. without citing the source of the information. Baker McKenzie declined to comment.

The threat of enforcement marks a sea change for a church that for some 2,000 years has seen popes venerated on all manner of flags, banners and medals. But the popularity of Francis and the ease with which his image can be copied in the internet age has spawned a flood of papal trinkets, causing the Holy See to worry that they are losing control of his image.

"The pope's image rights are no different from those of any other famous celebrity and so it's not surprising that the Vatican is giving notice that it will protect its (intellectual property) rights as necessary," said Nick Kounoupias, the founder of an intellectual property consultancy in London. "What will be interesting to see, however, is how vigorously these rights are pursued, given who the IP owner is."
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/28/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And Metallica made a lot of fans when they went after Napster.(/sarc) Good luck on that front, shitheads (the lawyers).
Posted by: Raj || 02/28/2017 1:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Funny. This Pope is not really worth much more than a che t-shirt in the long run.
Posted by: newc || 02/28/2017 2:22 Comments || Top||

#3  Find The Pope In The Pizza.
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 02/28/2017 9:32 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Xenophobic Violence Against Migrants Returns to South Africa
[GenerationalDynamics.com] Police in Pretoria, one of South Africa's three capital cities, used rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades on Friday to break up clashes between local anti-immigrant protesters and migrants living and working in the area. Police arrested 136 people, many of them protesters and looters armed with clubs, sticks, pipes and rocks. In retaliation, migrants armed themselves with sticks and clubs too. The migrants are from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Pakistan and other countries.

Earlier this week, migrants were targeted in the suburbs of Pretoria and Johannesburg, where shops and businesses were burned or destroyed.

Officials fear a repeat of massive xenophobic violence that occurred in 2008, when at least 60 people were killed. Atrocities including dragging migrants through the streets and burning them alive. In 2015, xenophobic violence resulted in six deaths in Durban.

As one of the wealthiest countries in Africa, South Africa draws migrants from poor countries who come to work or to escape violence. Nonetheless, the unemployment rate is over 25%, and migrants are blamed for taking jobs. Xenophobic violence frequently targets small shops and businesses run by migrants, claiming that they're drug dens and brothels.

It would be blikskottel (naughty) to say I told you so, and crank up the Weber.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/28/2017 05:02 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/28/2017 7:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Nonetheless, the unemployment rate is over 25%, and migrants are blamed for taking jobs.

Something, something, about supply and demand. Totally beyond the concepts of the Left. Flood the market with cheap labor, then try to 'adjust' depressed wages with 'minimum' wage legislation. Scroll down to "Wendy's plans self-ordering kiosks at 1,000 locations".
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/28/2017 7:51 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Deep State war Russian diplomats dropping like flies
[ZeroHedge]
Posted by: anon1 || 02/28/2017 08:21 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I think it's the Saudi/Islamists and if CIA is involved it is those under Saudi sway

Sunni theocrats hate Russia because they are wiping out their precious Caliphate in Syria
Posted by: anon1 || 02/28/2017 8:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Hmmmm.... that may give me an idea for our deep state traitors.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/28/2017 9:36 Comments || Top||

#3  No theories about the heart of this vast conspiracy?
Posted by: Bobby || 02/28/2017 13:30 Comments || Top||

#4  Yes, Russians make very convincing helpless victims.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/28/2017 13:38 Comments || Top||


2 days water supply left in Donetsk village


Just a day after Ukrainian volunteer soldiers left a local water plant, nearby cities are starting to experience water shortages, according to Russian language news account.

On Friday, members of the Ukrainian volunteer regiment "Azov" took over the water filtration plant in eastern Avdievka. The plant had been under Ukrainian artillery fire for three days before with some rounds even hitting the plant building itself. Last Thursday, water plant personnel left the plant because of the artillery fire.

The water plant has held a unique status since the start of the war 30 months ago. An agreement between the two warring sides left the plant and its operation intact. Some of that changed last year when Ukrainian forces moved forces into a gray zone -- where neither side's forces were allowed -- effectively cutting off the main road between Donetsk and Gorlovka, which is north of the area of the plant's location. That move effectively put the plant much closer to the Ukrainian side.

A news release by the Donetsk ministry of defense said that Ukrainian forces continued to reinforce areas near to the plant, despite the Ukrainians' exit.

When the Ukrainian forces began their occupation of the plant, according to rebel media, they brought a mortar team with them and began shelling Yasinovataya, which is east of the main road between Donetsk and Gorlovka. The rebels charged that the Ukrainian plan was to make an artillery fire point that the rebel would not hit. Destroying the water plant with artillery would deny water to people and villages on both sides of the line of contact.

On Sunday, rebel forces hit a nearby pumping station with artillery and with artillery delivered mines, according to Ukrainian Russian language news accounts. That attack threatens to leave parts of Avdievka, which is Ukrainian occupied, with only two days of water left. And with the mines on the ground, special measures will have to be taken to ensure the safety of repair crews.

Since Sunday, two Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and five more have been wounded, according to a news account in lb.ua.

On Sunday, rebel forces hit areas near Mariupol with mortar fire, including Vodyanoye, Mainka and Shirokino. Near Donetsk, rebel mortar fire was reported near Avdievka, Luganskoye and Kamenka. Rebel tank gun fire (125mm) was reported at Peski and the Butkova mine.

On Monday, according to a news report in lb.ua, rebel mortar fire hit areas near Mariupol including at Vodyanoye, Novotroitskoye and Pavlopol. Rebel mortar fire was reported at villages near Donetsk including at Troiskoye, Novoluganskoye, Opytnoye, Avdievka, Shakhta, Butovka mine, Luganskoye and Vodyanoye.
Posted by: badanov || 02/28/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  On Sunday, rebel forces hit a nearby pumping station

That was two days ago.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/28/2017 7:24 Comments || Top||


Economy
Gander Mountain preparing bankruptcy filing
[TwinCities Pioneer Press] Reuters is reporting that St. Paul-based hunting and fishing chain Gander Mountain is preparing to file for bankruptcy as early as this month, after an aggressive effort to expand its store base failed to pull in new customers, according to people familiar with the matter.

Gander Mountain is working with financial advisory firm Lighthouse Management Group and Minneapolis law firm Fredrikson & Byron as it gets ready to file for bankruptcy, the people told Reuters this week.

The sources asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential. Gander Mountain and Lighthouse Management declined to comment this week, while a spokeswoman for Fredrikson did not return a request for comment made on Wednesday, Feb. 8.

Gander Mountain, which bills itself as America’s firearms superstore, has faced challenges capitalizing on a booming gun market. The Federal Bureau of Investigation carried out a record 27.5 million background checks on people seeking to buy guns in 2016, up 19 percent from the year before.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/28/2017 08:17 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  People at their gun counter not nearly as snotty, slow and unknowledgable as those at Cabela's. Like pizza and BBQ, I'll always take my business to a mom'n'pop outfit when I can...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/28/2017 8:39 Comments || Top||

#2  The original Gander Mountain based in Wilmont about 20 miles from my house went through the same thing. Maybe they were just too late as there are at least three known Mammoth kill/butchering sites in the county
Posted by: Cheaderhead || 02/28/2017 9:14 Comments || Top||

#3  Gander Mountain, which bills itself as America's firearms superstore...

Not surprising they may go Tango Uniform. Their marketing model for gun sales suck. Given the volume of Gander Mountain's inventory they could compete with anybody. Yet their gun prices are on average 20% higher than many of the online gun retailers. Their outlets will only price-match the bricks and mortar vendors in their respective regions. The 'we gotta pay to keep the lights on' excuse works for Local Gun Shops but falls flat for larger retailers with other product lines. That's why, given the choice, many gun buyers will choose their LGS over chain retailers.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 02/28/2017 11:26 Comments || Top||

#4  The original Gander Mountain based in Wilmont

Their main storefront and 'discount' buildings used to be a great places to go when in that part of the world....but that was 25-30 years ago. By the mid-90s they started to open up the regional stores and the Wilmot locations went downhill fast.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 02/28/2017 13:49 Comments || Top||


Wendy's plans self-ordering kiosks at 1,000 locations
Wendy's says it plans to install self-ordering kiosks at about 1,000 locations by the end of the year.
$15 minimum wager earners hardest hit
A typical location would have three kiosks, The Columbus Dispatch reported. Higher-volume restaurants will be given priority for the kiosks.

Wendy's chief information officer, David Trimm, said the kiosks are intended to appeal to younger customers and reduce labor costs. Kiosks also allow customers of the fast food giant to circumvent long lines during peak dining hours while increasing kitchen production.
I actually prefer kiosks and self checkout stands. I get it done quicker than most of the idiots behind the register, I know it is right and I don't have to interact with the mouth breathers.
Trim estimates the company will see a return on its investment in less than two years.

"They are looking to improve their automation and their labor costs, and this is a good way to do it," said Darren Tristano, vice president with Technomic, a food-service research and consulting firm. "They are also trying to enhance the customer experience. Younger customers prefer to use a kiosk."

Kiosks are also valued by the Dublin, Ohio-based company for their ability to provide data about customers.

"This move puts them at the forefront of the kiosk and tech movement," Tristano said.

Kiosks already have been installed at several central Ohio locations, where the company first tested the technology.

Customers will still be able to order at the counter for now, although Tristano predicts that mobile ordering and payment via smartphones will one day overtake self-ordering kiosks and cash registers.
And get a robot to make the burger and you can pretty much kick all the fucksticks out the door.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/28/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  There are some interesting youtube vids on all the different kinds of foods you can get from vending machines in Japan.
Posted by: phil_b || 02/28/2017 3:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Good, I'm tired of listening to the dweeb with the staple in his lip who botches my order every time. I think it's the complex grammar and poly syllabic words of the phrase "no cheese" that flummoxes him.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/28/2017 7:24 Comments || Top||

#3  McDonald’s Burger Looks the Same – 14 Years Later
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/28/2017 7:27 Comments || Top||

#4  kick all the fucksticks out the door

Said fucksticks will open a chain of stores serving "handmade burgers with no machine involvement" for $29.95 each...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/28/2017 8:15 Comments || Top||

#5  Good, I'm tired of listening to the dweeb with the staple in his lip who botches my order every time. I think it's the complex grammar and poly syllabic words of the phrase "no cheese" that flummoxes him.

Shoooot, that's my last three fast food experiences. 'Sir your 29 Cordon Bleus will be with you soon.'

Eh?! 86 that order.

86 whats?

Seriously, last one I went to, new joint, supposedly good. Toothless got the order wrong, staples was busy trying to look busy, bad tat 1 and bad tat 2 were drooling on themselves while the manager was playing round robin with the pre-lunch cleaning duties and getting the fries out of the fryer.

Children, read that last part again very carefully. One person was running that entire restaurant because hustle and win.

The real loss here would be the drive-through operator, which does take some talent, will go the way of the blue tooth as the app allows drive through customers to use their phone/car. The second will be the manager who, without employees, will not be selected for cut and hustle but making sure the ingredients are assembled correctly. Think large vending machine.

I'm pretty sure if I was given a couple beers and an afternoon, I could diagram a burger making machine; I'm sure the pros have binders of ideas. Probably a bushel of sketches on napkins made while waiting for their fast food order, only to find out the order is wrong.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/28/2017 11:04 Comments || Top||

#6  Used a McDonalds kiosk in Poland last fall. The Kiosk was outside of the actual restaurant space in a mall, reducing the number of square feet needed to operate. Order (in your own language) and pay outside, walk a dozen steps to the pick up window and get the order that you keyed in. This was the same week $15 wage protests were raging here in the states.
Posted by: Capsu78 || 02/28/2017 11:51 Comments || Top||

#7  I don't have to interact with the mouth breathers

Who will all now be out of a job and have nothing to do. Increasing the cost of dealing with them on multiple fronts.

"no cheese"

???
Posted by: gorb || 02/28/2017 13:48 Comments || Top||

#8  I'm pretty sure if I was given a couple beers and an afternoon, I could diagram a burger making machine

The trade shows in the past have had many exhibits showcasing food-service automation. There wasn't much interest, partly due to 'image', but mainly due to labor costs being affordable.
Posted by: Pappy || 02/28/2017 15:45 Comments || Top||

#9  The latest "nightmare inducing" Boston Dynamics robots
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/28/2017 15:49 Comments || Top||

#10  Minimum wage harvest coming in.

It's really compulsory unemployment for the low productivity.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/28/2017 16:58 Comments || Top||

#11  Wow Besoeker, come a long way since the externally powered dancing dog.

So much of fast food is already prepped before delivery to the location, I cannot think of a single fast food genre which couldn't be completely automated, rather than someone refilling ingredients. Mexican, maybe tricky, but I bet folding burritos and filling tacos is easier than I think. The fish & chips go straight from the bag to the fryer. Run burgers through a convection conveyor and cook both sides at once.

A real loss would be losing all the crummy My First Job opportunities. My grades went up after a month of dishwashing because I didn't want to be a dishwasher my whole life.

There are a number of people in my town who do not work I want to hire to get to the things I have a hard time getting done - clean restroom, change odd light bulbs, sweeping, day to day things. Thing is, they are probably only worth $3 an hour, maybe less, until they can show me they are more than a drugged out bum.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/28/2017 18:34 Comments || Top||

#12  I didn't want to be a dishwasher my whole life.

I worked in a Coca-Cola bottling plant in high school. I knew I was going to college, etc. Just the people I had to work with scared me straight anyway...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/28/2017 18:50 Comments || Top||

#13  ...think draft army. Was there at the end. Similar observations.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/28/2017 21:19 Comments || Top||


Europe
German secret service spied on journalists at the BBC, The New York Times and Reuters for more than a Decade
h/t Instapundit
Germany's foreign intelligence service BND long spied on journalists of the BBC, The New York Times, Reuters and other media, news weekly Der Spiegel reported Friday.
Media rights group Reporters Without Borders labelled the alleged surveillance 'a monstrous attack on press freedom', voiced fears the eavesdropping was ongoing and said it was planning legal action, according to Der Spiegel.
The magazine, which has extensively worked with US fugitive intelligence contractor Edward Snowden and reported on US and German espionage scandals, only cited documents it had seen.
Instapundit blames Trump's ANTI-MEDIA-AUTHORITARIANISM
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/28/2017 04:30 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Did they have hobbies, these spies? Painting for instance? The contemporary art market is depressed, but these may have a certain provenance. It could... "make a difference."
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/28/2017 4:45 Comments || Top||

#2  BUT, but,...through their agents they didn't introduce any MEMEs, did they?
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/28/2017 7:23 Comments || Top||

#3  'a monstrous attack on press freedom'

Does this mean they would have behaved differently had they not been spied upon?
Posted by: gorb || 02/28/2017 12:46 Comments || Top||

#4  German spies found no intelligent intelligence.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 02/28/2017 14:58 Comments || Top||

#5  I wonder if this was punishment detail or something. Perhaps just practice?
Posted by: rjschwarz || 02/28/2017 15:48 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Prosecutors probe possible 'junta' within Turkey's military
[Ynet] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
's state-run news agency
...and if you can't believe the state-run news agency who can you believe?...
says a prosecutor has launched an investigation into the possible existence of a clique within the military capable of "obstructing" the government.

The Anadolu Agency says the prosecutor in Istanbul started the probe Monday following a weekend report in the Hurriyet newspaper that suggested some within army headquarters were "disturbed" by a series of steps taken by the military, including a decision to allow female officers to wear headscarves while on duty.
By the time they're done rooting out all possible opposition, there won't be anyone in uniform capable of fighting.
It said the probe was launched in response to an official complaint filed by a university lecturer, who said the report demonstrated the presence of an "influential and active junta."
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/28/2017 02:47 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Deputy PM: Turkey aware of its rights in Aegean Sea
[AA.TR] Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on Monday he hoped recent controversial comments from Greece’s defense minister about a number of Aegean Sea islets were just a personal, not official, position.

Speaking at a news conference after a cabinet meeting in Ankara, Kurtulmus noted Greece was being run by a coalition government and he hoped the defense minister’s last comments on the Kardak islets did not reflect the view of the government in Athens.

"I would like to think that the Greece defense minister just expressed his own view," he said.

Panos Kammenos -- founder of the Independent Greeks junior coalition party -- claimed last Friday The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
was trying "to escalate the crisis" over the Kardak islets, warning against setting foot on them and saying Greek forces were ready for "any contingency".
Posted by: Fred || 02/28/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Home Front: Politix
POTUS Wants To Cut EPA's Budget By $2 Billion, Cut 3,000 Staff
[Daily Caller] President Donald Trump will ask Congress to cut the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) budget 24 percent, or nearly $2 billion, according to sources familiar with the budget plans.

The White House sent draft budget plans to agency heads Monday, detailing billions of dollars in cuts to a wide range of federal programs. Cuts to EPA and other agencies will fund a $54 billion increase in defense spending.

A source informed of the budget plans told E&E News Trump will push for a nearly $2 billion cut to EPA’s $8.1 billion budget. A source told Politico Trump also "proposed reducing EPA’s 15,000-strong workforce to 12,000, a level not seen since the mid-1980s."

"You’re going to have to make reductions," Myron Ebell, director of global warming and energy policy at the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), told The Daily Caller News Foundation.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/28/2017 06:07 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  EPA.gov, topics A-Z
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/28/2017 7:13 Comments || Top||

#2  good. cut off any staff involved in the climate change scam.

that money can be better spent on fusion research
Posted by: anon1 || 02/28/2017 7:26 Comments || Top||

#3  Bricks! Spend it on bricks for the wall.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/28/2017 7:37 Comments || Top||

#4  Yes, choke the purse strings. Next legislation controlling the number of senior officials each Department can have, they've been doing it with the military for generations.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/28/2017 7:54 Comments || Top||

#5  I love the idea but does anyone actually think the graft merchants of the GOPe in the congress will go along with it?
Posted by: AlanC || 02/28/2017 8:08 Comments || Top||

#6  Next legislation controlling the number of senior officials each Department can have, they've been doing it with the military for generations.

Eliminating those positions would go some way towards reversing the midnight appointments of political appointees to permanent civil service posts.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 02/28/2017 8:44 Comments || Top||

#7  I love the idea but does anyone actually think the graft merchants of the GOPe in the congress will go along with it?

If they want to keep their phony bologna jobs they will...

Seriously, I doubt congress will cut that much. To much too fast and change scares them. I wouldn't be surprised to see a 1 billion dollar cut though.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/28/2017 9:41 Comments || Top||

#8  Our government has grown without bound and spent money like junkies except that money is their fix. For too long, the Beltway Party has tried to solve unemployment problems by hiring bureaucrats at the expense of everything else. They have managed to strangle private business with too many ridiculous regulations.
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/28/2017 10:06 Comments || Top||

#9  Unfortunately an organization like the EPA really is needed. Its just that like all b'acracys it turns into an excercise in Empire Building. Their function should be a branch of the Dept of Interior. The reason it or something like it is needed we all know some business's would be perfectly willing to dump whatever they damn well please into the environment. We've had enough Love Canals
Posted by: Cheaderhead || 02/28/2017 11:15 Comments || Top||

#10  Unfortunately an organization like the EPA really is needed.

Until they try to regulate every property that has a puddle on it. And put family farms out of business when they let a field lie fallow because they define that to be a "change" in how the land is used and therefore they own it. Fuc& them.
Posted by: gorb || 02/28/2017 12:30 Comments || Top||

#11  Actually I think the planned budget savings for this and a few others (plus foreign Aid cuts) were going to the Defense Department increases Trump wanted.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 02/28/2017 14:12 Comments || Top||

#12  I agree with Darth up to a point, but, while we don't need any more Love Canals we don't need any more Animas Rivers either. Animas River is what you get when a bureaucracy out grows its britches.

And growth is the raison d'etre of any bureaucracy......and the graft that comes with it.

Posted by: AlanC || 02/28/2017 15:32 Comments || Top||

#13  Close it down and let states handle it
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/28/2017 16:57 Comments || Top||

#14  He's also rescinding their water grab whereby they had control and usage denial of every "navigable" water including stock ponds, puddles, that sweat on your brow...
Posted by: Frank G || 02/28/2017 19:21 Comments || Top||

#15  Don't stop with just the EPA. I'd LOVE for Trump to target the CDC. They somehow lost their focus, and now instead of preparing (rightly) to deal with whatever REAL "disease" might threaten the health of this country, the CDC now spends far too much time and money imagining that THEY are the NAGS that should lecture us on salt consumption, guns, etc.

"Mission creep" is a serious problem found in virtually every government agency.
Posted by: Crusader || 02/28/2017 20:38 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Border Breach
[FoxNews] Agents detail 'daily' border fence battle, seek post-Obama 'restart'
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/28/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Build that wall now.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/28/2017 21:52 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
The Amazing Circuit Marker
So cool.
Posted by: charger || 02/28/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Fantastic
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/28/2017 1:16 Comments || Top||

#2  That really is amazing.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/28/2017 5:50 Comments || Top||

#3  But a fentanyl impregnated pen that the guy in cubicle 27-F could chew to calm himself down would actually be more useful...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/28/2017 7:22 Comments || Top||

#4  Way cool.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 02/28/2017 7:59 Comments || Top||

#5  Saw this on Outrageous Acts of Science a few weeks ago. Way cool the way the buildings stand up.
Posted by: AlanC || 02/28/2017 8:12 Comments || Top||

#6  The buildings standing up is another skill entirely. That said I am ordering, looks like a natural addition to 1958 Lionel set, yes I am serious, gonna need heap-load of tiny LEDs.
Posted by: Shipman || 02/28/2017 10:14 Comments || Top||



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Tue 2017-02-28
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Sat 2017-02-25
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