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Today: 68 articles and 139 comments as of 8:01.
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Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Opinion        Politix   
Man steers car into town hall in Germany, fire breaks out
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 3: Non-WoT
5 16:38 Besoeker [1] 
6 22:25 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [3] 
4 11:01 Frank G [1] 
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3 17:36 Zenobia Floger6220 [5] 
11 19:14 Skidmark [4] 
5 11:23 JohnQC [1] 
3 09:11 Glenmore [2] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
5 17:52 Procopius2k [4]
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 4: Opinion
5 16:19 Glenmore [3]
1 11:49 JohnQC [3]
5 13:31 AlanC [8]
8 20:43 Thing From Snowy Mountain [4]
4 21:13 Shaft [9]
6 12:06 magpie [3]
Page 6: Politix
1 20:45 DarthVader []
13 16:43 rjschwarz [4]
9 17:11 g(r)omgoru [3]
-Lurid Crime Tales-
$300mn IRS scam mastermind arrested on arrival in India

[RT] The prime suspect in an international $300 million telefraud scam that targeted American taxpayers has been tossed in the calaboose
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
by police at Mumbai International Airport. Sagar Thakkar, 24, was taken into custody in the early hours of Saturday morning as he stepped off a flight from Dubai, where he had been on the hiding out from Indian authorities for several months, Rooters reported, citing local police sources.

Thakkar is the suspected leader of a major international telefraud syndicate that operated in the US and India.

Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh told a news conference that Thakkar, who was charged as part of the ongoing DOJ investigation, had fled to Dubai following raids in October related to the case, Rooters reported.

When asked about his interrogation of the suspect, Singh told news hounds that he was "impressed with his knowledge of the US and Indian system" while also confirming that Thakkar had confessed to the crime.

The DOJ’s indictment alleges that the suspected conspirators posed as federal officials working for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS
...the Internal Revenue Service; that office of the United States government that collects taxes and persecutes the regime's political enemies...
) or other agencies and threatened victims with arrest, fines, imprisonment or even deportation if they did not pay the fake taxes or penalties.

The Justice Department claims that over 15,000 people have been targeted in the telephonic scam which has taken place for over a year.

A major breakthrough in the case came in October, when Indian authorities raided call centers in the Mumbai suburb of Thane and the western city of Ahmedabad, detaining over 700 suspects in the process.

The US Justice Department charged more than 60 people in India and the United States in connection with the case as a direct result of the raids.

Some 400 suspects have been officially charged by Thane police as part of their own investigation with roughly a dozen already in jug.

A video of one such scam posted online by the Eau Claire Police Department in the US has been shared over 190,000 times.

Posted by: Fred || 04/10/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  When asked about his interrogation of the suspect, Singh told news hounds that he was "impressed with his knowledge of the US and Indian system" while also confirming that Thakkar had confessed to the crime.

Singh has his head up his ass - these clowns don't know a god damned thing about how the IRS operates. I got three of these assholes to confess to me they were scam artists when they tried to pull this shit on me and when I called them back just to pick a fight with them.
Posted by: Raj || 04/10/2017 0:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Oh - and like the tongue thick Indian accent isn't the first giveaway...
Posted by: Raj || 04/10/2017 0:53 Comments || Top||

#3  IRS doesn't like the competition?
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/irs-seize-millions-innocent-people/
Posted by: Glenmore || 04/10/2017 9:11 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Fears Grow Over Mystery Russian Compound in Nicaragua
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/10/2017 11:03 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Of course it is an electronic eavesdropping station. Why else would the Russians put it there?

But why Nicaragua? That would be the better question.
Posted by: DarthVader || 04/10/2017 11:11 Comments || Top||

#2  Commies company
Posted by: Frank G || 04/10/2017 11:32 Comments || Top||

#3  Ground station for Russian Space Program? Boondoggle project for someone high in the Russian military-industrial complex? ELINT synthesis node for Central America? None, some or all of the above?
Posted by: magpie || 04/10/2017 14:02 Comments || Top||

#4  Maybe a summer camp where the Young Pioneers can work on their ham license.
Posted by: SteveS || 04/10/2017 14:52 Comments || Top||

#5  Unfinished business from decades past, but not to worry. The region is so corrupt the communists can't even establish a viable presence.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/10/2017 16:38 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Unfettered online hate speech fuels Islamophobia in China
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/10/2017 00:44 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Chinese get it?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/10/2017 5:55 Comments || Top||

#2  Yes, it's all due to "hate speech".
Posted by: charger || 04/10/2017 8:27 Comments || Top||

#3  Well, at least the Chinese leadership is more pragmatic and far less concerned about 'feelings' rather than security. Thus in a very state censored society, you can glean something from the fact they're not suppressing it.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/10/2017 9:06 Comments || Top||

#4  Upon reading fan translated Chinese web-novels there is a common thread of xenophobia in the Chinese psyche. And they have reason considering the number of foreign invaders they have experiences...
Posted by: magpie || 04/10/2017 12:20 Comments || Top||

#5  Phobia def.--"an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something." Islamophobia, well, you get it from above def. Suppose the fear is not irrational but well-founded? Or suppose you just have an aversion to that "Islam?"

Can we just get rid of this useless concept invented by CAIR to smooth over acceptance of Islam by the rest of the world; in light of all the terrible, destructive terrorism unleashed on the rest of the world by Islam?
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/10/2017 20:13 Comments || Top||

#6  To get the flavor of Chinese cultural memories & experience, review this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Lushan_Rebellion
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 04/10/2017 22:25 Comments || Top||


Europe
Germany investigates hundreds of suspected right-wing extremists in its armed forces
[RT] Germany has launched an investigation into 275 cases of suspected right-wing myrmidon activity among its service personnel, including racist comments on the Internet and saying "Heil Hitler," Germany’s Defense Ministry told parliament in a letter, according to local media.

Germany’s Counter-Intelligence Service (MAD) is looking into 53 extremism cases among Bundeswehr soldiers from 2017, 143 cases from 2016 and 79 cases from before 2016, the Defense Ministry said in a letter to the Bundestag, DPA news agency reported, citing Funke Mediengruppe newspapers.

The 15-page letter expands on the cases that involve soldiers making gestures used in Nazi Germany along with the "Heil Hitler" phrase, and verbally abusing fellow servicemen with a migrant background, Rooters reported, citing the document.

A number of implicated soldiers have already been laid off or punished with a fine, but the measures seem inadequate to the offense, the Defense Ministry said.

Specifically, Case 29 deals with a soldier who was heard distinctively saying "Heil Hitler,""Heil our leader" and "Sieg Heil, comrades."

"The case was passed on to the military prosecutor and the public prosecutor’s office, but neither an early dismissal nor a service ban took place," the ministry said.

In another case a soldier who used a Facebook page associated with the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) left racist comments and call to introduce the death penalty for "typical foreigners." As a consequence, the soldier was "disciplined," the minister noted.

In a third case, another already "disciplined" serviceman was allowed to keep his weapon after he extended his hand in a Nazi salute while on a trip to Riga, Latvia.

Today in Germany, Nazi salutes in all forms ‐ written, uttered or even performed as a gesture ‐ are outlawed and are punishable by up to three years in prison as stated in the German Criminal Code.

In August 2016, the German Cabinet has approved an amendment to the German military law that allowed the MAD intelligence service to thoroughly check each applicant for possible connections to terrorist or myrmidon groups. The amendment is supposed to come into force on July 1, 2017.

Posted by: Fred || 04/10/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Guess left-wing extremists are more popular?
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/10/2017 0:27 Comments || Top||

#2  This isn't exactly a news flash. I visited Germany in early 1987 and the cops did not like the Turk 'immigrants' that hung out in the subways, looking like completely useless fucks. Lots of them, I might add. "Fickende Aüslander' was the phrase of choice for the local constabulary.
Posted by: Raj || 04/10/2017 1:02 Comments || Top||

#3  Those "right wing extremists" haven't been doing a great job of keeping the rapeugees out.
Posted by: charger || 04/10/2017 8:32 Comments || Top||

#4  The left-wing extremists are only slightly more popular - seeing as that's the govt.
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 04/10/2017 9:01 Comments || Top||

#5  I hope Germany’s Defense Ministry is not like our Southern Poverty Law Center where anyone too close to the middle or are conservative are identified as extremists.

"Heil Hitler?" Hitler did not fare too well, he has been dead since 1945.
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/10/2017 11:23 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Report: Air Force One came ‘within about 1000 feet' of another aircraft before landing at @JBA_NAFW
I guess separation standards are interesting at Joint Andrews.

Am certain, however, those up front on AF-1 had the traffic painted and in sight.


Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 04/10/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:


Olde Tyme Religion
Thousands march for immigrant rights in Dallas
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/10/2017 00:42 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Palm Sunday. 4 hours later in Dallas, thousands of Christians marched at the same downtown area to commemorate the Christian holiday, with zero news coverage.
Posted by: Skunky Gleresing7356 || 04/10/2017 6:17 Comments || Top||

#2  The only way they got "thousands" to march in Dallas was because it ain't football season, y'all!
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 04/10/2017 7:30 Comments || Top||

#3  because it ain't football season
You mean that round football stuff - World Cup, etc?
Posted by: Glenmore || 04/10/2017 9:16 Comments || Top||

#4  Metric Football
Posted by: Frank G || 04/10/2017 11:01 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Rapper allegedly gorges on $600 seafood meal on Gold Coast then swims off to avoid paying
"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." William Shakespeare
Posted by: Clens Thomomp7474 || 04/10/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No longer on the lamb is he ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/10/2017 2:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Good Mr. B. That fellow is a class act. I guess his date didn't have the money.
Posted by: Dale || 04/10/2017 6:59 Comments || Top||

#3  A hungry young Jumbo of Woburn
Just noshed in Revere on a Reuben
Constructed of "lobster"
With parts of a mobster
And squashed on the grill like a Cuban.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 04/10/2017 17:36 Comments || Top||


Government
Ben Carson Finds $500 Billion (Billion!) In Errors During Audit Of Obama HUD
[DAILYWIRE] There were several other unresolved audit matters, which restricted our ability to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to express an opinion. These unresolved audit matters relate to (1) the Office of General Counsel’s refusal to sign the management representation letter, (2) HUD’s improper use of cumulative and first-in, first-out budgetary accounting methods of disbursing community planning and development program funds, (3) the $4.2 billion in nonpooled loan assets from Ginnie Mae’s stand-alone financial statements that we could not audit due to inadequate support, (4) the improper accounting for certain HUD assets and liabilities, and (5) material differences between HUD’s subledger and general ledger accounts. This audit report contains 11 material weaknesses, 7 significant deficiencies, and 5 instances of noncompliance with applicable laws and regulations.
Posted by: Fred || 04/10/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Financial malfeasance and graft are much easier when dodgy accounting is used. When finished here, perhaps the doctor's audit team could visit other agencies within the giverment as well.

I recommend a modest financial incentive be extended the audit team when gross "eorrors" such as this are validated.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/10/2017 3:06 Comments || Top||

#2  Wow!
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/10/2017 5:57 Comments || Top||

#3  $500 billion here, $500 billion there, pretty soon you're talking real money.
Posted by: charger || 04/10/2017 8:34 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm actually surprised the amount is that low.
Posted by: DarthVader || 04/10/2017 9:34 Comments || Top||

#5  They're just scratching the surface.
Posted by: Spinesing Gray3122 || 04/10/2017 10:34 Comments || Top||

#6  Another one of LBJ's scams. He was from Texas, you know, so it's gotta be big.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 04/10/2017 11:23 Comments || Top||

#7  So, the taxpayers owe HUD 500 billion?
Posted by: KBK || 04/10/2017 11:50 Comments || Top||

#8  1/2 trillion? Where did the money go. Check out the Federal Reserve, they seem to have accounting problems also--something about dynamic bookkeeping. They also have money missing to the tune of several billions. State lost something like $6 billion under Hillary. Check out a few more agencies and who knows, our debt problems might diminish.
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/10/2017 11:53 Comments || Top||

#9  I know this chick she lives down on Melrose...
Posted by: Crusader || 04/10/2017 13:16 Comments || Top||

#10  You mean Bill Carson?
Posted by: Pied Piper || 04/10/2017 15:25 Comments || Top||

#11  Send Ben over to the IRS for an audit.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/10/2017 19:14 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
28[untagged]
14Islamic State
3Moslem Colonists
2Govt of Syria
2al-Shabaab (AQ)
2Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (IS)
2Govt of Pakistan
2Govt of Saudi Arabia
2Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami
1Salafists
1Boko Haram (ISIS)
1al-Qaeda
1Jamaat-e-Islami
1Thai Insurgency
1Lashkar-e-Islam (TTP)
1Lashkar e-Jhangvi
1Abu Sayyaf (ISIS)
1Govt of Iraq
1Govt of Pakistain Proxies
1Pirates

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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2017-04-10
  Man steers car into town hall in Germany, fire breaks out
Sun 2017-04-09
  Church bombing north of Egypt's capital kills 26
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


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