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Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Opinion        Politix   
ISIS Media Chief dies in airstrike
Today's Headlines
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Page 6: Politix
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Marines barred from posting nude photos of others without consent
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/21/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336127 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Consent" does not equate to appropriateness or an action related to 'the good of the service' (good or bad). The entire issue has now moved into the Theater of The Absurd. But of course that is where progressives will it.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/21/2017 5:25 Comments || Top||

#2  With "consent" implies that it is O.K. to post nude photos of others. It also implies that selfies such as Anthony Wiener posted are O.K. I don't think these would be O.K. with the Corp.
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/21/2017 8:04 Comments || Top||

#3  When you throw out old morality, you start filling your time with stuff like this rather than focus on your mission. Old morality wasn't perfect, but what seems to take its place hardly is either, just another set of ambiguous rules and punishments. Its all about who exercises the power to impose them.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/21/2017 8:29 Comments || Top||

#4  This was a problem? Motor pool humping I remeber the article!
Posted by: Crinegum Ulaigum2776 || 04/21/2017 16:55 Comments || Top||

#5  I rather think 'implied consent' can be rendered from the posing.
Posted by: Jumbo Untervehr7000 || 04/21/2017 23:16 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Spanish government admits it has not planned for a zombie apocalypse
  • Zombie invasion contingency plan has not been made, Spanish government says

  • Government said it doubted undead army could bring about the end of the world

  • The outlandish clarification formed part or a bizarre political exchange

  • Politician wanted to highlight the 'poor quality' of written responses given by the Spanish government to its opposition
Average life expectancy is 76 in the U.S. An invasion by undead 76-year-olds certainly is scary. Yep.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/21/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336118 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This comes across as the first ray of rationality that I've heard about the Spanish Government in a long time.
Posted by: ed in texas || 04/21/2017 8:26 Comments || Top||

#2  All of the ones on television wearing suits across the globe are doing a fine job at bringing about the end!
Posted by: Crinegum Ulaigum2776 || 04/21/2017 16:47 Comments || Top||

#3  Nobody expects the Spanish zombie apocalypse!
Posted by: European Conservative || 04/21/2017 17:07 Comments || Top||

#4  Our chief weapon is Surprise! And a fanatical zombie-ness.
Posted by: ed in texas || 04/21/2017 20:43 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Violent scenes erupt on streets as Venezuelans stage massive anti-Maduro march
[RT] Violent scenes have erupted during demonstrations against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Photos and videos shared on social media appear to show show protesters and police clashing on the streets in Caracas, the country’s capital.

Huge crowds gathered in cities across the country following weeks of violent demonstrations that have left a total of eight people dead and inflamed tensions between anti-government activists and security forces.

Riot police fired tear gas at protesters on the western side of Caracas, according to AFP.

In the midst of the violent street protests, opposition politician Henrique Capriles has called on the people of Venezuela "to defend the constitution."

In a message to supporters Tuesday, Capriles said President Maduro was intent on "dividing and sinking Venezuela." He urged people from all sides of Venezuelan society to "unite" against his rival’s regime.
Posted by: Fred || 04/21/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336078 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Riot police fired tear gas at protesters on the western side of Caracas and then ate them.

I'll bet there is no Venezuelan Zombie Disaster Plan.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/21/2017 4:46 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
A tiny detail from North Korea's military parade may show how close they are to long-range nukes
A close review of photos from North Korea's recent military parade revealed that the Kim regime may be closer to building a functional nuclear missile that can threaten the US mainland than previously thought.

While some experts doubt that all the missile launcher tubes driving around Pyongyang really held missiles, or really posed a much of a threat, Michael Duitsman, a research associate at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies warned of a small but troubling detail on one of the missiles.

Duitsman told Business Insider in a phone interview that this may be wound filament reinforced plastic, a very light alternative to metal that can withstand the incredible pressure of rocket motors. Tal Inbar, head of the space research center at the Fisher Institute for Air & Space strategic studies, first pointed this out.

"Part of the parade is them showing us what they’re working on," said Duitsman. "Not stuff that’s operational, but stuff they’re actively working on. They’re showing us their intentions."

Duitsman said that wound filament reinforced plastic has up to ten times the strength to density ratio of aluminum, and could greatly reduce the weight of a missile.

"The lighter the stage is," said Duitsman, referring to the booster portion of the missile as a stage, "the less propellant you need, and the more you can put on top of it." In this case, the lighter missile could be used to carry a nuclear warhead.

While it seems like a small detail, Duitsman said that the Soviets and the US made similar breakthroughs when creating their ICBMs. Ultimately, if the North Koreans have advanced to composite materials and plastics in this part of their missile design, it means they're further along in their program than many experts suspected.

Though the North Koreans would still face problems in how to launch the missile and how to steer it, Duitsman said they could begin testing an ICBM that could reach Washington in as little as two or three years.
Did they factor in that the Norks have been working with Iran on this, and that all Iran's energies are focused on getting this to work before they break out with a miniaturized nuclear warhead and pop it on a known-working ICBM technology?
Posted by: gorb || 04/21/2017 15:10 || Comments || Link || [336100 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What I noticed was how everyone was keeping a healthy distance from the missiles in the parade.
Posted by: Nero White 3083 || 04/21/2017 22:37 Comments || Top||


North Korea: 'Super-mighty pre-emptive strike' will reduce US to ashes
[FOXNEWS] North Korean state media threatened to launch a "super-mighty pre-emptive strike" that would reduce South Korea and the United states "to ashes."
Sea of Fire is back!
The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper for North Korea's ruling Worker's Party, wrote, "In the case of our super-mighty pre-emptive strike being launched, it will completely and immediately wipe out not only U.S. imperialists' invasion forces in South Korea and its surrounding areas but the U.S. mainland and reduce them to ashes," according to Rooters. The rogue nation also claimed the U.S. and its allies "should not mess with us."

The threat came as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the U.S. was exploring ways to pressure North Korea to the negotiation table over its nuclear program.

"We're reviewing all the status of North Korea, both in terms of state sponsorship of terrorism as well as the other ways in which we can bring pressure on the regime in Pyongyang to re-engage with us," Tillerson said on Wednesday. "But re-engage with us on a different footing than past talks have been held."

The seretive regime also released a propaganda video over the weekend that showed a simulated nuclear missile attack destroying an unidentified American city. A cemetery and American flag appeared with flames superimposed over the footage.

Tensions continue to mount as Trump takes a harder stance against North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Last week, the president made comments to Fox Business that he was sending an "armada" to deter Pyongyang.

Posted by: Fred || 04/21/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336077 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  I expect the headline in the next edition to be "super-duper mighty...........". Visions of Peter Boyle in a NK uniform just popped into my head
Posted by: Cheaderhead || 04/21/2017 6:02 Comments || Top||

#2  An EMP attack would be a more achievable goal for the NORKs. The bluster is entertaining .
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 04/21/2017 10:15 Comments || Top||

#3  With all the tunnels the North tries to run to the South - many close to 1 mile deep. ...
If nuclear mines were install a mile or 2 deep every few miles along the border the if the Nkors start moving blow the whole border. Placed that deep you would be not blowing the surface so much as generating a huge fault type earthquake that would terminate most of the tunnels.
Posted by: 3dc || 04/21/2017 10:34 Comments || Top||

#4  If they did that, wouldn't South Korea break off and tip over into the sea?
Posted by: gorb || 04/21/2017 12:36 Comments || Top||

#5  How about this, Mr. Kim?
Posted by: Hyphens-of-Vengeance || 04/21/2017 13:59 Comments || Top||


US sends nuclear sniffer plane to Korea: source
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/21/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336076 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Graphic of a plane with a bloodhound nose would be nice here.
Posted by: Grunter || 04/21/2017 8:09 Comments || Top||


S. Korea, US field 100 aircraft in joint drill
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/21/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336076 views] Top|| File under: Commies


Home Front: Politix
Trump administration's stance on marijuana use clouded in mystery
As people across the country observe today’s unofficial holiday celebrating marijuana, aka "420," it is the first time they are doing so under the Trump administration.

President Trump himself hasn't spoken extensively about weed or the legalization debate, though suggesting he favored medical marijuana use when asked about it once on the campaign trail.

"I think that as far as drug legalization, we talk about marijuana, and in terms of medical, I think I am basically for that. I've heard some wonderful things in terms of medical," he said at an MSNBC town hall event in Wisconsin in March 2016.

Sam Kamin, a law professor specializing in marijuana law policy at the University of Denver, said the administration has "largely used rhetoric" in its approach to marijuana policy so far.

While the administration hasn’t changed any law or law enforcement policies thus far, the signals are "enough to give the industry pause," he noted.

"No one knows exactly what, if anything, they will do next," Kamin told ABC News. "They might begin enforcing federal law against marijuana businesses or they might alter the current enforcement memos to indicate where their priorities lie. They can’t force the states to recriminalize marijuana or to enforce the federal prohibition.

"But they can make things very unpleasant even for those who are attempting to comply with state laws regulating their conduct," he said.

Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia have decriminalized small amounts of marijuana, according to the National Conference of State Legislators. But pot use remains federally illegal, so the Trump administration could crack down at any time because state can’t override federal law.

While Trump appears to be open to hearing arguments from various sides of the discussion when it comes to legalization, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has been a longstanding critic of the drug.
To me, the guy seems like he's a redux of a voice speaking against alcohol from the prohibition era, trying to foist his ignorantly fearful opinion on the majority. Same arguments, slightly different subject. Of course, I'm not the kind who gets addicted to stuff. Except for RB . . . .
At a Senate hearing last April, Sessions said "good people don't smoke marijuana" and it is "not the kind of thing that ought to be legalized."

Such comments and other remarks Sessions has made on the issue prompted marijuana legalization advocates to protest his confirmation hearing, and later hand out free joints in parts of Washington, D.C., on the morning of the inauguration in protest.

Sessions talked more recently about his views at the National Association of Attorneys General winter meeting in February, when he said that he's "dubious" about marijuana.

"I’m not sure we’re going to be a better, healthier nation if we have marijuana sold at every corner grocery store," he said, though noting that "states can pass whatever laws they choose."

One counter-voice that's coming from within Trump's inner circle but outside the administration is that of Roger Stone, the longtime Republican political consultant and friend of Trump's.

He is pushing against Sessions' perceived stance on Twitter this morning, posting a tweet that reads, "The people have spoken @realDonaldTrump. Don't let Jeff Sessions' draconian views on 420 run roughshod over states," with a link to an article that includes CBS News poll results that find 61 percent of Americans want marijuana to be legalized.

Stone, who is open about both his marijuana use and admiration for his former boss President Richard Nixon, this morning shared a photo on Twitter of a bong in the shape of Nixon with the caption "Happy 420! #NixonBong."

Kamin said the "billion-dollar question" is how much Trump will listen and might be affected by the views of Sessions and others.

"It’s pretty clear that going after the regulated marijuana industry is not high on Trump’s to-do list," Kamin added. "But it does seem to be a real concern of Mr. Sessions’. How much free rein the AG gets is a question that only a very small handful of people know."
Posted by: gorb || 04/21/2017 13:23 || Comments || Link || [336120 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Marijuana is not heroin and not cocaine. While I do not think there are a myriad of pluses I do not think there is overwhelming evidence of the negatives (the most prevalent seeming to be impaired memory and general amotivational behavior). In the larger sense, much like alcohol, I think the citizens would benefit from building their own private determination of the pros and cons of its use rather than being impelled by the state. Most I think if left to their own devices probably would not imbibe since it will, under legalization, probably attain the same social standing as smoking or alcoholic inebriation eventually. Also there probably is some uncertainty with the respiratory risk of smoking marijuana as well as other health concerns including long-term mental effects.
Posted by: Unclassifiable || 04/21/2017 18:56 Comments || Top||

#2  other health concerns including long-term mental effects.

I've read about an increase in paranoid schizophrenia in the susceptible, Unclassifiable. And as we are already seeing a problem with such people suddenly shouting "Allahu akhbar!" and attacking those in the vicinity, I'm not sure we want to drive the creation of even more.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/21/2017 21:55 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Three sisters kill man booked for blasphemy in Sialkot
[DAWN] SIALKOT: Three armed burqa-clad sisters on Wednesday rubbed out a man near Sialkot after accusing him of committing blasphemy 13 years ago.

Police managed to arrest the three suspects and identified them as Amna, Afshan and Razia.

The incident took place in Nangal Mirza village, Pasrur tehsil.

According to the police, the three women went to the house of Mazhar Hussain Syed, a faith healer, and asked him to pray for them. They also asked him if his son, Fazal Abbas, had returned from abroad. When told that he had returned from Belgium, they asked if they could see him. As soon as Abbas, 45, appeared before the women, they opened fire on him with the weapons they had brought with them secretly. Abbas was struck down in his prime.

The women raised slogans in jubilation after his death, asserting that they had finally eliminated a blasphemer.

The women, in their statement to police, alleged that Abbas had committed blasphemy in 2004, but "we couldn’t kill him at the time because we were too young then".

The police confirmed that they had started the paperwork but haven't done much else against Abbas in 2004 under Section 295-C (use of derogatory remarks, etc., in respect of the Holy Prophet) of the Pakistain Penal Code at the Pasrur City station, but he fled abroad soon after.

The suspect had recently returned from abroad and promptly obtained pre-arrest bail from a local court.

Posted by: Fred || 04/21/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336099 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Article speaks for itself.
Posted by: Unclassifiable || 04/21/2017 19:04 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Totally informative and not WoT. To Hack Brains... New Elon Musk undertaking
Posted by: 3dc || 04/21/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336099 views] Top|| File under:

#1  You really... really.... REALLY don't want to go in my brain.
Posted by: DarthVader || 04/21/2017 0:21 Comments || Top||

#2  All very reminiscent of Ian Banks' "Culture" science fiction novels, which Musk is big on.
Posted by: Grunter || 04/21/2017 9:57 Comments || Top||

#3  If you can't persuade or coerce people, just Google-ize their minds and program the result you want.
There are people I know that would love to have their smartphones implanted in their heads...
Posted by: ed in texas || 04/21/2017 20:42 Comments || Top||


Government
Air marshal leaves gun in bathroom on NY bound flight
Posted by: DarthVader || 04/21/2017 10:24 || Comments || Link || [336076 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This is what happens when you're more interested in your "gun" than in your firearm.

Al
Posted by: Frozen Al || 04/21/2017 11:59 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Justice Dept. debating charges against WikiLeaks members in revelations of diplomatic, CIA materials
[WAPO] Federal prosecutors are weighing whether to bring criminal charges against members of the WikiLeaks organization, taking a second look at a 2010 leak of diplomatic cables and military documents and investigating whether the group bears criminal responsibility for the more recent revelation of sensitive CIA cyber-tools, according to people familiar with the case.

The Justice Department under President Barack Obama had decided not to charge WikiLeaks for revealing some of the government’s most sensitive secrets — concluding that doing so would be akin to prosecuting a news organization for publishing classified information. Justice Department leadership under President Trump, though, has indicated to prosecutors that it is open to taking another look at the case, which the Obama administration did not formally close.
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/21/2017 08:47 || Comments || Link || [336104 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Justice Department under President Barack Obama had decided not to charge WikiLeaks for revealing some of the government’s most sensitive secrets.

Charging the "leakers" might reveal their sources and hasten the possible discovery that the "leaks" were intentional.


Posted by: Besoeker || 04/21/2017 8:58 Comments || Top||

#2  If we're at war with someone, we ought to feel it. These kinds of tools just allow the government to obscure the fact. China has back-doors in a lot of its routing hardware. How does everyone feel about this? No comment from the government.

The ones who need to be nailed to a cross are the clowns who set up "security" for the CIA's crown jewels and the clowns who decided to have everything in one place.

Next go after whomever stole and leaked the secrets.

And I think a couple of phone calls to Assange letting him know that we know where his family lives would have stopped him in his tracks.
Posted by: gorb || 04/21/2017 12:32 Comments || Top||

#3  No, you don't ever want to involve innocence family. This can turn into a nasty feedback cycle.
Posted by: Seeking cure for ignorance || 04/21/2017 21:17 Comments || Top||

#4  Please, please go after Clintons if you need high profile targets!
Posted by: Jumbo Untervehr7000 || 04/21/2017 23:14 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
30[untagged]
7Islamic State
5Commies
4Govt of Pakistan
2Taliban
2Govt of Syria
2Sublime Porte
2Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (IS)
2Arab Spring
2Houthis
1TTP
1al-Qaeda
1Govt of Iraq
1Govt of Saudi Arabia
1Hefajat-e-Islam
1Moslem Colonists
1Pirates
1Salafists

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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2017-04-21
  ISIS Media Chief dies in airstrike
Thu 2017-04-20
  Paris - cops shot, 1 killed. Suspect dead, Suspicious package left
Wed 2017-04-19
  US: Man screams 'Allahu akbar!' and kills three civilians
Tue 2017-04-18
  Pakistani Taliban leader Ehsanullah Ehsan 'surrenders'
Mon 2017-04-17
  Pirates killed while trying to hijack ship near Somalia
Sun 2017-04-16
  At least 43 killed as car bomb hits Syria evacuees
Sat 2017-04-15
  Islamic State mufti killed in Mosul air strike, Iraqi forces say
Fri 2017-04-14
  Iraqi command says controls 60% of western Mosul
Thu 2017-04-13
  US drops MOAB on ISIS tunnel complex in Afghanistan
Wed 2017-04-12
  Bomb attack on Dortmund team bus
Tue 2017-04-11
  ISIS shells east of Mosul with chlorine gas, 10 casualties
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

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