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SWAT force arrests senior IS, Al-Qaeda commander in central Ramadi
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Road-rage suspect busted after shoving woman to ground
[NYP] A New Hampshire man is facing assault charges after being caught on camera shoving a female driver into a snow pile in an apparent case of road rage ‐ but the man claims he was merely acting in self-defense.

Ricardo Montanez, 28, of Hudson, was arrested Tuesday and charged with simple assault following the incident at Amherst Street and Henri Bourque Highway in Nashua on Sunday, police said.

"Upon initial investigation it was determined that a minor accident occurred after a brief road rage incident involving the two vehicles at the scene," Lt. Carlos Camacho wrote in a news release obtained by The Post. "Officers spoke to all parties involved and to witnesses. A witness was able to record the altercation between the two drivers and showed the video to the investigating officer."

Montanez can be seen on the video forcefully pushing the unidentified woman with two hands, knocking her onto a snow-covered median.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2018 05:20 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  One year in jail followed by a 5 year loss of drivers license, and a $25,000. fine seems appropriate.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2018 5:24 Comments || Top||

#2  But Montanez insists the woman had been incessantly blasting her horn and rear-ended his vehicle with her Toyota Pruis.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/21/2018 5:45 Comments || Top||

#3  A New Hampshire man...

Ricardo Montanez, 28, of Hudson...


I guarantee this - Mr. Montanez was not born in the Granite State. I like how the media keeps pretending otherwise.
Posted by: Raj || 02/21/2018 9:59 Comments || Top||

#4  El Joven, señor, of the Mountain --
Granitic he's not, but who's countin'? --
Sprang up overnight
To the donkeys' delight
From the ground like a town-drowning fountain.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 02/21/2018 13:01 Comments || Top||

#5  There's not alot of jumping out of your car to attack other drivers here in Texas. It's asking to be shot.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 02/21/2018 15:44 Comments || Top||

#6  Gal in a prius, ehhh, I'd give him the benefit, but she was going fast enough to rear end someone is a stretch.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/21/2018 19:29 Comments || Top||


FBI Might Avoid Turning Over Documents in Texas Attack Lawsuit
[Free Beacon] A lawsuit against the FBI for its role in a 2015 terror attack in Texas has taken a detour over discovery issues.

Bruce Joiner, a security guard shot in the leg by two radicalized Islamists at a "Draw Muhammad" event in the North Dallas suburb of Garland in May of that year, learned months later that an FBI agent had been undercover in the terrorist cell that executed the attack. The agent had texted one of the assailants to "Tear up Texas" a few days before the attack, and was also in a separate vehicle directly behind the two terrorists taking pictures of them just seconds before they opened fire at a perimeter parking checkpoint.

The undercover agent, described in court documents as being dressed in Middle Eastern attire, tried to flee the scene when the shooting began but was stopped by local police.

Attorneys for the FBI asked for a dismissal in recent federal court filings, but have taken the extra step of asking the court to delay all discovery until the court rules on the dismissal motion.

Joiner is suing the FBI for liability and is asking for just over $8 million in damages, but has maintained in other media interviews and also through his attorney that he is bringing the suit primarily to get to the bottom of the FBI's involvement leading up to the attack.

If discovery is halted, and should the case later be dismissed, Joiner would leave the case empty handed, no closer to understanding why an FBI agent who had contacts with the attackers was so close when the gunfire started but did nothing to prevent the attack and instead tried to flee.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2018 01:25 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "He was on the FBI's radar"...kicked up just a bit.


Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2018 1:33 Comments || Top||

#2  Too likely to reveal FBI manipulation and activation of the (now deceased) subjects.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2018 10:53 Comments || Top||

#3  "This is the State above the Law.
The State exists for the State alone."
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/21/2018 11:00 Comments || Top||

#4  Sorry posted this above too.

Texas "draw moohamhead contest" (Curtis Culwell Center attack) muslim terrorist shooting.

Days before an ISIS sympathizer attacked a cartoon contest in Garland, Texas, he received a text from an undercover FBI agent.

“Tear up Texas,” the FBI agent messaged Elton Simpson (convert?) days before he opened fire at the Draw Muhammad event, according to an affidavit filed in federal court Thursday.

“U know what happened in Paris,” Simpson responded. “So that goes without saying… No need to be direct.” If you’re wondering what happened to the FBI’s undercover agent, he fled the scene but was stopped at gunpoint by Garland police.

Unfortunately there was no taxpayer pension saving lethal action.

Never investigated and who was the agent and his supervisor? Well guess what Burgs, his name is Eric Jackson. FBI Director James B. Comey (leader of agency's 7th floor sedation division) has named Eric Jackson as the special agent in charge of the Dallas Division.

Figures, he's a Comey teat feeder.

And there was, is no investigation of the FBI's direct involvement in this, an Islamic terrorist attack conservative anti-jihad shooting.

Turns out that Minneapolis FBI head, Richard Thornton (Somaliland circus narrator) was another Comey boy. You just can't make this shit up...
Posted by: Woodrow || 02/21/2018 14:08 Comments || Top||


Man sent to jail for accusing toddler in land dispute case
[Dhaka Tribune] A Jamalpur court has sent a man to jail after he accused a two-and-a-half-year old child in a case filed over land dispute without disclosing the age of the accused.

Fazlul Haque, the brother of toddler Arif, said they had a land dispute with their neighbour Abdul Hanif who accused eight persons in a case on January 16.

When the child arrived at court on Monday, Additional Senior Judicial Magistrate Waheduzzaman filed a case against Hanif for withholding information about the defendant.

Sultan Uddin, the plaintiff’s lawyer, defended his client, saying the child was included as a defendant in the civil case as he would inherit the from his father in future.

But the child was accused in a criminal case.

When the judge asked how a toddler could be a criminal, the lawyer kept mum.

Defence counsel Titu Kumar Saha said the case was filed without disclosing proper information about the accused. "This is against the law."

Public Prosecutor Nirmal Kanti Bhadro said the plaintiff had mentioned the age of six defendants but omitted Arif’s. "This is considered fraudulent," Bhadro said.

He said when accepting the case, the magistrate could have asked the plaintiff why one defendant’s age had not been mentioned.

"Things came to this since he did not do that," the PP said. "When the child arrived at the court, the magistrate took immediate action against the plaintiff."

Posted by: Fred || 02/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So this wasn't in California?
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2018 8:56 Comments || Top||


American Who Stole Terracotta Warrior's Thumb Must be 'Severly Punished' Sez China
[Newsweek] Chinese authorities are urging the U.S. to harshly punish an American man who allegedly stole a thumb from an ancient terracotta warrior statue after taking a selfie with it at a museum in Pennsylvania.

Michael Rohana, 24, of Delaware, was charged with theft of a major artwork from a museum, concealment of major artwork stolen from a museum and interstate transportation of stolen property, reported U.S. and Chinese media.

Rohana reportedly broke off the 2000-year-old display’s left thumb before stealing it from the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia during an ’ugly Christmas jumper party’ last December.

An official from the Shaanxi Cultural Heritage Promotion Center, who arranged for the statute’s loan, "strongly condemned" the theft and called for America to severely punish the young man for his actions, Beijing Youth Daily reported. Chinese authorities have also demanded compensation for the $4.5 million statute.
Yubitsume ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It is very important that as a visitor, you do not damage Cultural reminders.

This is a wrong action by an American and do not do it unless you want them doing it in your home town.

Always respect the People of the Countries you visit before you become a "Permanent resident" in a prison there.

Apologize profusely, write a letter to the Chinese Embassy, and apologize Nationally before an American and Chinese audience please.

Ask China what you may do to correct this.
Posted by: newc || 02/21/2018 1:24 Comments || Top||

#2  They're still pissed that basketball player got let off for shoplifting.

Fun fact: these terracotta warriors are all smashed in the ground. They have to be dug out in pits and then painstakingly reconstructed. There are a ton of them, too, and only a small portion have been assembled.
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 || 02/21/2018 3:57 Comments || Top||

#3  So Noted Herb.
Posted by: newc || 02/21/2018 4:41 Comments || Top||

#4  This guy wasn't in China -- he was at a hipster sleep-over inexplicably held in the same place as priceless antiquities loaned for display.

He deserves the maximum penalty. Toss him into the general prison population as an example to other casual vandals.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 02/21/2018 7:42 Comments || Top||

#5  Perhaps if Michael surrendered a thumb he could be absolved.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2018 9:09 Comments || Top||

#6  I don’t doubt there are hundreds, if not thousands of terracotta figures in pieces in the ground back in China. I am equally certain that the “ugly Christmas sweater” party at the museum was a mixer/fundraiser designed to increase interest in the museum among the younger generation. The symphony, the art museums, the opera, the ballet — and the local blues and jazz societies as well — have been struggling with greying audiences for years.

Nonetheless, one simply can’t break off bits of the display in a bout of boyish high spirits to take as souvenirs. That’s no better than scribbling a moustache on the Mona Lisa with a sharpie. The museum, after all, is liable for the cost of the restoration, and will deservedly find it considerably more difficult to get other shows on loan in the future, which will significantly cut into their future ability to attract audiences, and therefore the donations they need to remain open — no museum can survive on entry fees alone.

Mr, Rohana needs to be punished. I assume from the venue and the activity that he is a successful young professional with useful skills and connections. Let him, in addition to the significant fine, donate ten hours a week for a year applying those skills and connections to the needs of the museum.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/21/2018 13:40 Comments || Top||

#7  Michael Rohana, 24, is an adult and can serve time in China for all I care. This is inexcusable and embarrasses the US.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 02/21/2018 15:10 Comments || Top||

#8  Needs the pic of Joachin Phoenix for illustrative purposes.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/21/2018 16:14 Comments || Top||

#9  Museums! Cool rooms where we meet
America's Yelping Elite,
Professional daters,
And patronless waiters,
To Instagram, Snapchat, and tweet!
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 02/21/2018 16:34 Comments || Top||

#10  I'm with China on this one.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/21/2018 18:40 Comments || Top||

#11  "I'm with China on this one"

I'm with them as well.

It is too bad wambier did not off as easy.
Posted by: newc || 02/21/2018 19:51 Comments || Top||

#12  Err get of as easily
Posted by: newc || 02/21/2018 19:52 Comments || Top||

#13  "Don't be a Dick"
Posted by: Frank G || 02/21/2018 21:49 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Perhaps they are aware of the fate that awaits them.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2018 10:13 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Delightful.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2018 11:08 Comments || Top||

#2  A regular tearjerker. If these 'do-gooders' put 50% as much time into 'fostering' and 'adopting' kids instead of dogs and cats, we would be much better off.
Tired of seeing kids left in cars while Fido gets to run amok in Home Depot.
A friend cried on Facebook the other day about her cat dying in her arms; took 3 hours.
What took so long?

I am not an animal hater, but priorities have gotten way messed up.
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 02/21/2018 15:26 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
Butler County Update: 250 Teachers Sign Up for 50 Seats at Concealed Carry Tng Session
[Breitbart] Butler County, Ohio, Sheriff Richard K. Jones offered free concealed carry training for 50 teachers and 250 teachers responded within 24 hours.

Breitbart News reported that Jones began advertising the free training on Sunday and the immediate response was 50 emails within 20 minutes:

On February 20 Fox 91 reported the response had jumped to 250 teachers who wanted training. Jones reveled in the opportunity to instruct them, saying, "We have 250 and growing fast. We will start training fast, next week."

He stressed that he wants teachers to understand what they can do with a gun if an armed attacker enters the classroom. And while he cannot delegate the authority for teachers to carry on a given campus‐that is a school board decision‐Jones said he wants the teachers to be ready if their school board so chooses.

He said, "If the school boards want to give the authority to teachers to be armed...[they] can do that, they have the authority to do it, but I’m going to do my part, and I assume I’m probably the only one in the state of Ohio that’s doing that ‐ but something has to happen."
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2018 01:18 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  At some point one of these volunteer defenders will shoot back and accidentally hit an innocent bystander. How are they, the school district, and the county to be protected from the inevitable lawsuits that will follow?

Seriously. I had to listen to Mr. Wife go on about that this morning.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/21/2018 15:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Any different than a cop shooting and accidentally hitting a bystander? When seconds count the uniformed officers are minutes away. It's a trade off. And, nothing is going to stop the ambulance chasers regardless of who pulls the trigger.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/21/2018 16:00 Comments || Top||


West Point Posthumously Accepts JROTC Student Killed in Florida Shooting
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Very classy how they treated this Young Officer to be. He served his time before his time, but he did.
GOD Bless Him and the others wrapping others in Kevlar.
Posted by: newc || 02/21/2018 0:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Too bad ROTC failed Cruz.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2018 10:55 Comments || Top||

#3  JROTC didn't fail Cruz, Cruz failed JROTC.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 02/21/2018 16:02 Comments || Top||

#4  Well put Deacon.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/21/2018 19:13 Comments || Top||

#5  1/6 of the casualties were JROTC - I doubt the school is more than 1/60th JROTC. Was JROTC targeted? Or heroic? Or both?
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/21/2018 19:15 Comments || Top||


Police: Good Samaritan with a gun saved mother, daughter
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This is obviously fake news. CNN assures me guns never save anybody.
Posted by: Bob Bourbon3230 || 02/21/2018 5:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Won't hold my breath for this being reported nationally. An inconvenient truth to the gun grabbers
Posted by: Warthog || 02/21/2018 12:34 Comments || Top||

#3  This is the same story as the article below.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/21/2018 13:44 Comments || Top||


When guns save lives
[KRQENews] Albuquerque Police are calling one man a hero after he opened fire in the middle of a busy intersection Sunday evening, breaking up and preventing a possible double homicide.

Officer Simon Drobik said around 5 p.m., a woman was driving her daughter to the airport when her estranged husband, Qian Ming, 66, intentionally crashed his truck into hers.

According to APD, Ming then got out of his vehicle and fired a couple of rounds into the wife’s truck, striking his daughter on the shoulder.

At that time, Officer Drobik said a 34-year-old Good Samaritan pulled up to what he thought was a crash. He witnessed Ming beating his daughter with a gun in the middle of the street.

“Once he started walking up, he saw that there was a male violently pistol-whipping a female in the street,” Officer Drobik said. “He got out of his vehicle and had his firearm on him and told that male to stop.”

That’s when the Good Samaritan, who is not being named at this time because he’s currently not facing any charges, told police Ming pointed the gun in his direction.

Police say the man then fired at least one shot, hitting and killing Ming.

“Mom in the hospital said, ‘He saved our lives,'” Officer Drobik said. “You can’t get a stronger statement than that. So she knew it. Daughter knows it and good thing he took that type of action.”

Officers did detain the man for questioning. He was released later that night. Officer Drobik said the man is a 12-year veteran of the National Guard.

The daughter is still in the hospital but is expected to be okay.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
Congo: Thousands flee amid surge in 'horrific violence'
It’s the Congo. Horrific violence is what they have done at least since Belgium got hold of the territory.
[Al Jazeera] The United Nations
...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks...
has warned that the Democratic Republic of the Congo
...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material...
(DRC) is facing a "humanitarian disaster of extraordinary proportions", as violence and mass displacement is rapidly rising in the country's southeast.

A spokesperson for the UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Monday that entrenched intercommunal conflict between several ethnic groups in Tanganyika province was "triggering spiraling displacement and human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty...
abuses".

"Moreover, fierce festivities between the Congolese armed forces and militias have continued since the end of January, while new gangs threaten to wreak more havoc in the province," Andrej Mahecic said in a statement.

The surge in violence in Tanganyika - an area that is home to about three million people - was largely between the Twa, Luba and other ethnic groups.

It comes amid more than 800 reported human rights abuses in the province over the first two weeks of February alone.

"People fleeing for their lives near the lovely provincial capital Kalemie share stories of horrific violence during attacks against their villages, including killings, abductions and rape," Mahecic said.

Posted by: Fred || 02/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The province just north of it "Sud-Kivu" is the main coffee growing area. Tanganyika grows a little coffee. Both areas are also filled with various factions that never went back to Rwanda after the genocide. It's been dangerous since at least 1990 just due to these interlopers. The article refers to local tribes so it's gotten more complex.
Posted by: 3dc || 02/21/2018 0:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Sometimes, when you break something up, you end up with more shar and shattered clay pots or ceramic dishes than had you never tried.
Posted by: newc || 02/21/2018 1:28 Comments || Top||

#3  You had all better knock it off because almost three nights a week, I somehow end up watching what you are doing to each-other there. and it is getting worse.

Imagine going to sleep every night and ending up in the congo anyway watching guys getting their legs twisted off and girls raped. every night is driving me into a bad state of mind about the place no matter what.

No use complaining here but the congo has become a focal and one that is too deep right now to recover.
Posted by: newc || 02/21/2018 1:33 Comments || Top||

#4  newc,

Well Angola has given me pause for a number of years also.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 02/21/2018 9:57 Comments || Top||

#5  Touch-et Sock Puppet
Posted by: newc || 02/21/2018 15:42 Comments || Top||

#6  The worst I saw in Angola was the aftermath of some rebel group out of the DRC visiting and pillaging a village
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 02/21/2018 19:29 Comments || Top||

#7  "The worst I saw in Angola was the aftermath of some rebel group out of the DRC visiting and pillaging a village"

Ergo all roads lead back to DR Congo.
Posted by: newc || 02/21/2018 19:30 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Saudi Arabia will host its first fashion week in Riyadh next month
[IMAGES.DAWN] 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...
is set to host in March its first ever Arab Fashion Week, the Arab Fashion Council announced on Monday, overturning decades of draconian policies on arts and entertainment.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
...Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia as of 2016....
, the powerful heir to the Saudi throne, has been leading a drive to reform the country’s dependence on oil, including expanding the private sector and empowering women.

The Dubai-based Arab Fashion Council said on its website that fashion week would be held in Riyadh from March 26 to March 31, with a second edition already scheduled for October.
Posted by: Fred || 02/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia

#1  ...Not quite as stunning as it sounds - when I was there in '95, the malls all had women's stores with stuff in the windows that would have made a Frederick's of Hollywood store blush.

(You just weren't allowed to look at an actual human lady wearing the stuff.)

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 02/21/2018 21:13 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
What is Venezuela's new petro cryptocurrency?
[Al Jazeera] Venezuela has officially launched the pre-sale its new digital currency called the petro.

"Petro is born, and we are going to have a total success for the welfare of Venezuela," President Nicolas Maduro said on Tuesday.

The launch of the so-called cryptocurrency comes as Venezuela faces deepening economic and political crises.

According to the government, the petro is backed by oil, gas, gold and diamonds, and is meant to help overcome US and EU sanctions.

Here is what we know about the new currency.

What is the petro?

The idea for the petro came from Hugo Chavez, who had foreseen a "strong currency backed by raw materials", according to the government's white paper on the petro.

Announced in December 2017, the petro is intended to supplement Venezuela's bolivar fuerte (VEF) currency and help overcome US sanctions.

Petros will be "pre-mined", meaning the government would produce and control it.

Venezuela has allocated five billion barrels of oil to back its new digital currency, which will be tied to the cost of a barrel of Venezuelan oil.

Where can you buy it?

Initially, the petro will be sold in hard currency and other cryptocurrencies, not in the local bolivar currency.

"The presale and initial offer will be made in hard currencies and in cryptocurrencies," Carlos Vargas, the government cryptocurrency superintendent, told state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
in late January.

"It is not going to be done in bolivars at this stage," he added.

"Our responsibility is to put [the petro] in the best hands and then a secondary market will appear."

Vargas also said that after the initial sale, the petro could be sold in exchange for the bolivar.

How much does it cost?

Each petro will be backed by a barrel of oil and will be sold at the same price, according to the government.

Prior to the launch, government advisers recommended that 38.4 percent of the petros should be sold in a pre-sale private auction at a discount of 60 percent.
Posted by: Fred || 02/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  LOL
Posted by: newc || 02/21/2018 1:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Can I cash a Petro in for the barrel of oil and how many barrels will I need to purchase a Big Mac?
Posted by: Classer || 02/21/2018 5:01 Comments || Top||

#3  an imaginary currency for an imaginably competent government with imaginary popular support and imaginary food and medicine
Posted by: Frank G || 02/21/2018 7:42 Comments || Top||

#4  Charles Ponzi reincarnated.

Are there really rich people stupid enough to fall for this?
Posted by: AlanC || 02/21/2018 8:30 Comments || Top||

#5  ...I would be very surprised if anyone outside of Maduro's inner circle is making dime one off of this.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 02/21/2018 9:21 Comments || Top||

#6  What is Venezuela's new petro cryptocurrency?

A bad joke?
Posted by: Raj || 02/21/2018 10:05 Comments || Top||

#7  #4 Are there really rich people stupid enough to fall for this?

Quite a few in Hollywood, I suspect. (Ancient joke: how do you make a small fortune in Vegas Venezuela? Start with a large one.)
Posted by: PBMcL || 02/21/2018 10:32 Comments || Top||

#8  At least with a bolivar you can wipe your ass.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/21/2018 19:05 Comments || Top||

#9  Each petro will be backed by a barrel of oil

Didn't they already use their barrels of oil they can't get out of the ground anymore to secure loans from China?

Are there really rich people stupid enough to fall for this?

This scheme could be used to transfer money to the Venezuelan regime and Norks, Iran others in circumvention of sanctions and/or by interested parties who want to remain anonymous. That is likely to be the real purpose.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 02/21/2018 21:02 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Kazakhstan Changes its Alphabet. Again
[BBC] President Nursultan Nazarbayev has issued a decree amending last October's decision to move from the Cyrillic alphabet to a Latin one, after the much-maligned apostrophes caused national uproar.

Eurasianet says that the new system will not only make the language look more elegant, but it will save Kazakhs extra key presses on their electronic devices.
The decree gives the country seven years to completely switch over to the new system, AKIPress news agency reports.

Nazarbayev's move away from Cyrillic is thought to be an attempt to shed Russian influence.
An odd story, but of some importance - Kazakhstan is Moslem, an oil-rich former state of the USSR, and they are leaving Cyrillic but not going to Arabic.
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  'Finest potassium in the world! Very nice.'
Posted by: Raj || 02/21/2018 10:04 Comments || Top||

#2  Kazakhstan, isn't that where Borat is from? Are we being pranked here?

Posted by: jpal || 02/21/2018 15:04 Comments || Top||


Trump orders probe of Russian ballistic missile
[AA.TR] U.S. 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 Tuesday gave the go-ahead for a Congressionally mandated review of whether a Russian ballistic missile violates a Reagan-era nuclear treaty.

Trump, in consultation with high-ranking government officials, will conduct a review to determine whether Russia’s RS-26 ballistic missile violates the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, according to the White House.

"By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America...I hereby delegate to the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Director of National Intelligence the functions and authorities vested in the President by section 1245 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018," Trump said in a statement.

Section 1245 requires that a review of the RS-26 ballistic missile be conducted within 90 days after the enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Dec. 12 last year.

The investigation will determine whether the missile is covered under the New START treaty, a bilateral agreement between the U.S. and Russia on measures for the reduction of strategic offensive arms, or is a violation of the INF Treaty because Russia has flight-tested such a missile to ranges covered by the INF Treaty in more than one warhead configuration.

The INF Treaty, a 1987 agreement between Washington and Moscow, aims to eliminate all short-range nuclear and conventional missiles with ranges of 310‐620 miles (500‐1,000 kilometers) and intermediate-range missiles with ranges of 620‐3,420 miles (1,000‐5,500 km) as well as their launchers.

According to the NDAA, if the investigation determines that the RS-26 ballistic missile is covered under the New START Treaty and that Russia has not taken certain steps under it, the U.S. shall consider for purposes of all policies and decisions that the missile is in violation of the INF Treaty.

Posted by: Fred || 02/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But not the Awan brothers?
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2018 9:05 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
State Department says NKorea passed up meeting with Pence
WASHINGTON (AP) ‐ Vice President Mike Pence was all set to hold a history-making meeting with North Korean officials during the Winter Olympics in South Korea, but Kim Jong Un’s government canceled at the last minute, the Trump administration said Tuesday.

A potential meeting between Pence and the North Koreans had been the most highly anticipated moment of the vice president’s visit to Pyeongchang, South Korea, where he led the U.S delegation to the opening ceremonies. Ahead of Pence’s visit, Trump officials had insisted they’d requested no meeting with North Korea, but notably left open the possibility one could occur.

There was no indication that a meeting had indeed been planned ‐ and then canceled on short notice ‐ until Tuesday, more than a week after Pence returned to the United States. The State Department said that Pence had been "ready to take this opportunity" but would have used it to insist Pyongyang abandon its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

"At the last minute, DPRK officials decided not to go forward with the meeting," said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert, using an acronym for the North’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. "We regret their failure to seize this opportunity."

That seemed to contradict North Korea’s own claim that it had no interest in meeting with Pence while he was in Pyeongchang.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2018 03:09 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


S. Korea to resume joint military drills with US
[AA.TR] South Korea will go ahead with spring military drills alongside the United States despite North Korean opposition, Seoul's Defense Ministry stated Tuesday.

The annual exercises, regularly denounced by the North as war preparations, have already been delayed until after the March 18 closing of the Winter Paralympics.

Pyongyang has also refrained from missile testing so far this year, and inter-Korean relations have seen a dramatic improvement on the occasion of the South hosting the Winter Games since February 9.

Following statements of willingness from both sides, the Koreas ended years of tensions by cooperating to form a unified Olympic team for the women's ice hockey event, while North Korean leader Kim Pudge Jong-un
...the overweight, pouty-looking hereditary potentate of North Korea. Pudge appears to believe in his own divinity, but has yet to produce any loaves and fishes, so his subjects remain malnourished...
dispatched a high-level delegation to the opening ceremony -- including his sister Kim Yo-jong, who on behalf of her brother invited South Korean President Moon Jae-in to Pyongyang.

However,
corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds...
it remains to be seen whether Moon will accept the proposal as he stressed last weekend the North should also engage in dialogue with the U.S. -- a prospect that could become less likely when allied military drills resume.

Posted by: Fred || 02/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Each exercise has a HUGE influx of capital dollars.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2018 9:03 Comments || Top||


Down Under
Dust storm blankets Australian town in orange
[BBC] An Australian town has been hit by a dust storm that covered the outback community in orange dust.

The storm swept through Charleville in south-west Queensland on Tuesday, knocking down trees and causing minor damage.

The scene prompted many residents to post photos and videos on social media.

Authorities said recent weather conditions had allowed strong winds to pick and spread dirt from the region.

"We do see a fair few dust events through the western parts of Queensland because it is such a dry and hot place, but it's definitely one of the more impressive events of the last few years," said Harry Clark, from Australia's Bureau of Meteorology.

He estimated the dust storm was about 200km (124 miles) wide. It recorded winds of up to 96km/h (60pmh), while visibility at the local airport was reduced to about 200m.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2018 03:15 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ah, I'm reminded of the sweet days of my youth in Chicago's steel mill ghetto on the south side of Lake Michigan. Iron Oxide from the mills would fall as rain and coat everything brown. Brown houses, snow, rain, brown cars, trees, streets and birds.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2018 8:53 Comments || Top||

#2  We had dust storms in Enid, Oklahoma back in the 50's.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 02/21/2018 16:05 Comments || Top||

#3  When oaks on each other come callin',
In gardens and parks, what's that fallin'?
Okay, it's not rusty,
Depressin' or dusty,
But pollen on cars is appallin'.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 02/21/2018 16:46 Comments || Top||

#4  Skidmark, as my uncle from the area used to say "Shades of Hammond".

His joke being that it was only one shade.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 02/21/2018 16:53 Comments || Top||

#5 
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/21/2018 17:36 Comments || Top||

#6  For those of you who have not been in one, they are crazy weird.

And if they hit a storm front, it rains mud. Very unpleasant to drive in, among other things.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/21/2018 18:46 Comments || Top||


Great White North
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir 'Canadian Facelift' (Olympic video)
Crowds cheer, ice melts, Canada takes home gold.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2018 05:34 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well...you don't see that everyday!
Posted by: Goober B. Hayes7953 || 02/21/2018 8:10 Comments || Top||

#2  A ballet of the dichotomy of interpersonal sexuality conflict and accommodation. Very nice.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2018 11:04 Comments || Top||

#3  I saw it, it was just for the briefest of moments.

The image is difficult to erase, however.
Posted by: Bobby || 02/21/2018 11:58 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
GOP Rep Introduces Legislation to Revoke Citizenship From MS-13 Gang Members
[Free Beacon] Rep. Lee Zeldin (R., N.Y.) on Tuesday introduced legislation to revoke the citizenship of naturalized immigrants who are involved in gang-related crimes.

The Protecting Our Communities from Gang Violence Act would allow the U.S. government to revoke the citizenship of individuals who came to the country as immigrants and got involved in gang activity either prior to or within 10 years of becoming a naturalized citizen. The act seems to be the direct result of an increase in the numbers of crimes being committed by MS-13 gang members in Zeldin's congressional district and the state of New York as a whole.

"From the vicious machete attack of four young men in Central Islip, to the childhood best friends brutally murdered by MS-13 in Brentwood, our community has witnessed the indiscriminate brutality of gang violence firsthand," Zeldin said in a statement. "Every level of government has a role to play in combating the rise of MS-13 and other gangs, and we must crack down on the aspects of our nation’s broken immigration system and other policies that have allowed MS-13 and other gangs to take hold in our communities and stay there."
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2018 01:39 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Any bets on this one ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2018 1:44 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Nurses beat up doctor facing sexual harassment probe
[DAWN] MIRPURKHAS: A doctor was severely beaten up by some nurses and their supporters at the Mirpurkhas Civil Hospital on Monday over his alleged act of sexual harassment.

According to some hospital employees, patients and visitors, several emotionally charged nurses along with their acquaintances grabbed the doctor, an anaesthetist, and started beating him up in the operating theatre.

Onlookers said the doctor suffered injuries during the long episode which ended only when some hospital staffers intervened to rescue him.

It was learnt that the doctor had been transferred to Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
some time ago to facilitate an inquiry into a sexual harassment complaint lodged against him by a staff nurse. However,
by candlelight every wench is handsome...
the doctor somehow got himself reposted at the hospital.

The inquiry was ordered by Civil Surgeon Dr Iqbal Bhurgari and assigned to a three-member committee comprising Dr Saeed Arain, Dr Jhamandas and Ms Maqboola. Its report is awaited.

Meanwhile,
...back at the cheese factory, all the pieces finally fell together in Fluffy's mind...
Dr Bhurgari called out the police to bring the situation at the hospital under control during the thrashing episode. A team of the Town cop shoppe recorded the statement of the doctor and some other employees.

Posted by: Fred || 02/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  beating him up in the operating theatre

No mention of the patient.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2018 8:57 Comments || Top||


Pakistan has world's highest newborn mortality rate, reveals Unicef report
[DAWN] Pakistain has the world's highest newborn mortality rate, with one in every 22 babies born dying within a month, according to a Unicef report released on Tuesday.
They're probably not religious enough.
The report reveals that babies born in the world's poorest countries, most of them in Africa, still face "alarming" risks of death that can be 50 times as high as those in the richest countries.

Japan, for instance, is highlighted as the best place for a baby to be born, with only one in 1,111 babies at risk of dying within a month of birth.

While the last quarter-century has seen broad improvements in older children's health, "we have not made similar progress in ending deaths among children less than one month old," said Henrietta Fore, Unicef's executive director.

"Given that the majority of these deaths are preventable, clearly we are failing the world's poorest babies."

Posted by: Fred || 02/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Still burying newborn girls, Hamid?
Posted by: Bob Bourbon3230 || 02/21/2018 5:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Cousin daddies and sister wives.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2018 8:58 Comments || Top||


Man booked for ‘blasphemy’
[DAWN] LAHORE: The Shahdara police lodged a case against a young suspect under blasphemy law after he allegedly shared hate material on social media.

The FIR was lodged under Section 295-C of the Pakistain Penal Code (PPC) in the wake of the day-long agitation by hundreds of people including activists of Labaik Ya Rasool Allah (LYRA) and other religious parties.

Tension mounted in Shahdara on Monday as hundreds of people blocked the main road for traffic shortly after the sacrilegious contents appeared on social media.

The people first gathered in some localities along the railway lines and continued agitation there for some hours saying that the suspect had hurt their religious sentiments.

Senior coppers, who had reached the site along with heavy contingent, tried to disperse them through dialogue.

However,
alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk...
the agitators got more strength when area people made announcements in local mosques inviting a large number of people to join them.

The protesters later marched towards GT Road (Shahdra), burnt tyres and continued protest from [Monday] morning to evening, demanding immediate arrest of the suspect.

The police high-ups called more reserves to maintain law and order situation.

City Division Operations SP Ali Raza told Dawn that the police high command remained busy in talks with leaders of protesters.

He said the dialogue process which was initiated at 9am continued till the protesters dispersed peacefully after evening.

To a question about the hate material, Mr Raza said police experts traced the suspect.

As the family of the suspect confirmed his act declaring it a gross mistake, they helped the police in his arrest, he said adding that a case has been lodged against the suspect.

Posted by: Fred || 02/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Pakistan: Lawyer shoots dead 2 colleagues in court
[AA.TR] A lawyer on Tuesday rubbed out his two colleagues after a heated argument during a court proceeding in northeastern Lahore city on Tuesday, police and local media reported.

The accused, and the dear departed, who are said to be relatives, were contesting a land ownership case in the Lahore district court, where they exchanged hot words during the proceedings, according to local broadcaster ARY News.

The assailant -- a junior lawyer identified as Rana Kashif -- fired at his colleagues as soon as they stepped out the courtroom, killing them on the spot before he was tossed in the calaboose
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
, the news channel reported.

Live footage aired on the channel showed the police struggling to save the accused from other lawyers who tried to attack him.

This is the second firing incident at the same court in less than a month. In January, a cop, and an under trial prisoner were killed when button men fired at them.

Posted by: Fred || 02/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Trial by combat?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/21/2018 3:15 Comments || Top||

#2  The Pak rewrite of the old lawyers' adage: If you don't have the law on your side, argue equity; if you don't have equity, argue the law; if you don't have either, pound the table with your shoe shoot opposing counsel.
Posted by: Mercutio || 02/21/2018 16:59 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
31[untagged]
7Islamic State
6Sublime Porte
4Govt of Pakistan
2Taliban
2al-Shabaab (AQ)
2Boko Haram (ISIS)
2Govt of Saudi Arabia
2Houthis
2Moslem Colonists
2Palestinian Authority
1al-Qaeda
1Govt of Iran
1Commies
1Muslim Brotherhood
1Govt of Syria
1Hamas
1Haqqani Network

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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2018-02-21
  SWAT force arrests senior IS, Al-Qaeda commander in central Ramadi
Tue 2018-02-20
  9 abducted civilians found dead in Afghanistan
Mon 2018-02-19
  Syrian Army deploys entire artillery division of howitzers, field guns, mortars and Grad rocket launchers for east Damascus battle
Sun 2018-02-18
  Drone strike kills 2 al-Qaeda suspects in Yemen
Sat 2018-02-17
  Senior IS Leader Returned to Iraq from Turkey
Fri 2018-02-16
  Syria's Idlib IS-Free after 'Surrender' Tuesday
Thu 2018-02-15
  Rebels strike western Syria’s primary power grid to leave millions without electricity
Wed 2018-02-14
  'White powder' sent to Pres.Obama's DC office just 24 hours after Don & Vanessa Trump got similar package
Tue 2018-02-13
  Drone strike kills six Al Qaeda suspects in Yemen
Mon 2018-02-12
  Sword-wielding man injures 4 worshipers at Indonesian church
Sun 2018-02-11
  Jaish-e-Mohammad targets sleeping families at Sunjuwan Army camp, kills two soldiers
Sat 2018-02-10
  TTP splinter group chief Khan Said ‘Sajna’ reported killed in US drone strike in Afghanistan
Fri 2018-02-09
  Houthi leader killed in precision strike along with 35 others
Thu 2018-02-08
  US kills more than 100 Assad regime fighters in largest deliberate strike against Syrian government forces
Wed 2018-02-07
  Israelis kill Ahmad Nasser Jarrar, terrorist behind murder of Rabbi Raziel Shevah


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