Hi there, !
Today Sun 03/12/2017 Sat 03/11/2017 Fri 03/10/2017 Thu 03/09/2017 Wed 03/08/2017 Tue 03/07/2017 Mon 03/06/2017 Archives
Rantburg
531707 articles and 1856000 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 54 articles and 156 comments as of 15:14.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Non-WoT        Politix   
Baghdadi abandons Mosul fight to field commanders
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 4: Opinion
7 23:14 magpie [] 
7 16:01 SteveS [] 
2 11:24 SteveS [] 
2 12:59 Iblis [1] 
8 16:59 AlmostAnonymous5839 [] 
14 22:25 Skidmark [1] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
5 17:21 Grins Snese4215 [1]
0 []
3 18:55 trailing wife []
0 []
1 11:48 gorb []
0 []
0 []
0 []
1 18:32 Jeasing Creque5352 []
0 []
0 []
1 11:52 gorb []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
2 12:40 Seeking cure for ignorance [2]
10 23:08 Old Patriot []
0 []
15 21:41 Bangkok Billy [1]
Page 2: WoT Background
5 12:29 rjschwarz [1]
2 13:42 Mullah Richard []
0 []
4 19:52 gorb []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
4 20:39 Rambler in Virginia []
4 15:54 Pappy []
3 12:26 rjschwarz []
6 13:25 Pappy []
Page 3: Non-WoT
0 [1]
0 []
0 []
1 11:13 Glenmore []
8 19:38 lord garth [1]
13 22:17 Skidmark []
13 20:32 Zenobia Floger6220 [1]
8 15:54 JohnQC []
3 15:56 Deacon Blues []
1 08:26 Besoeker []
4 22:19 Skidmark []
6 12:29 g(r)omgoru []
Page 6: Politix
8 17:02 AlmostAnonymous5839 []
-Lurid Crime Tales-
POTUS get-tough policies credited for sharp plunge in illegal immigration
[Wash Times] Illegal immigration across the southwest border plummeted in the weeks after President Trump took office, Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly announced Wednesday, calling the drop an early sign that Mr. Trump’s get-tough policies are working.

In addition to a drop in the number of illegal immigrants nabbed while attempting to cross, Mr. Kelly said, they have seen a dramatic spike in the rates charged by smugglers paid to sneak people into the U.S.

Routes that cost $3,500 in November now cost $8,000, he said -- another signal that smuggling cartels’ business is suffering.

Mr. Kelly called the drop in apprehensions unprecedented. The number of people caught at the border is considered a good indication of the overall flow, so a drop in apprehensions is believed to signal a drop in total number of illegal crossings.

"This trend is encouraging because it means many fewer people are putting themselves and their families at risk of exploitation, assault and injury by human traffickers and the physical dangers of the treacherous journey north," Mr. Kelly said.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/09/2017 07:51 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  M. Murcek's comments from a seperate article seem appropriate here as well:

#4 MSM take - "...nothing can be read into the outcome..."
Posted by M. Murcek
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/09/2017 9:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Hmm, increased enforcement results in a decrease in crime. Fox Butterfield, is that you?

I do like this bit, tho: Routes that cost $3,500 in November now cost $8,000. Free markets in action! It also hints at the value of sneaking in to the US.
Posted by: SteveS || 03/09/2017 11:24 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
What's a 'Deep State' and why is it a new buzzword for the online right?
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/09/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If you read Zero Hedge, it's not new - it's been around for about six months, maybe longer. Hell, even the article states that the Turks have been using it since 2012.

Verdict - not 'Fake News', just 'Bogus News'.
Posted by: Raj || 03/09/2017 1:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Palace eunuchs come to mind.
Posted by: phil_b || 03/09/2017 3:04 Comments || Top||

#3  Five years late and billions of brain cells short.
Posted by: no mo uro || 03/09/2017 6:00 Comments || Top||

#4  The deep state isn't a joke. The intelligence agencies are refusing to share intelligence with Trump claiming they don't trust him. They are not under the control of the elected government. The Seventh Floor of the State Department was a small piece of it.
Posted by: Harcourt Angoluting9366 || 03/09/2017 6:49 Comments || Top||

#5  Examine nearly any totalitarian state in modern history and you will find a highly developed and active intelligence infrastructure.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/09/2017 6:53 Comments || Top||


#7  Personally, I go with "New Class" or "Mandarinate". That is, not just CIA - all federal agencies (including DMV).
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/09/2017 7:09 Comments || Top||

#8  Don't share info with Trump, then Trump should cut off their funding.
Let these alleged patriots work for free.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/09/2017 7:47 Comments || Top||

#9  Long past time to repeal the Civil Service Act. The original intent has been corrupted as the Interstate Commerce Clause.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/09/2017 8:22 Comments || Top||

#10  It's that goo that remains after you flush the toilet; it's hard to get rid of and requires a deep scrubbing with a harsh brush.
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/09/2017 8:37 Comments || Top||

#11  IIRC, and the real truth might be difficult to obtain, in the days following the death of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, Lavrentii Beria and Nikita Khrushchev were rivals for the power that Stalin had acquired. Beria was the greatly feared head of the Soviet intelligence and internal security services, ie the KGB. But Khrushchev had alliances with ranking generals in the Red Army that he'd developed during his years as a political officer during WWII. So my question is: How many divisions does Clapper have and how would he fare if a division of US Marines marched on Langley?
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 03/09/2017 11:51 Comments || Top||

#12  I seem to remember hearing the phrase during the Scott Walker recall battle.
Posted by: charger || 03/09/2017 19:26 Comments || Top||

#13  Buzzwords come and go, remember 'reification' that was popular during Obama's first term? Now, not so much...
Posted by: magpie || 03/09/2017 19:30 Comments || Top||

#14  For the moment I'm assuming the Deep State references full insertion.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/09/2017 22:25 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Why Russian Disinformation Doesn't Equate To Trump's 'Alternative Facts'
[Integrity Initiative] At the start of 2017 decision-makers, journalists and the thinking public are more aware of disinformation than they have ever been. They may not call it "disinformation"; they may talk about "post-truth", "fake news" or even "alternative facts". But all of these are actually examples of disinformation, which is the conscious misrepresentation, partial or total, of fact.

The word "disinformation" has come into English and other languages (for example, French, désinformation; German, Desinformation; Spanish, desinformación) from Russian. The word "information" (информация) was adopted into Russian from English (and was originally from Latin); but the prefix dis- (Russian, дез-, hence дезинформация) was added in Russian. It is important to distinguish between disinformation and misinformation, which is the passing on unknowingly of false information. Misinformation is a Mistake; Disinformation is Deliberate.

The various terms now in use for the deliberate spreading of false information may help people to understand the concept of disinformation. But there is a very real danger that these terms could cause them to lose sight of the purpose of disinformation as put out by a country such as Russia, and that which has been termed "alternative facts" by a spokeswoman for the recently-inaugurated President of the USA, Donald Trump.

It is too early in the Trump Presidency to say exactly why the new US administration has taken a hostile attitude to the media and why the President and his entourage have used phrases such as "fake news" or "alternative facts". The very fact that they have chosen this route is a worrying phenomenon and it needs to be closely monitored by those who value freedom of speech and democratic values. It is recognised that President Trump has proposed some controversial policies on trade and immigration in particular. He has also made comments which have led some to be concerned over how he visualises the future of Western alliances, notably NATO. But there is an important difference between this and the aims of the policy of disinformation actively pursued by the Kremlin.
Horseshoe theory ?
Trump’s declared aim is to "put America first". He expects the rest of the world to be aware that this is the case and fit their own policies to this. His opposite number in the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, however, has a different agenda. Whilst he is "putting Russia first", he also has the aim of disrupting the countries of the West as much as possible. Trump may have a few close advisers attacking the US media and using peculiar-sounding phrases such as "alternative facts"; but Putin has overseen the creation of an army of people and institutions who have the deliberate aim of disrupting Western life and creating chaos in Western societies.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/09/2017 09:50 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Royal Vauxhall Tavern disinformation lesson for today. There will be a test:

It is too early in the Trump Presidency to say exactly why the new US administration has taken a hostile attitude to the media and why the President and his entourage have used phrases such as “fake news” or “alternative facts”. The very fact that they have chosen this route is a worrying phenomenon and it needs to be closely monitored by those who value freedom of speech and democratic values. It is recognised that President Trump has proposed some controversial policies on trade and immigration in particular.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/09/2017 9:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Wow the more a site claims integrity and truth the more likely it is to be stocked chock full of lies and liars.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/09/2017 10:47 Comments || Top||

#3  It is too early in the Trump Presidency to say exactly why the new US administration has taken a hostile attitude to the media...

Maybe because the media is reviled by so many in the country that it shares its polling numbers of trust with Congress and thus got Trump elected? /rhet question
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/09/2017 10:58 Comments || Top||

#4  Wow the more a site claims integrity and truth the more likely it is to be stocked chock full of lies and liars. Posted by Bright Pebbles

I'm fairly certain your know the source BP.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/09/2017 12:05 Comments || Top||

#5  It is too early in the Trump Presidency to say exactly why the new US administration has taken a hostile attitude to the media

????????????
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/09/2017 12:15 Comments || Top||

#6  The punch line: Behind RT and Sputnik there are thousands of people employed in Russia in what have been nicknamed “troll factories”: people working together in large groups constantly to push out vast amounts of disinformation via social media. There is no equivalent to this in the USA, and herein lies the crucial difference between what Trump is doing and what Putin is doing.

Correct. Sort of. In the US of A, the disinformation campaign is led by the president's opponent, not the president, and the 'troll factories' work for the old-stream media or the new old-stream-media (Huffpoo, etc.) instead of RT.
Posted by: Bobby || 03/09/2017 13:44 Comments || Top||

#7  It is too early in the Trump Presidency to say exactly why the new US administration has taken a hostile attitude to the media and why the President and his entourage have used phrases such as “fake news” or “alternative facts”.

YJCMTSU. "...exactly why..." Wow, just wow.
Posted by: magpie || 03/09/2017 23:14 Comments || Top||


If men went on strike, what would America look like?
If men went on strike, what would America look like?

We'd all be hard-pressed to find a cop when in danger. America would be defenseless in fighting our enemies. There'd be no border police to keep evil at bay. No electricians to keep the power going. No fireman, ambulance drivers or truckers to carry our food.

No drivers of fuel trucks who fill our cars with gas. There'd be no one to work the natural gas and oil fields. No one to collect our trash.

Our train systems and commuter rails wouldn't run. The airports would shut down.

When women go on strike, life goes on and no one gets hurt. If men went on strike, all our lives would be upended. And people would die.

Thank you, men of America. The women who aren't marching know your value, and we thank you.

Keep up the great work.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/09/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Who's gonna bag the groceries?
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/09/2017 1:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Who would fly Old Doc ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/09/2017 6:57 Comments || Top||

#3  I wonder, did transgendered men went on strike yesterday?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/09/2017 7:11 Comments || Top||

#4  Only for half a day, grom.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 03/09/2017 7:30 Comments || Top||

#5  Super Bowl Sunday?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/09/2017 9:55 Comments || Top||

#6  Only for half a day, grom

I nominate that for Snarc of the month.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 03/09/2017 10:41 Comments || Top||

#7  Yep, I'd vote for that. Deacon is on top of his game today.
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/09/2017 15:47 Comments || Top||

#8  You mean, no sammitches got made yesterday?
This just in, Detroit and Chicago women teachers took off yesterday, test scores jumped 47 points. Film at 11.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 03/09/2017 16:59 Comments || Top||


Government
Mercer: The Donald Vs. The ‘Deep State'
[Townhall] President Trump has credibly accused Obama of wire-tapping the Trump Tower phones during the 2016 campaign.

Whether the tapping of Trump Tower phones can be traced to Obama; whether it's true or false--consider the counter-accusations floated by President Donald Trump about Barack Obama as part of a strategy.

The president is in survival mode. He's backed into a corner and is fighting back with brio, counter-punching at the Machine intent on unseating him. The Donald is destabilizing the destabilizers.

The opinion makers were incensed. "He had no evidence when he smeared his predecessor. Just contemplate the recklessness--the sheer indifference to truth," yelped the New York Times. "The administration can't substantiate the wire-tapping claim," screeched the MSNBC collective. On CNN it's been incontinent outrage, every hour of each day, since president Trump shot across the bow at Obama.

Marching in lockstep, media have ruled that Trump's wire-tapping taunt is unworthy of investigation. At the same time, the RussiaGate conspiracy with which media are hobbling the Trump presidency, and for which no credible proof exists--that's beyond reproach as a news story.

Fake News' fantastical idée fixe is that the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin to rob their "beloved" Hillary Clinton of her presidential birthright. To them, that's what you'd call a perfectly legitimate and logical line of inquiry!
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/09/2017 08:04 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin to rob their "beloved" Hillary Clinton of her presidential birthright. To them, that's what you'd call a perfectly legitimate and logical line of inquiry!

Benghazi co-conspirators in lock-step ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/09/2017 8:09 Comments || Top||

#2  I have a feeling that when Trump and his staff make their move it is going to be like a safe dropping on a water melon, green and red scattered all over the place.
Posted by: Jeasing Creque5352 || 03/09/2017 12:42 Comments || Top||

#3  I'm not the Kremlinologist I once was (if ever!), but I'd bet Russia, like all the smart kids, figured POTUS Hillary was a done deal. Which seems more likely:
1) The Russians conspired against all odds to elect a loose cannon reality TV star with weird hair instead of Reset Button Hillary.
vs
2) Russian intelligence services, along with Rest of World, were engaged in business as usual, rooting around for interesting tidbits and took total advantage of the Dem's poor sysadmin skills and lack of information security.
Posted by: SteveS || 03/09/2017 12:49 Comments || Top||

#4  I'll pick Number 2 for $10, Steve.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 03/09/2017 13:45 Comments || Top||

#5  Or the wikileaks version that it was an angry democrat who gave up the info and the Russians became a convenient excuse.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/09/2017 14:51 Comments || Top||

#6  ...every hour of each day, since president Trump shot across the bow at Obama.

A sitting POTUS accuses his predecessor of personally authorizing illegal surveillance of his communication and this fool calls it a Shot across the bow...are you fucking kidding me? Well, one thing for sure, Trump was spot on with his 'shoot someone on 5th Ave in broad daylight' metaphor.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 03/09/2017 15:58 Comments || Top||

#7  To make the game more interesting...
a subset of 2) with some finger-pointing:
3) NSA Officials Who Hated Clintons Hacked DNC and Gave Emails to WikiLeaks

From over at Gateway Pundit:
Lieutenant Colonel Tony Shaffer (ret.) told Hannity former NSA operatives who were fed up with the Clintons are the ones who hacked into the DNC and gave the hacked Podesta emails to WikiLeaks. The Democrats do not want to talk about this and it is probably why the DNC refused to allow the FBI to look at it’s hacked server.

I rather like the idea that our Intel Community is not totally infested with Obamanistas and related vermin. Wheels within wheels.
Posted by: SteveS || 03/09/2017 16:01 Comments || Top||


Charles Krauthammer on RINOcare. (Video)
[Daily Caller] Fox News contributor Charles Krauthammer is not impressed by the Republican plan to "repeal and replace" Obamacare.

House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady and House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg Walden released the health care plan favored by congressional Republicans Monday evening, called the American Health Care Act.

The legislation is catching flack from some GOP lawmakers and conservative think-tanks that are publicly condemning the effort as lackluster, weak and largely a repackaging of Obamacare. Leading the charge is Sen. Rand Paul, who called the Republican platform "Obamacare Lite." (RELATED: Tom Price: House Repeal Effort Is ’A Work In Progress)
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/09/2017 07:13 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  POTUS said he was on board with House plan. At some point he will have to sell it. Then he will own it. Today the clever moniker is RINOcare. Next month it will be TRUMPcare. It should be interesting to see how TrumpNation reacts.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 03/09/2017 8:25 Comments || Top||

#2  This bill already looks DOA. Hopefully it represented a low-ball offer, and subsequent efforts will get us closer to actual repeal.
Posted by: Iblis || 03/09/2017 12:59 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
25[untagged]
13Islamic State
4Moslem Colonists
2Taliban
2al-Shabaab (AQ)
1Govt of Iran
1Govt of Iraq
1Govt of Pakistain Proxies
1Hizbul Mujaheddin
1Commies
1Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (IS)
1Muslim Brotherhood
1al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2017-03-09
  Baghdadi abandons Mosul fight to field commanders
Wed 2017-03-08
  IS gunmen dressed as medics kill 30 at Kabul military hospital
Tue 2017-03-07
  Mufti Hannan jailbreak attempt fails
Mon 2017-03-06
  New wave of US air raids on Qaeda in Yemen
Sun 2017-03-05
  Jordan hangs 15 death row prisoners at dawn in further break from moratorium on executions
Sat 2017-03-04
  Kurdish YPG fighters repel treacherous Turkish attack near Syria’s Afrin
Fri 2017-03-03
  Syrian Army recaptures Palmyra, aided by Russian Air Force: Kremlin
Thu 2017-03-02
  Islamic State supreme leader’s speech admits defeat in Mosul
Wed 2017-03-01
  Two women in nerve agent attack on Kim Jong-nam charged with murder
Tue 2017-02-28
  Islamic State claims attempted bombing in Algeria -AMAQ
Mon 2017-02-27
  Taliban shadow governor among 21 killed in counter-terrorism operations
Sun 2017-02-26
  Hamas Diggers Dead in Gaza Tunnel ‘Work Accident'
Sat 2017-02-25
  Iraq Forces Enter First West Mosul Neighborhood
Fri 2017-02-24
  German police arrest 26-year-old over terror plot
Thu 2017-02-23
  Pakistan Army launches 'Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad' across the country

Better than the average link...



Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
34.201.69.22
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (23)    WoT Background (12)    Non-WoT (12)    (0)    Politix (1)