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Scuds pummel Syrian rebel positions
Today's Headlines
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Page 3: Non-WoT
1 13:30 Rambler in Virginia [336081] 
2 12:14 Deacon Blues [336069] 
5 23:13 Redneck Jim [336096] 
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4 13:44 Secret Asian Man [336064] 
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 4: Opinion
4 21:03 JosephMendiola [336094]
Page 6: Politix
33 21:43 CrazyFool [336083]
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
3 Hoosiers arrested for murders, arson and insurance scam plot
From Besoeker in the other post on this one:Yep, here it is Frank. They increased coverage on the structure and contents to $21,400,000 just last month. Looks like we've solved another one.
Indianapolis -- A devastating explosion that killed two neighbors and destroyed dozens of homes in the Richmond Hill neighborhood last month was the culmination of a tangled tale of greed, debt, desperation and deceit.
Three people were arrested and charged with murder in what Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry called a "thoroughly senseless act."

Monserrate Shirley, 47, her boyfriend Mark Leonard, 43, and his half-brother Robert "Bob" Leonard, Jr., 54, were charged with murder and multiple other felony counts for what investigators described as having essentially turned Shirley's home into a bomb.

Investigators say the blast was a plan hatched by the Leonards, two men characterized by others as practiced con men -- half brothers with a history of suckering people and insurance companies out of cash. Detectives believe that the suspects tried to blow up the home the weekend before the explosion. The gas, however, failed to detonate.

Just the day before the actual blast. Mark and Bob Leonard spoke with a gas company employee at a Southside business about the differences between natural gas and propane. They asked him about how valves work and "how much gas would it take to fill a house."

The employee told detectives that he said "a house is like a balloon which would fill until it popped."

The employee said he didn't think anything of the conversation at the time, but arson investigators say that information helped the brothers formulate a plan that would turn their home into a bomb. They say Shirley's gas fireplace was rigged so it would pour out natural gas and that they set a microwave oven's timer to trigger the blast.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 12/22/2012 00:53 || Comments || Link || [336066 views] Top|| File under:


UPS employee caught red-handed stealing Christmas gift
[KHOU]
Posted by: Fred || 12/22/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336111 views] Top|| File under:

#1  WataMoron! Send UPS a COPY of the tape along with a kindly worded memo from your lawyer, then stand back for the discreet settlement.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/22/2012 7:01 Comments || Top||

#2  The company said he was a seasonal worker who was hired just to deliver packages during the holidays

Odd. The chances of a seasonal worker being a driver is rather small; seasonals are usually employed as 'runners' while the driver sits in the package car.
Posted by: Pappy || 12/22/2012 17:55 Comments || Top||

#3  UPS already replace the product, B. (iPad or some such, I think.)
Posted by: Barbara || 12/22/2012 18:18 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Hong Kong to supply fishing vessels to Turkmenistan
There's just one, small problem...
Posted by: Steve White || 12/22/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336078 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Transport to the Black Sea, then truck or rail overland to the Caspian.
Posted by: Pappy || 12/22/2012 17:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Lt. Trapp from the Austrian School will provide necessary training and deh yodelering.
Posted by: Shipman || 12/22/2012 22:52 Comments || Top||


Man's gas blamed for creating "intolerable" workplace
A federal employee was formally reprimanded this month for excessive workplace flatulence, a sanction that was delivered to him in a five-page letter that actually included a log of representative dates and times when he was recorded "releasing the awful and unpleasant odor" in his Baltimore office.

In a December 10 letter accusing him of "conduct unbecoming a federal officer," the Social Security Administration employee was informed that his "uncontrollable flatulence" had created an "intolerable" and "hostile" environment for coworkers, several of whom have lodged complaints with supervisors.

The worker, a 38-year-old Maryland resident, reportedly submitted evidence that he suffered from "some medical conditions" that, at times, caused him to be unable to work full days. But a SSA manager noted in the reprimand letter that, "nothing that you have submitted has indicated that you would have uncontrollable flatulence. It is my belief that you can control this condition."

A redacted copy of the letter was recently circulated among officers of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the union that represents the SSA worker. Contacted today at his office, the employee said, "I can't talk to you about this, I'm sorry."
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 12/22/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336100 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What he should have said was, "Pull my finger."
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 12/22/2012 0:50 Comments || Top||

#2  There is a lot of bad gas in the Washington area.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/22/2012 10:52 Comments || Top||

#3  There's always some intolerable as#%ole in every office.

That said, I'm impressed the SSA told him to can it, rather than put him on disability.
Posted by: Dopey Sinatra9196 || 12/22/2012 15:56 Comments || Top||

#4  "and...about your beer, cabbage and refried beans diet"
Posted by: Frank G || 12/22/2012 16:01 Comments || Top||

#5  Was it in in CHORUS = MAKING MUSIC???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/22/2012 20:47 Comments || Top||

#6  Frank..... Brussel Sprouts and Mushrooms in the Sorority Salad.
Posted by: Shipman || 12/22/2012 22:53 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Kenya Red Cross: 30 People Killed In Clashes
[NPR.org] At least 30 people were killed when farmers raided a village of herders in southeastern Kenya early Friday in renewed fighting between two communities with a history of violent animosity, the Kenya Red Thingy said.
"Them nesters is encroachin' on our land! It's gonna be... Range War!"
Five children and five women were among the dead, the Red Thingy said. Forty-five houses were set on fire during the attack, Red Thingy spokeswoman Nelly Muluka said.
"Buck! The ranch house!"
"Fergit the ranch house! See to the wimmin and kiddies!"
"Buck! They're..."
"I'm gonna git me a nester fer thet! A whole slew o' nesters!"

Anthony Kamitu, who is leading police operations to prevent attacks in the region, said that the Pokomo tribe of farmers raided a village of the Orma herding community at dawn in the Tana River Delta. He said the raiders were armed with spears and AK-47 rifles.
"Monty! Oil up yer .45!"
At least 110 people were killed in festivities between the Pokomo and Orma in September and October. The tit-for-tat cycle of killings may be related to a redrawing of political boundaries and next year's general elections, the U.N. Humanitarian coordinator for Kenya, Aeneas C. Chuma, said in September. However,
corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds...
on the surface the violence seems driven by competition for water, pasture and other resources, he said.
Posted by: Fred || 12/22/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336067 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
Argentina looting spreads to Buenos Aires province
Two people have been killed in Argentina's third city, Rosario, as a wave of looting spreads.

Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to stop hundreds of people attacking a supermarket on the outskirts of the capital, Buenos Aires.

There have been other incidents in the central city of Rosario and in the northern province of Chaco. The looting began in the south on Thursday.

The government says trade unions linked to the opposition are to blame.
I thought the Kirchners and the trade unions were inseparable...
Argentine television showed images of people - many of them with their faces covered - throwing stones at the police and trying to break into shops and supermarkets.

The attacks stir memories of the violence witnessed during Argentina's economic crisis in 2001 when unemployed people stormed supermarkets.

But National Security Secretary, Sergio Berni, said the looters this time had been taking plasma televisions and stereos, not food and had not been driven by poverty.

"There is a part of Argentina that wants to drive the country into chaos and violence," Mr Berni said. "But this Argentina is not the same of 2001."
Posted by: tipper || 12/22/2012 03:38 || Comments || Link || [336068 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ah, the excitements of socialism! Coming to theater* near you.

*theater in military sense, not cinema.
Posted by: twobyfour || 12/22/2012 5:50 Comments || Top||

#2  "There is a part of Argentina that wants to drive the country into chaos and violence," Mr Berni said.

We refer to them as the 47 percenters.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/22/2012 6:23 Comments || Top||

#3  I think they may be more than 47 percent in Argentina.
Posted by: P2Kontheroad || 12/22/2012 8:45 Comments || Top||

#4  "There is a part of Argentina that wants to drive the country into chaos and violence," Mr Berni said.

Here we call them the government.
Posted by: AlanC || 12/22/2012 10:25 Comments || Top||

#5  I assume RAF Mount Pleasant is paying attention.
Posted by: Shipman || 12/22/2012 11:39 Comments || Top||

#6  during Argentina's economic crisis in 2001

Which, for some reason, was pretty much the same as all of Argentina's previous economic crises. To steal a line from famous Argie writer Borges, "... only the time, place and one or two proper names were changed."
Posted by: SteveS || 12/22/2012 11:55 Comments || Top||

#7  "Recover Las Malvinas!"
Posted by: Frank G || 12/22/2012 15:53 Comments || Top||


Former Marine out of Mexican prison
A former U.S. Marine who languished for more than four months in a Mexican prison on a questionable gun charge was on his way to spending Christmas with his family Friday after U.S. politicians intervened for his release.

Jon Hammar, 27, was released from a facility in the border town of Matamoros, just across from Brownsville, Texas, said U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. He was back in the United States by Friday night.
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/22/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336082 views] Top|| File under:

#1  good.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 12/22/2012 2:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Next time, ask an ATF agent in Arizona to help you ship that old .410 down south.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/22/2012 6:27 Comments || Top||

#3  As a Mexican friend told me, always pay mexican policemen their bribes quickly and without haggling. If you wind up at the station, you're going to need to bribe more people and spend alot more money.

One thing you do NOT want to do is wind up in Mexican court. (or Mexican prison).
Posted by: Frozen Al || 12/22/2012 12:38 Comments || Top||

#4  " If you wind up at the station, you're going to need to bribe more people and spend alot more money."

HAHAHAHA!!!!!
That is so much the third world ... and not just Mexico either. Should go down as one of the Quotes Of The Year for 2012.
Posted by: Raider || 12/22/2012 14:23 Comments || Top||

#5  La mordida on the street is always lower

/youthful indiscretion in San Felipe, Baja
Posted by: Frank G || 12/22/2012 15:54 Comments || Top||

#6  That is so much the third world ... and not just Mexico either

You're paying one way or the other, whether in bribes, or through the more 'civilized' union contract. Considering that some law enforcement officials in California will pick up six-figure retirements, I wonder if $50 handed out now and then wouldn't be cheaper in the long run.
Posted by: Pappy || 12/22/2012 18:08 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
US: Congress completes $633B defense bill
The Senate overwhelmingly backed a $633 billion US defense bill for next year that would tighten penalties on Iran to thwart its nuclear ambitions and bulk up security at diplomatic missions worldwide after the deadly Sept. 11 raid in Libya.

The vote Friday was 81-14 for the sweeping policy measure that covers the cost of ships, aircraft, weapons and military personnel. The White House has threatened a veto, but it remains unclear whether President Barack Obama
In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died -- an entire town destroyed...
will reject the solidly bipartisan legislation.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/22/2012 08:22 || Comments || Link || [336081 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Of course, not widely known is that this bill includes a provision for detaining US citizens indefinitely for "terrorism" - without due process.

Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 12/22/2012 13:30 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
India Vows Action Following Brutal Gang Rape
[VOA News] Indian officials are vowing to take measures to better protect women following the brutal gang rape of a 23-year-old student on a bus in the capital.

Police have so far placed in durance vile
Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages!
five people in connection with Sunday's attack and said Friday that they are searching for a sixth assailant. The suspects are accused of rape and attempted murder, with police seeking life imprisonment for the perpetrators.

The woman was attacked after she and a male friend were given a ride on a chartered bus in New Delhi. Officials say a group of men raped her and beat both of the victims with an iron rod, later stripping them and dumping them on the road. The woman remains hospitalized with severe internal injuries.

Indian Home Secretary R.K. Singh on Friday announced a series of measures to prevent such violence. He said bus drivers' licenses will be thoroughly checked, tinted or otherwise covered bus windows will be banned, and plainclothes coppers will be deployed on buses. Authorities will also crack down on drunk driving and those who drink and loiter in New Delhi.

Meanwhile,
...back at the wine tasting, Greasy Thumb reached for his rod!...
hundreds of protesters in the Indian capital marched to the presidential mansion on Friday, demanding strong action against those accused in the attack and better protection for women against violence and harassment.

More than 600 cases of rape have been reported in New Delhi so far this year, one of the highest rates in the country.
Posted by: Fred || 12/22/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336064 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Rapists should be castrated.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 12/22/2012 2:31 Comments || Top||

#2  Rapists should be castrated....with dull rusty pruning shears.
Posted by: AlanC || 12/22/2012 8:52 Comments || Top||

#3  ... and right below the chin.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/22/2012 9:33 Comments || Top||

#4  Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters in the Indian capital marched...

My wife says it is thousands of protesters, and they are protesting in every major city. For several days. Rape is a VERY big problem in India.

Indians are incensed that the police spend most of their time protecting VIP's and the average Indian is preyed upon by miscreants.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man || 12/22/2012 13:44 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Netanyahu: I will ignore UN censure over J'lem construction
Prime minister says Israel will continue to build in east Jerusalem despite condemnation from UN, international community, adds: "The capital of the Jewish state, for 3,000 years, has been Jerusalem. I want to say it clearly."
At least one of the condemners is carefully covering all the angles:
British PM appoints Israel tech envoy

Cameron appoints Saul Klein, a former venture capitalist who founded Seedcamp in 2007, as UK's first-ever tech representative in Jewish state
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/22/2012 08:22 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under:

#1  British PM appoints Israel tech envoy

The more things change
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/22/2012 9:25 Comments || Top||

#2  And if you Censure me again I will ignore you a second time.
Thanks to Monty Python.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 12/22/2012 12:14 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Buffalo: Somali Muslim gets 25 years for beating 10-year old stepson to death with rolling pin
Posted by: tipper || 12/22/2012 04:13 || Comments || Link || [336096 views] Top|| File under:

#1  More people are murdered with rolling pins and other blunt instruments than with rifles, assault or otherwise. Ban rolling pins! And save lives by getting rid of pie at the same time. Bloomberg will love it.
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/22/2012 9:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Prestone, the silent killer. I blame NAPA.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/22/2012 9:08 Comments || Top||

#3  This is funny?
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/22/2012 10:29 Comments || Top||

#4  Of course it's not funny. I regret such insinuation. Just frustrated at getting beaten up (metaphorically) over Sandy Hook because of my NRA membership, I guess.
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/22/2012 10:35 Comments || Top||

#5  You have a NRA membership, Good.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 12/22/2012 23:13 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
40[untagged]
4Govt of Syria
3Govt of Pakistan
3Arab Spring
3al-Qaeda in Pakistan
1Salafists
1al-Qaeda in North Africa
1Govt of Iraq
1Hezbollah

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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
Sat 2012-12-22
  Scuds pummel Syrian rebel positions
Fri 2012-12-21
  U.N. Security Council Approves Mali Intervention Force
Thu 2012-12-20
  Yemeni President Restructures Army, Removes Saleh Cronies
Wed 2012-12-19
  Three more polio workers shot in Pakistan; eight dead in 48 hours
Tue 2012-12-18
  Syrian rebels take control of Damascus Palestinian camp
Mon 2012-12-17
  Rebel Offensive In Hama
Sun 2012-12-16
  Rockets Fired on Peshawar Airport, Five Dead, Dozens Injured
Sat 2012-12-15
  Tunisian Salafists attack bar, call drinkers 'infidels'
Fri 2012-12-14
  Coca-Cola resumes its production in Somalia
Thu 2012-12-13
  'Friends of Syria' Recognize Syrian Opposition
Wed 2012-12-12
  Syria Fires Scud Missiles at Insurgents, U.S. Says
Tue 2012-12-11
  North Korea 'launches long-range rocket'
Mon 2012-12-10
  Rebels Seize Chunk of Aleppo Base as Fighting Rages across Syria
Sun 2012-12-09
  Mohammad Ahmed Almansoor Drone-zapped in North Wazoo
Sat 2012-12-08
  Abu-Zaid al Kuwaiti Drone-zapped During Breakfast

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