On the last day of 2015, Chinese leader Xi Jinping formally inaugurated three new services into the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). The commanders of the PLA Ground Forces, PLA Rocket Forces and the PLA Strategic Support Forces were vested with the colors of their respective services by Xi himself. This constitutes the first step in what promises to be one of the most far-reaching and radical reorganizations of the PLA, or indeed of any major power's military, in the past two decades.
The creation of the PLA Ground Forces, for example, reflects a tectonic bureaucratic shake-up. Until now, the four General Departments (General Staff Department -- warfighting, intelligence; General Political Department -- political training, personnel; General Logistics Department -- beans, bullets, blankets; General Armaments Department -- weapons development, space infrastructure) that run the PLA doubled as the top leadership of the ground forces. Thus, the ground forces were bureaucratically first among equals, with substantially more clout since they staffed the top General Department billets administering the entire military. Now, the PLA Ground Forces have been made their own service -- in effect a demotion, as they are separated from the General Departments.
By contrast, the creation of the PLA Rocket Forces is a massive bureaucratic gain for the former Second Artillery. Although in control of China's rocket forces, and managing China's nuclear warheads, the Second Artillery was only a "super branch," half a bureaucratic step below the PLA Navy and PLA Air Force. By granting it the status of a service (junzhong), the Second Artillery has not only been elevated, but moves out of the shadow of the ground forces as well.
Most strikingly, however, is the creation of the Strategic Support Forces (zhanlue zhiyuan jun). Reportedly comprised of China's space, electronic warfare and network warfare forces, this will arguably be the centerpiece of Chinese efforts to prepare for fighting and winning future "local informationized wars." Chinese military writings on the conduct of "information warfare" (xinxi zhan) emphasize the need to establish "information dominance" (zhi xinxi quan). This, in turn, rests upon the ability to conduct network warfare (wangluo zhan) and electronic warfare (dianzi zhan), as well as psychological warfare. Because of the role of space systems in the collection, transmission and exploitation of information, the ability to establish space dominance (zhi tian quan) is integral to any effort to establish information dominance.
The establishment of the Strategic Support Force is therefore as much a reflection of how the PLA thinks future wars will be fought as the creation of the ground forces command. In both cases, the PLA is changing its organizational structure to improve its ability to prepare for future "informationized" warfare. Information warfare forces, including space forces, are being elevated, while the separation of the ground forces into their own command effectively signals that their role will shrink. This is further reflected in Xi Jinping's remarks at the investiture, where the ground forces are praised as the earliest expression of the armed might of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), while the Strategic Support Force is described as a vital extension of the PLA's combat power, and the newest form.
Xi's comments further presage the likely direction of future development. The Strategic Support Force is exhorted to firmly hold to leapfrog-style development, to accelerate development of new forms of combat power. Given its composition, the Chinese military is making clear that it will be a force to be reckoned with in the space, electronic warfare and network warfare domains.
And this is just the first major announced reform.
It remains to be seen how the Chinese will reorganize, if at all, the four General Departments. The Strategic Support Force likely gained network warfare assets from the GSD 3rd Department (home of the infamous Unit 61398), and likely the GSD 4th Department (responsible for radar and electronic warfare.) It likely assumes responsibility for space infrastructure, formerly the purview of the General Armaments Department. The separation of the ground forces suggests that there may now be a non-ground force commander for one or more of the General Departments, if all four are, in fact, retained.
It is likely that the seven military regions will also undergo changes. Many of the rumored reorganizations have discussed the idea of reducing the number to four or five military regions. The structure of their commands will also likely change, with the potential for a non-ground force commander for one or more of them, the permanent creation of a more joint headquarters structure, and the formal incorporation of space, electronic warfare and network warfare (in the form of Strategic Support Force commanders) into the highest levels of those structures.
Most of all, it remains to be seen what "strategic missions" will be assigned these new services, but especially the Strategic Support Force. The PLA Air Force, apparently the biggest loser in this reorganization thus far, only received a strategic mission in 2004: "Prepare for integrated air-space operations, prepare to conduct both offensive and defensive operations." Will the Strategic Support Force receive a strategic mission now? If so, how will such a mission relate to the PLA Air Force's?
For the United States, the Chinese reorganization is the clearest signal yet that, in the event of future conflict, the PLA will challenge the American ability to access and exploit outer space and cyber space. Past untrammeled supremacy in these vital arenas can no longer be taken for granted. Instead, in any crisis, whether in the wake of the 2016 Taiwan elections, or future developments in the South China Sea or East China Sea, will see a PLA organized and prepared to secure information dominance, including in outer space.
[Nuus24] Maputo - Some of the more than 3 000 refugees fleeing renewed fighting in Mozambique have accused government troops of killings, sexual assaults and razing villages suspected of harbouring opposition fighters, according to a journalist who visited the refugees in Malawi. The Mozambican government denies the charges.
So it's sort of like a suburb of Paris...
More than 20 years after the end of a decades-long civil war, sporadic fighting has again flared up between the government and fighters loyal to the opposition forcing growing numbers of refugees to cross the border into neighbouring Malawi. The ruling party, Frelimo, has been in power since Mozambique's independence from Portugal in 1975, but the opposition, Renamo, is urging an independent government in the north where it has support.
Mozambicans who have fled to Kapise village in Malawi's southeastern Mawanza district say that they are escaping an undeclared war across the border in Mozambique's northern Tete province, said Fungai Caetano, a Mozambican journalist working in the area for the Malacha newspaper.
Refugees charged that Mozambican government forces killed, raped, burned houses and barns, said Caetano.
The Mozambican government has denied that conflict is forcing thousands to flee, with officials saying the refugees are actually Malawians in search of food aid.
North Korea's claim that it detonated a hydrogen bomb during an apparent nuclear-weapons test on January 6 were widely dismissed by experts and the US government as well. But it turns out that Pyongyang might have tested components from a hydrogen bomb after all.
According to CNN, inconclusive sampling of air near the test site by US spy aircraft, along with the unusual depth at which the test is believed to have occurred, have led some US officials to suspect that North Korea actually did test elements of a hydrogen device.
"The test was conducted more than two times deeper underground than originally assessed -- at a depth consistent with what might be needed for a hydrogen bomb," CNN reports, while cautioning that "the size of the seismic event and other intelligence indicates it was not likely a fully functioning device."
Seismic information indicates that North Korea tested a weapon with a comparable explosive yield to the nuclear device the country detonated during its last previous test in 2013 -- a 10-kiloton bomb that created a fireball one-fifth of a mile wide. After the January 6 test, numerous arms-control experts said it was highly unlikely that North Korea had tested a hydrogen bomb, though possible it had tested a more typical fission-based atomic weapon "boosted" with hydrogen isotopes for increased yield.
Even a failed test of hydrogen-bomb components could signal an alarming shift in North Korea's weapons capabilities.
A hydrogen bomb, aka a thermonuclear weapon, uses a plutonium- or uranium-based reaction to heat hydrogen isotopes, creating a kind of nuclear-feedback loop with the potential to dramatically boost the amount of energy that reaction ends up releasing. A thermonuclear weapon is more complicated and destructive than a typical atomic bomb.
As Alex Wellerstein, a nuclear historian at the Steven Institute of Technology and creator of Nuke Map, told Business Insider on January 6, a country that's mastered thermonuclear-weapons design suddenly has a number of possible options open to it.
For instance, a country with a thermonuclear capability could build "a very thin-cased bomb of low yield [in this case 1 to 10 kilotons, or 1,000 to 10,000 tons of TNT] that would emit a lot of radiation relative to its blast power."
The so-called neutron bomb, or "enhanced radiation," weapon isn't all that hard to develop once a country has mastered more basic hydrogen-bomb technology.
North Korea would still face the technical hurdle of miniaturizing a hydrogen device for delivery by ballistic missile. The US wasn't able to construct a functioning neutron bomb of any size or weight without extensive testing, and North Korea may not have the testing data or carried out the trial-and-error process needed to actually build a functioning hydrogen device.
But if North Korea really did test hydrogen-bomb components, it could signal an interest in eventually developing far more destructive weaponry -- bombs of horrifically high yield whose development might not remain outside Pyongyang's technological grasp for long.
The CNN report provides some of the most direct evidence that the January 6 test might have been carried out with this goal in mind.
#2
I am reminded of the early 1950's "bomber gap" estimate creep. the Klingons are letting their worst case estimates leak out in order to cover their asses.
I suspect the truthful answer is "We have no effing clue" as to what the Norks are up to, have, or do not have.
The F-35's flight plan appears to have delays written all over it. A previously unreleased memo from Michael Gilmore, the Department of Defense's director for Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E), details a list of problems that will likely hold up the testing of the final configuration of the aircraft--and will mean the "Block 2B" aircraft now being delivered to the Marine Corps soon will continue to be full of software bugs for years to come. But officials with the F-35's Joint Program Office (JPO) have downplayed the seriousness of Gilmore's concerns, with one military member of the office taking to the Facebook page of a defense publication to call the memo "whining."
The concerns center largely on testing of software components--many of which the JPO has deferred to keep the program close to its schedule, and which JPO leadership has suggested would be a waste of time and money to fix now--since they are in interim releases of the F-35's systems and an entirely new set of software will be completed for the final version of the F-35. But with the Marine Corps and Air Force scheduled to fly as many as five F-35A and F-35B aircraft at the Farnborough International Air Show this summer, and production of the aircraft ramping up, so much uncertainty about the software could lead to even more complications down the road--particularly as weapons systems are added to the aircraft.
"The current 'official schedule' to complete full development and testing of all Block 3F capabilities by 31 July 31, 2017 is not realistic," Gilmore wrote in the memo dated from December, which was first obtained by Aviation Week. Making that schedule would require dropping "a significant number of currently planned test points, tripling the rate at which weapons delivery events have historically been conducted, and deferring resolution of significant operational deficiencies to Block 4"--a software upgrade the aircraft won't see until at least 2021.
Of particular concern to Gilmore was the F-35's "Autonomic Logistics Information System" (ALIS), which he said "continues to struggle in development with deferred requirements, late and incomplete deliveries, high manpower requirements, multiple deficiencies requiring work-arounds, and a complex architecture with likely (but largely untested) cyber deficiencies." ALIS is a system that spans from the aircraft itself to the entire supply chain for its maintenance and repair parts, and it includes portable computing gear required to check if the right parts are installed properly before flight. The software is still a work in progress, and testing of potential security vulnerabilities--which could potentially keep aircraft from being able to take off--has largely been deferred for now while Lockheed Martin and the JPO focus on getting the software to actually work as intended.
The Marine Corps' F-35B aircraft are being delivered with Block 2B software, which Gilmore said has "hundreds of unresolved deficiencies." And those problems have compounded in Block 3F software. That's because the first round of Block 3 was created by "re-hosting the immature Block 2B software...into new processors to create Block 3i," the initial release for the code, Gilmore noted. This led to "avionics instabilities and other new problems, resulting in poor performance during developmental testing."
And rather than fix Block 3i, the JPO made a "schedule driven decision," Gilmore said, to throw the final features for Block 3 on top of the buggy code to create Block 3F--the software that will be installed in full-rate production F-35s. The final release of Block 3F is scheduled for the middle of this year.
#2
continues to struggle in development with deferred requirements, late and incomplete deliveries, high manpower requirements, multiple deficiencies requiring work-arounds, and a complex architecture with likely (but largely untested) cyber deficiencies."
#4
well as long as the engine responds to throttle commands and the flight controls work in alignment with the stick and rudder pedals, then i think we can safely say lockheed created the perfect A-4 Skyhawk clone.
#5
Sounds like a big part of the problem is the software French pastry to develop an integrated system that monitors the aircraft, tells people when to repair it and orders the parts for the repairs AND checks to see if the repairs are done correctly. Geez guys, open the maintenance manual...you DO know how to read a book don't you? Or does it have to be on a tablet to have the proper degree of techyness that the generals/admirals/feather merchants want.
Throw out all of these silly soft ware add ons and they could have been bombing Kirkut with the thing instead of using them for door stops at Miramar.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
01/30/2016 12:28
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#6
Wild turkeys can fly very well.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/30/2016 18:51
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The U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ship struggled in drills at sea to fend off a swarm of small attacking vessels like the Iranian boats it could encounter in the Persian Gulf, according to the Pentagon's chief weapons tester.
The fast-attack boats were ultimately defeated by the USS Coronado during three mock engagements in August and September to test its guns and targeting gear. But in two exercises an attacker came too close, penetrating the vessel's "keep-out" zone, Pentagon testing director Michael Gilmore said in his annual report on major weapons submitted to congressional defense committees.
While Gilmore didn't mention Iran as a threat, its Islamic Revolutionary Guards operate small boats with crews trained for swarming attacks in the contested waters of the Persian Gulf. The Coronado's "inability to defeat this relative modest threat beyond 'keep-out' range routinely under test conditions raises questions about its ability to deal with more challenging threats," Gilmore added.
Lockheed, Austal
The report adds to questions about the vulnerability and reliability of the ships, designed in two versions by Lockheed Martin Corp. and Austal Ltd. and intended to operate in shallow coastal waters. Defense Secretary Ash Carter last month directed the Navy to truncate to 40 ships what was to be a 52-ship mix of original LCS vessels and upgraded models that would be better armed. Twenty-six vessels are now under contract in a $23 billion program.
In the exercise, the crew of the Coronado "expended a large quantity" of 57mm and 30mm ammunition "while contending with repeated network communications faults that disrupted" information flowing to gun systems and weapon elevation flaws that occurred more than a dozen times, disrupting firings, he said. The Coronado, the initial Littoral Combat Ship, was built by General Dynamics Corp. before Austal became lead contractor for that version of the vessel.
Gilmore also cited reliability issues with both versions of the ships, from troubles with generators and air-conditioning units to "cybersecurity deficiencies that significantly degrade operational effectiveness."
That's a particularly serious problem for the Littoral Combat Ship because its ability to survive in combat depends on communicating with better-armed vessels and support on shore through a maritime battle network linked by computers and sensors.
The lightly manned vessel also relies on ship-to-shore and satellite communications to help crews monitor the ship's condition, perform repairs and order medical supplies. At least 245 functions traditionally performed aboard a Navy ship will be done onshore.
The Freedom-class version built by Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed isn't "operationally suitable because many of its critical systems supporting ship operations, core mission functions and mission package operations are unreliable," Gilmore wrote.
Before the Lockheed-built USS Fort Worth departed in November 2014 for a 16-month deployment to Asia, testing failures of subsystems "fundamental to ship operations," such as mobility and maneuvering, "caused the ship to return to port for repairs or reduced readiness at sea for 42 and 36 days respectively," Gilmore wote.
Although data collected to date on the Independence-class version built by Henderson, Australia-based Austal is incomplete, many of its systems "have significant reliability problems," Gilmore wrote.
In tests at sea, the Coronado's crew "had difficulty keeping the ship operational as it suffered repeated failures of the ship's diesel generators, water jets and air conditioning unit," he said.
#1
...If you want to see just how bad the LCS is, check out a superb PC simulator called COMMAND: MODERN AIR & NAVAL OPERATIONS. It's detailed enough that you can get a very realistic view of how modern weapon systems work, and has been used by a couple of writers to show how a naval clash between us and the PRC might go.
Give ya a hint: the LCS will get its a$$ handed to it in anything resembling modern naval combat. It has NO missiles (might in a few years...IF the money's there and they can actually be integrated into the kludge of systems on the damn thing), its main gun is outranged by just about anything else it might come up against, and it's ability to take any kind of damage is almost nonexistent -a Flower-class corvette from WWII is more heavily armed and far more lethal than one of these billion-dollar tin cans. The bottom line is that it is bad enough that we might either have to keep the LCS's close to home in a future wartime, or consider them lost as soon as they enter an operations area.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/30/2016 8:20
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#4
At this point, what does it matter? When the USN (and I assume that's per the CNO and CIC) will not shoot down a Iranian drone that directly overflies a USN vessel?
You don't have to be defeated if you simply give up.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/30/2016 11:57
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#6
Strikes me as a lot of money to spend on a coast guard cutter ....
No offense to the USCG intended.
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/30/2016 12:18
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#7
I don't think I'm entirely wrong to think of the LCS as a heavy-duty coast guard cutter.
Problem is that we're tasking the LCS do things it wasn't designed to do. Having it serve in the Pacific, with 6,000 miles plus just to get somewhere, makes no sense. It can't serve as a long-range ship -- there's a reason the 'L' stands for 'littoral'.
The Navy is building 9,000 ton 'destroyers', or what used to be called light cruisers. Fine if that's what the Navy needs. But the Navy also needs a 5,000 ton ship that can sail from Pearl to Singapore and fight along the way. Especially as we're retiring all the frigates due to age, we need ships that can do what frigates have done.
The LCS isn't a frigate, and we can't use it as one.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/30/2016 12:24
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#8
Basically what it is, is a floating F-18. Which, in a way, is an insult to the F-18.
#1
The Klan would be envious of the kills in the hood these days. Thugs doing the job the Klan never could get away with without invoking martial law intervention.
[Daily Caller] MSNBC's Joe Scarborough said Friday that sources have told him that the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton is "far more advanced than we the public knows."
You mean the FBI is being quiet and doing their jobs like they're supposed to? Wonder what Champ will say about that when he reads the newspaper?
Friday on "Morning Joe," panelist Cokie Roberts predicted that if Hillary Clinton gets indicted, her run for president would be "over."
"Most of us around this table are hearing from multiple sources ... that the Hillary Clinton investigation [by] the FBI is far more progressed," Scarborough said. "Mika and I have been hearing it from the top officials in the Obama administration for actually several months now, and we can't go to a meeting in Washington where we don't hear this."
"All of our sources high up are telling us ... that this investigation is far more advanced than we the public knows," Scarborough added. Charges of corruption, Waste Fraud & Abuse, racketeering and financial extortion, money laundering, treason, espionage? Please continue, and with more enthusiasm and a much faster pace.
#3
B., the purpose of impeachment is removal from office. After removal the person can be tried in the courts. No need to remove the beast from office so proceed directly to trial in the courts. No? Yes?
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/30/2016 8:24
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#4
She holds no public office, Bad. I'm curious about your reasoning?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/30/2016 9:11
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#5
She holds no public office, Bad. I'm curious about your reasoning?
Her alleged crimes were committed while she held office. If she is to be charged for those crimes, she should be impeached. It doesn't matter if she currently holds the office. It only matters if those alleged crimes were committed while she held office, and if a charge is pending.
Yes, under that reasoning, Nixon could still be impeached as could any number of other presidents including Bush 43.
If anyone tries to charge her for those crimes, I promise, this will come up in court.
#6
They will argue, and the courts will agree, that she enjoyed limited immunity under the Constitution and that that immunity extends to her even as she left office.
The reasoning is if she committed those crimes in the course of her duties as SoS, the same immunity applies to her, so, ergo, she must be impeached.
#7
I expect this will be carefully staged following the Iowa showing. If her numbers are down then 'JJ and Co.' will work to distance Clintons from the Damnocrats.
#8
, Article II of the United States Constitution (Section 4) states that "The President, Vice President, and all civil Officers of the United States shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors." Notice the CONVICTION is a separate legal issue from the IMPEACHMENT, and criminal conviction may precede impeachment. Or it may follow it. But in neither case does it require impeachment first.
Upon conviction, the official is automatically removed from office and may also be barred from holding future office. The removed official is also liable to criminal prosecution. The President may not grant a pardon in the impeachment case, but may in any resulting criminal case.
Although the subject of the charge is criminal action, it does not constitute a criminal trial; the only question under consideration is the removal of the individual from office, and the possibility of a subsequent vote preventing the removed official from ever again holding political office in the jurisdiction.
Impeachment is only about the office. Crimes are prosecuted by criminal courts. This is why you can still hold office after conviction. Impeachment is only about removal from office.
The indictment goes forward regardless of impeachment. Impeachment now since the accused is already removed from office can only concern itself with barring the accused from holding any office in federal government again.
As for immunity, that's a similar issue - the office is not a shield against criminal behavior.
#10
The case for the Biden/Warren "rescue the Democratic Party" strategy is more and more likely. If you are an Iranian Agent in the current administration's inner circle (ValJar) and you have used the tools of manipulation over a narcissistic child (Champ), and now see a way to insert an utter idiot (Biden) that you can run like the New York Central RR, and an ambitious communist feminist (Fauxcahontis) as President in waiting, you need to wring the nomination from the Clinton Global Criminal Enterprise carefully, so as not unleash the storm of nasty dirt she has on everything Democrat. So you slowly twist the vice of actual law enforcement until she agrees to fold, probably as an unforeseen medical condition, with the quid pro quo of a pardon and containment of the bleeding, and then rescue the nation from the egomaniacal fool you have fed the Republican/independent peasants (Trump) who scares the actual thinking people. Voila, 12 more years to loot, pillage, and destroy mankind's last best hope to stave off the next dark ages of Islamic/Chinese tyranny.
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/30/2016 13:16
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#12
... could call BS ...
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/30/2016 13:17
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#13
No MoreBs, I'm thinking more Bloomberg?Biden.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/30/2016 18:56
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#14
at this point, a Biden-Warren ticket is a fading possibility given the delegate selection rules
another month or so and will be essentially impossible under these rules
so I think this part of the NoMoreBS theory has a major problem
Posted by: lord garth ||
01/30/2016 18:58
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#15
another month or so and will be essentially impossible under these rules
We don't need no stinking rules or laws (See - NJ SC overrule the law on late entry for Senator to keep the seat (D))
Power is self rationalizing and self justifying.
[PJ Media] A Delta Air Lines flight from Los Angeles to Minneapolis had to make an unscheduled landing in Utah because two flight female flight attendants got into a fistfight at 37,000 feet.
The Boeing 757 was south of Salt Lake City when the fist fight broke out between Delta employees servicing the flight. The pilot asked air traffic control for a diversion to Salt Lake City because he "wanted to hear from his flight attendants," according to the Aviation Herald. Delta Air Lines Flight 2598 then diverted to Salt Lake City and safely landed. Why I fly F-150.
#3
Well I'd hate to be a terrorist on a Delta Flight and end up in a brawl with those heavy weights. "Next in the Cage are Mary and Bernice fresh from Delta."
Posted by: Chaith Oppressor of the Lutherans1517 ||
01/30/2016 4:23
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#4
Probably not the in-flight entertainment people expected. Was the video system on the fritz?
To try and get around software-associated delays, the F35 test program is being revised: some test points are being eliminated, reducing the total number of test points remaining for Block 2B from 529 down to 243; and some fixes are being deferred to the Block 3 program.
Skipping and deferring tests that were previously deemed to be necessary translates to a more sloppy and rushed effort to still meet deadlines.
A major operational test series planned for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has been abandoned in an attempt to protect the schedule for delivering a fully operational aircraft.
Previously reported improvement in reliability was due to changes in how failures were reported. ie. They started lying in how they reported failures
The Pentagon's Director of Operational Test and Evaluation also notes that an apparent improvement in a major reliability metric -- "mean flight hours between failure -- design controllable" -- up to late summer 2014 may be due to changes in reporting. More failures were reported as "induced," or due to maintenance actions, and fewer to "inherent" design problems. Also, once a redesigned version of a failure-prone part is introduced into the fleet but before 100% of the fleet has been retrofitted, the program stops counting failures of the previous version, improving the system's on-paper reliability even though failures are occurring.
One of the F-35's distinctive features, the Distributed Aperture System, is still problematical, the report says, continuing "to exhibit high false-alarm rates and false target tracks, and poor stability performance, even in later versions of software.
Well over $100 billion has been spent on the F35 program so far and it is well on its way to total program costs of over $1.5 trillion.
The lifetime cost of each F35 (procurement and operation and maintenance) will make each 32000 pound plane cost more than its equivalent in gold by weight.
F35 program is cheating on its scheduled milestones
F35 program is lying about reliability failures
F35 program is costing $30+ billion every year
F35 fighter jet is really not combat ready yet after over $100 billion
There are serious questions about the military effectiveness of the F35 even after its gets working versus lower cost improvements that could be made to other planes
Buy more F/A18F's for the Navy. Buy the same and F16Vs for the Air Force. Buy more Harriers for the Marines.
And build a cheap replacement for the A10.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/30/2016 12:32
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#4
What if this is all a front to get the Chinese to steal all the data and material in order to build a knock off piece of crap in anticipation of a conflict?
[Ynet] A pipeline for gas used to generate around half the electricity in Iraq's northern Kurdistan region was blown up on Friday, knocking out power, a police chief and electricity official told Rooters.
The kaboom struck the pipeline in the Qader Karam district of Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... according to police chief Serhad Qader, who said it was caused by two homemade bombs.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack.
[IBTIMES.CO.UK] Cameroon ...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there... has closed most of its markets along the border with north eastern Nigeria following the deadly attacks blamed on Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... terrorists. Midjiyawa Bakaris, governor of Cameroon's Far North region, said the markets were to remain closed until further notice during a televised speech on Canal 2 International.
Although some have argued it would undermine people's businesses, authorities said the decision was made for security reasons as attackers often disguise themselves as traders and detonate explosives in crowded places such as markets. The move came as government spokesperson Issa Tchiroma Bakary said Cameroon has been attacked at least 30 times since the beginning of the year. In one of the deadliest attacks blamed on Boko Haram, at least 32 people were killed in coordinated kabooms in Bodo, a village near the border with Nigeria, on 25 January 2016.
Two jacket wallahs died on 28 January when they targeted a school in northern Cameroon. No one was reported dead, but a number of people were said to have been injured in the kabooms.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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KOBANE – Kurdish forces of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) bombed on Friday a security checkpoint for forces loyal to president Basahr al-Assad in Syria’s Aleppo, killing and wounding a number of security troops.
At least four pro-Assad security members were killed and seven others injured under mortar shells fired by the YPG fighters in Aleppo.
The YPG leadership said in a statement that the operation comes in response to Syrian airstrikes that hit the Kurdish-populated district of Sheikh Maqsoud in Aleppo.
On Wednesday, the Syrian regime’s air force hit Sheikh Maqsoud district with several barrel bombs, killing and wounding a number of civilians. At least five people were killed, including two children, and nine others were injured in the regime’s bombardment in the Kurdish district.
“Any group attacks peaceful civilians should face justice. All pro-Assad troops will be a target if they continue striking Kurdish areas with barrel bombs or other weapons,” the YPG leadership said in a statement on Friday evening.
Sheikh Maqsoud has been under the control of the Kurdish YPG forces since Aleppo turned into a war zone nearly four years ago.
The YPG has repeatedly clashed with Islamist fighters of the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front in the vicinity of Sheikh Maqsoud, as the Kurdish forces have been trying to defend the district against al-Qaeda offensives. This was the first time that the Syrian air force hit the Sheikh Maqsoud district with barrel bombs.
[AnNahar] A child jacket wallahwent kaboom! in a market in northeast Nigeria ... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border... Friday, killing at least 10 people, witnesses said, the latest bloodshed to hit the region, which is plagued by Islamist violence.
They said a huge blast erupted at around midday (1100 GMT) in the crowded market in Gombi in Adamawa state, one of the worst-hit in the seven-year Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... insurgency.
The blast came after three suicide bombers killed at least 14 people in town of Chibok on Wednesday, where Islamist gunnies kidnapped more than 200 girls in April 2014.
In the latest attack, trader Mustapha Jalo told AFP: "I heard a huge kaboom coming from the grain section, which is at the edge of the market.
"Many of us rushed to the scene and we found carnage. People were scattered everywhere.
"I can say over 10 people died in the kaboom. I can't give precise number of the injured but there are many."
Gombi, which lies about 120 kilometers (75 miles) from the state capital, Yola, has been hit several times by Boko Haram attacks, with the most recent taking place in March 2015.
Adamu Ahmad, a security guard at the market, gave a similar account to Jalo, saying the bomber was believed to be a boy aged around 12.
"There was a suicide kaboom at the grain section of the market around midday. The kaboom killed at least 11 people and injured several others," he said.
"The attack was believed to have been carried out by a boy of around 12. Today is market day in Gombi and the market attracts thousands of people from the district."
Following the blast, the market closed down and all the traders returned home, he added.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/30/2016
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[EXPRESS.CO.UK] A RENEGADE assassin is single-handedly waging war on Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... jihadis in Libya. The evil forces of Evil fear a sniper is picking off fighters in the group's de facto North African capital of Sirte after three ISIS commanders were reportedly rubbed out from long range in recent weeks.
The sharp shooter is said to have perfected his skills during the 2011 uprising against dictator Colonel Qadaffy. Senior ISIS terror chief Abdullah Hamad Al-Ansari has been named as the latest casualty after he was attacked on January 23 as he left a city centre mosque.
Hamad Abdel Hady, an official in the depraved cult's Sharia court, was also taken out by a sniper's bullet earlier this month. An eye witness told local news website al-Wasat: "A state of terror prevailed among the ISIS ranks after his death.
"They randomly shot in the air to scare inhabitants, while searching for the sniper."
ISIS commanders are so panicked by the murders that they have carried out a number of arrests and executions in a bid to find the marksman.
It is not known if the sniper is working alone or as part of a group of anti-ISIS marksmen. Speculation about the culprit's identity has led to reports that the shooter hails from the neighbouring city of Misrata, which fell under ISIS control last year.
Separate rumours appeared to point the finger at American or European special forces operatives who could be taking out high-profile jihadi targets in Libya.
A crack team of British Special Forces are in Libya preparing the ground for up to 1,000 British troops who have been drafted in to tackle ISIS.
The British deployment of half a dozen elite SAS soldiers will form part of a 6,000-strong army of Americans and Europeans led by the Italian army.
The jihadi group has sought to expand its influence in the lawless north African state in a bid to seize control of Libya's highly lucrative oil fields.
The Mediterranean port city of Sirte, just a few hundred miles from Europe's coastline, is now the de facto base of the jihadist group's Libyan wing.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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#1
The sharp shooter is said to have perfected his skills during the 2011 uprising against dictator Colonel Qadaffy.
So do they know who he is, or are they making more outrageous Arab assumptions?
#6
I'll be shocked if the sniper is from Libya. I have yet to hear about revenge-sniping against Sharia Law even though there's been plenty of opportunity for years.
Maybe a former Gaddafi soldier?
Posted by: Charles ||
01/30/2016 10:51
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The only thing we know for sure is that the sniper's first name is "Ahmed". Better kill all the guys with that name just to be certain...
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/30/2016 11:25
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#8
Steve White, are you sure? I heard it was Mohammad. Maybe they should kill them both? 8^)
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/30/2016 17:03
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Penetrating outside information into North Korea questioning the legitimacy of leader Kim Jong-un should be considered as a key means to retaliate against and curb the communist nation's cyber attacks, a U.S. think tank said.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) made the suggestion in a report on policy suggestions on how to counter the North's cyber operations, saying reponding to cyber attacks with cyber attacks won't be effective because the North isn't as dependent on networks as South Korea and the U.S. are.
"Therefore, responses should be tailored to leverage North Korea's specific weaknesses and sensitivities," said the report released this week. "North Korea has unique asymmetric vulnerabilities as well, especially to outside information that attacks the legitimacy of the regime."
North Korea maintains a tight lid on outside information in an attempt to keep its hunger-stricken 24 million people in the dark about how terrible conditions they are in and how bad their leaders are. The regime tolerates no criticism of its leader.
"The DPRK government is known to oppose the consumption of South Korean and foreign media such as news, dramas, music and the like. Additionally North Korea has publicly expressed sensitivity to criticism and perceived defamation regarding the character of its leadership and the Kim family in particular," the report said.
"The deliberate introduction of additional media and information into North Korea's networks and population may serve as a potent means of responding to cyber attacks without resorting to use of force, armed attacks or countermeasures," it said.
It also recommended that the U.S. and South Korea should develop contingency plans for a range of scenarios involving North Korean cyber attacks, and those scenarios should not be limited only to cyber operations because cyber attacks can be conducted alongside conventional operations.
"The United States and ROK should be prepared to react to mixed provocations that will not and should not elicit responses purely in cyber space," it said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/30/2016
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#1
I read somewhere that in all of Pudgy's realm there are only 600 odd internet connections. Maybe dropping double bubble gum with comics....
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/30/2016 1:53
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Deployment of the United States' advanced missile defense system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, in South Korea will be helpful in defending the country from North Korean threats, but the country has no plans to announce any decision on the matter in the near future, a defense official said Friday.
"Our government will consider every measure to prepare against North Korea's missile threats," the Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said.
"If U.S. Forces Korea deploys THAAD, it will help our national security and defense," Kim said.
The official government stance signals the U.S. move to deploy the THAAD system inside the USFK is gaining momentum in South Korea. It also marks a step forward from the country's more cautious stance in the past that South Korea will weigh the THAAD issue in accordance with national security interests.
Earlier in the day, the U.S.-based Wall Street Journal reported the U.S. could announce next week or so that the two countries are in negotiations over the THAAD system. Behind the scenes, the THAAD is close to a done deal, the report said, quoting an unidentified former U.S. official.
"The South Korean government has not been offered negotiations by the U.S. government," as internal discussion is now under way within the U.S. government over the issue, Kim said.
On the South Korean side, it is reviewing at a working level how effective the deployment could be from a military perspective, Kim added.
The latest comments by the defense official mark one of the burgeoning signs that South Korea is warming up to the idea of the deployment of the THAAD system, a source of intense protest from China which comes within the range of the THAAD if it is brought here.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/30/2016
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#1
THAAD is an area defense (the AD) at the end. What do they mean by China coming within range? Is China afraid that THAAD will take out missiles in the boost phase heading say to Europe or the USA?
I say tough nuggies. Stop enabling the norks to build nuclear weapons. Choices have consequences.
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/30/2016 12:11
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The talks of OPEC with non-cartel oil producers won’t give any results, said Nikolai Ivanov, head of the energy markets sector at Russian Institute for Energy and Finance, speaking to Trend Jan. 28.
This week, OPEC urged non-cartel countries to jointly solve the problem of oil excess on the market. On Jan. 28, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that in February, OPEC plans to hold a meeting with participation of the non-cartel oil producing countries, and Russia is ready to participate in it.
“OPEC is in fact on its last legs,” Ivanov asserted. “Saudi Arabia is taking steps that other countries perceive as unfriendly. There are very strong contradictions within the OPEC itself.”
The expert reminded that most of OPEC countries are not pleased with the current low oil price. He added that Nigeria, Algeria, Angola, Venezuela are among them.
"In particular, Arab countries do not suffer,” he said. “The Arabs are able to reduce the price upon the long-term contracts."
Ivanov also said that currently OPEC must somehow save reputation and pretend that it is somehow trying to act in the common interests of the organization’s members.
"Their actions are unlikely to result in anything,” he said. “But it is necessary to imitate some activity. It is necessary to negotiate, meet in Vienna and make statements."
Ivanov added that OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem El-Badri’s initiative to negotiate with different oil producers contradicts to OPEC’s previous actions.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said earlier that only efficient producers should stay in the market, Ivanov recalled, saying that in other words, Saudi Arabia didn’t want to subsidize inefficient producers within OPEC.
“The Saudis didn’t want to share their part in the market and told about it directly. After Saudi Arabia has showed its true intentions, it is unlikely that anyone would believe it,” said Ivanov.
In addition, the majority of traditional fields in the world do not allow reducing oil production smoothly, according to him. For example, he said, if the production is cut in Russia, the specifics of the old Siberian fields won’t allow increasing the output later.
“Therefore, the negotiations between Russia and OPEC are absolutely meaningless,” said Ivanov.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/30/2016
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#1
Schadenfreude, indeed. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of parasites...
KARACHI: Attackers hurled a hand grenade at a Rangers checkpost in North Nazimabad area here on Friday, police said.
SSP Central Muqaddas Haider said attackers threw the grenade on a Rangers checkpost from over a bridge in North Nazimabad's Block B however, Rangers personnel remained unhurt.
The bomb went off with a loud explosion spreading fear and panic in the area.
A contingent of Rangers cordoned off the area after the blast.
According to Bomb Disposal Squad, it was a home made grenade and 250 grams of explosive material was used in its making, DawnNews reported.
Later in the day, a hand grenade was thrown in Liaquatabad supermarket which exploded with a loud bang.
No injuries were reported in this incident, SSP Muqaddas said.
Law-enforcement personnel are regularly targeted in Karachi, where an extensive ‘operation’ against criminal elements was initiated back in September 2013.
Karachi operation was launched after the federal cabinet empowered Rangers to lead a targeted advance with the support of police against criminals already identified by federal military and civilian agencies for their alleged involvement in targeted killings, kidnappings for ransom, extortion and terrorism in Karachi.
[WASHINGTONEXAMINER] California Congressman Darrell Issa, who previously led an investigation into Benghazi as former chairman of the House Oversight Committee, says the FBI "would like to indict both Huma [Abedin] and Hillary Clinton" for conducting sensitive government business on an unsecure, private email server.
"I think the FBI director would like to indict both Huma and Hillary as we speak," the Republican heavyweight told the Washington Examiner Thursday, during a debate watch-party at Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's New Hampshire campaign headquarters.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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[Free Beacon] President Obama's nominee to head U.S. Central Command recently penned a memo to Defense Secretary Ash Carter demanding that the Pentagon stop discussing the operations of elite American troops.
Foreign Policy, which obtained an excerpt of the memo, reported that Gen. Joseph Votel, currently the chief of U.S. Special Operations Command, wrote the December 8 memo to express concern about the Obama administration's exposure of special operations forces' activities.
"I am concerned with increased public exposure of SOF activities and operations, and I assess that it is time to get our forces back into the shadows," Votel wrote to Carter.
While it remains unclear to what public comments Votel was referring, the memo was sent just days after the White House revealed that it was sending approximately 200 special operations forces to Iraq to combat ISIS.
According to the defense official who provided the excerpt of the memo, Votel further wrote that publicizing the operations makes it more difficult for U.S. forces to conduct them. He also "requested the department support him with an approach to avoid public discussion of SOF activities," the defense official said.
[Daily Excelsior] A murderous Moslem was killed in a fierce shootout that broke out between Death Eaters and security forces in Lolab area of North Kashmire this evening after security forces launched an operation.
Police said that acting on specific information about presence of at least 2-3 Death Eaters of Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... (LeT) in Lohar Mohalla, Dardpora in the frontier district of Kupwara, 28 Rashtirya Rifles of Army and Special SOG Kupwara launched a joint operation this evening.
Reports said that during the cordon, Death Eaters fired on the security forces leading to a shootout in which one murderous Moslem was killed and one AK-47 rifle was recovered from the dead murderous Moslem.
The cordon around the village was strengthened. The freak weather is hampering the operations as it was snowing in the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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[DAWN] The Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... government on Friday banned preaching activities on university campuses.
From now own, no Tableeghi Jamaat will be allowed to preach and stay in campus hostels, reports Dunya News. Similarly, there will also be a complete ban on outsiders stay in hostels.
This is probably the first time that any restriction has been placed on Tableeghi Jamaat.
According to an official notification, sermons in mosques around campuses will also be regulated. It says mosques in and surrounding university campuses will be bound to get the content of sermons approved before delivering them.
The university administration will be bound to alert security institutions about the faculty members sympathetic towards terror outfits.
The Punjab Information Technology Board and the Home Department will take action with the help of the administration against those who spread sectarian hatred on social media.
The administrations have been told to form their own intelligence system. Every educational institution will rectify defects (in its security system) pointed out by security institutions within 15 days.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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Top|| File under: Tablighi Jamaat
[DAWN] At least three security personnel, a civilian and a minor were maimed in a suicide kaboom at the entrance of a military cantonment compound in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... 's Zhob district on Friday, officials said.
A jacket wallah rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the gate of the compound, said Deputy Commissioner Nazar Muhammad Khetran, adding that the "intensity of the blast rocked the entire city."
He said police and other law enforcers responded swiftly, and shifted the injured to a military-run hospital.
The outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) Masood group grabbed credit for the attack.
A heavy contingent of security forces' personnel reached the blast site and cordoned off the area.
Zhob is considered to be one of the sensitive districts of Balochistan since it borders the country's volatile tribal belt. It is also considered to be a transit point for bandidosbully boyz sneaking in from neighbouring Afghanistan and the tribal belt of Pakistain.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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[AlAhram] Two coppers were killed when an IED went kaboom! inside an armoured vehicle in North Sinai's Al-Arish, the interior ministry said in a statement on Friday.
Five conscripts also suffered minor injuries in the kaboom near Ahmed Orabi school, and were transferred to hospital.
The two officers who were killed held the ranks of first lieutenant and captain.
The ministry said investigations are underway to apprehend the perpetrators.
The army said earlier this month that they had killed 26 "terrorists" in raids in North Sinai as part of the ongoing "Martyr's Right" operation to rid the area of terrorism, which began in September 2015.
[DAWN] One of the terror convicts whose appeals were turned down by the Lahore High Court's Rawalpindi bench on Thursday was first thought to be a 'missing person', was subsequently found and seems to have gone missing once again.
The man in question, Mohammad Ghauri, was accused of criminal masterminding the Dec 2009 attack on a Friday prayer congregation at the Parade Lane Mosque in Rawalpindi, which claimed at least 37 lives. Parade Lane, a housing colony in the garrison city, is home to many senior serving and retired military officers. His death sentence was confirmed on Jan 1, 2016, by the army chief.
According to the petition, the convict was a student of the Islamic International University Islamabad (IIUI), and went missing from Sector F-10 in Islamabad on Jan 7, 2010.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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[FOXNEWS] Two gunnies wearing suicide bomb belts attacked a Shiite mosque in eastern 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... during Friday prayers, an assault that killed at least three people and one bomber and maimed 18, authorities said.
The attack struck the Imam Reda Mosque in the neighborhood of Mahasen, an area popular with Shiite workers of the state-run Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the world's largest oil-producing firm.
One attacker detonated his explosives, while the other opened fire, the Interior Ministry said in a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency. The other attacker was stopped by worshippers from blowing himself up, it said.
The dead included two security officers and a civilian, as well as a jacket wallah, authorities said.
In the attack's chaotic aftermath, Saudi police fired assault rifles into the air to drive away an angry mob that surrounded a police car holding a suspected attacker, according to video shot from the scene.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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WASHINGTON/ANKARA (Reuters) -- An unarmed Iranian drone flew directly over a U.S. aircraft carrier operating in international waters in the Gulf this month in a move that was "abnormal and unprofessional," the U.S. military said on Friday. I can remember the days when U.S. Navy ships carried antiaircraft weapons.
Iranian state television said a surveillance drone flew over a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Gulf and took "precise" pictures during an Iranian naval drill on Friday.
But a U.S. Navy spokeswoman only confirmed an incident on Jan. 12, when an unarmed Iranian drone flew directly over the U.S.S. Harry S. Truman. She could not confirm if it was the same incident reported by Iranian media.
The Jan. 12 overflight took place the same day Iran detained 10 U.S. sailors who it said had entered Iranian territorial waters by mistake.
The drone initially flew towards the French carrier the Charles de Gaulle, and then flew directly over the U.S.S. Harry S. Truman, said the spokeswoman, Lieutenant Commander Nicole Schwegman, in an e-mailed statement. The U.S. carrier was not conducting flight operations at the time, Schwegman said.
"The UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) was unarmed and posed no risk to the carrier's flight operations," Schwegman said. "While the Iranian UAV's actions posed no danger to the ship, it was, however, abnormal and unprofessional."
#3
At what altitude was this overflight? And "unarmed" is completely irrelevant; crashing it into a crowded hanger deck or flight deck could and probably would make things very unpleasant. I assume carriers still have a CIWS and someone was ready to use it. Or would that be a "provocation"?
#4
The only thing 'abnormal and unprofessional' is that the drone was not shot down as it approached the vessel, and it's home base destroyed in a violent bombing raid.
#10
Back when I was in the Navy in 71-73, I heard stories about how the Russian jets flying out of Egypt would make pretend attack runs on US ships. That ended pretty quickly when a couple of the US ships turned on their missile fire control radars and locked onto the Russians.
I'm not sure what the effect would be on the drone's electronics if every ship in the task force focused its radars on the drone.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/30/2016 12:37
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#11
That were just looking for a waving white flag Kerry and Obama told them would be there.
#12
Shoot it down next time because next time it may be armed and attacking. If there is another naval capture incident give Iran 1 hour to return all US personnel and equipment or we blow up an Iranian city. They declared war on us in 1979.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Thousands of Afghan refugees have been recruited by Iran's Revolutionary Guards to fight alongside forces loyal to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... in Syria, it has been reported.
According to reports, some of the refugees have been deployed to Syria after they were recruited through coercion.
Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director at the New York-based Human Rights Watch ... During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, HRW received a pledge from the Foundation to Promote Open Society, of which George Soros is Chairman, for general support totaling $100,000,000. The grant is being paid in installments of $10,000,000 over ten years.Through June 30, 2013, HRW had received $30,000,000 towards the fulfillment of the pledge.... (HRW), said "Iran has not just offered Afghan refugees and migrants incentives to fight in Syria, but several said they were threatened with deportation back to Afghanistan unless they did."
He said some of the Afghan migrants were forced to flee Iran for Europe after facing the bleak choice from the Iranian authorities.
The relatives of a number of the Afghan migrants deployed to fight in Syria have been interviewed with six of the twelve respondents saying Iranian forces had trained them or their relatives in military camps near Tehran and Shiraz in 2015.
Two of the six had joined voluntarily, while the other four said they or their relatives had been coerced or forced to fight.
This comes as earlier estimates revealed at least 3,500 Afghan migrants are fighting in Syria to support the forces loyal to Bashir al-Assad.
Relatives of a number of those killed while fighting for the Syrian regime have said the Afghan nationals are also lured by the month salary of $700 and Iranian residency permit.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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#2
Competing with the Saudis for Yemen hires? This could drive prices up. How about opening offices in Munich, Berlin and Bonn. I hear they have a lot of appropriate aged males killing time rousting the local frauleins.
[UN.ORG] Two senior United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... officials today disclosed the names of some of the countries whose troops are accused of sexually exploiting and abusing minors in the Central African Republic (CAR), including both non-UN and UN forces tasked with maintaining peace and security in the conflict-torn nation.
"I think it's hard to imagine the outrage that the people working for the United Nations and for the causes of peace and security feel when these kinds of allegations come to light. Particularly involving minors, it's so hard to understand" said Anthony Banbury, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Field Support, in an emotional address to news hounds in New York.
Fighting back tears, Mr. Banbury said the UN is doing everything it possibly can to assist victims, to bring accountability and justice for them, and to prevent these cases from recurring.It is also clear that all foreign military forces, whether UN or non-UN, must employ much stronger and more effective actions to prevent further abuse and exploitation -- and not just in CAR.
He announced that a new website will soon feature a report by UN Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon on special measures to combat sexual exploitation and abuse, expected to be released next month. For the first time, it will identify the countries involved in the cases and provide granular information about individual allegations, the status of investigations, as well as on any disciplinary action taken.
Highlighting that transparency is an important part to combatting this "incredibly difficult scourge," the UN peacekeeping official today named some of the countries involved--all of which are UN-forces: Bangladesh, 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), Morocco, Niger, and Senegal ... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees... .
He noted that all victims in these cases were minors at the time of the alleged abuses, perpetrated by a total of 10 people from these 5 countries. He also indicated that the UN has launched its own investigation in the cases involving the DRC and Niger, as the countries did not respond to the UN's request to take the lead on the matter.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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#3
Yes, g(r)omgoru, it was indeed the creature pretending he is not Hemingway. The style is unmistakable: smarmy, with heavy lashings of heavy-breathing perversity, pretending to personal experience of the subject in question.
#2
Damaging, my a$$. Don't insult me. Why should the emails not be released? Top secret? Hell, the Russians, Chinese, Iranians, and all the ships at sea have hacked into Shrillary's email. They know everything, but the American public is kept in the dark.
We have a huge corruption problem that is destroying our country.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/30/2016 14:03
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[Rudaw] Turkish soldiers clearing mines along its border with ISIS-controlled Syrian territory came under fire on Thursday.
Dogan news agency reported that there were no casualties on the Turkish side. ISIS bullets hit buildings near the border crossing in the southeastern Turkish town of Karkamis. The Turks returned fire with artillery and tanks.
Fire emanating from ISIS-controlled parts of Syria struck Turkish territory last January 18 in Kilis Province. On that occasion a school was hit killing a woman and injuring a student. The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... responded by bombarding ISIS positions with artillery the following day.
It seems odd that ISIS would shoot at them while they were easing access across the border.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/30/2016
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[IBTIMES.CO.UK] As the deadly insurgency carried out by terror group Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... continues to wreak havoc in north-eastern Nigeria and neighbouring countries, IBTimes UK speaks with a Nigerian barrister and philantropist, who is calling on governments to expand deradicalisation and reintegration programs to effectively tackle terrorism.
Lawyer Zannah Bukar Mustapha is based in Maiduguri, capital of the restive Borno state, Boko Haram's birthplace. The terror group has killed thousands of people since 2009 and has become famous worldwide for its widespread practice of kidnapping civilians who are then trained to become fighters, forced to become sex slaves, or used in suicide kaboom missions.
Due to deteriorating security conditions, hundreds of thousands of children have dropped out of school in north-eastern Nigeria, where several educational buildings have closed down following terror attacks targeting public places.
Children who are out of school often happen to be their family's breadwinners as their parents have been killed by the insurgency. This -- coupled with lack of jobs and infrastructure -- enhances the possibility of children being recruited by Boko Haram, who promises money in exchange for work, creating a cycle difficult to break.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least three senior Taliban leaders were killed along with twenty five other bully boyz in the latest counter-terrorism operations led by the Afghan National Army (ANA) forces, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said Friday.
The operations were conducted in different parts of the country during the past 24 hours, MoD said, adding that twenty others were also injured during the same operations.
The Afghan armed forces also jugged Please don't kill me! 12 bully boyz and confiscated various types of weapons, ammunition and Improvised Explosive Device (IED) belonging to the hard boys.
According to MoD, the operations covered large swaths of Parwan in noth, Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. in east, Ghazni in southeast, Pashtun-infested Logar, Uruzgan and Wardak in central parts of the country, Kandahar and Zabul in south, Faryab, Baghlan, Kunduz and Jawzjan in north, and Badakhshan in northeast.
MoD also added that five soldiers of the Afghan National Army (ANA) embraced martyrdom during the operations against the local and foreign turbans involved in terrorist activities.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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Top|| File under: Taliban
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A murderous Moslem was killed and another one was injured in a failed attack on a patrol of the Afghan Intelligence -- National Directorate of Security ...the Afghan national intel agency... (NDS) in southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan.
The incident took place around 11:00 am local time after in the provincial city of Kandahar, local officials said.
Provincial police front man Zia Durani confirmed that the two gunnies opened fire on NDS patrol in the 3rd police district of Kandahar city.
He said one of the murderous Moslem was killed and another one was detained after sustaining injuries when the NDS personnel returned fire.
According to Durani, an NDS operative also sustained injuries during the shootout and weapons along with ammunition belonging to the assailants were confiscated.
No group including the Talibs has so far grabbed credit behind the incident.
Kandahar is among the relatively volatile provinces in southern Afghanistan where anti-government armed murderous Moslem groups are actively operting a number of its districts and often carry out insurgency activities.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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[NEWS24.NG] The Senator representing Taraba Central, Abubakar Yusuf, has denied reports of an influx of suspected members of Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... terror group in the state.
The denial follows initial reports by fellow Emmanuel Bwacha suggesting the suspected members of the murderous group had been transported from the Sambisa forest in Borno State to wreck havoc in Taraba.
Yusuf said he called the Director of State Security Service (SSS) and Police Commissioner in the state, who informed him such reports were not true.
"The reports of an influx of suspected Boko Haram members being transported to Taraba State are not true," Yusuf said on Thursday through point of order at the floor of the Senate.
He spoke during plenary.
He raised concern the statement credited to Bwacha had created fear in the minds of the people in the state.
Yusf thus urged Bwacha to always investigate such reports before raising them in the floor of the Senate.
The Boko Haram sect is a source of fear in Nigeria and neighbouring countries where it has killed some 20 000 people and displaced more than 2 million.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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ERBIL – Radical group of the Islamic State (ISIS) has executed more than 20 of its own militants for trying to flee jihad in Iraq’s northwestern province of Nineveh, local sources reported on Saturday.
ISIS captured a group of its militants who tried to escape the battlefront in Mosul city of Nineveh province, and executed them in public in a bid to terrorize its members who may leave their posts in the war-torn region.
“The dissidents were arrested at a checkpoint in the vicinity of Mosul on Friday evening. After being identified as fighters who have left their positions at the fighting front in western Mosul, they were transferred to the Sharia Court for prosecution,” a local media activist, who spoke to ARA News on condition of anonymity, cited an ISIS official as saying.
“Subsequent to a brief interrogation, the Sharia Court decided to behead the dissidents on charges of treason,” the source reported.
The jihadis were beheaded in central Mosul in front of hundreds of people, mostly ISIS members and commanders.
“Witnessing the brutal punishment has caused a state of panic among the members of the group,” the source reported.
ISIS considers any of its jihadis who leaves his post without a permission as a traitor and enemy of its alleged Caliphate.
Escaping Jihad as ‘High Treason’
This is not the first time that ISIS executes its own militants on charges of treason.
On December 20, 2015, the extremist group has beheaded ten militant fighters convicted of ‘high treason’ for evacuating their post at the battlefront without the group’s permission.
“The militants were found guilty for evacuating a post at the battlefront, where clashes took place between them and the Kurdish Peshmerga forces,” local media activist Abdullah al-Mallah told ARA News.
Six of the executed militants were identified as Syrian nationals, while the rest were Western jihadis, according to an informed source in Baaj district.
“The Sharia Court of Mosul decided to behead them in front of hundreds of ISIS members in order to prevent others from taking such a move without the permission of their military leadership,” the source added.
On November 15, 2015, ISIS executed 73 militant fighters for escaping battles with the Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Shingal (Sinjar) district in northern Iraq.
“Under the request of the group’s alleged caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, some 73 ISIS militants, who apparently fled the fighting front with the Peshmerga forces in the Yezidi region of Shingal, were executed,” Kurdish official Saeed Mamozini said, adding that the executions were carried out by firing squad south of Mosul.
[DAWN] LAWS, like men, can be good or bad. Nonetheless, we prefer the 'rule of law' to the 'rule of men' because the former lends certainty and predictability to the governance of one's affairs. The latter subjects one to the vagaries and whimsies of individuals.
Last August, the Supreme Court (SC) held that Pak law forbids hunting of houbara bustards. A three-member bench observed "we are told that foreign dignitaries who hunt the houbara bustard bring money and spread their largesse in establishing schools, mosques, dispensaries etcetera... The laws of Pakistain ... are not saleable commodities and in contending as much the governments debase, degrade and demean the citizens. If we do not ... respect our own laws, can we expect foreigners to do so?" This January, a five-member bench reviewed the earlier judgement and declared that "[e]xamination of the laws clearly shows that permanent ban on hunting of houbara bustard is not envisaged."
Last September, a three-member SC bench unanimously held that Barrister Ali Zafar had committed contempt of court and barred him from practising law for one year. Exactly a month later, a five-member bench allowed Zafar's review application and restored his licence.
Earlier, in 2013, the majority of a five-member SC bench in the judges' pensions case gave exhaustive reasons why retired judges who had received excess pensionary benefits on account of an earlier misinterpretation of the law should not be compelled to return the benefits already received. Three months later, the majority of a seven-member review bench indicated such benefits were indeed liable to return and ordered the matter to be reheard.
World over, courts do change -- over time -- their interpretation of law. That is how jurisprudence evolves. But the willingness and alacrity with which our SC changes its mind is perhaps unique. Are Pak SC judges more open to admitting mistakes than their foreign counterparts? Or do they make more mistakes in the first place?
Before delving into these questions, three points should be noted.
Firstly, that the SC is the apex judicial authority in Pakistain. What it says not only finally and conclusively decides the dispute between the parties but declares the law for all courts, government functionaries and citizens in future. As such, it is imperative that -- for there to be any certainty and predictability in law, for litigation to ever end, for governments and citizens to know what is permitted and what is not -- when the SC makes up its mind, it should stay made up. In the oft-cited words of US Supreme Court judge Robert Jackson, "[w]e are not final because we are infallible, but we are only infallible because we are final."
Secondly, to maintain its own finality, the SC has long restricted its review jurisdiction to correcting glaring errors of fact or law floating on the surface of the earlier decision ie where a crucial fact or legal provision was not brought to the court's attention. Just because a later bench disagrees with the analysis of facts or interpretation of law in the original decision is not grounds to reverse it. Of course, the SC can -- in subsequent cases -- revisit legal principles enunciated in earlier decisions and improve, refine or even depart from them as part of the process of jurisprudential evolution. But such evolution usually takes place over decades, not days.
Thirdly, as a procedural safeguard for the preservation of the above two principles, the SC rules require that an application for review be placed, as far as possible, before the judges who made the original decision.
In all three of the above cases, a larger bench was constituted by the then chief justice of Pakistain during the course of review proceedings. The original set of judges hearing the cases were left in minority. The new judges (now forming a majority) promptly proceeded to set aside the original decision. Being out-numbered, the original judges could only record their indignant dissent -- both with the constitution of a larger review bench and the eventual decision to set aside the original finding.
At least two of the review judgements were, in this writer's opinion, better reasoned than the original ones. That is, however, irrelevant. Crucially, the reviewing benches were unable to point out any specific facts or statutory provisions that were overlooked by the original benches. Their decision to reverse was, ultimately, founded in their conviction that the original benches had gotten it wrong. But this liberal approach towards review has very adverse consequences.
Firstly, the fiction that every SC decision is a decision of the court itself -- rather than the individualised inclinations of a particular bench -- is laid asunder. A message is sent to all governments and litigants that SC decisions and enunciations of law are not final per se -- but only final till the arrival of a more propitious time and a review bench with more amenable judges.
Secondly, and far more damagingly to the SC's reputation, the swiftness and ease of the reversals creates an impression, rightly or wrongly, that either the benches passing the original decision were manned with judges ideologically inclined towards a particular outcome (thus requiring immediate correction) or that the larger benches in review were so constituted.
In the post-2009 era, the then CJP was often accused of imprinting his ideological inclinations upon the court's jurisprudence through his power to constitute benches and assign cases. If the present SC wishes to permanently dispel that impression, then exclusive discretion should be replaced with a system where benches are constituted and cases allocated through random selection within rigidly defined parameters. Any applications for larger benches should be decided solely by the bench before whom they are presented.
Secondly, to reduce frequent reviews, SC benches should be made larger. Benches with fewer judges err more readily. Larger benches are more likely to cover all angles of a case. They are also harder to influence -- even by dominant personalities within the bench itself. Sure, this might mean fewer benches and slower decisions at the apex level -- but at least what is decided shall stay decided. A more consistent exposition of the law by the SC would make the work of lower courts easier and faster. Litigation overall would be reduced.
Viewed thus, the recent Senate bill to increase the number of SC judges from 17 to 26 may well have an effect opposite to what is intended. More judges means more benches and faster decisions but at the cost of increasing fractures and contradictory judgements within the SC. The law shall become less certain and both the pace and quality of decision-making in lower courts (where most litigation starts and ends) shall be adversely affected.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[DAWN] Circassian guards, who have served Jordan's kings since the founding of the monarchy, still adhere to their ancient traditions, such as donning an incongruous cold weather uniform of black wool hats, red capes and leather boots in this desert climate.
The Associated Press was recently granted a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the world of the guards, highlighting the success of a minority in a region now awash with sectarian tensions.
Circassians are a non-Arab ethnic group that originated on the northeast coast of the Black Sea and in the mountainous Caucasus region, but were dispersed around the Mideast in the mid-19th century after being defeated by the Russians. They have been central to the culture and history of Jordan, where about 100,000 of the world's 3.7 million Circassians live, according to the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization.
Both the first prime minister in 1923 and the first female lawmaker in 1993 were Circassian. Mayors, ministers, and ambassadors have come from the community, along with leaders of the air force, army and intelligence agency.
Circassian food is popular among Jordanians, including a walnut, garlic and barley dish on offer at a Circassian restaurant in Amman. The iconic black-and-white marble mosque of Abu Darwish, a Circassian noble, tops the capital's skyline.
Today, the Circassian guards' role at the Basman and Raghadan palaces in a royal compound in Amman, like that of their counterparts in London's Buckingham Palace, is largely ceremonial. Actual security for the royals is handled by military units.
In the compound, the 14 guardsmen march under stone arches and pine trees, greeting dignitaries and visitors to King Abdullah II, his brother, regent Prince Feisal, and the heir to the throne, 21-year-old Prince Hussein.
All the guards were hand-picked by Ghazi Bilal Qala, 65, who retired last year after a lifetime protecting the late King Hussein and the current monarch.
"I served here for 42 years and treated the guards like my sons, not simply as staff or anything like that, but sons. No one was ever treated differently, no distinctions were made. Respect is foundational," Qala said.
Chosen from the various Circassian tribes in Jordan, recruits undergo eight months of training in self-defence, security, palace protocol, and military techniques.
Their unique uniform includes 16 decorative rifle cartridges, adorned in silver and black leather and draped across a guard's chest. Traditionally, one cartridge held poison for suicide if captured, or to pour into a slot in their short sword. Another shell held a vial of honey for sustenance.
The guards wear two ceremonial swords: the long "seshweh" blade bearing an Arabic engraving reading "If God helps you, no one can overcome you," and the short "qama" blade, referred to in Arabic as "the scent of death".
"This is a costume of war, of the old days," Qala said.
After Circassians were driven out of their homeland by the Russians, most settled in the Ottoman Empire, where more than 150 years later they live as Turkish, Syrian, Israeli, Iraqi and Jordanian citizens. Their military skills proved vital to the early Jordanian kingdom.
In 1921, Circassian horsemen offered to protect King Abdullah I, the first in Jordan's Hashemite dynasty of monarchs, who was a native of the Hijaz province of what is now Saudi Arabia.
Abdullah had a Circassian grandmother, Bezm-i Cihan, according to TE Lawrence's book "Seven Pillars of Wisdsom". Circassians remained at Abdullah's side throughout the tumultuous birth of the kingdom, facing local revolts and marauders from Saudi Arabia. This alliance of the Hashemites, the Circassians and Arab tribes became the kingdom, said Amjad Jaimoukha, author of the book Circassian Culture and Folklore.
In 1948 and 1967, Palestinians from what is now Israel and the West Bank were added to Jordan's population, now making up around half the population.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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#1
This was interesting. Thanks Fred.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
01/30/2016 10:17
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I am not a video engineer, nor can I reliably analyze video footage. When the incident in Oregon involving the shooting death of LaVoy Finicum at the hands of Oregon state police took place last Wednesday evening, I only had an eyewitness account, and that account was that Finicum had two chances of surviving the encounter with the police and he messed both up.
I am not going to give my opinion of the incident because I have given it elsewhere at Rantburg and on my Facebook page.
Finicum didn't deserve the application of the death penalty.
What took place was was a blatant reminder of just how out of control the federal judiciary is, and especially in Oregon. The political masters of the US Attorney in Portland took a relatively minor fracus in the hinterlands of Oregon, inflated its importance by slapping a conspiracy label on it, thus making whatever was said on social media, and whatever was done a felony, armed police to the teeth and laid in wait for the Malhuer occupiers.
With predictable results.
The fact that every last Patriot and soul were not gunned down in cold blood is more a testament to the restaint of the police and their site commanders than to the federal judiciary, who set the events in motion that led to the death of Finicum.
In the final analysis, the shooting by police appears to be legal, but was just a few notches less than justified, and so the involvement of the police ended there in the cold, snowy forests of Oregon. "Just following orders" and so, a man is dead.
That Wednesday night when I went to the Facebook page of LaVoy Finicum, a number of others had already posted their opinion. Around 25 percent expressed their joy that a man was killed, and not just any man, a white, Christian man was gunned down.
I am not talking just about simple trolls. I have been writing quite a bit for Rantburg and for myself, and I can detect through language whether another writer is expressing an opinion to get a rise out of readers, or expecting a rise out of readers and expressing joy at a shooting death.
What I read was joy, unbridled and unabashed joy that a man was shot to death by the police. You have to wonder why any man would post such vile sentiments, but fortunately for us, they did let us all know why. He was white, Christian, rich and armed with a gun. Finicum had it coming, they said.
As I expressed to a retired USMC gunnery sergeant acquaintance Thursday night, those who said those awful sentiments are our domestic enemies. They do not want our guns, or our money, or anything else. They want, nothing more and nothing less, than our very lives, and if the police and American security forces can be moved to gun down their political enemies under the color of law, then it is all to the best.
The shooting in Oregon was about Thomas Jefferson's Tree of Liberty, which "must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." LaVoy Finicum's blood was used for that purpose. Can his political enemies who cheered his demise expect nothing less than to follow him into that good night?
Loads.
Rantburg's summary for arms and ammunition:
Prices for pistol ammunition and for rifle ammunition were steady across the board.
Prices for used pistols were mixed, while prices for used rifles were lower across the board.
New Lows:
None
Pistol Ammunition
.45 Caliber, 230 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (8 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Quality Made Cartridges, Store Brand, FMJ, Brass, Reloads, .25 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Quality Made Cartridges, Store Brand, FMJ, Brass, Reloads, .25 per round (From Last week: Unchanged (5 Weeks))
.40 Caliber Smith & Wesson, 180 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Bud's Gun Shop, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel cased, .23 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: Freedom Ammunition, Store brand, FMJFP, Brass, Reloads, .22 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (3 Weeks))
9mm Parabellum, 115 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (5 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Selway Armory, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Cased, .18 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: Ammunition to Go, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Cased, .17 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (3 Weeks))
.357 Magnum, 158 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (4 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: LAX Ammunition, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel cased, .28 per round
Cheapest Bulk: 1,000 rounds: J&G Sales, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel cased, .25 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (4Q, 2015))
Rifle Ammunition
.223 Caliber/5.56mm 55 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Goose Island Sales, Tulammo, steel cased, FMJ, .23 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: Cheaper Than Dirt!, Tulammo, steel cased, FMJ, .22 per round (From Last Week: -.02 Each)
.308 NATO 150 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (8 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Ammunition Supply Company, Tulammo, steel cased, FMJ, .37 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Vizards Guns and Ammo, Tulammo, steel cased, FMJ, .40 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks))
7.62x39 AK 123 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Munire USA, Wolf WPA, steel case, FMJ, .25 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: TrueCaliber.com, Wolf WPA, steel case, .23 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (9 Weeks))
.22 LR 40 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (4Q, 2015)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Ammomen, Federal, RNL .08 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Munire USA, Aguila, RNL, .08 per round (From Last Week: +.01 Each))
Guns for Private Sale
Rifles
.223/5.56mm (AR Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $580 Last Week Avg: $598 (-) ($616 (42 Weeks), $476 (18 Weeks))
California (182, 182): Smith & Wesson M&P: $600 ($650 (1Q,2015), $400 (21 Weeks))
Texas (226, 228): Smith & Wesson M&P: $575 ($700 (47 Weeks), $350 (42 Weeks))
Pennsylvania (96, 93): Ruger AR-556: $600 ($700 (41 Weeks), $300 (29 Weeks))
Virginia (120, 125): Smith & Wesson M&P 15 Sport: $625 ($750 (47 Weeks), $480 (7 Weeks))
Florida (301, 298): Smith & Wesson Model M&P15 Sport: $500 ($650 (31 Weeks), $380 (43 Weeks))
#1
Finicum didn't deserve the application of the death penalty.
Sounds very simmilar to what some were saying about Tamir Rice. Both tragic I spose but when someone reaches for their piece all expectations of de-escalation have been discarded - by the decedent. And don't forget Finicum was on record saying he was willing to die for his cause. Life ain't no fucking action movie where the marshall plucks the roscoe out of the bad guys hand. It's called deadly force for a reason.
#2
In the final analysis, the shooting by police appears to be legal, but was just a few notches less than justified, and so the involvement of the police ended there in the cold, snowy forests of Oregon. "Just following orders" and so, a man is dead.
LANDIKOTAL: Bullet-riddled body of missing polio Supervisor Shah Faisal was recovered from Regi area on Friday.
Jamrud Political Tehsildar Asmatullah Wazir told that Shah Faisal who is a resident of Shah Kas was serving as area supervisor with health department and he went missing two days ago. He said that unidentified miscreants shot dead the polio supervisor and dumped his body in Regi area of Peshawar that share border with Jamrud, Khyber Agency.
Family members of the slain polio worker said that two days ago they had received his last phone call from Karkhano Market and then he went missing. Reason behind the blind murder could not be ascertained and investigation is in progress.
[DAWN] Health officials in Zim-bob-we's capital, Harare, have detected several cases of typhoid fever in the past week, adding to fears that a water crisis will fuel the spread of infectious diseases.
The city's health director, Prosper Chonzi, said six cases of typhoid had been confirmed, with more expected to emerge.
"The conditions on the ground -- frequent water cuts and poor sanitation -- are conducive to a typhoid outbreak," he said.
Last year, more than 40 people in Harare were hospitalised due to typhoid, a bacteral infection that causes fever, headaches and constipation or diarrhoea.
Health officials have been deployed to affected areas including Hopley, a sprawling township without sewers and tap water, to contain the situation and identify suspected cases. Headwaters of the Flint River or another man-made phenomena ?
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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[VULTURE] "Why have you let me film this?" filmmaker Josh Kriegman asks his subject, disgraced congressman Anthony Carlos Danger Weiner ...aka Hot Dog Tony, the remarkably offensive sex maniac six-term New York congressman who resigned in 2011, then decided everybody had forgotten by 2013, when he decided to run for mayor of New York City... , as the cameras roll on him at home with his wife, top Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as For a good time at 3 a.m. call Hillary and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Tallyrand ... aide Huma Abedin, the morning after Weiner lost the 2013 New York City Democratic mayoral primary with just 4.9 percent of the vote. It's an excellent question, because the mere fact that the Sundance documentary Weiner exists at all is enough to make your head spin.
Kriegman and his co-director, Elyse Steinberg, started out making what they thought would be the ultimate comeback story: the politician known best for having tweeted pictures of his junk, now making a surprisingly plausible bid for mayor. (The film, which comes out in theaters May 20 and will then go to Showtime, does a great job of showing why people responded to Weiner's passion, and how at one point it looked like he would win.) What they couldn't have anticipated was that a second sexting scandal would break out during the campaign, and they would be in the room to capture the meltdown. Kriegman was once Weiner's chief of staff, which explains how these first-time directors got such insane access at the beginning, and their motives seem noble: to show what it's like to be actual people trying to do public service while being the butt of jokes in a 24-hour news cycle. Why Weiner let them stick around as the ship went down is between him and his psychologist. Whatever the case, it's an amazing gift to us.
Ironically, the coverage of this movie has been as much of a political snow job as the events it portrayed. Prior to its premiere at Sundance this week, speculation ran rampant among media outlets that hadn't seen it that its footage of Abedin would damage Clinton's presidential bid. (It won't.) Kriegman and Steinberg also have repeatedly had to refute claims that they trimmed out parts where the Clinton camp supposedly pressures Abedin to leave her husband. (They didn't -- the camp or the directors.) What's onscreen is actually far more interesting than the speculation: a baffling and humanizing look at a man without impulse control, driven into public life, and public humiliation, by hubris and narcissism, and his endlessly fascinating marriage to a woman who, against all logic, puts up with his shit.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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#1
a man without impulse control, driven into public life, and public humiliation, by hubris and narcissism.....
Sadly, Huma and the Beest have much in common. Their choice in men may not be the only thing however.
[DAWN] ISLAMABAD: Two separate complaints have been lodged by civil society representatives with Aabpara police, for the registration of a case against Lal Masjid ...literally the Red Mosque, located in Islamabad and frequented by all sorts of high govt officials. The proprietors, Ghazi Abdul Rasheed and Maulana Abdul Aziz Ghazi, unleashed their Islamic storm troopers on the city, shutting down whorehouses and beating people up who weren't devout enough. The Musharraf govt put an end to the nonsense by besieging the place. Abdul Aziz Ghazi was nabbed while he was trying to escape dressed up like a girl. BBC reported that the corpse count at 173, but other claims, usually hysterical, say there were up to 1000 titzup. Among their number was Abdul Rashid Ghazi. Everyone then said tut-tut and what a nice guy he had been... holy manMaulana Abdul Aziz ...nutball holy man who runs the Lal Masjid in the heart of Pakistain's capital. After instigating a rebellion against the state in 2007, he was caught trying to sneak away dressed in a burka. He rejects democracy as un-Islamic, which it probably is... on Friday.
One of the complaints, lodged by Khurram Zaki, stated that Maulana Aziz and Jamia Hafsa ... the Islamic nunnery maintained by Lal Masjid.... -Lal Masjid recently released a video message which was well distributed over social media (a CD of the video was attached to the application), in which the holy man attempted to incite sectarian hatred and violence against Shia Muslims by blaming them for leading the civil society campaign against him and Lal Masjid-Jamia Hafsa.
The complaint said he also accused Inter-Services Intelligence ...the Pak military intelligence agency that controls the military -- heads of ISI typically get promoted into the Chief of Army Staff position. It serves as a general command center for favored turban groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, tries to influence the politix of neighboring countries, and carries out a (usually) low-level war against India in Kashmir... (ISI) and its officials of supporting and promoting a sectarian agenda by trying to concoct false and fabricated evidence against him. He specifically accused an unnamed serving brigadier in the agency, who he claimed belongs to the Shia sect, the complaint added.
It stated that such allegations are obvious and deliberate attempts from his side to malign and divide the national institution on sectarian lines, by fomenting sectarian hatred among the rank and file of the intelligence agency. It went on to say that such attempts to scandalise ISI falls out of the fair perimetres of genuine academic criticism of the wrongdoings of any state institution as no evidence was put forward to support his allegations.
The complaint said that "request was made to lodge and register an FIR against Molvi Aziz under ATA (Anti-Terrorism Act), including sections 6 and 8 and PPA (Protection of Pakistain Act) (Scheduled Offence II) and other appropriate sections of CrPC and other relevant laws and arrest him accordingly."
Another complaint was lodged by Mohammad Jibran Nasir, which stated that a video was uploaded on the internet by unidentified students of Jamia Hafsa, which was also aired by an ARY news channel, which he also saw.
In the video, students pledged support to the banned ...the word banned seems to have a different meaning in Pakistain than it does in most other places. Or maybe it simply lacks any meaning at all...
organizationDaesh [Islamic State] -- otherwise known as Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... , ISIS or ISIL -- and asked it to avenge the Pak military's operations against the late Osama bin Laden ... who is no longer with us, and won't be again... , Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa.
Ume Hassan, the chief patron of Jamia Hafsa, and Maulana Aziz, also commended Daesh [Islamic State] in their video messages, the complaint said, and expressed their desire for caliphate in Pakistain, and confirmed that the students had 'invited' Daesh [Islamic State].
The complaint added that, in an interview with a newspaper, they said that the students recorded the video message with their permission.
The complaint stated that a terrorist organization called Insarul Islam, which pledged allegiance to Daesh [Islamic State] in August 2014, was operating out of a training camp named after Maulana Abdul Rasheed Ghazi, Maulana Aziz's brother.
The complaint said such acts were a declaration of war against Pakistain, as well as a conspiracy and threat. It said a case should be registered against those mentioned, including the students.
Aabpara police said they have received the complaints and would send them to the police prosecution department for its legal opinion. They said the matter was sensitive, and advice would also be taken from the political corridor before any action is taken in response to the complaint.
In January 2015, capital police started the paperwork but haven't done much else over the video of Jamia Hafsa students, and was given a green light from the prosecution department, a police official said on condition of anonymity. However, some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves... the official said that when permission was sought from the political corridor, they were denied.
Lal Masjid spokesperson Ehtesham Ahmed said: "In my opinion, cases would not be registered in response to the two complaints, as I hope."
Regarding the complaint by Mr Nasir, he said the students in the video inviting Daesh [Islamic State] had completed their studies at Jamia Hafsa and had left the seminary. He said they were not students at the time the video was recorded and had nothing to do with Jamia Hafsa.
He said the police may identify them and register a case against them, but Maulana Aziz and Ume Hassan never invited Daesh [Islamic State] and there was no evidence against them in this regard.
Regarding the complaint by Mr Zaki, he said: "According to my information, the police already examined and watched the video, and did not find any hate speech."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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[Dhaka Tribune] Police yesterday claimed that they had tossed in the slammer Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! four leaders of Islami Chhatra Shibir ... the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh... , the radical student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... , from Satkania upazila for instigating religious unrest by tearing off the pages of the Qur'an themselves.
The arrestees are Satkania upazila (east) unit President Raihan Uddin Muhammad Asadullah, Demsha union President Md Riadul Islam alias Niloy, Shibir's Sathee Aminul Islam Tipu and activist Md Arman.
Of them, Riadul gave confessional statement on Tuesday and Raihan on Wednesday before the court of Judicial Magistrate Shiplu Kumar Dey in Chittagong.
Chittagong Superintendent of Police Hafiz Akhtar at a press briefing yesterday said that they had arrested the four on January 21 after carrying out a through investigation.
He said that Riadul and Raihan had confessed that they wanted to put the government in trouble by tearing off pages of the Qur'an and keeping those inside 19 mosques of Satkania and Lohagara upazilas.
Police came to know about the matter on January 14 that pages of the Qur'an were found at the local mosques. Some people even uploaded the photos on Facebook. Police then started a probe into the matter and urged the people not to pay heed to the false allegations.
Hafiz said: "The four were implementing the plan given by the top leaders of Chhatra Shibir. Led by Raihan, they started the operation at Demsha Indrar Dighir Par Boro Masjid on January 9 and did the same on January 10 and 11 in several masques of Satkania."
By blaming others for tearing off the Qur'an, they wanted to instigate an anti-government movement across the country, he added.
Two cases were lodged with Satkania police in this regard. "The police have got the names of several big shots and are now trying to arrest them," the SP added.
Jamaat-Shibir men abusing religion to instigate violence is not new in the country. Several hundred people demonstrated in Badda area in mid-January after some Facebook pages linked to Chhatra Shibir alleged that the Qur'an was burnt by a Hindu man at a local temple. In 2013, temples and houses of the Buddhists in Cox's Bazar were vandalised and torched following a similar propaganda hatched by Jamaat-Shibir men.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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[DAWN] INTERIOR Minister Nisar Ali Khan appears to have a notoriously thin skin. It was recently on display when Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah did what he seems to do best -- provoke the interior minister.
Earlier in the week, Mr Shah castigated the interior minister for his alleged unavailability in parliament and inaction over many parts of the National Action Plan.
As soon as the interior minister rediscovered his health -- his indisposition was perhaps the reason why he kept away from the public gaze after criticism of his ministry -- he has seen it fit to assail Mr Shah.
It has been a thoroughly dubious attack. The recent carnage at Bacha Khan University in Charsadda was not an isolated incident as the interior minister has suggested, nor is there an obvious reason to deny an independent investigation into the circumstances that allowed the attack to take place.
Sadly, the interior minister's belligerence is not new. At the height of the PTI protest on Constitution Avenue, Chaudhry Nisar turned his guns on veteran PPP senator Aitzaz Ahsan.
At that particular moment, the PML-N needed every bit of democratic support that it could muster in parliament. Instead, bizarrely, the interior minister turned the special joint session of parliament called to reinforce support for democracy into a slanging match with Mr Ahsan.
For some reason -- blame it on Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... who even now seems unwilling to rein in his interior minister or the latter politician himself who came across as de facto deputy prime minister, unwilling to accept a role equal to the rest of the cabinet -- Chaudhry Nisar was allowed to undermine the entire joint session of parliament.
It was a ghastly performance in September 2014 but unfortunately, he does not appear to have learned any lessons.
Undeniably, there have been many faults in Chaudhry Nisar's parliamentary career. However, a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package... the role of Khursheed Shah as leader of the opposition is not altogether commendable either.
Mr Shah has proved himself in parliament as an orator and a combatant, but what of the timing of each of his speeches? Ultimately, it appears that whatever the legitimacy of his complaints, there is a link to the pressure on the PPP -- or elements close to the PPP leadership -- in Sindh.
The ongoing incarceration of Dr Asim Hussain appears to have inordinately drawn the attention of the PPP. In fact, be it Dr Hussain or others accused of crimes connected to the very apex of the PPP leadership in parliament, the party only appears to become active when it finds itself under attack, either in Sindh or at the centre.
The interior minister was wrong to respond in the manner he did and Mr Shah was wrong to attack.
Regrettably, it appears that the only thing the parliamentary leadership is interested in is scoring political points.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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1) I do not know why, nor can I see a specific reason, why the white truck took off like it did from the initial traffic stop, at the 8:15 mark.
2) The roadblock was sited on a curve, whether by design or incompetence, obscured by the snowbanks. It appears that the white truck did not see the roadblock until too late, and took action to swerve into the snowbank to avoid it. Whether they were trying to get around it, or simply avoid a crash, I do not know from the video.
3) At the 9:16 mark, as the truck crashes into the snowbank to the left, an officer steps out of the roadblock into the path of the truck, into the snow. I do not know what he was thinking – perhaps he thought that the truck was going around the roadblock. It appears that he fired two or three rounds (from statements and from seeing the impacts on the windshield as the helicopter circles). Of course, it is authorized to fire at a vehicle that is being used as a weapon against you – but it is debatable if by deliberately putting yourself into the path of that vehicle the same logic applies. My assessment is that the truck is deliberately trying to not hit both the roadblock and the officer on foot. Either way, this will be used by LE to justify the initial shoot into the windshield. The officer narrowly avoids being run over, and you can see him scoot off to the side and then make his way back to the roadblock vehicle.
4) In all the discussion about the actions of Finicum as he exited the vehicle, has anyone considered that 1) He has already been fired upon as he crashed the vehicle into the snowbank and 2) could he have in fact been injured in some way by one of those shots?
5) The next thing that happens is the killing of Finicum. My video is not that clear and I cannot see some of things that others have reported. It appears to me that he is shot by the officer on the right, who is advancing from the roadblock with a handgun presented. Finicum initially has his hands up, he is in the snow, he looks confused, his hands drop and then he is not sure what to do with them. It has been speculated that he may have been going for a handgun that may or may have not been there. He may have been grabbing at where he was shot. We have no audio and no real clear video – we do not know what small arms fire was present or verbal orders were being given at this time. He was trying to surrender after crashing and rounds impacting his windshield. If the cops were shooting at him after he tried to surrender, it makes sense that he would either grab the wound, or perhaps grab for a gun that was or was not there – given that he saw the elephant at that point, and knew what they were going to do / were doing i.e. killing him.
6) The officer who appears from the left appears to have a taser, in the left hand. It seems to be the taser that puts Finicum down, because he is still standing from receiving handgun rounds. Once he is put down, he is clearly wounded, and no attempt is made to further either assist or restrain him – he is bleeding out at that point. I see a red laser on his head at various points but I do not know if he was fired at again after he was put down. It does however appear that if he was shot before he was tasered, he had his hands up and basically was given no quarter. The only justification for the shoot from the LEO perspective would probably be (in a situation they created), as a continuation of the initial near miss on the officer in the snow, and as a result of Finicum’s action to exit the vehicle, which is not usually tolerated at ‘normal’ traffic stops.
7) At 9:49 Finicum is down and dying and we switch our focus to the vehicle as the helicopter circles. I would like to take more time and focus on the actions of all the LEOs at the roadblock, something I have not had time to do so far, having only played this several times, the focus being on the action at the white truck. That would be a worthwhile Intel effort. Anyway, as the helicopter circles, and is obscured at times by trees, we see non-lethal ‘flashbangs’ impacting on and near to the vehicle. It is hard to tell if any lethal rounds are fired initially, as the vehicle sits there. These flashbangs, as designed, would have been terrifying to an inexperienced person such as Victoria, huddled low in the vehicle. There is what looks like snow kicked up in the area of the passenger side window, either from non-lethal or lethal rounds. When I first watched this on my phone, it looked like rounds impacting the side window. It may also be non-lethal kicking up snow.
8) At 10:22 I am not sure what is impacting the passenger side of the vehicle, whether non-lethal, shotgun or rifle rounds. If it is bangers, there is no accompanying flash at this time. At 10:47 there are more of these impacts, which look to me like the vehicle is being stuck by rounds (lethal or non-lethal), not kicked up snow. Whatever is being used, are they trying to suppress and dominate the passengers remaining in the vehicle, who are huddled on the floorboards at this time, as per their statements?
9) At 11:30 you have a group of officers moving out to the back of the vehicle to cover its left side. Bear that in mind as the helicopter circles.
10) At 12:13, through the gap in the tress, you see what look like multiple impacts onto the window of the camper shell of the truck. Is this hitting at an angle from the guys to the rear left of the truck? Go to point 13 for a revision on this – it may well be tree shadow instead. At 12:20 you see impacts on, through or inside the windshield, which I initially thought may be a result of through-and-through rounds coming through the camper shell, through the cab, and out the windshield. On further viewing (coming back from point 13), I think the ‘impacts’ on the camper shell window are shadow, and what can be seen on/inside the windshield may well be non-lethal gas clouds being shot into the cab through the side windows, and impacting inside. I would also consider that some of these impacts could be from non-lethal rounds, such as pepper / CS rounds, which Victoria says were used (she said gas was used). At 13:20 there is a red dot playing on the left side of the truck, and then what look like white impacts into the driver side window, on the console. Is this SAF, or perhaps gas/pepper rounds? Have these side windows been shot out?
11) At 13:42 you see the red laser playing on Finicum’s head.
12) At 14:08 we are now back around with the helicopter and you see what looks like shattered safety glass in the passenger window which was not like that on the first pass around. Shot out? At around 15:00 the agents are milling around behind their vehicle, with individuals popping out to either take shots or at least aim their rifles at the truck. Are they now giving orders to the occupants to surrender and exit the vehicle? 15:06 the left side truck door appears to be open. Someone gets out with hands raised and tosses something to the ground, probably a handgun. There is a red laser playing around on him. From this point onward, the occupants are getting out and being taken into custody.
13) 15:43: OK, go back and see point 10: I see the same effect on the left window of the camper shell. I don’t see why there would be any shooting at this time – on further inspection, it may be a play of the shadow of the trees on the window? There is however smoke drifting at 16:00 – CS gas?
To conclude: there are some things that can obviously be seen in the video, and much that cannot, or is open to speculation. More information is required. I do not see this video discounting Victoria’s statement, if you take into account her likely altered perception. The truck and the occupants were subject to a large amount of chaos and violence. I do not know to what extent small arms fire was directed at the truck once it had come to rest in the snow. I simply cannot see. I can see a number of flashbangs and other impacts, some of which may be lethal, or non-lethal, and there appears to have been some sort of ‘gas’ used on the interior of the vehicle. To the occupants, including Victoria, this would have appeared noisy, violent and terrifying.
I cannot see any justification for Finicums death. I will reiterate that none of this needed to happen, at the macro level. You can say that this was bad decision making, in your perfect Constitutional make-believe world, or you can say it was great decision making, from the point of view of power and tyranny asserting itself. On the micro level, if professionals with judgement were conducting the ‘ambush,’ Finicum did not need to die. But what happened was par for the course in the way law enforcement operates in this country. The situation was created and it went down accordingly. Basically, Finicum tried to run over an officer, he got out of the vehicle, he made furtive movements, he failed to obey lawful orders instantly, therefore he was killed. That’s how they roll.
#1
At no time did the cowboy have a weapon in either hand. While at the same time there were many weapons trained on him. That is because he would never shot a fellow American. The same reason he hit the ditch. He avoided impacting the road block.
If you know how a patriot thinks, you know what happened.
The tyrant in the Whitehouse is gleeful. He has paid assassins who don't think like Americans. They are murderers for the Chicago Mob.
Period.
Posted by: Ho Chi Crinens5363 ||
01/30/2016 1:21
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#2
Secondly, the assasins knew he was not going to surrender. Therefore when they set the ambush they were ready to kill him. He left the vehicle immediately so that if they decided to cut him down, the passengers would be out of the line of fire.
Posted by: Ho Chi Crinens5363 ||
01/30/2016 1:26
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"When Paleface racks automatic thunder-stick, time to talk peace."
The individuals in the white truck needed to surrender peacefully, and the opportunity to do so came at the initial stop. Whatever your grievance is with the government, you can't pursue it if you're dead. Surrender, go into custody and put your lawyer to work.
Once the white truck bolts the initial stop the die is cast. However one criticizes the location of the roadblock or the initial behavior of the officers there, once the white truck attempts to evade / crash into officers, no one in that truck is going to live.
That's just the way it is.
I'm not going to get into the mindset of Finicum and his pals -- I don't have that much time, and I'm comfortably certain their grievances aren't worth dying over. I'm not all that happy with the present federal administration (nor the last one) but I'm not out there taking over federal buildings and making an ass of myself, either.
When Paleface officers tell you to drop the rod and get yer mitts in da air, that's what you'd better do.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/30/2016 11:18
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#7
I get pissed off at all the arm chair self rightious surrender monkeys. Americans are under attack as individuals, their means of income being stripped of them by any means possible by hostile agencies of this government. And the usual response by blow hard internet pale faces is bend over and take it.
FOAD
Posted by: Unelet Protector of the Sith2424 ||
01/30/2016 12:39
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[Dhaka Tribune] District-based Islamic scholars and holy mans have so far identified some 103 mosque committees across the country having leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... and other radical groups as members instigating krazed killer activities.
Most of these mosques are located in the northern part of the country. The scholars are now gathering more information about the suspected krazed killer sympathisers and the activities of the mosque committees.
They would inform the law enforcement agencies about the committees and the persons after the 1,00,000 signature campaign against militancy ends. The fatwa involving 11 questions explains the relevant verses of the Qur'an and the Hadiths to discourage extremism and krazed killer activities in the country. The campaign began on January 2.
"We will be able to publish the fatwa after taking signatures of 1,00,000 scholars and holy mans within February," Sholakia Mosque Imam Maulana Md Fariduddin Masud told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
Farid, also the chairman of Jamaat-e-Ulema, said that after they identify all the suspicious mosque committees, the law enforcers would take necessary action to stop false explanation of Islam.
The 103 mosques were identified in Rajshahi, Chittagong, Chandpur, Rangpur, Bogra, Gaibandha, Satkhira, Sylhet, Gazipur and Dinajpur districts.
According to sources, at least 30 mosques in Rajshahi area are dominated by the Jamaat men. These mosques are located in Mohisalbari, Shalbagan, Bohorompur, Boothpara and Meherchondi areas.
An elderly scholar from Dinajpur told the Dhaka Tribune that they were confirmed about 17 mosques in the district where the mosque committee leaders instigate ordinary Muslims in the name of discussions almost every week.
A well-know scholar of Satkhira said that many mosque committees in the area were dominated by the Jamaat men, but they had got information on 13 mosques. "We are on alert to stop the spread of any kind of false explanation of Islam. Such practice should be stopped," he added.
The law enforcers too are contacting with the scholars and conducting their own investigation.
"We are getting response from the scholars, and our officials are verifying the information. It may need more time to take legal action," Md Moniruzzaman, assistant inspector general (confidential) of the Police Headquarters, told the Dhaka Tribune.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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[DAWN] The outbreak of water-borne and viral diseases in the drought-hit Tharparkar district took lives of 12 more children on Friday, raising the corpse count to 138 this month.
A newborn died at Civil Hospital in Mithi, while an infant Shahpuri died in village Jagan Lund, Hamida died in village Narori while two other kids bit the dust in the village of Dahli.
Two infants and a six month old girl Mariam Arbab died in village Chanor near Islamkot.
A six year old child Ghulam Rasool Wasan died in village Kunryo Wasan near Mithi, while twins Saima and Qasim along with another child died in village Galhau near Diplo town.
However, some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... the government officials still claimed that so far "only 42" children have died at the government hospitals of the district.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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SANAA: The Daesh affiliate in Yemen has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing on Thursday that killed seven people and targeted the presidential palace in Aden, where the internationally recognized president and his Cabinet are based.
In an online statement posted on Twitter by the group’s supporters, Daesh identified the attacker as Abu Hanifa Al-Hollandi, an Arabic nom de guerre that suggests he was Dutch. His real name was not immediately known.
It was not possible to verify the claim. The group posted pictures that appeared to show the car bomb speeding toward cement barricades manned by presidential guards.
The bombing took place around one kilometer away from his palace, which is heavily guarded by Emirati and Saudi special forces, officials said.
They said that both President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and Prime Minister Khaled Bahah were inside the palace at the time of the explosion. Witnesses said that the bombing was heard across the city and demolished several nearby houses.
The attack came days after top government officials held a meeting to discuss badly needed security measures in Aden, officials said, adding that the new security plan involved the deployment of heavy weaponry to the city. They said a first dispatch that included dozens of armored vehicles and rockets had already arrived, and that units of newly trained civilians had joined the pro-government army in Aden.
Meanwhile, Al Jazeera confirmed that its reporter Hamdi Al-Bakari and crew members Abdulaziz Al-Sabri and Moneer Al-Sabai had been freed in the western city of Taiz.
Al-Bakari wrote on his Facebook page that he was abducted by Houthis and that they were subjected to “terrible mental torture.”
For months, residents and aid groups say the Houthis have been indiscriminately shelling Taiz and blocking the delivery of humanitarian aid there. Although Al-Bokhari blames Houthis for his kidnap, Taiz’s local militias include militants from Al-Qaeda’s offshoot in Yemen as well as hard-liners whom some activists blamed for the abduction in recent days.
[NEWS24.NG] A member of the Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... Islamist group has accused the Federal Government of delaying his efforts to appeal his 2013 terrorism conviction and sentence, Punch reports.
Kabiru Umar, also known as Kabiru Sokoto, was convicted and sentence in December of 2013 following his role in the 2011 Christmas Day blast in Madalla that saw 44 people killed and 75 injured.
Sokoto, who is currently serving a life sentence at the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison in Lagos, has alleged that the Comptroller of Prisons has made it impossible for him to have contact with his lawyer, Sheriff Okoh.
Sokoto has also revealed that he is seeking a declaration stating that the actions of the Comptroller of Prisons are a violation to his right to fair hearing, right to counsel and access to justice.
Justice Ademola, who handed sown Sokoto's sentence to him, disclosed that the convict had admitted to having prior knowledge of the attack on two separate occasions.
Ademola also noted that the Boko Haram member showed no remorse during his trial, labeling him as a "pathological liar with no regards for the truth".
Sokoto's case of appeal has been postponed to February 4 for hearing of motion.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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KARACHI: Sindh Rangers Director General Major Gen Bilal Akbar disclosed on Friday the arrest of an important Taliban leader to establish his claim about recent success made by the paramilitary force in the targeted operation in Karachi as well as restoration of peace to a large extent. But at the same time he rejected the idea of direct role in governance, saying “it’s not our job”.
The Rangers chief made the disclosure at an academic conference — Politik 2016 — organised by the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) at its campus in the University of Karachi.
According to the participants, Major Gen Akbar first highlighted the role of his force, the “successful results” achieved and challenges of the Karachi operation and then answered some “harsh” questions in detail and “quite frankly”.
Other panellists in the discussion were Zubair Habib of the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) and journalist Zarrar Khuhro. Since the media was not invited to the event, details of the discussion came in bits through the participants of the hours-long session.
“Even political parties have recognised the fact that the ratio of crime in Karachi has gone incredibly down due to this operation,” one of the participants quoted the Rangers chief as saying. “We have busted criminal gangs and arrested a number of assassins and dozens of militants during the operation which led to peace in the city. Only recently we have arrested a key leader of Taliban who was operating under three fake identities.
“His arrest is a big achievement and it suggests our strong ground intelligence and operational capability.”
According to the participants, the Rangers DG shared with them two names – Dawood Mehsood and Bilal Mehsood – of the Taliban leader who, he said, had multiple identities to deceive law enforcement and intelligence agencies, but did not disclose the area from where he was arrested.
An interesting situation, a participant said, emerged when someone from the audience put a question to Major Gen Akbar. He took a second to reply, explaining the job of his force was law enforcement and not governance.
“You have been so active during these days while eliminating crime and looking into other ills of society, so why don’t you take over and directly take up the governance issues,” the participant quoted the questioner as saying.
“I am sad to hear your question,” the Rangers chief retorted. “We are here with a purpose. Our job is to provide security and enforce law. Governance is not our job.”
MEETINGS: Later in the day, the Rangers chief met Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan at the Governor’s House and discussed with him law and order and the Karachi operation.
“The meeting reiterated that action against criminals will be intensified and the province cleansed of criminals so that a complete and lasting peace could be ensured,” said a statement issued by the Governor’s House.
It was busy a day for civil and military leaderships. Corps Commander Karachi Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar held separate meetings with the governor and Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah.
During his meeting at the CM House, the corps commander discussed with the chief minister issues relating to implementation of the National Action Plan and the operation against terrorists.
According to a statement issued by the CM House, the two also discussed implementation of decisions taken by the apex committee to further tighten the noose around terrorists.
The chief minister said he had approved the establishment of another 10 anti-terrorism courts in Karachi and the interior ministry had been requested to direct wireless broadband companies to undertake biometric registration of their customers.
The statement said the corps commander had expressed satisfaction over the implementation of the apex committee’s decisions and said that with the strengthening of the prosecution system, terrorists would not be able to get away.
[FOX] Hillary Clinton's nightmare is not the sudden resurgence of Bernie Sanders. It is the fidelity to the rule of law of the FBI.
The recent revelations of the receipt by Clinton of a Special Access Program email, as well as cut and pasted summaries of state secrets on her server and on her BlackBerry nearly guarantee that the FBI will recommend that the Department of Justice convene a grand jury and seek her indictment for espionage. Here is the backstory.
It seems that every week, more information comes to light about Clinton's grave legal woes. Her worries are in two broad categories: One is her well-documented failure to safeguard state secrets and the other is her probable use of her position as secretary of state to advance financially her husband's charitable foundation. The FBI is currently and aggressively investigating both. What I will describe below is in the state secrets category. It is apparently not new to the FBI, but it is new to the public.
#4
FBI director has an independent term and is more dependent on Congress than the president. Nominally, director of FBI reports to the AG but that doesn't mean that the AG has any real control over the FBI. If Lynch reacts politically, she is finished. The wrath of a nation and the judgement of history will fall on her head.
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/30/2016 12:28
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#5
DO you honestly think Lynch cares about public opinion? This is political corruption and power politics at the highest level, and fidelity to political allies over fidelity to the rule of law is paramount. Do you think Lynch will even want for money or employment if she is loyal to the Champ and his minions?
#6
0bean and his minnions have a shelf life. The RINOs are on the run. The next group in power may not be your grandad's pubs.
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/30/2016 13:12
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#7
This corruption is so embedded at the top that it will be a huge job to uproot it. Not doing so will require a collapse, revolution, or something to get rid of this cancer. The problem is that we will never be the same. Welcome to the brave new world of the Fourth Turning.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/30/2016 14:13
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#8
@#7: So we have appx. 10 more years of this crap? Don't know if I can take it.
#9
I could be wrong, but I don't see why Lynch would stop the DOJ from proceeding with an indictment.
For one thing, Obozo doesn't care what happens to the country or to the Democrat party after he leaves office. I mean, he hasn't cared for the last 7 years. Why would he care who wins the next election? He'll be playing golf in Hawaii either way. Not his problem anymore.
For another thing, I have a hard time seeing two black socialists feeling real passionate about protecting an aging white has-been from her own assholery. I have an easier time seeing champagne and schadenfreude all round, when the Beest finally goes down.
[DAWN] ALTHOUGH as the point man of a government currently braving a terror campaign, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan ...Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz Uncle Fester Sharif. He is noted for his vocal anti-American railing in the National Assembly. However (comma) Khan told the U.S. ambassador that he was in fact pro-American but he and the PML-N would have to be critical of US actions in order to remain publicly credible. Khan cited his wife and children's US citizenship as proof, which means he's lying to one side or the other and probably both. He wears a wig, but you probably guessed that. since hair doesn't grow naturally in that shape or texture... should provide regular updates to raise the public morale, he doesn't speak very often. But on the occasion he does, he invariably creates waves.
Who wouldn't recall his lament in parliament when Pakistain's enemy number one, the mass murderer Hakeemullah Mehsud, was taken out by a missile fired from a US drone? Nisar Ali Khan was so outraged that the floor of the house shook with his anger because the man he was so keen to negotiate with was no more.
If someone else matched the interior minister's sense of outrage at Mehsud's killing it was the Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... chief Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight... , who also wanted to talk to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain, and the drone strike took away his favourite interlocutor.
With Hakeemullah gone and Nisar Ali Khan having had to face the brunt of Imran Khan's dharna as interior minister, one would have thought the two Aitchisonians would never see eye to eye again. But one couldn't have been more gravely mistaken.
For long, Imran Khan has used the derisory term 'muk muka' to describe the Charter of Democracy concluded between the PML-N and the PPP in which the two parties pledged not to repeat their nasty politics of persecuting the other when either was in power in the 1990s.
On Thursday, just two days ago, when the interior minister came under renewed attack for being apparently AWOL during a crisis period, he addressed a news conference and, instead of updating the audience about the latest measures in the context of the National Action Plan to counter terrorism, he laid into the opposition PPP.
Mr Khan lashed out at the leader of the opposition Syed Khursheed Shah after the latter echoed calls of some of the family members of those killed in the Army Public School and more recently the Charsadda terror atrocities in calling for a judicial inquiry to ascertain possible gaps in security measures.
Rather than find fault with Shah's demand, Nisar Ali Khan said he was in a position to 'confirm' Imran Khan's charge of 'muk muka' between his own party and the PPP, and accused the opposition leader of securing undue favours from the prime minister. He did not specify what these favours were but accused the opposition of undermining the action against terrorism.
Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan's latest comments were reminiscent of his remarks when the PPP protested against the manner of arrest and apparent persecution of a key leader, Dr Asim Hussain by the federally controlled paramilitary Rangers in Sindh.
Rather than ask the force under his command to present evidence in the anti-terrorism court against Dr Hussain to secure his conviction, the minister had launched into a tirade against his critics and said he could present 'tapes' against the detained PPP leader which were full of embarrassing, incriminating material. For weeks, even months, we have waited to hear those juicy conversations.
I recall Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan from when he served in the Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... cabinet in the 1990s as a pleasant, civil and an amiable person. He was on top of his ministry. Despite the fact he enjoyed unrivalled proximity to the Sharifs, he had no arrogance.
One can only speculate but, it seems, two things have happened since, making him bitter and averse to criticism. The first which left him perhaps filled with guilt, even self-loathing, seemed to be his role in the appointment of the then army chief, Gen Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... in 1998.
Nisar Ali Khan's brother, Lt-Gen Iftikhar Ali Khan who'd been appointed defence secretary by Sharif, was Musharraf's senior and the commando had served under him. When after Gen Jahangir Karamat's resignation, the prime minister was confronted with making a choice, the brothers are said to have proposed Musharraf's name forcefully. The rest is history.
Nisar Ali Khan has always been a religious man but his years in political wilderness following Musharraf's coup seemed to have pushed him further towards the right. Much of this information comes from sources in the PML-N and is admittedly speculative.
Therefore, it isn't clear whether his deep-seated dislike for the PPP stems more from the allegations of corruption against the largely Sindh-based party or the avowedly secular nature of the politics it pursues.
One can believe any criticism levelled against the PPP over issues ranging from misgovernance to corruption but it is difficult to fathom that a party that has been at the receiving end of the wrath of the turbans would harbour a soft corner for them or would want to undermine the war on terrorism.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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[DAWN] Deposed Lal Masjid ...literally the Red Mosque, located in Islamabad and frequented by all sorts of high govt officials. The proprietors, Ghazi Abdul Rasheed and Maulana Abdul Aziz Ghazi, unleashed their Islamic storm troopers on the city, shutting down whorehouses and beating people up who weren't devout enough. The Musharraf govt put an end to the nonsense by besieging the place. Abdul Aziz Ghazi was nabbed while he was trying to escape dressed up like a girl. BBC reported that the corpse count at 173, but other claims, usually hysterical, say there were up to 1000 titzup. Among their number was Abdul Rashid Ghazi. Everyone then said tut-tut and what a nice guy he had been... holy manMaulana Abdul Aziz ...nutball holy man who runs the Lal Masjid in the heart of Pakistain's capital. After instigating a rebellion against the state in 2007, he was caught trying to sneak away dressed in a burka. He rejects democracy as un-Islamic, which it probably is... has alleged that an officer from the country's premiere intelligence agency "was conspiring against him", while other officials were in contact with him in an effort to sort out the differences between the two sides.
In a written statement and a video message, released via the official Facebook page of Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa ... the Islamic nunnery maintained by Lal Masjid.... , Maulana Aziz claimed he was in negotiations with an officer of the Inter-Services Intelligence ...the Pak military intelligence agency that controls the military -- heads of ISI typically get promoted into the Chief of Army Staff position. It serves as a general command center for favored turban groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, tries to influence the politix of neighboring countries, and carries out a (usually) low-level war against India in Kashmir... (ISI).
However, a woman is only as old as she admits... he claimed that while the negotiations were moving in the right direction, another senior ISI officer was acting as a 'spoiler'.
"I have been told by one of my followers that a brigadier in ISI, who belongs to the 'other sect' is conspiring against me," he said, adding, "I know they are making false videos about me [accusing me of] taking extortion money..."
He also claimed that the intelligence authorities were promoting extremism in the country with their attitude.
"A major recently called and I invited him for a meeting so that we can understand each other," Maulana Aziz said in the video.
But an ISI spokesperson Dawn spoke to rejected the holy man's claims of meeting a major belonging to the agency, terming it "propaganda".
"Maulana Abdul Aziz has a track record of fabricating stories and there has been no contact between him and any agency personnel," the spokesperson said.
But ICT officials, on condition of anonymity, said that Islamabad police personnel and members of the civic administration had visited the holy man and tried to persuade him to obtain pre-arrest bail from the courts.
"This is strange; we have seen him visiting various parts of the city, buying fruit from street vendors on the sidewalk near the vacant plot that used to be the Children's Library," an ICT official said.
In the video, Maulana Aziz also made sectarian remarks, claiming that people with names such as 'Shah', 'Haideri' and 'Shaheedi' were involved in the killings of holy men from the Ahle Sunnat school of thought, including his own father.
"First a false case was registered against me and now they want me to obtain bail," the holy man said, adding, "since the istakhara (divine guidance) is unfavourable, I am reluctant to post bail now."
The issue of posting bail arose after PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar sought to move a privilege motion against the interior minister, who had earlier claimed in the Senate that there were no cases against Maulana Abdul Aziz. But Senator Babar showed documents that included an Islamabad High Court arrest warrant, issued around 11 months ago.
Talking to Dawn, he took the government to task over the release of the holy man's latest video. "This is a clearly a violation of multiple laws and the question is where is the National Action Plan."
"The violations are related to hate speech, fanning militancy, instigating sectarianism, inciting terrorism and challenging the state again," he said, adding that either the government, including the interior minister, were complicit, or they were afraid of one man.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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Every once in a while HuffPo hits on something. Here's a wily priest helping people in North Korea by using a network to smuggle in vegetable seeds. North Korean farmers, now allowed to use tiny plots to grow a little food, can use the seed to make it happen. It is the difference between survival and starvation for some. Very, very clever, and a way to help bring down the awful Kim mysdynasty. Hat tip to Josh Stanton at One Free Korea.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/30/2016
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#1
Good story.
Thanks for the lead.
I was afraid this would be about cucumbers.
[AnNahar] Fierce festivities renewed at noon Friday between the al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli sh-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... Front and Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... rival jihadist groups in the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal, state-run National News Agency reported.
The violent fighting has left several bully boyz dead and maimed from both groups.
The festivities spread to most areas in Arsal's outskirts and in Syria's Qalamoun where al-Nusra and IS have posts.
NNA said there was ongoing fighting in al-Zamarani, Wadi al-Kheil, Khirbet al-Hosn, Qurnet al-Oueini, al-Malahi, Dahr al-Lizzabeh and al-Jarajir.
Meanwhile, ...back at the wrecked scow, Agent 49 felt gingerly for his head. It was still there. He had been hoping differently... the town of Arsal was witnessing "tensions between the residents and the hard boys," the agency reported.
It also said the Lebanese army went on alert in the area and was intermittently shelling movements by the bully boyz in Ras Baalbek's outskirts.
Later on Friday, NNA said the IS-Nusra festivities in Arsal's outskirts have resulted in the "death of five Nusra bully boyz and the capture of six" at the hands of the IS.
The IS has also seized control of a Nusra camp between the areas of al-Malahi and Khirbet Hamam, the agency added.
Several IS bully boyz were also killed in the fighting, including a bigwig called Abou Maria, NNA said.
Expecting a nighttime intensification of the battles, several Arsal residents fled to the Bekaa city of Baalbek where they have relatives, the agency reported.
A truce had been reached overnight between the two jihadists groups, according to media reports.
The Lebanese army has shelled the posts and movements of both groups during the festivities between them in recent days.
Several-Nusra bully boyz were killed or maimed overnight when the army targeted their vehicle that was moving in Arsal's outskirts.
According to al-Akhbar newspaper, the jihadist fighting first erupted after al-Nusra launched a surprise attack against the IS group along the Lebanese-Syrian border as a result of the siege laid by the Lebanese army and Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... against the two groups.
The festivities, which have left scores dead and injured, have been described as the bloodiest between the rival holy warriors.
The bully boyz of al-Nusra and the IS clash with the army occasionally but a major confrontation erupted in August 2014 when the two groups overran Arsal.
HANGU: A suspected terrorist was arrested during a search operation by security forces in Hangu on Friday.
On a tip-off, the security forces conducted a raid at a house in the Mirbah Khel area of Kurram Agency and arrested a suspected terrorist who was linked to a banned terrorist outfit.
The security forces also recovered 10 landmines from the suspect’s possession. The identity of the suspect was not disclosed.
[REUTERS] A 26-year-old mother who took her toddler son to Syria and posted pictures of him next to a weapon has been convicted of belonging to Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (IS).
Tareena Shakil was found guilty at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday of joining IS and encouraging terrorism on social media.
The 26-year-old boarded a plane to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... in October 2014 with her one-year-old boy, crossed the border into Syria and spent three months there, West Midlands police said in a statement.
She denied joining IS but detectives said Shakil had become a member of the Death Eater group and was set to become a jihadi bride.
A photograph uncovered by police showed her posing in Syria underneath an IS flag. She left the country in January 2015, although it is not known why, the statement added.
She was jugged You have the right to remain silent... by counter-terrorism officers when she returned to Britannia on Feb. 18 after landing at Heathrow Airport. The child was taken into care.
"Tareena Shakil had self-radicalized by viewing Death Eater material on the internet, before leaving the UK," said Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale in the statement.
"Our assessment is that she was not naïve. She had absolutely clear intentions when she left the UK, sending tweets encouraging the public to commit acts of terrorism here and then taking her young child to join Daesh [Islamic State] (IS) in Syria.
"Photographs seized from her phone showed Ms Shakil posing with a firearm and wearing a Daesh [Islamic State] balaclava. Another showed a rucksack with a Daesh [Islamic State] logo and person holding a handgun. These were taken while she was in Syria."
Security services estimate some 600 Britons have joined the ranks of Islamic State and other myrmidon groups in Syria and Iraq, many of them crossing via Turkey. About half are believed to have returned to Britannia.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
Send her back.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/30/2016 8:58
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[DAWN] Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... chief Senator Sirajul Haq ...current head of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. Siraj was born in 1962 and entered politics shortly after that... exhorted on Friday the elements carrying out armed struggles to get power to adopt the democratic path for the purpose.
Talking to news hounds here at Markaz Tableegh-e-Islam, he asked the government to come forward to accept the success or shortcomings of the National Action Plan, adding that army was just an state institution, which was not answerable to people.
He said a review of the progress on the 20-point NAP in the Senate revealed that the government's performance was poor as neither reforms in tribal areas had been introduced nor had reconciliation been achieved in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... .
He claimed that poverty and ignorance had increased and criminal justice system had not been reformed, but police had been massively used to intimidate Learned Elders of Islam.
In reply to a question, Senator Haq said, "Islamic movements and Learned Elders of Islam are unanimous that gangs which want power for achievement of their goals should adopt the path of democracy and preaching Islam".
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016
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Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
North Korea is preparing to launch a long-range ballistic missile, possibly within a week, the Japanese government believes.
Kyodo News on Thursday quoted a Japanese government source as saying that analysis of recent satellite images shows movement of vehicles and people near the North's missile launch pad at Tongchang-ri, North Pyongan Province.
The U.S. confirmed that preparations are taking place. "The indications are that they are preparing for some kind of launch," a US official said according to AFP. He added people on the ground seem to be readying for "a regular space launch."
But the official added it is unclear whether the launch will go ahead. "Could be for a satellite or a space vehicle -- there are a lot of guesses. North Korea does this periodically, they move things back and forth. There’s nothing to indicate it’s ballistic missile related," he said.
U.S. Defense Department spokesman Bill Urban urged the North to immediately stop actions and rhetoric that disturb peace and security in the region, but concentrate on taking solid measures to fulfill its international obligations.
Japan's National Security Council chaired by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met to discuss a response.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying also urged the North not to take any rash action and to avoid a vicious cycle of tensions.
The North began modernizing the Tongchang-ri launch site after it launched a space rocket with an estimated range of 10,000 km there in December 2012. It reportedly finished building a new mobile prefabricated structure late last year. This will allow it to assemble a missile on site out of the view of spy satellites.
But the South Korean military said it has detected no signs that indicate an imminent launch of a long-range missile. But it believes that this is likely in the near future because the North may want to put pressure on the U.S. and seek internal unity ahead of the Workers Party congress in May.
"It's true that there is a possibility of a surprise launch, but there're no sign that indicates an imminent launch." a Defense Ministry official said.
Intelligence authorities believe that the North would first have to transport a three-stage rocket from a missile plant near Pyongyang to Tongchang-ri, and none have been spotted.
The height of a tower at the launch pad at Tongchang-ri has been increased from 50 m to 66 m, allowing for a longer, more powerful rocket to be launched.
But the North has not yet declared a no-fly zone in the area.
Some pundits believe North Korea could feel emboldened by China's inaction after its latest nuclear test. "China's lukewarm response has paved the way for it to launch another missile," said Choi Kang of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/30/2016
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Top|| File under:
#1
...If only we had the stones to blow it out of the sky and then warn them that the next one would not only be shot down, but the launchpad whacked...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/30/2016 11:14
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#2
That would be war.
Please recall that the Norks have thousands of ancient artillery tubes in the hills on their side of the border, and that Seoul is in range. Even with the bestest counter-battery artillery, aircraft, etc., by the time we stopped them, many, many people in Seoul would be dead.
That's not a price the ROK wants to pay just to take out a Nork missile.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/30/2016 12:30
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#3
B-2 + small diameter bombs pretargetted to hit the cave mouths and air vents of said artillery. Same problem that Ludendorff faced; for that strategy to work you have to strike first. If I was pudgy, I would tone it down a notch.
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/30/2016 12:41
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China urged South Korea Friday to rethink the sensitive issue of bringing in an advanced U.S. missile defense system.
"The Chinese government hopes the related nation (South Korea) will handle the matter prudently," Hua Chunying, spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry, told Yonhap News Agency.
She stressed that Beijing's position is firm that all countries should consider the national interests of other nations in taking their own security into account.
China's message came in response to reports that South Korea is moving to allow American forces to deploy the THAAD system on the peninsula in order to strengthen the shield against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/30/2016
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Top|| File under:
#1
China + CPC/CCP is likely not a happy camper at this point in time, at due to seeing both recovery + reunification wid Taiwan, + getting the US out of East Asia + 1/2 of the Pacific/WESTPAC seemingly increasingly stalled or becom problematic.
#2
The US should expect China to behave increasingly assertive + belligerent, as China begins to recognize that military conflict = MilPol "aggressionism" agz US-Allies may be the only way to achieve its agenda in the near-term instead of Year 2050 or beyond.
In the strict technical sense of not actually having assembled warheads ready to put on/in delivery vehicles, yes the Nips have no nukes.
OTOH, I strongly suspect there are some interesting "spare parts" on a shelf in a (very secure!) warehouse somewhere. Made with all the care and precision that Japan can bring to bear.
#8
"...OTOH, I strongly suspect there are some interesting "spare parts" on a shelf in a (very secure!) warehouse somewhere. Made with all the care and precision that Japan can bring to bear."
...Tom Clancy, of all people, laid out a thoroughly compelling and believable scenario on how the Japanese could do this in Debt of Honor. You gotta believe the Chinese believe that scenario to be completely plausible...especially as the Taiwanese have the same abilities.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/30/2016 11:12
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#9
Mike -- so do the SKor. China, not providing firmer control of NKor, may have nuclearized the entire area around it. I expect Japan to do some serious renegotiating of its constitution in the near future, since what they have was forced upon them by McNamara.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/30/2016 17:07
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#10
Wouldn't it be funny if they all got Chinese designs via AQ Khan and the Paks?
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.
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.
North Korea's claim that it detonated a hydrogen bomb during an apparent nuclear-weapons test on January 6 were widely dismissed by experts and the US government as well. But it turns out that Pyongyang might have tested components from a hydrogen bomb after all. 
The F-35's flight plan appears to have delays written all over it. A previously unreleased memo from Michael Gilmore, the Department of Defense's director for Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E), details a list of problems that will likely hold up the testing of the final configuration of the aircraft--and will mean the "Block 2B" aircraft now being delivered to the Marine Corps soon will continue to be full of software bugs for years to come. But officials with the F-35's Joint Program Office (JPO) have downplayed the seriousness of Gilmore's concerns, with one military member of the office taking to the Facebook page of a defense publication to call the memo "whining."
The U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ship struggled in drills at sea to fend off a swarm of small attacking vessels like the Iranian boats it could encounter in the Persian Gulf, according to the Pentagon's chief weapons tester.
Penetrating outside information into North Korea questioning the legitimacy of leader Kim Jong-un should be considered as a key means to retaliate against and curb the communist nation's cyber attacks, a U.S. think tank said.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
ERBIL – Radical group of the Islamic State (ISIS) has executed more than 20 of its own militants for trying to flee jihad in Iraq’s northwestern province of Nineveh, local sources reported on Saturday.
[DAWN] LAWS, like men, can be good or bad. Nonetheless, we prefer the 'rule of law' to the 'rule of men' because the former lends certainty and predictability to the governance of one's affairs. The latter subjects one to the vagaries and whimsies of individuals.
[DAWN] Health officials in Zim-bob-we's capital, Harare, have detected several cases of typhoid fever in the past week, adding to fears that a water crisis will fuel the spread of infectious diseases.
[VULTURE] "Why have you let me film this?" filmmaker Josh Kriegman asks his subject, disgraced congressman 
[DAWN] INTERIOR Minister Nisar Ali Khan appears to have a notoriously thin skin. It was recently on display when Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah did what he seems to do best -- provoke the interior minister.
[NEWS24.NG] A member of the 
Pervez 
[DAWN] Deposed 
North Korea is preparing to launch a long-range ballistic missile, possibly within a week, the Japanese government believes. 
