[Jpost] Gaza is beyond a "humanitarian crisis" and "on the verge of a total systems failure," UN Mideast envoy Nickolay Mladenov said Tuesday.
Speaking at the INSS annual conference in Tel Aviv, Mladenov defined a total systems failure as the "full collapse of the economy and social services," with all the "political, humanitarian and security implications stemming from that." So, does it mean no more rockets, no more tunnels?
#3
Gaza is beyond a “humanitarian crisis” and “on the verge of a total systems failure,” UN Mideast envoy Nickolay Mladenov
Too much focus on Jew-killing will do that. The irony is that the Paleos have only *bleep*ed themselves and Israel is still around. In spite of all the "assistance" from the UN.
[Independent] An Air Force sergeant is under investigation after a profanity-laced Facebook tirade in which she denigrated "black females" who are of lower rank than her.
Tech Sgt Geraldine Lovely has been "removed from her supervisory role" after the Facebook post went viral over the weekend, officials at Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas have said.
"It pisses me the f*** off that they have no respect and constantly have attitude," Ms Lovely says in the video. "What the f*** is up with that?"
A version of the video uploaded Monday was viewed more than 900,000 times, according to the Las Vegas Sun. In that video, Ms Lovely was wearing her Air Force uniform.
"They’re talking down to me. I’m trying to tread lightly as a higher-ranking (non-commissioned officer) to not blow the f*** up and start a fight club," she says in the video.
"Every time I f***ing talk to them, it’s like I’m just some stupid a** girl that doesn’t even deserve to be talked to as a person," she continues.
#5
The King gave Sun Tzu his harem to test him as a leader and told him to make his harem a unit capable in war. Sun Tzu split the harem into two divisions, each led by one of the Kings favorite concubines, and to form at the beat of the drums. The harem laughed at such a concept. Sun Tzu executed the two concubines, and selected two more to lead. This time around the harem did as instructed, without hesitation.
#6
Problem seen before with similar ethnic and gender lower enlisted. This generation, per my younger relatives, has many individuals in dire need of discipline and order, which is no longer possible under the current victimology rules.
[MI] Crashes and severe recessions often are followed by bursts of innovation and a boom. Not this time. And the Fed's policies deserve much of the blame.
Many negative consequences flow reliably from a financial crisis, including unemployment, political turmoil, and piles of sovereign debt. Since the 2008 financial meltdown, however, we've seen none of the good consequences ‐ and there are supposed to be good ones.
Crashes and severe recessions often are followed by bursts of innovation that lay the groundwork for several decades of future growth and productivity increases. Severe economic downturns can perform a vital cleansing for the economy, toppling unchallengeable market positions and clearing a path for newcomers with disruptive ideas. The economic transformations that followed major worldwide crashes prior to 2008 ‐ in 1873, 1929, and 1973‐were breathtaking.
Yet here we are, nearly a decade after the worst financial crisis in modern memory, and we've seen few of these kinds of benefits. Don't let heady stock prices, record corporate profits, and low unemployment fool you. America is only now emerging from a lost decade. Instead of renewal, the last ten years were blighted by slow growth, stagnant productivity, limited social mobility, long-term unemployment and underemployment, and despair.
The economic legacy of the last decade is excessive corporate consolidation, a massive transfer of wealth to the top 1% from the middle class, the creation of even more asset bubbles, and rising social tensions. America is incredibly resilient. We are not Japan. We are recovering.
#1
Then again, they just may be pumping up one more bubble, hoping to sell off under the 'greater fool theory'.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
01/30/2018 14:32
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#2
During the financial crisis of 2008, the Treasury and Fed acted to prevent financial collapse through quantitative easing and acting as the lender of last resort, which kept the bottom from falling out. It really could have been worldwide economic collapse otherwise. Dogs and cats, living together. Or maybe not. But the risk was deemed too great and I, for one, agree. This engineered 'soft landing' meant there was less of the 'unwinding' that typically occurs during recessions. This then led to a recovery more tepid than usual. Many trend economists believe the next expansion will be huge. But we have a recession to go through first (and which is likely around the corner).
The bullshit part is that after all that carnage, our government never really did what needed to be done to keep bankers from pulling the same shit again. So, it'll probably happen again one day. Guess that's what you get when the secretary of the treasury is a Goldman-Sachs alumnus.
[Mail] A German inventor has created rape-proof knickers in the wake of a spate of sex attacks.
The underwear comes equipped with a combination lock and a loud alarm which goes off if they are tampered with. German media has reported the pants are so popular some online shops have sold out.
Because of the lock, the pants cannot be pulled off and they are made with a material which is almost impossible to cut through or tear. The 130-decibel alarm is automatically activated if the garment is cut off.
The advertisement for the pants reads: 'Scarcely a day passes without headlines of sexual assaults.
'Only recently, a father in Kleve could barely prevent an attempted rape of his daughter. Brand new on the market of deterrence: underpants with a number lock.'
But security comes with a price - one pair of the pants costs 100 euros (£87).
Posted by: Besoeker ||
01/30/2018
08:45 ||
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[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#9
"An Iron Cross with Crescents for Steiner,
And one for the unknown designer
of mein Eisenhosen,
A trophy from Posen
Mit ersatz wolf-puppy fur liner!"
#12
This is a fine example of the Problem Problem - what is the actual problem that needs solving. Is it that German women are not wearing impenetrable panties or is it that a large cohort of recent immigrants do not understand the norms of civilized behavior?
[American Thinker] Instead of planning how to spend his federal pension, now-former Deputy Director of the FBI Andrew McCabe must be figuring out how to pay the lawyers he is going to need. Until his boss Christopher Wray, President Trump’s appointee to head the FBI, read the four-page FISA memo on Sunday (an extraordinary act in itself), he enjoyed protected job status. According to reports, Wray previously had threatened to resign if McCabe was forced out.
Officially, McCabe "stepped down," but administration officials informed the media that he was "removed," which suggests he was forced to resign. Using accumulated vacation time, he will be able to fill out a full twenty years of servcue and qualify for a federal pension. According to some reports, his accumulated vacation time was sufficient to allow him to have left office late last year, but he preferred to stay on for reasons we can only speculate on, but which might include running interference int he face of criticism.
Something changed Wray’s mind. We don’t know exactly what that was. The timing suggests that the memo itself contained damaging information, but according to a report in the New York Times, it was a preview of the forthcoming Inspector General’s report that led Wray to suggest a transfer of McCabe, and McCabe himself decided to leave rather than accept a demotion:
#1
re: the last paragraph. That is the way the NYT would like to spin it.
Posted by: V. Theart2807 ||
01/30/2018 9:37
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#2
The offer of a demotion for someone at that level is a deliberate insult, intended to drive someone to resign rather than be let go. There is also the question of pension: I don’t know if federal pensions are based on the last paycheck, and whether someone who is demoted necessarily has his pay reduced to the match his new assignment rather than his old rating.
[American Thinker] The confirmation of Rod Rosenstein to be Deputy Attorney General by a lopsided 94-6 vote should have set off warning bells. It is odd that a Trump nominee would get much Democratic support, if any. But his role in appointing his buddy Robert Mueller to lead a bogus Russian collusion probe and his history of looking the other way when Hillary Clinton is involved shows the Democrats had high hopes for Rosenstein, hopes realized by actions documented in the four-page House Intelligence Committee memo:
A secret, highly contentious Republican memo reveals that Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein approved an application to extend surveillance of a former Trump campaign associate shortly after taking office last spring, according to three people familiar with it.
The renewal shows that the Justice Department under President Trump saw reason to believe that the associate, Carter Page, was acting as a Russian agent...
The memo’s primary contention is that F.B.I. and Justice Department officials failed to adequately explain to an intelligence court judge in initially seeking a warrant for surveillance of Mr. Page that they were relying in part on research by an investigator, Christopher Steele, that had been financed by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign
Steele’s discredited "research," which relied heavily on input from Russian sources, was paid for by the DNC and the Hillary Clinton campaign, which puts Rosenstein in the position of aiding the efforts of one political party to overturn the results of an election won by the other political party by okaying domestic spying on an American citizen.
When the newly departed Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe testified for seven hours before the House Intelligence Committee, he was unable to report that the FBI had corroborated anything in the Steele dossier, except for the fact that Carter Page had visited Russia:
[The Federalist] In the wake of the U.S. Olympics Gymnastics scandal involving the sexual abuse of hundreds of young athletes by team doctor Larry Nassar, some people are asking where the parents were when the abuse was occurring.
In a recent column for NBC News, Bethany Mandel argues that to do so is to practice a kind of self-righteous public shaming of those involved: "It’s a common response when tragedy strikes a child: Where were the parents? How could they let this happen? After a child is hurt or killed, online mommy-shamers inevitably swoop in, incapable of offering enough empathy to appreciate that sometimes bad things happen even to children with the best parents. In the wake of the Larry Nassar case, as scolds tend to do, they’ve swooped in again."
Mandel compares the "scolding" of the young gymnasts’ parents to that experienced by other parents in recent years whose children fell into a gorilla enclosure at the zoo or were grabbed by an alligator at Disney World. She sees the focus on the parents as a distraction that ultimately accomplishes nothing:
#4
The leotards used to be much simpler and more modest, AlanC. The trend toward skin and sparkles came gradually, as it did in women’s ice skating —probably in part coming from the girls themselves.
One thing should be noted: the girls were sent away from home to board at the training facilities at a fairly young age, and are themselves highly disciplined and driven to endure a great deal in order to succeed. As far as I am aware, none of the girls allowed the sexual abuse to prevent them from reaching for gold, and often enough attaining it, over the years.
Meanwhile, the parents were working long hours to afford the high costs of the gymnastics boarding school, and very likely hearing nothing from their daughters, just as they didn’t hear serious complaints about torn muscles, strict diets, and trying to find time to do schoolwork amid the long hours in the gym.
#5
You could ask the same question when it comes to the horrible 'public' education K-12 students have been 'receiving' (or not receiving) these past twenty years or so.
#7
Didn't we just have a long discussion about absent parents working long hours and it's effect on children?
You make good points TW.
As the earlier article suggests and you reinforce, group bonding by adolescents also fosters competition. Sure the girls wanted to 'sparkle' more. I wonder if there also weren't 'trophy' males to conquer.
#8
Male gymnasts are probably at different schools -- they use different equipment than the girls, except for the floor exercise, so there would be no cost savings to having them train together, and too much distraction, Skidmark. Not to mention that boys continue to develop strength well into college and beyond, while the top girls often struggle past eighteen or so, as their bodies settle into a more womanly form skewing the strength to power ratio.
Finally, any girl who allows herself to be distracted by the idea of boys will lose to those keeping their eyes and efforts firmly focussed on gymnastics, however nice a boy in the hand might be.
[Al Arabia] Hamas says one of its senior officials has died, three weeks after accidentally shooting himself while cleaning his weapon in Gaza.
Spokesman Hazem Qassem said on Tuesday that Imad al-Alami had been unconscious since the Jan. 9 shooting.
Hamas initially hastily announced al-Alami died naturally but later said he shot himself while checking his weapon at his Gaza City home and was in critical condition.
The 62-year-old al-Alami held several key posts as a member of Hamas’ policy-making body and lived in Syria before returning to Gaza in 2012. He remained a prominent official though not a member of the current politburo.
After the 2014 Israel-Hamas war, he traveled to Turkey for treatment for an injury in which he lost a leg. Hamas said he was wounded in the war.
Selected excerpt:
[Gatestone] In November 2017, Oxford's Magdalen College announced that it will introduce mandatory courses for first-year newcomers on "institutional racism, cultural appropriation and implicit bias," to ensure that ethnic minorities do not feel "offended".
Oxford also announced that history students would be required to write "at least one exam paper focusing on black, Asian and other non-European history," to balance the "white" curriculum. Shortly before that, for the first time in 800 years, Oxford University eliminated the obligatory course on Christianity for theology students. Oxford's multicultural political correctness looks as if has come right out of George Orwell's "1984".
This frightening racist wave of institutional "anti-racism" is also trying to reprogram the students' private habits. The Oxford Equality and Diversity Unit, which monitors respect for the canons of "anti-racism," has ruled that not looking into the eyes of a student belonging to a minority constitutes a "microaggression" that can lead to "mental disorder". Joanna Williams, a university lecturer at the University of Kent, said that the Oxford decision is "completely ridiculous" and will make students "hypersensitive" about how they interact with each other. Williams labeled it a "thought crime".
#2
The SJW colleges and universities are suffering a decline in enrollment for some strange reason. Men especially are seeking alternatives, such as online schools, trade schools, the military, and etc.
#3
Well there is always Argosy, Vanguard, Liberty, and Biola if you want a good degree without the silliness.
Even my alma mater, Texas A&M is starting down the slippery slope of Anti-Trumpism as an architecture professor is advocating a university resistance to immigration reform.
[Townhall] The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which bans abortion after 20 weeks, failed to pass the Senate Monday. The legislation passed the House of Representatives last year, but Democrats derailed it today in the upper chamber, with a final vote of 51-46.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) could not understand how his colleagues on the other side of the aisle could be so heartless.
"I am truly shocked by those who declare it 'extreme' to oppose late-term abortions that we know to cause fetal pain," Hatch said in a statement. "The facts on this matter are indisputable: Democrats have willfully ignored science for the sake of political expediency. As for myself, I was proud to vote for the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, and I am eager to continue fighting on behalf of the unborn."
#3
This kind of bill has been submitted regularly since the Roe v. Wade ruling, If more Republicans win in November, it will come up again in the new session. It helps that this president is willing to sign, rather than promising to veto anything on the subject.
#4
One of the Senators who voted against the was my own Senator, Tim Kaine. Tim Kaine is nominally a Catholic. In my not so humble opinion, Bishop Knestout, the new bishop of Richmond, should excommunicate his ass.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/30/2018 14:23
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#5
I recall a group of Dems who were "shocked" when 0bumhole broke a "promise" he made to them regarding abortion to get their vote for 0bumholecare. Now it's just something they don't try to pretend about anymore.
The military sent reconnaissance aircraft to observe simulated incoming ships, and tanks fired rounds as the "enemy" landed at the eastern port of Hualien.
Attack helicopters fired flares and F-16 fighter jets launched simulated assaults, backing up the ground battle against the "enemy" troops -- who wore red helmets to differentiate themselves.
The ministry did not specify that the annual drill simulated an invasion by China but said it was intended to "show determination to safeguard peace in the Taiwan Strait and national security".
The Taiwan Strait separates the island from China.
Tsai last month warned against what she called Beijing's "military expansion" -- the increase in Chinese air and naval drills around the island since she came to power in May 2016.
There is also a dispute about new flight routes by Chinese airlines in the strait. Beijing sees self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.
Cross-strait relations have turned frosty since the inauguration of Tsai, who refuses to acknowledge self-ruling, democratic Taiwan is part of "one China". The drill on Tuesday takes place annually before the Lunar New Year holiday to raise public confidence in Taiwan's defence capabilities.
#2
I have about a 20 min video of the Hualein AF base and another 30 min of the port. All in HD made while our tour bus went through there and later boarding a train in that town.
#3
Of all the great ladies who've passed away
And all of the bon temps I've cast away,
Don't ask, Chiang Kai-shek,
Why I tend to reflect
On the F-86s of yesterday!
[LA Tribune France] [Google auto-translated]. Ariane 5's on-board computer was poorly programmed. The launcher flew over Kourou, which has never happened so far.
This is a huge miss ArianeGroup, who was responsible for the first time launcher until takeoff (H0). The satellites SES-14 (SES) and Al Yah 3 (Yahsat, the operator of the United Arab Emirates) were dropped on the night of Thursday to Friday by an Ariane 5 ECA launcher on a bad geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) due to an inclination error of 20 degrees from the start. Above all, the launcher flew over Kourou. This has never happened before.
This explains why Arianespace lost track of the launcher after nine minutes: the telemetry antennas were not looking for the launcher where it was but where it should be. And for good reason. An independent commission of inquiry, set up last Friday by Arianespace in coordination with the European Space Agency (ESA) must determine the reasons for this anomaly.
Hacked?
Overview of Kourou
Involved, an azimuth error, which is at the level of the flight program. Clearly, the programming of the on-board computer under the responsibility of ArianeGroup has been faulty. An error worthy of the worst Russian launchers.
The first investigations show that this situation results from a deviation of the trajectory, according to an Arianespace press release.
Unlike previous launches, there was no double control by Arianespace due to the desire to reduce duplication between the two companies. Duplicates that finally had reliability and increased the quality of service provided by Arianespace.
The Arianespace reliability record is at stake.
New mistakes could definitely damage the reliability record of the European launchers. Both satellites are expected to finally reach their final orbit with a reduced operational life. Some experts estimate this reduction of one third, or even half.
The launcher took off as scheduled on January 25, 2018 at 19:20 (local time in Kourou, French Guiana). Nine minutes and 26 seconds after H0, ground telemetry stations from the second station in Natal, Brazil, lost contact with the Ariane 5 launcher. An anomaly found a few seconds after the ignition of the upper stage. "This lack of telemetry lasted until the end of the mission," said the launch services company.
"At the end of the mission, the launcher separated the two satellites in a stable orbit, said Arianespace, SES and Yahsat have each acquired their satellite SES-14 and Al Yah 3 operate nominally."
#1
Same problem the russkies just had, though in their case the launcher had been mis-programmed for launch from the wrong location. Same unfortunate result.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/30/2018 6:32
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#2
Hacked?
...HANLON'S RAZOR: "Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity." Don't forget that NASA drove a probe right into Mars because they forgot to convert standard/metric numbers.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/30/2018 12:17
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#3
Remember the Mars Climate Observer? ...spacecraft was lost as the spacecraft went into orbital insertion, due to ground-based computer software which produced output in non-SI units of pound (force)-seconds (lbf·s) instead of the SI units of newton-seconds (N·s) specified in the contract...
#8
Some of these problems can be subtle.
IIRC, the March 2000 V-22 Osprey Crash brought to light a jargon difference between the services. The USAF helicopter pilot who wrote the section on Vortex Ring State(VRS) understood that (VRS) means you have LOST lift. In the USMC/Navy aviators parlance it means you are losing lift.
h/t Instapundit
[PJMedia] Just as the Palestinians twenty-five years and four significant offers after Oslo have demonstrated they really don't want a two-state solution with the Israelis, Democrats have now revealed they don't want to solve the U.S. immigration problem.
As with the Palestinians, it's all a shell game.
Donald Trump just offered the Dems an agreement on DACA that gives two million "Dreamers" a pathway to full citizenship after 10-12 years -- something not even done by Barack Obama! -- and the Dems didn't even want to discuss the proposal. All that happened was their increasingly unhinged minority leader screamed Trump was "making America safe for white people!" Which is obviously wrong -white people (80% of USA population) should be unsafe!
Never mind. The point is that Pelosi revealed herself to be a repellent racist... or racialist (someone who plays the race card no matter what). More importantly, the Democratic Party unmasked themselves as not all that interested in the "Dreamers" as people. They just want to make the Republicans look, well, racist and lose elections. Otherwise they would be jumping up and down for this proposal.
...By playing identity politics, the Dems have won (a little) in the short run but, even though demographics seem to be running in their favor, will lose big time in the end. And not just because identity politics is immoral and discriminatory. That's obvious. It's because it won't work at all if the economy continues to boom. Blacks, Hispanics and women are going to work as never before and beginning to see through how they've been exploited. Change is happening. The Democrats are in the reactionary position of having to wish for or engineer an American economic failure to make their even more reactionary policies succeed. Pathetic, no?
But all is not lost for them. All they need is a little new leadership. Perhaps Mahmoud Abbas would be willing to immigrate and come work for them. There's no one better at obstructionist policies. Of course, he'd have to stand in line.
Nancy and her fellow donks won't be satisfied until the United States is a vastly over populated one-party socialist police state like China. They need a wide open border to achieve that goal so it's no surprise they are willing to sacrifice DACA to get it. As usual they will play the race card in their public dialogue because it's the only card they have. Sadly, it appears there are enough RINOs in the Senate to prevent the wall from being erected but at least we'll get rid of the dreamers.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
01/30/2018 11:00
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[Hot Air] We’ve seen a number of companies around the country from various industries celebrating the recent tax cuts by handing out raises and bonuses or expanding operations. But they’ll all have to pick up the pace if they want to catch up with the nation’s oil and gas industry. Earlier this month we talked about the fact that business has been picking up at such a pace that the major producers are having trouble finding enough workers. They seem to be finding them somewhere, however... at least so far. In another significant milestone, the United States oil and gas rig count increased by a dozen in a single week. That’s the largest increase we’ve seen since March of last year.
Rather the other prong of it, but in the long one the one that will lead to the defeat of the jihadis in the Ummah. Whether Europe can recover is a differnt story — my prayers that European Conservative and his comrades will lead the way by quickly winning in their corner of Germany.
#5
Don't forget the Street gave millions to the democrats and ran cover on a lot of Zero's idiotic economic policies...It gives one pause to think what is going through these lefties on Wall Street's minds as they see the Dow take off like a Concorde with the afterburners on.
[Miami Herald] Nineteen American citizens have reported symptoms similar to those suffered by U.S. diplomats who had been identified as victims of alleged attacks in Cuba.
"Since September 29, the Department of State has been contacted by 19 U.S. citizens who reported experiencing symptoms similar to those listed in the Travel Warning after visiting Cuba," a spokesperson for the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs told the Miami Herald in an email.
"We continue to urge U.S. citizens to reconsider travel to Cuba," she added.
In late September, the State Department issued a travel warning advising Americans not to travel to Cuba because they could become victims of mysterious attacks such as those suffered by 24 diplomats and their families while they were stationed in Havana. The U.S. also removed most of the staff at its embassy in the Cuban capital.
h/t Instapundit
[AmGreatness] Not all conspiracy theorists are unhinged paranoids‐even when they insist there was a loosely organized if not sometimes incoherent effort to destroy Donald Trump’s candidacy beyond the bounds of "normal" politics and later a renewed and unprecedented endeavor to abort his presidency.
After all, did anyone believe that in the year 2017 the losing side in an American election would immediately dub itself the "Resistance"‐channeling the World War II nomenclature of the guerrilla campaign against the Nazi occupation of France? Or that the defeated candidate Hillary Clinton would formally embrace the imagery of liberationist patriots fighting a Nazi-like Trump’s occupation of the United States?
[Daily Caller] Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich doubled down on his faith in President Donald Trump and mocked Hillary Clinton for appearing in a comedy sketch at the Grammy Awards.
"[Trump’s] not going to give up putting America first. He’s not going to give up fighting for small business, fighting for deregulation, fighting for lower taxes. But I think he has learned over the last year," Gingrich said Monday on "Fox & Friends." "He’s had a year now to be president. He’s clearly learned a lot of lessons. There’s no reason for him to know coming into office, the differences between a billionaire in business and being the president of the United States."
"I always said he is a very smart guy," Gingrich said. "He didn’t get to be that wealthy by being stupid. He didn’t beat 16 Republicans in the primaries by being stupid."
Gingrich believes that Trump winning the presidency has made Clinton politically irrelevant, and said his success continues to drive Democrats crazy.
"Just think about this weekend, Hillary Clinton on TV sadly reading out of a weird book, while Donald Trump is preparing a state of the union. That’s not a world anybody on the left thought was possible. And so I think he can afford to be generous and say, let’s find a way to work together," Gingrich said.
#1
*snicker* Sometimes mockery is necessary, and poor Mrs. Clinton, perennial presidential bridesmaid, needs this kind of help to accept the unchangeable reality that she will never be a bride.
#2
It appears some members of the California congressional delegation will be bringing illegals to the SOTU, some demonstrations are planned, some are wearing black to honor BLM and Steyer (who the dems don't realize is supporting them to get his environmental agenda passed and make Billions for himself with some of his business ventures) is going to run adds during the address calling for Trump's resignation to include some Goldwateresque allusions to Trump being too reckless to be allowed to have control over our nuclear arsenal (they never have anything new in their playbook).
Seems the dems are well on their way to recreating the 1964 convention in Chicago where their own out of control antics resulted in a Republican landslide. Worse yet, while some pundits are predicting the republicans are in trouble for the mid terms, the continuing economic good news and the continuing saga of the leftist Zero's totalitarian executive branch are going to tilt the playing field.
[Daily Caller] Two Republican senators helped kill a 20-week abortion ban in the Senate on Monday evening.
The Senate voted 51-46 in favor of the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which was short of the 60 votes required to proceed to a final vote under current Senate rules.
Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine both voted against the bill, which would have prohibited abortions on unborn babies after 20 weeks, the age at which they can feel pain, with exceptions in cases ripe, incest or to save the life of the mother.
h/t Instapundit
[VictoryGirlsBlog] This is from the "Things that sound dirty, but aren’t" file. I’m talking about real meat and enviro-nazis’ real attempts to stop us from eating and enjoying our favorite foods.
Excise taxes on beef, pork, and chicken could be the next big thing in a state and local tax environment that’s already comfortable with "sin tax" regimes aimed at cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, and gambling and is adapting quickly to special levies on sugar-sweetened beverages, greenhouse gases, and marijuana.
...This is not the first time we’ve seen psychotic, state-worshiping enviro-wackos push a tax on meat. It will give them a double prize: force everyone to conform to their way of life, and give their government gods extra revenue.
...Also, note PETA’s sneaky attempts at creating the illusion that people support their insane tax on meat. There are no legislative proposals on any government level to impose a tax on your favorite foods. For now, your barbecue chicken, your prime rib, your pork chops, and your bacon cheeseburgers are safe from greedy statists, but PETA is working hard to advance the deception that not only is broad, popular support for vegetarianism, veganism, and their way of life is on the rise, but that a bigger percent of Americans now wants to force their fellow citizens to live like they do. And while it’s true there are more Americans today lowering their meat intake, that number is still tiny (and by the way, since the 2017 study was commissioned by the Vegetarian Resource Group ‐ an organization with an obvious agenda ‐ I have doubts that their estimate of 3.8 percent of Americans identifying either vegetarian or vegan are in any way accurate).
...But it’s not just the nutjobs at PETA pushing this potential economic disaster, it’s also those statist ass weasels at the United Nations, who want to tax meat until it’s too expensive to eat, forcing the farming and agriculture industry into abject poverty.
Additionally, while the World Health Organization derps about red meat being "probably" carcinogenic, which means they don’t know but are putting it out there anyway as a means of maligning an entire industry, beef and other meats are good sources of protein, iron, zinc, and other vitamins, and their negative effects are far from established science, especially if you stick to lean meats low in saturated fats.
And they both hide behind "environmentalism" to advance these odious policies. Environmentalism is simply communism in green clothing ‐ a watermelon, green on the outside and red on the inside ‐ which uses propaganda techniques similar to the former USSR to advance its odious, anti-human policies.
Stay vigilant and have a steak, my friends, before they come for it. Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom - but, eventually, you get tired. Which is perfectly OK if you get tired of trying to be reasonable and civilized, and deal with the pests in the only way they understand.
#1
It's amazing in a democracy how much power and influence small special interest groups have over the vast majority. Maybe its not a democracy or a republic.
BLUF:
[Townhall] Like the Romans, we have become an empire, committed to fight for scores of nations, with troops on every continent, and forces in combat operations of which the American people are only vaguely aware.
"I didn't know there were 1,000 troops in Niger," said Sen. Lindsey Graham when four Green Berets were killed there. "We don't know exactly where we're at in the world, militarily, and what we're doing."
No, we don't, Senator.
As in all empires, power is passing to the generals.
And what causes the greatest angst today in the imperial city?
Fear that a four-page memo worked up in the House Judiciary Committee may discredit Robert Mueller's investigation of Russia-gate.
#2
Wow, an entire article by Patrick that doesn't mention/censors Israel!
p.s. Patrick, generals came to rule Rome because they were the ones getting their troops land grants and thus gaining their loyalty at the expense of loyalty to the state. Absent such mechanisms of gaining troops loyalty, generals can;t take over empires - cf. British empire
#4
Grom__ Perhaps more of a factor was the fact that almost all (late) Roman generals were politicians first - putting in their Legion time to build their power base.
#5
Point g(r)om, but why didn't the legionaries have land back in Rome? Back in the republic the citizen soldiers farmers were deployed outside of Roman territory. No one to work the farm or pay the land tax. Those with money [1 percenters], bought them up and staffed them with slave/foreign labor leaving the soldiers destitute when they returned. They never worked it out. Something about money and politics.
The danger is not Rome, the danger is Spain and Franco. The only institution that retains the confidence of the the largest section of the people is the military. The other institutions are rife with the Leftest crap and heading ever downward. It appeals to the urbanists but not the anyone but. When you are stuck with the only institution that shows a modicum of integrity, competency, abhorrence to corruption, and loyal to the concept of the nation state (ie tribe) compared to all others, consent of the governed will gravitate to it.
#8
Snomose Grating7526 if you think anybody becomes a USA (or Israeli) general without being a politician...
P2K, point but Italian farmers weren't a single son families: eldest inherits, another joins the legions, etc... It's just that family farms can't compete with agribusinesses, whether the later use slaves or machinery - look at today's USA agriculture.
Spain & Franco in USA? Leaving all other considerations aside - what about service rivalry?
[NYP] PHNOM PENH, Cambodia ‐ Ten foreigners charged with producing pornographic photos during a party near Cambodia’s famed Angkor Wat temple complex have denied any wrongdoing, a prosecutor said Monday.
Still, there was "enough evidence to prove that they violated the law, and therefore, they must face charges," Siem Reap provincial court prosecutor Samrith Sokhon said.
The 10 charged Sunday include five people from the United Kingdom, two from Canada and one each from Norway, the Netherlands and New Zealand. Since they are in jail, they could not be reached for comment and it was not immediately possible to find the lawyer representing them.
Police said they raided a rented villa in Siem Reap, where the foreigners were taking part in what organizers called a pub crawl and found people "dancing pornographically" Thursday. While almost 90 foreigners were detained, all but 10 were released.
Photos released by police showed clothed young adults rolling around together on a dance floor.
On Sunday, the 10 were formally charged with producing pornographic pictures, which the prosecutor said were then posted on social media.
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi Joint Operations Command denied on Monday news circulated about deployment of the Kurdish Peshmerga troops near Kirkuk to regain control on it.
In a statement, the command said, “some media channels circulated false news that Peshmerga troops moved toward regions in east of Kirkuk.”
“The Joint Operations Command confirms that no change with locations of both the Peshmerga or federal troops,” it said expressing astonishment at the false news that seek misleading the public.
The command warned the media channels, which posted such news, of being trapped and said it “has the right to take legal measures through coordination with the media and telecommunications authority.”
Media channels on Sunday reported that Peshmerga troops made movements after the federal forces moved toward regions in southeast of Kirkuk.
Informed military sources said on Saturday that Peshmerga received orders to be on high alert across Kurdistan.
Baghdad had declared intentions to retake areas disputed on with Erbil following the Kurdistan Region’s vote for independence from Iraq in September, urging Peshmerga to cooperate with federal troops.
Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Six security personnel were killed and injured in a house explosion and armed attack that targeted a checkpoint in Kirkuk, security sources said.
“An armed attack launched by unidentified gunmen against a checkpoint of Tribal Mobilization Forces in al-Rashad town, south of Kirkuk, leaving one personnel killed and three others wounded,” the source told Baghdad Today website on Monday.
The victim, according to the source, was taken to forensic medicine department, while the wounded were transferred to hospital.
In related news, a federal police conscript was killed, while another was wounded as booby-trapped house exploded, west of Kirkuk.
“A booby-trapped house exploded in the evening in al-Kowaz village, west of Kirkuk,” another source told Baghdad Today. “The explosion left a police conscript killed and another wounded.”
On Sunday, a source said gunmen killed a person from al-Rashad town called Oudai Saleh Ibrahim in al-Khadraa region, indicating information that this person is a member of the town’s municipal council.
Diyala (IraqiNews.com) Diyala Criminal Court has sentenced a suspect, involved with al-Qaeda, to death over taking part in kidnapping and execution of eight civilians in 2007.
In a statement, Abdul Satar Bayraqdar, spokesperson for the High Judicial Council, said, "Diyala Criminal Court reviewed a case of a suspect who took part with others to kidnap eight civilians from Baquba, Diyala."
The suspect, according to Bayraqdar, "admitted to executing the civilians, along with others."
Last week, the same court sentenced an 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.... Death Eater to death over involvement in killing 47 civilians in 2006.
Earlier this week, the Central Criminal Court in Baghdad sentenced a German female suspect of Moroccan origins to death over involvement with Islamic State Death Eater group. During investigations, she admitted to traveling from Germany to Syria then to Iraq as she believed in the IS. She accompanied her two daughters, who were then married to IS members. The Diyala court issued two death sentences against a terrorist for transferring two suicide kaboomers, one of whom blew up himself in a funeral, while the other targeted a coffee shop in Muqdadiya.
#1
To be burned, drowned or stoned to death? Maybe run over with a tank? Maybe broken over backwards and left for the dogs to eat? Beheaded with a bowie knife? Stuck in a cage with only water? What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
Diyala (Iraqinews.com) ‐ Iraqi troops destroyed on Monday four 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.... hotbeds during a wide-scale military operation in Diyala.
Speaking to Alsumaria News TV channel, Commander of Tigris Operations Lieutenant General Mazhar al-Ezzawi said, "A security force made up of the Iraqi police, army and al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) carried out a wide-scale military operation in al-Nada area, 50 km east of Baqubah, destroying four hotbeds for the holy warrior Islamic State group."
"The troops also set fire to a cycle of violence and an explosive-laden vehicle that was used by IS forces of Evil for moving within al-Nada area," he noted.
Ezzawi pointed out that the military operation, backed by Iraqi Air Forces, was meant to "eliminate Islamic State remnants and restore security in Diyala."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/30/2018
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#1
Can we start saying 'dilly-dilly' whenever we see this city's name?
Nineveh (Iraqinews.com) – A 22-strong terrorist cell was arrested Monday in Mosul city on charging of forging documents for Islamic State militants to help them escape from this vital city, an intelligence officer was quoted as saying.
The semi-official al-Sabah newspaper quoted Lieutenant Colonel Bashar Salem from the Nineveh Police Intelligence Department as saying, “Policemen arrested one of the most dangerous terrorist cell involved in forging IDs of Islamic State militants in order not to be identified by security forces while escaping from Mosul city.”
“The 22-member cell was arrested in al-Yarmouk district, west of Mosul, and was taken to a lock-up for interrogation,” Salem said, adding that the arrest was made upon accurate intelligence reports.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militants have brought down the biggest Iraqi flag that was raised by Iraqi troops in a region in south of Mosul after liberation, a source from Nineveh police said on Monday.
Speaking on condition of anonymity to BasNews, the source said the militants removed the biggest flag that was hoisted at Tal al-Sabt region in Hammam al-Alil. “Flyers that threaten raising the group’s flag again were distributed.”
“The militants also killed three personnel of the local police,” the source added without giving further details.
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Ten Islamic State members were killed during an attempt to infiltrate into a region in south of Mosul, a security source was quoted saying on Monday.
“Iraqi jets, backed by the U.S.-led Coalition, managed to kill ten IS members while sneaking into al-Hawija village, where a wide scale campaign was launched last week leaving around 80 IS members killed and tens of others arrested,” the source told the National Iraqi News Agency.
“Security troops cordoned the whole village to start another operation after blocking all the exits,” according to the source.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/30/2018
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Baghdad (Iraqinews.com) – Iraq has unveiled a plan to remove 300 security checkpoints in Baghdad and to go on with a project to establish a security fence around the Iraqi capital.
The Saudi-funded London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper quoted Director of Baghdad Operations Command Media Office Qasim Atiya as saying that more 600 streets will be “opened up in Baghdad and all concrete blocks will be removed from streets in order to ease traffic jam in the Iraqi capital.”
“Work is undergoing to remove 50 pct of the remaining checkpoints in Baghdad after removing 281 security checkpoints recently,” he said, stressing that the security file in Baghdad has witnessed great successes thanks to intensified intelligence efforts and wide-range military operations.
Atiya revealed that the “removed concrete blocks will be reused to set up a security fence around Baghdad to prevent terrorists from accessing the Iraqi capital and posing a threat to its residents.”
The Iraqi capital has seen almost daily bombings and armed attacks against security members, paramilitary troops and civilians since the Iraqi government launched a wide-scale campaign to retake Islamic State-occupied areas in 2016. Though most of the daily bombings go without a claim of responsibility, Islamic State has declared it had been behind many.
Baghdad (Iraqinews.com) – Security forces foiled on Monday a plot by Islamic State militants to carry out terrorist attacks in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, a well-placed security official was quoted as saying.
Speaking to Baghdad Today news website, Spokesman for the Iraqi Interior Ministry Maj. Gen. Saad Maan said, “Federal police and intelligence personnel have arrested a terrorist who admitted receiving orders from Islamic State leaders to find a place in al-Taji area, north of Baghdad, to use it in carrying out criminal acts in Baghdad.”
“The arrest was made upon accurate intelligence reports,” Maan pointed out.
Baghdad (Iraqinews.com) – Baghdad Operations Command announced on Monday that its troops have seized 115 explosive devices that were left over by Islamic State militants in the Iraqi capital.
In a statement, a copy of which was obtained by Alghad Press, the command said, “The troops seized 115 explosive charges of different shapes and sizes at al-Anaz area, west of Baghdad.”
“All the bombs were detonated on site, with no casualties reported,” the statement read.
“The troops also apprehended a number of outlaws who were wanted on different charges,” the statement added.
“Iraqi security forces will continue to assume their duties on a daily basis to track down IS terrorists and purge all Iraqi territories from their war leftovers,” the statement concluded.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/30/2018
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Heroism all around, except for the driver. Filed as P.1: WoT until additional information reveals it was not a case of sudden jihad syndrome.
Update at 11:40 a.m. ET: Woodrow provided a link in another thread to this Fox News article: Terrorism eyed after driver rams into pedestrian in Philadelphia. So we’ll leave it on P.1 with the addition of Moslem Colonists.
[6ABC] Police say an off-duty Philadelphia police detective shot a driver who appeared to be intentionally trying to run down people.
Capt. Sekou Kinebrew told reporters that a bicycle officer reported at about 7:30 a.m. Monday that he saw a car driving erratically near Broad and Bigler in South Philadelphia.
Kinebrew said the driver "was apparently attempting to run people over." One person was struck but the injuries weren't believed to be life-threatening.
Another driver had blocked the path of the suspect's car, and the off-duty detective approached and struggled with him.
During the struggle, the detective shot the man once in the head, and that man was initially pronounced dead. However, medics were able to revive him and he was rushed to the hospital and taken into surgery.
The detective fired more than a dozen shots, police say.
The name of the driver who was shot has not been released. He was driving a black Honda with Maryland plates and held a Virginia driver's license.
The off-duty detective involved in this incident was not injured.
#2
I don't know. Both Maryland and Virginia have numerous Saudi jihadi mosques. Plates and license could leave an interesting trail. Backtracking this turd's travels should be interesting but I'm not holding my breath to learn anything from the Feds.
Now what is the backstory behind him being in Philly.
#4
Interesting spin by Police Commissioner Richard Ross "concerns over number of shots" but he states no concerns mentioned over terrorism. Video is from a local CBS station. A number of MSM news titles use wordings "erratic driver" and Investigation underway into fatal shooting by off-duty Philadelphia cop.
#7
Then there is this. Note the video is not public yet.
They also say they obtained surveillance video showing the detective drawing his department-issued weapon and Lawal, who was around 6-foot tall and weighed around 250 pounds, charging at him.
[ESPN] "We have consistently maintained that we are cognizant and sensitive to both sides of the discussion. While we recognize many of our fans have a long-standing attachment to Chief Wahoo, I'm ultimately in agreement with Commissioner Manfred's desire to remove the logo from our uniforms in 2019."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2018
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#1
Lefties get another semi-worthless scalp. I'll be fine with it once The Memo is released!
#2
Maybe they'll put Princess Whats-er-name's picture in place since she's a "real" Indian (sorry!) Indigent North American (sorry again!) First People.
#4
...Not so much PC as a little bit of old fashioned extortion on the part of MLB: "Gee, nice All-Star game you guys are supposed to have there next year. Be a shame if something happened to it..."
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/30/2018 6:11
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#5
Once a year, around Albuquerque there's a Gathering of Nations. Seen a lot of indigenous people proudly wearing those. Wonder if the SJW bothered to ask that general public what they thought about it rather than their in house lap dogs?
[Tolo News] Basir Mujahid, a front man for the Kabul police chief, has confirmed that 11 army personnel were killed and at least 16 others were maimed in an attack on unit of the army's 111th Capital Division in Kabul early Monday morning.
Clashes between security forces and bully boyz lasted for about five hours after a group of five attackers tried to enter the facility.
A front man for the Ministry of Defence Dawlat Waziri said two bully boyz blew themselves up, two were killed and a third was incarcerated Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! The two jacket wallahs detonated their explosives at the gate, Waziri said.
"Two attackers were detonated his explosive close to the academy and two other were killed by the security forces while the fifth one arrested," he added.
Soon after the attack happened, a source inside the camp said kabooms and gunfire could be heard coming from the direction of the entrance.
TOLOnews journalist Gulabuddin Ghubar reports from the area that security forces have blocked off all roads in the area.
ISIS has grabbed credit for the attack.
Last year on 21st October fifteen cadets from the same academy were killed when the bus they were traveling in was targeted in a suicide kaboom.
This is just one more in a string of attacks in the country in the past nine days - including two other deadly attacks in Kabul.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2018
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[ALMASDARNEWS] Over the course of Saturday to Sunday, 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.... bandidosfaceless myrmidons launched a sustained assault against Syrian Arab Army defenses around the town of al-Jalaa on the eastern shore of the Euphrates River in Deir Ezzor province.
The day-long attack was fierce (as are most festivities with ISIS) and in the end the Syrian Army emerged as the winner having fended off the assault on al-Jalaa and sending jihadist fighters limping from the battlefield in rout after delivering a nasty blow to their already dwindling ranks.
According to military sources, at least nine Islamic State bad boyz were potted during the failed assault.
The Syrian state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
group SANA has released a a brief video report (available below) documenting the local army troops involved in the defense of al-Jalaa and its surrounding countryside as well as the result of the battle with ISIS ‐ to this end, the corpses of five of the 9 Islamist State bandidosfaceless myrmidons killed in the attack are shown off.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2018
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[AA.TR] After a leaked document revealed a plan by the White House to build a nationalized 5G network, government officials said Monday a decision on the concept had not yet been made.
News outlet Axios published documents, including a PowerPoint presentation, from a President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... ’s National Security Council official that outlined a plan to build a government-owned, secure 5G network across the country.
The documents framed the plan in national security terms with one memo emphasizing it was crucial to build a network that would be safe from interference from the Chinese government.
Pressed about the documents during a briefing Monday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said nothing had yet been decided.
"Right now we’re in the very earliest stages of the conversation," she told news hounds. "There are absolutely no decisions made on what that would look like, what role anyone would play in it. Simply the need for a secure network."
The documents revealed two options to build a nationalized wireless network within three years. One option would be to build it as a federal project and the other would be to allow wireless companies to build competing networks ‐ although an official told Axios the second option was not ideal.
The memo outlines a timeline where the plan is furiously criticized by the wireless industry and aggressively debated within Trump’s own administration for the next six to eight months.
The idea was immediately criticized by Trump’s head of the Federal Communications Commission.
"Any federal effort to construct a nationalized 5G network would be a costly and counterproductive distraction from the policies we need to help the United States win the 5G future," Ajit Pai said in a statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2018
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#1
Just specify no Chinese components and you're good.
[ALMASDARNEWS] A large number of Amal Movement supporters erupted into the streets of Beirut, today, to protest the leaked remarks Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil made about Speaker of Parliament Nabih Knobby Berri Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, a member of AMAL, a not very subtle 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... sock puppet... The demonstrators lit on fire several trash cans and tires in protest of Bassil’s remarks, while marching through the streets of the Sports City and Cola neighborhoods.
The Amal Movement released a statement in conjunction with the protests, claiming that Bassil was attempting to cause internal strife in Leb.
"Bassil’s remarks are an open call for strife," the movement warned in a statement.
"That’s why we call on all those concerned to rein in the hot heads and the delusional minds before it’s too late," AMAL added.
Harakat Amal was responding to a leaked video of Basil calling Berri a ’thug’ and ’bully’ over his open call for boycott of the Lebanese Diaspora Energy Conference for Africa.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2018
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#1
Amal is still around?
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
01/30/2018 22:05
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[IsraelTimes] No immediate reports of injuries or damage on either side of the fence in incident that occurred just after midnight
Rocket warning sirens went off in Israeli communities near the Gazoo Strip just after midnight Monday-Tuesday, with one rocket reportedly landing within the Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",-controlled territory.
Residents of the Sha’ar Hanegev and Sdot Negev regional councils, where the sirens were heard, reported hearing at least on kaboom shortly after midnight.
Paleostinian sources said the rocket fell inside the Gazoo Strip. It was not immediately clear if a further projectile had been fired into Israel.
There were no immediate reports of injuries of damage on either side of the border fence.
[AA.TR] President Juan Manuel Santos ordered an indefinite suspension of peace talks with ELN guerrillas Monday after three kabooms killed seven coppers and left countless others injured.
"I have taken the decision to suspend the fifth cycle of negotiations with the ELN," Santos said from the town of La Palma, Cundinamarca. He demanded the National Liberation Army (ELN) show coherency "between their words and their actions."
The attacks -- two in the industrial Caribbean city of Barranquilla and another in Buenavista in southern Bolivar, effectively stopped the latest round of peace dialogues that were set to begin this week in Quito, Ecuador.
"The fifth cycle of talks will begin when the ELN conforms to a peace which the Colombian people and the international community demand," Santos said.
The talks with the ELN, the last guerrilla group remaining in Colombia after the FARC signed a peace agreement in 2016, have remained in limbo since Jan. 10 when a bilateral cease-fire ended.
The ELN once again commenced attacks on oil infrastructure and military installations and both sides have remained unable to reach terms for a new truce.
The guerrilla group published a statement on its website Monday signaling that while a new cease-fire is not established it "will continue to launch military operations wherever they want, just like those happening at the moment."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2018
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[AA.TR] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... 's foreign minister on Monday criticized recent remarks by EP Turkey Rapporteur Kati Piri downplaying the threat of the PKK terrorist group.
Speaking to state-run channel TRT News, Mevlut Cavusoglu said: "They have appointed one PKK sympathizer lady for a country of 80 million. I only say ’lady’ out of courtesy. I told her about the situation for two hours."
"She didn’t write down anything I said, but put everything the PKK said in her report. We should not take a rapporteur like this into account," he added.
In an interview with a news portal published on Saturday, Piri said: "For us, PKK and its variations are not a threat. There are no attacks of PKK in the Netherlands, Belgium or La Belle France."
On the current Ottoman Turkish-led counter-terrorist military operation in northwestern Syria, Cavusoglu said: "In Operation Olive Branch, we have been very strong both in the field and at the table. We have both breathed down on the murderous Moslems in the field, and done what had to be done in terms of diplomacy."
Cavusoglu, stressing that the operation is being held in line with international law and supports Syria’s territorial integrity, said he has swiftly informed world opinion since the beginning of the operation.
Cavusoglu added: "Everyone has seen how serious Turkey is with this operation. The friends, countries we call allies, the so-called allies, the [terrorist] YPG supporters, and the neighbors have seen it. We have no doubts about the steps we can take in the days to come."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2018
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#1
Cavusoglu,stressing that the operation is being held in line with international law and supports Syria’s territorial integrity,
Territorial integrity, you say? Like the 1974 Turkish Invasion of Cyprus and the occupation to this day?
[AA.TR] At least 12 non-combatants were killed and 16 others injured in two Arclight airstrikes in Idlib province in northern Syria on Monday, according to an official with the White Helmets civil-defense agency.
A Russian warplane struck a marketplace in Saraqib city in the province, White Helmets director in Idlib Mustafa Haj told Anadolu Agency.
"Eleven people were killed and 13 others injured in the attack," he said.
Another airstrike targeted a hospital in the same city, killing a civilian and injuring three others.
Haj said two journalists were among those injured in the attack.
He said rescuers have moved the injured to hospitals in the area.
Located in northern Syria near Ottoman Turkish borders, Idlib province was declared as a "de-escalation zone" on May 4-5, 2017.
Controlled by anti-regime gangs, the province has been under intense airstrikes for the last 1.5 months.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2018
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A female Kurdish fighter has reportedly carried a suicide kaboom on Ottoman Turkish military forces in Syria, the New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... reported on Sunday.
The grenade attack is believed to have killed two Ottoman Turkish soldiers and destroyed an army attack.
The 20-year-old woman was identified as Zuluh Hemo and had fought under the name Avesta Habur, according to the newspaper, citing a statement from her military organization, the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
"If confirmed, it would be the first case of a suicide kaboom by the Kurds against The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund.... ’s forces in Syria since its ground troops crossed the border earlier this month," the paper reported.
Hemo is believed to have thrown the grenade down the turret of the tank. This had led the independent Syrian Observatory for Human Rights to believe that it was not an intended suicide attack.
In a statement cited by the New York Times, Hemo’s unit referred to her as a heroine.
"The heroine Avesta attacked the tank and blew herself up with the tank." It also called her "a model of free Kurdish women."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2018
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Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
#1
A major Turkish Military convoy entered Syria over night escorted and guided by Al Qaeda through Idlib towards the front line of Syrian forces. It was halted by Russian fighter jets that dropped bombs 2 km in front of the convoy and then flew over the convoy. At last report, all of the Turkish military vehicles in the large column turned their headlights off and waited for orders in the darkness. All of this was reported with video by Kurdish spotters in the Idlib area.
Posted by: Bill Cleretle2363 ||
01/30/2018 7:38
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#2
No air cap, no AAA. A probing mission to see what they could get away with.
#3
I betcha that with a little subtlety, DJT and Putin could agree on an independent Kurdistan as a useful diplomatic solution to both Turkey and Iran (who seem to be working in concert against the Kurds)
#4
The Turkish military convoy was struck by a car bomb at Atarib, Syria.
Posted by: Bill Cleretle2363 ||
01/30/2018 14:13
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#5
If confirmed, it would be the first case of a suicide kaboom by the Kurds ... Hemo is believed to have thrown the grenade down the turret of the tank
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The videos and various photographs found in the Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... files clearly reveal that the wives and children of al-Qaeda leader the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now among the dear departed, though not among the dearest... endured a life of great hardship and trauma for over two decades.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2018
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[RADIOSHABELLE] Armed forces from Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... and Somaliland clashed near Tukaraq village in Sool region on Sunday morning, an army source said.
"Clash between Puntland and Somaliland broke out in an area close to Tukaraq, but the clash not moving now, " the source, who requested anonymity told the local Media.
"During the clash, both sides were using light and heavy machine guns and mortars,"
There were no reports of casualties, according to the source.
Puntland and Somaliland deployed hundreds of armed forces to Tukaraq village in Sool region.
The territorial row between Puntland and Somaliland resumed after heavily armed forces from Somaliland took control of Tukaraq earlier this month.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2018
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[RADIOSHABELLE] Kenya on Monday ordered the arrest of four Kenyan al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... operatives in northeast region and charges if they failed to surrender within the next few days.
North Eastern Regional Commissioner Mohamud Saleh who revealed names of the four al-Shabaab operatives in Wajir and Mandera counties directed the security team to ensure the suspects are immediately locked away Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! if they fail to surrender.
"These people must be captured or they must surrender. If it fails we shall carry out a controlled operation," Saleh told security committee teams in Wajir town.
He said the details of their family members including their parents will be released to the security teams in the two counties.
He said the operatives have been tasked with paralyzing transport within the main supply route of Wajir and Elwak in Mandera County, destroy communication facilities by targeting mobile phones masts.
Since Kenyan soldiers crossed into Somalia several attacks believed to have been carried out by al-Shabaab have occurred in Mandera, Wajir, and Garissa and Dadaab districts of northern Kenya even as the military reports gains against the Islamist group by capturing their military bases and killing scores of them.
Saleh, however, urged the security team to work closely with the chiefs, elders and area residents to ensure that al-Shabaab is eliminated from the area.
The regional government official said it was a shame for Kenyan officials in Northeastern to spend 95 percent of their working on dealing with security matters.
"When the rest of Kenya is talking about development, use of county funds, Constituency development fund, equalization fund, and other investments, in North Eastern we are busy talking about al-Shabaab," Saleh lamented.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2018
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[POLITICO] Perennial Presidential Campaigner Hillary Crooked Hillary Clinton ... former first lady, former secretary of state, former presidential candidate, Conqueror of Benghazi, Heroine of Tuzla, formerly described by her supporters as the smartest woman in the world, usually described by the rest of us as The Thing That Wouldn't Go Away... personally "overruled" a recommendation that she fire a top campaign staffer accused of sexual harassment in 2008, her campaign manager at the time said Monday.
Patti Solis Doyle, who headed Clinton's presidential bid when a young female staffer accused senior adviser Burns Strider of repeatedly sexually harassing her, told CNN she urged Clinton to dismiss Strider, but the Democratic candidate rejected the recommendation.
"I was overruled," Solis Doyle said in her first public remarks since news of the harassment controversy was reported by The New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... on Friday.
Strider, according to the Times, was kept on the campaign at Clinton's behest despite the allegations of misconduct. The Clinton faith adviser was docked several weeks' pay and told to undergo counseling in response, the Times reports. Strider went on to lead an independent organization that backed Clinton's candidacy in 2016.
This article starring:
Burns Strider
Posted by: Fred ||
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#3
And never forget that the NYT had the story about the Gennifer Flowers sexual harassment by Slick Willie in July before the November 1992 General Election.
Because they were "afraid of how it would effect the election" they sat on the story until after the election and then twisted it to pieces to discredit Flowers
[IsraelTimes] Ottoman Turkish authorities detain 311 people suspected of disseminating "terror propaganda" over Ankara’s offensive against a Kurdish militia in Syria, the country’s interior ministry says.
The suspects have been taken into custody since the operation against the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia began on January 20.
Ankara views the YPG as a "terrorist" offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been waging a three-decade insurgency against the Ottoman Turkish state.
The operation, supporting Syrian rebels with Ottoman Turkish ground troops and air strikes, seeks to eliminate the YPG from its western enclave of Afrin in Syria close to the Ottoman Turkish border.
Although the interior ministry does not give details, police raids have taken place across the country, from Izmir on the Aegean Sea to Igdir and Van in the east.
Rights groups have expressed renewed concerns over freedom of expression in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund.... . Human Rights Watch last week criticized Ankara’s "intolerance of criticism."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/30/2018
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There have been more reports of attacks by Jews on Arabs lately, even as surveys show a majority of both Jews and Palestinians have given up on the idea of a two state solution. The Palestinians may have already missed their last opportunity for a generation.
[IsraelTimes] Prosecutors say they plan to indict a resident of Beitar Illit who is suspected of at least six acts of racist violence against Paleostinians.
The suspect, a 25-year-old resident of the ultra-Orthodox West Bank settlement, was nabbed Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! on Wednesday after police received a complaint by a Paleostinian man employed by the city as a street cleaner. According to the complaint, the suspect drove up to the Paleostinian at the side of the road, got out of his car and engaged in conversation in an attempt to confirm that the man was Arab.
The suspect then allegedly returned to his car and accelerated at the man, attempting to hit him repeatedly with his car before speeding away. The Paleostinian was not hurt. He filed a complaint with police later in the day.
During his questioning, the suspect confessed to five other unsolved instances of violence and vandalism targeting Paleostinians in Beitar Illit.
The suspect’s remand is extended on Monday for four more days while prosecutors prepare the indictment.
[ALMASDARNEWS] According to local sources reported by Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... Press, the separatist high command called the Southern Transitional Council, has sent large amounts of reinforcements to Aden.
The Southern secessionists reportedly sent large amounts of troops from the Dhale and Shabwah provinces to Aden on Monday, a day after heavy festivities between separatists and Saudi-backed forces supporting former president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi took place in and around the port city.
STC militias clashed with the armed forces of Hadi on Sunday, after a deadline that the separatists issued for Hadi to dismiss his government and leave Aden, expired. STC units, supported by the United Arab Emirates, successfully took over several government buildings and military sites in Aden, prompting the Hadi forces to withdraw to their bases. At least 15 people were reported dead and over 130 maimed in the fighting.
According to the International Committee of the Red Thingy, fighting continued overnight. The head of the Red Thingy delegation in Yemen, Alexandre Faite, wrote on social media:
"All night shooting in Aden, including heavy weapons."
Sunday’s fighting broke out a week after STC leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi proclaimed that the pro-Hadi Yemeni "parliament" would no longer be allowed to convene in the city of Aden, unless Hadi dissolved his cabinet and sacked his prime minister Ahmed bin Daghr.
Zubaidi also issued a state of emergency in Aden and said "[The STC] has begun the process of overthrowing" Hadi’s rule over the South.
The conflict has caused a severe rift between the two gangs that were until now allied in supporting the Saudi coalition’s attempt to destroy the revolutionary government of Sana’a and bring Hadi back to power. In 2015, shortly after the Saudi invasion of Yemen, Zubaidi even led the pro-Saudi forces in capturing Aden from Ansarullah (also known as Houthi) forces. However, facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable... tensions between the separatist organization that Zubaidi supported and the Hadi regime arose quickly, reaching an apparent climax on Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2018
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#4
It makes an eye-catching story, but how really common is it?
Posted by: james ||
01/30/2018 10:21
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#5
Probably about as common as swallowing Tide pods, james. That is to say, a few idiots posted videos of their friends from which the press ginned up a story.
#9
^ That'd be the "No lackin' challenge," in which, apparently, pals draw and point pistols at one another as a bonding exercise or conversation starter or something.
A curious quirk of King Haakon:
If ever he caught a man lackin',
He'd lend 'im an axe
And they'd practice their whacks,
Cuz the King couldn't countenance slackin'!
#10
"A dangerous internet challenge is gaining popularity.
The videos are popping up on YouTube, showing people pulling guns on their friends.
It's called the "No lackin' challenge."
Memphis police said a 17-year-old was shot in the head Thursday morning while participating in the challenge. He was sitting with his friends in a restaurant when he was accidentally shot."
[ALMASDARNEWS] Follow up information just released by opposition sources regarding a huge car kaboom that took place in the southwestern Syrian province of Daraa on Monday reveals that a top regional commander for the al-Qaeda affiliate group Ha’yat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-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 .. ... ) has been killed in the blast.
Early on Monday, an unknown party carried out a powerful car kaboom against the al-Rubaii rebel checkpoint base in eastern Daraa province that was manned at the time by both Ha’yat Tahrir al-Sham and Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... fighters.
According to the latest reports, at least ten Syrian murderous Moslems have been killed and another 20 maimed as a result of the bombing.
However among the dead is a very high-ranking rebel leader, one Abu Hamza Ghadiyah, a Jordanian national who was (until his very recent departure) Ha’yat Tahrir al-Sham’s commander for all of southern Syria; four of his personal bodyguards were also killed in the attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#2
Not in Syria, Skidmark. ISIS, perhaps, or one of the many Salafist or Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups. I gave up trying to keep track of them long ago. Fred's translator helps, but he only tagged the major ones.
[TheBlackSphere] Another crooked Obama administration bureaucrat uncovered in 2018.
Jeffrey Wertkin served as a trial attorney in the civil division of the United States Department of Justice from 2010 to April 2016. Apparently after only 6 years in the Obama administration, the Georgetown-education attorney with a Ph.D. along with his J.D. decided on a life of crime.
As Above the Law reported,
Jeffrey Wertkin blew up his own career. This we know ‐ hell, he knew it the second he was arrested last February, when he told the arresting agent, "My life is over." (Yeah, he was also wearing a disguise that included a wig at the time of his arrest.) But the $64,000 question underlying the arrest of the once-successful Georgetown-educated lawyer has always been, "Why?" Why did someone with such a successful legal career throw it all away?
Wertkin likely saw how others in the Obama administration behaved and decided to go for it. Thus the former Justice Department prosecutor sought to sell sealed lawsuits brought by whistleblowers. His clients would be the targets of pending investigations, according to a Washington Post report.
Wertkin gathered up the documents before he left the Justice Department in April 2016. Next, he went to work for an influential D.C. law firm, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, where he planned to hatch his nefarious plan.
Wertkin planned to acquire clients by offering to sell the sealed complaints and his services to defend against them. A "just add water" law practice.
Unfortunately for Wertkin, the plan was foiled, and he was arrested last January. He was caught trying to sell a sealed federal lawsuit to a Silicon Valley tech company for $310,000.
Not surprisingly, the legacy Obama Justice Department has no idea how Wertkin acquired access to complaints for cases to which he was not assigned. But given all we’ve learned about the flimsy nature of things at the Justice Department, most Americans are not quite as surprised.
Wertkins has pleaded guilty to charges of obstructing justice and transporting stolen property. As part of his plea agreement, Wertkin has promised to speak with Justice Department supervisors about how he was able to get away with the sealed documents. Who knows what they uncover about the inner workings of the most crooked administration in American history.
According to the Post, Wertkin went against the typical Leftists tactic of denial. Instead, Wertkin said in a court hearing that he was aware that stealing the documents was illegal. Further, he acknowledged that he intentionally lied to the Justice Department about taking the complaints with him when he left.
In his plea agreement, Wertkin admitted that he stole the sealed complaints. He said he stole them because he thought they would help him drum up clients at his new job.
"I began secretly reviewing and collecting complaints to identify clients to solicit for business when I was in practice and, thereby, to make myself more successful at Akin Gump," the plea agreement reads. Plea agreement? Released for time.... inconvenienced ?
No surprise to learn that a Leftist looked for an easy way to begin his new career.
This article starring:
Jeffrey Wertkin
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy ||
01/30/2018
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#1
Loretta should have asked for a 10% commission.
[FoxNews] The House Intelligence Committee on Monday evening voted to release a classified memo circulating in Congress that purportedly reveals government surveillance abuses.
The vote was announced to reporters by California Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee, who called it a “very sad day, I think, in the history of this committee.”
President Trump now has five days to decide whether he has any objections before the memo can be publicly released.
Last week, a top Justice Department official urged House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes not to release the memo, saying it would be “extraordinarily reckless” and could harm national security and ongoing investigations.
The four-page memo is being described by GOP lawmakers as “shocking,” “troubling” and “alarming,” with one congressman likening the details to KGB activity in Russia.
Those who have seen the document suggest it reveals what role the unverified anti-Trump "dossier" played in the application for a surveillance warrant on at least one Trump associate.
The vote came the same day that it was reported that FBI official Andrew McCabe has left his post as deputy director.
The White House seems to favor the memo's release, but wouldn’t explicitly say whether the president will back the effort.
“We want full transparency,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Monday. “That's what we have said all along.”
Sanders said they were letting the process play out before officially weighing in.
On Sunday, FBI Director Christopher Wray went to the Capitol on Sunday to view the four-page memo, sources told Fox News.
According to one source, Wray was asked to point out inaccuracies or other issues with the wording -- and said he would need “his people to take a look at it.” The source said the review is ongoing.
South Carolina GOP Rep. Trey Gowdy, who helped write the four-page memo, said Sunday he wants it made public.
He also suggested the memo indeed addresses whether the FBI relied at least in part on the dossier -- paid for partially by Democrats and the Clinton campaign during the 2016 presidential election -- to apply to a secret federal court to get a surveillance warrant, purportedly on then-Trump adviser Carter Page.
“If you … want to know whether or not the dossier was used in court proceedings, whether or not it was vetted before it was used. … If you are interested in who paid for the dossier … then, yes, you'll want the memo to come out,” Gowdy told “Fox News Sunday.”
The dossier was compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele and contained opposition research on Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. Steele was hired by the U.S. firm Fusion GPS, which commissioned the research with funding from the Democratic National Committee and the campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. At the same time, the firm was allegedly doing work to help the Russian government fight sanctions.
Requests for surveillance warrants are made through the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, also known as the FISA court, and target suspected foreign spies inside the United States.
#4
As I have said earlier, I suspect we'll discover that DNC and Clinton Foundation dollars found their way to Russian intelligence agents. Additionally, at the behest of US Intelligence, the UK's GSHQ conducted electronic monitoring against Trump associates and campaign personnel.
At the bottom of it all, a corrupt FISA process along with Soetoro and Deep State puppet master John Brennan.
#7
The MSM is firing up every squirrel in the book to avoid having to report on the memo's contents.
I am interested on when the first copies of this lovely document hit the internet so the average voter can read it instead of having it FUBARed by the press.
#10
AND now some nameless FBI official from counterintelligence and an FBI lawyer have reviewed the memo and did not find "any factual errors."
Adam Schiff(less) is probably going to be the designated Squirrel on this and I expect him to be on every tv channel from now to Easter, Good Morning America, the View, Meet the Press, etc., ad infiniteum, ad nauseum, ad absurdum.
[Al Jazeera] The devastating war raging in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... for the past three years is on the verge of entering another, even deadlier, stage.
On Sunday, forces loyal to the government of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, backed by Soddy Arabia
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Yemeni army forces announced Monday evening the completion of the liberation operation of al-Solow district southeast of the city of Taiz, supported by the Arab coalition's air forces after fierce battles with the Houthis.
Brigadier Adnan al-Hammadi commander of "Brigade 35" said that the army and resistance forces managed to liberate al-Solow district completely, following the sudden military operations against militia positions.
He noted that operations are targeting the last minor locations in the outskirts of al-Solow district towards the district of Damna Khadeer, and will be secured within hours.
Al-Hammadi, who led the battle to liberate al-Solow said the next goal is to free the nearby district of Damna Khadeer.
He thanked the Arab coalition forces for their help in achieving this victory. "Their air strikes and logistic support have the greatest effect in defeating the militia at al-Solow district," he said.
A field source from the Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... militia said they put military points on the road between al-Solow and the Khadeer to arrest members who fled festivities in al-Solow confirming that the route of Damna Khadeer became under the control of the National Army.
According to al-Hammadi, the battles left major losses among the coup militia, dozens dead and maimed (did not specify the number), and confirmed that the army forces captured 7 members of the militias.
Following the victory, according to military sources, the Yemeni army will liberate Damnah Khadeer, which links the provinces of Taiz and Lahaj (south of the country), thus cutting off one of the most important supply lines for the militias.
Al- Solow district is located south-east of the city of Taiz, 45 kilometers away. It covers an area of 89.3 square kilometers and has a population of about 50,000 according to the latest tally in 2004.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[IsraelTimes] Department of Homeland Security says new vetting measures will mean those seeking entry will come under much tougher scrutiny than in the past
The United States announced Monday it was lifting its ban on refugees from 11 "high-risk" countries, but said those seeking to enter the US would come under much tougher scrutiny than in the past.
Applicants from 11 countries, unnamed but understood to include 10 Moslem-majority nations plus North Korea, will face tougher "risk-based" assessments to be accepted.
"It’s critically important that we know who is entering the United States," said Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. "These additional security measures will make it harder for bad actors to exploit our refugee program, and they will ensure we take a more risk-based approach to protecting the homeland."
The 11 countries, hit with a ban in October in the Trump administration’s revised refugee policy, have not been identified officially.
But refugee groups say they comprise Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, North Korea, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Not a ’Moslem ban’
Speaking anonymously, a senior administration official told journalists that the policy of enhanced security assessments for the 11 countries was not designed to target Moslems.
"Our admissions have nothing to do with religion," the official said, adding that there is "nothing especially novel" about tougher screening for countries deemed to have a higher level of risk.
US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... has pursued a much tougher stance on immigrants colonists and refugees from all countries since becoming president one year ago.
His predecessor Barack Obama I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody... set refugee admission in fiscal 2017, which began on October 2016, at 110,000.
When Trump took office a year ago, he slashed that to 53,000, a number that was cut again to a maximum of 45,000 in fiscal 2018.
But refugee arrivals this year could come in significantly lower than that, due to the backlog from the 120-day halt and a slowdown in processing because of generally tougher applicant reviews.
DHS would not explain what the tougher vetting measures for the 11 countries would include.
But all applicants are being asked to supply more detailed histories and evidence of their past activities, and many are having to allow access to personal electronics and social media accounts.
50 percent cut
The latest move comes as Trump presses for a sharp turn in overall US immigration policy that critics say will result in a 50 percent cut in arrivals each year and bias admissions away from African, Asian and Moslem countries.
Last week, Trump proposed to end the 27-year-old "green card lottery" program that aims to diversify the source of immigrants colonists, leading to an upturn in those from Middle Eastern and African countries.
He also proposed to tightly limit the family members who can join immigrants colonists to only spouses and younger children. Until now, such "chain migration" could extend to immigrants colonists’ parents, grandparents, siblings and extended family.
The White House said the policy was necessary to protect national security from terror and crime threats.
In return, Trump proposed a plan that offers 1.8 million young unauthorized immigrants colonists known as "Dreamers" a path to citizenship over 10-12 years.
Democrats and Republicans are starting negotiations on those proposals, along with Trump’s request for a $25 billion "trust fund" to build a wall on the southern US border to deter illegal border-crossers from Mexico.
#4
The process is the punishment. Sure, they can apply, and give biometric samples, access to computers and cell phones, etc. Even if they give burners, there will be access to friends and relations, allowing our clever boys and girls threads to pull for connections, not all of whom will have scrubbed everything before Cousin Ahmed sent in his form.
[AnNahar] More than 13,000 migrants colonists have been repatriated from Libya since the beginning of December, the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... 's chief said Monday, nearly two months after reports emerged showing refugees being sold as slaves.
That number is short of the AU's goal to fly 20,000 out of the conflict-wracked north African nation by mid-January, but chairperson of the AU commission Moussa Faki Mahamat insisted the campaign was on course.
"We have 13,000, and every day, the number increases," Faki told a presser after the closing of an AU summit in the Æthiopian capital Addis Ababa.
"I believe that this process is on course, although with a bit of delay. Already more than two thirds... have been repatriated," he added.
Faki announced the repatriations after media reports emerged in November showing black Africans being sold as slaves in Libya, which has no central government.
The country collapsed into violent chaos after the 2011 revolt that toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammar Qadaffy ...The late megalomaniac dictator of Libya, admired everywhere for his garish costumes, funny hats, harem of cutie bodyguards, and incoherent ravings. As far as is known, he is the only person who's ever declared jihad on Switzerland... , with a myriad of militias and several jihadist groups battling for influence.
Libya has long been a transit hub for migrants colonists seeking a better life in Europe, but people smugglers have stepped up their lucrative business since the revolution.
Together with the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... and European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... , the AU is ferrying the migrants colonists out of Libya on flights organized by individual African countries, Faki said.
Many of those who were repatriated are refugees, Faki added.
Those who cannot go back to their home countries have been offered refuge by Niger and Rwanda.
[AA.TR] The U.S. will not sit down negotiate peace with the Taliban ...Arabic for students... in war-torn Afghanistan, President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... said Monday in the wake of the krazed killer group's deadly attacks in Kabul.
"We don't want to talk with the Taliban. There may be a time, but it's going to be a long time," Trump said during a working lunch with the UN Security Council at the White House.
The Taliban claimed two major terrorist assaults in the Afghan capital this month.
A brazen suicide boom-mobileing Saturday claimed more than 100 lives and left more than 200 maimed. The explosives were hidden in an improvised ambulance detonated outside the Ministry of Interior.
A week earlier, the bully boy group stormed the iconic Intercontinental Hotel, killing more than 20 local and foreign guests.
"When we see what they're doing and the atrocities that they're committing, and killing their own people, and those people are women and kiddies -- many, many women and kiddies that are totally innocent -- it is horrible," Trump said. "So there's no talking to the Taliban. We don't want to talk to the Taliban. We're going to finish what we have to finish. What nobody else has been able to finish, we're going to be able to do it."
The U.S. has been bogged down in Afghanistan since it invaded in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, making it Washington's longest war. The Taliban, which provided al-Qaeda founder the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now sometimes referred to as Mister Bones... safe-haven despite warnings from the U.S., has been beaten back, but has time and again regained territory, and struck deep into the heart of Afghanistan.
Trump announced last year a new strategy to combat the Taliban that focused on a ramp up of military activity against the group in tandem with pressure on Pakistain to clamp down on the Taliban within its borders.
The goal was to push the group to the negotiating table. But that may be further away than initially thought given Trump's remarks.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Tolo News] In his first public appearance since the Intercontinental Hotel attack just over a week ago, President Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. came out in support of the country’s security forces who are fighting insurgency on the battlefields and in the cities.
Ghani said at a joint presser with visiting Indonesian President Joko Widodo that the Taliban ...Arabic for students... was carrying out attacks in Afghanistan on the orders of their masters.
Ghani said at a joint presser with visiting Indonesian President Joko Widodo that the Taliban was carrying out attacks in Afghanistan on the orders of their masters.
But in a show of support for security forces he said: "I salute the bravery of our security forces, especially the police who are our first line of defense against these cowardly jacket wallahs. Reforms in our intelligence services and Ministry of Interior are our top priority now."
"Taliban must choose between Islam and terrorism, between humanity and barbarism," Ghani said a day after Afghans observed a day of national mourning following Saturday’s deadly ambulance bombing that killed at least 103 people.
Ghani said if the Taliban really believes in Islam and humanity, then the group must separate itself from barbarism and puppets of religious manipulators and intelligence agencies.
"Those who consider themselves Moslems and Afghans must now separate themselves, in words and actions, from those barbaric puppets of religious manipulators and intelligence agencies," he said, adding that today Afghans are at a crossroads in the country’s history and must take decisive and clear steps to bring lasting stability to the country.
"We can no longer wait for peace to come to us, we must win it through collective national resolve," he said.
"We can no longer wait for peace to come to us, we must win it through collective national resolve," he said.
Ghani also thanked Afghanistan’s international partners who supported the country during difficult times and urged other nations to act against what he described as state sponsorship of terrorism.
"We appreciate the sympathies extended by our international partner nations. Thank you for standing with us. It is also an infliction point for our partners. Afghans expect our partners to condemn and take all possible action against state-sponsor of terrorism," Ghani said.
He went on to say that Islam is for all Moslems. Those who distinguish between Moslems, in their Fatwas, by arbitrary lines for their political gains and legitimize the massacre of Moslems are war criminals and must be sanctioned.
The president also briefly touched on the political developments in the country and asked Afghan political elites to come together and unite to defeat terrorism.
"Afghan political elite must rise above petty politics and unite to serve our people and defend our nation and country against state-sponsored, regional, and international terrorism.
In conclusion, Ghani said he will speak to the nation and present more details about the next steps once his Indonesian counterpart departs.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[RADIOSHABELLE] A landmine kaboom struck a military convoy carrying African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... peacekeepers in Beledweyne city, the regional capital of Hiran province on Monday morning.
A witness told Radio Shabelle that an improvised bomb [IED] destroyed Djiboutian soldiers serving with the AU Mission to Somalia [AMISOM] at the east of the town.
The kaboom has inflicted casualties on the AU forces after one of their vehicles has been damaged by the IED, but, the exact number of the casualty figures was not confirmed.
Al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... has grabbed credit for the attack, saying it destroyed a military vehicle and killed Djiboutian peacekeepers. AMISOM is yet to comment on the incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Twitter] Mollie
@MZHemingway
If you love publishing anonymously sourced, unverified, suspiciously partisan leaks regarding national security but fret about public claims made by Congress as part of its Constitutional oversight duties, you might be a journalist.
#1
They really don't get that they're fake news. In the movie that they're watching, this is the valiant free press standing up to a fascist dictator. The fact that they might be the bad guys is unheard-of. If the law enforcement agencies massively violated federal law and the media is trying to help them cover it up, that's what happens in that part of the movie! How else do you get the happy ending where democracy is thwarted and Trump is removed?
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 ||
01/30/2018 0:39
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#2
They live in such a rarefied atmosphere, they can't tell that they've reduced brain cell count.
[All Africa] Former First Lady, Grace Mugabe's most recent actions have betrayed signs of a besieged wife to ex-President Bob Muggsy Mugabe Nonagenarian President-for-Life of Zim-bob-we who turned the former Breadbasket of Africa into the African Basket Case. Dumped in November 2017 when the Missus decided she wanted to be president, and opposed her might against Crocodile Mnangawa. Important safety tip: If your opponent goes by the name Crocodile and your title is Shopper in Chief let him win.... who is all out to cover traces of corruption that could provide fuel to her envisaged prosecution by the country's new rulers. Important safety tip: Never screw with someone nicknamed "Crocodile."
Grace was in the news past two weeks for perceived attempts to spirit away three posh cars she imported for a fortune with strong beliefs she could have externalised scarce foreign currency.
The offence has dire consequences in Zim-bob-we with a former Finance Minister Chris Kuruneri at one time serving time for it.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has issued an ultimatum on those who externalised foreign currency during Mugabe's rule to repatriate their loot or face the music.
Last week, and after nearly four years of a storm surrounding the authenticity of her PhD, University of Zim-bob-we authorities finally published Grace's thesis.
While she had managed to ignore fierce demands for her "fake" PhD to be revoked, the decision to seek its publication at a time a probe has been muted around her possible academic fraud, is seen as a desperate attempt by the under fire former first lady to conceal any traces of corruption associated with her.
Mnangagwa, last week, told international media during an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos that his government has not granted Grace immunity from prosecution.
"No. We have not given anybody any immunity. What I promised to my former President and the founding father of our nation, President Mugabe, is that first we give him a package - a very lucrative package... " Mnangagwa said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the revival hall, the congregants were being herded into the paddy wagon... his government has intensified its siege on Grace's G40 allies who are being pursued for acts of alleged corruption.
With signs this is a vengeance mission against Mnangagwa's former tormentors, it is almost apparent Grace could turn out as the most priced catch in the new President's much touted anti-corruption thrust.
Mnangagwa has been ruthless with Grace's G40 allies and has moved to freeze former cabinet ministers Jonathan Moyo and Saviour Kasukuwere's bank accounts in apparent attempts to financially cripple them and render them unable to bankroll any possible physical résistance to his rule.
When she still enjoyed her husband's protection, Grace led a protracted public humiliation of the then Vice President whom she continuously cast as a traitor.
Critics say Mnangagwa has strategically resisted the temptation to go after Grace almost immediately for fear of an electoral backlash from her husband's fanatical followers who are still at a loss on whether to embrace the new leader or throw spanners in the wake of his election bid.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2018
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#1
.....who is all out to cover traces of corruption that could provide fuel to her envisaged prosecution by the country's new rulers.
Grace could give the 'crazed shi*house rat' defense a go. It appears to work for some.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said in a tweet on Sunday that the UAE supports the Saudi-led Arab Coalition in light of the clashes in Aden that resulted in 15 dead. He added that there shall be no solace to those who seek incitement.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2018
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[PRESSTV] Iranian Foreign Ministry front man Bahram Qassemi has said the US allegations pertaining to Tehran supplying Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... with missiles is the start of psychological warfare campaign with roots in Washington’s continuous policy failures in the region.
Qassemi made the remarks during an interview with Press TV on Monday.
"The current efforts follow previous shows by the US and its envoy to the UN. It comes after the US suffered repeated failures in its foreign policy. This is Washington's new propaganda and part of a new psychological warfare against the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran," he added.
The comments were made after the US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... addressed a lunch meeting with members of the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... Security Council, accusing Iran once again of destabilizing the Middle East and providing Yemen’s Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... fighters with ballistic missiles.
On December 14, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley ...Trump administration's ambassador to the UN. First woman to serve as Governor of South Carolina, and the second Indian-American governor in the country, after Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. At the age of 39, Haley was the youngest governor in the U.S., a distinction formerly held by Jindal. She is a Republican, which really grates on the Dems... presented what she claimed to be "undeniable" evidence, including the allegedly recovered pieces of a Yemeni missile, saying it proved that Iran was violating international law by giving missiles to the Houthi fighters. The Houthis have been fighting back a Saudi-led aggression with allied Yemeni army troops and tribal fighters since March 2015.
A few days later, she said that the UN Security Council could strengthen the provisions in Resolution 2231, which was approved in July 2015 to endorse the multilateral nuclear deal with Iran, or adopt a new resolution banning Tehran from all activities related to ballistic missiles.
"It is just another futile effort which will not do the US any good at the end of the day," said Qassemi.
Meanwhile, ...back at the alley, Bugs Moroni was holding Slats from behind while his brother Greasy Thumb was pounding his face into paste ... Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said that Trump is resorting to "fake evidence" to spread Iranophobia.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[YAHOO] The United States has no plans to withdraw troops stationed near the town of Manbij in northern Syria despite warnings from Turkey to remove its forces immediately, CNN quoted the U.S. Central Command chief General Joseph Votel as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Not following the Bin Obama rule of giving the planning dates to surrender withdraw. Nice.
[RADIOSHABELLE] A man accused of plotting an attack on a federal medical facility in Texas asked a judge in December to deport him instead of sending him to prison, saying he didn’t deserve to spend time behind bars, records show.
Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud told federal Judge Michael Watson that he didn’t want to leave his family but called his proposal "completely fair and just."
"I truly don’t believe I deserve prison at all," Mohamud said in the Dec. 12 letter, filed in the official court record on Thursday.
He added: "So if the concern is risk assessment then deportation would set everyone’s hearts at ease."
Golly. Isn’t he just too adorable. We’ve tried him fair — it’s time to hang him high, so he can be sent where he belongs.
Mohamud, who was born in Somalia and came to the U.S. at 2 years old, may eventually get his wish.
After Mohamud was sentenced to 22 years in prison last week, the local Homeland Security Investigations office said it would seek to strip him of his citizenship and deport him to Somalia.
At sentencing on Jan. 22, Mohamud told Watson that he knew what he’d done was wrong and that he’d fallen into the trap of radicalization while abroad.
Mohamud, 26, tried to fire his attorney in a second letter dated Dec. 15, saying they weren’t communicating well. A handwritten note on the letter says Mohamud’s request was withdrawn Jan. 9 in court.
His attorney, veteran Columbus defense lawyer Sam Shamansky, declined to comment.
Mohamud planned to fly to Texas and attack the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth in an attempt to free Aafia Siddiqui ...American-educated Pak cognitive neuroscientist who was convicted of assault with intent to murder her U.S. interrogators in Afghanistan. In September 2010, she was sentenced to 86 years in jug after a three-ring trial. Siddiqui, using the alias Fahrem or Feriel Shahin, was one of six alleged al-Qaeda members who bought $19 million worth of blood diamonds in Liberia immediately prior to 9-11-01. Since her incarceration Paks have taken her to their heart and periodically erupt into demonstrations, while the government tries to find somebody to swap for her... , a Pak scientist convicted of shooting at two U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, Watson said as he outlined the allegations against Mohamud.
According to the government, Mohamud applied for a passport to travel abroad only a week after he became a U.S. citizen in 2014.
He bought a ticket to Greece with a stop in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , where he disembarked before going to Syria, prosecutors said in court documents. They said he never intended to go to Greece.
Mohamud trained with al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-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, an hard boy organization affiliated with al-Qaeda, prosecutors said.
Mohamud was incarcerated ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... in 2015 and pleaded guilty a few months later. The attacks were never carried out.
Shamansky asked for leniency, saying Mohamud didn’t have his father around when he was growing up, was brainwashed while abroad "by professional head twisters" but later realized his error and abandoned his plot.
Prosecutors noted Mohamud contacted others from jail after his arrest and told them not to say anything.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2018
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[ALMASDARNEWS] A huge car kaboom carried out by an unknown party has left at least two dozen Syrian rebels belonging to both al-Qaeda and opposition groups dead and maimed after it struck a checkpoint base in the country’s southwest.
According to developing reports, a car kaboom has been unleashed against a murderous Moslem checkpoint base area manned by fighters of the both the al-Qaeda affiliate group Ha’yat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-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 .. ... ) and the Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... in the province of Daraa.
The jointly-manned checkpoint area known as al-Rubaii is located near the town of al-Masifrah in the eastern countryside of Daraa.
The boom-mobilekaboom was so powerful as to have killed and injured at least two dozen rebels.
Although it remains unknown at the present time which party carried out the attack, it is worth noting that the al-Rubaii checkpoint use to serve as detachment point for two Free Syrian Army groups that have recently descended into a state of war with one another ‐ indicating that a rival opposition group may be responsible.
The second possibility is that the attack was carried out by elements loyal to the so-called 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.... group.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[AlAhram] The Pentagon said Monday it is reviewing the use of fitness trackers and other devices after an exercise-logging company published a map revealing potentially sensitive information about US and allied troops in places including Iraq and Syria.
The map, made by Strava Labs, shows the movements of its app users around the world, indicating the intensity of travel along a given path.
In large cities and well-known locations, the highlighted routes are hardly surprising. But paths that were illuminated inside desert compounds in the Middle East or around holy warrior-held cities made it clear the data were being gleaned from military users.
"We are going to take a look at the Department-wide policy to ensure that we have operational security and force protection," Pentagon front man Colonel Rob Manning told news hounds.
"Recent data releases emphasize the need for situational awareness."
According to Strava, "athletes with the Metro/heatmap opt-out privacy setting have all data excluded" from the mapping project.
On Strava's map, Iraq appears largely dark, indicating limited use of the Strava app, but a series of well-known military bases where American and allied forces have been deployed as part of their war against the 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) group are highlighted in detail.
Similarly in Syria, what appear to be bases in the north -- where US troops are aiding local partners in the fight against IS -- are lit up brightly against an otherwise darkened background.
The concentration of activity at a base or along a patrol route could be used by holy warrior groups to plan attacks on military personnel.
Manning said the review would look at the use of all wearable electronics and smartphones. He said commanders already have the tools at their disposal to ensure "force protection."
"DoD personnel are advised to emplace strict privacy settings on wireless technologies and applications, and such technologies are forbidden at specific DoD sites and during specific activities," he said.
Manning said he was not aware of any request to Strava to take down its map.
But the issue could have been fairly easily avoided.
According to Strava, "athletes with the Metro/heatmap opt-out privacy setting have all data excluded" from the mapping project.
[m.calcalistech.com] The Israeli military has recently published new directives concerning the use of smartwatches, prohibiting activation of location sharing functions, according to an email sent to Calcalist by the military’s Spokesperson Unit Monday. The military will examine the use of Strava’s service, "and will issue relevant directives to soldiers as it sees fit," according to the statement.
#2
It's not actually the fitness aps that are the problem; it's second and third party data mining that you give blanket permission for. You know, like Google and Facebook...
Posted by: ed in texas ||
01/30/2018 14:26
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A late start, but posted in case anyone wants to comment as it happens. I noticed that when he said that Black unemployment is the lowest ever recorded, the ABC camera panned to a group of Black Democrats, who sat and glared disapprovingly. What a message!
#6
Black caucus are house slaves (in their parlance house n-word). They need the rest of them on the plantation in order to stay in power. So of couse they are angry at that good news - Poverty Pimps have nothing to pimp without poverty.
#8
ABC is saying the SOTU speech was devisive, gloomy, sad and stoked racial tensions.
I say ABC is a bunch of bought shills spouting fake news. I'd say the sooner the MSM is destroyed along with the Dem Corruption Party, the better off we'll all be.
[ALMASDARNEWS] Sporadic gunfire continued in Aden on Monday as Yemeni separatists established control over several government buildings in the city. Windows were left shattered and the separatists patrolled in armed vehicles, footage shows.
Earlier the Yemeni port city was the scene of clashes between forces of Saudi-backed President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi and the United Arab Emirates-backed southern separatists.
The recent unrest has already claimed a reported 10 lives.
Tensions had been simmering since the Southern Transitional Council, supported by the UAE, demanded the Saudi-backed government to resign. Fighting broke out as the deadline for President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to dismiss the cabinet expired on Saturday.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2018
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[FIRSTCOASTNEWS] Former Congresswoman Corrine Brown has surrendered herself to federal prison on Monday to begin her 60-month sentence for corruption and fraud charges.
This article starring:
Corrine Brown
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2018
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#1
At least you got the miscreant in orange and the Congresscritter now too.
[RADIOSHABELLE] The government has the list of 35 individuals from Mandera county recruited by the al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... to aid the Somali based terror group carry out attacks in the country.
North Eastern regional commissioner Mohamud Saleh said the individuals are well known to the locals since they have raised their families in Kenya.
Addressing the press after charing a peace committee meeting that brought together elders from 6 sub-counties of Mandera yesterday, Saleh said unless leaders from the area are ready to expose and condemn the group, the war against terrorism will never be won.
"We cannot pretend that we don’t know where the problem is. Al-Shabaab menace is being fueled by our own youth. Even if we blame it on Somalia, the ringleaders are our youth. I have the names of the youth who have been recruited by the terror group. They cross over annually to visit their families and nobody reports to authorities," said Saleh.
"We must be honest with ourselves here. Unless you leaders come out and take the lead in restoring and maintaining security in Mandera, then the region will never recover from insecurity," Saleh added.
He said it was a pity the region has spent most of its time and resources since independence to fight the infamous secession Shifta war, later the clan-based banditry infighting and now al-Shabaab menace.
He said the region can’t be calling and using resources on security meetings. He said leaders should start asking themselves some hard questions before everyone perishes.
Saleh who is on a five-day tour in Mandera and Wajir counties to acquaint himself with emerging challenging in the fight against terrorism is accompanied by the regional security team among them the senior assistant inspector general Omar Shurie and the Kenya police service regional commander Edward Mwamburi.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[PRESSTV] Yemen's former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi has said that the outbreak of fighting between UAE-backed separatists and Saudi-backed forces in the country's southern regions is nothing short of a coup.
"Any assault on legitimacy is a coup," said Hadi on Monday, while noting that both sides should join their forces to fight against Ansarullah fighters.
Hadi (seen below) went on to reiterate his call for a ceasefire, stressing that "rebellion and weapons won't achieve peace or build a state."
According to the International Committee of the Red Thingy, over 36 people have been killed and nearly 200 others injured since festivities began on Sunday after the separatists managed to take control of a number of sites and military camps run by the former Yemeni administration following intense festivities with Saudi mercenaries.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Goodness, that was quick. But spoilt brats and psychopaths do have trouble playing nicely with others.
[Al Jazeera] North Korea has cancelled a joint cultural performance with artists from the South Korea, Seoul officials have said.
South Korea's unification ministry on Monday said that Pyongyang had called off an event set to take place at North Korea's Mount Kumgang on February 4 as part of a series of events in the lead up to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, South Korea's official news agency Yonhap reported.
Seoul called the "unilateral" move "very regrettable".
Yonhap said North Korea cited "biased" media reports as a reason to cancel the performance.
South Korean media had expressed concern that the joint events could be in violation of UN Security Council sanctions in place against Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons programme, Yonhap reported.
Pyongyang reportedly also took issue with South Korean reports regarding an "internal event", an apparent reference to a military parade possibly taking place on February 8 to mark the 70th anniversary of the Korean People's Army, Yonhap said.
On Friday, unification minister Cho Myoung-gyon called the potential parade, scheduled one day before the start of the Olympics, "intimidating".
"Kim Pudge Jong-un ...the overweight, pouty-looking hereditary potentate of North Korea. Pudge appears to believe in his own divinity, but has yet to produce any loaves and fishes, so his subjects remain malnourished... apparently wants to show his absolute power," Yonhap quoted Cho as saying.
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#1
Yonhap said North Korea cited "biased" media reports as a reason to cancel the performance.
[San Diego Union-Tribune] man who was in the United States under the Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals program, and another man whose DACA protections had expired, were arrested on suspicion of human smuggling in two separate incidents last week, federal officials said Monday.
The DACA program gave unauthorized immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children two-year renewable permits protecting them from deportation and allowing them to work.
In September, President Donald Trump announced the program would end in March 2018. The first instance happened on Wednesday near Torrey Pines State Beach.
Border agents were sent to the area after a resident spotted what appeared to be a smuggling incident, federal officials said. Further investigation led agents to a vehicle suspected of being involved, which they pulled over on Interstate 5 near Dairy Mart Road about 12:10 p.m.
Three men were inside: the driver, a 20-year-old DACA recipient whose status had expired, and two Mexican nationals, ages 21 and 22, suspected of being in the country illegally.
[valeursactuelles] In Agen, a file S charged for assault was released.
Justice. Kamal Belbakkal was indicted for voluntary violence and detained since July.
The criminal record of Kamal Belbakkal, 40, was thick. And yet, he left the prison in Agen, Lot-et-Garonne, Friday, reports La Dépêche .
Last June, he was suspected of attacking a farmer in Laroque-Timbaut. On that Sunday, while Yves Boussuge was harvesting his field, Kamal Belbakkal stabbed him with "Allahu Akbar".
His client charged with willful violence, his lawyer Laurent Bruneau had announced that he intended to claim a release a few weeks ago. An argument that worked since Kamal Belbakkal left the prison of Agen this Friday around 22 hours.
No confrontation between the victim and the attacker had yet occurred. Kamal Belbakkal, however, remains subject to strict judicial control: he can not leave the city and must appear three times a day at the police station in Agen.
A decision that can surprise when you know his judicial precedents. In 2016, the individual had been stuck because he was suspected of defending ISIS's theses and promoting them. Sentenced to two years in prison for the detention and dissemination of thirty videos of scenes of beheadings, homicides or scenes of barbarity, he was released by the court of appeal of the court of Agen on January 4 latest.
A decision that served as an argument to his lawyer who refuses, moreover, to give the motivations that justified this release. It does however induce outrage. "I do not want to overbid, but how to make this freedom to victims?", Surprised the mayor of Laroque-Timbaut, Lionel Falcoz.
"He was already under judicial control when he assaulted his victim, so let me doubt the effectiveness of this measure," worries the city. "That he gets the release because the broadcast has not been proven, still passes but he was under arrest warrant for the violence, even though he has challenged them from the beginning. I am ass on the floor. Soon, we will explain that Yves (Boussuge, the victim, Ed) has injured himself."
Posted by: Bright Pebbles ||
01/30/2018
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"Don't want him radicalizing other prisoners."
"Prison's not safe for guards."
"He has mental health issues."
"He kills strangers, and other prisoners."
[WAPO] An internal investigation by a law firm hired by the Humane Society of the United States has identified three complaints of sexual harassment by chief executive Wayne Pacelle and found that senior female leaders said their warnings about his conduct went unheeded, according to two people familiar with the matter and a Humane Society memo describing the investigation.
The investigation also found the nonprofit agency, one of the country’s biggest animal charities, had offered settlements to three other workers who said they were demoted or dismissed after reporting Pacelle’s alleged behavior, according to the Humane Society memo.
Investigators from the law firm Morgan Lewis, who interviewed 33 people, including Pacelle, also reported that there was a perception within the Humane Society that certain women owed their career success to romantic relationships with the chief executive.
#2
Pacelle, also reported that there was a perception within the Humane Society that certain women owed their career success to romantic relationships with the chief executive.
[BBC News] Scientists have used a device that fits in the palm of the hand to sequence the human genome.
They say the feat, detailed in the journal Nature Biotechnology, opens up exciting possibilities for using genetics in routine medicine.
It is a far cry from the effort to sequence the first human genome which started in 1990.
The Human Genome Project took 13 years, laboratories around the world and hundreds of millions of dollars.
Since then there has been a revolution in cracking the code of life.
Prof Nicholas Loman, one of the researchers and from the University of Birmingham, UK, told the BBC: "We've gone from a situation where you can only do genome sequencing for a huge amount of money in well equipped labs to one where we can have genome sequencing literally in your pocket just like a mobile phone.
"That gives us a really exciting opportunity to start having genome sequencing as a routine tool, perhaps something people can do in their own home."
Sequencing technology has the potential to change the way we do medicine.
Analysing the mutated DNA of cancers could be used to pick the best treatment. Or inspecting the genetic code of bacteria could spot antibiotic resistance early.
Prof Loman used the handheld device to track the spread of Ebola during the outbreak in West Africa.
The research group say the approach was around 99.5% accurate, but also allowed them to look at parts of human DNA that had been poorly studied.
The commonly used "short read" method of sequencing DNA involved breaking it up into short fragments, sequencing those and piecing it all back together like a jigsaw.
But the challenge is that some fragments of the genetic code look incredibly similar, so it becomes a near impossible puzzle made of identical pieces.
Prof Matthew Loose, from the University of Nottingham, UK, said the nanopore tech analysed longer strands of DNA so "we can read parts of the genome not seen before".
This includes the tips of chromosomes - called telomeres.
Prof Loose told the BBC: "Telomere length can be quite important in cancer and ageing, it's difficult in short reads because of the repeats, but we can see and start to map those things."
[Al Jazeera] Iranian foreign ministry front man Bahram Ghassemi has rejected remarks made by the Jordanian monarch on the country's foreign policies, describing them as contrary to the reality on the ground.
On Sunday, Ghassemi said in a statement that King Abdullah II's comments on Iran's regional influence does not accurately reflect its role as peace promoter and stabiliser in the Middle East.
"Such unfair statements cannot deny Iran's stabilising role, relentless efforts in fight against terrorism and its contribution to establishing security in the region," Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA), quoted him as saying.
"Such remarks only benefit the ill-wishers, occupiers and aggressors who cannot put up with the peace, economic development, territorial integrity and national illusory sovereignty of the states in this sensitive region of the world," he added.
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01/30/2018
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
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.
[Independent] An Air Force sergeant is under investigation after a profanity-laced Facebook tirade in which she denigrated "black females" who are of lower rank than her.
[MI] Crashes and severe recessions often are followed by bursts of innovation and a boom. Not this time. And the Fed's policies deserve much of the blame.
[Mail] A German inventor has created rape-proof knickers in the wake of a spate of sex attacks.
[Townhall] The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which bans abortion after 20 weeks, failed to pass the Senate Monday. The legislation passed the House of Representatives last year, but Democrats derailed it today in the upper chamber, with a final vote of 51-46.
[LA Tribune France] [Google auto-translated]. Ariane 5's on-board computer was poorly programmed. The launcher flew over Kourou, which has never happened so far.
[Miami Herald] Nineteen American citizens have reported symptoms similar to those suffered by U.S. diplomats who had been identified as victims of alleged attacks in Cuba.
[ESPN] "We have consistently maintained that we are cognizant and sensitive to both sides of the discussion. While we recognize many of our fans have a long-standing attachment to Chief Wahoo, I'm ultimately in agreement with Commissioner Manfred's desire to remove the logo from our uniforms in 2019."
Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
[POLITICO] 
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
[TheBlackSphere] Another crooked Obama administration bureaucrat uncovered in 2018.
North Korea
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..
the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
[Twitter] Mollie
...Trump administration's ambassador to the UN. First woman to serve as Governor of South Carolina, and the second Indian-American governor in the country, after Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. At the age of 39, Haley was the youngest governor in the U.S., a distinction formerly held by Jindal. She is a Republican, which really grates on the Dems...
Aafia Siddiqui
[FIRSTCOASTNEWS] Former Congresswoman 
Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
North Korea
[San Diego Union-Tribune] man who was in the United States under the Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals program, and another man whose DACA protections had expired, were arrested on suspicion of human smuggling in two separate incidents last week, federal officials said Monday.
[BBC News] Scientists have used a device that fits in the palm of the hand to sequence the human genome.
