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Southwest State Confirms The Death Of Burhakabo Military Commander
Today's Headlines
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Home Front: Culture Wars
Yes. That'll Work
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/31/2018 16:10 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They're not as stupid as we are.
Posted by: gorb || 01/31/2018 16:32 Comments || Top||


-Obits-
‘Glee' Star Mark Salling frees up parole officer for other work
[Breitbart] The former Glee actor Mark Salling has died in an apparent suicide by hanging, according to several reports.
Salling, 35, was found near a riverbed in Sunland-Tujunga, near where he lived. His death, TMZ reports, was caused by hanging.

Salling’s attorney, Michael J. Proctor, confirmed the actor’s death on Tuesday with the Associated Press. His death comes weeks before the actor was scheduled to be sentenced in federal court on child pornography charges.

The actor, best known for his role as Noah "Puck" Puckerman on Fox’s musical dramedy Glee, was awaiting sentencing on charges of possessing child pornography after pleading guilty to holding over 50,000 indecent images on his hard drive.

He was expected to receive between five and seven years in prison, while also forced to register as a sex offender, pay restitution and abide by restrictions on where he can live.

Last August, Salling was suspected of a suicide attempt after it emerged he had violently slit his wrists, although this claim was denied by his lawyer.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 15:32 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  suspected of a suicide attempt after it emerged he had violently slit his wrists, although this claim was denied by his lawyer

"He cut himself shaving"
Posted by: Frank G || 01/31/2018 16:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Some commentary regarding this event.
Posted by: charger || 01/31/2018 19:17 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
America is waking up to the farce that is feminism
h/t Instapundit
First, there was Dr. Jordan Peterson’s famous takedown of feminist Cathy Newman, whose debate on feminist issues has garnered almost 5 million views on YouTube and almost 75,000 comments to date, not to mention a slew of op-eds.

Now, there's President Trump’s refusal to call himself a feminist.

I have high hopes that America is waking up to the farce that is feminism. "For the first time in decades, if not ever, [feminism’s] tenets are being publicly challenged," writes Corey Schink for Sign fo the Times.

It is long overdue, for we can now expose feminism for what it is: a war on men, on children, and on family.

...feminism serves no purpose today ‐ that's why it has lost its mooring. There's nothing left to fight for. It is simply a home for haters, a home for radicals, a home for those who believe that men are oppressors and that America is a terrible place to live.
Not to mention a home of super entitelment
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/31/2018 14:11 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Clinton presidency cost the feminist movement a generation. Frankly, I'm surprised they survived at all.
Posted by: Iblis || 01/31/2018 19:17 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Trey Gowdy Not Running For Re-Election
Did not see this one coming. I think this makes 26 GOP House members not running for re-election now.
[Axios] South Carolina Congressman Trey Gowdy announced he was not running for re-election on Wednesday.

"I will not be filing for re-election to Congress nor seeking any other political or elected office; instead I will be returning to the justice system."

‐ Trey Gowdy
Posted by: Raj || 01/31/2018 12:35 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Assistant or Atty General?
Posted by: Frank G || 01/31/2018 12:54 Comments || Top||

#2  I suspect he'll have a yuge number of excellent offers.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 12:55 Comments || Top||

#3  Special/Independent Prosecutor?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/31/2018 13:16 Comments || Top||

#4  Damn, that sucks. He's good in Congress. I think that's right where we need him.

If he replaces Sessions is the only exception. The Deep State must have dirt on him. It's the only explanation for the crappy weak job he's done.
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 || 01/31/2018 14:49 Comments || Top||

#5  The Deep State must have something on him

I dunno, Gowdy seems clean. I would think that the D.C. burn-out factor is high. He'd been at it a long time. Maybe he figured he was not accomplishing what he wanted or that he was away from his family too much. He seems like a more than capable guy when compared to other Congresscritters--some are bottom feeders who should have been gone long ago; he wasn't that sort. I got a long list of others who ought to go; he's not on my list.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/31/2018 16:16 Comments || Top||

#6  I wonder if an appellate judgeship has been mentioned to him?
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 01/31/2018 16:22 Comments || Top||

#7  Oh my. He would be absolutely fascinating as a potential future Supreme Court nominee.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/31/2018 17:43 Comments || Top||

#8  I wonder what skeleton was about to be released from his closet.
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/31/2018 18:16 Comments || Top||

#9  #7 What T.W. said.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/31/2018 23:53 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Rod Rosenstein Is Shirking His Duty to Supervise Robert Mueller
[National Review] Let’s say I’m an assistant United States attorney in, oh I don’t know, Montana. I get to work one morning and I say to myself, "Self, you know what would be really interesting?

Why, to ask Barack Obama some questions." Sure, there are a lot of people who’d like to do that ‐ Obama’s a very interesting guy. But see, I’m not just "a lot of people." I’m a federal prosecutor, just like Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Thanks to this nifty federal grand jury we’ve empaneled here in Montana, I’ve got subpoena power, just like Mueller. Let’s back up a bit. After my weekend column, it occurred to me that a hypothetical was in order, to demonstrate the sorts of things a self-absorbed, unrestrained prosecutor can do.

My column argued not only that President Trump should refuse to be questioned by Mueller’s alpha-prosecutors, but that it would be wrong for Mueller to seek to interview the president of the United States unless he can first show cause that (1) a serious crime implicating the president has been committed and (2) the president is possessed of testimony that is both essential to proving the crime and unobtainable by alternative means. In response, some commentators who were sympathetic to this standard wondered how it would be enforced.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 10:29 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A no limits investigation is too broad and can end up encompassing everything.

He is a drag on the department as it is.
Posted by: newc || 01/31/2018 12:17 Comments || Top||

#2  Rod Rosenstein Is Shirking His Duty to Supervise Robert Mueller

Define "duty" . . . .

And I think that Trump should be given the same treatment as Hillary when she was questioned. Softball, unrelated questions. No witnesses, no recordings, no notes.
Posted by: gorb || 01/31/2018 13:01 Comments || Top||

#3  My understanding is that McCabe did the questioning if one can even call it that. It was not under oath, notes were not taken, and no video was made. One has to wonder if the "interrogation" was instead a skull session to exonerate her and flesh out the plan to take down Trump. No wrath like that of a scorned and rejected woman lefty dem candidate.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/31/2018 15:52 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Ji Seong-ho's Tale of Courage: One of the Finest Parts of Trump's SOTU. [VIDEO]
[Victory Girls] Prior to the State of the Union speech, I had never heard of this young man. But after President Trump told the story of Ji Seong-ho and introduced him, I found myself in tears. Especially after he hoisted his crutches aloft. What a great moment!

In case you missed it, Ji Seong-ho is a defector from North Korea, and his story is one of the most harrowing I’ve ever heard.

In March, 1996, when he was just 13 years old, young Ji was badly malnourished, but he joined other boys hopping on moving trains to steal coal. They then would trade the coal for food. Unfortunately, on this day Ji was so weak with malnutrition that he collapsed. He passed out on the tracks, only to wake and find that a train had passed over him. As a result his left leg was hanging by a strip of skin, and three fingers on his left hand were missing.

His younger brother brought him to a hospital in a cart. Then things got even worse. Not only did Ji lose his leg and left hand to amputation, he underwent the surgery without anesthesia. Here’s his story:
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 09:55 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:


-Lurid Crime Tales-
FBI's McCabe Sat on Weiner Laptop's Classified Clinton Emails on Eve of 2016 Election
[PJ] Sources familiar with the upcoming Justice Department inspector general (IG) report on how the FBI handled the investigation into former secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emails suggested that former deputy director Andrew McCabe ‐ who was forced to step down Monday ‐ may have delayed the investigation into classified information in emails longtime Clinton adviser Huma Abedin stored on her husband Anthony Weiner's laptop.

Ironically, the FBI's announcement that it was reopening the Clinton investigation a few days before the election ‐ which many Clinton supporters say cost her the election ‐ may have come nearly three weeks later than it should have. McCabe may have intended to hold off until after the election, but ended up being unable to do so.

According to sources, the inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz, has been focused on why McCabe, as the second-top official at the FBI, appeared to stall for about three weeks after he was asked to examine a batch of Clinton-related emails found on Weiner's laptop. Anonymous sources close to the matter told The Washington Post that McCabe might have intended to stall on this part of the Clinton investigation until after the election.

This news proves particularly damning, as McCabe's wife ‐ who was running for a seat in the Virginia state house ‐ had received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from one of Clinton's close allies, then-Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D). Worse, McCabe seems to have changed his mind and acted on the Clinton emails ‐ shortly after The Wall Street Journal reported on these contributions.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 09:31 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So McCabe now knows how his wife felt when she lost the election.
Posted by: gorb || 01/31/2018 12:56 Comments || Top||

#2  FBI's McCabe Sat on Weiner's Laptop would be a lot more fun headline
Posted by: Frank G || 01/31/2018 14:51 Comments || Top||

#3  Ironically, the FBI's announcement that it was reopening the Clinton investigation a few days before the election ‐ which many Clinton supporters say cost her the election...

I'm amazed that certain segments of the egghead media still want to cling to this bullshit. Hillary! was the most corrupt US politician a) of all time or b) since LBJ (your call), and she was the worst candidate since my little Greek governor from Massachusetts, Mike Dukakis, took his tank shot at it. I'm almost impressed by the creativity of excuses they want to make for this LOSER!
Posted by: Raj || 01/31/2018 19:44 Comments || Top||

#4  It blows to hell on article in the hopper...
http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2018/01/31/robert-mueller-requests-postponement-of-general-mike-flynn-sentencing/
Posted by: 3dc || 01/31/2018 21:29 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Joe Kennedy III - A 'Star' Is Born
1) Nothing says 'new, modern Democratic Party' like the runt of the Kennedy litter; 2) Yes, he was drooling, or he forgot to wipe the jizz off of his mouth.
[TheWrap] Many Democrats on Twitter praised Massachusetts Rep. Joe Kennedy III on Tuesday for a State of the Union response that was inclusive and impassioned. Republicans said he was literally drooling.

The response to the State of the Union is an unenviable job ‐ the speaker needs to follow the president, spelling out an agenda from the ultimate bully pulpit. Many on the left said Kennedy, grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, did his ancestors proud by appealing to struggling Americans from all walks of life.

But look at the right side of his mouth, said Republicans. That’s spittle!
The speech was a decent one for the first couple of minutes but quickly devolved into the usual litany of Democratic clichés and talking points.
Posted by: Raj || 01/31/2018 09:25 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I thought that was just me; first attributed the glare on his right side to bad lighting...then it got bigger...then on his left side.

The speech itself was ok, bland, and predictable. The delivery, whiney and disconnected. We were the ones who waded into the waters to rescue people? Really Uncle Joey?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 01/31/2018 9:44 Comments || Top||

#2  He was pathetic. He sounded like something you'd hear in a high school speech class. He was obviously nervous, looked like he was breaking out in flop sweat. He did a lot of whining and had very few facts. The kid is still wet behind the ears and nowhere near ready for prime time.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 01/31/2018 10:07 Comments || Top||

#3  Democrats fight back against rich people who don't get there via merit by using Joe Kennedy III?!?

Trump couldn't have asked for a better opponent
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 01/31/2018 10:56 Comments || Top||

#4  I almost forgot - he concluded his speech (the last couple of sentences) in Spanish.
Posted by: Raj || 01/31/2018 11:24 Comments || Top||

#5  He is an empty peanut shell.
Posted by: newc || 01/31/2018 12:20 Comments || Top||

#6 
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 01/31/2018 12:36 Comments || Top||

#7  #4 I almost forgot - he concluded his speech (the last couple of sentences) in Spanish.
Posted by Raj


"I learned it from my housekeeper"
Posted by: Frank G || 01/31/2018 12:39 Comments || Top||

#8  Spittle? I thought he was foaming at the mouth.
Posted by: warthogswife || 01/31/2018 12:50 Comments || Top||

#9  I thought it was the lip gloss he forgot to wipe off after coming out from under Schumer's desk.
Posted by: DarthVader || 01/31/2018 13:06 Comments || Top||

#10  A worse substance mention on the darker web...
Posted by: 3dc || 01/31/2018 16:22 Comments || Top||

#11  mentioned with a lisp.
Posted by: 3dc || 01/31/2018 16:23 Comments || Top||

#12  Not much luster left from the Kennedy clan. Let's face it, the Dems are desperate. Between Hillary and Obama, the DNC got tapped out of money, leadership, direction and future candidates. Not all bad for the pubs if they choose to push prosecutions and try to restore the rule of law. C,mon Trump, your supporters were not B.S.-ing when they said "Lock her up."
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/31/2018 16:48 Comments || Top||

#13  and he spoke with a broken down car as a back stop
Posted by: lord garth || 01/31/2018 18:50 Comments || Top||


Government
President Trump signs order to keep Guantanamo Bay prison open
[BBC] US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to keep Guantanamo Bay military prison open.

Mr Trump announced the move in his State of the Union address.

The decision reverses that of former President Barack Obama, who had said he wanted to close the controversial site "as soon as practicable".

The facility in Cuba has been used since the 9/11 attacks to detain what Washington calls "enemy combatants", but only 41 prisoners remain there.

Hundreds were transferred away from the facility during the Obama era. A White House statement confirmed the order had been signed to resist the detention facility's closure, and affirmed the administration's right to detain enemy combatants when necessary.

"Terrorists are not merely criminals. They are unlawful enemy combatants. And when captured overseas, they should be treated like the terrorists they are," Mr Trump said during Tuesday's speech.

"In the past, we have foolishly released hundreds of dangerous terrorists only to meet them again on the battlefield," he added, giving as an example the Islamic State group's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was held in US custody in Iraq.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 09:12 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Another promise kept.
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/31/2018 10:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Dismantling Baraq'a legacy one executive order at a time.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 01/31/2018 12:16 Comments || Top||

#3 
Posted by: gorb || 01/31/2018 12:51 Comments || Top||

#4  Actually, 87% is quite excellent. The residual 13% will serve as a convenient reminder.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 12:53 Comments || Top||

#5  That 13% would be the $10 trillion tab he ran up.
Posted by: Raj || 01/31/2018 16:48 Comments || Top||

#6  Could close it and save money by flying the prisoners home - and dropping them off at 30,000 feet as soon as they reached native air space.
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/31/2018 17:55 Comments || Top||

#7  We're going to need a place to send all the government bureaucrats (DOJ, FBI...etc.), former Obama administration officials and current politicians that are going to get jugged.
Posted by: Betty Hatfield5124 || 01/31/2018 20:01 Comments || Top||

#8  Mmmm...now a gallows
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/31/2018 20:54 Comments || Top||


-Obits-
Croation Pero Jelinic's last safari
[News24] Mahikeng Mafikeng - A 75-year old man was shot dead at a North West captive-bred lion hunting farm on Saturday, police said.

While details around the incident remain sketchy, police spokesperson Captain Charlize van der Linden, confirmed that Pero Jelinic, from Croatia, and two other Croatians, were hunting captive-bred lions at Leeubosch Lodge near Setlagole, when the incident occurred.

According to Van der Linden, the hunting party had already killed a lion, and were tracking a second cat, when Jelinic was struck by a bullet.

"He was air-lifted to Vryburg Hospital by helicopter, but doctors were unable to save the man's life. A case of culpable homicide has been opened, and police are also investigating charges of illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition," she said.

"At this stage it is not clear who fired the fatal shot that killed Mr Jelinic. Our investigations are ongoing."
Died doing what he loved.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 08:45 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  'Hunting' captive lions is pretty lame.
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/31/2018 18:00 Comments || Top||

#2  IMO, 'game farm' hunting should be outlawed. Probably won't happen. They are a huge source of income for corrupt governments throughout Africa.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 18:25 Comments || Top||

#3  "Police are searching for a lion armed with a Weatherby"
Posted by: Frank G || 01/31/2018 19:53 Comments || Top||

#4  The right to arm bears, and lions. Or was that the right to bear lion's arm? Confusion/ That said, I smile at this fucker's demise.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 01/31/2018 21:05 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Scott Powell: Subverting the Electoral Process
[American Thinker] In his Gettysburg Address, Lincoln reminded Americans that they were uniquely privileged to have a new birth of freedom that was contingent on "government of the people, by the people, and for the people." That was then. What about now?

Every week brings new revelations and details about a cabal in the federal government whose actions border on conspiracy. The evidence suggests that specific high-level officials in the Justice Department and the FBI colluded together to violate the law in unprecedented ways for the singular purpose of subverting the will of the people both before and after the 2016 election.

The United States is now at a defining moment. Will there be a restoration of the rule of law, or will Washington’s elite continue to give cover and a pass to fellow members of the Ruling Class (in the sense used by Angelo Codevilla)?

The question: Is there sufficient decency and courage in the midst of Washington’s swamp to compel the pursuit of justice wherever in the Ruling Class it leads and then to prosecute the lawbreakers -- whoever they are?
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 07:45 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Shoshana Bryen: No Breaks for Israel
[American Thinker] Israel’s red lines in Syria’s civil war have included returning fire against any entity that fires into Israel (whether Syrian, rebel, Hizb’allah, or Iranian); not permitting Iran or Hizb’allah or any of their Shiite proxies in Syria to establish permanent bases within a specific distance of the Israeli Golan border; and not permitting weapons beyond a certain level of lethality and sophistication to move from Syria to Hizb’allah. To enforce those lines, the Israeli Air Defense Force is suspected of carrying out attacks on a "scientific research center," artillery positions, a "munitions factory," and more. The Israeli government rarely confirms such strikes, but acknowledges that the Russians are informed of Israeli activity when necessary in an agreed-upon effort to limit the damage and not engage Russian forces themselves.

This has morphed into one of the most quietly effective relationships in the Middle East. Not an alliance, certainly, but the pragmatic leaders of both countries have concluded that each benefits by coordinating with the other.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a full agenda this week, as he went to Moscow for a five-hour meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin after their meeting in Davos. High on the list was Israel’s growing concern about the expansion of Hizb’allah missiles and missile production facilities in Lebanon ‐ facilitated by Iran. "It's no longer a transfer of arms, funds or consultation. Iran has de-facto opened a new branch, the 'Lebanon branch.' Iran is here," wrote IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis. "In Lebanon, Hezbollah does not conceal its attempt to take control of the state."

But on this and other issues, Russia, Syria’s longtime ally, is looking to reduce its exposure. As the shape of the Syrian war changes, Israel may find its working relations with Russia undermined by Moscow’s desire to exercise influence in Syria generally from afar, and by its shifting relations with Iran.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 07:36 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
Why Didn't Democrats Stand - Or Even Clap - For This SOTU Line?
[Townhall] It's typical for lawmakers to resist clapping during the president's annual State of the Union address when he mentions policies they oppose. But, when the president touches on issues that are clearly bipartisan, both sides of the aisle usually acknowledge it with at least a golf clap. For instance, supporting our military, investing in infrastructure, combating the opioid crisis, and a budding economy can typically be considered bipartisan issues.

Well, the Democrats did stand for some of those things during President Trump's first State of the Union speech, but when it came to the following line, some of these lawmakers, particularly members of the Congressional Black Caucus, remained seated.

Related: American Thinker - The Shabby, Sophomoric Behavior of Democrats at the SOTU
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 07:15 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Because they are communist ideologues ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 7:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Pelosie Frowns When Trump Calls to ‘Summon The Unity We Need to Deliver’

Or was she simply trying to dislodge a piece of steak au poivre.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 7:22 Comments || Top||

#3  ...The Narrative demands that they not acknowledge the truth under any possible circumstances, because to do so might suggest that the voters are actually better off than they've been told they are. And if the voters ever figure that off, well then....

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 01/31/2018 7:34 Comments || Top||

#4  Because the mask is off. They only follow the rituals so as not to show that they believe in one party rule. True Leftists.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/31/2018 8:09 Comments || Top||

#5  I too believe in a 'two party system' unless of course, the other is the communist party.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 8:12 Comments || Top||

#6  Dems are so dumb they have to sit on their hands lest they accidentally clap at good news.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/31/2018 11:15 Comments || Top||

#7  Why did tardive dyskinesia pop into my mind?
.
Posted by: OregonGuy || 01/31/2018 14:35 Comments || Top||



John Ligato on Salvaging the FBI
[Wash Times] The FBI is experiencing its greatest crisis in our history. J. Edgar Hoover may have kept "intel" files on enemies but never attempted a government coup. Recent leadership at headquarters allowed politics to seep into our DNA, and field agents were smeared with the same brush.

What happened and, what can we do to regain our reputation? The Bureau is about to take some major hits to its legacy and Director Christopher Wray is the only individual who can limit the damage. It’s called leadership.

Several ongoing investigations into alleged FBI wrongdoing may result in years of a continuing news cycle of negativity and a further erosion of the Bureau’s reputation. Mr. Wray has expressed a hesitancy to act in the meantime. Why?

If Mr. Wray does not take action, there may come a time that the FBI can never fully regain public trust. I had been spoiled by the excellent leadership in the Marine Corps. Marine NCO’s and officers led from the front, but recent FBI leadership actions have involved self-serving back room deals and secret societies.

Related: Hot Air - Paul Ryan: It’s Time To “Cleanse” The FBI.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 06:53 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:


Science & Technology
Trump administration yanks funding for "Climate-Related Fellowships"
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/31/2018 06:30 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  After all, the science is settled.
Posted by: Matt || 01/31/2018 7:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Snark of the day?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/31/2018 13:22 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
Search warrant document names Douglas Haig 2nd ‘person of interest' in Las Vegas shooting
[Las Vegas Review-Journal] A judge on Tuesday unsealed nearly 300 pages of search warrant records, including one document that publicly identified for the first time an additional “person of interest” in the Oct. 1 massacre on the Las Vegas Strip.

“Until the investigation can rule otherwise, Marilou Danley and Douglas Haig have become persons of interest who may have conspired with Stephen Paddock to commit Murder with a Deadly Weapon,” according to the Metropolitan Police Department document, which was prepared in October.

Haig, whose name previously had not been released, spoke to reporters Tuesday evening outside his home in Mesa, Arizona, and confirmed that he has been contacted by investigators.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 01/31/2018 04:17 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Interesting bit here about Mr. Haig, his employer, USG Security Clearance....and clearance sponsor.

Gov't contractors, why do they hate us ?

Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 7:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Contractors smuggled in by Obama Inc. shareholders do.
Posted by: Woodrow || 01/31/2018 9:03 Comments || Top||

#3  I'm impressed by the pace at which this case is being resolved.
Posted by: Raj || 01/31/2018 9:09 Comments || Top||

#4  Not my favorite general, to say the least...
Posted by: borgboy || 01/31/2018 12:55 Comments || Top||

#5  I'm impressed by the pace at which this case is being resolved. Posted by Raj

Somebody got robbed of snark of the day here.
Posted by: jpal || 01/31/2018 14:01 Comments || Top||

#6  Is Douglas related to Alexander Haig of Nixon/Ford/Reagan fame?
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/31/2018 18:03 Comments || Top||

#7  Not my favorite general, to say the least...

My impression is that Haig was underrated, and he did his best with the information and instruments at hand. British losses need to be put in perspective:

It is important, when we feel our emotions rightly swelling over the losses of 1914–18, to remember that in 1939–45 the world losses were probably over four times as many ... the British task was entirely different, which is why the (British) loss of life was so different: about 350,000 in 1939–45 and about 750,000 (British deaths, 1 million including the Empire) in 1914–18 ... – ... The casualty statistics of the Great War ... tell us ... virtually nothing about the quality of ... British generals. The statistics show that ... the British losses in great battles were generally about the same as anyone else's.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 01/31/2018 21:30 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
BREAKING. John Kelly Gave Some Bad News To Rosenstein And Wray
h/t Hot Air
The White House received the famous memo compiled by the House Intelligence Committee alleging abuses in the use of the Trump dossier shortly after the House vote yesterday. They are now in their second day of reviewing the document.

...According to a breaking story in the Washington Post, Rod Rosenstein and Christopher Wray paid a visit to the White House to try to prevent release of the memo

...Shortly before the House Intelligence Committee voted to make the document public, Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein warned Kelly that the four-page memo prepared by House Republicans could jeopardize classified information and implored the president to reconsider his support for making it public, those people said. Rosenstein was joined in the meeting at the White House by FBI Director Christopher A. Wray.

...In response, Kelly told Rosenstein and Wray that the president was still inclined to release the memo but the White House would go through a review led by the National Security Council and the White House Counsel’s Office, a senior administration official said. That review is expected to take at least several days, a senior White House official said.

...Their argument is utter bullsh**. What they are doing is closing ranks to try to protect their bureaucracies from criticism. Good work if you can get it, but it would be a major shock if Trump, the reality TV maestro, allowed this kind of a a tease and anticipation to build and then acted like Geraldo Rivera investigating Al Capone’s Vault.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/31/2018 03:50 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Friday after the markets close.
It's been both the Obama and Trump way.
That gives a weekend for the market traders Blood Pressure to calm down.
Posted by: 3dc || 01/31/2018 6:07 Comments || Top||

#2  That gives a weekend for the market traders Blood Pressure to calm down. Posted by 3dc

Timing is slightly suspect on the downturn. Could have also been computerized selling and profit taking. More of the same could indicate a sustaining downward trend. I don't look for that to happen.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 6:15 Comments || Top||

#3  The US economy has been on the edge of total disaster since at least 2007. It's been held up by duct tape and lies ever since. No one could have even suspected this.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 01/31/2018 6:28 Comments || Top||

#4  You gonna put your money under your mattress?
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 01/31/2018 10:12 Comments || Top||

#5  And they've been hiding behind this classified argument long enough. Baraq said they have evidence to prove Russians hacked the DNC server but he can't release it because it's classified. That's awfully convenient and it will not suffice in court. It's wearing thin for the FBI and Democrats too. Is it classified because they're trying to keep from going to jail? We need to have this thing out.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 01/31/2018 10:21 Comments || Top||

#6  You gonna put your money under your mattress?

Dogecoin, baby, none of that noninflationary bitcoin for me...
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 01/31/2018 11:49 Comments || Top||

#7  You gonna put your money under your mattress?

Land and Lead my friends. Land and Lead.
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/31/2018 17:42 Comments || Top||

#8  Land to feed you, lead to defend the land.
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/31/2018 18:18 Comments || Top||

#9  You gonna put your money under your mattress?
You have the noive to insinuate that stuff is MONEY? At least the local real estate taxing authority accepted it today for my most recent rent payment tax bill.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 01/31/2018 19:41 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Man shot by officer after hitting pedestrian identified
h/t Gates of Vienna
[Fox29] Police have released the name of a driver shot and killed by an off-duty Philadelphia police officer after hitting a pedestrian and struggling with the officer.

Investigators said 31-year-old Khalil Lawal of Arlington, Virginia apparently tried to hit a person who had just gotten out of a car in south Philadelphia during Monday's morning rush hour.
Bingo!
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/31/2018 02:37 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  Let's not jump to conclu-
Aaaand it's Muslims
Posted by: Classer || 01/31/2018 3:16 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm guessing near ZERO MSM interest in this?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 01/31/2018 3:46 Comments || Top||

#3  Investigators said 31-year-old Khalil Lawal

Coulda cut it off there.
Posted by: gorb || 01/31/2018 9:34 Comments || Top||

#4  More from the article:

Police said the man then chased another driver who had blocked him in, charged at the off-duty officer after he approached and was shot after a struggle. He died at a hospital. The officer and the man struck by the car were treated at hospitals.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/31/2018 9:58 Comments || Top||

#5  Hot Bed.

The Best 10 Mosques in Arlington, VA - Last Updated January 2018 ...

US imam calls on Muslims in US to wage jihad
Feb 26, 2013
- The controversial imam of a prominent mosque in Arlington, Va., has urged immigrant Muslims in the United States to wage war for Islam. “The enemies of Allah are lining up. The question for us is, are we lining [up] or are we afraid because they may call us terrorists?”

You just admitted it.
Posted by: Woodrow || 01/31/2018 14:19 Comments || Top||

#6  Khalil means friend in Arabic. This guy didn't live up to his name. Sudden jihad. Thanks to the officer, he put an end to this.

Lefties always seem about a step away from sudden jihad? Muslim bedfellows? Judging from their expressions, many of the Dems at the SOTU address should have been patted down last night. expressions.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/31/2018 15:21 Comments || Top||

#7  Well now that cop is REALLY in trouble.
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/31/2018 17:50 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Stormy Daniels: an affair that never was
h/t Instapundit
[PowerLine]...Ms. Daniels issued her "Official Statement" on tabloid claims that she had an affair with Donald Trump more than a decade ago:

To Whom It May Concern:

Over the past few weeks I have been asked countless times to comment on reports of an alleged sexual relationship I had with Donald Trump many, many, many years ago.

The fact of the matter is that each party to this alleged affair denied its existence in 2006, 2011, 2016, 2017 and now again in 2018. I am not denying this affair because I was paid "hush money" as has been reported in overseas owned tabloids. I am denying this affair because it never happened.

I will have no further comment on this matter.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/31/2018 02:28 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/31/2018 2:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Doesn't stop the FakeNews MSM reporting about it.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 01/31/2018 6:53 Comments || Top||

#3  Thanks g(r)om, quite lovely... even though I don't speak Hebrew.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 7:00 Comments || Top||

#4  She walked it back on Kimmel last night suggesting the signature wasn't hers.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/31/2018 11:16 Comments || Top||

#5  The dems sure are sore losers. They threw everything at the election they had. They rigged it 6 ways to Sunday and still lost.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/31/2018 16:21 Comments || Top||

#6  #boredwiththewhore
Posted by: Regular joe || 01/31/2018 19:41 Comments || Top||


Luis Gutierrez triggered by ‘USA!’ chants, flees House chamber
[THEAMERICANMIRROR] Luis Gutierrez, the illegal alien-loving congressman from Illinois, appeared to be triggered during President Trump’s soaring rhetoric during the State of the Union address and fled the House chamber.

Trump praised the Capitol building, calling it a monument to the American people.

As applause broke out, so did chants of "USA! USA! USA!"

Gutierrez left his seat as several Democrats patted him on the arm as he retreated to a safe space.
video at link. Run pendejo!
Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:36 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. - Matthew 6:24
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/31/2018 8:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Was he looking for the safe space or the crying room?
Posted by: gorb || 01/31/2018 9:47 Comments || Top||

#3  Rushing to the cloakroom to answer a phone call from Assata Olugbala Shakur aka JoAnne Deborah Byron ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 9:52 Comments || Top||

#4  He had an Oikophobic reaction to patriots.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 01/31/2018 10:54 Comments || Top||

#5  A supposed "citizen" who clearly hates the United States? He must be in a really safe district full of the same mentality. Trump should send in a battalion of ICE agents. The lamentations of the women MFM would be glorious.
Posted by: PBMcL || 01/31/2018 17:14 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
NDS release photo of suicide bomber arrested alive during army base attack
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Afghan Intelligence has released the photo of a jacket wallah who was tossed in the calaboose
Book 'im, Mahmoud!
alive during an attack on the army base in capital Kabul on Monday.

The National Directorate of Security
...the Afghan national intel agency...
(NDS) released the photo of the would-be suicide bomber late on Monday and hours after the defense officials said one of the attacker has been arrested by the security forces.

A group of at least five snuffies launched a coordinated attack on a base of the 111th division of the Afghan army in the early hours of Monday morning.

The ministry of defense front man Gen. Dawlat Waziri said a group of five snuffies launched a coordinated attack on a compound of the 111th division of the army in Qargha area and at least two of the suicide bombers carried out a suicide kaboom, two of them were rubbed out and another one has been arrested alive.

Gen. Waziri further added that the Afghan armed forces seized a rocket launcher, four Ak-47 rifles, and a suicide attack vest during the operation.

According to Gen. Waziri, at least eleven Afghan soldiers also bit the dust in the attack and and sixteen others have sustained injuries.

Yesterday’s attack was the the third largest attack in capital Kabul since 20th January and after a group of snuffies launched an attack on Intercontinental Hotel.

Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  No 72 virgin piglets for you Muhammad!
Posted by: Woodrow || 01/31/2018 8:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Arrested alive? Somebody's overdue for a demotion.
Posted by: jpal || 01/31/2018 9:32 Comments || Top||

#3  Performance anxiety = no explodulation
Posted by: Frank G || 01/31/2018 10:48 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Handed over 27 people with suspected links to TTA, HN to Afghanistan in November: FO
[GEO.TV] Spokesperson for the Foreign Office, Dr. Mohammad Faisal, said on Tuesday that Pakistain has handed over 27 individuals, who were suspected of belonging to Tehrik-e-Taliban
...Arabic for students...
Afghanistan (TTA) and Haqqani Network (HN), to Afghanistan in November 2017.

The statement by the FO spokesperson on social media comes after Pakistain had earlier rejected "knee-jerk allegations" by some Afghan circles after the attack on a hotel in Kabul and subsequent attacks in the Afghan capital, including an ambulance bomb which killed more than 100 people.

Faisal also said that Pakistain has continued to push any suspected TTA and HN elements to prevent them from using Pak soil for terrorist activity in Afghanistan.

Elaborating on the sacrifices rendered by Pakistain, the FO spokesperson said the country has lost 75,000 civilians and 6,000 soldiers during the war.

He added the country's armed forces has one of the highest officer-to-soldier casualty rate globally and has suffered economic losses worth $123 billion.

Earlier in January, the United States announced that it was suspending the transfer of military equipment and security-related funds to Pakistain.

The suspension of security assistance to Islamabad came after Washington accused Pakistain of playing a "double game" on fighting terrorism and warned Islamabad it would have to do more if it wanted to maintain US aid.

Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies


Bilawal accuses PTI of giving patronage to terrorists, killers
[GEO.TV] Pakistain People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto alleged on Tuesday that Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf
...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
is giving patronage to bully boyz and killers.

The PPP chairman claimed that the PTI-led Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has been backing the killer of Asma, who has fled to Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
with the party's help.

He said that the KP government’s lenient behaviour towards those involved in serious crimes should be condemned.

Bilawal said that the PTI’s local leader who incited people to kill Mashal Khan has been roaming free as well.

Asma Rani, a third-year medical student was killed in her hometown of Kohat after she refused a marriage proposal. The victim’s family claims she was rubbed out by the prime suspect Mujahid Afridi.

Today, Chief Justice of Pakistain Justice Mian Saqib Nisar took suo motu
...a legal term, from the Latin. Roughly translated it means I saw what you did, you bastard...
notice of the murder of the medical student in Kohat.

The chief justice has summoned a report from the Inspector General Police KP Salahuddin Mehsud within 24 hours.

On January 27, Mujahid, who the victim's family claims is the nephew of PTI district president Aftab Alam, along with his brother, Sadiqullah Afridi, was waiting outside Asma’s residence.

The suspect shot her thrice after she stepped out of a rickshaw with her sister-in-law. Asma succumbed to her wounds a day later.

Mashal Khan, a student of journalism at Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, was lynched by an angry mob on April 13 which had accused him of blasphemy. Arif, a tehsil councillor in Mardan and a general secretary of the Insaf Student Federation, the student wing of the PTI, was allegedly among those who incited the mob.

Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Sochi congress agrees to set up Syrian constitutional commission
[ALMASDARNEWS] Participants of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress have agreed to establish a constitutional commission, which will include delegates elected at the forum, as well as representatives of those groups that did not attend the congress in Sochi.

The final communique of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi includes 12 principles for the Syrian crisis settlement that were worked out within the UN-backed Geneva process, UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said on Tuesday.

"[In] the new final declaration today you embraced the 12 principles, developed in the Geneva political process, that describes a vision of Syria that all Syrians should be able to share," de Mistura said at the closing ceremony of the Congress.

The issue of the new Syrian constitution has long been on the agenda of all major platforms for the Syrian crisis settlement. The UN-backed negotiations in Geneva focus on the four so-called baskets: constitution, elections, governance and counter-terrorism.

"I have heard that you all agreed that the assignment comes to the United Nations
...an idea whose time has gone...
to get the Constitutional Committee established. I have also noted that in accordance with the final statement, the Congress supported the list of representatives for the constitutional committee," de Mistura said at the closing of the congress.

UN Envoy for Syria also said that the constitutional committee agreed on at the Syrian National Dialogue Congress will comprise both the representatives of the Syrian government and opposition activists and thanked the forum for its contribution to the Geneva peace talks.

"I also take note that those of you, who are here, agreed that the constitutional committee will be formed comprising the government of the Syrian Arab Republic along with the wide representation of the opposition delegations for drafting a constitutional reform. It is intended as a contribution, and thank you again, to the political settlement under the UN auspices in accordance with the UNSC resolution 2254," de Mistura said at the closing ceremony of the Congress.

Syria opposition rejects Sochi constitution plan

[Al Jazeera] Participants of a Russia-hosted conference for peace in Syria have agreed to set up a commission to rewrite the war-torn country's constitution.

Staffan de Mistura, United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
Special Envoy for Syria, said on Tuesday that delegates at the two-day conference at the Black Sea resort of Sochi, agreed to include both government and opposition officials in the 150-member committee.

De Mistura said the final agreement on the committee would be reached in the UN-led diplomatic process in Geneva based on UN Security Council Resolution 2254 - which serves as a framework for political transition in Syria.

But the fate of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
- a key sticking point that has repeatedly caused ongoing negotiations to fail - was not mentioned in the final statement.

Syria's major opposition groups, who boycotted the event, rejected the proposal.

The main opposition bloc - the Syrian Negotiation Commission (SNC) - accused Assad and Russia, Syria's principle ally, of continuing to use military might and showing no interest in entering into honest negotiations.
Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


China-Japan-Koreas
China as a ‘near Arctic state’ – chutzpah overcoming geography
[atimes] Watching China lay claim to territory in the South and East China Seas and on the Indian border resembles a fat man at the buffet table declaring that everything from the roast beef over to the chocolate éclairs is his. Now China is setting its sights on the Arctic – declaring itself a “near Arctic state.”

Step 1: A term appears in an obscure Chinese academic journal. Measure responses and continue…

Step 2: Term appears in a regional Chinese newspaper. Measure responses and continue…

Step 3: Term is used at a Chinese national conference or seminar. Measure responses and continue…

Step 4: Term is used in Xinhua and China Daily articles. Measure responses and continue…

Step 5: Term is used at international conference(s) and academic exchanges held in China. Measure responses and continue…

Step 6: China frequently refers to the term in international media, and at international conferences. Measure acceptance and continue…

Step 7: China issues policy white paper stating its position, its implied right, and an implied threat to ‘defend’ its rights

Step 8: China maintains this has ‘always’ been China’s policy: nothing has changed. (Translation: Get used to it, barbarians.)

Posted by: 3dc || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  That picture looks like one of Sidney Paget's original illustrations for the Sherlock Holmes stories in The Strand. The guy on the far right looks like Holmes, trying to observe the guy's technique.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 01/31/2018 11:41 Comments || Top||

#2  So China will take over eastern Siberia? Not sure Russia can stop them.
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/31/2018 18:05 Comments || Top||

#3  "6.537th Holiest place in Islam Always part of the Upper Middle Kingdom"

I think we know how they see this playing out
Posted by: Frank G || 01/31/2018 19:59 Comments || Top||

#4  I wonder how much fun could be had letting the Russians steal a draft agreement where the US is recognizing Chinese claims to Siberia in return for helping squash North Korea.

Definitely a contender for Snark o’the Day. Congratulations!
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats || 01/31/2018 20:07 Comments || Top||

#5  This is the Chinese playbook through and through. Once upon a time, the empire was a smallish kingdom on the banks of the Yellow River. It was a peaceful country that kept expanding in order to counter the barbarians who kept raiding its land. Of course, it defined its land as anywhere its armies could raise their banners. The barbarians were incorporated into the empire as they were conquered, or as they conquered China, and claimed its lands as their own, and the original ruling families went from rulers to subjects, in many cases, of the erstwhile, but Sinicized barbarians.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 01/31/2018 20:59 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Cairo court sentences six people to life in prison for terrorism and attempted murder
[AlAhram] A Cairo criminal court sentenced on Tuesday six people to life in prison ‐ 25 years ‐ for joining an illegal organization, the attempted murder of security personnel and establishing a terrorist cell in the case known in the media as the "second Nasr City terrorist cell."
The Nasr City neighbourhood in northeastern Cairo is Hasm territory. Hasm or Hasam Movement (more formally Harikat Souad Masr (Hasm – Arms of Egypt Movement)) is one of the the NeverSisi militant arms of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. It sprang into existence, fully formed, in October 2016, probably inheriting personnel from previous MB armed factions, and apparently organized by Mohammed Kamel, who was responsible for MB special cells until he was killed by security forces in a hail of gunfire about the time the two groups appeared...
The court also sentenced four others from four to 15 years in prison, and two defendants to five years in the same case.

The verdict can still be appealed.

The court also gave the defendants five years of probation and barred them from managing their assets.

The defendants were referred to trial in November 2017 over illegal possession of weapons, obstructing the duties of state institutions, endangering citizens, attempted murder of security personnel and joining an illegal group.
Ynet adds this confirmatory note:
Egypt's state news agency says a court has sentenced six alleged Moslem Brüderbund members to life in prison over charges including the attempted murder of soldiers and police.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood


Arabia
Saudi attorney general: Corruption settlements top $107 bln
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
’s Public Prosecutor has confirmed that investigations into corruption cases in the kingdom has nearly finished and has released information on the results so far.

In a statement, Saudi Attorney General Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb said that a total of 381 people were summoned by the Commission, many of whom agreed to testify. Meanwhile,
...back at the cheese factory, all the pieces finally fell together in Fluffy's mind...
56 of those summoned are still being held in detention pending further investigations.

"The Attorney General explained that the estimated value of settlement amounts exceeded 400 billion riyals represented in several assets (real estate, companies, securities, cash and others)," a statement from the prosecutor’s office read.

Saudi authorities ealier announced that they had released all remaining detainees from Riyadh's opulent Ritz-Carlton Hotel, which had been used as an interrogation center in a crackdown on corruption.

The news signaled that the three-month-old probe, in which dozens of brass hats and businessmen were detained by Sherlocks who said they aimed to seize some $100 billion of illicit assets, was drawing to a close.

Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Boris Johnson to Al Arabiya: Iran ‘up to no good’ with catastrophic policies
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has said that both Britannia and Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
share a "historic and common perspective" on the challenges of "Iranian disruptiveness" in the Middle East.

In an exclusive interview with Al Arabiya News Channel’s Rima Maktabi, Johnson spoke on recent reports of frayed ties between Saudi Arabia and the UK, as well as the Arab coalition’s campaign 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...
and attacks on Riyadh by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen.

"We need to be clear and firm with Iran. It is unacceptable for them to be conniving in the Houthis’ use of missiles against Saudi Arabia ... It’s a catastrophic policy they are following," Johnson said.

Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Lawmaker: FBI Memo Will ‘Shock Americans,' Warrant Removal of ‘FBI, DOJ Officials'
[FreeBeacon] A classified memo alleging abuses by the FBI and Department of Justice in its handling of a surveillance operation against President Donald Trump and his associates will "be shocking to many Americans" and likely prompt the removal of "a high number" of senior officials in these agencies, according to one member of Congress who has viewed the highly classified document.

Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee voted along party lines late Monday to declassify the hotly contested memo, which outlines alleged surveillance abuses by senior FBI and DOJ officials pursuing what many have described as partisan campaign against Trump.

Following that decision, the president has several days to decide whether he will allow the memo to be released to the American public or kept classified.

Rep. Sean Duffy (R., Wis.), speaking about the decision, said allegations in the memo "will be shocking to many Americans and warrant the removal of a number of high [level] FBI and DOJ individuals as well as at least one of those individuals being prosecuted," according to comments made in the lawmaker's podcast, an advanced copy of which was obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

"There is a lot of smoke blowing around the FBI, the DOJ," Duffy said during a chat with his colleague, Rep. Lee Zeldin (R., N.Y.), on national security issues and Trump's upcoming State of the Union address.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I doubt anyone who reads the Burg will be greatly "shocked."
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 6:45 Comments || Top||

#2  The most disgusting thing will be the reactions of the Dems and progs in the media and population.

They will spin and cheer and shrug as part of their stupidity that still doesn't realize that their own weapons can be turned against them.
Posted by: AlanC || 01/31/2018 7:23 Comments || Top||

#3  Enough talk - release the damn thing already.
Posted by: Raj || 01/31/2018 9:19 Comments || Top||

#4  Most of the Burgers have been reporting on this and other Zero era malfeasances for oh...eight years now.

None of this is a surprise. We've been pointing to this all along.

I marvel at the MSM's ability to bury such a monumental story...thank goodness the internet doesn't allow that forever. If you said it or printed it or whatever, its out there, it never goes away and it will come back to bite you in the butt.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 01/31/2018 9:39 Comments || Top||

#5  #3 Enough talk - release the damn thing already.

This.

I'm starting to get a whiff of "Squirrel!" from all this crap.
Posted by: charger || 01/31/2018 11:01 Comments || Top||

#6  Enough talk - release the damn thing already.

Gotta wait five days.
Posted by: gorb || 01/31/2018 13:03 Comments || Top||

#7  A certain segment of voters will not believe the memo, the evidence, or anything that shows their party in a bad light.

It would be nice if they'd move to Canada (or any other country for that matter) so they could be happy again.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/31/2018 15:53 Comments || Top||

#8  #7 rjschwarz: Why Canada?????? We've got enough problems as it is. Surely we don't need more. Where the heck are all the Hollywood types that said they'd move up here if DJT got elected? No sign of 'em so far . . . . . and I was looking forward to showing them what a real Canuckistanian winter could be like. *SIGH *
Posted by: Canuckistan sniper || 01/31/2018 16:01 Comments || Top||

#9  There's a good chance that SOMETHING in the memo could reveal sensitive information about FBI techniques and be of use to other opposition forces. Damned if you do, Damned if you don't.
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/31/2018 18:11 Comments || Top||

#10  Waiting for charges, not holding my breath.
Posted by: Woodrow || 01/31/2018 18:58 Comments || Top||

#11  My apologies, I said Canada because of the big movie presence up there but we both know they'll never actually move so you're safe.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/31/2018 23:55 Comments || Top||

#12  I'll prepare myself. OK, I'm ready, shock me.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/31/2018 23:59 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
No US-Palestine talks until al-Quds decision reversed: Erekat
Ok.
[PRESSTV] Senior Paleostinian official Saeb Erekat
...negotiated the Oslo Accords with Israel. He has been chief Paleostinian negotiator since 1995. He is currently negotiating with Israel to establish a de jure Paleostinian state...
says Paleostine will hold no talks with the US until the administration of 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...
reverses its recognition of Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s capital.

"The minute any Paleostinian goes and meets with American officials, it is an acceptance of their decision. Now they are threatening us with money, with aid," the secretary-general of the Paleostine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Paleostinian's longtime chief negotiator said in a Tuesday interview with AFP.

Erekat rejected Washington’s efforts to hold an international conference on finding a two-state solution for the Paleostinian conflict and noted, "They promised not to impose any solution, and now they want the meeting for the sake of the meeting."

Erekat said it was as if the American officials are telling the Paleostinians, "Come here boy, we know what is good for you."

Erekat warned that Trump and Israel’s right-wing cabinet are in the process of "destroying" the two-state solution, warning that doing so would lead to "an enlargement of the cycle of violence, extremism and counter-violence."

Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: PLO

#1  Your proposal is acceptable. Bye.
Posted by: SteveS || 01/31/2018 0:15 Comments || Top||

#2  You know Saeb, we (Israel) can supply your people with Syrian passports that are better than the real ones. You should harry, because frau Merkel won't stay in power forever.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/31/2018 2:00 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Absconding cop Rao Anwar denies fleeing Pakistan
[GEO.TV] Suspended SSP Malir Rao Anwar on Tuesday denied reports of fleeing Pakistain but still remains on the lam after his arrest orders over the 'fake encounter' of a 27-year-old man in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
The absconding police official is wanted by authorities in connection to the extrajudicial murder of Naqeebullah Mehsud ‐ who along with four alleged Lions of Islam ‐ was killed in an ’exchange of fire’ with a police team led by Anwar on January 13 in Shah Latif Town, Karachi.

"I have not fled the country, I am in Pakistain," Anwar said in a conversation with Geo News from an undisclosed location. "I am sending an appeal for justice to the Chief Justice of Pakistain."

He alleged that the police had noted the incorrect time of his arrival at the police encounter.
Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Suspected Russian warplanes hit busy market in Idlib, kill 15
[Ynet] At least 15 people were killed on Tuesday when suspected Russian warplanes struck a crowded market in the rebel-held city of Ariha in the second such strike on a shopping area in opposition-held Idlib within 24 hours, residents and rescuers said.

They said the aircraft were flying at high altitude, which differentiates it from ageing Syrian airforce.

The opposition-run Civil Defence service said a further 20 people were maimed in the strike. Video released by local activists showed extensive damage, with produce mixed up with human parts.

Rooters could not verify the authenticy of the footage

A resident said the attack took place at the busiest time of the day.

Russia's defense ministry regularly says it is attacking hardline Islamist bully boys. It denies opposition and witness accounts that its warplanes target market places, medical centers and residential areas away from frontlines
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Replace "Russia" with 'USA' and the story would be just as "believable".
Posted by: DooDahMan || 01/31/2018 0:36 Comments || Top||

#2  An attack on an Idlib internal displacement camp possibly involved the use of napalm.

Posted by: Ulaigum Ebbineng7056 || 01/31/2018 0:44 Comments || Top||

#3  Suspected Russian warplanes hit busy market in Idlib, kill 15

Several empty vodka bottles were found afterwards?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/31/2018 2:01 Comments || Top||

#4  Cucumber Sprite
Posted by: Blackbeard Phusoter1724 || 01/31/2018 14:05 Comments || Top||


Turkish air strikes pound Kurdish fighters in Syria
[AlAhram] Ottoman Turkish air strikes pounded the Syrian border region of Afrin and fighting raged on two fronts as Ankara pursued its offensive against the Kurdish enclave on Tuesday.

A monitoring group and Kurdish sources said The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund....
's air force had stepped up its raids on the 10th day of operation "Olive Branch", which sees Turkey providing air and ground support to Syrian opposition fighters in an offensive against Kurdish militia in northwestern Syria.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Africa Horn
IED Blast Near Galgala Kills 1 Puntland Soldier, Injures Several
[RADIOSHABELLE] At least one 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...
soldier was killed on Tuesday an in a roadside kaboom blast in Galgala Mountains of Bari region, a military source said.

A military source, who requested anonymity, told Radio Shabelle that Puntland soldier was killed after the roadside kaboom struck the military vehicle in Sugure area of the Galgala Mountains.

At least two soldiers were also maimed in the blast, according to the source.

Al-Shabaab
... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
Death Eaters claimed the responsibility for the attack.

Puntland soldiers are battling Death Eaters from al-Shabaab in Galgala Mountains.

Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran military advisory forces will leave Syria after terror fight success: Diplomat
[PRESSTV] A senior Iranian official says Iranian military advisory forces entered Syria at the request of the Syrian government and will leave the Arab country after the success of the fight against terrorism.

Hossein Jaberi Ansari, the Iranian foreign minister’s senior assistant for special political affairs, made the remarks while speaking to news hounds on the sidelines of the Syrian peace conference in the Russian resort of Sochi on Tuesday.

"Iranian forces entered Syria at the request of the Syrian government in order to help Syrian government in the battle against terrorism in Syria," said Jaberi Ansari, who was leading the Iranian delegation in Sochi.

"It is obvious that once their job is finished, after their mission is accomplished they will withdraw from the Syrian territory, in agreement with Syria," he added.

Sochi hosts talks between the Syrian government and the opposition in the hope of paving the way for a peaceful settlement of the conflict gripping the Arab state.

Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Arabia
Tillerson: US 'negatively impacted' by Gulf crisis
[Al Jazeera] The United States secretaries of state and defence have urged for a resolution to the Gulf crisis, as the dispute nears the eight-month mark.

At the inaugural round of the US-Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
strategic dialogue meeting in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the US remains as concerned today as it was at the outset of the Gulf dispute.

"The dispute has had direct negative consequences, economically and militarily for those involved, as well as the United States," Tillerson said in the presence of Qatar's foreign and defence ministers.
Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Qatar (MB)

#1  I thought there were several on-going Gulf crises.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 01/31/2018 6:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Yea, all these nasty frackers getting rich.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/31/2018 6:32 Comments || Top||

#3  I thought the Gulf Crisis was in the 90s. We are more on the Gulf Disturbance by now.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/31/2018 11:06 Comments || Top||

#4  Is this the one that's been going on since Cain killed Abel?
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 01/31/2018 19:35 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israeli, PA ministers meet for first time since US Jerusalem recognition
Getting on with things while President Mahmoud Abbas postures pointlessly.
[IsraelTimes] Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and Paleostinian economy minister Abeer Odeh open new cargo facility at Allenby border crossing between West Bank and Jordan

Senior Israeli and Paleostinian officials, including ministers from both sides, met at a ceremony Tuesday in the first high-level encounter since 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...
’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and Paleostinian Authority National Economy Minister Abeer Odeh attended the inauguration of a new cargo scanner at the Israeli-controlled Allenby Bridge border crossing between Jordan and the West Bank.

Kahlon also confirmed Hebrew media reports that he will be meeting with PAPrime Minister Rami Hamdallah in Jerusalem on Sunday as part of efforts to advance "a number of joint projects."

While Kahlon and Odeh cut a ribbon together to inaugurate the new scanning station it was not known if they exchanged more than pleasantries at the ceremony, leaving Hamdallah’s upcoming meeting at the finance minister’s office as the first high-level talks between Israelis and Paleostinians since the US move on Jerusalem.

The new scanning device will enable 200 containers to cross between Jordan and the Paleostinian territory a day, double the current number, Israel’s Tax Authority said in a statement.

Other senior Israeli and Paleostinian officials were present at the event, as well as a Jordanian representative and Dutch diplomats, whose country donated the new machine.

"I arrived at the Finance Ministry after a long period of stagnation in the relations between Israel and the Paleostinian Authority," Kahlon said in remarks relayed by the Tax Authority. "We have decided to take responsibility and advance a number of joint projects."

"We have many plans to continue our financial cooperation with the (Paleostinian) Authority," Kahlon added.

Kahlon also noted that earlier this week he met with US peace envoy Jason Greenblatt, who he said "supports and is pressing to continue to advance things."

"We see in Greenblatt and in the United States central, important and fair mediators and the only ones to advance cooperation in the region," Kahlon said.

Hamdallah and Kahlon meet every few months to discuss economic and infrastructure issues. Their last talks took place on October 30.

Their Sunday meeting will be the first since Trump pledged on December 6 to move the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, breaking with the policies of his predecessors.

Outraged Paleostinian leaders said the US could no longer play the role of peace broker and called for the suspension of their recognition of Israel, a move that has not been implemented.

The United States meanwhile withheld $65 million of funds earmarked for the UN relief agency for Paleostinian refugees, UNRWA.

Paleostinian officials did not confirm the Israeli report on the meeting.

Hamdallah is heading for Brussels for an "emergency" meeting Wednesday of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, which coordinates international donor support for the Paleostinians. The Paleostinian premier will raise the issue of the financial crisis facing his government and seek funding for Gazoo, a government statement said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority


Africa Subsaharan
Nigeria: 168 killed in herdsmen-farmer clashes in Jan
[AA.TR] At least 168 people have been killed in festivities between herdsmen and farmers in Nigeria so far in January, while 549 were killed in 2017, according to Amnesia Amnesty International on Tuesday.

The rights group said the government's response to the violence was unimpressive and that its deployment of soldiers to villages caught in the crisis had only worsened the situation because troops displayed "excessive force".

"Nigerian authorities' response to communal violence is totally inadequate, too slow and ineffective, and in some cases unlawful," Osai Ojigho, Amnesia Amnesty International country director, said in a statement issued in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

"Clashes between herdsmen and farmers in Adamawa, Benue, Taraba, Ondo and Kaduna have resulted in 168 deaths in January 2018 alone.

"Hundreds of people bit the dust last year, and the government is still not doing enough to protect communities from these violent festivities. Worse, the killers are getting away with murder," Ojigho said, and called on the Nigerian authorities to investigate these attacks and "where these investigations indicate criminal responsibility, prosecute those responsible and bring them to justice".

Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Fulani Herdsmen (Boko Haram)

#1  "Oh the Farmer and the Ploughman should be friends" . . . . from Oklahonigeria
Posted by: Canuckistan sniper || 01/31/2018 15:42 Comments || Top||

#2  :-D
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/31/2018 18:45 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
SC admonishes KP police for 'incompetence' in Aasma rape-murder case
[GEO.TV] Chief Justice Saqib Nisar remarked on Tuesday that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Police’s failure to arrest the culprit in the rape and murder of minor Aasma is reflective of the force's incompetence.

The Supreme Court was hearing its suo motu
...a legal term, from the Latin. Roughly translated it means I saw what you did, you bastard...
case in the rape and murder of the four-year-old girl, who was found in sugarcane fields two weeks ago.

The case is being heard by a three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Nasir and comprising Justices Umar Ata Bandial and Ijazul Ahsan.

Justice Nisar asked why the KP inspector general of police did not appear before the court today, adding that he had heard a lot of the KP Police's 'professionalism'.

He observed further that this is not the first case of its kind in KP as similar cases have occurred in the province.

During the hearing, a deputy inspector general of KP Police informed the Supreme Court that he expects the Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....

Forensic Science Agency to be provided with Aasma's forensic report today.

A further probe can be carried out when we have the complete forensic report, he said.

The chief justice then inquired from the official what the KP police have done so far, to which the DIG failed to give a satisfying reply.

Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Will make efforts to get justice for victims of fake encounters: Siyal
[GEO.TV] Sindh Home Minister Sohail Anwar Siyal on Tuesday said that he will make his 'best efforts' to get justice for all victims of fake encounters and extrajudicial killings.

Speaking on Geo News' programme Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath, Siyal said the provincial government has improved Sindh's security situation as much as the 'law' and 'authority vested in it' has allowed.

"Why just Rao Anwar's case?" he said, "I will pursue all cases [of extrajudicial killings.]"

Responding to a question about the absconding police officer's recent statement to media that denied ownership of the house that the police had conducted a raid on, claiming to be the property of Anwar, Siyal said he will probe into the matter.

"I will ask the police why someone else’s house was raided if it does not belong to Anwar and what was the information received by the police that led to the decision of the raid," he said, adding that such ill-informed raids are creating a bad image of the police department.

Tactfully sidestepping a question about the police department's unchecked powers over an unprotected section of the society, the provincial minister lamented the lack of powers vested in the Sindh government.

"The Sindh government does not have the power to appoint a police officer. This was the case in Rao Anwar's matter too, who reported to the Sindh Inspector General of Police [AD Khawaja]," he said.

"The 18th amendment of the Constitution says that law and order is not the provincial government's domain," he said. "According to a high court judgement, I am sorry to say, the provincial government is an outsider [in law and order cases.]"

Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russia's Sanctioned Spy Chief Reportedly Met CIA Director in the U.S.
[Daily Beast] Russia’s sanctioned spy chief recently visited the United States and reportedly met with CIA Director Mike Pompeo, Russian state media reported Tuesday.

Sergey Naryshkin, director of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, the SVR, was spotted aboard a commercial Aeroflot flight to the United States, Russian state-owned news channel Rossiya-1 reported. The SVR is blamed by the U.S. government for a key role in the Kremlin’s interference with the 2016 election. A reporter for the network said Naryshkin landed in New York and met with the CIA director.

Representatives for the CIA and the office of the Director of National Intelligence declined comment to The Daily Beast about whether Pompeo or any other U.S. intelligence official recently met with with Naryshkin‐who has been under U.S. sanctions for the past three years.

"While we do not discuss the schedules of U.S. intelligence leaders, rest assured that any interaction with foreign intelligence agencies would have been conducted in accordance with U.S. law and in consultation with appropriate Departments and agencies," a CIA spokesman told The Daily Beast.

"Sergey Yevgenievich was here. He arrived. He had meetings with his colleagues here," Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov told Rossiya-1. It is unclear when the meeting took place.

Antonov said the meeting was about possible areas of cooperation between the U.S. and Russia.

"I want to tell you that in the most difficult times, the most difficult times, contact between the special services continued. Politics is politics, and work is work. There are political slogans, and then there's real work," Antonov said, adding, "They of course discussed the question of joint fight against terrorism."

Antonov suggested that ties between Russian and American intelligence services run deep, but out of sight for the casual observer.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Yemeni army, allies fire ballistic missile at Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid International Airport
[PRESSTV] Yemeni army forces and allied fighters from Popular Committees have reportedly launched a locally designed and manufactured ballistic missile toward an area deep inside Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
in response to the Riyadh regime’s devastating aerial bombardment campaign against its crisis-stricken southern neighbor.

Brigadier Yahya al-Mahdi told Yemen’s Arabic-language al-Sahat satellite television network that Yemeni soldiers and their allies had fired a Burkan 2-H (Volcano H-2) missile towards King Khalid International Airport, located 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of the Saudi capital city of Riyadh, on Tuesday afternoon.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israeli army shoots dead Paleostinian teen in West Bank
Why shoot a dead Paleostinian? Target practice?
[Al Jazeera] Israeli forces have rubbed out a Paleostinian teenager in the occupied West Bank, the Paleostinian ministry of health has confirmed.

Layth Abu Naim, 16, was shot in the head with live ammunition during a confrontation with the Israeli army in the village of al-Mughayir, northeast of the occupied West Bank town of Ramallah.

According to local media, Abu Naim - a high school student - was shot at point blank range. The confrontations reportedly erupted after Israeli forces raided the village.

The boy's funeral is set to be held on Wednesday after midday prayers in his hometown.

A spokeswoman for Israel's military said "violent riots are taking place in this area and burning tires and stones were thrown at the soldiers," according to Israeli media.

The spokeswoman was "unable to confirm that any Paleostinians had been hit by gunfire".
Ynet adds:
The IDF issued a statement Tuesday evening denying that live rounds had been used, but said that that soldiers opened fire using rubber bullets after dozens of Paleostinians began throwing rocks and rolling burning tires in the village Mughayer. The military also launched an investigation into the incident.
Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: PLO

#1  Lets strafe the funeral.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/31/2018 1:44 Comments || Top||

#2  I suppose a rubber bullet at PBR would have a NEGATIVE EFFECT.
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/31/2018 10:46 Comments || Top||

#3  Funny how they conveniently avoid mentioning what the nice young boy did to provoke the situation - my $'s on rock throwing.
Posted by: Raj || 01/31/2018 11:02 Comments || Top||

#4  EoZ posters for "Apartheid Week"
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 01/31/2018 12:07 Comments || Top||

#5  Thanks, VRWC. That made my day. None of it surprised me, but I kept laughing every few pages, imagining the cumulative effect on various mindsets. Quite a clinic in quality of quantity.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 01/31/2018 12:52 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Kenya: Opposition movement declared criminal group
[AA.TR] Nairobi on Tuesday labeled Kenya’s opposition National Resistance Movement (NRM) an organized criminal group, hours after its leader Raila Odinga symbolically "swore himself in" as president in a mock inauguration.

Last October, Odinga formed the NRM from his National Super Alliance (NASA) political movement to pressure President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government to make Kenyatta step aside call for a new free, fair and credible election.

In a statement, Kenya’s Interior Ministry said that under the 2010 Prevention of Organized Crimes Act, "the Ministry of the Interior and Co-ordination of National Government declares the National Resistance Movement to be an organized criminal group."

The parliamentary wing of the opposition National Resistance Movement has previously called on its supporters to boycott services and products from companies it claims is supporting Kenyatta’s ruling Jubilee party.

The declaration puts Odinga’s NRM in the same legal category as the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab
... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
holy warrior group, which has killed thousands of innocent people in the horn of Africa region and has been called a criminal group by the government.


This article starring:
Raila Odinga
Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Nairobi, April 1955: 1 Rifle Brigade march past Governor Baring on leaving Kenya, where it all started going dreadfully wrong.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 7:08 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
UN warns sanctions starving North Korea children to death
This is on the order of the man who murdered his parents, then petitioned the court for mercy on the ground that he was an orphan.
[PRESSTV] The United Nations
...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society...
Children’s Fund has warned that hundreds of thousands of children could starve as a result of sanctions on North Korea. UNICEF said the inability of humanitarian staff to deliver aid there had put many children in lethal malnutrition condition.

Manuel Fontaine, director of UNICEF emergency programs worldwide, said Tuesday that an estimated 60,000 children face lethal starvation in North Korea mainly due to economic sanctions imposed over the country’s missile and nuclear programs.

"We are projecting that at some point during the year 60,000 children will become severely malnourished. This is the malnutrition that potentially can lead to death. It’s protein and calorie malnutrition," said Fontaine, adding, "So the trend is worrying, it’s not getting any better."

The UNICEF also estimated that some 200,000 North Korean children are now in acute malnutrition category.
Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  quicker Kim is overthrown, the quicker the famine threat is over
Posted by: lord garth || 01/31/2018 0:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Well... they do have a nice fat juicy leader you know....

Probably feed a family of four for a month...

Just saying...
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/31/2018 0:24 Comments || Top||

#3  But they have money for nukes & ballistic rockets.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/31/2018 1:52 Comments || Top||

#4  ...Sanctions haven't killed a single child. Kimmie's behavior and actions, however, have.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 01/31/2018 5:30 Comments || Top||

#5  Fewer soldiers to invade SK in 16 years
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 01/31/2018 6:51 Comments || Top||

#6  #5 - and they'll be short, underdeveloped brains, and frail
Posted by: Frank G || 01/31/2018 7:37 Comments || Top||

#7  And here I thought using human shields was a violation of some convention.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/31/2018 8:12 Comments || Top||

#8  The dispensing of human meat products should provide additional evidence of the sanctions effectiveness. I'm withholding judgement until I seen the first tins.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 8:15 Comments || Top||

#9  It's always America's fault, no matter what.

The blood is on North Korean hands, if we don't cut off their country from imports, they'll never come to the table to negotiate. But surprise, all the UN wants to do is blame America. Because it's emotionally fulfilling to them.
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 || 01/31/2018 12:35 Comments || Top||

#10  Anyone with enough brain cells to comprehend light would know that lifting sanctions on food and heating oil would not stop the famine.

Suet face would feed his army and his apparatiks.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 01/31/2018 12:50 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Most protesters detained in recent Iran unrest freed, 300 still in jail
[Ynet] Iranian authorities have released most of the people locked away
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
during December's anti-government protests but around 300 remain in jail facing charges, Iran's interior minister said on Tuesday.

Judicial officials have said around 1,000 people were arrested during the week-long protests which spread to around 80 towns and cities across Iran. One politician has put the figure at 3,700.

Sparked by soaring food prices, the protests‐the biggest in Iran since nationwide pro-reform unrest in 2009‐took on a rare political dimension, with a growing number of people calling on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to step down.

Clashes between protesters and police resulted in 25 deaths, according to official figures.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Sign of weakness? Trying to placate the masses?
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/31/2018 11:04 Comments || Top||


Activists: Bomb kills 2 Turkish troops in Syria
[IsraelTimes] Syrian activists say two Ottoman Turkish soldiers were killed in a kaboom targeting a large military convoy moving through a rebel stronghold in northwestern Syria.

Opposition activist Abdelkafi Alhamdo says an kaboom, possibly a boom-mobile, destroyed the first vehicle in a Ottoman Turkish convoy as it entered his town of Atareb, in Aleppo province, on Tuesday.

The activist-run Thiqa News Agency and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, report that two soldiers were killed.

There is no immediate confirmation of the attack from the Ottoman Turkish military.

The convoy was accompanied by an escort from the al-Qaeda-linked Levant Liberation Committee, which dominates a rebel stronghold spanning Idlib province and parts of Aleppo.

Ottoman Turkish forces first deployed in Idlib in November as part of an agreement with Russia and Iran to define their respective zones of influence in war-torn Syria.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte

#1  Divine wind.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/31/2018 1:45 Comments || Top||


International-UN-NGOs
11 countries speed up funding for Palestinians after US cuts
Go for it, guys.
[IsraelTimes] UNRWA chief says Russia, Kuwait, and 9 European nations are stepping up contributions

The head of the UN agency for Paleostinian refugees said Tuesday that Russia, Kuwait and nine European countries have agreed to speed up their contributions to help fill a shortfall left by the Trump administration’s decision to reduce crucial US funding.

Commissioner General Pierre Krähenbuhl of the UN Relief and Works Agency also said it has received no specifics about reforms sought by the United States, suggesting politics ‐ notably surrounding the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital ‐ were at play.

UNRWA, which serves some 5 million Paleostinian refugees and their descendants, had a budget of over $1 billion last year. This covered long-running programs, including education, as well as emergency funds for crises such as the war in Syria.

The US has been the largest donor, giving one-third of the total budget. The Trump administration withheld half of the first installment of payments this year, demanding reforms as a condition for future aid.

The UN agency says the Trump administration has committed $60 million this year ‐ far short of the $360 million that the US provided last year ‐ and Krähenbuhl said he has no sign that other US funding might be on the way.

The US has said it is withholding two payments to UNWRA totaling some $100 million.

But the administrator of the US Agency for International Development said Friday that the Trump administration had not yet made decisions regarding cuts in humanitarian aid to Paleostinians.
That sounds like there is room for further American cuts. Awesome!
"This process is ongoing, and no funding decisions have been made. As the President said, the United States expects the Paleostinian leadership to work with us," USAID’s Mark Green told The Times of Israel on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland
...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell...
The UNRWA head said the changes marked "a very severe and dramatic change in the parameters of funding from the United States," which he called a "stable, predictable and most-generous contributor to UNRWA over decades."

"It is clear that we have a very big task on our hand to fill that gap," Krähenbuhl told news hounds in Geneva.

UNRWA responded by calling on donors to speed up their funding, and Switzerland, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Russia, Belgium, Kuwait, the Netherlands and Ireland have taken steps to do so, he said. Others were considering similar action.

"Advancing contributions is extremely important to help us address the first few months," he said. "Of course, a shortfall of $300 million can only be addressed with obtaining additional income from other sources over the year."

The comments Tuesday came as UNRWA said it is seeking $800 million for emergency operations in Syria, the West Bank and Gazoo Strip this year. UNRWA sought $400 million each for Syria and the Paleostinian territories. In an appeal last week, the agency sought an additional $500 million.

"We signed our new framework agreement with the US in the beginning of December in which every aspect of our relationship from funding to reform discussions was covered and agreed," Krähenbuhl told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named. "They did not explain the current decision by reform-related elements."

He said he believed the funding cut was linked to the Trump administration’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and a subsequent vote by the UN General Assembly to denounce the decision.

"It is very clear that the decision by the United States was not related to our performance," he said. "This has to be part of the debate that took place around Jerusalem."

Israel has often criticized UNRWA, accusing it of sheltering bully boyz and allowing Paleostinians to remain refugees even after settling in a new city or country for generations, thus complicating a possible resolution to the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So any US funds earmarked for any of those countries needs to be rethought and kept at home.....
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 01/31/2018 1:19 Comments || Top||

#2  nine European countries have agreed to speed up their contributions

Shouldn't these European countries take care of their own Muslim citizens first?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/31/2018 5:25 Comments || Top||

#3  ...or at least their own defense. If they have these funds available why weren't they picking up their own national security first? Time to leave a MAG team in Brussels and get the hell out of Dodge.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/31/2018 8:16 Comments || Top||

#4  Commissioner General Pierre Krähenbuhl of the UN Relief and Works Agency

Yes, I remember some of those delightful (Food For Peace) people from the old Canal Hotel in Baghdad. Something of a skewed agenda, but delightful people nonetheless.

Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 8:21 Comments || Top||

#5  UNRWA chief says Russia, Kuwait, and 9 European nations are stepping up contributions

So they have a hard time paying their UN and NATO dues but plenty of money to slit their own throats?
Posted by: gorb || 01/31/2018 9:36 Comments || Top||

#6  ...thus proving that America was never needed in the first place.

Brilliant, just brilliant. Trump is a master.
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 || 01/31/2018 12:44 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Oh Lordy – FBI Director Wray Sent 'Counterintelligence Official' To Review Memo Prior to Committee Vote…
[ConservativeTreehouse] Well, well, well... Snap. This is an interesting development, potentially quite explosive, and, perhaps, stunningly affirmational.

According to Catherine Herridge, after Chairman Nunes personally took FBI Director Christopher Wray to view the "Intel Memo" on Sunday night, and prior to the House Intel Committee vote to release the memo Monday evening, FBI Director Christopher Wray sent a Main Justice official and a "counterintelligence official" to view the content.

According to her report, those officials: "could not point to any factual inaccuracies."

Catherine Herridge ‐ Two senior FBI officials have now reviewed a controversial Republican staff memo alleging abuses of government surveillance programs during the 2016 presidential campaign, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News ‐ adding that the officials "could not point to any factual inaccuracies."

The two officials ‐ one from the bureau’s counterintelligence division and the other from the legal division ‐ followed up after an initial review of the memo during a rare Sunday trip to Capitol Hill by FBI Director Christopher Wray.

The House Intelligence Committee voted late Monday along party lines to release the memo, prompting a backlash from Democratic lawmakers. Top Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff called it a "very sad day." President Trump has five working days to review the contents but is widely expected not to block its release.

After the contentious committee vote Monday night, the source confirmed that House staffers physically took the memo over to the White House for the president.

Now, there is no explanation as to the sub-department origin of the Main Justice official, or whether that person was from the DOJ National Security Division. However, on the other side of the Justice Department, the official is identified as ’counterintelligence’.

Understanding the sensitivity of the matter (no pun intended), Director Wray likely sent a top official from Main Justice, and likely the top official within the FBI Counterintelligence division. The top official within FBI counterintelligence is still the same official present during the 2016/2017 "Trump Operation". That top counterintelligence official is Bill Priestap.

If Director Wray sent FBI Director of Counterintelligence Bill Priestap to the House SCIF to review the content, and Bill Priestap said he "could not point to any factual inaccuracies", then it is virtually certain that Priestap is cooperating (ie. flipped).
Continues.
Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Oh my! Bill P. flipped, turning States evidence? Time to stretch the ropes and load check the trap door.
Posted by: Betty Hatfield5124 || 01/31/2018 0:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Either Wray sent Priestap over to check the memo or he sent him over to "read and then come back and explain yourself." I suppose the "explain yourself" part flipped Priestap.

Flipping Priestap would be good news as he is privy to a lot of dirty administration laundry as those FISA warrants and other tidbits had to cross his desk in process.

Yep, if Priestap is truly on board with the investigation...and we don't know completely what kind of dirt Horowitz has unearthed...then all of these anti-Trump warriors left over from the prior administration will find themselves in deep doodoo.

I wonder if Zero is making reservations for a long vacation to a tropical paradise with no extradition?
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 01/31/2018 9:36 Comments || Top||

#3  I wonder if Zero is making reservations for a long vacation to a tropical paradise with no extradition? Posted by SPOD

The trail certainly appears to be leading back to him.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 9:38 Comments || Top||

#4  He's been pretty quiet lately.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 01/31/2018 10:25 Comments || Top||

#5 
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 01/31/2018 15:43 Comments || Top||

#6  Reads like Priestap flipped. I wonder who the attorney was from the legal dept.? Strzok worked under Priestap; he had to know what was going on. The back and forth messages between Strzok and his sweetie, Page would indicate Priestap knew.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/31/2018 16:32 Comments || Top||

#7  Interesting photo. Does she usually travel via broom ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 16:37 Comments || Top||

#8  Director Wray likely sent a top official from Main Justice

I wonder if this fellow might not have been a prosecutorial handler for Priestap in a meeting to sign the immunity paperwork.
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/31/2018 17:53 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Footage shows renewed protests in several Iranian cities overnight
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Protests renewed in Iran overnight according to videos and footage which showed people protesting in Bandar Abbas in the south, Najafabad in Isfahan in center Iran, Kerman in the southeast and in Shiraz, the center of the Fars Province.

During their protest in Bandar Abbas, protestors were calling on more people to join them.

In Shiraz, protestors chanted "death to the dictator." This has become a major slogan during the recent protests against Iran’s Supreme Guide Ali Khamenei.

In Najafabad, protestors chanted against the regime while in Kerman they called on security forces not to suppress their protests and to support their peaceful demonstrations.
Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  God protect them. Loved the President's reference to the Iranians protesting. He might, might have inspired.
Posted by: Woodrow || 01/31/2018 8:56 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Illegal Receives 3 LIVERS Ahead of American Citizens
[TheBlackSphere] No America citizen should have to fight to be put ahead of illegals. But such is the case when Democrats crave new voters.

And that’s why Americans find ourselves in jeopardy. Along with double the crimes committed by illegals, their status notwithstanding, there exist other perils.

As the LA Times reports, illegals can now get on America’s organ donor registry:
Oh. It’s about organ transplants. I was very confused.
Ana Puente was an infant with a liver disorder when her aunt brought her illegally to the U.S. to seek medical care. She underwent two liver transplants at UCLA Medical Center as a child in 1989 and a third in 1998, each paid for by the state.

Just so we are clear, a non-citizen of the United States brought her illegal niece to America. And she received two livers ahead of other citizens. So Puente potentially killed two Americans waiting on livers.

Things went bad for Puente when she turned 21. Because she aged out of her state-funded health insurance and was unable to continue treatment at UCLA.
The article continues,

This year, her liver began failing again and she was hospitalized at County-USC Medical Center. In her Medi-Cal application, a USC doctor wrote, "Her current clinical course is irreversible, progressive and will lead to death without another liver transplant." The application was denied.

The county gave her medication but does not have the resources to perform transplants.

Late last month Puente learned of another, little-known option for patients with certain healthcare needs. If she notified U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that she was in the country illegally, state health officials might grant her full Medi-Cal coverage. Puente did so, her benefits were restored and she is now awaiting a fourth transplant at UCLA.

So now Puente has the potential to kill four Americans, all because she made it to America. Who knows who waited anxiously for the livers that Puente received. Moreso, who know what the cost was to save her life three and soon to be four times.

Anybody think Puente would have gotten transplants if the person in need of the livers were kin to elitist Democrats? And what if Pelosi or Weinstein had to pick up the costs?

Thus the controversies:
Should illegal immigrants receive liver transplants in the U.S.?
Should taxpayers pick up the cost?

Allow me to answer on behalf of Americans. No and no!

The article elucidates both issues:

The average cost of a liver transplant and first-year follow-up is nearly $490,000, and anti-rejection medications can run more than $30,000 annually, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, which oversees transplantation nationwide.

Donor livers are also in scarce supply. In California, nearly 3,700 people are on a waiting list for livers, according to the network. Last year, 767 liver transplants were performed in the state. More than 90% of the organs were given to U.S. citizens.

Donor livers are generally allocated through a geographically based distribution system on the basis of how sick the patients are and how long they have been on the transplant waiting list.

Immigration status does not play a role in allocating organs.

So, if an illegal can get to America, they can jump over citizens in the list for organs, AND get the American taxpayers to fund their transplants.

Do you know any other country where this is possible?

This is incredible, and certainly something Americans need to know when deciding on whom to support. Clearly the Democrats put the lives of illegals over those of citizens.

There is a saying, "It’s all fun and games until somebody loses an eye.". That’s a cautionary tale usually told to children who rough house too much. But that saying certainly applies to organs. Because when you or your loved one needs an organ, you may resent that somebody not only jumped ahead of you, but they will get the organ promised to you, for free.
Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A blessing for those who love LIVER:
It's not always missed by the giver,
And if not to your taste,
It won't all go to waste
If the butcher just chopped off a sliver.

But yeah, the cost. Oof.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 01/31/2018 1:44 Comments || Top||

#2  So now Puente has the potential to kill four Americans, all because she made it to America. Who knows who waited anxiously for the livers that Puente received. Moreso, who know what the cost was to save her life three and soon to be four times.

But that is the plan! How else can these aging fly-over conservatives be exterminated and replaced with compliant Democratic voters ?

Behold the entitlement classes.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 6:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Donor livers are also in scarce supply.

Gene Editing Spurs Hope for Transplanting Pig Organs Into Humans
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/31/2018 7:52 Comments || Top||

#4  Did we pay for the operations or the family? Hospitals love being able to charge full rates as opposed to insurance rates.
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/31/2018 18:14 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iranian opposition cleric accuses Khamenei of abuse of power
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Instead of blaming others Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei should take responsibility for Iran’s economic and political shortcomings, an opposition leader under house arrest said in a letter published on Tuesday.

In rare public criticism of Khamenei, Mehdi Karroubi accused Iran’s hardline top authority of abusing power and urged him to change the way he runs the Islamic Theocratic Republic before it is too late.

"You have been Iran’s top leader for three decades, but still speak like an opposition," Karroubi said in an open letter to Khamenei published on Saham News, the official website of his reformist political party.

By "opposition", Karroubi meant that Khamenei, head of a Shi’ite theocracy, should not be wielding ultimate power while criticizing the government of elected President Hassan Rouhani, a pragmatist who wants to liberalize an economy dominated by the elite Revolutionary Guards and other state conglomerates.

"During the last three decades, you have eliminated the main revolutionary forces to implement your own policies, and now you should face the results of that," Karroubi added.

Karroubi, 80, a Shi’ite holy man like Khamenei, and fellow reformist Mirhossein Mousavi ran for election in 2009 and became figureheads for Iranians who staged mass protests after hardline conservative President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad was returned to power in a vote they believed was rigged. Authorities denied this.
Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Home Front: WoT
Terror in the Water: Maritime Terrorism, Mines, and Our Imperiled Harbors
Posted by: newc || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This is a threat we dread and almost just left be after the last conventional Naval battles ended.

But I doubt it is for just Naval Battles anymore.

Author expresses concern that we have not been focusing enough of this threat.

It is a worthy defense measure to open up the forum.
Posted by: newc || 01/31/2018 0:44 Comments || Top||

#2  Not gonna happen. Mine warfare is where naval careers go to die. It will never get any attention until the next big shooting war when a whole bunch of warships are sunk by next-generation mines that can tell the difference between a cargo ship and specific US warships.
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 || 01/31/2018 12:33 Comments || Top||

#3  Sensors are the future.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 12:49 Comments || Top||

#4  Remember this?
9/11 - Bin Laden Brother In Boston Bought Dolphin Submarines In Florida For His Brother

Posted by: Woodrow || 01/31/2018 18:50 Comments || Top||

#5  Next generation mines will crawl ashore like drone alligators or robot SEALS.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 01/31/2018 19:42 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
US Releases 'Putin List' of Russians Eligible for Sanctions
[AnNahar] The US Treasury has released a long awaited list of Russian officials and business leaders eligible for sanctions under a law designed to punish Moscow for its alleged meddling in the election that brought 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...
to power.

The list published shortly before midnight Monday features the names of most of the senior members in President Vladimir Putin
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
's administration -- 114 politicians altogether -- and 96 business people the US considers 'oligarchs' close to Putin and worth at least $1 billion each.

The seven-page unclassified list, which does not trigger sanctions right away,
...so this might be an entirely symbolic, toothless exercise? Fascinating...
features Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and brass hats in Russian intelligence agencies.

Also on the list were the chief executives of big state-owned companies such as energy giant Rosneft and Sberbank.

The list was widely expected to infuriate Putin and send shivers through his inner circle and Moscow's moneyed elite, threatening to cut them off from world finance.

Monday was the deadline for its release under a law passed last year by Congress over the objections of Trump, whom critics in the US say has been oddly reluctant to criticize Russia or Putin.

Under the same law, the State Department Monday also declined to punish any US or foreign companies for dealings with Russian arms companies. It argued this was not needed because governments around the world have already nixed billions in contracts with those Russian firms.

US politicians passed the law -- called the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act -- out of concern that Trump, eager to have warm ties with Putin, might not take tough action to punish Moscow and Russian officials for interfering in US elections and destabilizing Ukraine.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan
Will Security Sector Assistance Work in Afghanistan? – Free Range International
[Free Range International] The Taliban has been busy reminding the United States and her allies in Afghanistan that the moral is to the physical as three is to one. They have done this by side stepping our Security Sector Assistance (SSA) efforts in the Helmand and Nangarhar provinces by hitting the Afghan state where it is weak. Launching two large attacks inside the ‘Ring of Steel’ of Kabul (attacking the Intercontinental Hotel and the checkpoint outside the old Ministry of the Interior) and hitting a western NGO (Save the Children) in Jalalabad, the capitol of Nangarhar province.
Posted by: newc || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He doubts big Army is up to the task of small sector security with the makeup of Afghanistan.
Posted by: newc || 01/31/2018 0:45 Comments || Top||

#2  No. Next question?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/31/2018 5:27 Comments || Top||

#3  To answer some of these shortfalls the US Army is developing Security Force Assistance Brigades (SFAB) that will be tailored to the mission and free up brigade combat teams. This idea, based on sound theory, will not work in practice. It won’t work for the same reasons it’s not working now; limited dwell time in country, high turnover of key personnel and the unwillingness to partner with host nation military units in combat.

SFAB is a cock-up in the making. Big Army's answer to the SF mission of 'Foreign Internal Defense' or Nation Building by another name.

An insurgency cannot be defeated if fed and protected by neighboring border sanctuaries in corrupt countries. I believe we have seen this proven out over the past 75 years in Korea, Vietnam, and throughout Central and Southern Africa.

Using satellite imagery, flying Reapers nose-to-tail up and down the Durand line, using hunter-killer teams and strategic air power to annihilate the enemy 'where two or more are gathered' could work. It worked in the Northern Alliance at the start of the conflict, but then the strategy shifted.

I'm afraid SFAB will end in disappointment.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 6:01 Comments || Top||

#4  It worked in the Northern Alliance at the start of the conflict, but then the strategy shifted.
Would much appreciate more info on this topic. So far my readings indicate that only a massive asteroid strike would "work" in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 01/31/2018 6:25 Comments || Top||

#5  It worked in the Northern Alliance at the start of the conflict, but then the strategy shifted.

I hesitate to use Hollywood as a learning tool Anguper Hupomosing9418, but spend a couple of hours and go see '12 Strong.'
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 6:43 Comments || Top||

#6  We know the Taliban supporting villages.

They just "simply" have to no longer have Taliban in them.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 01/31/2018 12:18 Comments || Top||

#7  Vice President Dostum "likes Americans, as long as they go home" & hates the Taliban. The movie gave me a flicker of hope for Afghanistan, too.
Posted by: Jeremiah Gleretle3997 || 01/31/2018 13:48 Comments || Top||



Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russians not moving to their Far East.
[The Jamestown Foundation] Since the 19th century, Russian rulers have sought to encourage Russians to move to the Far Eastern borderlands of the country in order to defend it against possible encroachments by China, Japan or even the United States. Sometimes, when people elsewhere were desperate enough, as was the case for Ukrainians at the end of the 19th century, these moves occurred more or less voluntarily—although in nowhere near the numbers the regime wanted. At other times, such as under Joseph Stalin, Moscow was prepared to use force to accomplish its goal: it then succeeded in moving people to the Far East but was never able to hold them there once there was any chance of returning to European Russia or abroad. And sometimes, as in the post-1953 Soviet Union, it was able to attract people, again for short periods, by offering often large subsidies to those who would agree to work there; but again, Russians went and then left as soon as they had saved enough to make a difference in their lives.

That system collapsed under Mikhail Gorbachev, when the Soviet government ran out of money. And with the implosion of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the end of registration rules that sometimes but not always forced people to remain where the regime wanted them to be, Russians started to flee the Far East in record numbers. The population of the region has decline by more than a third since that time.

More recently, Vladimir Putin has tried a number of measures to cajole Russians into relocating to the Far East. He has been particularly motivated by the rise of China and Chinese neo-imperialism in Siberia and the Russian Far East: in many places in that region, there are now more ethnic-Chinese residents than indigenous groups (Nezavisimaya Gazeta, July 26, 2017). However, all those measures are failing because, as the Irkutsk news outlet Babr24.com points out, “Russians are not fools.” They have little interest in moving to a region without basic infrastructure, good economic prospects or even any certainty that Moscow will live up to the promises it has been making over the last two years (Babr24.com, January 20, 2018).

The first of these new Kremlin initiatives, the Babr24.com report says, was an offer by Moscow to give five free hectares of land to anyone who moved to the Russian Far East and remained there at least five years. That has failed: only 34,000 Russians have expressed interest, far fewer (only about 1,100) have actually gone, and a significant fraction of those have returned when they discovered what the local conditions are like—no roads, no schools, no jobs and no future. Now, the Kremlin is offering to pay anyone who moves to the Far East a million rubles ($16,000) if they remain there. Initially, the Russian government said people would have to stay at least three years to receive the money; but with few takers, Moscow then lowered the minimum residency stay to two years (Gazeta.ru, January 19). Yet, even this perk has not been enough to draw very many Russians to the region. So the center has proposed sending Ukrainian refugees or guest worker from Central Asia to the Russian Far East, something few of the former have agreed to and that many of the latter reject, given the hostility they encounter from ethnic Russians in the region (Babr24.com, June 30, 2017).

Moscow has even created a special ministry for the development of the Far East, but that institution acknowledges that “the demographic situation in the region continues to remain complex,” a euphemism for disastrous. According to the Far East development ministry, “the outflow of the population continues” once people experience “the low quality of life and of the social sphere and the poorly developed infrastructure” (Og.ru, January 19), including roads that do not exist or that feature more accidents than traffic (The Moscow Times, January 16; Svpressa.ru), January 14).

Posted by: 3dc || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What we have here is a failure to comprehend why people would want to move - anywhere.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 01/31/2018 6:19 Comments || Top||

#2  ...the "Free Stuff" program seems to get a lot of people to move. Just not the kind that take to pioneering. Ye Olde "The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat" is considered racist in America.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/31/2018 9:14 Comments || Top||

#3  Personally if I were Putin I'd try to get Indians to immigrate into the Russian far east. Hard workers, it has to be better than the lot they have, and unlike the Chinese they have no historic claim to the area.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/31/2018 11:14 Comments || Top||

#4  “the low quality of life and of the social sphere and the poorly developed infrastructure”

I'll bet the Gazoids would love it.
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/31/2018 17:30 Comments || Top||

#5  #4 - and Vlad could have the Oakeo Moles tunnel aerate the Permafrost
Posted by: Frank G || 01/31/2018 19:43 Comments || Top||

#6  Tell you what Vlad. We can make a deal, after the other side loses the next Civil War, we'll sponsor a relocation program for those who can't/won't adapt. You get the population you need, we get rid of the snakes we don't.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/31/2018 20:53 Comments || Top||

#7  Oakeo? Paleo....
Posted by: Frank G || 01/31/2018 22:29 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
CPEC: “Iron Brothers,” Unequal Partners
[TheJamestownFoundation] Serious differences have come to the fore between China and Pakistan over the $60-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). At a Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting at Islamabad in November 2017, China announced its decision to suspend funding for at least three road projects in Pakistan, pending the release of “new guidelines” (Dawn, December 5, 2017). Only a few days earlier, Pakistan rejected Chinese funding for the $14-billion Diamer-Bhasha dam project and withdrew its request for inclusion of this project in CPEC. Pakistan objected to Chinese conditions, which included Chinese ownership of the project, operation and maintenance costs and securitization of the project by pledging another operational dam. According to Pakistan’s Water and Power Development Authority Chairman Muzammil Hussain, these requirements “were not doable” and against Pakistan’s interests (Express Tribune, November 15, 2017). China has denied these allegations (Global Times, December 12, 2017).
Suspended and rejected, you say? Dreadful. Simply dreadful.
China and Pakistan often hold up CPEC, a flagship venture of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as a symbol of their co-operative partnership. Recent developments indicate serious differences between the two countries. Differences are inevitable between partners, even those that claim to be ‘iron brothers.’ However, the Sino-Pakistani relationship in CPEC is an unequal one. Not only will CPEC benefit China more than Pakistan, Beijing also calls the shots. It is even cracking the whip to ensure Islamabad concedes its demands on contentious issues. Islamabad’s vulnerability to Chinese pressure can be expected to increase especially after the US’ decision to suspend security aid amounting to around $1.3 billion annually to Pakistan in early January.

China and Pakistan are likely to continue to differ on issues related to CPEC. However, these are unlikely to derail the initiative, given their strong relationship, Pakistan’s deepening dependence on China and Beijing’s determination to make a success of BRI’s flagship venture. Other countries participating in BRI can draw lessons from Pakistan’s experience with CPEC. They can expect massive Chinese investment but not on generous terms. Chinese funding is not largesse and will extract a heavy price. As in Pakistan, they can expect sinicization of their economy, population and culture. Countries weighing the costs of Chinese investment should factor in Chinese interference in their political system.
Posted by: 3dc || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Chinese finding out the joys of doing business with Pakis?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/31/2018 1:49 Comments || Top||

#2  sinicization of their economy, population and culture Just where has this happened before?
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 01/31/2018 6:31 Comments || Top||

#3  Chinese finding out the joys of doing business with Pakis?

They're running out of people to screw.
Posted by: gorb || 01/31/2018 12:58 Comments || Top||

#4  Chinese finding out the joys of doing business with Pakis?

The other way around.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 01/31/2018 22:11 Comments || Top||

#5  With one key difference. The Chinese can't take real estate from Venezuela or Zimbabwe. Not true with with Pakistan.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 01/31/2018 22:12 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Afghan Ulemas reacts at Pakistani Ulemas Fatwa and recent Taliban attacks
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Ulema Council of Afghanistan on Tuesday reacted at the recent Fatwa issued by the Pak Ulemas (Religious Scholars) regarding the terrorist attacks and the recent deadly attacks of the Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
group in Kabul and other parts of the country.

The Afghan Ulemas appeared in a presser today days after a series of deadly attacks unleashed by the Taliban claimed the lives of scores of people while leaving hundreds more maimed.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies


Home Front: Politix
Petulant CBC Remains Seating, Refuses to Applaud Record Low Black Unemployment Rates at SOTU (VIDEO)
[Gateway Pundit]
They showed their worthless arses. Quite unworthy of additional comment.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  CBC (Congressional Black Caucus)

not

CBB
Posted by: lord garth || 01/31/2018 0:11 Comments || Top||

#2  Good carch, lord garth. Fixed.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/31/2018 0:19 Comments || Top||

#3  Catch, even. I think I’ll go to bed and do the Iraqi News articles in the morning. At the rate I’m going I’d somehow blow up Fred’s server or something. G’night, all.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/31/2018 0:24 Comments || Top||

#4  I don't know... Congressional Black B*tches also fits... (even the men...)
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/31/2018 0:25 Comments || Top||

#5  They are worthless.
Posted by: newc || 01/31/2018 0:48 Comments || Top||

#6  Do gainfully employed African-Americans (and i don't mean Besoeker) vote Democrat?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/31/2018 1:56 Comments || Top||

#7  Americans with darker skin might leave their democrat party plantation.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 01/31/2018 4:55 Comments || Top||

#8  He didn't give Obumbles credit for the improvement so of course they couldn't applaud.
Posted by: AlanC || 01/31/2018 7:34 Comments || Top||

#9  For them it's been about power. Keeping the masses on the Donk vote plantation endangers their position up in the mansion.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/31/2018 8:06 Comments || Top||

#10  On the other hand, they may have been upset because of the extreme absence of the use of "I" and "me" in the presentation.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/31/2018 9:15 Comments || Top||

#11  I did like those funky multicolored ties they were all wearing. Too bad an old couch had to bite the dust in the process.
Posted by: Raj || 01/31/2018 9:23 Comments || Top||

#12  If Trump continues the economic trends they will be unemployed, or seriously fighting for reelection for the first time in the midterms.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/31/2018 11:17 Comments || Top||

#13  The faces of the opposing team that is down by 50 points. Shoulda been broadcast on pay for view. It was great.
Posted by: Bill Cleretle2363 || 01/31/2018 11:41 Comments || Top||

#14  They enter unbent, lentamente,
Dark kings of Akan and Ashanti,
Tan fans of a fanciful
Nancy Anansi,
Dissenting in plenty of kente.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 01/31/2018 12:16 Comments || Top||

#15  Make that, "dissenting in plenty in kente."
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 01/31/2018 12:19 Comments || Top||

#16  Trump claimed 8 percent of the African-American vote to the Romney’s 6 percent. I think that will be higher in 2020.

You can't expect the Democrats to applaud their own demise. But I can. :-)
Posted by: B. Gonque7561 || 01/31/2018 12:36 Comments || Top||

#17  More and more blacks are waking up to the realization they have been had by the demoncrats. I expect the number that vote for Donald in 2020 to finally break double digits. 10-13%
Posted by: DarthVader || 01/31/2018 14:09 Comments || Top||

#18  Zenobia F, you surpassed yourself.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/31/2018 16:18 Comments || Top||

#19  I suspect before the midterms someone will anonymously report a meeting with Trump talking about how great Klan parties are or something similar.
Posted by: Rjschwarz || 01/31/2018 17:38 Comments || Top||

#20  What did the Congressional White Caucus do?

Oh wait...
Posted by: charger || 01/31/2018 19:48 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Turkey detains leadership of top medical group over Syria criticism
[IsraelTimes] Erdogan lashes doctors' association as 'a gang of unthinking slaves' and 'servants of imperialism'

The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund....
on Tuesday detained all the top members of the country’s main medical association, including its chief, after they criticized Ankara’s offensive against a Kurdish militia in Syria.

The arrests came after the Ottoman Turkish Medical Association (TTB), which represents 80 percent of the country’s physicians, issued a statement saying that conflicts lead to "irreparable problems" and that "war is a man-made public health problem."

The TTB ended its statement on Wednesday with the words: "No to war, peace right now."

Prosecutors swiftly launched a probe, after President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey...
on Friday lashed out at the "so-called Ottoman Turkish Medical Association" as "terrorist-lovers."

Erdogan again hit out at the group on Sunday, saying: "They are not intellectuals, they are a gang of unthinking slaves... They are the servants of imperialism."

Among those held was TTB director Rasit Tukel, state-run news agency
...and if you can't believe the state-run news agency who can you believe?...
Anadolu said.

The health ministry on Monday said it had filed a lawsuit seeking the removal of the 11 executive council members because they were "acting against the law."

The Ottoman Turkish interior ministry on Monday said 311 people including journalists and activists were tossed into the calaboose over accusations they were spreading "terror propaganda."

’Threats of violence’
The TTB confirmed to AFP that all its top members were tossed into the calaboose, but an association official who did not wish to be named said that little information was immediately available as the arrests had taken place in different parts of the country.

The TTB, which has more than 83,000 members representing 80% of physicians in Turkey, is the nation’s leading medical association.

Ottoman Turkish medics have played a key role in treating war victims in Syria, often making dangerous cross-border trips into a nation ravaged by seven years of war.

Rights group Amnesia Amnesty International criticized the arrests, and said the TTB’s head office had received a "large number of threats of violence by email and telephone" leading up to the detentions.

Amnesty’s Turkey researcher Andrew Gardner said the TTB became a target for making a "completely legitimate reasonable" statement.

"This is completely irrational targeting of people for expressing their peaceful views, there is nothing that can justify these sorts of detentions," he told AFP.

Erdogan’s front man Ibrahim Kalin last week warned the Ottoman Turkish public and media to be wary of "lying, fake, distortive and provocative news, images and gossip."

But the TTB was not the only group to criticize the assault.

Over 170 former ministers, actors and writers signed a letter last week, calling for an end to the war.

The letter was sent to all of Turkey’s MPs including those from Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Erdogan called the signatories "traitors."
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Afghanistan
Large of cache of weapons, explosives belonging to ISIS seized in Kabul
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A large cache of weapons and explosives belonging to the ISIS terrorist group was discovered and seized by the Afghan forces in Kabul.

The Afghan Intelligence, National Directorate of Security
...the Afghan national intel agency...
(NDS), said the cache was seized from during an operation from the vicinity of the 5th police district of the city.

According to NDS, several weapons and large quantities of explosives from seized from the cache as the faceless myrmidons were using them for their attacks in the city.

This comes as a group of at least five murderous Moslems apparently belonging to the ISIS terrorist group launched a coordinated attack on a base of the 111th division of the Afghan army in the early hours of Monday morning.

The ministry of defense front man Gen. Dawlat Waziri said a group of five murderous Moslems launched a coordinated attack on a compound of the 111th division of the army in Qargha area and at least two of the jacket wallahs carried out a suicide kaboom, two of them were rubbed out and another one has been tossed in the slammer
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
alive.

Gen. Waziri further added that the Afghan armed forces seized a rocket launcher, four Ak-47 rifles, and a suicide attack vest during the operation.

According to Gen. Waziri, at least eleven Afghan soldiers also bit the dust in the attack and and sixteen others have sustained injuries.

Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Africa Horn
Southwest State Confirms The Death Of Burhakabo Military Commander
[RADIOSHABELLE] At least 3 soldiers and a commander were killed and others injured following heavy fighting with Al-Shabaab
... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
holy warriors in Bay region, in the south part of the Horn of Africa nation.

Southwest front man, Nuradin Yusuf Abukar confirmed that four government soldiers and the commander of the military forces in Bur-Hakabo district were killed in the fighting.

"We have killed seven al-Shabaab Death Eaters, injured several others and recovered four guns after fighting that lasted several hours in Lug-habar location, along the road which joins Burhakaba and Baidoa town in this region," Abukar said.

He said the Somali National Army (SNA) conducted the operation against al-Shabaab holy warriors in the area after getting information that the murderous Moslems had mounted a checkpoint in the area.

Al-Shabaab Death Eaters, however, said they won the battle with Somali National Army, claiming to have killed SNA’s commander for Bur-hakaba town, Abdirahman Osman Abrone.

The group said its fighters ambushed an SNA convey from Baidoa town, the administrative capital of Southwest State in Somalia to Burhakaba town.

The latest fighting came amid military operations in the region to flush out murderous Moslems who have been mounting near-daily attacks on 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...
peacekeeping mission bases, government installations, and other public places.


This article starring:
Abdirahman Osman Abrone
Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran headscarf protester arrested: lawyer
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] An Iranian woman has been incarcerated
Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!
and bail set at more than $100,000 after she protested against the mandatory headscarf, a lawyer said on Tuesday.

Narges Hosseini, whose age was not known, was tossed in the slammer
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
after posing in central Tehran on Monday without a headscarf, lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh said.

At least three other women did the same around the city on Monday, according to images shared on social media, mirroring a protest by a woman on December 27 whose images went viral across the globe.

Several more images of women protesting in Tehran were shared on social media on Tuesday, although their authenticity could not be immediately verified.

Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


US seeking ‘unchallenged global dominance’ via satellite states in MidEast
[PRESSTV] The Unites States is after "satellite states" in the Middle East to gain global dominance unchallenged by other superpowers, an analyst says.

reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown
... home of Al Capone, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel,...
-based author and radio host Stephen Lendman made the comments in a Tuesday interview with Press TV.

"America aims for unchallenged global dominance; its primary strategy is waging naked aggression against countries threatening no one," he said, while explaining the reason for the high number of US military bases across the globe.

The political commentator exemplified the Unites States’ "endless" wars in the Middle East and northern Africa, asserting that they have "escalated" under 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...
although he had promised otherwise.

"America wants dominance over the region; it wants all sovereign and independent countries to transform into US satellite states with puppet regimes serving US interests," said the analysts.

He further noted that Iran is a "prime target" as it enjoys illusory sovereignty and an elected government.

"Washington wants it replaced," Lendman explained. "It hasn’t worked out the way America planned."

He further speculated that Washington would fail to fulfill its agenda.

Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Ah. Some news for you Stephen. We have had near global dominance since WW-II. With fracking providing lots of oil for the US WTF do we need MidEast states for in terms of ultimate dominance? What do they bring to the game that we don't have?
Posted by: 3dc || 01/31/2018 5:47 Comments || Top||

#2  ...Steve says it like it's a bad thing.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 01/31/2018 7:35 Comments || Top||

#3  84 yr old Moonbat: "I'm a retired small businessman now devoting all my time working with progressive organizations and writing about the most important and cutting edge issues of our times. I'm committed to working for a better world at peace based on social, political and economic justice for all people everywhere."
Posted by: Frank G || 01/31/2018 9:31 Comments || Top||

#4  Hey Dude, we have too many states now!
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/31/2018 10:52 Comments || Top||

#5  The region was chocolate rivers, gumdrop bushes, and candy cane trees before the US got involved. Now it is all desert and hate.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/31/2018 11:13 Comments || Top||

#6  At first glance, I was gonna guess this was written by Ron Paul.
Posted by: Raj || 01/31/2018 11:25 Comments || Top||


Turkey says 5 soldiers killed in Syria's Afrin as offensive continues
[PRESSTV] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
’s Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli says five Ottoman Turkish soldiers and 24 allied gunnies from the so-called Free Syrian Army
... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund...
(FSA) have bit the dust in the ongoing cross-border offensive in Syria’s northwestern region of Afrin against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).

Addressing parliament on Tuesday, Canikli denied reports of civilian deaths in the offensive, saying, "No civilian has been harmed in Operation Olive Branch of Ottoman Turkish Armed Forces and the FSA."

He added that a total of 649 YPG gunnies had been killed since the beginning of the operation on January 20.

Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Arabia
UAE jet enables separatists to seize army base in Aden
[Al Jazeera] A senior Yemeni official has told Al Jazeera that southern separatists, backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), seized control of a key military base in the coastal city of Aden, after a UAE fighter jet bombed the facility.

The official told Al Jazeera that fighters from the Southern Resistance Forces (SRF), the armed wing of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) - a political movement demanding secession for southern 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...
- seized the base early on Tuesday, despite a ceasefire being brokered by coalition partners Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
and the UAE, hours earlier.

In a post on Twitter, Mukhtar al-Rahbi, an official in Yemen's government, said: "A plane from the Arab coalition, that said it had come to support legitimacy [Yemen's internationally recognised government] bombed the base of the Fourth Brigade. What a farce."

Videos posted on social media showed thick plumes of black smoke billowing from the camp, which is located in Aden's northern Dar Saad district.

Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Eight-month-old baby raped in Indian capital Delhi
[Al Jazeera] An eight-month-old baby girl has been raped in India’s capital, New Delhi, allegedly by her 28-year-old cousin while her parents were out working.

The rape has provoked angry reactions from activists who are pressing for long-pending police accountability to aid in the fight against sexual violence in the country.

The mother found her child bleeding upon returning from work in the evening. The doctors at the hospital confirmed the rape and said the baby had to undergo surgery.

"I had left for work leaving my children at home. My wife works too. So she too left for work soon after. When she came back, she saw blood-soaked bed and clothes of the child. When she told this to her sister-in-law she made excuses. My child is at death's door now," the father, a labourer in the city, told Indian news agency ANI.

The accused has been tossed in the clink
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
, police in Delhi said.

"We arrested the accused yesterday [Monday]. He is the 28-year-old cousin of the victim," said Parvati, Additional Sub-Inspector at Subhash Nagar Police Station.

Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  There isn't a rope short enough and a lamp post tall enough
Posted by: Cheaderhead || 01/31/2018 5:36 Comments || Top||



Britain
London attack accused hoped to kill Corbyn
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A man accused of deliberately driving a van into a group of London Moslems told his trial on Tuesday that he wanted to kill the British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Darren Osborne said killing the leftist Labour leader would have been "one less terrorist off our streets", while killing Labour London Mayor Sadiq Khan as well "would have been like winning the lottery".

Osborne is accused of murdering 51-year-old Makram Ali and trying to kill others in the Finsbury Park area of north London on June 19 last year, after growing angry at recent terror attacks and child sexual exploitation scandals involving gangs of mainly Moslem men, the trial has heard.

Osborne, 48, from the Welsh capital Cardiff, denies the charges.

He is accused of deliberately driving a van at a group of Moslems who had been attending Ramadan prayers at local mosques.

Taking the stand at Woolwich Crown Court in southeast London, Osborne claimed he had plotted with two men called Terry Jones and Dave to "plough through as many" people as possible at a pro-Paleostinian march.

Corbyn was believed to be attending the central London event but was not there, and road closures meant there was no way for the vehicle to get close to marchers, Osborne said.

Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


-Land of the Free
this is why we stand for the national anthem
[CNN] video clip from President Trump’ State of the Union last night.

Opinion - moved to Page 4.
Posted by: 746 || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  FU NFL.
Posted by: gorb || 01/31/2018 2:34 Comments || Top||

#2  NoFL 4Me. 4Ever.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 01/31/2018 6:17 Comments || Top||

#3  There he goes again, 'mansplaining.' [sarc ends here]

Fok a bunch of whiny, lobe-bumping kneelers.

Posted by: Besoeker || 01/31/2018 6:33 Comments || Top||

#4  We stand, prepared to march in its defense.
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/31/2018 20:58 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
US delegation flees Bethlehem as Palestinian protesters storm workshop
Disgusting former supporters while destroying local opportunities in the inimitable Palestinian way.
[IsraelTimes] Angry demonstrators slam Trump's Jerusalem move; kick and throw tomatoes at vehicle with US consular license plates, damage side mirror.

A delegation of US diplomats had to cut short an event in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Tuesday, an attendee said, after protesters stormed their meeting.

The protesters, who were objecting to 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...
’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, also kicked and threw tomatoes at the delegation’s car as they left, a video posted online showed.

Some five protesters kicked one of the doors of the car, which had US consular license plates, and ripped the plastic casing off a side mirror, Rooters reported.

The American diplomats had been invited by city officials to give a workshop on doing business over the internet.

Samir Hazboun, head of the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce, said the group had been holding a training session for local businesspeople about digital commerce with an American expert and a delegation from the US consulate in Jerusalem.

"We were surprised when a number of angry protesters held an extraordinary protest, which forced us to end the course and for the American trainer to leave immediately with the American consulate delegation," he told AFP.

The video showed a handful of protesters entering the room and chanting while holding signs opposing Trump’s decision.

One sign read "Zionism = Nazism = Fascism. USA=ISIS=Terror." Among the chants was the call for "America out."

The American delegation quickly packed up and left, with the protesters throwing what appeared to be tomatoes at their cars, while one man kicked a car.

The US Consulate in Jerusalem declined comment.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority

#1  They don't care about anything.
Posted by: newc || 01/31/2018 0:47 Comments || Top||

#2  throw tomatoes at vehicle with US consular license plates

If they've tomatoes to throw, they aren't suffering hunger.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/31/2018 1:47 Comments || Top||

#3  Cowardly tomatoes -- when they hit you, they run!
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 01/31/2018 6:15 Comments || Top||

#4  Funny that they compare the US to ISIS. The Pals like ISIS.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/31/2018 11:05 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Odinga symbolically sworn in as Kenya’s ‘people’s president’
[PRESSTV] Kenya now has a ’people’s president’ as the adamant opposition leader Raila Odinga is sworn in during a mock ceremony branded by the government as treason.

The ceremony, staged by Odinga’s followers in the capital Nairobi on Tuesday, was a sign of protest against President Uhuru Kenyatta's new term, which came after months of political wrangling in the East African economic hub.

Tens of thousands gathered in a Nairobi park for the event, which was initially broadcast live on top three TV channels before the transmission was cut by the government. A statement from the Kenya Editors Guild said Kenyatta had threatened to crack down on any media outlets that aired a live coverage of the mock ceremony.

Odinga still claims he won the presidential election last August. He boycotted a re-run of the election in October, which came after Kenya’s Supreme Court overturned the first round over irregularities. Around 100 people have been killed in months of unrest over the election. The opposition insists the corpse count is much higher.
This article starring:
Raila Odinga
Posted by: Fred || 01/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:



Who's in the News
36[untagged]
7Govt of Iran
4Sublime Porte
4Govt of Pakistan
3Commies
2Govt of Pakistain Proxies
2Palestinian Authority
2al-Shabaab (AQ)
2PLO
1Taliban
1Fulani Herdsmen (Boko Haram)
1Govt of Qatar (MB)
1Govt of Saudi Arabia
1Govt of Syria
1Houthis
1Islamic State
1Moslem Colonists
1Muslim Brotherhood

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

Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2018-01-31
  Southwest State Confirms The Death Of Burhakabo Military Commander
Tue 2018-01-30
  Iraqi court sentences Al-Qaeda member to death over executing eight civilians in 2007
Mon 2018-01-29
  McCabe Resigns
Sun 2018-01-28
  Top Houthi leader killed in Sanaa by unknown individuals
Sat 2018-01-27
  Taliban kill 40 63 90 95 with ambulance bomb in Afghan capital Kabul
Fri 2018-01-26
  Mosul clean up continues: 21 turbans permanently unwound, 9 more jugged
Thu 2018-01-25
  Double car bombing kills 33 in Benghazi
Wed 2018-01-24
  Two suicide attackers, Islamic State member killed as troops repel attack in Baghdad
Tue 2018-01-23
  1.5K al-Nusra troops surrounded in Idlib
Mon 2018-01-22
  Tunisian forces kill top aide of Al Qaeda leader in Maghreb
Sun 2018-01-21
  Seven Niger troops killed in Boko Haram attack
Sun 2018-01-21
  Seven Niger troops killed in Boko Haram attack
Sat 2018-01-20
  Lebanon foils ISIS plans to attack places of worship, government buildings
Fri 2018-01-19
  Deso Dogg -- Dead Again
Thu 2018-01-18
  US drone strike leaves 6 militants dead, wounded in East of Afghanistan
Wed 2018-01-17
  Wanted terrorist Abdullah Al-Qalaf killed in eastern Saudi Arabia

Better than the average link...



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