From Gates of Vienna The Franco-German Union, last step towards an EU Empire
On January 22, 2019, the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, together with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, signed a treaty of bilateral cooperation which pledged to unify both France and Germany in a way not dreamed of since the ninth-century reign of Charlemagne. A new Franco-German Empire of sorts (this was clearly the intent as evidenced by where the treaty signing took place, the town hall of Aachen, France, the city that had been the historic capital of the old Carolingian Empire), this new treaty was received warmly by various European and global elites. However, it raised concern among the more Eurosceptic nations such as those of Central Europe, Italy and even some in Britain (not to mention nationalist and anti-EU parties and citizens within France and Germany themselves). The great fear amongst many in Europe is that this agreement will lead to a unified Franco-German superstate that will further shift the balance of power in the EU away from sovereign nation states and toward a centralized bureaucracy ruled from Brussels with the economic and even military backing of Paris and Berlin.
This Franco-German treaty represents the culmination of years of attempts by the leadership of the European Union to move the bloc from a loose federation of nation states united by economic concerns into an actual centralized, supranational entity akin to a federal republic such as the United States or Germany wherein member states would lose much of the sovereignty they have still managed to maintain, giving it over to a system controlled by a handful of unelected elites who, when allied with corporations, multinational banks, and media systems, will have an almost unlimited control over the lives and freedoms of their member states. Whether this was or wasn't the original endgame of the EU's founders is something that can be open for debate. What is clear, however, is that this is precisely the trajectory that the modern European Union is, by its own admission, headed towards.
At first a union of European states was seen by many as not only a way to strengthen the continent's economy through trade and free movement of goods, and people flowing across now almost nonexistent borders, but also as a "remedy" to the nationalistic impulses of its various member states. On the first premise the entire system was sold, many times very reluctantly, to the nations who joined its bloc, but the second concept was always very present and constituted a large reason why the entire project came about in the first place.
The biggest backers of a unified Europe were always the economic elites who desired the transformation of societies into atomized collections of individuals bereft of any strong national or ethnic ties, who would see themselves as only lone members of a great mass of humanity whose entire existence would be based on the endless consumption of cheaply manufactured consumer goods with little interest or concern for the fate of their wider communities and their descendants who would inhabit them.
This dream had already come to pass throughout the United States of America, the paradise of capitalist consumer culture where the individual and his immediate rights and needs trumped any concern for a lasting and established society based on a common culture, traditions and set of values. In stark contrast stood Europe, a continent of many cultures and subcultures, each having been in existence for centuries, all intertwined by a very collective spirit which emphasized the communal over the individual, tradition over the novel, and national life and values over every passing, mass-produced fad. True, this description of Europe may sound considerably idealized when compared to the lives of many, especially the more prosperous parts of that continent today, but it is still a strong part of the strength and ideal that have made up European man and his worldview for far longer than the present age that has been foisted upon us.
The European Union itself is best represented by a striving, especially of its leaders, to transform the old one and its ideals into a recreation of the United States and its ideals and values instead. Beyond any sinister motives, European elites probably see a society based on such ideals as more pragmatic for their financial ends. The fewer roots one has, the more individualistic one becomes and the more willing one is to hold one's own personal well-being up as the only value to live and die for. Stable nations with young and healthy populations are seen as ill-fitted for such a vision (or remedy). This has doubtlessly fueled the two greatest destructive acts that the EU has foisted on many of its members in recent years: the imposition of harsh austerity measures against largely poor countries with the stagnant population growth of smaller nations, and the encouragement of mass migration as a "solution to the declining birth rates" in those austerity-affected lands.
Firstly, these EU leaders impose harsh austerity measures and the privatization of public services on those nations it has already entangled in its debt schemes. Large sums of money were loaned to nations which never could possibly pay back the debts. The failure to pay leads to the imposition of harsh measures, which affect not only workers and the elderly who are already dependent on pensions for day-to-day survival, but also the nation's youth, who are unable to find enough money with which to afford marriage and a stable family, and in many cases are forced to flee to other places for work, leaving a large vacancy in job markets.
Secondly, there comes a desire for large scale mass migration to alleviate this lack of workers caused by the fleeing youth. Large numbers of unskilled immigrants are brought in under the pretext of fulfilling these job roles (although this is only an excuse used to allow them in, and many simply never work but go on the public dole instead). The results of these policies are twofold: to reduce the nation's youth to impoverishment, and then to replace them with those who have no historic connection to that nation and its culture and values. The end result will one day be countries where the majority of people are not part of the historic population, but from many divergent backgrounds and traditions whose unifying factor will not be the traditional culture and ways of the land they live in, but only a mass-produced consumer-driven form of society alien to that of traditional Europe, but very much familiar to that of the USA.
All seemed to be going smoothly for these globalists and their plans, but then suddenly, an almost miraculous rise of nationalism and populism throughout the nations of the EU, beginning in the mid-2010s, quickly put up a strong resistance to their scheme. The populations of the various nations began to cry out against the machinations of their unelected overlords in Brussels as well as their own elected leaders who willingly collaborated with them.
From the traditional Left came those who decried the crippling austerity measures undemocratically forced upon the working classes, elderly, youth, and other vulnerable members of the affected nations. From the traditional Right came those who spoke up against the forced migration policies that seemed to be transforming their native lands into almost unrecognizable masses of people who held no lasting connection to the country, its people and culture. As time went by, these two groups began to slowly find that they shared more in common with each other than would be supposed by the false dichotomy of "Left/Right" that the establishment had imprisoned their minds to believe was an inescapable part of modern political discourse.
The new populism and grassroots, anti-establishment movements that have formed in recent years are all working towards the same goals, although perhaps at different ends. These would be the restoration of true European civilization and mores, those that place individual, community, nation and most importantly, family life at the forefront of society and not a for-profit driven model based on mass production, consumerism and excessive, live-for-the-moment individualism that the elites have forced upon them as the "only option" for so long.
The best example of this in our modern times is the Yellow Vests movement that has emerged in France since the end of 2018. They manage to not only express the rage of ordinary French people towards the cold, neoliberal policies and replacement migration schemes of the Macron government, but have even managed to assemble a list of policies which cross over to both the concerns of the traditional Right and Left wings of politics, all to find a pragmatic solution to the issues that are so troubling to that country.
This is why the elite globalists who control the EU are so desperate to push through a plan of greater control of Europe by the creation of this new Franco-German superstate. Their hope is to form a union of the two largest countries in the EU bloc for the application of stronger economic and even military domination of that continent. The plan is to make any attempt at resistance to the control of Brussels a direct threat against France and Germany, one that could possibly be met with the pressure of a financial or defensive counter strike. Unless the other nations of Europe come together soon in some type of public vanguard (such as an expansion of the already existing Central European Visegrad group), the power of the Franco-German elites will only continue to grow and seek to suffocate any resistance against itself and the organization that holds its true power.
In closing, Europe is faced with two choices: to bleakly copy that of the nation across the Atlantic to the point of becoming a mere clone of America and its consumerist values and losing its European-descended majority, or to continue to struggle and fight in order to preserve and, one could only hope, revive the traditional principles that have made it a shining example of the greatest and most unique civilization humanity has ever managed to produce. A Europe that has been completely Americanized and completely Globalized would not be Europe at all, but rather a reflection of the rootless, soulless, atomized individuals that have come to dominate and disintegrate the tenets of the old social order that Western man has labored at for so many centuries, and whose roots spring from that very continent now under such threat.
* A reference to the Dreikaiserbund, the "Three Emperors' League", formed in 1873 as the brainchild of Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck. It was intended to establish a stable balance of power among Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/16/2019
14:40 ||
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HT WeaselZippers. AWKWARD
[ArmyTimes] The Army special agent who led the investigation of a Green Beret charged with the murder of an alleged Afghan bomb-maker now faces charges of stolen valor.
And both the Green Beret's attorney and others in military legal circles say the charge could have a serious impact on the Army's case against Maj. Mathew Golsteyn.
Based on that recent development and other allegations of case mismanagement, Golsteyn has waived his right to an Article 32, or probable cause hearing, and asked the government to speed up the trial process or dismiss the charges. On Thursday, Golsteyn also requested for a reassignment of military duty from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to the Military District of Washington, D.C.
On Jan. 31, Sgt. 1st Class Mark A. Delacruz, a special agent with Army Criminal Investigation Command, was charged with falsifying promotion files and other records by listing on at least three occasions a Purple Heart award that he never received and the "unauthorized wear" on other occasions of that ribbon, the Air Assault Badge, Pathfinder Badge and Combat Action Badge, none of which he rated.
Army CID confirmed those details of the charges and a spokesman said in an email that "he has been suspended from duty since the allegations came to light in late 2018."
The spokesman, Jeffrey Castro, declined further comment on the case.
A copy of the Delacruz charge sheet obtained by Army Times further verified details of the allegations he faces.
U.S. Army Special Operations Command, which oversees the Army's Special Forces groups and associated units to which Golsteyn is assigned, did not respond to requests for comment.
Attempts by Army Times to reach Delacruz through social media and a listed phone number were unsuccessful.
Phillip Stackhouse, Golsteyn's attorney, told Army Times that Delacruz was the investigator who interviewed key witnesses that led to the murder charge and was expected to be a main witness for the prosecution.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/16/2019
12:48 ||
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#1
Winners all around...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/16/2019 12:56
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#2
...Bad enough, but doing it while you're still in the uniform takes a special kind of stupid, especially in the CID community. It AIN'T that big, and people know each other.
And they talk.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/16/2019 14:15
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#3
Well, if you use ideological purity as the primary criteria for employment, you gotta expect things like this
[ABS-CBN News] MANILA - Three explosions of mortar rounds sent residents scampering in Patikul, Sulu shortly before noon Saturday as a medical mission was being held at a public school, the military's Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) said.
In a statement, Wesmincom spokesperson Col. Gerry Besana said three 60 mm mortar rounds exploded 200 meters from the Tanum Elementary School where a medical mission facilitated by the 6th Special Forces Battalion was ongoing.
The mortar rounds were estimated to have been fired 500 meters away from the school and was believed to be initiated by the Abu Sayyaf group to discourage residents from participating in the event.
"We strongly condemn this terroristic act resulting [in] the disruption of basic services delivery to the people," said Westmincom chief Lt. Gen. Arnel Dela Vega.
No casualty was reported among troops and participants in the medical mission.
The incident happened two weeks after a gunfight in the same town left 5 soldiers and 3 Abu Sayyaf bandits dead. The encounter happened after the military launched an operation to arrest Hajan Sawadjaan, an Abu Sayyaf leader.
Sawadjaan is believed to be involved in the twin bombings at the Jolo Cathedral during a mass on Jan. 27, where 22 were killed and more than 100 were hurt.
Posted by: Besoeker ||
02/16/2019
08:00 ||
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#1
Three 60mm mortars? I'd scamper too
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/16/2019 8:23
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#2
the Abu Sayyaf are a bunch child killing cowards
[The Localfr]The Vatican's envoy to France is being investigated for sexual assault after he was accused of molesting an official at the Paris mayor's office during a ceremony last month, a judicial source told AFP.
The envoy, 74-year-old Luigi Ventura, has been based in Paris since 2009 and serves as a diplomat for Pope Francis.
He was accused of molesting a man at the Paris townhall on January 17 where mayor Anne Hidalgo gave a New Year's address to diplomats, religious leaders and civil society figures.
A complaint was filed by the mayor's office on January 24 which led to an investigation being opened the day after, the judicial source said.
Le Monde newspaper first reported the investigation and the allegations against Ventura on Friday.
[WSJ] The 10-year questionnaire to U.S. residents is used to allocate government funding and reshape the number of congressional seats
WASHINGTON‐The Supreme Court announced Friday that it would move quickly to decide whether the Trump administration can ask U.S. residents on the 2020 census whether they are citizens, a case infused with time pressures and immigration politics.
The court’s announcement comes a month after a federal judge in Manhattan ruled Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross committed "egregious" legal violations when he moved to add the citizenship question to the census. The justices will review that decision, adding another chapter to the court’s interaction with Trump administration initiatives affecting immigrants.
Continued on Page 49
#4
What good is a census that doesn't tell the nation how many citizens it has? In Bizarro America, illegal invaders are more valued than it's citizens.
#8
illegal invaders are more valued than it's citizens.
California would no doubt have considerably few Congressional representatives in the House if only the actual citizens among their population counted for the purpose.
#9
If this goes against the citizenship every American should refuse to answer the census correctly. Make up your gender, race, ethnicity and number of people living in your household.
[EXPRESS] Donald Trump has been accused of adopting a Chinese accent during his speech on the US-Mexico border, in which he declared a state of national emergency. The US President was quoting Xi Jinping when he appeared to mimic the Chinese President’s accent. Discussing how China uses the death penalty against drug dealers, President Trump imitated Xi Jinping: "’Death penalty. We give death penalty to people that sell drugs.’" He continued: "End of problem. What do we do, we set up blue ribbon committees.
[New American] The 1960s folk group The Mamas and the Papas used their harmonious voices in the song, "California Dreamin’" ‐ a time when the Golden State was still seen as a destination point by many Americans, attracted by its mild weather, its beautiful beaches, and its dynamic economy.
But now, a January poll by Edelman Intelligence reveals that many of California’s own residents now regard it as "California Nightmare." Fifty-three percent of 1,500 residents polled have said that they are considering leaving the state. This is in stark contrast to the days of the Great Depression, when hundreds of thousands of Americans from other states, seeking to escape the twin terrors of poverty and the Dust Bowl made their way to California. An estimated one million left Oklahoma alone ‐ thus the name "Okies" came to be applied to many of the migrants. So many "Okies" moved to Bakersfield, it was facetiously referred to as the "third largest town in Oklahoma."
About 62 percent of those polled said they believe that the best days of California are now over.
What caused such despair? The reasons are multiple. Seventy-two percent polled said that the high "cost and availability of housing is a very serious issue for California." Heavy-handed environmental regulations are a huge contributing factor to the increased cost of housing, with high property taxes as another. When one just records the responses in the Bay Area, that number rises to 76 percent. Some of these Bay Area residents leave San Francisco, Oakland, and other cities and move to other parts of California, but others opt to simply leave the state.
When one wonders why Texas has become less of a "red," or Republican state ‐ with the powerful example of the 2018 senatorial election, in which Republican Senator Ted Cruz eked out a victory over Democratic Congressman Beto O’Rourke by less than three percent ‐ part of the answer is that Texas is a popular destination for these Bay Area emigrants. While they are attempting to escape the heavy taxation of California, particularly the area in and around San Francisco, they often take the liberal politics of the region with them when they move.
And there are other factors that are contributing to the exodus, and the consideration by others of joining the move out of the state. San Francisco has now earned the reputation of the city with piles of human excrement on its streets, with some people even defecating in front of residents' homes. In 2015, there were over 60,000 complaints about this problem reported to police. Drug use is such a problem that free syringes are now made available to drug addicts by the city. Crime is rampant, including car burglaries ‐ an average of 85 a day. Panhandling is ubiquitous.
#2
Again I say, Trump is not talking about this facet of illegal immigration when he tries to make a case for the wall. Almost certainly, he is reluctant to do so because he would be called a racist. We're past that point. This is war. What he could do is publicly ask Nancy Pelosi why she is so opposed to the wall. Democrats never say, except to claim that it won't work even though Border Patrol officials all say that it would. It can't be the money because they squander that much every day on their coffee breaks. When Newsom announced yesterday that he would sue to stop the wall the only justification he could come up with was to say it's stupid. That isn't good enough.
Trump needs to be honest about why we need the wall and he needs to call out these Democrats and make them explain exactly why they are so opposed to it. If we had a functioning DoJ he could ask them to investigate whether or not they are getting cartel money.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/16/2019 13:34
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[Big League Politics] A proposed life-saving bill passed a state Senate vote in Mississippi on Wednesday bringing the state one step closer to significantly reducing the number abortions performed.
The bill would make abortion illegal after a heartbeat is detected around six weeks into a pregnancy. The bill would allow abortions for medical emergencies, but reportedly not for cases of rape or incest.
Fortunately, both the House and the Senate proposed similar bills ‐ each passing their respective body. HB-528 sponsored by Rep. Robert Foster is almost identical to the Senate bill co-sponsored by Sen. Angela Hill and Sen. Chris Caughman, reports Life News.
The Republican Governor, Phil Bryant has stated that he would "sign a bill banning abortion as early as six weeks," according to Clarion Ledger. Tweeting out in January his support for the pro-life movement, Gov. Bryant said "It’s time to pass a Heart Beat Bill in Mississippi and stop this madness about when life begins."
#2
The bill would allow abortions for medical emergencies, but reportedly not for cases of rape or incest.
Cross the state line, and other laws hold. Honestly, I expect it will not be long until Planned Parenthood has weekly busses running from all over the country to facilities just inside the state border of New York, with California hurrying to provide services on the far side of the country.
DIA report reveals China is expected to deploy a satellite-killing laser gun by 2020. Lasers are ideal ASAT arms because they can attack with little visible damage or debris http://t.co/50YmdDiEQd
[American Thinker] President Trump has demanded that Ilhan Omar voluntarily resign. The idea of impeachment of another Muslim Democratic congresswoman ‐ Rashida Tlaib (Michigan) is also being actively promoted.
The events surrounding Ilhan Omar, of course, are a shame for America. The anti-Semitic focus of her recent statements is obvious. However, this does not mean that President Trump has an urgent need to intervene in the process of natural political selection and demand the resignation of an anti-Semitic congresswoman.
Trump's intervention in the natural self-destruction of the Democratic Party is a strategic mistake. People who in some exceptional circumstances make not rational, but impulsive decisions, are understandable, but concerning these two brainless members of Congress and their third friend ‐ young socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York ‐ there should be a completely different approach.
By its actions, this trinity guarantees the Democratic Party a very tarnished reputation. Moreover, the longer these ladies will stay in Congress, the more chances America has for an optimistic forecast.
#1
Can we count on Dems self-destructing? I don't think so. Even cancers learn, adapt, survive and take over the host. These lemmings might need a nudge over the cliff.
#2
Given that the majority of people in her district were stupid enough to vote Occasional Cortex in, I wouldn't bet on 'self-destruct'. In fact there is the distinct possibility of them coming to power and once there implementing their plans.
46 USC §56102(a)(4) makes it a crime to agree to build a boat for a non-citizen during a national emergency declared by the President, unless you agree you won't start building the boat until the national emergency is over or the Secretary of Transportation gives you permission.
#1
...I suspected as soon as I read this what was actually going on, but I Googled it just to make sure - this was passed during the First Great Worldwide Unpleasantness to keep people from building ships (at exorbitant rates) for the belligerents - instead of building ships for Americans, so THEY could get the money for shipping the stuff over.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/16/2019 11:12
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#2
Not so ridiculous in this day of Mercenary Private Security Companies if you remember the Treaty of Washington(1871) and the "Alabama claims": "At Geneva, in 1872, the United States was awarded $15,500,000 pursuant to the terms of the treaty, and the British apologized for the destruction caused by the British-built Confederate ships, while admitting no guilt."
[Carnegie Russia] When Russian diplomats talk about Ukraine, they are actually speaking to just one man—Vladimir Putin. Moscow does not see any value in reaching out to the broad policy community in the West. The scary thing is that this behavior is not a consequence of the Ukrainian crisis, but one of its major sources.
Russia’s performance at the recent Munich Security Conference (MSC), which culminated in Sergey Lavrov’s speech and the Western reaction to it, was accurately described by my Carnegie colleague Judy Dempsey as a “depressing and dangerous dialogue of the deaf.” Lavrov and later Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Russian Federation Council’s committee on foreign affairs, didn’t make any real attempt to reach out to the audience using language and arguments that could have made the Munich crowd understand Moscow’s stance on Ukraine and lay the foundations for dialogue. It’s not that Lavrov and Kosachev are incapable of this. They are among the most capable members of the current Russian foreign policy team—they speak good English, have vast experience with the West and could have found an appropriate way to present their narrative in a digestible format. Their actual performance shows not incompetence, but the delicate balancing act in which many members of Russia’s current foreign policy establishment find themselves.
When Russian diplomats talk about Ukraine, they don’t speak to the people in front of them. Not even to the domestic audience. They are actually speaking to just one man—President Vladimir Putin. This explains, for example, the machine-gun speed in which Lavrov delivered his remarks in Munich. MFA people complain that this has become the minister’s style when delivering public addresses on Ukraine to international audiences. His office sometimes doesn’t even give the draft speech to the interpreters beforehand, which makes translation incomplete and inaccurate. Digestion of the information by the listeners thus becomes mission impossible. “It’s all about the transcript that will go to Kremlin, not about attempts to engage the audience,” people familiar with the matter say.
Continued on Page 49
h/t IMAO
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal promises to overhaul the U.S. energy sector and replace all fossil fuel use with clean, carbon-free energy in 10 years flat without destroying the U.S. economy in the process. That’s preposterous.
Regardless, the preposterous plan is grabbing public attention and, now, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he's going to hold a Senate vote on the 14-page resolution.
Beyond committed ideologues, few people think the freshman New York lawmaker’s plan (co-sponsored by Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass.) is a realistic outline of what the United States can or should do to address climate change.
But Ocasio-Cortez and at least three Democratic presidential candidates who have signed onto the proposed congressional resolution have bolted onto their central unrealistic promise another 55 promises with little or nothing to do with climate change.
Here’s a list of what they're going to provide and who they're going to help:
1) Guaranteed jobs for all
2) That will be high quality union jobs
3) Paying prevailing wages
4) Hiring local workers
5) That offer training and advancement
6) Wage and benefit parity
7) Family leave
8) Medical leave
9) Paid vacation
10) Retirement security
11) Economic security
12) With strengthened unions
13) Stronger safety regulations
14) Stronger health regulations
15) Tougher anti-discrimination rules
16) More stringent wage and hour standards
17) Ending wage stagnation
18) Increasing socio-economic mobility
19) Reducing income inequality
20) Narrowing the racial wealth gap
21) And the gender earnings gap
22) While trade deals add rules to protect the environment and labor
23) The transfer of jobs overseas is stopped
24) Domestic manufacturing grows
25) Businesses don’t face unfair competition
26) Ensuring economic development
27) While diversifying business and industry in local and regional economies
28) While eliminating pollution
29) Cleaning up existing hazardous waste and abandoned sites
30) Providing education, including higher education, to all
31) While boosting community resiliency
32) Fighting racial injustice
33) Fighting social injustice
34) And generally making things better for indigenous peoples
#4
It's gonna be a workers paradise. And as long as they pretend to pay us, we'll pretend to work.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/16/2019 12:03
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#5
No unicorns?
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/16/2019 12:22
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#6
"No unicorns?"
*Heh!* This is way, way beyond unicorns... This is giving every person their own private sky castle floating on the clouds and a non-polluting, environmentally friendly™ pegasus (with a silky mane and tail, no less!) to commute from it.
#8
If everyone is guaranteed a job, why the emphasis on hiring and training local workers? Seems like a stipulation that will force people to work in the local job pool and restrict the ability to relocate to a more suitable/better locale for one’s talents and desires. I’ve read about and seen this kind of shit before.
P. S.
I got the gist and quit reading after #10 or 11.
Back in November, I predicted all this. I wrote my most controversial column. After the GOP lost the House, I predicted the big winner of the November midterms would be ... President Donald Trump.
I'm sure some of you thought I was stark raving mad. But my November prediction has proven 100 percent accurate. Back then, I prophesied that if Democrats got in charge, they would embarrass themselves, expose themselves and destroy themselves. The craziest and most radical Democrats would no longer be hidden.
...It is all happening as I predicted. The more Democrats appear in the media, the more popular Trump becomes. Democrats are in charge. Their crazy is out in the open for everyone to see. The Democrat Party is dangerous, extreme, radical, reckless and really, really crazy.
Take just this past week. Freshman Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American Muslim member of Congress, has been lashing out at Jews in anti-Semitic tirades. It got so bad that her own Democratic leadership strongly condemned her Jew hatred.
...The Democrats who run Virginia are trying to top her. The governor chose a photo of someone in blackface and someone in a KKK hood for his medical school yearbook page. The attorney general had to resign from a national AG organization for his own blackface episode. The lieutenant governor is accused of sexual assault by two women.
And let's not forget that the Virginia governor and his fellow Democrats tried to pass a bill allowing third-trimester abortions. This is mass murder glorified as "pro-woman" by Democrats.
But I've saved the best for last: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the new queen of crazy. She just released her Green New Deal. It read like a "Saturday Night Live" comedy routine or a parody by The Onion.
#4
And - let's not forget the most recent chapter of crazy lunatic behavior - Beto O'Rourke and Kristen Gillibrand are now both on the record supporting physically removing parts of the border wall with Mexico. Un-Fucking believable...
#6
They don't need to hide it because the socialist press hides it for them or else whitewashes it.
The press has become the problem. Who holds them accountable?
Short of tar and feathers, or rifles and ropes, there seems to be no recourse.
Posted by: Boss Spoper5850 ||
02/16/2019 13:29
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#7
Beto O'Rourke and Kristen Gillibrand are now both on the record supporting physically removing parts of the border wall with Mexico. Un-Fucking believable...
They want to make Texas Mexico again...just like they have with California. When that happens the whole country is finished.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/16/2019 13:44
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#8
Who holds them accountable?
Rantburg and the entire right and center of the internet hold them accountable, Boss Spoper5850. Very time the New York Times, et al have to report on something because their readers’ crazy uncles talked about something seen on Drudge or Breitbart at Thanksgiving or on Facebook, that is us holding them accountable in the most effective way — by showing their readers what they’ve been hiding.
#9
The number of layoffs and closed publications shows that they're being held accountable. What keeps them afloat is corporate organizations that shield their loses with income from other venues and the almighty ad dollars. The first can be fixed by putting personal fiduciary responsibility back into the boardrooms and CEO offices of publicly traded companies. The second is to eliminate any corporate tax write off of any advertising.
MUNICH (Reuters) - Britain’s exit from the European Union will not affect security cooperation with its NATO allies France and Germany, given the growing external threats to the continent’s stability, the intelligence chiefs of the three countries said on Friday.
"The chiefs ... said that all three services would continue to be close allies in jointly protecting Europe from threats such as Islamism, terrorism, organised crime or cyber-attacks," the heads of Germany’s BND, France’s DGSE and Britain’s MI6 said in a rare joint statement.
"This would also hold true... in view of Brexit," they said after meeting at the Munich Security Conference.
Britain is due to leave the European Union on March 29. The British parliament last month rejected a withdrawal agreement reached by UK and EU negotiators, raising the possibility of a disruptive no-deal Brexit that could harm trade and other ties.
MUSCAT (Reuters) - The United States should keep arming and aiding the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) following the planned U.S. withdrawal from Syria, provided the group keeps up the pressure on Islamic State, a senior U.S. general told Reuters on Friday.
The recommendation by Army General Joseph Votel, who oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East as head of Central Command, is one of the strongest signs yet of U.S. military hopes for an enduring partnership with the SDF despite the concerns of NATO ally Turkey, which says Kurdish SDF fighters are terrorists.
"As long as they are fighting against ISIS and continue to keep pressure on them, I think it would seem to me to be in our interest to continue to provide the means for them to do that," Votel said in an interview, using an acronym for Islamic State.
Votel said he expected future U.S. assistance to the SDF to change after it seizes the final bits of Islamic State territory. The SDF will then have to contend with a more dispersed, harder-to-detect network of Islamic State fighters, who are expected to wage guerrilla-style attacks.
"When they go to a kind of a wider area security mode, then that will drive a different type of requirement (for support)," he said during a trip to Oman.
MUSCAT/KABUL (Reuters) - Even before any peace push-related drawdowns, the U.S. military is expected to trim troop levels in Afghanistan as part of an efficiency drive by the new commander, a U.S. general told Reuters on Friday, estimating the cuts may exceed 1,000 forces.
U.S. President Donald Trump told Congress this month he intended to reduce U.S. forces from Afghanistan as negotiators make progress in talks with Taliban insurgents, saying: "Great nations do not fight endless wars."
U.S. Army General Joseph Votel, the head of the U.S. military’s Central Command, said the decision to reduce some of the roughly 14,000 American forces in Afghanistan was not linked to those peace efforts, however.
Instead, he said it was part of an effort by Army General Scott Miller, who took over the more than 17-year war effort in September, to make better use of U.S. resources.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/16/2019 6:42
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#2
I'm going with "Graveyard of Empires" for $600. Alex.
If every enemy combatant and terrorist left AFG tomorrow for permanent residence at the South Pole, we'd still have nothing that amounts to anything in AFG.
[AAWSAT] Ottoman Turkish police have detained 52 Syrian nationals over their suspected links to ISIS terrorist organization, state-run news agency ...and if you can't trust the state-run news agency who can you believe?... Anadolu said Thursday.
The suspects were detained in the town of Osmangazi, in northwestern Bursa province, it said.
According to the private DHA agency, police conducted simultaneous dawn raids at five separate locations to apprehend them.
The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... was hit by a wave of attacks in 2015 and 2016 blamed on ISIS and Kurdish bully boyz that killed around 300 people.
ISIS grabbed credit for a gunman's attack at the Reina nightclub in Istanbul during New Year celebrations in the early hours of 2017. The attack killed 39 people, most of them foreigners.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/16/2019
01:37 ||
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[16 views]
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NEW YORK (AP) ‐ Payless ShoeSource is shuttering all of its 2,100 remaining stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, joining a list of iconic names like Toys R Us and Bon-Ton that have closed down in the last year.
The Topeka, Kansas-based chain said Friday it will hold liquidation sales starting Sunday and wind down its e-commerce operations. All of the stores will remain open until at least the end of March and the majority will remain open until May.
The debt-burdened chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 2017, closing hundreds of stores as part of its reorganization.
At the time, it had over 4,400 stores in more than 30 countries. It remerged from restructuring four months later with about 3,500 stores and eliminated more than $435 million in debt.
The company said in an email that the liquidation doesn’t affect its franchise operations or its Latin American stores, which remain open for business as usual. It lists 18,000 employees worldwide.
Shoppers are increasingly shifting their buying online or heading to discount stores like T.J. Maxx to grab deals on name-brand shoes. That shift has hurt traditional retailers, even low-price outlets like Payless. Heavy debt loads have also handcuffed retailers, leaving them less flexible to invest in their businesses.
#4
What a pity... Always liked the local store when I wanted a pair of "sneakers" for a low cost comfortable shoe. The upper scale store wanted three times as much for a Brand name™ athletic trainer and all of the Walmart varieties didn't fit right...
#5
Bon Ton, Payless and Toys R Us have one thing in common - leveraged buyouts. Insane levels of debt were piled on at the bottom of the interest rate cycle.
Sears and JC Penney are also in a fairly similar predicament. Both bought back billions in stock by issuing similar amounts in debt. The deferred store and computer system improvements means they hollowed their businesses out for no good reason. Stock buybacks and LBO's have been a disaster for the retail sector.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Transportation Department Deputy Secretary Jeffrey Rosen is the leading candidate to replace Rod Rosenstein as deputy attorney general to serve alongside new Attorney General William Barr, two administration officials told Reuters on Friday.
Barr, who previously worked with Rosen at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis, has advocated for Rosen to get the No. 2 top slot at the Justice Department, the sources said, speaking anonymously because the announcement has not been made public.
Rosen, who has been a key figure in efforts to rewrite fuel efficiency regulations and set drone policy, did not return messages seeking comment.
A spokeswoman for the Justice Department declined to comment, while the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reuters could not immediately learn when Rosenstein would depart his post.
However, Reuters previously reported that Rosenstein planned to exit sometime after Barr was sworn in, but would initially remain on the job for an unspecified time to help with the transition before departing.
#3
Rosenstein planned to exit sometime after Barr was sworn in, but would initially remain on the job for an unspecified time to help with the transition before departing.
Rosenstein is not doing Barr any favors by staying.
[Aljazeera] The head of Britain's foreign intelligence service has warned the country against relying on a monopoly provider of equipment in new 5G mobile networks amid concerns over potential Chinese supplier Huawei's relationship with Beijing. Oftentimes the old ways are the best ways.
Speaking to the Reuters news agency on Friday, MI6 chief Alex Younger said he wanted a "proper conversation" about whether to restrict Huawei's access to the UK market.
"It's not inherently desirable that any piece of significant national infrastructure is provided from a monopoly supplier," Younger told Reuters at the opening of the Munich Security Conference.
Huawei, the world's biggest producer of telecoms equipment, faces intense scrutiny in the West over its relationship with the Chinese government.
[PJ] Jussie Smollett, the "Empire" actor who claims he was assaulted by white supremacists screaming "MAGA COUNTRY" in the middle of a polar vortex in Chicago, just hired the best defense lawyer in town, Michael Monico, after the two persons of interest in the case were released by the Chicago Police Department.
The two persons of interest that Smollett claimed were his attackers in an interview on ABC with Robin Roberts turned out to be Nigerian actors who have connections to the "Empire" show.
Shortly before this announcement was made, Michael Monico appeared on Roe Conn's radio program on WGN to announce that Smollett had hired the high-powered defense attorney to represent him. Monico is the same attorney who is representing President Trump's former personal attorney, Michael Cohen.
#1
Again we will hear about school teachers having to buy classroom supplies out of their own pockets while there's a 7 figure GoFundMe for this moak's legal fees...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/16/2019 6:20
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#2
I want to hear the police interview tapes where the suspects say “this is MAGA country” in their Nigerian accents.
Caution: Book seller.
[The Federalist] Sean McFate is an 82nd Airborne veteran, former private military contractor, and professor of war studies at the National Defense University. McFate joins Ben Domenech on the Federalist Radio Hour to give a real world perspective on how corporations, mercenaries, and rogue states often have more power than "nation states." His new book, "The New Rules of War: Victory in the Age of Durable Disorder," explores the future of military engagement and what we must know if we want to win.
[The Federalist] If Washington, D.C. were a better place, former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe would be swiftly run out of town. He was fired last year for lying to the FBI’s inspector general at least four times regarding serious questions about multiple abuses that occurred while McCabe sat in a powerful and unelected office.
These abuses included working with former FBI director James Comey to set up former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus for obstruction charges, slow-walking and sabotaging the investigation of yet unseen Hillary Clinton emails found on Anthony Weiner’s computer just before the 2016 election, and failing to report a clear conflict of interest where his wife received a political donation from a close Hillary Clinton ally while he was tasked with investigating Hillary Clinton.
Among other things, McCabe also took part in spying on the Trump campaign through a secret warrant granted by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) court. This spying allowed obedient anti-Trump media figures to report, right before the 2016 election, that the FBI was investigating President Trump‐which legitimized the Hillary Clinton campaign’s talking points about Trump and Russia.
Thankfully, although the establishment media cheers McCabe, he may yet face legal trouble as a result of his actions. So to save his skin, and sell his new book to help pay the lawyers‐titled "The Threat: How the F.B.I. Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump"‐McCabe is on the media circuit.
#2
McCabe's coup? Although he had a lot to do with the coup, there are plenty of other willing participants as well. It goes right to the top of the Obama administration and spreads downward through the CIA, DOJ, FBI, State and probably other agencies. As Trump said there have been many bad things going on for a long time.
[WND] Talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh posed a theory about why Democrats went rogue under the Barack Obama administration and investigated the political campaign of Donald Trump.
Aside from the fact that they wanted to keep their jobs maintain and their party agenda, Limbaugh said Democrats were frantic to cover up their own misdeeds and stay out of jail.
He said the "express purpose" of Robert Mueller’s special counsel investigation was to create "a gigantic distraction."
"It was two-pronged. It was to get rid of Trump. It was to create public opinion that Trump is illegitimate, illegal, unseemly, unfit, while distracting everybody from what really happened," Limbaugh said.
"I don’t think these people ever thought that they would be prosecuted or caught, but I think that that’s largely what the ’backup plan’ was. And it’s gonna require an investigation by the Department of Justice of itself to find out what went on here."
#1
"why Democrats went rogue under the Barack Obama administration"
If Obama had been properly vetted by an honest media instead of a bunch of bought shills, IMO Obama would never have been elected. Obama showed criminal and rogue tendencies back in Chicago or even earlier. We still don't know who Obama is. Maybe it will all come out but I'm not holding my breath.
[WND] Government watchdog Judicial Watch revealed Friday it has obtained another 186 pages of documentation from the Justice Department regarding Hillary Clinton’s email scandal, and they show evidence of a cover-up of an FBI chart of possible violations by her.
"Judicial Watch caught the FBI in another cover-up to protect Hillary Clinton," said the organization’s president, Tom Fitton.
"These records show that the FBI is hiding a chart detailing possible violations of the law by Hillary Clinton and the supposed reasons she was not prosecuted."
Judicial Watch recently released hundreds of pages of records showing former FBI General Counsel James Baker discussed the investigation of Clinton-related emails on Anthony Weiner’s laptop with Clinton’s lawyer, David Kendall.
The latest cache of documents was obtained from the government through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed against the Department of Justice after it failed to respond to a 2017 FOIA request seeking all communications between fired FBI official Peter Strzok and his paramour, FBI lawyer Lisa Page.
It was District Judge Reggie B. Walton who ordered the FBI to begin processing some 13,000 pages of records that fall under the order.
Judicial Watch found, three days after then-FBI Director James Comey’s press conference announcing that he would not recommend a prosecution of Clinton, a July 8, 2016, an email chain showing that the special counsel to the FBI’s executive assistant director in charge of the National Security Branch told Strzok he was making a "chart of the statutory violations considered during the investigation [of Clinton’s private email system], and the reasons for the recommendation not to prosecute."
#1
a July 8, 2016, an email chain showing that the special counsel to the FBI’s executive assistant director in charge of the National Security Branch told Strzok he was making a "chart of the statutory violations considered during the investigation [of Clinton’s private email system], and the reasons for the recommendation not to prosecute."
"NOW, you can do your 'interviews' to back it up"
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/16/2019 6:32
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#2
David Kendall's claim to fame: Not keeping John Spenkelink out of the electric chair...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/16/2019 7:43
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#7
The press studiously ignores this. If you swap Republican for Democrat, and Trump for Clinton/Obama, they would be shouting this daily and incessantly about the corruption of the government by partisan political activists.
Posted by: Boss Spoper5850 ||
02/16/2019 13:32
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[Free Beacaon] New York senator and Democratic presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand signaled Friday she's open to removing existing sections of the border wall, as her potential 2020 rival Beto O'Rourke suggested.
O'Rourke, a former Texas congressman who led an unsuccessful Senate campaign last year, was asked Thursday if he would support taking down the existing border wall in his home city of El Paso. "Absolutely, I'd take the wall down," he told MSNBC's Chris Hayes.
The next day Gillibrand was asked by a reporter during a New Hampshire campaign stop whether she agreed with O'Rourke's comments.
[Breitbart] Friday on MSNBC’s "All In," Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) called on Americans to protest across the country to send President Donald Trump a message that his declaration of a national emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border is "fake."
Waters said, "I really expect we’re going to have a growing number of Republicans that are going to join with us in this disapproval. Yes, they’re concerned if a Democratic president gets elected then they can use emergency powers to do a lot of the things they don’t like. As you know, they don’t believe in climate change. They don’t want us to talk about Medicare for all or any of those subjects they think we’ll spend too much government money, even though they’ve created the largest debt we’ve seen in government for many many years."
She continued, "I’ve been talking about impeachment for a long time. I’m absolutely stunned and amazed that the American people have taken so much off of this president. This president has lied, I think it’s been documented, 8,000 times in the last two years. This president has committed obstruction of justice right before our very eyes. And if we could ever get Manafort to tell the truth, then we will find they conspired to get Trump elected so sanctions could be lifted off of Russia. President Obama created sanctions, placed them on Russia, because of their invasion, basically in Crimea, and they can’t drill into the Arctic, do some of these things they want to do. They don’t have the equipment. Our allies are working with us to honor the sanctions, and that’s what this is all about. The Americans have taken too much off of this president. He is dishonorable. He does not deserve to be president of the United States. As a matter of fact, he loves Putin, dictators, loves Kim Jong-un, talking about they’re in love now."
She added, "And so it’s time for everybody to stand up. All hands on deck to refuse this president these fake emergency powers that he would like the have. And so I’m urging everybody get together ‐rally in every community across this country all this weekend, send a message to Washington, D.C., ’No, Mr. President, we’re not going allow you to do this."
#2
Trump made a mistake: If he'd just done an executive order that said "No more Coachella festival until the wall is built," We'd have a wall the whole way around Mexico and central and south America like yesterday...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/16/2019 6:17
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#3
You have to understand that when Maxine says 'rallies' she means 'Antifa riots'.
#5
And if Antifa does right, declare an emergency and send in the Marines as riot police. I'm sure many Marines are 'eager' to share their feelings about Antifa attacking their fellow Marines. ROE is "NO lawyers allowed, civilian or Military, no dead innocent civilians, Antifa are considered terrorists and insurrectionists."
[AnNahar] Fighting "fake" news, wrestling with social media, and deploying an intern army -- the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... 's sprawling propaganda machine embraces modernity even as the group vows to enforce Islamist controls on journalists if it returns to power.
Notorious for banning TV and radio under its iron-fisted 1996-2001 regime, the turbans have proven surprisingly deft at adapting to the ever-changing nature of modern media.
Continued on Page 49
[AnNahar] A bomb hidden on a corpse dressed in military uniform has killed two soldiers in Burkina Faso ...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and will leave office feet first, one way or the other... , the military said Friday.
The booby-trapped male body had been left just outside the northern town of Djibo, near the border with Mali, and a team was sent to investigate, a statement from the armed forces general staff said.
"The body, which turned out to be a trap, went kaboom! when it was handled, killing two soldiers and wounding six, three of them seriously," it said.
A security source told AFP that the corpse went kaboom! on Thursday when soldiers tried to turn it over, killing an army doctor on the spot, and wounding others.
Burkina Faso, in the heart of Africa's vast Sahel region ... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas... , is struggling with a bloody Islamist insurgency as well as bouts of social unrest.
More than 300 people have been killed in Burkina Faso in four years of jihadist attacks, according to an AFP count.
Last week there were three attacks, one of which killed five members of the security forces on the same day President Roch Marc Christian Kabore hosted a regional summit on the fight against terrorism.
The capital Ouagadougou has been hit three times, most recently in March 2018.
On Thursday, the United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... said 1.2 million people in the country are in need of humanitarian aid.
About 83,000 people have been forced to flee their homes because of the violence, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. More than 1,000 schools have been closed, depriving 150,000 children of an education.
About 120,000 people do not have access to medical care in areas most affected by the violence.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/16/2019
00:22 ||
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[AnNahar] A Canadian woman found guilty of terror crimes for trying to join the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group and in its name attacking staff at a department store was sentenced Thursday to seven years in prison.
Rehab Dughmosh, 34, was placed in durance vile Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! in June 2017 and later convicted of leaving the country for the purpose of joining a terror group, and assaults with a golf club and a butcher knife, and carrying an archery bow.
Ontario Superior Court Judge Maureen Forestell said in handing down the sentence that Dughmosh's mental illness, believed to be schizophrenia,
...so she went a-jihading because she’s nuts — it was 50/50 odds...
likely made her vulnerable to hard boy beliefs, but that it did not absolve her of the crimes.
Dughmosh had attempted to fly to Syria in April 2016 to join the IS group, and when that failed returned home and plotted the attack.
Her plans to go to Syria were thwarted by Ottoman Turkish officials tipped off by her brother.
...a sensible choice, given she ought to have been living on medication in a locked ward.
At the time, Dughmosh claimed that she was just trying to visit family, although she admitted after her arrest that she had intended to travel to join IS.
The court heard that Dughmosh admitted to pledging her allegiance to the Islamic State group, and on the day in question packed bags with weapons, including a hammer, barbecue skewers, straws tipped with screws and a child's shovel made into claws.
She also hid the knife and bow in her robe.
But on her way out of her apartment, she ran into her estranged husband, who confiscated the bags. He reportedly did not know about the concealed weapons.
At the Canadian Tire store east of Toronto, Dughmosh grabbed a golf club off a rack after trying unsuccessfully to access arrows in a locked display case.
She then draped herself in a homemade IS banner, tied an IS bandana around her head and charged staff with the golf club and butcher knife, shouting: "This is for ISIS."
Staff wrestled her to the ground and nobody was maimed.
Police later found the weapons cache at her home, along with a cellphone containing IS propaganda videos and a handwritten will in which she asked for martyrdom.
This article starring:
Rehab Dughmosh
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/16/2019
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#1
You have to be suspicious of any woman named "Rehab."
[AllAfrica] The Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) has grabbed credit for the attack on the convoy of the Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima, on Tuesday evening. Shettima, who is contesting for a senatorial seat in this year's general elections, was heading for a rally when the incident happened.
According to Rooters, ISIS, in a statement on its Amaq news agency, claimed that 42 people were killed in the Tuesday's attack on the governor's motorcade.But Shettima's Special Adviser on Communications and Strategy, Malam Isa Gusau, who confirmed the attack in a statement issued in Maiduguri yesterday, said only three persons were killed.
The Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... terrorist group has waged a decade-long insurgency in the Northeast, which has killed around 30,000 people and forced about two million to leave their homes. Islamic State West Africa Province, which split from Boko Haram in 2016, has carried out a series of attacks on military targets in the last few months.
Security sources said earlier on Wednesday that the button menshot up the motorcade transporting Governor Shettima on his way from Maiduguri to the market town of Gamboru for the rally.Meanwhile, ...back at the hanging, Butch continued with his last words, trying not to repeat himself too often...... Shettima has mourned those killed in the ambush, including political associates and supporters of All Progressives Congress (APC) as well as a soldier.
Many people who were reportedly kidnapped include three district heads at Logoma village in Ngala Local Government. Gusau, in the statement yesterday, revealed a plan by Governor Shettima to hold a security meeting on the attack on his convoy along Dikwa-Ngala road. According to him, the meeting is to get accurate information on the incident and to sustain the collaboration with security agencies and volunteers in the ongoing fight against Boko Haram.
"Preliminary report on Wednesday confirmed the killing of three persons during the multiple attacks. Tuesday's ambushing was aimed at attracting local and global media attention in order to sustain the propaganda strategy." He said the Boko Haram strategy was to instill fear in the civilians and the troops fighting insurgency in the state and the Lake Chad region.
According to Gusau, the governor, who returned on Wednesday to Maiduguri, will today also meet families of the dear departed victims. He said the army and security agencies had dedicated their lives to restoring peace in the state."For one success recorded by the murderous Moslems, the armed forces record dozens against them," he noted, urging the people to be calm and support the troops by sharing useful information that will help the counter-insurgency operations.
#2
Had to put this on Facebook. Created an extract/abstract:
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[AlMasdar] (4:00 P.M.) – The Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists in eastern Syria have begun surrendering themselves to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) after a string of losses in the eastern Euphrates River Valley region.
According to reports, several Islamic State militants have already begun surrendering themselves to the Syrian Democratic Forces near the town of Baghouz.
Furthermore, some reports from the eastern Euphrates indicate that approximately 80 percent of the Islamic State terrorists still in this pocket are willing to surrender themselves to the SDF.
These reports were based on a recent meeting between ISIS and the SDF in which the former agreed to release 50 prisoners in exchange for food trucks to enter the Baghouz camp area.
The ISIS terrorists that are willing to surrender themselves to the SDF will do so in exchange for fair trials in an international court and no prosecution of their family members.
The remaining 20 percent are not willing to surrender to the SDF and will fight to the death.
[AlMasdar] Daesh* fighters have shot fleeing families trying to escape from Baghuz, the last remaining Daesh enclave located not far from the border with Iraq in Deir ez-Zor province, according to a coalition commander, British Maj. Gen. Christopher Ghika said, cited by British media.
While over 1,500 civilians have fled the last Daesh stronghold in Syria in the last several days, arriving at so-called screening points, where new arrivals are checked by SDF members, hundreds reportedly remain trapped inside.
According to Ghika, those “arriving to be screened are the wives of Isis [Daesh] fighters, some of whom sustained gunshot wounds while fleeing from Isis”.
Those fleeing, as well as the coalition’s efforts to recapture the territory, have, meanwhile, been considerably hindered by “tunnels” in the area, “IEDs and suicide cars and bombs that slow down the advance of our forces”, said Adnan Afrini, the SDF commander in Baghuz, who portrayed the area surrounding Baghuz as a “rabbit hole”:
“There is a network of tunnels that the terrorists are using, and our forces need to clear the tunnels very delicately to avoid counter-attacks and explosives”, he said.
The battle to claim victory over the terrorist group’s last speck of land is now drawing to an end, Kurdish commanders said, with Mustafa Bali, a Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) spokesman, stating that the fighters who remained there appeared to be among the most experienced Daesh elite who continue to fight “fiercely”.
Those fleeing, as well as foreign fighters, who along with their families, at some point joined Daesh, are reported to be being intimidated by the terrorist group, which is threatening them with death if they leave the fight:
“They said that the Kurds would humiliate our women, that men would search them. They said we were walking into the jaws of wolves. They intimidated people and we had to be smuggled out. It was very dangerous”, said Jumah Hamdi Hamdan, 53, a former Daesh supporter who fled the area together with his family on Saturday.
Adnan Afrin told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named that in the last three days, ISIS bully boyz brought up hundreds of civilians from underground tunnels to make the SDF and US-led coalition aware of their presence.
He estimated that around 1,000 civilians, including women and kiddies, are still in the area. He added that bully boyz were hiding among them and using them as human shields.
"This was a surprise. We did not imagine there would be this number of civilians left," Afrin said.
He said they were likely to be families of ISIS turbans, but their discovery nonetheless has blunted the offensive. "We do not want to cause a massacre against civilians in the last (ISIS) pocket," he said.
The Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said SDF fighters discovered late Thursday the bodies of 26 ISIS button men who were killed in recent festivities near Baghouz.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/16/2019
00:00 ||
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#1
Yes. Humiliate their women. Then sterilize them. Then humiliate them some more...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/16/2019 6:22
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[IsraelTimes] Edduin Zelayagrunfeld says he fired warning shot at the ground after Zhoie Perez refused to stop filming outside Etz Jacob Congregation.
Police enjugged You have the right to remain silent... a security guard on suspicion of shooting a self-described First Amendment activist after the two engaged in a videotaped confrontation outside a Los Angeles synagogue and school.
Edduin Zelayagrunfeld, 44, was arrested Thursday for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon, police said. It was unclear if he has an attorney.
The video shot with a smartphone by Zhoie Perez shows the guard telling bystanders he did not shoot her and instead fired a "warning shot" at the ground when she refused to stop filming outside the Etz Jacob Congregation/Ohel Chana High School.
Perez is heard swearing and grimacing in pain after a gunshot. A paramedic who examines her leg tells her the bullet did not create an entry wound.
She later told news hounds that she suffered a "deep graze" to her leg.
Perez posted the video, nearly 40 minutes long, on her YouTube Channel Furry Potato Live, where she offers videos that push the bounds of her First Amendment rights by sometimes engaging coppers in generally polite but pointed confrontations.
She told news hounds she was just capturing the synagogue’s interesting appearance Thursday when she encountered the guard.
"The guard came out and just started freaking out, started putting his hand on his gun," she said.
Zelayagrunfeld, who is seen on the video in uniform drawing his gun and pointing it toward the ground, remained behind the synagogue’s security gates during the confrontation. Perez was on the street outside the gates.
He tells a bystander on the video that he thought Perez was trying to break in and warned her repeatedly to leave.
"I shot at the floor," Zelayagrunfeld continues as the bystander tells him to put the gun away, adding he’s still being filmed.
The synagogue is located in the city’s heavily Jewish Fairfax District. The community has been on edge since a man shouted religious epithets and tried to run down two men outside another synagogue last November.
Mohammed Mohammed, 32, has pleaded not guilty "Wudn't me." to assault with a deadly weapon and hate crime charges in that incident.
After police arrived Thursday, Perez put her phone down and continued to record. She told officers at one point she is transgender and did not want to be handcuffed.
When a police officer asks her if she wants to be searched by a man or woman, she responds, "I don’t need your attitude, lady, I just got shot."
Perez has identified herself as a First Amendment auditor‐a YouTube genre in which participants show up at places like post offices or power plants, start filming and capture the police reaction on tape.
As The Daily Beast reported last month, it’s become a highly competitive online industry, with auditors becoming more and more aggressive in their encounters because an arrest or a physical confrontation will boost their views and fame.
The Jerusalem Post goes straight to the essence of the story:
A security guard at a Jewish high school for girls in Los Angeles shot a man in the leg after he "became belligerent," and the school went on lockdown.
Students are not in any danger, according to the school.
At around 1 p.m. Thursday, a man was "canvassing" around Ohel Chana High School, according to an email sent to parents. The school security guard confronted him and shot him in the leg after he "became belligerent," the school wrote to parents. The man was not critically injured, and no students were hurt or put at risk.
The school was put on lockdown until police give notice that all is well. Students have been given extra time to relax before class.
Ohel Chana, affiliated with Chabad, serves 99 students in grades 9-12, according to the Private School review website.
Not defending the poor gun handling, but a sane society would have put the nut job away long before this. And the "trangendered and don't want to be handcuffed" bit -- what does one have to do with the other?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
02/16/2019 14:46
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[Breitbart] More than 1.4 million households dropped off food stamps since President Donald Trump’s first full month in office in February 2017, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data on food stamp enrollment released Friday.
The latest USDA data revealed that the number of households on food stamps in October 2018 dropped to 19,410,711, down by 1,428,558 from February 2017 when 20,839,269 households were enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the federal government program which administers food stamps.
The most recent data on the number of food stamp households had also reached historic lows not seen since June 2010 when enrollment in the nation’s food stamp program was at 19,143,572.
[IsraelTimes] 2 Paleostinians injured by IDF fire, demonstrators attempting to sabotage security fence; Paleostinian said seriously injured by Israeli fire in West Bank during riot near Nablus.
Some 11,000 Paleostinians gathered near the Gazoo Strip’s border with Israel Friday afternoon for weekly riots and protests against Israel, burning tires, throwing stones, bombs and trying to breach the fence.
An Israeli border police officer from an undercover unit was lightly maimed by shrapnel in the leg when a pipe bomb went kaboom! next to his team, police said. He was evacuated to the hospital for treatment.
The army said 11,000 people took part in the protests and that some rioting was taking place, with demonstrators attempting to sabotage the border fence. Troops were responding with tear gas and occasional live fire to push protesters away from the barrier, it said.
The Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,-run Gazoo health ministry said two Paleostinians had been injured by live fire.
Meanwhile in the West Bank, the Ynet news site reported that a Paleostinian was seriously maimed by Israeli fire during a riot in a village near Nablus.
The riot began after villagers in Urief held a protest prayer session in the eastern part of the village, to challenge the army’s recent move to block a path leading to residents’ agricultural lands. It was not immediately clear why the path had been sealed off.
Earlier on Friday, a cluster of balloons with a suspicious device attached to it was located in the southern city of Netivot. Police sappers were called to the scene. There were no reports of casualties or damage. The police called on the public to remain vigilant and immediately report any suspicious devices they come across and leave the area at once.
On Wednesday, a joint statement by all of Gazoo’s krazed killer groups was released, warning that festivities at the Gazoo border, which take place every Friday, could this week lead to an escalation in violence.
Yes, we saw. All Israel are shaking in their shoes.
The organizations "will not allow Israel to keep harming protesters during the March of Return peaceful rallies," they said in a statement. "The Zionist enemy is responsible for any kind of harm to the rights of the Paleostinian people," the statement added. "All signs point to a nearing clash, we won’t accept the fact that our people are starving and thirsty."
[AlMasdar] The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) launched a new combing operation in the southeastern region of the country on Thursday, targeting several areas controlled by the so-called Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS/ISIS/IS/ISIS).
Led by their 3rd Division, the Syrian Arab Army stormed several Islamic State hideouts in the Badiya al-Sham region
...in English the Syrian desert, which covers half the country...
as their artillery units provided cover from afar.
According to a military source in the Homs Governorate, the Syrian Arab Army mostly concentrated their operation along the Homs-Sweida provincial axis, which has been a hot zone for Islamic State activity these last few weeks.
The Syrian Arab Army is still combing through much of this area; however, it may take a while for them to fully clear the Badiya al-Sham region due to its vast number of caves and hills.
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[MilitaryTimes] The Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... ’s physical territory has dwindled to a ramshackle camp only a few square kilometers wide in eastern Syria’s Deir Ez Zor province. But as the so-called caliphate’s end nears, questions remain about what will become of the roughly 1,000 ISIS fighters who have been detained by U.S. troops and local allies.
While some of the ISIS detainees are front-lines troops and untrained cannon fodder, a significant cohort of them are also more capable gunnies trained as external operation planners and master bomb makers who pose a threat to the U.S. and its allies.
"It’s closer to a thousand than it is hundreds already in detention, with more to potentially come," Army Gen. Raymond Thomas, III, who helms U.S. Special Operations Command, said at a Senate hearing Thursday. "[It’s] a huge area of concern for us, especially because they’re being detained by the non-nation state that’s otherwise known as the Syrian Democratic Forces."
U.S.-backed SDF troops, who fought to clear ISIS out of the eastern portion of Syria, have been in limbo ever since the Trump administration announced that U.S. forces would eventually depart the country after ISIS’ defeat.
Early on in the anti-ISIS campaign, some within the SDF hoped to create their own nation. But Syrian reunification looks more likely at the moment, potentially creating a chaotic transition phase during which detained ISIS fighters can slip through the cracks and plot attacks abroad.
"How we reduce that threat and keep those people properly detained and handled over time is of paramount importance right now," Thomas said.
Most of these detainees are imported muscle from roughly a dozen different countries, he added.
The U.S. State Department has been calling on the origin nations of foreign ISIS gunnies to repatriate and prosecute the detainees.
"I’ll give kudos right now to some of the countries that have stepped up, particularly some of the smaller countries that have capacity challenges, but nevertheless have started to assume the burden," Thomas said.
"We have empty beds at Guantanamo Bay, don’t we?" Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton asked during the hearing. "Maybe we should consider that for some of those really bad guys in Syria."
A U.S. official told the News Agency that Dare Not be Named that the American base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is the "option of last resort."
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said that roughly 50 detainees in Syria have been identified as "high value" suspects that could be held at Guantanamo if they are not repatriated.
Thomas was hesitant to call the end of ISIS’ physical caliphate a "victory" when probed by senators. Instead, he characterized ISIS’ loss of land as a great accomplishment but one that will transition the terror proto-state into an insurgency movement.
"The [counter-terrorism] threat between 2001 and 2011 wasn’t measured in territory, it was measured in terrorist threat, and that’s still there, isn’t it?" Maine Sen. Angus King asked during the hearing.
"Correct," Thomas said. "The [counter-terrorism] threat is in the throws of transformation. ... They’re still very dangerous."
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[PhilStar] Six members of the Civilian Armed Auxiliaries kidnapped by New People’s Army militants in Agusan del Norte last year were released on Thursday. The Eastern Mindanao Command identified the militiamen as Jurian Gaviola, Marson Iligan, Bienvinido Lamion, Eddie Tindoy, Sanny Malobay and Hermito Iligan.
Joaquin Jacinto, National Democratic Front spokesman for Mindanao, led the turnover of the captives to third party facilitators in Barangay San Juan, Sibagat. The captives were later turned over to local government and military officials.
Eastmincom commander Felimon Santos said the release of the captives was due to the relentless pressure of recent military operations.
The six militiamen were among 12 government troops seized while sleeping at a military detachment in Sibagat on December 19. Two other militiamen were kidnapped in San Antonio, Doña Remedios Trinidad in Agusan del Norte on December 22.
In Bukidnon, two soldiers were killed while another was injured in an NPA attack in Barangay Dalwangan, Malaybalay on Thursday night.
Malin Mabini, spokesman for the NPA-Northern Central Mindanao Regional Command, claimed they took seven high-powered firearms from the soldiers. Mabini said three of their combatants were also killed in the clash.
[AlMasdar] According to the Russian military, various bandidoshard boyz are keeping people in the camp by force, while the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has previously noted that hard boyz and smugglers in the area are using innocent people as human shields.
Probably best to control ingress and egress, then. Can’t let hard boyz and smugglers run around loose, after all.
"We call on the American command and leaders of illegal bully boy groups in the al-Tanf zone to at least stop forcibly keeping women and kiddies most affected by cold, illness and malnutrition in the camp. All of them will be given necessary assistance", Russian Defence Ministry front man, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, said Friday.
That’s more a question for the government of Jordan, if I recall correctly, rather than the Americans.
According to him, Russia and Syria will establish a temporary housing area for refugees from the camp.
I suspect the Russians and Syrians would be considerably stricter about screening the inhabitants of the camps than even the Jordanians have been...
"To save the refugees of the Rukban camp, the Russian centre for Syrian reconciliation, jointly with Syria’s government, from February 19, 2019... will deploy temporary accommodation centres equipped with warm housing and provided with hot meals, other essentials and medical personnel... All refugees will be provided with motor transport for unimpeded and safe travel to their places of residence in the territory controlled by the Syrian government", he said.
...providing they passed muster, of course.
The Rukban refugee camp is located near the Syrian-Jordan border in the zone of responsibility of the US al-Tanf base. Russia has accused the US base of providing a safe haven for terrorists, who have later launched attacks on the positions of the Syrian army.
According to various estimates, there are at least 50,000 people inside the 55-kilometre security zone occupied by the United States.
[Dawn] India on Friday announced the withdrawal of Most Favoured Nation status for Pakistain.
The move followed a cabinet meeting during which Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was briefed on a recent attack on Indian security forces in occupied Kashmire, in which 44 paramilitary soldiers were killed, Indian media reported.
Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in a press briefing said that Modi's cabinet had decided to initiate steps to ensure complete diplomatic isolation of Pakistain.
Continued on Page 49
[RadioShabelle] The United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... will next week launch a peace building fund (PBF) worth 30 million U.S. dollars to help support the country’s peace building efforts.
The UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) said on Thursday a joint launch of the new PBF portfolio will be held to highlight the interlinkages between the new projects.
The projects will also address Somalia’s peace building priorities as outlined in the peace building priority plan, the national development plan, the national stabilization strategy, the Wadajir Framework, and the national reconciliation framework.
"The current portfolio consists of nine active projects valued at 30 million dollars ‐ a sign of the PBF’s increasing focus on Somalia in support of the country’s peace building and state-building efforts," UNSOM said in a statement ahead of the launch.
It said the UN secretary-general’s PBF has supported Somalia’s peace building process since 2009, adding that investments to date amounts to about 45 million dollars, of which a record level of 14 million dollars was allocated to five new projects in 2018.
[PhilStar] Four Abu Sayyaf militants were killed and five others were injured as Philippine troops launched pursuit operations yesterday for the group of rebels they encountered in Patikul, Sulu, on Thursday.
Military spokesman Divino Rey Pabayo said soldiers from the 6th Special Forces Battalion clashed with the group of Monde Sawadjaan, a nephew of Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan. Hatib is the alleged mastermind in the twin bombings in Jolo last January 27 that left 23 people dead and more than a hundred injured.
Meanwhile, the remains of Cpl. Nemesis Salviejo, who was killed in the clash in Barangay Igasan on Thursday, were flown to Villamor Air Base yesterday after a sendoff ceremony held at the Edwin Andrews Air Base here. Three other soldiers were injured in the encounter.
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#3
Thank you, TW! I know a lot of people don't find Twitter too appealing, but it's a natural fit for me. Talk about "short attention span theater". I do waste a bit too much time there though.
[AlMasdar] A large number of former rebels have joined the Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) ranks in the Daraa and al-Quneitra governorates this week, a military communique read on Thursday.
According to the report, approximately 7,000 men, many former rebels, were inducted into the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) recently as the military wraps up their winter recruitment class.
With these 7,000 new recruits from Daraa, the Syrian Arab Army has effectively inducted more than 20,000 soldiers into this winter class.
[AlAhram] Egypt’s interior ministry said the police foiled a kaboom in a busy area in Giza on Friday.
Explosives experts defused a home-made bomb that aimed to target a security checkpoint near El-Istiqama mosque in Giza on the outskirts of Greater Cairo, the ministry said in a statement.
A security official told Ahram Online that two improvised bombs were thrown from a bridge at members of a security checpoint in the area. One civilian was injured by shrapnel, he added.
A video circulating online showed a blast in a cordoned-off area under a bridge, with security officials, police vehicles and an ambulance in the vicinity.
Al-Ahram Arabic news website published photos from the site showing smashed glass on the street, a shattered car window and a damaged apartment building door.
The ministry blamed "members of the terrorist Moslem Brüderbund group" for the attack.
No group has yet grabbed credit for the attack.
Egypt designated the Brotherhood a terrorist organization in late 2013, months following the ouster of its Islamist president Mohammed Morsi after mass protests against his rule.
Military and police forces have been pressing ahead with an extensive campaign to eradicate Islamist turbans over the past year, which is mainly focused in the border Sinai region.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
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And you thought only Blackface Gov Northam could Moonwalk?
[NY Post] Andrew McCabe on Friday denied that he knew of an effort to oust President Trump using the 25th Amendment, saying he never had "any extended discussions" about the matter and was unaware of such talks. But he knows enough to write a book he's currently pimping? Sorry, that only works for Hildabeast
"At no time did Mr. McCabe participate in any extended discussions about the use of the 25th Amendment, nor is he aware of any such discussions," his spokeswoman, Melissa Schwartz, said in a statement on Twitter, adding that his remarks about the issue were taken out of context. She said McCabe "was present and participated in a discussion that included a comment by Deputy Attorney General [Rod] Rosenstein regarding the 25th Amendment."
But, she added, "Mr. McCabe has merely confirmed a discussion that was initially reported elsewhere."
CBS reporter Scott Pelley, who interviewed McCabe for Sunday's "60 Minutes," said Thursday that McCabe told him using the 25th Amendment was discussed and that officials were "counting noses" ‐ or speculating on who might support such an endeavor.
"There were meetings at the Justice Department at which it was discussed whether the vice president and a majority of the cabinet could be brought together to remove the president of the United States under the 25th Amendment," Pelley said.
"And the highest levels of American law enforcement were trying to figure out what to do with the president."
In the interview, McCabe also confirmed that he took Rosenstein's offer to wear a wire when meeting with Trump in the White House so seriously that he discussed the idea with agency lawyers.
A previous report said that Rosenstein made the crack sarcastically.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/16/2019
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#1
"I say right now that I didn't say what I said..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/16/2019 6:23
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#2
No surprise the Dems are trying to pass an anti-lynching law. They must be fearful of the final pictures of fascist Mussolini and his mistress hanging from a lampost.
Posted by: Matt ||
02/16/2019 11:48
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#5
Mussolini's fate would be appropriate for Comey, McCabe, and the rest of the cabal that attempted to plan a coup, as well as covered up Holder, Obama and Clinton's felonies.
Posted by: Boss Spoper5850 ||
02/16/2019 13:34
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#6
You know, if we had an honest judiciary, President Trump would have one heck of a civil rights case against a lot of people.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/16/2019 14:59
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[AlMasdar] (4:45 P.M.) – In a statement published by the STEP News Agency, the spokesperson for Ottoman Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army’s (FSA) Jaysh Al-Izza faction admitted that his rebel group is unable to respond to the Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) attack because they lack ammunition in northern Hama.
The Jaysh Al-Izza spokesperson said they barely have enough ammunition to defend their territories should the Syrian Arab Army launch a new offensive to capture their northern Hama bastion.
He claims that the lack of ammunition is a result of little-to-no support from countries that used to support them; he says they are under siege as a result of this, but he did not name any of the nations.
The spokesperson added that should the Syrian Arab Army launch a new operation in northern Hama, they will be forced to fight a war of attrition.
Jaysh Al-Izza has managed to hold the key towns of Al-Latamnah and Kafr Zita for several years now, following their large-scale campaign that resulted in their expansion along the Hama-Idlib axis.
[AlMasdar] (8:45 P.M.) – The Islamist rebels launched a new attack on a government-held town in the northern countryside of the Hama Governorate this evening.
According to a military source in nearby Mhardeh, Jaysh Al-Izza militants fired a number of rockets towards the government stronghold of Salhab, causing several explosions in the process.
The source said that the Syrian Arab Army has since activated their rocket sirens in order to notify civilians in the area to seek shelter.
Since the Islamist rebels launched the attack, the Syrian Arab Army has responded with a heavy assault of their own.
A source from the Syrian Arab Army said that they are heavily bombarding the Jaysh Al-Izza stronghold of Kafr Zita in response to this latest attack by the latter.
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[AlMasdar] Iraqi Army helicopters pounded the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... ’s (ISIS/ISIS/IS/ISIS) military positions inside the eastern region of Syria this week, inflicting a number of casualties within the ranks of the terrorist group.
"Iraqi Army choppers targeted arms and ammunition depots belonging to the Islamic State in Syria near the border with Iraq’s al-Anbar province," a senior provincial official in Iraq’s al-Anbar province was quoted as saying by the Arabic-language al-Maloumeh news website.
The official said that a number of ISIS bad boyz were potted in the Iraqi Arclight airstrikes.
"The main goal of this attack was weakening the ISIS in a bid to prevent the terrorist group from getting close to al-Anbar province," he added.
In late December, Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... allowed Iraqi fighter jets to conduct airstrikes against the Islamic State without notifying Damascus.
Since then, the Iraqi Air Force has conducted several airstrikes against the Islamic State in an effort to weaken the terrorist group along the border.
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[Ynet] Security forces detained overnight Wednesday 20 Paleostinians suspected of involvement in terror activities.
In addition, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said an army force identified several suspects placing an improvised an bomb near the Paleostinian village of Deir Abu Mash'al in the West Bank. IDF troops responded with gunfire, and the suspects escaped the scene. Neither casualties nor damage were reported.
[Ynet] Border Police enjugged Please don't kill me! Friday a Paleostinian man armed with a knife near Jerusalem. A preliminary investigation revealed the suspect intended to carry out a terror attack.
[TheHill] Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was back at the court on Friday for the justices’ private conference.
The Supreme Court’s Public Information Office told The Hill that Ginsburg was attending the regular closed-door meeting in which the justices consider requests to review cases. Ginsburg has been absent from the court since undergoing surgery in late December to remove two cancerous nodules from her lower left lung.
The justices have been on winter recess for the last month but are due back on the bench for oral arguments on Tuesday. The court’s press office did not say whether Ginsburg will be on the bench for arguments Tuesday.
Among the petitions the justices considered Friday is a request from the Trump administration to bypass a regional appeals court and review a lower court’s decision to block administration officials from adding questions about citizenship to the 2020 census.
[Dawn] WHAT started out as a political firestorm has ended, eight years later, with a whimper as the Supreme Court on Thursday finally wrapped up the so-called Memogate affair. The case ‐ which was built on the claim that elements in the Asif Ali Ten Percent Zardari ... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... , who has been singularly lacking in curiosity about who done her in ... -led government sought Washington’s help against the Pakistain Army ‐ was concluded by Supreme Court Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa who poignantly wondered if the state, the Constitution, democracy and the armed forces were so fragile as to be shaken by a mere ’memo’. That none of the overzealous petitioners who pursued this case were present when the apex court delivered the order is ironic, as a recap of the events is dominated by flashbacks of a national frenzy around the allegedly treasonous memo which was exploited to deepen the civil-military divide. The court has rightly left it to the government to decide if it wants to proceed against Mr Husain Haqqani, who was accused of writing the memo to the then US military chief Adm Mike Mullen in which he allegedly sought US help to avert a possible overthrow of the civilian government by the military following the killing of the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now neither a strong horse nor a weak horse, but a dead horse... in May 2011. But the conclusion of this case presents an opportunity for self-reflection on several fronts: should the judiciary under Iftikhar Chaudhry have jumped to act as referee in the Memogate matter, when the government at the time had already announced a probe? Was it appropriate for Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf, then by the courts... , who has since acknowledged his mistake, to use the memo as an opportunity to lead the charge and allege treason against the PPP government? After the passage of many years, was it the responsibility of then chief justice Saqib Nisar to revive the Memogate controversy using his powers of suo motu ...a legal term, from the Latin. Roughly translated it means I saw what you did, you bastard... ?
Despite the formation of a commission, court summons for civilian and military leaders, and breathless reporting by the media, the scandal did not achieve anything other than the sacking of an ambassador. At the heart of the issue lies the notion of the separation of powers, which divides the responsibility of the state between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary ‐ a framework which continues to be murky for the state today. As Chief Justice Khosa noted at the conclusion of the hearing, nothing needs to be done by the court at this juncture. It is now ‐ as it always was ‐ a matter for the government to deliberate on.
[RadioShabelle] The African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... troops in Somalia will close some of their forward operating bases (FoBs) at the end of the month when further reduction of 1,000 soldiers is implemented.
The second phase of reduction was supposed to be implemented in December last year on the orders of the UN. The first reduction of the troops was in December 2017.
The UN Security Council wants Amisom to gradually handover the national security to the Somali National Army by 2020 but Amisom says the reduction of its troops leaves a security vacuum because the Somali army has not developed capacity to deploy in areas from where they withdraw.
As a result of the impending forces reduction, commanders from countries with troops in Somalia are meeting in Mogadishu to draw a plan called Concept of Operations (CONOPS) on how to maintain their effective presence in the country to stop the al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... hard boyz from taking advantage.
"Under the new CONOPS, several forward operating bases are likely to be reconfigured and others folded, as troop numbers reduce. However, the hip bone's connected to the leg bone... Amisom made an assurance that the changes will be undertaken with utmost consideration of the safety and security of populations living in the regions where the FOBs are situated," Amisom said in a statement on Monday.
The new Amisom force commander, Lt Gen Tigabu Yilma Wondimhunegn, said on Monday that they will focus on "targeted offensive operation" to avoid spreading of troops in all-out offensive operations.
Lt Gen Wondimhengn replaced Uganda’s Lt Gen Jim Owesigyire two weeks ago and he is the first Æthiopian Amisom force commander.
"In order to implement the Concept of Operations effectively, we will focus on conducting targeted offensive operations against the al-Shabaab to degrade its capability, deny them freedom of action and movement and secure our friendly forces in fulfillment of our mandate," Lt Gen Wondimhunegn said.
[ToloNews] Gen. Austin Scott Miller, Commander of US and NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... Forces in Afghanistan, who visited Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... province on Friday, commended the Afghan Special Forces operations against the Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... and assured that the US and NATO troops will remain a partner of Afghans in war as well as in peace.
Miller said there has been no order on US forces withdrawal from Afghanistan.
"Nothing would make me happier to see commandos have operations every single night... and putting a lot of pressure on the Taliban," he said. "I also want you to know that I as a soldier absolutely support a political settlement where Afghans decide together how to bring the violence to end," Miller said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the wreckage, Captain Poindexter awoke groggily, his hand still stuck in the Ming vase... Herat Governor Abdul Qayum Rahimi welcomed the ongoing peace efforts by the Afghan and US governments but said that the past 18 years’ achievements should be protected in the process.
"The people of Afghanistan want peace but a peace with dignity. We do not want a peace by losing the achievements of the past [18] years. The peace which will result in dissolving of the [Afghan] Army is not the demand of the Herat residents. The Herat residents have raised this issue in many occasions," he said.
The Afghan Army’s 207 Zafar Corps Commander Major General Noorullah Qaderi said operations against the Taliban continue in many parts of the west zone.
"The doors are open for those Taliban who are Afghans and who want peace; otherwise, the Taliban fighters who are not from this country and who want to fight must be killed," Qaderi said.
"The efforts of the Afghan forces day and night are for ensuring a better life for the people and to allow children to go to schools," Herat Police Chief Gen. Aminullah Amarkhail said.
Miller held talks with security officials in Herat where they stressed on ensuring the security of the western zone ‐ which includes Herat, Farah, Badghis, and Ghor provinces.
Reports indicate that some parts of the west zone including Bala Murghab district in Badghis and parts of Farah province are counted as insecure parts of the west of Afghanistan.
[IsraelTimes] As Lebanese terror group’s fighters return from Syria, IDF tank brigade commander says army must prepare to deal with their improved military techniques.
The army conducted a massive drill over the last week which was designed to train soldiers for combat operations in topographical conditions similar to those in Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces said Friday.
The exercise was the largest one carried out by the 401st Brigade of the Armored Corps in recent years, according to Channel 12 news. The soldiers carried out drills in coordination with the Israeli Air Force, as well as the engineering and intelligence corps.
Dozens of tanks, armored personnel carriers and helicopters were deployed in the training zone in the Jordan Valley, the IDF said.
The brigade’s commander, Col. Dudu Sonago, said that Lebanese Hezbollah fighters have gained extensive experience and have developed more sophisticated battle techniques after fighting in neighboring Syria’s civil war, at the same time as deepening entrenchment above and below ground in Syria.
“As the situation in Syria stabilizes, Hezbollah is returning its forces to Lebanon,” Sonago said. “They are no longer a guerrilla organization, but a real army. They fought there in regiments of companies and battalions, very similar to the military,” he told Channel 12.
“They operate in civilian areas and are ready with a large quantity of anti-tank missiles,” Sonago added. “This is a challenge the IDF must train for.”
On Tuesday, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri indicated the new government would allow Hezbollah to keep its weapons, which it used in a major war against Israel in 2006 and have been frequently used since to threaten Israel.
Under UN Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon committed to disarming the Iran-backed terror group.
[AnNahar] The United States said Wednesday that it "pleased to announce the delivery today of the shipment of the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) laser-guided rockets," valued at more than $16 million and destined for the Lebanese Army.
"These APKWS laser-guided rockets are a key component for the Lebanese Air Force’s new A-29 Super Tucano attack aircraft," the U.S. embassy said in a statement.
"Today’s delivery demonstrates the U.S. government’s firm and steady commitment to support to the Lebanese Armed Forces in their capacity as the sole, legitimate defender of Leb," the embassy noted.
The reference appeared to be aimed at the Iranian-backed Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... , which has an arsenal that rivals that of the Lebanese Army.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif offered his country's military aid to Leb during a visit this week, but said the Lebanese government had to show "a desire" to accept it first.
The U.S. embassy said in its statement that since 2005, the United States has "invested over $2 billion in our strong partnership with the Lebanese Armed Forces."
[Rudaw] Kurdish-led forces cleared landmines and searched for tunnels blocking their advance Friday on the last square kilometre of an east Syria village defended by a few hundred Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... jihadists.
Rainy weather and concern for civilians trapped in ISIS's last redoubt was delaying a push that will wipe out the last shred of the jihadists' once-sprawling "caliphate."
The Syrian Democratic Forces have been closing in on holdout jihadists since September last year and a few hundred surviving ISIS members are now boxed into an area of around one square kilometre.
"The large number of landmines and tunnels is hindering attempts by the SDF to secure complete control over the area," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.
Diehard jihadists were still launching sporadic attacks on SDF positions around their last stronghold in Baghouz, a small town near the banks of the Euphrates river.
"ISIS fighters are refusing to hand themselves over and they are still putting up a fight. We do not know what is the point of this resistance," SDF front man Adnan Afrin said.
Speaking to AFP in al-Omar oil field, the SDF's main staging area, he said this week the jihadists had been using ambushes and explosives-laden cycle of violences to inflict casualties on the SDF.
- EATING GRASS -
It printed its own schoolbooks, produced oil, collected taxes and minted its own currency, in a brief but unprecedented experiment in jihadist statehood.
Successive offensives in Iraq and Syria have shattered the proto-state, which lost its key cities one after the other and has since late 2017 been confined to its traditional power base in the Euphrates valley.
An official declaration of victory against ISIS is expected in the coming days, a move of mostly symbolic value that will go down as the death certificate of the "caliphate."
Estimates vary on the number of fighters and families left inside the last pocket but accounts from women who escaped with their children in recent days suggest come civilians are left inside.
"To avoid any harm to the wives and children of ISIS fighters, we are forced to be cautious," Afrin said.
Close to 40,000 people have left the jihadists' dwindling enclave in recent weeks, in the latest humanitarian emergency of an eight-year conflict that has killed 360,000 people and displaced 11 million.
Those who flee Baghouz have a perilous journey to the nearest SDF-held collection point, dodging booby traps and sniper fire.
Women veiled from head to toe carrying scant belongings and dirty children often have to spend one night or more sleeping out in the cold.
"These people haven't had any proper food in weeks... I've heard accounts of people making some kind of soup with grass," said Jean-Nicolas Paquet-Rouleau, deputy head of the International Committee of the Red Thingy in Syria.
- HUMANITARIAN BURDEN -
Among those who have left the neighbourhood where ISIS is making its desperate last stand are also adult men, who are screened and often detained by the SDF.
Abdel Karim Omar, the top foreign affairs official in the autonomous administration the Kurds have set up in northeastern Syria, argued jihadists preferred to surrender to the SDF than risk being captured by Iraqi or Syrian government forces flanking the battlefield on either side.
"ISIS fighters prefer to come to us because we treat them in accordance with international law," he told AFP.
"Even if they are tried one day in this area, they know that we do not impose the death sentence," he said.
The Kurdish official also complained that the international community was falling short in providing humanitarian assistance to the growing number of displaced.
"Unfortunately, international aid agencies, the international community and even the global coalition (against ISIS), are not taking responsibility for these displaced people," Omar said.
"What they are providing does not cover even five percent of their needs," he said, calling for increased support.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/16/2019
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Complete pacification expected by 3037 AD
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/16/2019 6:39
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[Breitbart] U.S. President Donald Trump has hailed the signing of a mutual recognition agreement (MRA) on trade with the United Kingdom, saying the move would see trade between the two nations "substantially increased" after Brexit. Watsonian Squire sidecar.
The words of praise came in a key speech on the White House lawn in which the President also declared a state of emergency on the southern border. After discussing trade with, and the lack of respect shown by China, Trump moved onto the altogether more positive relationship his nation has with the United Kingdom.
Referencing the news of the MRA which broke earlier in the day, President Trump said: "The UK and the U.S., as you have probably seen, we are going ahead to preserve our trade agreement. You know all of the situation with respect top Brexit, the complexity and problems, but we have a very good trading relationship with the UK and that’s just been strengthened further.
[HOT AIR] How did Donald Trump get Mitch McConnell to sign off on an emergency declaration? After all, McConnell had initially warned Trump that it would precipitate a civil war in the GOP and that Trump might well lose a vote to sustain it. By yesterday, though, McConnell ended up with the task of announcing the decision to the world on the Senate floor. Quite a journey indeed from Cocaine Mitch.
That doesn’t make him enthusiastic about it, former House Intel chair Mike Rogers told CNN this morning. The retired Republican congressman said it looked like McConnell was being forced to eat a "manure sandwich" in order to avoid a second shutdown:
[VladTepesBlog] John Birch Society founder Robert Welch assessed the advancement of the Communist Conspiracy, overlaying contemporary events upon the Stalinist plan for world conquest.
[AlAhram] Malaysian authorities said on Friday they have locked away I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! six people, including four foreigners, suspected of planning attacks or being members of turban groups.
Malaysia has been on high alert since button men allied with Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (IS) carried out a series of attacks in Jakarta, the capital of neighboring Indonesia, in January 2016.
Police said the six were arrested in five separate raids between December and January, on suspicion of planning attacks or having links to turban groups.
"They include two Malaysians and four foreigners from Singapore, Bangladesh, the Philippines and a South Asian country," Fuzi Harun, police inspector general, said in a statement posted on social media.
The group included a 48-year-old Singaporean accused of planning to attack a building used by Freemasons in the state of Johor. He is believed to have links with Akel Zainal, a Malaysian identified as an IS fighter in Syria, police said.
Police also detained a suspected member of the Abu Sayyaf ...also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, an Islamist terror group based in Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, murders, head choppings, and extortion in their uniquely Islamic attempt to set up an independent Moslem province in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf forces probably number less than 300 cadres. The group is closely allied with remnants of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya and has loose ties with MILF and MNLF who sometimes provide cannon fodder... Group (ASG) in a separate raid in the eastern state of Sabah, where he worked as a laborer. The 21-year-old suspect is believed have ties with ASG leader Furuji Indama, Fuzi said.
A 28-year-old man from an unidentified South Asian country was arrested during a raid in Selangor state. Interpol had issued a warrant, known as a red notice, for his suspected involvement in criminal and turban activities, Fuzi said.
Malaysia has arrested hundreds of people over the past few years for suspected links to turban groups.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[New American] The 1960s folk group The Mamas and the Papas used their harmonious voices in the song, "California Dreamin’" ‐ a time when the Golden State was still seen as a destination point by many Americans, attracted by its mild weather, its beautiful beaches, and its dynamic economy.
[American Thinker] President Trump has demanded that Ilhan Omar voluntarily resign. The idea of impeachment of another Muslim Democratic congresswoman ‐ Rashida Tlaib (Michigan) is also being actively promoted.
MUSCAT (Reuters) - The United States should keep arming and aiding the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) following the planned U.S. withdrawal from Syria, provided the group keeps up the pressure on Islamic State, a senior U.S. general told Reuters on Friday.
[AAWSAT] 
[Aljazeera] The head of Britain's foreign intelligence service has warned the country against relying on a monopoly provider of equipment in new 5G mobile networks amid concerns over potential Chinese supplier Huawei's relationship with Beijing.
[PJ] Jussie Smollett, the "Empire" actor who claims he was assaulted by white supremacists screaming "MAGA COUNTRY" in the middle of a polar vortex in Chicago, just hired the best defense lawyer in town, Michael Monico, after the two persons of interest in the case were released by the Chicago Police Department.
[AnNahar] A Canadian woman found guilty of terror crimes for trying to join the 
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
[IsraelTimes] 2 Paleostinians injured by IDF fire, demonstrators attempting to sabotage security fence; Paleostinian said seriously injured by Israeli fire in West Bank during riot near Nablus.
[PhilStar] Six members of the Civilian Armed Auxiliaries kidnapped by New People’s Army militants in Agusan del Norte last year were released on Thursday. The Eastern Mindanao Command identified the militiamen as Jurian Gaviola, Marson Iligan, Bienvinido Lamion, Eddie Tindoy, Sanny Malobay and Hermito Iligan.
[PhilStar] Four Abu Sayyaf militants were killed and five others were injured as Philippine troops launched pursuit operations yesterday for the group of rebels they encountered in Patikul, Sulu, on Thursday.
Asif Ali 
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf, then by the courts...
the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
[Rudaw] Kurdish-led forces cleared landmines and searched for tunnels blocking their advance Friday on the last square kilometre of an east Syria village defended by a few hundred 
[Breitbart] U.S. President Donald Trump has hailed the signing of a mutual recognition agreement (MRA) on trade with the United Kingdom, saying the move would see trade between the two nations "substantially increased" after Brexit.
[HOT AIR] How did Donald Trump get Mitch McConnell to sign off on an emergency declaration? After all, McConnell had initially warned Trump that it would precipitate a civil war in the GOP and that Trump might well lose a vote to sustain it. By yesterday, though, McConnell ended up with the task of announcing the decision to the world on the Senate floor. Quite a journey indeed from Cocaine Mitch.
