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Mosul Clearances Continue: 30 turbans tied up or permanently unwound, ISIS chemicals concern, Saddam Hussein mass grave found
Today's Headlines
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Home Front: Politix
Did Fusion GPS's Anti-Trump Researcher Avoid Surveillance With A Ham Radio?
HT Clarice Feldman
[TheFederalist] It seems Nellie Ohr was well aware the National Security Agency can intercept and store every communication on the Internet. Did that affect her decision to become a ham radio operator?
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2018 12:14 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...Smart call.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 03/03/2018 15:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Nellie and Bruce Ohr, difficult to decipher their motive, or is it ?

First perfected by British intelligence (yes, British Intelligence), a HAM radio can be paired to a laptop, to send encrypted files, such as text messages, documents, and videos across the globe through was is referred to as (difficult to detect and monitor) "Burst Transmissions."
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 17:10 Comments || Top||

#3  Ham operators nowadays routinely link computers to their radios to send/receive digital signals. Embedding encrypted messages into these signals should be very easy to do & rather hard to detect.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/03/2018 19:34 Comments || Top||

#4  Something tells me before this is all over, we'll owe the Rosenberg's an apology over Bruce and Nellie.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 22:47 Comments || Top||


Europe
This Is How Poland Plans to Fight Russia in a War
[The National Interest] The Law and Justice (PiS) party in Poland has been receiving a lot of international press for clashing with the EU. But one of the more interesting, but not as reported, aspects of their foreign policy is increased military spending and reformation of the Polish military. One of the centerpieces of the PiS defense policy is the creation of the new branch of the Polish military, the Territorial Defense Forces (Wojska Obrony Terytorialnej, WOT). The force is largely oriented as a counter to forms of hybrid warfare by Russia and draws upon the Ukrainian and Baltic structures and means of organization of such forces. However, the WOT has proven to be a lightning rod for controversy domestically, due to the apparent priority given to it for personnel and equipment.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 10:35 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Polish Catholic Speaker: Jews 'Have a Different Concept of Truth'
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/03/2018 12:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Jews 'Have a Different Concept of Truth'

After listening to the decades of blather coming out of the non-Jewish parts of the Middle East, Europe and the UN, I'm going to go with "Yeah, they probably do".
Posted by: SteveS || 03/03/2018 13:05 Comments || Top||

#3  He means from Poles.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/03/2018 13:12 Comments || Top||

#4  If that's a picture of the Polish troops....I'll surrender.....quickly.
Posted by: AlanC || 03/03/2018 14:26 Comments || Top||

#5  Today is Bulgarian liberation from Turkish slavery. 140 years later.
Posted by: Dale || 03/03/2018 16:16 Comments || Top||

#6  g(r)omgoru, SteveS meant that as a compliment to the Jews and an insult to the listed gentiles.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/03/2018 18:28 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Plot to rob armored bank car and murder drivers ends in Police takedown
[Martin County Times] From The Martin County Sheriff’s Office: The execution of a plot to rob and murder two armored car employees who were scheduled to pick up millions of dollars in cash in Port St. Lucie, ended in Martin County with a dramatic takedown involving the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI.

Three suspects who were plotting to commit the violent robbery were arrested just hours before they could pull off the deadly heist. Through investigative leads, the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, (a multi-agency unit specializing in violent crimes in South Florida), was able to develop enough probable cause to arrange a special operation take-down that spanned from Palm Beach County to St. Lucie County. That operation concluded on the interstate in Martin County, as multiple law enforcement agencies converged upon the car carrying the violent masterminds of the failed deadly plot.

The suspects, identified as Daryl Canady a/k/a, "Doo-Doo", Alger Lee Ellison, a/k/a, "Al’, and Martiavius Leon Williams, a/k/a, "Man" , all of Palm Beach County, were taken into custody after being surrounded by a swarm of law enforcement officials in the southbound lanes of I-95, just south of the SR 714 exit. The takedown happened before 9:00am, on Tuesday, February, 20th. Law enforcement officers shut down part of the interstate to avoid any potential danger to passing motorists. Within moments, the suspects surrendered.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 09:47 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I caught a bad bout of Martiavius while visiting a 3rd world country. How odd
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2018 10:27 Comments || Top||

#2  They should have been arrested just for the bad nicknames alone.
Posted by: Raj || 03/03/2018 12:18 Comments || Top||

#3  Maybe B's point is 3 groups of Sheriffs from 3 different Florida counties with(in spite of?) Federal aid were able to coordinate the seizure of some bad guys.

Within moments, the suspects surrendered.

Why couldn't 1 Florida Sheriff's dept stop 1 bad guy on Valentine's Day?
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/03/2018 15:22 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Cash-Strapped DNC, DCCC Pay Hillary Clinton's ‘Resistance' Group Nearly $900,000 Combined for List Acquisitions
Some parasites refuse to leave their hosts
The cash-strapped Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) have combined to pay Hillary Clinton's "resistance" group nearly $900,000 for list acquisitions, Federal Election Commission filings show.

The DNC, which is in the midst of facing financial hardships, conjured up $300,000 on Jan. 8 to pay Onward Together, Clinton's group, for "list acquisition," according to the FEC filings. The payment was made to Clinton's organization as state Democratic parties were waiting on $10 million in funding for rebuilding efforts that was initially promised last July.

As of early January of this year, the money had never made its way to the parties, and the DNC did not even have $10 million on hand. In late January, after reports surfaced of its inaction in relation to the state parties, the DNC finally announced it would begin disbursing $1 million to 11 different state parties, with grants going to Arizona, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington, and West Virginia.

The DCCC also paid hundreds of thousands to Clinton's "resistance" group for "generic committee list rental" between mid-December and late January.
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2018 09:41 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  WTF is "list acquisitions"?
Posted by: 3dc || 03/03/2018 9:54 Comments || Top||

#2  donors
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2018 10:01 Comments || Top||

#3  #2 Russians and Chinese. I wonder if Kim is in on the program in light of past Clinton deals.
Posted by: Dale || 03/03/2018 15:56 Comments || Top||


Former CIA director calls POTUS - 'Unstable, inept, inexperienced, unethical'
[Business Insider] Former CIA director John Brennan delivered a brutal assessment of President Donald Trump on Friday, capping off the most tumultuous week the administration has seen in months.

Trump is "unstable, inept, inexperienced, and also unethical," Brennan said in an interview with MSNBC.

Brennan said he has gone from being "angry" at Trump for his words and actions, to a state of "deep worry and concern" about what he described as a lack of leadership in the White House.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 07:26 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "...And I should know from unethical."
- John Brennan


Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 03/03/2018 7:32 Comments || Top||

#2  But he didn't say dishonest. Too close to home.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 03/03/2018 7:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Also 'inept" and "idiot".
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/03/2018 7:40 Comments || Top||

#4  Has Brennan explained why he abandoned civilization for Islam? How much was he paid?
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 03/03/2018 7:54 Comments || Top||

#5  It will someday be discovered that this piece of kak and his Soetoro and Clinton cohorts are responsible for much of the Donald Trump - Russian hysteria, disinformation, and 2016 presidential election difficulties.

The intelligence community electronic signals monitoring, backstopping, cover-for-action, and blatant denial are simply too obvious and overwhelming.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 7:59 Comments || Top||

#6  Did you know that Brennan voted for a Communist Party candidate? Yup. In 1976. In the middle of the Cold War. When Russia was 100 times the threat it is today.
https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/15/politics/john-brennan-cia-communist-vote/index.html

Did you know Brennan just signed a contract with NBC News and MSNBC? Yup. Right from the intelligence agencies into the mainstream media. And people claim there's no swamp that needs draining.

Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 || 03/03/2018 8:20 Comments || Top||

#7  Running a successful clandestine intelligence operation (or a Deep State) depends upon two, no three things, funding, access, and source control.

Soetoro and Clinton are sources Brennan could control. Trump is not. Unlike Soetoro and Clinton, Brennan has nothing on Trump. Try as he and others may, they have nothing on Trump. He (Trump) is an unintended consequence of a national election 'gone bad' for the Deep State. It could not be much simpler.

Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 8:32 Comments || Top||

#8  ...capping off the most tumultuous week the administration has seen in months.

In which the same types of criticism are rehashed in a widespread manner every two or three months by the national media. It's as if everyone's reading off the same scheduler or something.

Journolist lives; they're just using e-mail now.
Posted by: Raj || 03/03/2018 8:48 Comments || Top||

#9  He didn't do GWB any favors, either.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 03/03/2018 8:58 Comments || Top||

#10  In the fourth grade, I used to tell insulters, "It takes one to know one".

Nowadays, I believe one word says the same thing - "projection".
Posted by: Bobby || 03/03/2018 9:57 Comments || Top||

#11  Brennan is going down over Seith Rich who will be smiling down when it happens. It's only fair that NSA wiretaps end up proving this as*hat's criminal activities.
Posted by: Ebbolurt Glaique8276 || 03/03/2018 11:33 Comments || Top||

#12  "Former CIA director calls POTUS - 'Unstable, inept, inexperienced, unethical'"

Sayeth the Klingon in the mirror.
Posted by: newc || 03/03/2018 15:15 Comments || Top||

#13  At least Trump isn't a lying, conniving, traitorous piece of shit like you are, John. I've known dozens of people in the CIA. Most of them are far more intelligent, honest, and conscientious than you were at four.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 03/03/2018 18:26 Comments || Top||

#14  Ditto OP.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 18:35 Comments || Top||


Britain
Isis follower tried to create jihadist child army in east London
[Guardian] A dangerous extremist who attempted to build an army of child jihadists by radicalising pupils has been convicted of a range of terrorism offences.

Umar Haque, 25, taught an Islamic studies class despite having no teaching qualifications and being employed as an administrator. He was allowed to supervise classes of 11- to 14-year-olds on his own, during which he re-enacted attacks on police officers and showed students videos of beheadings.

Police fear Haque attempted to radicalise at least 110 children, some of whom he was in contact with at the Ripple Road mosque in Barking, east London. Thirty-five of the children are receiving long-term support.

Haque also worked at the £3,000-a-year Lantern of Knowledge Islamic school, where he was again allowed access to children alone under the pretence of teaching Islamic studies when he was in fact employed as an administrator.

Jurors were told he attempted to radicalise children at the school, but were unable to agree on a count of disseminating a terrorist document which related to his time at the school.

Haque was convicted by a jury at the Old Bailey on Friday of a number of offences, including plotting terrorist attacks. He had previously admitted four charges of collecting information useful for terrorism and one count of disseminating a terrorist document in relation to his attempts to radicalise children at the mosque. He was acquitted of conspiring to possess firearms.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 05:09 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Community Organizer
Posted by: airandee || 03/03/2018 7:44 Comments || Top||

#2  A dangerous extremist

The mayor doing his community outreach program.
Posted by: AlanC || 03/03/2018 8:00 Comments || Top||

#3  Umar Haque, 25, taught an Islamic studies class despite having no teaching qualifications - he re-enacted attacks on police officers and showed students videos of beheadings.

truth in advertising
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2018 9:14 Comments || Top||

#4  Umar Haque, 25, taught an Islamic studies class despite having no teaching qualifications - he re-enacted attacks on police officers and showed students videos of beheadings.

His DNC membership application and donation envelope are probably already in the mail.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 9:20 Comments || Top||

#5  I don’t know what the rules are in Britain, but in America many of the teachers in Sunday schools and after school programs associated with religious institutions are volunteers from all walks of life whose training consists of being handed a pile of forms and the curriculum. Private day schools, religious or not, do not have the same requirements for teachers as public schools do as well, tending to hire those with degrees in the subject rather than teaching degrees.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/03/2018 11:39 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Anarchy Is Swallowing Up the Social Order
[American Thinker] Government in the name of order, control, efficiency, organization, the greatest good for the greatest number, solidarity, social justice, and safety is instead ruling over a society that is increasingly disordered, crime-ridden, unjust, and disturbed to an extreme. A word that describes the direction of our acceleration through space and time is anarchy.

The momentum toward anarchy began with the move toward federal government expansion. During Woodrow Wilson's presidency, we began to see the implementation of what is now called the administrative state. This was helped along by our participation in WWI, which created the need for more governmental controls. This was followed by the massive Keynesian demand-side economics implemented by Franklin D. Roosevelt, the New Deal, and WWII.

Regulation grows by supposedly "meeting a need," but meeting a need leads from that point into greater regimentation. Greater regimentation means a suppression of individual freedom. This suppression produces a reaction that is anarchy. Therefore, we must be careful whenever we expand government with the premise that we are "meeting a need."

For example, more students are getting a college education, but the burdens are also increasing as ever greater numbers depend on student loans to get a college education (students often work, but working one's way through college has become less and less feasible). This in turn has given rise to a demand for free higher education. That demand is growing, as we see from Bernie Sanders's successes in the last election cycle, and Andrew Cuomo was able to push through a free tuition plan for public colleges in New York State. This free tuition is anything but a support for freedom, for indeed, it requires that students take a certain minimum number of credits and that they be full-time. It will gradually mean greater and greater control by the government over what is taught and what is required study for each student. Thus, easing the financial burden will increase other burdens and curtail freedom of thought and freedom of choice.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 05:02 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Anarchy has been sold as "good clean fun" in the academy and in media for some time now. When it stops being fun for a particular group, that will change quickly. But not in the ways they expect...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 03/03/2018 7:31 Comments || Top||

#2  Great for those who crave excitement and have a penchant for defying authority, which seems to include most of us.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/03/2018 19:36 Comments || Top||


Justice Alito Highlights The Cultural Double-Standard That Benefits Progressives
[Daily Caller] Over at the Acton Institute blog, Joe Carter published a post yesterday based on arguments before the Supreme Court which took place earlier this week. As Carter explains, the case before the Court involved the wearing of allegedly politicized clothing at a polling place:

Justice Alito decided to highlight just how arbitrary the standard was during oral arguments by asking attorney Daniel Rogan, who was defending the statute for the state of Minnesota, to classify whether a series of other images would be allowable or forbidden under the law. You’ll quickly notice a pattern forming. Every progressive political symbol is deemed allowable while every conservative symbol is deemed forbidden:
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 04:32 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  January 2010 - Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. responded to President Obama's criticism Wednesday night's (State of The Union) of a Supreme Court decision last week by appearing to mouth the words "not true, not true."

The hat tip once again goes to Justice Alito.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 4:44 Comments || Top||

#2  I read about this yesterday.

Under the proper system Justice Alito would have said "Take this knave to the dungeon."
Posted by: AlanC || 03/03/2018 8:57 Comments || Top||


Dan Bongino: Gun Laws Only Affect Law Abiding People
[Daily Caller] During an interview with Fox News host and Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson, Bongino pointed out the radical difference gun laws have with other laws on the books.

"This is what people have to understand, get this through your heads and never forget it," Bongino started. "There are two parallel tracks for gun owners ‐ for liberals, let’s do this slow, here’s one, here’s two."

"On the first track you have legal gun owners: you have to go through a legal background check, fill out a 4473, you can’t be a prohibited possessor," he explained. "Then you have track number two: people who steal them and buy them on the black market."
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 04:23 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hey, you're preaching to choir, buddy.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 03/03/2018 8:24 Comments || Top||


Economy
Jumping on the Anti-NRA train just saved Georgia taxpayers $50 million dollars
[Breitbart] Georgia lawmakers voted Thursday to do away with a tax break for Delta Air Lines after it joined in a political boycott, severing ties with the NRA.

The tax break consisted of a $50 million jet fuel tax exemption.

Fox New quoted Georgia Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, saying, "Businesses have every legal right to make their own decisions, but the Republican majority in our state legislature also has every right to govern guided by our principles."

On February 26 Breitbart News reported that Cagle pledged to end the tax cut for Delta unless they reversed their decision against the NRA.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 04:10 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Delta hit with a sea of angry customers after it bans NRA discounts
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/03/2018 4:39 Comments || Top||

#2  "Sea of angry customers".... that would be anyone who flies Delta coach. It has little if anything to do with the NRA.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 4:51 Comments || Top||

#3  supposedly only 13 travelers received the NRA discounts, sooooo $3M per traveler lost. Nice virtue signalling expense
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2018 4:54 Comments || Top||

#4  I remember my father complaining about Delta way back in the 1970's. Not much has changed.
Posted by: Raj || 03/03/2018 8:41 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Drain pipe housing in Hong Kong
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What I found most interesting:

We don’t have large tracts of land to build giant housing estates. We need to reclaim that from the sea.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/03/2018 4:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Apparently Chinese peeps dont require plumbing or storage.
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 03/03/2018 5:22 Comments || Top||

#3  Picture at the link shows a man living in what looks like one of my hog traps.
Posted by: brujotejano || 03/03/2018 10:11 Comments || Top||

#4  Old container ship, old containers. Gangplanks, plumbing, and pest control to taste. Kowloon Walled Floating City.
Posted by: Gomez and Company1909 || 03/03/2018 22:15 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Bay Area ICE Operation Arrests 230 Illegal Immigrants In 4 Days Despite Mayor’s Warning
[DAILYCALLER] "ICE headquarters, Murphy speaking!"
"Agent 489 reporting, sir! 230 arrests in the Bay Area!"
"They were warned, 489! How many of them are dumbasses?"
"All of them, sir!"

To include the mayor.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "I can still vote, right?"
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2018 9:26 Comments || Top||

#2  Well, no one will notify various SF police forces of the next ones. Ultimately, a confrontation will occur between armed forces that fail to coordinate efforts. If the record is any indicator, my money is on ICE.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/03/2018 9:32 Comments || Top||

#3  Sadly, I fear you are correct P2k.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 9:34 Comments || Top||

#4  The San Francisco Police can't even enforce the sanitation laws.
Posted by: Sloluting and Tenille8977 || 03/03/2018 12:04 Comments || Top||

#5  I don't believe San Francisco has any sanitation laws. They were repealed in the name of political correctness and diversity.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/03/2018 12:22 Comments || Top||

#6  I want to know when that foul bitch of an Oakland mayor gets her ass hauled in for tipping off the ICE raid there.
Posted by: Raj || 03/03/2018 12:26 Comments || Top||

#7  Start feeding her false information. If you do it right you might literally herd the aliens into a controlled area...
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/03/2018 12:27 Comments || Top||

#8  CrazyFool---classic Sun Tzu. Should work like a charm. The enemy does not read and study Sun Tzu.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/03/2018 12:55 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
The DOJ is scrutinizing Andrew McCabe over his handling of the FBI's Clinton investigation
[Stamford Advocate] The Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General is compiling a report that will fault former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe for approving disclosures to the media about the Hillary Clinton email investigation in October 2016, according to The New York Times.

McCabe was forced out of the FBI earlier this year amid the investigation into his conduct. The Wall Street Journal article at the center of the OIG's inquiry was published on October 30, 2016, two days after then-FBI director James Comey announced in a letter to Congress that the bureau was reopening its investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server to conduct government business when she was secretary of state.

The article was a highly-detailed account of internal strife within the top ranks of the DOJ about how to proceed after FBI agents investigating former New York congressman Anthony Weiner for sexual misconduct discovered 650,000 emails on his laptop that could have been sent to or from Clinton's private email server. Many of the emails came from accounts belonging to Weiner's wife, Huma Abedin, who was also Clinton's longtime aide and a senior adviser to her campaign, The Journal reported.

At the same time, DOJ anticorruption prosecutors were at odds with FBI officials over whether to continue pursuing a separate investigation into the Clinton Foundation's financial dealings. While DOJ officials believed there wasn't enough evidence to move forward with the probe and wouldn't authorize further investigatory measures, FBI officials, including McCabe, believed they had the authority to continue the investigation using whatever leads they had already acquired, the report said.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  To what benefit is Mr. Sessions' (and Mr. Trump's) keeping Mr. Rosenstein in his position?
Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 03/03/2018 0:43 Comments || Top||

#2  I smell a "suicide" coming up.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/03/2018 4:23 Comments || Top||

#3  It will come to the same conclusion - while 'errors' were made, nothing prosecutable will be found. There was 'no intent'.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/03/2018 9:04 Comments || Top||

#4  P2K - Federal law is pretty clear on classified doc mishandling No intent is required to make it a felony. Simply breaching handling protocol is enough to make it a criminal act.
Posted by: Warthog || 03/03/2018 9:27 Comments || Top||

#5  And yet.....we have come to a point when “ prosecutorial discretion “ has become synonymous with politically powerful, and thus the rule of law has been made yet another platitude used to calm and quiet those who are not.
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 03/03/2018 11:55 Comments || Top||

#6  How about a little electronic 'scrutiny' ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 12:31 Comments || Top||

#7 
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/03/2018 15:12 Comments || Top||

#8  How about instead of "scrutiny" a criminal investigation?
Posted by: 3dc || 03/03/2018 22:55 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
'India-backed' terrorist group busted in Hyderabad, police claim
[DAWN] Hyderabad police on Friday claimed to have busted a gang which was reportedly getting funding from India to sabotage China-Pakistain Economic Corridor (CPEC) and target security personnel in Sindh.

Hyderabad DIG Javed Alam Odho and SSP Pir Mohammad Shah held a joint presser to share the details of the suspected terrorist group with the media.

The official said that the five-member group was led by the self-proclaimed chief of Sindhudesh Revolution Army (SRA), and it was targeting security personnel and Chinese nationals.

"The suspects were running a sub-nationalist group to launch a separatist movement in the province and, according to their own confession, they were trained and sponsored by India," DIG Javed Odho said, adding that the "suspects used to frequently visit India by crossing the border near Badin district".

SSP Shah said the suspects identified as Muzaffar Hussain Nanjgraj, Murtaza Abro, Shakeel Ghangro, Rafaqat Jarwar and Arbab Soomro, were incarcerated
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
after an encounter in Aliabad area of the city in the wee hours of Friday.

Police also claimed to have recovered arms and explosives from their possession. "Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), kaboom weighing 12kg and weapons were recovered from their possession after last night’s encounter," Odho said.

He further said that Sindh Inspector General of Police A.D. Khowaja has announced Rs0.5 million reward for entire police team of SSP Hyderabad, CIA in-charge Aslam Langah, and others for busting the gang.

Odho mentioned that suspect Muzaffar Hussain Nanjrajt, who travelled to India under codename Pankhaj, had confessed to his involvement in Rohri bypass kaboom on Dec 2016, Mehrabpur kaboom in March 2017, January 2018 blast in Qasimabad in which one ragpicker had died, as well as planting of a bomb outside Mehran University in Jamshoro in November 2017.

Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


-Land of the Free
This Week in Guns, March 3rd, 2018


By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Terrible news from the broken world of journalism: former New York Daily News writer, Gersh Kuntzman has been fired only a few months after jumping ship from the New York Daily News to Newsweek. I guess being a court jester wasn't enough to save his career. Lots of openings for clowns in New York state, I s'pect.

I was completely stunned a few days ago when Trump stated in a roomful of congressional politicians that he would prefer to see guns seized first, then due process second. As Senator Rand Paul noted in a tweet, due process comes first, or it is not due process. What was being discussed was the efficacy of laws that allow government officials to seize guns if a defendant is deemed a danger to society. Whether you agree with Trump or not, what he is talking about is preventative action by the state against its own American citizens, which would make Trump and the politicians who sign off on it tyrants in a very real sense of the word.

Were gun control laws to get to that point -- wait a minute, California already allows guns to be seized based on an ex parte order, so disregard. We are already there. The laws and variations of preventative seizure are being seriously considered because it will be applied only to the mentally ill, they say. In other words, only to those the state says are crazy. All of which must be a very small subset of all people, especially a class you don't normally appeal to for votes.

I mean, they promise it will be Constitutional, and you won't be affected just as long as you go along. Everyone wants to save the children, right? You're crazy if you don't.

According to NPR, good relations between top leaders of the NRA and Russia mean those leaders are tied to the Kremlin.

This disease among supporters of gun control in public forums is insanely intense. Having what I thought was a nice exchange of ideas with others on gun control, trying to educate the Kommies on how the Constitution is supposed to restrict the government not the people, a (I assumed) young man became irritated when I used the term Kulak in reference to how liberals treat members of the NRA.

Not only did the comparison fly completely over the head of this individual, he said it was a racist term. Then, he continued by saying that I am a troll in the pay of the Kremlin and everything I say should be ignored. I figured at that point the conversion stopped being a conversation and started to be the rantings of a Soviet Kommissar, so I decided to stop following the thread. Good idea, right?

The fella continued to denounce me on my Facebook wall as being in league with Volodya, but he finally stopped after I responded to his rantings with: Неправда, но продолжайте: "Not true, but do go on."

Sheesh, this and Volodya is a deadbeat. I haven't been paid by the Kremlin in forever.

The punchline to all this is that the individual who continually hammered away on the Russian troll thing wasn't young at all, but appeared by his profile pic to be in his late 40s.

You'd think that after 40 to 50 years alive in the USA, you'd know maybe a little about the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution and firearms. But then I remember, there's Kuntzman.

Loads

Rantburg's summary for arms and ammunition:

Pistol ammunition prices were mixed. Rifle ammunition prices were mostly steady.

Prices for used pistols were mixed. Prices for used rifles were higher.

A week and a half after the massacre at Florida, used firearms made a small rise in average price. Even the AR-15, which had been dwelling in the mid $400s has risen. At the moment these increases in asking price for used rifles are only in the initial stage, but another item in assessing the price levels of firearms has become apparent.

Last August I remarked about how the used firearm market had been flooded with used firearms.

Now, six months later, in nearly every category I follow, the number of available firearms for sale has dropped, some classes halved in quantity. As I remarked last week, the general prices of pistols has been rising steadily, with some pistols going for well above the average high I have been tracking since the start of this column. Whatever condition in the market has changed, it has changed for all categories of firearms.

New Lows:

None

Pistol Ammunition

.45 Caliber, 230 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (4 weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Red River Reloading, Silver Bear, FMJ, Steel Casing, .22 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: East Carolina Trading, Own brand, FMJ, Brass Casing, Reloads, .20 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (7 Weeks))

.40 Caliber Smith & Wesson, 180 Grain, From Last Week: -.01 Each After Unchanged (2 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Expert Ammo, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing .19 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: East Carolina Trading, Own Brand, CRN, Brass Casing, Reloads, .17 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (4Q, 2017))

9mm Parabellum, 115 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2 weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Expert Ammo, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing .14 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: Expert Ammo, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing .13 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (5 Weeks))

.357 Magnum, 158 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (3Q, 2017)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .23 per round
Cheapest Bulk: 1,000 rounds: Lucky Gunner, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .24 per round (From Last Week: +.01 Each After Unchanged (3Q, 2017))

.38 Special, 158 Grain, From Last Week: +.01 Each
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Vizards Gun and Ammo, Prvi Partizan, RNL, Brass Casing .23 per round
Cheapest Bulk: 500 rounds: Ammo Valley, Own brand, FP, Brass Casing, Reloads, .24 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (3 Weeks)

Rifle Ammunition

.223 Caliber/5.56mm 55 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (4Q, 2017)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Able's, Wolf WPA, FMJ, Steel Casing, .20 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: Expert Ammo, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .19 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks))

.308 NATO 150 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Expert Ammo, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .30 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Expert Ammo, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .28 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks))

7.62x39mm AK 123 Grain, From Last Week: +.01 Each After Unchanged (4 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Classic Firearms, Wolf WPA, FMJ, Steel Casing, .23 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: True Shot Gun Club, Wolf WPA, Steel Casing, FMJ, .19 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (3Q, 2017))

.30-06 Springfield 145 Grain, From Last Week: -.06 Each After Unchanged (4 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Wolf WPA, Steel Casing, FMJ, .54 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: United Nations Ammo, Wolf WPA, Steel Casing, FMJ, .53 per round (From Last week: Unchanged (4Q, 2017))

.300 Winchester Magnum 150 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (3 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Selway Armory, Prvi Partizan, Brass Casing, SP, .75 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Expert Ammo, Prvi Partizan, Brass Casing, SP, .70 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks))

.338 Lapua Magnum 250 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (8 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Ten Ring, Brass Casing, SP, 2.15 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 320 rounds: Ammo Board, Ten Ring, Brass Casing, FBSP, 2.25 per round (From Last Week: -.55 After Unchanged (1Q, 2018))

.22 LR 40 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (5 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Ammo King, Federal, RNL, .04 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 5,000 rounds: Expert Ammo, Aguila, RNL, .03 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks))

Guns for Private Sale
Rifle
s

.223/5.56mm (AR Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $520 Last Week Avg: $450(+) ($616 (2Q, 2015), $387 (26 Weeks))
Arizona (201, 3Q, 2017(+3))(107, 119): DPMS: $450 ($740 (10 Weeks), $300 (25 Weeks))

Texas (484, 3Q, 2017(+3))(314, 329): Ruger 556: $500 ($700 (1Q, 2015), $350 (2Q, 2015))
Pennsylvania (249, 3Q, 2017(+6))(133, 147): Smith & Wesson MP15 Sport II: $550 ($700 (2Q, 2015), $300 (3Q, 2015))
Virginia (282, 3Q, 2017)(206, 224): Palmetto State Armory: $500 ($750 (1Q, 2015), $300 (13 Weeks))
Florida (679, 3Q, 2017)(408, 435): Palmetto State Armory: $600 ($650 (2Q, 2015), $350 (4 Weeks))

.308 NATO (AR-10 Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $1,090 Last Week Avg:$860(+) ($1,359 (2Q, 2015), $766 (38 Weeks))
Arizona (49, 3Q, 2017(+6))(32, 34): Armalite: $1,100 ($2,300 (38 Weeks), $500 (21 Weeks))
Texas (178, 3Q, 2017)(82, 89): DPMS: $900 ($1,500 (4Q, 2014), $600 (4 Weeks))
Pennsylvania (54, 3Q, 2017)(23, 27): CMMG: $1,500 ($1,600 (4Q, 2016), $700 (3Q, 2015))
Virginia (86, 3Q, 2017)(61, 61): Unidentified Build: $1,000 ($2,750 (1Q, 2016), $675 (17 Weeks))
Florida (128, 3Q, 2017(+3))(67, 69): DPMS: $950 ($1,950 (2Q, 1016), $500 (3Q, 2015))

7.62x39mm (AK Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $630 Last Week Avg: $600(+) ($728 (3 Weeks), $450 (3Q, 2015))
Arizona (34, 3Q, 2017(+3))(29, 33): CAI: $600 ($950 (3 Weeks), $400 (42 Weeks))
Texas (141, 3Q, 2017)(59, 67): WASR 10/63: $700 ($1,000 (3 Weeks)), $350 (3Q, 2014))
Pennsylvania (75, 3Q, 2017)(43, 45): IO: $600 ($750 (1Q, 2015), $375 (1Q, 2015))
Virginia (72, 3Q, 2017)(53, 58): RAS-47: $650 ($700 (2Q, 2016), $300 (18 Weeks))
Florida (146, 3Q, 2017)(122, 138): IO: $600 ($700 (1Q, 2016), $300 (4Q, 2014))

30-30 Winchester Lever Action Average Price: $430 Last Week Avg: $408(+) ($495 (4Q, 2016), $296 (3Q, 2015))
Arizona (14, 3Q, 2017)(3, 4): Winchester 94: $550 ($800 (3 Weeks), $200 (41 Weeks)))
Texas (35, 3Q, 2017(+2))(21, 24): Marlin 1893A: $400 ($550 (1Q, 2015), ($290 (2 Weeks))
Pennsylvania (23, 3Q, 2017)(14, 13): Winchester 94: $400 ($450 (1Q, 2015), $250 (4Q, 2014))
Virginia (19, 3Q, 2017(+3))(9, 9): Winchester 94: $500 ($670 (2Q, 2016), $250 (4Q, 2015))
Florida (34, 3Q, 2017)(16, 21): Marlin: $300 ($500 (1Q, 2015), $250 (2Q, 2015))

Pistols

.45 caliber ACP (M1911 Pattern Semiautomatic Pistol) Average Price: $464 Last Week Avg: $508(-) ($525 (3Q, 2016), $350 (4Q, 2015))
Arizona (134, 3Q, 2017(+5))(90, 90): Rock Island Armory: $450 ($700 (42 Weeks), $325 (28 Weeks))
Texas (361, 3Q, 2017 (+3))(249, 257): Auto Ordnance: $499 ($650 (2 Weeks), $300 (4Q, 2016)))
Pennsylvania (178, 3Q, 2017)(159, 172): Remington R1: $425 ($600 (30 Weeks), $300 (2Q, 2015))
Virginia (204, 3Q, 2017(+3))(160, 169): Charles Daly: $450 ($775 (30 Weeks), $250 (4Q, 2014))
Florida (440, 3Q, 2017)(286, 299): American Tactical Imports: $500 ($500 (1Q, 2016), $250 (1Q, 2015))

9mm (Beretta 92FS or other Semiautomatic) Average Price: $279 Last Week Avg: $298(-) ($358 (1Q, 2016), $207 (42 Weeks))
Arizona (238, 3Q, 2017)(155, 164): Taurus 709: $250 ($400 (49 Weeks), $180 (17 Weeks))
Texas (586, 3Q, 2017(+3))(439, 488): Ruger P95: $315 ($355 (1Q, 2015), $180 (19 Weeks))
Pennsylvania (441, 3Q, 2017(+2))(307, 321): Glock 17: $270 ($350 (4Q 2014), $150 (1Q, 2017))
Virginia (365, 3Q, 2017(+6))(300, 325): Taurus G2C: $260 ($425 (4Q, 2016), $189 (2Q, 2016))
Florida (827, 3Q, 2017)(693, 724): Ruger P95: $300 ($400 (1Q, 2016), $160 (43 Weeks))

.40 caliber S&W (Glock or other semiautomatic) Average Price: $329 Last Week Avg: $301(+) ($399 (1Q, 2016), $262 (2Q, 2016))
Arizona (77, 3Q, 2017(+2))(43, 45): Bersa Thunder: $395 ($500 (1Q, 2017), $195 (39 Weeks))
Texas (156, 3Q, 2017(+2))(118, 120): Smith & Wesson: $250 ($425 (4Q, 2014), $180 (12 Weeks))
Pennsylvania (115, 3Q, 2017(+5))(78, 90): Smith & Wesson SD40VE: $300 ($450 (2Q, 2016), $200 (3Q, 2016))
Virginia (109, 3Q, 2017(+4))(91, 89): Beretta PX4 Storm Inox: $450 ($450 (2Q, 2015), $220 (7 Weeks))
Florida (193, 3Q, 2017(+3))(145, 157): Kahr CM 40: $250 ($400 (1Q, 2015), $199 (4Q, 2015))

Used Gun of the Week: (Tennessee)
BrowningA-Bolt bolt action rifle chambered in .300 Winchester Magnum
Posted by: badanov || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How To: 9mm and .22 LR AR Conversions
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/03/2018 5:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Badanov, there is a saying which you have probably heard: “Don’t Ever Wrestle With A Pig. You’ll Both Get Dirty, But The Pig Will Enjoy It.”

Anyway, keep up the good fight!
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/03/2018 8:37 Comments || Top||

#3 
You'd think that after 40 to 50 years alive in the USA, you'd know maybe a little about the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution and firearms.

Oh, they dropped teaching American history and the Constitution in schools a good generation or so ago.

For you amusement.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/03/2018 9:08 Comments || Top||

#4  “Here’s a thought,” Kuntzman tweeted four days after his axing. “Next time you fire an award-winning editor who built a career over 30 years, who clocks in an hour before you and clocks out an hour after you, and has two kids who need to eat, how about looking him in the eye when you do it rather than sacking him by phone?”

they didn't want to see you cry like a little bitch, Gersh
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2018 9:34 Comments || Top||

#5  how about looking him in the eye when you do it rather than sacking him by phone?”

Sorry, that treatment is for Men and Women.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/03/2018 21:37 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US will turn Ghouta into full-fledged terrorist stronghold -- Syrian General
[ALMASDARNEWS] The US is going to take advantage of the tensions over Eastern Ghouta to twist the hand of Moscow and Damascus, Syrian Brigadier General Hetham Hassun told Sputnik. He noted that while raising the alarm over the situation in the region, Western mainstream media remain mute about people suffering under the rebel siege in al-Fuah and Kafriya.

"This is not the first time that the US and Western countries have signaled their support to armed terrorist groups," Brig. Gen. Hetham Hassun, a Syrian military analyst, told Sputnik Arabic. "We witnessed similar information and diplomatic campaigns to support jihadists before the liberation of Aleppo and Homs. Now exactly the same is taking place in Ghouta. Western countries train and provide holy warriors with weapons and essential goods; they also provide information support [to jihadists]."

According to the Syrian general, the Americans are planning to turn Ghouta into a "terrorist stronghold." To accomplish this objective, they will send reinforcements from the US-held Syrian border area of At-Tanf, he noted.

Previously, the Ottoman Turkish newspaper Yeni Akit reported that the Pentagon had deployed 600 troops in the international coalition’s base in At-Tanf in Syria.

"In case it works, it will become an effective instrument to influence [Damascus], since the entire government is located in the Syrian capital," Brig. Gen. Hassun highlighted.

Still, the US will not be able to interfere in the Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) Ghouta operation directly, because the region’s airspace is effectively protected by Russian defense systems, he opined.

That is why it is likely that the SAA will continue its advance and will finally expel holy warriors from the area, the general emphasized.

He noted that while Western mainstream media are circulating photographs from Ghouta, they remain silent about the situation in the towns of al-Fuah and Kafriya in the Idlib governorate, where people are suffering and dying under the rebel siege.

"It is not only they who are suffering from the siege," the Syrian military analyst pointed out. "As Russian Foreign Minister S. Lavrov said, the United States facilitated the siege of the Rukban refugee camp, At-Tanf, and the city of Raqqa. Humanitarian organizations are not allowed to access these areas. Dead bodies still remain buried under the rubble in Raqqa."

Brig. Gen. Hassun opined that Washington wants to take advantage of the situation in Ghouta to blackmail Syria and Russia to achieve their political and military goals.

On the other hand, the Americans cannot benefit from the controversy over al-Fuah and Kafriya, as they would have to accuse countries backing holy warriors who imposed the blockades on the towns.

"How can the US condemn The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
, European countries, the Persian Gulf states and themselves [for the siege]?" the general asked rhetorically.

Meanwhile,
...back at the dirigible, Jack stuck the cigar in his mouth, stepped onto the gantry, and asked Got a light, Mac?

Von Schtinken stopped short, lowering the dagger and trying to control his features.

If you light that thing, Herr Armschtröng, he pointed out, his voice tense, we all die!...

the fourth five-hour "humanitarian pause" took place in Eastern Ghouta on Friday.

The Russian Center for Syrian reconciliation reported that Syrian civilians complain about the lack of medical care, water, food and electricity, which are being blocked by krazed killers.

"People do not have an opportunity to eat properly, and many are ready to resort to eating stray animals," the center’s interpreters’ department head Aleksandr Maslennikov told news hounds.

On February 24, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2401, which envisages a 30-day ceasefire across Syria. For its part, Russia has introduced five-hour humanitarian pauses in Eastern Ghouta and opened corridors to evacuate civilians. However,
a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth...
holy warriors are not allowing local residents to flee the area.

Being occupied by holy warriors and opposition forces since 2012, Eastern Ghouta occupies an area of about a hundred square kilometers with the pre-war population reaching 400,000 people.

Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Arabia
Yemen army taking major leap in the battlefield to restore Sanaa
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The battles of the Yemeni army moved to the north-east gate of the capital Sanaa advancing towads Horan, the first district in Arhab northeast of Sanaa near Nahem.

This marks a significant milestone for the Yemeni army, supported by the Arab coalition forces, to restore the capital Sanaa from the control of the Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ...
militia, and to end its coup, given the strategic importance of Arhab area.

The strategic importance of Arhab
Arhab is located northeast of Sanaa, north of Bani al-Harith Directorate near Sanaa. It is about 25 km long and its borders are connected in the north and west with the governorate of Amran (the northern gate of Sana'a).

From the eastern side it is connected to Nahem, and both areas (Arhab and Nahem) constitute the majority of the capital’s total area.

Arhab, is considered one of the largest zones for Baqil tribes in yemen, as it connects three governorates: Sanaa, Amran and Al Jouf, and falls under the dominion of Sanaa.

It also overlooks Sanaa International Airport and Delami Air Base.

It has an area of 1308 km and at the center of the district lies (Beit Maran). Arhab has 240 villages spread over 15 districts.

Strategically, in the current battles against the Houthi militia, the military engagement across Nahem and Arhab tribal areas narrows the access to the city of Sanaa from the north-east and the north, especially as the Ahrab tribes extend geographically to the outskirts of Rida town in Amran governorate.

From Arhab, it is possible to move westward to Amran governorate to cut the road between Sanaa and Saada.

The tribe of Arhab, where there is no support for Houthis, has many tribal clans reaching to the Shibam and Hamdan area in the north of Sanaa.

The tribes might confront the Houthis after their backlash against them since the coup, and with the support of Hamdan tribe can circle Sanaa and close the roads connecting it with the governorates of Saada, Hajjah and Mahweet.

Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Africa Subsaharan
South Africa: Hammer-Wielding Robbers Attack, Shoot Former Gaddafi Banker
[All Africa] Slain Libyan dictator Muammar Qadaffy
...who single-handedly turned a moderately prosperous kingdom into a dictator's fantasyland and was then murdered by his indignant subjects 42 years later...
's banker, linked by the United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
to the payment of $800m (about R9.3bn at the current rand/dollar exchange rate) into a bank account in Kenya from one in South Africa, was maimed in a shooting in Atholl Oaklands, northern Johannesburg, police confirmed on Wednesday.

Some international media outlets had initially reported that Bashir Saleh had been in South Africa for about six years and was wanted by La Belle France.

It was reported he was maimed on Friday evening - some media reports said he was shot while at home, while others said he was shot while being driven near OR Tambo International Airport.

The French publication Le Monde reported that he was maimed after arriving from a trip to Zim-bob-we.

On Wednesday, national police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Katlego Mogale confirmed in a statement that the man was attacked on the evening of February 23 by a group of armed suspects on the Atholl Oakland off-ramp.

Fleeing off with a laptop
"Using a hammer one of the suspects broke the window of the vehicle, opened the door and pulled the victim out of the vehicle," she said.

"The suspects allegedly shot the victim before fleeing with his laptop. The victim was taken to hospital for medical attention."

She said a case of armed robbery and attempted murder had been opened for investigation by the national investigating unit.

The suspects were believed to be aged between 30 and 35.

South African police had been aware of Saleh's presence in South Africa since at least 2013. Former president Jacob Zuma had also apparently been aware that he was in the country.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Assault hammers, who really needs them ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 4:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Assailant names "Maxwell"
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2018 4:47 Comments || Top||

#3  We need sensible hammer control, now!
Posted by: Betty Hatfield5124 || 03/03/2018 6:11 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Four Islamic State members killed as Iraqi troops repel attack on borders with Syria
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Four Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
members were killed as the pro-government troops repulsed an attack on the borders between Iraq and Syria.

A statement by the media service of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) thwarted, on Thursday evening, an attack by the murderous Moslems in Tal Sufuk region, on the Iraqi-Syrian borders.

Four of the attackers were killed, the statement added.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Jesse Jackson Jr. seeks to unload $2M house amid unemployed wife's lifestyle
[FOXNEWS] Embattled former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr
... Former Congressman-for-Life from reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown. Reelected in 2012 without having shown his face in the halls of Congress in six months, resigned less than a month later with a nice financial package to see him on his way, followed shortly enough by indictment for corruptioon...
. is asking a judge to allow the sale of the $2 million home where his estranged wife lives, saying he can no longer afford to support her lifestyle.

Recent court filings amid their divorce case claim Jackson Jr. is forking out $5,100 a month in alimony, school fees and voluntary payments to his children while Sandra Jackson refuses to pay the mortgage.

She opposes the sale of the property, according to the court filing.

Jackson Jr., who served time in prison for misusing campaign funds, was said last year to be $1.8 million in debt, with legal costs over their divorce only adding to the burden.

He draws $125,000 in taxpayer-funded annual workers’ compensation and disability payments and lives in Chicago, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  that's raycisssst
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2018 5:05 Comments || Top||

#2  He draws $125,000 in taxpayer-funded annual workers’ compensation and disability payments
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/03/2018 5:12 Comments || Top||

#3  If these numbers are right, he's still broke once he sells the house. I think he'd be better off declaring Chapter 11 first and hope Sandra marries someone else, fast.
Posted by: Raj || 03/03/2018 8:53 Comments || Top||

#4  If she hasn’t been making mortgage payments, the bank will foreclose on the thing, evict her and the kids — though it may take up to a year — and sell it, not crediting them with however much equity they might have in it. This will impact her credit rating but not his, which suggests that neither of them has any brains.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/03/2018 18:22 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US-backed forces mobilize entire brigade in northeast Syria
[ALMASDARNEWS] Recently, over three thousand Pentagon-backed Syrian fighters of the Self-Defense Forces (HXP) ‐ an extension of the better known Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) ‐ graduated as fully commissioned troops after completing their training.

The sheer number of graduates ‐ some 3,500 in total (the equivalent of an infantry brigade) ‐ meant that several separate ceremonies had to be held.

The graduating fighters represent a mix of Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen, Assyrians and various other ethnicities from the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli and its countryside.

Being part of the HXP (a local defense force militia), the Pentagon-backed fighters are to be tasked with the protection of Qamishli and its surrounding area.

The sudden swelling of US-backed forces ranks in northeast Syria comes at a time when Ankara is threatening major military operations against Pentagon-led proxy militias across Syrian territories opposite The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
’s southern border, including in the province of Hasakah where Qamishli is located.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
4 Extremists Killed in Attack on French Embassy in Burkina Faso
[All Africa] 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...
's information minister says four Islamic Lions of Islam have been killed in an attack on the French Embassy and French cultural center in the capital, Ouagadougou.

Witnesses say gunnies got out of a car and opened fire on passersby before heading to the embassy at the start of the Friday attack.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s office says he is following the situation and French authorities are urging French citizens to avoid the city center.

The U.S. Embassy also warned Americans to stay out of the city center.

A message posted on Facebook by the embassy said: "Attack under way at the French embassy and French Institute. Stay indoors."

Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda


Nigeria: Search for Dapchi Girls Extended to Neighboring Countries - Govt
[All Africa] The Federal Government has said that it has extended ongoing search for the 110 girls who were kidnapped from the Government Girls Science and Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi, Yobe State, has be to the neighbouring countries.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Friday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said top military and security officials on Thursday travelled to the North-east to add more urgency to the search, which has now been extended beyond the North-east theatre.

The officials include the nation's top military officer and Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas; Chief of Army Staff; Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai and the Director-General of the Department of State Services, Alhaji Lawal Daura.

They joined the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, who had earlier relocated to the North-east, as well as the National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (Rtd), who has also visited the theatre.

The Federal Government had earlier released the names and other details of the 110 girls who have yet to be accounted for, following the attack on the GGSTC, Dapchi, Yobe State, on 19 Feb. 2018.

The panel set up by the Federal Government to unravel the circumstances surrounding the abduction of the girls was inaugurated on Thursday by the NSA.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram (ISIS)


Africa Horn
Suicide Bomber Rams Car Into Somali Military Base In Afgoye
[RADIOSHABELLE] A jacket wallah rammed a car into a Somali military base about 30 km (20 miles) northwest of the capital Mogadishu on Friday, killing one soldier, the military said.

The attack, claimed by the Lion of Islam group al-Shabaab
... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
, occurred when the base was almost empty shortly before Friday prayers, Major Abdullahi Ise told Rooters.

Three more soldiers were killed in a separate bombing targeting their truck as it headed into the capital with soldiers maimed in the first bombing, Ise said.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)


Africa Subsaharan
Grace farm victims win $30k compensation
[NEWZIMBABWE] Mazoe villagers whose properties and homesteads were destroyed by the police following orders from former First Lady Grace Mugabe in 2015 have been awarded more than $30 000 as compensation by the court.

The villagers, who were represented by Noble Chinhanu of Zim-bob-we Lawyers Human Rights (ZLHR), argued that together with their children, they suffered great humiliation, shock, trauma as a result of the destruction of their homesteads and property and endured emotional suffering and physical hardship after being rendered homeless.

The court Thursday ordered Home Affairs Minister Obert Mpofu and the ZRP Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga to pay more than $30 000 as compensation.

In January 2015, ZRP officers raided and demolished Mazowe villagers’ homesteads at Manzou Farm in Mashonaland Central province without a court order to justify the forced evictions.

During the forced evictions, the ZRP officers destroyed homesteads, household furniture and the villagers’ crops including maize grain and groundnuts.

This prompted the villagers to petition the Bindura Magistrates Court seeking various orders for payment of damages for the destruction of their homesteads and properties.

In summons filed in 2015 at Bindura Magistrates Courts, the villagers argued that in destroying their homesteads and evicting them, ZRP officers violated their fundamental rights including their right to property, guaranteed under section 71 of the Constitution and their right to freedom from arbitrary eviction provided for under Section 74 of the Constitution.

Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hopefully they beat the money out of her
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2018 5:04 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Prominent cleric shot dead while praying in Yemen’s Hadhramaut
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Unknown button men assassinated holy man Al Habib Aidroos Ben Abdullah bin Sumait, a prominent scholar and imam of al-Mehdhar Mosque in his home in the city of Tarim in Hadhramaut, southern Yemen.

The button men pretended to be joining the holy man to read Koran, and after he allowed them in, they shot him as he performed his prayer, according to sources close to the dear departed.

Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr condemned the liquidation, which he described as an attack on moderate thinking that rejects deviant ideas and rejects them socially.

He added that Bin Sumait was one of the moderate voices known for his honesty and morals.

The attack is the first of its kind in the city of Trim, which is renowned for its role in advocating tolerance, rejecting violence and advocacy for moderation.

Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula

#1  city of Trim

hmmmm
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2018 9:25 Comments || Top||

#2  "Città delle donne!? Fellini,
Don't make-a me trim your linguine!"
"Oh, giammai, Masina...
Regina... cucina."
"Oh, Snàporaz!" "Cut." Fettuccine.

Or those big filmlike suckers. Some kinda lasagne, maybe?
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 03/03/2018 22:07 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
1 killed, 4 injured as Kabul car bomb targets foreign forces
[DAWN] A suicide boom-mobile targeting a foreign forces convoy rocked eastern Kabul early Friday, killing at least one civilian and injuring four in an area where many expatriates reside, the Afghan interior ministry said.

"Unfortunately around 9:00 am, a boom-mobileing took place in (the) Qabil Bay area of Kabul," ministry front man Najib Danish told AFP, giving the toll and adding that police are investigating.

Earlier, Danish had said the kaboom took place "in" the vehicle, which he initially said belonged to an international contractor.

Another interior ministry front man, Nasrat Rahimi, said it was not clear if there were foreign casualties following the blast.

Local media showed extensive damage to the facades of nearby houses, and witnesses reported a strong kaboom.

No group immediately claimed the attack, which is the latest to hit Kabul, one of the deadliest places in Afghanistan for civilians as both the Taliban
...Arabic for students...
and the expanding hard boy 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 step up their assaults on the city.

Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Iraq
Baghdad Bomb & Bullet Bulletin:

Civilian killed, two others wounded in western Baghdad bomb blast

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) A civilian was killed, while two others were wounded in a bomb blast in west of Baghdad, a security source was quoted saying on Friday.

“A bomb went off in the morning near a market in al-Zidan region in Abu Ghraib district,” the source told Alghad Press website.

“The blast left one civilian killed and two others wounded,” he said. “Security troops cordoned off the explosion scene, while ambulances transferred the wounded to hospital and the victim to forensic medicine department.”

Two people killed, four others wounded in bomb blasts in Baghdad

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Six people were killed and injured in two bomb blasts in Baghdad, a security source was quoted saying on Thursday.

“A bomb went off near stores in al-Maalef district, southwest of Baghdad, leaving a civilian killed and four others wounded,” the source told Baghdad Today website.

Moreover, the source added that “a bomb placed under a vehicle of a former official of the Sahwa (Awakening) movement exploded, causing his immediate death.”
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Sarasota deputies discover 8-foot-long gator strolling along busy road
[WFLA] Imagine seeing an 8-foot-long alligator strolling along a busy road.

It happened to two Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office deputies early Friday morning. They spotted the alligator wandering along Jacaranda Boulevard.

The gator was not very nice when deputies went near him.

An alligator trapper responded to the scene and deputies helped wrangle the big guy.

The sheriff’s office posted about the encounter on Twitter.

"It’s been an interesting start to our Friday. Sgt. Tuggle & Dep. McCormick came across this bad boy this morning along Jacaranda Blvd. At 8’7", this guy was mean & didn’t want to be bothered. Deputies held down the fort until a trapper arrived & took the instiGATOR into custody."

Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
SC issues detailed judgement, bars Nawaz from acting as 'kingmaker'
[DAWN] The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday issued its detailed judgement in the Election Amendment Act 2017 case, ruling that a person who is disqualified to be king can not be given a free hand to operate as a kingmaker.

The 51-page-long decision was authored by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and signed by two other judges.

The detailed judgement establishes that an individual disqualified under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution cannot serve as the head of a political party.

In the judgement, it is observed with reference to 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...
that "a leader who himself is incompetent to hold any [public] office is pulling the strings of politicians like a puppet master; this is tantamount to mocking the judicial system, the constitution, the government and the values which these institutions uphold."

The judges also take the opportunity to clarify that news regarding the Panama Papers case was covered by international media and information regarding the offshore companies owned by different global personalities was brought to light.

It was only then that the names of Nawaz Sharif and his children came into the limelight, the judges recall.

Sharif was declared unfit to hold the prime minister's office following the Panama Papers' case hearing and subsequently he was "also removed from the party leader position".

Before the approval of the Election Amendment Act 2017, a person declared unfit to hold public office was also incapable of being a member of any political party.

Commenting on the law's passage, Paragraph 53 of the judgement reads: "To hold that a person who is disqualified to be king can nevertheless be given a free hand to operate as a kingmaker, who may despite lacking qualification and without going through the electoral process, act as a puppet master pull the strings and exercise political power vicariously would amount to making a complete mockery of the Constitution, the legislative process, the law, the government and values that we hold so dear and have consciously worked for, defended and incorporated in the Constitution. It is a cardinal principle of law and justice that what cannot be done directly cannot be done indirectly."

Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Caribbean-Latin America
Explosives found on Mexican ferry, US embassy issues security alert
[FoxNews] Two undetonated explosive devices were found Thursday attached to a ferry at a popular Mexican tourist destination where several Americans were injured in a separate explosion last month.

Mexican officials said they are investigating the explosive founds in the ferry that runs between Playa del Carmen and Cozumel, while the U.S. embassy in Mexico issued a security alert.

"U.S. government employees are prohibited from using all tourist ferries on this route until further notice. Mexican and U.S. law enforcement continue to investigate," the embassy said in the alert.

Last month’s blast aboard a ferry on the same route injured 25 people, including seven Americans. None of the injuries were life-threatening. The ferry was unloading passengers in Playa del Carmen on Feb. 21 when the explosion occurred.

Quintana Roo port officials said at the time that it appeared a mechanical failure was to blame. However, the U.S. embassy said Thursday the blast was due to an explosive device.

Except for isolated shootings last year, the Caribbean coast had largely been spared the violence plaguing other parts of Mexico. The coast provides much of Mexico's tourism revenue.

The company whose boat was hit by the Feb. 21 blast was suspended from operating four days later. The firm said it had the necessary operating permits.

Local media have reported the company is owned by the father of former Quintana Roo state governor Roberto Borge, who is under arrest on corruption charges.

Local media have also reported that a drug gang had taken credit for the blast, Reuters reported.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Narcos


Iraq
Iraqi civilians free shepherds from Islamic State captivity: official
Diyala (IraqiNews.com) Civilians at Iraqi province Diyala have managed to free two shepherds held by Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
Death Eaters, a local official was quoted saying on Thursday.

Mohammed Deyfan al-Obaidi, mayor of Diyala’s al-Udhaim, told Alsumaria News that Islamic State murderous Moslems kidnapped two shepherds near Mubarak al-Farhan village, on the borders between Diyala and Salahuddin.

"Locals went out in a popular uprise to chase the murderous Moslems and managed to free the shepherds and their herds," said Obaidi. He added that the murderous Moslems fled to nearby valleys.

Some local officials had previously been quoted saying that Islamic State resorted to kidnapping and ransoms in the province as means to offset drained financial resources.

Though Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the fall of Islamic State’s bastions across Iraq last December, which they occupied in 2014, the group seems to maintain some hideouts at desert areas, especially between Diyala and Salahuddin.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Armen Sargsyan elected President of Armenia
[ALMASDARNEWS] Armen Sargsyan was elected the President of Armenia, Friday, through a vote which took place in Yerevan, Friday.

The deputies elected him with 90 votes in favour and 10 against, without abstaining.

To elect Sargsyan to the presidency, it was necessary to get 79 votes from the 105 deputies.

Together, the Republican Party and the Dashnaktsutyun (7 deputies) provided 65 votes.

The opposition Tsarukyan faction stated to support Sargsyan, which allowed ensuring the necessary number of votes.

Under the new Constitution, Serzh Sargsyan’s successor was elected not by a general vote, but by deputies of the parliament and his powers will be limited.
The new president and the old one aren't related, despite the same last name.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Horn
Al-Shabaab Takes Control Of Bal’ad Town From Somali Forces
[RADIOSHABELLE] Somalia myrmidon group, al-Shabaab
... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
, on Friday captured the strategic Balad town, about 30 km north of Mogadishu, the Somali capital, in the latest mid-morning attack, officials said.

A regional member of State Parliament Abdukadir Osman Abdisalan confirmed the attack at Balad town by the bully boyz who also attacked the cop shoppe with kabooms.

"The fighting is going on at the moment between government troops and al-Shabaab fighters. We will update you later," Abdisalan told Radio Shabelle.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)


Arabia
Saudi Arabia to save $8.8 bln by localizing military industries
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
is making significant progress in the manufacturing of spare parts and military industries in the Kingdom, which has allowed significant savings through domestically manufactured products against imported ones.

"The savings - expected to be achieved by localizing 50 percent of the military spending amounting to 33 billion riyals ($8.8 bln) - is being re-injected into the Saudi economy," said the director of the local manufacturing support department at the Saudi Defense Ministry, Major General Attiyah al-Maliki.

Al-Maliki said in an interview with Al Arabiya on the sidelines of the Armed Forces Exhibition to Support Local Manufacturing (AFED 2018) that the exhibition witnessed the signing of 33 memorandums of understanding and agreements since its launch among national companies, international companies and research centers, including 15 agreements which were signed recently.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia

#1  Great idea, can't go wrong. Start with jet engine parts, they're really expensive.
Posted by: Grunter || 03/03/2018 3:00 Comments || Top||

#2  So $8.8B from US GDP to US industries moving or building manufacturing locally?

Parts will be easier to source logistically.
Like China building Iran manufacturing.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/03/2018 4:10 Comments || Top||

#3  They've had a General Dynamics army tank manufacturing facility near Riyadh for a long time. I believe it may still be in operation.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 4:13 Comments || Top||

#4  Why do I get the mental image of one (1) ex-pat technician 'machining', two (2) Filipino sweat laborers working, and 3-to-5 Saudis sitting around drinking coffee and watching?
Brings up memories of .com when he was here...
Posted by: magpie || 03/03/2018 5:48 Comments || Top||

#5  Does anyone know what happened to .com?
Posted by: Betty Hatfield5124 || 03/03/2018 5:59 Comments || Top||

#6  deceased
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2018 9:08 Comments || Top||

#7  What Magpie said - I'd believe it if SA had any previous experience in manufacturing, which they don't. They'll be calling in the Germans for help by summertime.
Posted by: Raj || 03/03/2018 12:22 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
'Court can order govt to legislate against non-Muslims pretending to be Muslims in paperwork'
[DAWN] Senior lawyer and expert on law affairs Akram Sheikh on Friday told the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that a constitutional court has the authority to direct the government to legislate against those non-Moslems who purposely pretend to appear Moslem on paper when they are not, DawnNewsTV reported.

He was assisting the court during Friday's hearing of a petition filed by Maulana Allah Wasaya on the identification of alleged non-Moslems in government, semi-government and autonomous organizations who identify themselves as Moslems.

In his remarks, IHC's Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui reiterated that more than 10,000 people have changed their religious status from Moslem to Ahmadi in their Computerised National Identity Cards. He said a majority of these people had shown themselves as Moslems in a bid to have a government job and then changed their official religious status after retirement once they reached the age of 60.

Further citing a government report, he said that out of the total number of those who changed their status from Moslem to Ahmedi, more than 6,000 had left the country. The government had already been directed to produce their travel history, he added.

Akram Sheikh expressed his concerns over what he called revelations regarding Ahmadis in the government's report. "Ahmadis can't be allowed to exercise Islamic rituals," he said, adding that it could hurt the religious sentiments of Moslems.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Ahmadi

A lower class of Muslim
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/03/2018 4:27 Comments || Top||

#2  "Under 'Religion' he wrote 'Bat shit crazy'"
"Sounds Muslim to me"
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2018 4:49 Comments || Top||

#3  I guess Lizzy Warren is glad we don't have laws like that here...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 03/03/2018 7:28 Comments || Top||

#4  OK. But what about a Muslim pretending to be a non-Muslim who is pretending to be a Muslim?
Posted by: SteveS || 03/03/2018 20:57 Comments || Top||


Eyewitness retracts video statement in Intizar murder case
[DAWN] Madiha Kayani
... four star general, Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani was the former Director General of ISI...
, a TV show host and only eyewitness to the January 13 murder of Intizar Ahmed in Defence, who in a video message on social media on Wednesday described the teenager’s murder as "planned" and claimed to have recognised one of the key characters of the deadly episode, withdrew from her claim and stood firm on her previous statement before the joint investigation team on Thursday, which also recorded the statement of the father of a former classmate of the victim, officials said.

Sources familiar with proceedings of the JIT told Dawn that they (JIT) on Thursday invited the father of the victim, Ishtiaq Ahmed, and the witness, Ms Kayani, who was accompanying expatriate student Intizar Ahmed when he was bumped off by personnel of the Anti-Car Lifting Cell on Khayaban-e-Ittehad in Defence.

The most important information to emerge from Thursday’s JIT meeting held under the chairmanship of Additional IG CTD Dr Sanaullah Abbasi was the statement of Sohail Hameed from the US recorded through videoconferencing.

Mr Hameed, who is a brother of police officer Amir Hameed, told the JIT members that his daughter Mahrukh had studied with the victim Intizar. Intizar used to frequently phone her daughter when they shifted to the US.

Sohail Hameed said he once phoned Ishtiaq Ahmed, complaining about his son’s frequent phone calls to his daughter.

Mr Hameed told the JIT members that he had held a "normal telephone talk" with Ishtiaq Ahmed, denying that he had "threatened" him. He even stated in his statement that when he ended the telephone conversation with Ishtiaq, he (Ishtiaq) invited him at his home whenever he returned to Pakistain.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


-Lurid Crime Tales-
2 killed at Central Michigan University, gunman 'armed and dangerous' still at large
[FOXNEWS] A manhunt is underway for a gunman who fatally shot two people inside a Michigan university dorm building early Friday morning. Mount Pleasant officials are searching for James Eric Davis Jr., a 19-year-old black man who opened fire inside Campbell Hall at Central Michigan University around 8:30 a.m. Police described the shooting as a “family-type domestic issue.”

Lt. Larry Klaus said surveillance video suggests that Davis fled on foot after the shooting.

The university confirmed that the shooting victims were Davis' parents, Diva Jeneen and James Eric Davis Sr. The elder Davis was a part-time police officer in Bellwood, Illinois, Bellwood Police Chief Jiminez Allen told WJBK.

According to Davis' Twitter page, he was a sophomore at Central Michigan University slated to graduate in 2020.

Klaus said Davis was taken to a local hospital Thursday night with a drug-related injury, possibly an overdose, but would not elaborate more.
Just another feral youth story, so his gun doesn't need to be controlled...
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  James Eric Davis Jr. in custody
Update 12:50 am: Shooting suspect in custody

The suspect in the shooting incident that happened on CMU’s campus is now in custody.

The suspect was seen and reported by an individual on a train passing through the north end of campus shortly after midnight. Law enforcement personnel responded and arrested the suspect without incident.

CMU President George E. Ross thanks the campus and surrounding community and many law enforcement personnel who came together to keep each other safe and apprehend the suspect.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/03/2018 2:05 Comments || Top||

#2  Probably not the left's idea of a school shooting story...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 03/03/2018 7:11 Comments || Top||

#3  Tragic. The kid was from an actually involved and intact family.

Sounds like his folks went to see him after his 'medical incident', and probably demanded a 'what gives' from him. Good parenting from where I came from.

My Conjecture - James, being 19 (still stupid) and now in the drug/gang culture since being away from the folks, didn't want to deal with that so took the young hoodlum 'no-disrespect' approach.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 03/03/2018 8:54 Comments || Top||

#4  The suspect was seen and reported by an individual

Racist! [do I need to put a /s on that or has our Legacy Infotainment Enterprises compromised that concept by actually playing that card too many gazillion times already?]
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/03/2018 9:20 Comments || Top||

#5  maybe it was the "Mustard yellow pants"?
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2018 9:22 Comments || Top||

#6  Scuttlebutt on the internet hinting that the soon to be deceased father had left his service pistol in the car since the dorm was a "no gun" zone. Shooter knew where the pistol was, went & retrieved it, etc.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/03/2018 19:28 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Texas teen with a rifle, 100 rounds of ammo and a mask is arrested while sitting in his car near a school sporting event
[DailyMail]
  • Diego Horta, 17, was arrested on Tuesday night on drug and weapons charges

  • He was found near Rowlett High School and the city's community center as two school sporting evets were finishing

  • He allegedly also had more than four grams of a penalty group two drug police believe to be hallucinogens, an illegal club and a mask

  • An image of apparent child pornography was found on his phone, police say

  • The Texas teen is home-schooled and not a student at Rowlett High
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  From the article: "Police found more than four grams of a penalty group two drug they believed to be hallucinogens."

Kind of strange wording there.
Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 03/03/2018 0:48 Comments || Top||

#2  Wording per the statute I think.

Drugs in Penalty Group 2

4 grams+ is for distribution not personal use.
Suggests he was an armed dealer, not a school shooter.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/03/2018 4:38 Comments || Top||

#3  But it was a gun near a school. His "favored victim group" status spoils the story. For some...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 03/03/2018 7:13 Comments || Top||

#4  Shoot, a fella could have himself a pretty good... uh... never mind.
Posted by: Maj. T.J. Kong || 03/03/2018 7:48 Comments || Top||

#5  Any bets on Diego Horta's immigration status?
Posted by: Raj || 03/03/2018 8:43 Comments || Top||

#6  On the Dallas TV news last night, they reported several charges against him, but noted having a rifle in your vehicle is not a crime. Not yet, anyway.
Posted by: Bobby || 03/03/2018 9:45 Comments || Top||

#7  Get the guns away from foreign born juvenile miscreants like Diego Horta before you go after law abiding citizens.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 03/03/2018 12:11 Comments || Top||

#8  I'm sure he was only waiting to shoot some celebration shots in the air...
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/03/2018 12:23 Comments || Top||

#9  "The Texas teen is home-schooled and not a student at Rowlett High"
Home schooled or not in school, there is a huge difference and the kid doesn't fit the pattern for home schooled I've come to expect.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/03/2018 16:15 Comments || Top||

#10  the kid doesn't fit the pattern for home schooled I've come to expect.

There is a huge range in what home schooling means, from serious college prep to free range kids to the well-intentioned but ill-equipped experience final daughter went through at the hands of her mother: her mother handed her the age-appropriate textbooks and workbooks from series recommended by fellow members of their odd little church, and when fd struggled got her the same textbook/workbook combination from another recommended series on the subject. Final daughter is bright, but she spent three years trying vainly to master junior high math without any useful help from her mother, even though her mother had a college education and ranked as a sergeant in the Air Force when she retired.

I’m reasonably bright and well educated, but I lack the discipline to successfully home school. I was fine at enriching beyond what the school offered, but if formal schooling had not been available, I would have done my parental duty by arranging for tutors.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/03/2018 18:46 Comments || Top||


The Heavily Decorated Army Major Escorting Trump At Billy Graham's Funeral Is Graham's War Hero Grandson
Nice pics at the link. A family of giving. I was off work (sick) today, so caught the many memorial speeches. I was most touched by the daughter who had a couple of very failed relationships and had to come home, expecting disapproval and condemnation. She instead found...unconditional love and acceptance. As God gives it.
[DailyCaller] Donald Trump arrived at Billy Graham's funeral in North Carolina Friday, where he was escorted by a very special member of the Graham family.

As POTUS walked to the tent where Graham's family and dignitaries were gathered, he was met halfway by a uniformed Army Major. The two saluted each other and the Major escorted the first and second families to their seats.

What many watching may not know is the identity of that man. He is Billy Graham's grandson, Edward. Edward graduated from West Point and served seven tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he was once injured by shrapnel from an IED.

Graham was also in Washington, DC, for his grandfather's service at the United States Capitol. Graham stood for hours, shaking the hands of all of those who were there to pay honor to Billy Graham. Edward's father, Franklin Graham, told The Daily Caller, "These people stood outside for us and for my father." He continued, "I will stand here for them. We love them and so does God."
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He is Billy Graham's grandson, Edward. Edward graduated from West Point and served seven tours in Iraq and Afghanistan...

Proverbs 15:6 KJV: In the house of the righteous is much treasure...
Posted by: Ulaigum Ebbineng7056 || 03/03/2018 0:13 Comments || Top||

#2  I think I know why obama didn’t attend... Honor and faithfulness to him are like garlic and a cross to a vampire...

He (Graham) was a great man. Looks like his whole family is like that.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/03/2018 0:27 Comments || Top||

#3  Seven combat tours? Perfect number, time to stop, start teaching at bldg 4, Fort Benning or out at Harmony Church.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 4:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Looks like a Batt Boy. Maybe Benning or the Red Roof Inn at Bragg. A Major w/Ranger command time would be considered favorably.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy || 03/03/2018 4:45 Comments || Top||

#5  Seven deployments, not tours.
Only 1 lasting a year.
2-3 months isn't even a TDY it's a special mission.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/03/2018 14:59 Comments || Top||

#6  Seven deployments, not tours.
Only 1 lasting a year. 2-3 months isn't even a TDY it's a special mission.


USAF tours then ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 17:14 Comments || Top||

#7  Based on what I saw, the 90 day rotations were ..how you say.. action packed. The gloves were off and the old days of Rangers pulling perimeter security for a hit are over. They are doing the hits.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy || 03/03/2018 18:18 Comments || Top||

#8  Post Obama ROE. Glad to hear it Billy.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 18:20 Comments || Top||

#9  It was 2014-2015. Drone zap ROE was pretty tight but the Ranger's work was a tad bit more personal.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy || 03/03/2018 20:59 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Bodies of two young men found in Tank
[DAWN] TANK: Unknown assailants bumped off two youths and threw their bodies at a roadside here on Thursday.

Mohammad Javed, son of Mohammad Rasool, reported to Gul Imam cop shoppe that his brother Jehan Zeb and cousin Hazratullah were missing since Wednesday and Mullazai cop shoppe was informed through phone in this regard.

However,
if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning...
on Thursday they were informed that bodies of Jehan Zeb and Hazratullah were lying at the roadside in the area.

According to police, the two were tortured and then killed as they were blindfolded and their hands were tied with ropes.

They said that the two were shot in the head. The youth belonged to Bhittani
...a Pashtun tribe centered on Jandola, in Tank district. They are the hereditary enemies of the Mehsuds, unless there are furriners or infidels around, in which case they share ammunition and targeting data...
tribe of Ber Mullahkhel.

The family members refused to receive the bodies and said that such incidents of killing were taking place regularly, but the police were not taking action against the assailants. However,
if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning...
they received the bodies for burial after the assistant political agent, FR Tank, Bashir Ahmed assured them that the killers would soon be locked away
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
.

Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Anushka Sharma's Pari banned in Pakistain
[IMAGES.DAWN] The CBFC claims that the horror film contains objectionable content like "sexual relations between a Jinn and girl"
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Massive HTS convoy heads to west Aleppo for war with Jabhat Tahrir Souriya
[ALMASDARNEWS] A large convoy of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham
fighters were filmed traveling to the western countryside of Aleppo this week, as they prepare for their big battle with Jabhat Tahrir Souriya.

The massive HTS convoy consisted of dozens of heavily armored vehicles and hundreds of fighters that were previously deployed around the quiet provincial capital of the Idlib Governorate.

These fighters were specifically filmed traveling through the town of Hazano, which is located along the road to the western countryside of Aleppo
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


Iraq
Mosul Clearances Continue: 30 turbans tied up or permanently unwound, ISIS chemicals concern, Saddam Hussein mass grave found

Christians mass grave found in Mosul not for Islamic State victims: Official

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) An official from Nineveh province has denied news that the Christian victims found in a mass grave, recently found in west of Mosul, were killed by Islamic State members.

Speaking to Baghdad Today website, Dureid Hikmat, deputy governor of Nineveh for Christians affairs, said, “the mass grave that was found in Mosul is not for victims killed by Islamic State, but for people who were killed more than 30 years ago.”

Hikmat added that the buried people were Christians.

On Thursday, news reports said Al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) along with security troops in Halila region, near Badush in west of Mosul, ran into a mass grave of Christians who were kidnapped from the region.

25 Islamic State members killed, arrested in wake of attack, west of Mosul

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi troops, along with fighter jets, have killed and arrested more than twenty Islamic State members and leaders in west of Mosul, a security source was quoted saying on Friday.

“Security troops arrested, today, 17 IS members in al-Rayhaniya village and seize the weapons in their possession in Badush, west of Mosul,” the source told Baghdad Today website.

Moreover, the source added that “eight members including three leaders were killed in an airstrike against al-Atshana mountain, in the wake of their attack against a checkpoint in Badush and fleeing to mountainous areas.”

Five Iraqi soldiers killed, injured in Islamic State attack, west of Mosul

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Five Iraqi soldiers were killed and injured in an attack launched by the Islamic State in west of Mosul, Nineveh province, a security source was quoted saying on Thursday.

Speaking to Baghdad Today website, the source said, “gunmen, who are believed to belong to Islamic State, attacked a checkpoint for security troops in Badush, west of Mosul.”

The attack, according to the source, “left two soldiers killed and three others wounded.”

Mosul people fearful of Islamic State’s chemical reserve left behind

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) People in the Iraqi city of Mosul are still filled with apprehension from chemicals left over from Islamic State militants’ bygone presence in the country’s second largest city, a news agency reports, saying that security forces do little to work out a solution.

Though Iraqi forces recaptured Mosul, Islamic State’s birthplace in Iraq, in July, the extremist group’s reserve of chemical weapons stocked inside civilian property remains a source of concern for civilians, according to Anadolu Agency.

The agency quoted locals saying that Iraqi security forces would only mark contaminated houses with red tapes and writing warning phrases. People quoted by the agency say Iraqi teams handling the issue seem to be not properly prepared for the challenge.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Lit. Yaareb al-Mosawi, a member of the Iraqi army’s engineering division working on war waste removal, confirmed the chemical danger and the forces’ unpreparedness.

He said the forces lack the instrument needed for the removal of such materials, as well as the personnel trained for that purpose. He revealed that teams content with the removal of unexploded IEDs and rockets.

According to the officer, there are 130 locations with dangerous chemical materials only in the Old City, the medieval district from where IS declared the establishment of its self-styled “caliphate” in 2014.

Iraqi and coalition forces had occasionally reported the use of chemical weapons by IS militants during the three-year war.

Destruction, explosive waste and chemical leftovers have made thousands of displaced civilians reluctant to return to the city.

United Nations experts said last month it would take a decade to remove millions of explosive ordnance from areas recaptured from IS.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Africa Subsaharan
South Africa: Nonsense to Think SA Will Be Like Zim, Says Top ANC Man. Really. Honest.
[All Africa] South Africa will not allow a chaotic land grab akin to what happened in Zim-bob-we the neighbouring country's ruling party ANC deputy secretary general, Jessie Duarte, said Thursday.

A day after the South African Parliament voted to allow for amendments to the country's constitution and pave way for land expropriation without compensation, President Cyril Rhamaphosa also told the House of Traditional Leaders that land redistribution in South Africa would be orderly.

Duarte was responding to questions from journalists at ANC headquarters in Johannesburg as the ruling party tried to pacify restive investors and an agitated population whipped into a frenzy by the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)'s nationalistic rhetoric.

"It's absolute nonsense to think that South Africa will be another Zim-bob-we. That will not happen," Duarte said somewhat angrily.

Former President Bob Muggsy Mugabe
Nonagenarian President-for-Life of Zim-bob-we who turned the former Breadbasket of Africa into the African Basket Case. Dumped in November 2017 when the Missus decided she wanted to be president, and opposed heer might against Crocodile Mnangawa Important safety tip: If your opponent goes by the name Crocodile andf your title is Shopper in Chief let him win....
's administration sponsored a chaotic land grab that at times turned violent leading to the deaths of dozens of white farmers at the hands of veterans of the liberation struggle and Zanu PF supporters nearly 20 years ago.

The land redistribution program has blamed for the economic decline and investor flight. Despite its negative effects on the economy and the political as well as social situation in the country the program continues to this day.

Ramaphosa seems to have realised that his ANC party's support of the EFF's parliamentary motion might have devastating effects on the economy and he moved in to assure investors that their money is still safe in South Africa.

Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  South Africa will not allow a chaotic land grab akin to what happened in Zim-bob-we

"Of course not. Party members will have first pick"
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2018 5:15 Comments || Top||

#2  ....Wanna see something that will explode heads all over the world? Have the President issue an EO extending immediate immigration approval to any SA farmer who wants to come here.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 03/03/2018 7:35 Comments || Top||

#3  I personally know a fellow from Durban, SA who runs a successful small business which employs and pays employment taxes on a couple of dozen 'happy to be employed' US citizens. He went through hell and nearly $35,000 in immigration lawyer fees gaining U.S. citizenship for himself and his family. He did eventually prevail.

Our (pre-Trump) gov't immigration apparatus does not want them here, and their gov't immigration apparatus does not want us there. An interesting irony, unless you examine 'Deep State' commonalities and totalitarian regimes.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 7:51 Comments || Top||

#4  He went through hell and nearly $35,000 in immigration lawyer fees gaining U.S. citizenship for himself and his family. He did eventually prevail.

I'm surprised he stuck it out. Australia and Canada are usually easier, because of the point system. Although sponsoring relatives is probably more straightforward stateside.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 03/03/2018 13:30 Comments || Top||


Economy
Trump threatens ‘reciprocal taxes’ on trade partners
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
said Friday he plans to impose "reciprocal taxes" on imports to reduce the US trade deficit -- a move sure to ratchet up tensions with Washington's trading partners.

"When a country Taxes our products coming in at, say, 50%, and we Tax the same product coming into our country at ZERO, not fair or smart," Trump said on Twitter.

"We will soon be starting RECIPROCAL TAXES so that we will charge the same thing as they charge us. $800 Billion Trade Deficit-have no choice!"

The comments come one day after Trump announced he will impose steep tariffs on steel and aluminum next week, which already had prompted angry reaction at home and abroad -- and threats of retaliation.

But taking the more drastic step of imposing reciprocal import tariffs on all goods and countries would eviscerate the rules-based global trading system.

In a tweet earlier on Friday, Trump said "trade wars are good, and easy to win."

Economists say such steps hurt American workers and industry including the important auto and defense sectors -- key planks in Trump’s political base.

Rising import prices also would stoke inflation and crimp economic growth.

When former president George W. Bush imposed 30 percent tariffs on steel in 2002, one study estimates it cost 200,000 American jobs. Those tariffs were rescinded 18 months later when the US lost a dispute before the World Trade Organization.

Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "When a country Taxes our products coming in at, say, 50%, and we Tax the same product coming into our country at ZERO, not fair or smart," Trump said on Twitter.

I'm pretty sure he couldn't actually name a US product that is taxed at 50% or more in another country. Certainly not in the EU or Canada.

Steel definitely isn't an example. And most steel the U.S. imports comes from Canada. This means that the "national security" argument is not valid.

But it serves as a perfect excuse for other nations to claim "national security exemptions". WTO rulings be damned.

This is a SERIOUSLY BAD IDEA and if not stopped in time will see no winners.
Posted by: European Conservative || 03/03/2018 0:32 Comments || Top||

#2  Tariffs are historically stupid. It is better to keep this hand.
Posted by: newc || 03/03/2018 0:57 Comments || Top||

#3  Germany taxes American cars at 10%. America taxes German cars at 2.5%. In what kind of world is that fair?

China charges 17% VAT on all American goods. America has no such tax on Chinese goods. In what kind of world is that fair?

Let's charge them the same as they charge us. That's fair.
Posted by: Harcourt Angoluting9366 || 03/03/2018 1:22 Comments || Top||

#4  Germany almost imports no cars manufactured in the U.S. Instead it produces U.S. cars (Opel, belonged to General Motors until 2017).

Also Germany produces most of its cars it sells in the U.S. in the U.S.

Actually German car companies are the biggest exporter, by value, of cars from the U.S.
Posted by: European Conservative || 03/03/2018 2:32 Comments || Top||

#5  And your VAT example doesn't hold. China has 17% VAT on almost everything (Germany 19%).

VAT is a tax on all products, not just imports.
Posted by: European Conservative || 03/03/2018 2:36 Comments || Top||

#6  Also note that TTIP was going to eliminate all tariffs. Trump killed it.
Posted by: European Conservative || 03/03/2018 2:38 Comments || Top||

#7  Yeah of course it doesn't import cars from the US. The tariffs make the cars too expensive! LOL. That's the whole point of higher taxes for American goods.

America should put a 17% tax on all Chinese imports. That would be fair. Plus the additional tariff that China charges on top of this.

It's just that the world has become accustomed to America as a highly profitable dumping ground for its products. We put our own people out of work so we can fund the development of ungrateful nations. That's coming to a screeching halt and a lot of people are going to be very confused because 'stupid America' has been part of their lives since they were born. It's going to be a painful adjustment period for them but luckily hundreds of other countries are still around to trade with.

Posted by: Harcourt Angoluting9366 || 03/03/2018 3:30 Comments || Top||

#8  It's going to be a painful adjustment period for them but luckily hundreds of other countries are still around to trade with. Posted by Harcourt Angoluting9366

..."painful for them" ....and also for US investors who put money in foreign companies (fok'n global economy) betting the betrayal of the American worker would never end. This is undoubtedly why the why the market appears to be in a bit of a downward spin, but will in time correct.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 3:50 Comments || Top||

#9  "Free trade" has to be bidirectional otherwise, there's nothing "free" about it.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/03/2018 4:22 Comments || Top||

#10  NAFTA negotiations just started
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2018 4:38 Comments || Top||

#11  I'm pretty sure he couldn't actually name a US product that is taxed at 50% or more in another country. Certainly not in the EU or Canada.

AND...YOU, would be wrong. Take Harley-Davidson for example, India was taxing that product at 100%! They’ve since reduced the tax to 50%. Trump has used that situation as an example a couple of time. Turn about is fair play. Apply the same tax on all imports that the exporting nation applies to our products.
Posted by: Betty Hatfield5124 || 03/03/2018 6:23 Comments || Top||

#12  Oh, it's bidirectional all right. But it's not equal. It highly favors everyone else, while the American worker gets screwed.

Well here we are with this "madman and wild card" as president who is now setting up to rearrange the relationship with the world to America's advantage. He is doing the same with NAFTA, TPP and TTIP. He intends to make sure America becomes energy self sufficient. All this to bring jobs and wealth to America for the national benefit.

Naturally, the Europeans in particular are horrified by this. They take unequal trade with America as their birthright. It's been going on ever since after WWII. See, lots and lots of people in Europe wanted to go Communist. It was genuinely popular among not just the masses, but with intellectuals as well. Jean-Paul Sartre, George Bernard Shaw, the list goes on and on.

In order not to "lose" Europe (i.e. let their own people decide what they want to do) the State Department decided to offer Europe a gigantic bribe to stay on "our" side. American markets are open to your goods, but you can protect your own markets all you like. And here I thought all this time Europe was our friend. Nope, the only reason they stayed on "our" side is because our government gave a truly gargantuan bribe to them with our money. America is the violent bully who doesn't have any friends and whose mother has to pay other children to play with him. But the moment Mom stops paying, the other kids immediately go back to hating the bully, which is what is happening right now.

Europe grew up doing nothing but taking, taking, taking from America. Making a mint off of screwing American workers, accepting the free security provided by NATO, and the really delicious part - all the while calling Americans deranged warmongering baby-killers whose products suck so bad nobody will buy them. So satisfying. Practically a national sport in Europe.

They aren't angry because reciprocal tariffs are unfair. They're angry because it is fair.
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 || 03/03/2018 7:39 Comments || Top||

#13  Using the methodologies of the '30s and not the cook books methodologies of 2010s, we've been in a depression. Eight years of which there has been no Smoot-Hawley in effect. Maybe its well beyond time the 'settled' economics be reexamined rather than just tossing it out as an excuse to treat trade issues as a given.

Wonder how sovereign nations would feel if we demanded a VAT in countries that expect us to provide their military security?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/03/2018 8:59 Comments || Top||

#14  Tesla cars have more than %100 tax in China.
They say no tax if he makes them there partnered with some politically connected thug and no mechanism to take profits out of China.
India is the same. Good luck taking profit out.
Posted by: 3dc || 03/03/2018 9:58 Comments || Top||

#15  Not to mention that China is a hostile and aggressive totalitarian nation with complete disregard for the human rights of its workers. It isn't fair at all that American workers have to compete with slave labor.

And, as I've said before, we need to slap a hefty tariff on their computers too.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 03/03/2018 11:46 Comments || Top||

#16  Steel definitely isn't an example. And most steel the U.S. imports comes from Canada.

There was a thread about this the other day over on the Canadian blog Small Dead Animals. tl;dr version:
Steel and Aluminum from Canada and Mexico actually originates in China and is sold thru 'cutouts' to get the advantage of North American Free Trade pact.
Posted by: SteveS || 03/03/2018 11:58 Comments || Top||

#17  Getting the heat reports (we require them on every lot) should show country of origin and metallurgy
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2018 12:10 Comments || Top||

#18  It ain't about Europe.
Posted by: Anguper Angearong6845 || 03/03/2018 13:46 Comments || Top||

#19  Steel and aluminum from China via Mexico and Canada actually originates in Australia (and Brazil). Maybe some American company will now have the bright idea of cutting out the two stages of middlemen.
Posted by: Grunter || 03/03/2018 14:28 Comments || Top||

#20  It raises the prices for all of us to subsidize a small sector that was decimated by unions.
Do not use the Harley Davidson argument. That was one and a very short lived thing for a specific reason.

We are not at an emergency level with these industries.

We just went through this a few years ago.
Posted by: newc || 03/03/2018 15:22 Comments || Top||

#21  The EU (not Germany) charges a flat tax of 10% on imported automobiles. I wouldn't mind to see it go (and TTIP would have eliminated it), but this tax is hardly a reason why Germans don't import (and buy) cars manufactured in the U.S. Germans buy a lot of Japanese cars which are subject to the same tax.

10% not fair? Maybe, but then the U.S. charges tariffs of 25% on imported light trucks. Fair?

Sorry folks, tariffs between developed nations are stupid. They might make sense if a country blatantly subsidizes its production (China comes to mind), but even then I'd tread lightly. Competition is always the best thing to guarantee quality and the best price.

Trump says that trade wars are easy to win. No Sir, they are not. They are easy to begin (like any other war).

Steel tariffs will only have indirect effects on Europe. Trump's latest threat to impose crippling tariffs on European vehicles is an open declaration of war. A very stupid war that no side will win.

The people on both side of the Atlantic would pay for this stupidity.

I'll give you an example

Let's assume that in the U.S. you have these prices:

1) Imported BMW: 50000 US$
2) Locally produced BMW: 45000 US$
3) Locally produced Chrysler: 30 000 US$

Now let's say Trump slaps a 25% tariff on imported cars.

The imported Beamer would now cost 62500 US$

Great you say. Now Americans will buy more locally produced cars. Maybe they will.

But the local BMW or Chrysler now competes with a more expensive imported car. What will happen? They can afford to raise their prices, too. How about 5000 US$ more?

Who pays? YOU

Btw tariffs are not the sharpest sword in a trade war (as they are so visible). The finer "weapon" is regulations.

TTIP was going to harmonize them. And then we'd have had true competition based on quality/price only.

Anyway I think that most of it is just Trump grandstanding. The U.S. steel industry may love the tariffs, most others won't.

And if you give me Harley Davidson at (now) 50% in India, I give you US import tariffs at 100% on European products like

100% tariffs on:

cured ham
French truffles
lingonberry and raspberry jams
certain chocolates
unfermented fruit juice
oats
Italian mineral water

And did you know that peanut imports into the U.S. are subject to an ad valorem tax anywhere between 131.8% (for shelled peanuts) and 163.8% (for unshelled peanuts)?
Posted by: European Conservative || 03/03/2018 17:37 Comments || Top||

#22  100% tariffs on:
cured ham
French truffles
lingonberry and raspberry jams
certain chocolates
unfermented fruit juice
oats
Italian mineral water


H-D motorcycles and the agriculture products you listed are apples and oranges comparison. A 50% tax on a $20,000 motorcycle results in $30,000 motorcycle.

A 100% tax on a $20 ham...or whatever is still affordable. I personally am not a big fan of tariff's, VAT's, or other import taxes. However, I am in favor of turning the screws on these countries that engage in unfair trade practices.

You mention that TTIP would have fixed some things, ok, sure. But I looked at it and its cousin TPP, these were overall very bad for the US, and we weren't going to get one without the other. It is way past time for a major reset across the board. We, the US can weather a lot more than Europe or Asia. WE, are the MARKET.

Enjoy your Islamification, don't ask us to bail your asses out again.
Posted by: Otto White1881 || 03/03/2018 18:23 Comments || Top||

#23  H-D aren't taxed at 50% in Europe.

Btw largest economies in 2017

1) China $23.1 trillion in economic output
2) EU $19.9 trillion.

Together, China and the EU generate 33.9 percent of the world's economic output of $127 trillion.

U.S. $19.4 trillion

A trade war against the EU and China? Good luck.
Posted by: European Conservative || 03/03/2018 18:33 Comments || Top||

#24  Enjoy your Islamification, don't ask us to bail your asses out again.
Posted by: Otto White1881


Otto nails it.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 18:37 Comments || Top||

#25  The last time I was in Europe ('86-90), the import tax on an American-built car bought by Europeans was 35% of the LIST PRICE. The import tax on a British or European luxury car in the US was 12.5%, for a regular car was 0%. One of my commanders sent a Bentley back to the US in pieces to avoid the luxury tax, since there was no tax on parts.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 03/03/2018 18:37 Comments || Top||

#26  European car makers were all in favor of TTIP, which would have eliminated the 10% on EU import taxes.

Go figure.
Posted by: European Conservative || 03/03/2018 18:50 Comments || Top||

#27  I think that most of it is just Trump grandstanding.

I tend to look at Trump's "outbursts" as an opening bid or a feint to get the conversation moving in a particular direction. Say what you will about his personal style, but the man has some well-honed negotiating skills.
Posted by: SteveS || 03/03/2018 18:59 Comments || Top||

#28  yep
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2018 19:44 Comments || Top||

#29  I tend to look at Trump's "outbursts" as an opening bid or a feint to get the conversation moving in a particular direction.

Well...in his book the art of the deal, he says that is exactly what he does.
Posted by: Otto White1881 || 03/03/2018 20:20 Comments || Top||

#30  April 2017: EU ups import tariffs on China steel (18.1 to 35.9 percent)
http://www.dw.com/en/eu-ups-import-tariffs-on-china-steel/a-38321597

The EU executive said Thursday it had set anti-dumping duties on imports of hot-rolled flat steel products from China at a higher rate than the preliminary tariffs already in place.

The European Commission explained it had set final duties of between 18.1 percent and 35.9 percent for five years for producers including Bengang Steel Plates, Handan Iron & Steel and Hesteel.

This compared with provisional rates in place of 13.2 to 22.6 percent, following a complaint by EU producers ArcelorMittal, Tata Steel and ThyssenKrupp.
Posted by: Elmish Chusolet1370 || 03/03/2018 21:10 Comments || Top||

#31  1) China $23.1 trillion in economic output
2) EU $19.9 trillion.
U.S. $19.4 trillion


Thank you for pointing out why we should be out of NATO. First World military welfare.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/03/2018 21:19 Comments || Top||

#32  Those GDP numbers are in adjusted purchasing power parity (PPP) dollars. Try paying for trade with PPP dollars. They don't exist. China's 2017 GDP is 12 trillion USD, EU GDP is 17T USD.
Posted by: Elmish Chusolet1370 || 03/03/2018 21:50 Comments || Top||

#33  State dumping policies like China's are a different matter.

German car makers just make good cars.

If you REALLY want to start a trade war, it would help to do it WITH the EU, not against it.
Posted by: European Conservative || 03/03/2018 22:04 Comments || Top||

#34  The 2017 US trade deficit with the EU was $150 billion, half of it with Germany. Not as much as with China at $375 billion, but equalizing trade with the EU would add nearly $500 billion to US GDP assuming a monetary turnover of 3 times a year in the economy.

Now factor in the total 2017 US trade deficit of $800 billion. That would add 2.4-3.2 to the US economy based on a monetary turnover of 3 and 4 or an additional 12-16.5% to GDP. That enough to re-employ the cities and countryside and eliminate the budget deficit.
Posted by: Elmish Chusolet1370 || 03/03/2018 22:22 Comments || Top||

#35  On a smaller level - a friend's son had a game that won one of the "cons" as best new game. The produced it with a kickstarter. Unfortunately they got some orders from the EU. By the time they were able to fill them and ignoring the paperwork the EU took 3 times the sales price in taxes and duties. They quickly made sales "US ONLY".
Posted by: 3dc || 03/03/2018 22:54 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Local newspaper in Aden burned down by unidentified gunmen
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Unknown button men set fire to the printing press of "Akhbar Al Youm" newspaper belonging to Al Shmou’e Foundation, on Friday, in the city of Aden in Yemen.

The button men executed their attack using pickup trucks heading to the city north of the temporary capital, Aden.

The video shows the button men burning down the premises and equipment used to print the daily local newspaper; a number of employees were maimed during the attack

This is the second incident where a newspaper’s headquarters is stormed in Sanaa by the Houthis after the capital city fell under their control.

Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Shahbaz proposes probe into graft charges against him
[DAWN] Breaking silence on his elder brother’s ’ordeal’, newly-elected PML-N interim chief Shahbaz Sharif
...Pak dynastic politician, brother of PM Nawaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab...
has said that 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...
is being victimised and one day he will get justice.

Since the Supreme Court struck down a controversial amendment to the Elections Act 2017 that allowed Nawaz Sharif to resume party leadership after being disqualified in the Panama Papers case on Feb 22, Shahbaz Sharif had not publicly said a word either against the verdict or expressed solidarity with him (Nawaz).

Although Shahbaz held a maiden presser in Model Town here on Thursday in response to corruption allegations against him by PTI chairman Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan, who isn't your heaviest-duty thinker, maybe not even among the top five...
he empathised with his elder brother in reply to a question. "Nawaz Sharif is being victimised. He will get justice one day," he said and asked as to why the NAB and FIA were not investigating the offshore companies revealed in the Panama Papers as billions of rupees were parked out of the country.

"There should not be politics in the name of accountability," he said.

Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  "Khaaaaan!"
Posted by: Raj || 03/03/2018 12:27 Comments || Top||

#2  ...beat Frank G to it!
Posted by: Raj || 03/03/2018 12:27 Comments || Top||

#3  :-)
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2018 13:46 Comments || Top||


‘Most wanted' AQIS militant said to be close aide of Safoora carnage convicts arrested
[DAWN] Police on Friday claimed to have enjugged
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
a "most wanted" Lion of Islam linked with the banned Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) who at one point remained a close aide to the convicts of the Safoora Goth carnage.

At least 47 members of the Shia Ismaili community, including 18 women, were killed when the bus they were travelling in came under attack near Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
's Safoora Goth in May 2015.

Speaking at a presser at his office and later talking to Dawn, Karachi-West SSP Omar Shahid Hamid revealed that the detained suspect, identified as Ahsan Mehsud alias Roshan, was involved in major acts of terrorism and had also ordered reconnaissance of MQM-P leader Dr Farooq Sattar in 2013.

Acting on a tip-off,
[RING!]
Cop shoppe! Sergeant Shafiq speaking!
Lissen! Dis is Mahmoud da Weasel! I got a tip for youse...

a police party led by Orangi SP Abid Ali Baloch arrested Ahsan from Mominabad area and recovered a large quantity of kaboom from his custody.

SSP Omar said the held suspect is an IT expert who had completed a diploma in computer science from a private IT institute in Gulshan-e-Iqbal and graduated from a private college in DHA.

His brother, Ali Mehsud alias Maaz runs a Lion of Islam network in Wadh, Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
while his uncle, Hasan Mehsud is also an active member of the AQIS, the officer said.

SSP Omar told Dawn that the arrested suspect had remained a close aide of the Safoora bus carnage convicts namely Saad Aziz and the attack's criminal mastermind, Tahir alias Sain.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
E. Ghouta Adventures: Russian AF pounds, Syrian Army captures Jaysh Al-Islam base

Russian Air Force heavily pounds East Ghouta amid latest gains by Syrian Army

[ALMASDARNEWS] The Russian Aerospace Forces heavily bombarded the East Ghouta region these last 24 hours, striking several areas controlled by the jihadist rebels.

According to a military report from Damascus, the Russian Aerospace Forces carried out 30 sorties over the East Ghouta in the last 24 hours, targeting the towns of Douma, Zamalka, Arbeen, Harasta, Mesraba, Utaya, and Jobar.

Syrian Army captures infamous Jaysh Al-Islam base in East Ghouta

[ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) scored another big advance in the East Ghouta region on Friday, seizing an imperative military base that was one hailed as Jaish al-Islam
...Liwa al-Islam (Brigade of Islam) was established by Zahran Alloush, the son of Saudi-based religious scholar Abdullah Mohammed Alloush, after Syrian authorities released him from prison in mid-2011 where he had been serving time for his Salafist activism. The group claimed responsibility for carrying out the July 2012 Damascus bombing that killed Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha, Deputy Defense Minister Asef Shawkat, and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani. It was a driving force behind actions in the Damascus region. It cooperated and conducted joint operations with al-Nusra. In Sptember 2013 Saudi Arabia engineered Liwa al-Islam's merger with fifty other more or less Salafist groups as a counterweight to al-Nusra, which the Learned Elders of Islam considered was growing too powereful...
’s most important installation.

Led by the Tiger Forces, the Syrian Arab Army managed to take control of the Battalion 274 base that is located just south of al-Shifouniyah.

Battalion 274 was used by Jaish al-Islam to train new recruits and house several of its fighters prior to the Syrian Arab Army’s large-scale offensive this year.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Science & Technology
Iridium as a GPS backup?
[Wired] EARTH GOT A warning shot on January 25, 2016. On that day, Air Force engineers were scheduled to kill off a GPS satellite named SVN-23—the oldest in the navigation constellation. SVN-23 should have just gone to rest in peace. But when engineers took it offline, its disappearance triggered, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a software bug that left the timing of some of the remaining GPS satellites—15 of them—off by 13.7 microseconds.

That’s not a lot to you. If your watch is off by 13.7 microseconds, you’ll make it to your important meeting just fine. But it wasn't so nice for the first-responders in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Louisiana, whose GPS devices wouldn’t lock with satellites. Nor for the FAA ground transceivers that got fault reports. Nor the Spanish digital TV networks that had receiver issues. Nor the BBC digital radio listeners, whose British broadcast got disrupted. It caused about 12 hours of problems—none too huge, all annoying. But it was a solid case study for what can happen when GPS messes up.

With that kind of threat looming, GPS understudies are getting more attention. Like, for example, other satellites. A company called Satelles is looking to Iridium satellites—you know, the ones that link up to the satellite phone you take with you on Arctic expeditions. The Iridium satellites had a little-used channel that used to ping pagers, but people don't have those anymore. So Satelles made a deal with Iridium to reprogram the pager channel to beam down a GPS-esque signal.

If it were outfitted to do so, your phone—or your ship or your plane or whatever—could catch that signal. And because it knows when Iridium sent the signal down, and it knows when the signal arrived, it can calculate how far away the satellite was. Get three Iridiums at once, and your phone calculate its position, similarly to how it does with GPS signals—except these signals were made with modern cryptographic techniques that make them, unlike GPS, basically unspoofable. The company calls it STL: Satellite Timing and Location, and it's selling it to customers like the US government, banks, data centers, and potentially wireless carriers.

There are 66 Iridium satellites up there, and they’re about 25 times closer to the ground than GPS satellites are, and that proximity means their signals are much stronger when they arrive at Earth. Where a GPS signal might be too weak—like in an old brick apartment building amidst other brick apartment buildings—an Iridium signal does just fine.

There’s gotta be a downside, though, or everyone would have used this for location and timing in the first place. And here it is: “The accuracy is not quite as good as GPS,” says O’Connor. Where GPS gives your spot with about 5 to 10 meters of accuracy, Satelles’ method is only about 20 to 30 meters (the timing accuracy is comparable). “When you’re in an environment where you can receive GPS, GPS is better,” says O’Connor. But if you’ve got no GPS, or GPS has got your spot wrong, or you need to know for sure for sure you’re not being spoofed, Iridium might be the way to go.
Posted by: 3dc || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Still need manual nav, visual, geospatial for ground, and groundview nav.
Posted by: newc || 03/03/2018 0:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Tech reckoning only works if you use it.
See Navy collisions.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/03/2018 4:33 Comments || Top||

#3  ..I believe that was 'dead' reckoning.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/03/2018 9:22 Comments || Top||


Europe
New Czech PM Stands Firm Against Migrant Quotas: No Way Will Brussels Dictate Who Lives Here
[BREITBART]
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  good
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2018 5:05 Comments || Top||

#2  Larry Bond's Cauldron comes to mind, where the Eastern Europeans revolted against their Franco-German masters... An old techno-thriller's premise coming around again.
Posted by: magpie || 03/03/2018 5:55 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
‘Syria must be referred to the ICC’ -- UN Human Rights Commissioner
[ALMASDARNEWS] "What we are seeing in eastern Ghouta and elsewhere in Syria are likely war crimes and potentially crimes against humanity," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Jordanian Prince Zeid Raad Zeid al-Hussein said during the Human Rights Council’s thirty-seventh regular session in Geneva on Friday.

Speaking of raging war between the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and bully boys, the High commissioner raised serious concerns over how, "Civilians are being pounded into submission or death."

According to Prince Zeid, the perpetrators would be held accountable for their crimes and that "Syria must be referred to the International Criminal Court."

Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Jordanian Prince Zeid Raad Zeid al-Hussein

Everything wrong with the UN in one sentence.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/03/2018 3:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Really no need to continue reading after you reach "United Nations."
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 3:55 Comments || Top||

#3  "Yawn...zzz"
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/03/2018 4:12 Comments || Top||

#4  IIRC, when Iraq invaded Iran in the 1980's there was a small border clash between Jordan and Syria. Syria had started moving troops to their border with Iraq, preparing to invade in support of Iran when Jordan mobilized on their border with Syria.
TL/DR: Jordan has a history of being anti-Syria and anti-Iran. The UN is just a screwed up mess.
Posted by: magpie || 03/03/2018 5:41 Comments || Top||


Government
U.S. Income Makes Highest Jump In Five Years
[DCWHISPERS] "Impeach 45! Impeach 45!"
More good news coming out of the Trump economic boom as U.S. income makes its highest jump in five years. That’s real-world dollars in the pockets of workers and families which economists believe will be yet another engine for yet more economic growth in the coming months. As of now, no mention of this positive news coming from CNN or MSNBC.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Wake up and be thankful Hillary didn't get elected Reason #many: People don't have to fiscally plan for her rapacious taxation schemes.
Posted by: magpie || 03/03/2018 1:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Higher U.S. Incomes only effect people who actually work for a living. The layabouts and politicians (who get automatic increases) are generally oblivious.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 4:56 Comments || Top||

#3  Higher U.S. Incomes only effect people who actually work for a living

Plus "these people" might use their increased incomes to buy more guns and bibles.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/03/2018 5:00 Comments || Top||

#4  From $0 to $10.25/hr is a big jump.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/03/2018 5:07 Comments || Top||

#5  ...I don't know Skid. Going from 54K a year in various government subsidies to 28k a year in direct income may not appeal to a good sector of the electorate, particularly those on the vote farms.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/03/2018 9:02 Comments || Top||

#6  The biggest "pay raise" I've gotten in the last five years was $30+ a month from the tax reform. For three years under Obama, the "cost of living" raises I received on my FIXED INCOME from the federal government usually disappeared in higher taxes, mostly for mediscare.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 03/03/2018 18:40 Comments || Top||

#7  Same here, almost to the penny.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2018 18:45 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
The investigation found that the pilots who abandoned the crashed F-16 did not defend themselves as required
Sounds like the pilot suffered from a bad case of SAM complacency. Courtesy of Google Translate, from the original Hebrew:
[Walla] A senior Air Force officer told reporters that while carrying out the mission, several planes were defending against launching surface-to-air missiles while attacking Syria, while "the plane that did not address the threat was the one who was hit." "When there is a tangible threat, when a missile is fired at you, you have to leave the mission and address the threat of the surface-to-air missile," he said. He added: "The fighters' decision was correct and saved their lives."

"The planes operated the warning systems and they worked properly," he continued. "The control and control sent warnings to the planes, and the team stuck to the task, and did not deal with the threat that was locked on it, and it was also warned by the envelope.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  The control and control

Possibly Command and Control?
Silly Google.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/03/2018 4:15 Comments || Top||

#2  silly reporter? "Automatic assault bullets" - level understanding?
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2018 4:45 Comments || Top||

#3  ...I'm thinking that the pilot - frankly - got rattled, got behind the curve, and was too busy trying not to get dead to remember to use the tools the IAF gave him.

There is some footage from Desert Storm (not sure if it's online; I saw it at a 20FW briefing in the late 90s) that shows in grim detail what happens when the SAMs get overwhelming. The pilot is pressing on; that's what they do. His voice is sheer, 100%, triple distilled panic.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 03/03/2018 7:30 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Leaked: Secret Documents From Russia’s Election Trolls
[TheDailyBeast] An online auction gone awry reveals substantial new details on Kremlin-backed troll farm efforts to stir up real protests and target specific Americans to push their propaganda.

The Kremlin-backed troll farm at the center of Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. election has quietly suffered a catastrophic security breach, The Daily Beast has confirmed, in a leak that spilled new details of its operations onto obscure corners of the internet.

The Russian "information exchange" Joker.Buzz, which auctions off often stolen or confidential information, advertised a leak for a large cache of the Internet Research Agency’s (IRA) internal documents. It includes names of Americans, activists in particular, whom the organization specifically targeted; American-based proxies used to access Reddit and the viral meme site 9Gag; and login information for troll farm accounts.

Even the advertisement for the document dump provides a trove of previously unknown information about the breadth of Russia’s disinformation effort in the United States, including rallies pushed by IRA social media accounts that turned violent.

While special counsel Robert Mueller’s recent conspiracy indictment against the IRA showed a sophisticated organization aimed at targeting U.S. voters with disinformation, the seller appears not to have understood the implications of the auction.

The listing was titled "Savushkina 55," the physical address in St. Petersburg from which the troll farm used to operate. The date on the auction is listed as Feb. 10, 2017‐seven months before Facebook and Twitter identified and pulled down Internet Research Agency accounts from Twitter. It received no bids. The seller, "AlexDA," has not posted any other listings, and was unable to be reached. In Russian, the listing promised "working data from the department focused on the United States."

While the date of the auction could not be independently confirmed, the authenticity of the leak can. The leaked documents list screen names connected to a number of American citizens who were used as unwitting proxies by the Russians. The Daily Beast was able to track down four of those citizens, whose names have not been previously revealed. The leak contains precise dates in 2016 in which the IRA-created account Blacktivist reached out to those U.S. citizens, plus a short description of the conversations. The Daily Beast spoke to those citizens, and confirmed they interacted with the Blacktivist account in the ways described by the IRA in the document. In one case, the American even provided screenshots of his interactions with the Russian troll trying to dupe him.

In short, the leaked document contains details of the Russian disinformation campaign that have not been previously made public‐details which The Daily Beast was able to confirm.

The leak shows that even as the Russian trolls were able to influence and manipulate American political discourse online, they were less equipped to keep their own secrets. While The Daily Beast does not possess anything close to a comprehensive trove of the IRA’s internal operations, it is now likely that substantial amounts of the troll farm’s files are waiting to be discovered online.

But what The Daily Beast has seen provides a new level of texture and detail to the IRA’s U.S. efforts, online and off. While the troll farm’s use of YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook is now well-known, the leak shows that the Internet Research Agency also operated on Reddit and had a substantial footprint on Tumblr. They documented and tracked their personalized interactions with specific, unsuspecting Americans, some of whom are named in the leaks.

Those outreach efforts display conceptual sophistication. The leaks show that IRA imposter accounts targeted activists for specific causes the Russians wanted promoted. On the target list: the daughter of one of Martin Luther King’s lieutenants.

But the leaks also provide a glimpse into the troll farm’s weaknesses. Some of the Americans the group contacted described receiving impersonal entreaties from unfamiliar accounts, asking for trivial aid and then declining to follow up. The Internet Research Agency might have known how to leverage social media, but they knew far less about how users authentically interact with each other on it‐which itself attracted suspicion amongst the very people the Russians were contacting.
Then there are the physical visits by IRA managers and lots of details of the described efforts at the link. The eighty staffers earnt their share of the project’s monthly $1.25 million budget.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Today's News: Can wearable gadgets ward off attackers?
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'll take "yes" for $500.00, Alex.


Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 03/03/2018 0:50 Comments || Top||

#2  The Ruger Security 9 is getting good reviews and is fairly inexpensive. At one point in time you could get one for about $230. The demand has shot up so you'd have to shop around now.
Posted by: Sloluting and Tenille8977 || 03/03/2018 12:13 Comments || Top||

#3  They sure can give away your position
Posted by: newc || 03/03/2018 14:23 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
33[untagged]
4Govt of Pakistan
4Govt of Syria
4Islamic State
2al-Shabaab (AQ)
1Boko Haram (ISIS)
1al-Nusra
1Govt of Saudi Arabia
1Narcos
1Houthis
1Taliban
1Moslem Colonists
1al-Qaeda
1al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent
1al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula

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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2018-03-03
  Mosul Clearances Continue: 30 turbans tied up or permanently unwound, ISIS chemicals concern, Saddam Hussein mass grave found
Fri 2018-03-02
  Attack underway in Burkina Faso's capital, police say
Thu 2018-03-01
  Nigerian-Cameroonian Troops Eliminate 35 Boko Haram fighters, Recover Large Weapons
Wed 2018-02-28
  US designates 'Daesh-Egypt', other ISIS affiliates as terrorist groups
Tue 2018-02-27
  Drone strike kill 3 militants, injures 3 more in Laghman province
Mon 2018-02-26
  Police arrest widow of Jemaah Islamiyah leader Marwan
Sun 2018-02-25
  UN Security Council unanimously votes in favor of Syria ceasefire resolution
Sat 2018-02-24
  US says Jerusalem embassy to open in May, Palestinians furious
Fri 2018-02-23
  Deputy of Islamic State’s Baghdadi killed in Iraqi airstrike: Intelligence source
Thu 2018-02-22
  Mali Blast Kills Two French Soldiers
Wed 2018-02-21
  SWAT force arrests senior IS, Al-Qaeda commander in central Ramadi
Tue 2018-02-20
  9 abducted civilians found dead in Afghanistan
Mon 2018-02-19
  Syrian Army deploys entire artillery division of howitzers, field guns, mortars and Grad rocket launchers for east Damascus battle
Sun 2018-02-18
  Drone strike kills 2 al-Qaeda suspects in Yemen
Sat 2018-02-17
  Senior IS Leader Returned to Iraq from Turkey

Better than the average link...



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