[BusinessInsider] My personal opinion is that Trump only wanted to give them a black eye and to put the fear of Trump into them, not to definitively destroy their CW program or depose Pencilneck. In that regard, mission accomplished. They will think three times about what will come next before they do it again, and they might just do it again if they figure the benefits outweigh the risks. In my mind, the Syrians accomplished what they wanted in Douma, and they also gained knowledge about how well their air defense works against out latest stuff. So everyone wins.
• Israeli intelligence officials have concluded that the US, UK, and France's missile strikes on Syria's suspected chemical weapons sites were a failure.
• Multiple Israeli government and military sources criticized the strikes effectiveness in hurting Syria's ability to conduct chemical attacks.
• These officials also criticized President Donald Trump talking about the strikes beforehand.
• The US and allies' strikes on Syria likely didn't change anything on the battlefield, and it's hard to know how much of the chemical weapons stockpile was hit.
The US, UK, and France's missile strike on Syria's suspected chemical weapons sites involved 105 missiles fired from air and sea to rain down thousands of pounds of explosives on three sites across the country‐ but Israeli intelligence officers reportedly called it a failure.
"If President Trump had ordered the strike only to show that the US responded to [Syrian President Bashar] Assad's use of chemical weapons, then that goal has been achieved," a senior defense official told Israel's Ynet News. "But if there was another objective ‐ such as paralyzing the ability to launch chemical weapons or deterring Assad from using it again ‐ it's doubtful any of these objectives have been met."
An intelligence officer who talked to Ynet wasn't as forgiving.
"The statement of 'Mission Accomplished' and (the assertion) that Assad's ability to use chemical weapons has been fatally hit has no basis," the source said, likely referring to a recent tweet from President Donald Trump.
Unlike the strike in April 2017, the US and its allies did not target Assad's jets or airfields, though that attack was also apparently of low impact, as Assad's jets took off from the damaged airfield within 24 hours and reports of chemical warfare by his regime persisted.
Israel apparently not impressed with Trump's tough talk
The Israelis seemed to take particular issue with Trump talking about his plans to strike before the military action took place. In comparison, Israel is suspected of carrying out a silent but lethal air war against Iranian-aligned militias in Syria, though it seldom ever comments on whether it took part in specific strikes, and always after the fact.
"If you want to shoot ‐ shoot, don't talk," an Israeli diplomatic source told Ynet. "In the American case, this is mostly talk. They themselves show actions are not going to follow."
After Trump tweeted that Russia and Syria should "get ready" for incoming missiles, it appears they moved assets to more protected locations, potentially limiting the available targets for the strike.
Nobody knows how much chemical weapons Assad has left
The US said the strike had hit the "heart" of Assad's chemical weapons infrastructure, but admitted some residual capabilities remained. The strike certainly did not deal any damage to Assad's air force, which is suspected to deploy the chemical weapons.
While the Israelis estimated that the strikes didn't hit the bulk of Assad's chemical weapons, it's hard to know exactly how much or where the weapons stores could be, as international inspectors certified that Syria had removed their weapons of mass destruction as a result of a deal between then-President Barack Obama and Russia in 2013.
But reports of chemical attacks have regularly surfaced since then, and recent reports from Islamist rebels fighting Assad in Douma, the town where the most recent suspected chemical attack sparked the US and allies' strike, said Assad is using the terrifying weapons to win on the battlefield.
"They bombed and bombed and we weren't defeated by conventional weapons so they found the only way was to use chemical (weapons)," a rebel told Reuters.
Despite the US and allies' missile strike on Syria, Assad's regime has only strengthened and fortified its position by clearing out more rebel strongholds.
The UK has admitted that the strike did not intend to turn the overall tide of the war, and was essentially meant as a punitive action to compel Assad not to use chemical weapons.
Posted by: gorb ||
04/17/2018
13:32 ||
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#1
Not a surprise. It was designed to hit targets that were painful for Assad, but not regime ending and in areas where no Russians were to avoid international issues.
For what they were they performed to mission success as defined above.
Also they let Russia know we can hit them any time, any where and you won't see it coming. So don't fuck with us.
#4
With all the defensive forces and media scrambling and counting missile strikes and misses it made a pretty nice diversion for their own attack on the Iranians, didn't it.
#7
it made a pretty nice diversion for their own attack on the Iranians, didn't it.
Except it turns out there wasn’t an attack last night after all — either someone spoofed Syria’s radar or the operators are teetering on the edge of hysteria, shooting at things that aren’t there.
[DailyMail] Upon unveiling the sketch, Daniels' attorney Michael Avenatti said they would pay $100,000 for the identity of the man, and asked for tips to be sent to IDTheThug@gmail.com.
It's Ahhhhnold from 30 years ago! And I know he can time travel!! I've seen the movie!!!
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy ||
04/17/2018
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The dean of the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law is defending protesters who disrupted a speaking event by aggressively heckling a conservative professor. In my mind, speech is not speech unless it's spoken and heard. People who keep me from hearing are interfering with my right to free speech.
As previously reported by Campus Reform, Josh Blackman, a law professor from the South Texas College of Law Houston, was invited to speak on "the importance of free speech" by the CUNY Federalist Society.
When Blackman arrived, however, he was met with protesters who prevented him from speaking for the first eight minutes of his speech, shouting things like "legal objectivity is a myth" and "he’s a white supremacist."
[RELATED: Black conservative shouted down for speaking ’against own people’] That's not racist at all.
While an administrator told the protesters at the time that the the university’s rules state that "you may not keep anyone from speaking," CUNY Law Dean Mary Lu Bilek took a much laxer tone in an email to Inside Higher Ed, saying that the relatively short duration of the protest made it acceptable.
"For the first eight minutes of the 70-minute event, the protesting students voiced their disagreements," Bilek reported. "The speaker engaged with them. The protesting students then filed out of the room, and the event proceeded to its conclusion without incident."
Bilek then asserted that "this non-violent, limited protest was a reasonable exercise of protected free speech," adding that "it did not violate any university policy."
[RELATED: Columbia students claim shouting down conservatives is ’free speech’] All Columbia students? Including the law school dean?
Blackman, however, strongly disagrees with the dean’s assessment, telling Campus Reform that the students interrupted his speech and did not want to engage in any discussion.
"I was invited to speak at CUNY Law for an hour-long discussion on free speech. I had planned to speak for about 45 minutes, and leave the remainder for Q&A," he explained. "The protesters interrupted me for roughly eight minutes, and only left when I tried to engage them on the issues." Yeah, they do that.
Blackman also challenged Bilek’s assertion that the protest was "limited," saying it significantly interfered with his ability to deliver his remarks as planned.
"I was not able to give the presentation I wanted‐both in terms of duration and content‐because of the hecklers," said Blackman. "The Dean is simply incorrect when said the protest was only ’limited.’ To date, nobody from CUNY has contacted me." Nor will they. Because then they would have to set some civilized rules for their fascist students to follow.
Campus Reform reached out to CUNY for comment, but has not received a response. You need to shame them where those they care about will see it.
Not that I’m putting Stranger in a Strange Land down. on a scale of Heinlein books, we’ll say it was my favorite at 14, not so much at 55, but still, you know, yeah "Thou art God" and all that might have been the zeitgeist of the time (or to quote Heinlein at a later date "what some writers will do for money!’) but Heinlein still missed the most outrageous implications of the idea.
...Humans weren’t designed that way. We’re creatures of the band. Our remote almost-human ancestors would have been born into a rigid hierarchy, because ape bands have a rigid hierarchy. It can change, but it can’t go away. We were designed to obey rules and boundaries, learned and instinctive. And the very keeping of body and spirit together, in more primitive times, imposed an order on a primate’s life, whether pre-human or human. There was food to forage for, and things to hunt, and young ones to look after, and someone had to look out for the lions.
...This opening of our minds till our brain fell off left those people not fortunate enough to be raised by people of strong principles floating in a sea of tedium and lack of purpose. Since the only firm principle they have is that there was never anyone as enlightened or perceptive as themselves, they can’t examine their own beliefs and actions for errors. They also can’t find reality with two hands and a seeing eye dog, which is why they think reality changes with what you believe, and therefore think that your refusing to engage in their preferred speech, or saying things they don’t like is a literal aggression. Because they believe words an stories can tear the world apart and put it together in another shape.
It’s not that they’re gods ‐ though they might think they are ‐ but that they’ve reverted to the mind of the primitive savage, unable to connect cause and effect outside themselves, and therefore living in a world they think thoughts or intentions can alter for good and ill: buffeted by the thoughts and intentions of others, looking in vain for the safe room that will allow them to remake the world anew with their thoughts.
That is what is behind their attacks on those who don’t think the same way they do. That is what is behind their bizarre displays like trying to levitate the Denver Mint. It is definitely what is behind their belief that if they erase history and remake it in their image, and install a regime that has brought death wherever it was tried, this time there will be utopia.
They’re savages, in a haunted world, blindly offering sacrifice to forces they can’t understand and trying to think the world in their image and semblance, then finding scape goats when it doesn’t work. Which is always, because that’s not how this works. That’s not how any of this works.
h/t Instapundit
[Gizmodo] Recent advancements in science and medicine have put cures within reach for diseases that have long plagued humankind.
In a recent report, though, Goldman Sachs analysts posed an uncomfortable question that quickly sparked criticism.
"Is curing patients a sustainable business model?" analysts asked in an April 10 report entitled "The Genome Revolution," which CNBC first reported.
One-and-done cures enabled by gene editing, analyst Salveen Richter wrote in the note to clients this week, are near-miraculous innovations that stand to benefit patients immensely.
But they also present a challenge to business.
"While this proposition carries tremendous value for patients and society, it could represent a challenge for genome medicine developers looking for sustained cash flow," she wrote.
[Zachs] Johnson & Johnson (JNJ - Free Report) , the bellwether of healthcare companies, has a strong presence in the pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer care markets across the world. This New Jersey-based company is well known for its baby-care products and brands like Tylenol in addition to drugs like Remicade and Concerta.
However, like many of its peers, JNJ is facing generic competition and pricing pressure for some of the products in its pharmaceutical segment.
In this scenario, investor focus remains on late-stage pipeline candidates and their commercial potential as well as the performance of new products apart from the usual top-and bottom-line numbers.
JNJ has a pretty good earnings track record with the company delivering positive earnings surprises in each of the last four quarters, with an average positive surprise of 3.09%. Estimate movement has been stable over the past 7 days.
[Mark Steyn Club] Mark did double-duty on Monday's edition of "Tucker Carlson Tonight". First up for discussion was the former FBI director James Comey's self-serving interview on ABC. Click below to watch:
[Hot Air] The narrative since the air strikes on Friday has been that the hawks have become ascendant in Donald Trump’s Washington. Isolationists have sobbed about betrayal as the mood turns at least Scowcroftian in the Beltway, if not downright Cheneyesque. Not all hawks are in a celebratory mood, however. Earlier today, Sen. Lindsey Graham told Hugh Hewitt that the strikes were nothing more than a "missed opportunity," and that Trump and his generals seem inclined to leave Syria in the hands of Iran rather than stand up to Russia:
Asked about the president’s response to the attacks in Syria during a radio interview on "The Hugh Hewitt Show," Graham griped that his actions "didn’t lay a glove on Assad’s capabilities to wage war."
"We’re becoming the chemical weapons police," Graham said. "We don’t have a strategy about why Syria matters."
He added: "The military strike itself was a tactical response well short of what I thought was justified. So he’s been a good commander-in-chief in general, but this is a major step backwards."
In the longer transcript, Graham lays the blame on Secretary of Defense James Mattis for the narrow focus on chemical weapons. The issue, Graham claims, is the risk-averse nature of current military and political leadership. Er, what?
#4
...Graham griped that his actions "didn’t lay a glove on Assad’s capabilities to wage war."
US Constitution Article 1, Section 8: Power to Declare War. Go for it, Senator! Go to the floor of the Senate and get a Bill Declaring War on Syria or sit down and STFU.
#6
I can sort of empathize with McCain. If conservative voters had actual conservative options--candidates who would deliver instead of just lying about being conservative in order to get elected--then McCain and his ilk would no longer have any sort of career. It's political life and death for him.
[The Federalist] It’s a terribly stubborn demographic truism: Somewhere close to 100 percent of babies never born will never become customers of your business. This is true of the more than 55 million American babies who never made it past the womb since abortion was legalized in 1973. It’s true of the untold millions who were never conceived because a potential mom and dad thought they had better things to do.
Of course, there is an inestimable, inherent worth and dignity to every human life, but we cannot ignore the social significance at play here as well. These invaluable lives-never-realized are a whole lot of missing customers. Not good for business. Not good. Nor will they be paying into social security or pensions to provide your part when that time comes either.
What if you’re in the toy business? Well then, this truism is super unfortunate seeing as your whole business model depends upon people called grandparents, aunts, uncles, and parents. Others outside of these four types of folks are just not likely to pass through your doors. So you want the population of these four categories not only stable, but growing. The common denominator between all these folks is babies.
New, fresh-smelling little humans are what create grandparents, aunts, uncles and mothers and fathers. This is not a theoretical theorem. No one knows this better than the international toy giant Toys ’R’ Us and baby supplier Babies R Us. They recently got majorly T-boned at the intersection of "Need for Growing Customer Base Avenue" and "Declining Birth Rate Boulevard." Thus they are shuttering all of their U.S. stores. Putting it another way, Geoffrey the Giraffe had to be put down.
#3
Maybe if using the public schools wasn't equivalent to having your kids raised by the malevolent practicioners of a different religion, people would have more kids.
#4
It doesn't help that our society teaches the young ones we have that not being productive (except for having fatherless kids), and living off of others' industry, is acceptable.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
04/17/2018 14:57
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#6
It's a two part problem. (1) Not enough babys were born to enter the workforce and pay those taxes (2) Too many Boomers retiring.
I think we should hunt down the Population Bomb author and string him up for convincing a generation to not procreate.
[American Thinker] A lawsuit by an anti-Clinton PAC has been filed against the Federal Election Commission for ignoring complaints about money laundering by the Hillary Clinton campaign during the 2016 election.
The scheme involved up to $84 million dollars in big donations that was funneled through state Democratic parties and eventually ended up in the coffers of the Clinton campaign. The lawsuit alleges that the FEC ignored complaints about the scheme from the Committee to Defend the President (CDP), a political action committee formally known as Stop Hillary PAC.
Sounds like your typical Democrat...
[Mirror UK, via Drudge] - A robot has been nominated to run for the position of mayor in Tokyo, promising to be "fair and balanced" to all its constituents. Wait a minute - did Sean Hannity program this thing?
The mayoral election in Tama City features the usual high-ranking local politicians, as well as an artificial intelligence candidate competing alongside its human counterparts. AI guy - you're in the wrong line of business!
Posters plastered across the district feature the faces of smiling party leaders, with slogans promising change for the city. If a pol is smilin', he's lyin!
And in line with election propaganda, the robot nominee, dubbed Michihito Matsuda, has branded vans, posters and inspirational soundbites. Can't be any worse than canned politicians.
BLUF:
[American Thinker] Yet this is an area where we actually should listen to the left and be mindful of their warnings about minorities' historical plight. If whites were more concerned about being reduced to minority status, their nations ‐ gradually losing their Western character due to multiculturalism and the influx of unassimilable, non-Western foreigners ‐ wouldn't be so imperiled (though our growing immorality would still plague us).
The reality expressed in this article eludes most because of conditioning: the double standard, the prejudice, is ingrained. Whites are simultaneously portrayed as uniquely inhuman and something more than human, in that they're supposed to be above normal human concerns (desire to retain one's own culture, etc.). They're cast as singularly oppressive for exhibiting the same moral failings as every other group, such as having practiced slavery, but as strikingly unexceptional despite taking unprecedented steps to mitigate those moral failings. They're condemned as "cultural appropriators" merely for using foreigners' food recipes but given no credit for birthing a recipe for civilizational success copied the world over (which is why Western technology and economic practices are ubiquitous).
Lamentably, though, whites are uniquely successful in another way as well. Those most effectively peddling the anti-white propaganda ‐ and most efficiently destroying the West ‐ are white themselves.
Whoever guessed that modern Westerners' perhaps final triumph would be reaching the very heights of self-flagellation?
[Breitbart] During an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, former FBI Director James Comey’s wife, Patrice, confessed that she supported Hillary Clinton and was "devastated" when Donald Trump won.
"I wanted a woman president really badly, and I supported Hillary Clinton," Patrice Failor Comey told Stephanopoulos. "A lot of my friends worked for her. And I was devastated when she lost."
James Comey admitted that his wife and girls all took part in the Women’s March in response to Donald Trump’s election.
"My wife and girls marched in the Women’s March, the day after President Trump’s inauguration," he said. "At least my four daughters ‐ probably all five of my kids, wanted Hillary Clinton to be the first woman president. I know my amazing spouse did."
#3
We had our first real black President - didn't work out too well for us, did it? Given who it would have been, the 'first woman president' our situation would have been even worse than with the first black President. I'm happy getting a guy with a 'fuck you' attitude and 30+ years experience as a CEO (no experience, Chuck Todd?).
Donald Trump vs. 2.4 million Federal employees (excluding military) - it will continue to be an interesting battle.
#5
Thanks to Trump we're experiencing Conan's best things in life -- crushing our enemies, seeing them driven before us and now, the delicious lamentations of the wimmen.
Posted by: regular joe ||
04/17/2018 9:13
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#6
I thought it was sexist to choose someone based on their sex...
#11
Comey Wife: ‘I Wanted a Woman President Really Badly, and I Supported Hillary Clinton'
The definition of sexism. But it's good sexism. Because women can't be sexist if they vote for women because . . . they're not "in power". Or some such $hit.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/17/2018 14:48
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#15
g(r)omgoru, he should have done it on April Fools day. Everyone with a sense of humor would know he was joking which means the left's heads would still pop.
[DailyBeast] The targeting of Michael Hayden drives home how aggressively the Obama administration pursued leaks—following a relatively thin lead to a former spy chief’s private email account.
The search warrant application filed in November 2012, unsealed Monday, shows the bureau suspected Hayden of being a source for a June 1, 2012, New York Times article about the Stuxnet computer virus, a groundbreaking piece of nation-state malware crafted to sabotage one element of Iran’s nuclear program in 2010. The virus targeted equipment at Iran’s uranium enrichment facility in Natanz. The article, written by reporter David Sanger, confirmed suspicions that the U.S. was partly responsible for the attack, which the story said was part of a top secret American-Israeli program called Olympic Games.
Hayden was not cited as a source on the Olympic Games revelation in the Times article, but was quoted on the apparent significance of the Stuxnet virus, which was widely known. “This is the first attack of a major nature in which a cyberattack was used to effect physical destruction,” Hayden said in part.
The search warrant affidavit was filed by special agent Craig Moringiello in the FBI’s counterintelligence division. It shows that the FBI first obtained transaction records for Hayden’s AOL email account. Those showed that he’d exchanged email messages with Sanger 10 times in the months before and after the story. The bureau then used that as evidence in a Nov. 15, 2012, application to obtain the entire contents of Hayden’s AOL account.
The FBI found no evidence that Hayden did anything wrong. But using similar tactics, the FBI eventually tracked the story to retired Marine Gen. James Cartwright. In 2016 Cartwright acknowledged he was a source for the article and pleaded guilty to a single count of lying to the FBI. Cartwright’s prosecution was widely criticized by freedom-of-the-press groups and government insiders, and Obama pardoned Cartwright shortly before leaving office.
A special suit developed by the Israeli company StemRad to protect astronauts from space radiation will be launched into space as part of preparations for NASA trips to Mars and carries the flag of Israel.
The Israel Space Agency (IAA) of the Science and Technology Ministry will sign an agreement with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on Tuesday to send the suit on the Deep Space Experiment flight as part of a feasibility study for the Mars mission in 2021. The agreement will be signed by IAA director-general Avi Blassberger and NASA director Robert Lightfoot during a space symposium in Colorado.
According to Science and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis, "Israeli entrepreneurs are known all over the world for their innovation and thinking outside the box. We are proud to pave the way for entrepreneurs and enable them to integrate the first Israeli technology of its kind in one of the most fascinating experiments in recent years. This is a wonderful gift for Israel’s 70th anniversary celebrations."
[Forbes] When Mark Zuckerberg appeared before the House Energy and Commerce Committee last week in the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica revelations, he tried to describe the difference between "surveillance and what we do." "The difference is extremely clear," a nervous-looking Zuckerberg said. "On Facebook, you have control over your information... the information we collect you can choose to have us not collect."
But not a single member of the committee pushed the billionaire CEO about surveillance companies who exploit the data on Facebook for profit. Forbes has uncovered one case that might shock them: over the last five years a secretive surveillance company founded by a former Israeli intelligence officer has been quietly building a massive facial recognition database consisting of faces acquired from the giant social network, YouTube and countless other websites. Privacy activists are suitably alarmed.
That database forms the core of a facial recognition service called Face-Int, now owned by Israeli vendor Verint after it snapped up the product's creator, little-known surveillance company Terrogence, in 2017. Both Verint and Terrogence have long been vendors for the U.S. government, providing bleeding-edge spy tech to the NSA, the U.S. Navy and countless other intelligence and security agencies.
As described on the Terrogence website, the database consists of facial profiles of thousands of suspects "harvested from such online sources as YouTube, Facebook and open and closed forums all over the globe." Those faces were extracted from as many as 35,000 videos and photos of terrorist training camps, motivational clips and terror attacks. That same marketing page was online in 2013, according to internet archive the Wayback Machine, indicating the product is at least five years old. The age of the product also suggests far more than 35,000 videos and photos have been raided by the Face-Int technology by now, though Terrogence co-founder and research lead Shai Arbel declined to comment for this article.
Raising the stakes of facial recognition
Though Terrogence is primarily focused on helping intelligence agencies and law enforcement fight terrorism online, LinkedIn profiles of current and former employees indicate it's also involved in other, more political endeavours. One ex-staffer, in describing her role as a Terrogence analyst, said she'd "conducted public perception management operations on behalf of foreign and domestic governmental clients," and used "open source intelligence practices and social media engineering methods to investigate political and social groups." She was not reachable at the time of publication.
#1
Both Verint and Terrogence have long been vendors for the U.S. government, providing bleeding-edge spy tech to the NSA, the U.S. Navy and countless other intelligence and security agencies.
I'm just certain Zuck wasn't getting a piece of that action. His congressional testimony would have surely revealed such arrangements.
[Daily Caller] Former MSNBC host Ed Schultz put the mainstream media on blast in a podcast on Monday, saying that "the fix was in" for Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
Schultz, who supported Bernie Sanders in 2016, told National Review podcast host Jamie Weinstein he thinks "the Clintons were connected to Andy Lack, connected at the hip.
"I think that they didn’t want anybody in their prime time or anywhere in their lineup supporting Bernie Sanders," he continued. "I think that they were in the tank for Hillary Clinton and I think it was managed and 45 days later I was out at MSNBC. And I thought it stunk."
Schultz also tore into how many in the establishment media shielded Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Democratic primary.
"And when you see how the campaign unfolded," he added, "Donna Brazile feeding Hillary Clinton questions at the campaign, the DNC undercutting Bernie Sanders, the super-delegates that were organized by Hillary Clinton, I mean, in my state of Minnesota where I’m a resident and pay taxes, Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar were super-delegates and despite the fact that Bernie Sanders won Minnesota they supported Clinton. The fix was in. The fix was in with the mainstream media. The fix was in with managing the news and shutting down Bernie Sanders."
The former MSNBC host now works at Russia Today (RT).
[Daily Caller] A cop killer received a check for over $15,000 from a North Carolina county court in early April for a land deal, according to a Saturday report.
Assata Shakur, who is currently on the FBI’s list of most-wanted terrorists, received $15,351.39 from New Hanover County as compensation for a land deal with a private company. The court reportedly worked out the deal, after the company contacted Shakur because she is one of the last living members of the Freeman family who owns land near Freeman Park in Carolina Beach, N.C., according to Raleigh News & Observer.
Shakur, also known as Joanne Chesimard, was convicted for the murder of a New Jersey state trooper and escaped prison in 1979 after receiving a life sentence in a New Jersey state prison. She later fled to Cuba after hiding underground for years. Shakur, godmother of rapper Tupac Shakur, was most recently in the news after she was honored at The Women’s March, where they called her a "sign of resistance" and a "feminist figure" who fought sexism within the movements she worked.
#2
"Those murderous cops in New Jersey
Showed Comrade Assata no mercy!
This critical knowledge
I picked up at college:
She's merely a coloured Paul Kersey."
[Daily Caller] Only one IT aide currently working directly for members of Congress has ever completed a background check, members’ data have been improperly mixed with other members’ data, and members provided almost no supervision, officials revealed Thursday in a House hearing spurred by "egregious" violations by former IT aide Imran Awan.
Members of Congress threw "$10 million" in additional funding to the [chief administrative officer (CAO)] in order to enhance their cybersecurity program" in June 2017. The move followed repeated cybersecurity threats against members of Congress, including the detection of what an IG report called "unauthorized access" by Awan. They also had the CAO and others propose how best to clamp down on vulnerabilities. But the CAO revealed Thursday that members blocked the resulting proposal, which called for eliminating Awan’s job category, that of a floating IT aide accountable only to members.
System administrators like Awan "hold the ’keys to the kingdom,’ meaning they can create accounts, grant access, view, download, update, or delete almost any electronic information within an office," Inspector General Michael Ptasienski said at the House hearing.
"A rogue system administrator could inflict considerable damage to an office and potentially disclose sensitive information, perform unauthorized updates, or simply export or delete files," he continued. "A rogue system administrator could take steps to cover up his/her actions and limit the possibility that their behavior being detected or otherwise traced back to them." Are you by chance referring to someone like NSA leaker Edward Snowden ?
#1
Futher explained from the link found in the above article:
“Based on the modest way Awan was living, it is my opinion that he was sending most of his money to a group or criminal organization that could very well be connected with the Pakistani government,” said Wayne Black, a private investigator who served as law enforcement group supervisor in Janet Reno’s Miami public corruption unit. “My instincts tell me Awan was probably operating a foreign intelligence gathering operation on US soil.”
Officials told Politico that prosecutors refused to help them punish top Hezbollah operatives involved in its money laundering network because of political concerns, such as fears of jeopardizing the Obama administration’s deal with Iran. Similarly, the Awans, who had close relationships to House Democrats including Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Gregory Meeks, have not been charged with any crimes surrounding the dealership nor with their House activities. The disclosure of a House IT breach shortly before the election by Pakistani-born Democratic staffers would have had political fallout.
No sense conducting full background checks and documenting their neferious foreign contacts now is there ?
#2
...Sadly, nothing will come of this. The Awans are in Pakistan laughing at us, and the politicians are covering each other.
And I would bet the house payment that Congress' IT program isn't one tiny bit more secure.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/17/2018 5:11
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#3
This long-running Awan business (data manipulation and transfer) could have been impetus for the Clinton off-site server effort. Why alter what is working so well ?
[Townhall] Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee, claimed that women were literally dying because Democrats are losing elections. He linked high maternal mortality rates to Democratic losses during a speech Friday before the Progressive Change Campaign Committee candidate training event.
Ellison talked about not giving up after his loss to Tom Perez for the DNC chairmanship.
"They need me to put more in, they need me to put my back into it, more than before," Ellison said of women needing Democrats in office. "Because their lives depend upon it."
"Did you know that in Missouri and in Texas, and maybe other places, maternal mortality has risen?" he asked.
"Women are dying because we are losing elections," Ellison said. "We don't have the right to lose a damn election. We have to win."
Later in his speech, Ellison called for universal healthcare.
[GatesOfVienna] Last Friday, a brave Afghan attacked employees of a bakery in Fulda and police officers with stones and a baton, wounding them; some seriously.
After a policeman was wounded as well as a delivery man, the raging and extremely aggressive “seeker after peace” was shot by the police.
But in the minds of the invaders of all nations, protecting Germany and its citizens means resisting the conquerors.
That’s why an Afghan mob, carrying Afghan flags and shouting “Allahu Akhbar”, paraded through Fulda’s streets on Sunday, denouncing German state power and demanding “justice” — probably according to Sharia Law — because one of their warriors was killed after an armed attack on German “infidels”.
Abdulkerim Demir, chairman of the Invasion Advisory Council (politically correct: Foreigners’ Council) in Fulda explained that all the hayseed-Afghan wanted was to buy some bread rolls — in his slippers, with a bat!
Everything in the bakery was too slow for the demander of provisions, because the cash register was probably not even open that morning, [since] the delivery driver apparently only just arrived. The fact that the German mutts were not immediately at his service, was hard for such an Islamic Herrenmensch to tolerate, and so the Afghan Merkel-guest threw some stones, struck the employees and attacked the supplier with a rock. Demir does NOT think that’s “good”, but they [the police] could have simply captured him [the attacker], argues the representative of the invasion, and accuses the police of murder. It is intolerable that a “young man [he doesn’t say ‘Man’= a ‘man’ he insists on ‘Mensch’= a ‘human’; I’m sure because this sounds like Human Rights — translator] in Germany, who just wanted to buy two rolls,” is shot, we’re told.
The police also had to protect those marching from themselves, as during every demo, in the spirit of Freedom of Assembly and Freedom of Expression.
It is also very revealing, and a sign of the barely-initiated integration, that the intruders in our homeland demand a good life at the expense of the Germans, because at home in Afghanistan everything is supposedly so terrible, but here their flag in being carried as either a shield or a threat.
#12
Why post the propaganda laced borderline racist regurgitation of a translation of a german-language rant from a questionable euro site? Is that the standard here now?
It would be nice to read an unadulterated account. Surely enough outrage in the truth without resorting to this German ubermensch bullshit.
Police have shot and killed a man who attacked workers with a truncheon outside a bakery.
Officers in Fulda responded to an early morning call about the incident outside the business in the city about 100km (60 miles) northeast of Frankfurt.
When they arrived, they say the man attacked them with stones and a truncheon. He was shot dead.
Police said the bakery was not open at the time of the incident and that the victims were employees and a delivery driver. Some suffered serious injuries.
Hesse state police and Fulda prosecutors are investigating.
The "protest" the original article cits doesn't even crack the first pages of a google search for "fulda muslim" except for the rabble-rousing effort at GoV. The next entry is a dating site for Muslim men, LOL.
#13
Injun Bucket8891, your AP article is indeed modifier-free, but it also fails to mention the key datum that would trigger our interest in the incident — that the perpetrator is an Afghan “migrant”. I’ve been following the subject of the invasion-by-invitation since Angela Merkel issued her invitation, and have found it very difficult in many cases to determine whether a report belongs under that heading. News reports deliberatedly soft-pedal bad behaviour, refuse to list the religion, national origin or legal status of the perpetrator, or even bury the incident altogether, as they did with the New Years Eve molestations in Cologne two years ago and for years at open air rock concerts in Sweden. The police in various places and times have had to admit to not accepting complaints of crimes and of fudging statistics, because to tell the truth is labelled racist. The Pakistani rape ganges in Britain, protected as they were for a full generation by the police, are only one aspect of this acquiescence to the egregious behaviour of non-natives by government and elites across Europe and Britain.
I’ve pretty much given up trying to figure out whether gang problems in Scandinavia are due to Moslem colonists going after natives or nativist biker gangs going after foreigners — I don’t even post those articles in the round-ups I try to do weekly (though I’ve fallen behind recently). Because neither police nor politicians, nor news media are honest, we haven’t more than a general idea of how bad the problem is — just that getting robbed and raped by people who consider themselves conquerors is now a common experience.
This Gatestone Report from 2012 limns the dimensions of the thing before the borders were thrown open::
I collect articles on the subject from Breitbart, the Daily Mail, The Local, and whatever pops up in my daily War on Terror article collections. If you have a better idea for English language sources on subject, please provide me with a sampling of articles. I’m just an amateur at this, without any training other than what I have picked up here at Rantburg over the years.
#14
I’m just an amateur at this, without any training other than what I have picked up here at Rantburg over the years.
Part of the fun of the Intelligence Analyst Junior Grade course at Rantburg U is you get to read sorts of traffic and try to separate the wheat from the chaff from the blathering nonsense. Often times, what is not said is as important as the story the media tries to push.
Yeah, it would be nice to read an "unadulterated account", but I don't know where on the planet you'd find it. So we have a lot of sources, some of them reliable and some of them wild propaganda outlets like Iran's PressTV and the New York Times. Only chumps believe everything they read, whether on newsprint or on the interwebs.
Compliments to Fred and the mods for their interesting selections.
I prefer to think of it as insightful commentary and savage snark. It's another thing that makes Rantburg so interesting. Wouldn't be the same without it.
#17
The "protest" the original article cits doesn't even crack the first pages of a google search for "fulda muslim" except for the rabble-rousing effort at GoV. The next entry is a dating site for Muslim men, LOL.
This is a scathing indictment of google and the mainstream media.
I submitted the GoV link because it provided an accurate summary of German mainstream media news reports. Commentary within the article is easily discernible.
The organized unapologetic protest against self defense against violent assault is what made this story newsworthy because this is a new development.
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian Army and allied paramilitary forces have scored a major advance against Rastan-based rebel groups in the southeastern countryside of Hama province, capturing five towns since an previous successful push earlier this (Monday) morning.
According to military-affiliated sources, Syrian assault units stormed and seized the settlements of Ard Qabr ash-Sheikhah, Zahrat Jababi, Zahrat Jasiyah, Khirbet Barbara and Ard Jaysiyah after festivities with Lion of Islam fighters lasting several hours.
Furthermore, sources report that the Syrian Army also took control of the valley areas of Wadi Qarbat and Wadi al-Habiyah as well as the hilltop of Tal An-Naoraa, all located along its main advance route via the above-mentioned towns and villages.
Finally, information has now surfaced that veteran Syrian Army field commander Major General Muhammad Khaddour is leading the Ar-Rastan operation.
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[DAWN] An independent watchdog criticised Pakistain's human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... record over the past year in a new report released on Monday, saying the nation has failed to make progress.
The damning report card issued by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistain (HRCP) says people continue to disappear in Pakistain, sometimes because they criticise the establishment and other times because they advocate better relations with India.
The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, per the report, received 868 new cases, of which 555 were settled.
The report claims that the blasphemy law continues to be misused, especially against dissidents, with cases in which mere accusations that someone committed blasphemy lead to deadly mob violence.
While deaths directly linked to acts of terrorism declined in 2017, the report said attacks against the country's minorities were on the rise.
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[Al Jazeera] Supporters of The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund.... 's main opposition party have staged sit-in demonstrations across the country to protest against the state of emergency, a move criticised by the government.
The demonstrations held on Monday, reportedly in all of Turkey's 81 provinces, were organised as the government prepares this week to extend the state of emergency for the seventh time.
Turkey declared the state of emergency on July 20, 2016, and has extended it regularly after a coup attempt in July 2016.
Bekir Bozdag, the government spokesperson, criticised the protests, blaming the Republican People's Party (CHP) of using the methods of "terrorists" and not doing any work.
Bozdag said that for the CHP to be more successful than the ruling Justice and Development Party, it should start working, or running, instead of sitting down.
"They cannot stop the Justice and Development Party by sitting in. We will move on. My advice to them: Now is not the time to sit, now is time to rise," he said.
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[PRESSTV] One person has been reportedly killed and several others injured after members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) clashed with the police in the capital Abuja.
The police, using tear gas and live ammunitions, forcefully dispersed Shia protesters demanding the release of their leader, Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, at the Unity Fountain on Monday.
Sheikh Zakzaky has been detained without trial for over two years.
Abdullahi Muhammad, an IMN leader, said he witnessed police dragging bullet-hit protesters into a van and sitting on them, adding that he did not know if they were dead or alive.
"As we started protesting they started shooting tear gas and using water cannons," Muhammad said, noting, "We refused to disperse and they used bullets as well, and they shot so many people."
"They want to push us to violence but they couldn't, so that is why they are using live ammunition, thinking that killing will stop us. No amount of killing will stop us."
"The only thing that will stop these protests is when the government frees our leader."
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[Ynet] Kurdish bandidosmurderous Moslems attacked Ottoman Turkish security forces in southeast The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... early on Monday, killing three soldiers and wounding one, security sources said.
They said the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) bandidosmurderous Moslems staged the attack in the Kuyutepe military base area of Sirnak province.
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[Ynet] Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has declared the Iliyah Institute in east Jerusalem as a terror group, following a Shin Bet recommendation made after months' surveillance showing that the youth center was in fact a front for the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Paleostine ... a breakaway faction of the Pöpular Frönt för the Liberation of Paleostine. The are regarded as the most intellectual of Paleostinian fedayeen groups, smoking cheap cigarettes and drawing heavily on Marxist-Leninist theory to explain their crappy lives. They can occasionally be seen strutting through the streets of Paleostine, dressed up like soldiers and lugging firearms, though they seldom manage to hit anything and then usually by accident. This may be because of their habit of wearing black masks that cut off most of their vision. That would also explain their habit of occasionally walking into walls, which is a well-known attribute of those immersed in true understanding of the dialectic... The institute carried out activities intended to promote the actions of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Paleostine, as per the security agency's suspicions.
[Guardian] Russia and the Syrian regime have been accused by western diplomats of denying chemical weapons inspectors access to sites in the town of Douma, where an attack killed dozens and prompted US-led missile strikes over the weekend.
Russia and Syria had cited "pending security issues" before inspectors could deploy to the town outside Damascus, said Ahmet Üzumcu, the director general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), at a meeting of its executive council.
Syrian authorities were offering 22 people to interview as witnesses instead, he said, adding that he hoped "all necessary arrangements will be made ... to allow the team to deploy to Douma as soon as possible".
Meanwhile, the Trump administration delayed action on sanctions against Russians suspected of helping Syria’s chemical weapons programme, contradicting remarks on Sunday by the US envoy to the UN, Nikki Haley.
Haley had said in a television interview that sanctions would be "coming down" on Monday. But the White House spokeswoman, Sarah Sanders, said on Monday that "a decision will be made in the near future. We’ll keep you guys posted."
About that overnight attack posted here: someone’s nerves are a little jumpy.
[IsraelTimes] Pro-regime commander says Russian experts brought in to deal with incident initially thought to have been a missile strike
A false alarm caused by a "joint electronic operation" carried out by Israel and the US led to the firing of air defenses missile over Syria overnight Monday, a commander of militia forces supporting the regime said.
Embarrassing if it’s wide open to hackers, even more embarrassing if it’s a bug in the program, most embarrassing of all if operators at multiple sites are jumping at shadows.
Speaking on condition of anonymity to Rooters on Tuesday, the commander said that the Syrian radar system had been targeted in the alleged cyberattack and that Russian experts were brought in to resolve the issue.
All you programmers who’ve dealt with customers can fill in both sides of the conversation, not to mention the thuoghts not uttered aloud...
Syrian state news originally reported overnight that missiles targeting government air bases had been shot down over the western city of Homs, but later said the air defense systems had been triggered by a false alarm.
Large kabooms were heard near Al Shayrat Air base in Homs province, and in eastern Qalamoun near Damascus, where two other air bases are located, the Syrian Observatory for Human rights reported.
#5
So, in other words, the missile defenses were activated and all missiles launched. AFTER the radars indicated 100% interception, everyone from Damascus to Moscow started patting themselves on the back.
#6
So, in other words, the missile defenses were activated and all missiles launched. AFTER the radars indicated 100% interception, everyone from Damascus to Moscow started patting themselves on the back.
#9
A false alarm caused by a "joint electronic operation" carried out by Israel and the US led to the firing of air defenses missile
From what I've read (and bearing in mind I don't know squat about this), the last time the Juice waxed a nuke plant, they were able to 'inject' signals into the air defense radars that created the appearance of a bajillion attackers. In response, the radars were shut down (or rebooted if they were running Windows) This is a clever step up from 'normal' electronic countermeasures that just blast a lot of noise at the radars and create a big fuzzball on the screen to hide the attack.
#10
In the old fashioned way, when everybody's screen turns to fuzz, you run outside and start shooting up in the air just in case.
With the new one, you call the IT guy and go get a cup of coffee.
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Could have been a Cyber attack but also sounds like something like an AWAC or something sending false echos on the radar frequency.
[ALMASDARNEWS] Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry had said that Syrian air defenses intercepted 71 of more than 100 missiles that the United States, the United Kingdom, La Belle France launched on Friday in response to the alleged chemical attack in Syria’s Douma.
According to Russian Defense Ministry front man Igor Konashenkov, Russian-made Pantsir-S1 air defense system deployed by the Syrian forces showed almost 100% effectiveness in repelling the Western missile strike.
"In anti-aircraft combat, the Russian-made Pantsir S-1 system that had been previously supplied to the Syrian armed forces was actively used," he added.
Konashenkov went on to say that the Syrian air defenses used 112 ground-to-air missiles to repel the attack that targeted not only facilities in Barza and Jaramana, but also military facilities, including airfields.
Konashenkov further commented that the strikes had involved cruise missiles launched from the Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea, the Persian Gulf and the eastern Syrian city of al-Tanf. The attack targeted the facilities that were not bunkers protected by the Syrian air defenses, he pointed out, adding that those were facilities were built on the surface. He has reiterated that 71 missiles of those 100+ had been intercepted.
The front man also denied the reports that S-200 air defense missile system had underperformed while repelling the attack, saying the system is designed to hit aircraft, in the course of fending off the strike.
"However, it was a brave man who first ate an oyster... not long ago, this system destroyed a fighter jet of one of the neighboring states, which tried to violate the Syrian airspace," he added.
Konashenkov reiterated that Syrian air defense systems S-125, S-200, Buk, and Kvadrat took part in repelling the joint strike.
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#1
Well, like the old joke about a magic charm that repels pink elephants...Things stopped exploding so their system obviously works, right, Right??
#3
Re Almasdarnews:
Business Insider reporter Natasha Bertrand has described Leith Abou Fadel, the editor of al-Masdar, as someone who had pushed a conspiracy theory in the past, and described him as an "Assad loyalist".
The bias is very clear, Clurong Peacock9529. Unfortunately, local reporting in English in that part of the world comes with bias toward one or another of the parties. Until recently we balanced our Syria reporting with Asharq al-Aswat, But they appear to have given up publishing in English. We’ll find another source, but for the moment this is what we have.
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi Justice Ministry has announced carrying out death sentences against 13 convicts, most of whom are involved in terrorism.
In a blurb by the media office, the ministry said, "the death sentences against 13 convicts were carried out after fulfilling all legal measures."
"Among the convicts were 11 people who were involved in terrorism; including either booby-trapping vehicles, killing security personnel or abduction," the statement added.
Moreover, the ministry "stressed implementing the provisions of law with being influenced by foreign pressures."
[Jpost] Area in Damascus has been under siege for four years with over 140,000 civilians displaced in fighting.
The Syrian regime is massing troops and armored vehicles to prepare to retake from 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.... the Yarmouk area in southern Damascus, according to local sources and media.
Yarmouk was home to large numbers of Paleostinian refugees before the country’s civil war, but has been under siege by the Syrian regime for many years.
According to al-Masdar News, the Syrian Army has been concentrating forces near Yarmouk in southern Damascus after the regime successfully defeated the rebels in eastern Ghouta.
As part of its campaign in eastern Ghouta, the regime of Bashir al-Assad allegedly used chemical weapons against Syrian rebels, which resulted in air strikes by the US, UK and La Belle France on Saturday. However, some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... the strikes didn’t stop the rebels from leaving eastern Ghouta under an agreement with Damascus that saw them bused to the north of the country.
Now the regime has set its eyes on Yarmouk.
A recent uptick in violence, including exchanges of rocket fire have been reported. According to the recent reports, the Syrian Army has sent its 9th Armored Division, Tiger Forces and Paleostinian units that support Assad to help retake Yarmouk.
Yarmouk was once home to 160,000 Paleostinians, many of whom were the descendants of refugees. It had a lively economy and local culture before the Syrian civil war erupted in 2011. After years of battles, an estimated 140,000 Paleostinians were displaced by the fighting, according to the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... Relief and Works Agency for Paleostine Refugees (UNRWA).
Around 18,000 Paleostinians have remained in Yarmouk, where they have faced conditions bordering on starvation, according to reports.
In 2015, Islamic State took over 60% of Yarmouk and has held it ever since, under a state of siege by the regime. There is also a small pocket of Syrian rebel fighters next to the ISIS held area.
According to the Arabic media site thmnia.com, a front man for UNRWA had issued a statement of concern about the situation in the Yarmouk camp and that it was following the security situation closely. However, some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... in an email to The Jerusalem Post, an UNRWA front man denied that a statement had been issued.
The fate of Yarmouk has made headlines several times over the years. One of the former Paleostinian residents, Aeham Ahmad, recently wrote a book called The Pianist of Yarmouk. ISIS burned Ahmad’s piano in 2015 and he fled to Europe, making the perilous sea journey, eventually securing asylum in Germany.
The Action Group for Paleostinians estimates that 3,685 Paleostinians have been killed in the Syrian conflict and 85,000 have fled the country.
According to several pro-regime Twitter accounts, the assault on Yarmouk will be led by veteran Syrian soldiers from elite units such as the 42nd Brigade of the 4th Mechanized Division, that have played a part in other campaigns against rebel enclaves in recent months. They will also include a group of Paleostinians from the Jerusalem Brigade (Liwa al-Quds) which includes Paleostinians allied with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine (PFLP).
Alwatan, a Syrian media website, included a statement from the director of the political department of the Paleostinian Liberation Organization, Anwar Abdel Hadi, giving a "last warning" to Lions of Islam in Yarmouk. According to the statement, the Syrian regime would likely move against ISIS in the coming days and has sought not to harm civilians. It called on the "militants" to resolve the situation and leave.
This is certainly an innovative approach...But with all the other calls on the European purse, where will they find the funds?
[Jpost] If accepted, the European offer would mean Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, would refrain from any violence against Israel for at least five years.
European groups recently passed on to Hamas a wide-reaching proposition to solve the Humanitarian crises in Gazoo, The Jerusalem Post's sister publication Maariv reported on Monday.
If accepted, Hamas would relinquish armed struggle against Israel for at least five years. In exchange, an EU-created institution would pay the salaries of the Gazoo strip civic administration and run all humanitarian affairs there.
While the concept of connecting together wide-scale humanitarian and financial aid to Gazoo with Hamas rejecting terrorism and violence is not new, this offer is unique for including an assumption of comprehensive authorities by a European body that would operate in the Gazoo strip.
For Hamas, it may be tempting that the financial aid for health, education and developing public administration would come directly from a European body and not via the Paleostinian Authority in the West Bank, currently controlled by the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... , as is currently the practice.
Another important aspect of the European proposal is that it marks a different direction form that of the Paleostinian effort of national reconciliation. The report says that the offer is meant to provide a possible scenario should Abbas make good on his threat to withdraw all support to the Gazoo strip under Hamas. The Hamas negotiation team is reportedly still studying the European offer before responding to it.
It is also possible that the European offer is useful for Hamas as it provides them with one more bargaining chip as negotiations with Abbas, conducted with the help of Egypt, continue with the eventual goal of national Paleostinian reconciliation.
In a round of talks held in the Gazoo strip on Saturday, Hamas refused to the demands made by Abbas and passed on by the Egyptian negotiation team. The demands were that the security, legal and tax collecting powers in the Gazoo strip be handed over to the PA as a condition for national reconciliation.
Hamas also insisted that the Hamas delegation set to meet in Cairo next week to continue the negotiations will be composed of Hamas Political Bureau members residing in Leb and Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... and not those based in the Gazoo strip. It would seem this is Hamas making a statement that matters on the ground, such as the weekly protests along the Israel-Gazoo border, are too pressing to send Gazoo-based staff abroad for negotiations. Hamas has refused to comply with Egyptian requests to halt these protest marches.
[IsraelTimes] Military liaison says sanctioned firms 'aided in transporting Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",gunnies and violent rioters to the border' during recent riots
Israel’s military liaison to the Paleostinians announced sanctions on Monday against 14 Gazook transportation companies that bused protesters to demonstrations on the coastal enclave’s border with Israel that at times turned violent.
The Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of the Government’s Activities in the Territories, Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, said Israel had learned of 14 companies that "aided in transporting Hamas gunnies and violent rioters to the border. As such, sanctions will be imposed on the owners of those companies."
The sanctions come after previous Israeli warnings for Gazook bus companies to refrain from driving protesters to the border.
"As previously reported, COGAT sent notices to the owners of transportation companies in the Gazoo Strip, warning them not to aid in the transport of Hamas gunnies and violent rioters to the Gazoo Strip border with Israel," Mordechai wrote in a statement.
He listed the 14 companies by name in a separate Arabic Facebook post.
Addressing the recent demonstrations on the Gazoo border, Mordechai asserted that "the violent riots that have been taking place are fueled by Hamas and are an attempt to mask terror activities."
Earlier this month, COGAT released a phone recording purporting to show that Hamas, the terror group that rules the strip, had forced drivers to bring protesters to the protest sites.
In the clip of a phone conversation between a COGAT official and a bus company owner, the Israeli security official could be heard warning the Paleostinian against "taking part in terror" by driving Gazooks to the protest as the companies had done the week before.
The driver responded by insisting that he and others had heeded Israeli warnings, but that those who refused to comply with Hamas pressure were jugged Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! and replaced by other drivers willing to ferry Paleostinians to the protests.
"We are not helping. Hamas came, tossed in the clink Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! us, and filed a complaint against us," he contended. "What are we supposed to do in such a situation?"
Hamas said that several owners of bus companies had received the phone calls warning them not to assist in the organization of the protests. The terror group added that Israeli security officers had threatened to take punitive measures against the owners and their companies, including banning them from operating at border crossings with Israel.
[ZeroHedge] Back in March, we detailed how the United States Army M1 Abrams tank, an American third-generation main battle tank, was in the process of being upgraded with an invisible missile shield that will destroy all chemical energy anti-tank threats and other threats before reaching the vehicle. We even said, "that Washington is preparing their main battle tank for the next evolution of hybrid wars."
Known as Trophy, this is the world's first and only fully operational Active Protection System and Hostile Fire Detection System for armored vehicles. This cutting-edge technology will provide M1 Abrams tanks with 360-degree security from all threats, as advanced algorithms are continually detecting, locating, and neutralizing anti-tank threats on the battlefield.
We even noted that the Trophy system was tested thoroughly on select M1A2 tanks in Europe and the Middle East. With much of the testing classified, there were still several unanswered questions surrounding what region(s) of the world the upgrades would go.
However, in a new report on Thursday, the United States Army has decided to deploy the missile shields for M1 Abrams tanks to Europe "as part of a sweeping effort to better arm its Armored Brigade Combat Teams and counter Russian threats in the region," said Warrior Maven, as quoted by Fox News.
"Not only will we be fielding one set of Trophy on Abrams tanks to Europe, but also three other brigades," Maj. Gen. John Ferrari, Director, Program Analysis and Evaluation, G-8, told Warrior Maven in an interview.
"The weapons plus-up for Europe-bound Active Protection System is woven into the 2019 budget request," he added.
The Trophy system employs advanced algorithms that use radar to provide continuous 360-degree protection. The bolt on kit includes four antennas and two rotating launchers mounted on the turret of each tank (see link for the rest)
#4
I hate they describe it as an "Invisible Shield".
It isn't. Detects incoming threats and fires shit at it to destroy it. Same system the Israelis have been using successfully for a couple years. It isn't a force field.
#7
It is so irritating to see non-technical j-school grads try to report something they do not understand at all. Point defense I get. Forcefield? No betterthan a hajji.
[DAWN] At least five Frontier Corps ...a provincial paramilitary force. Total manpower is about 80,000. They are tasked to help local law enforcement in the maintenance of law and order, and to carry out border patrol and a..the Antwerp-based Salafist organization that had campaigned to introduce Sharia law to Belgium before single-handedly making Belgium the highest per capita supplier of jihadis to Syria in Europe. There was a big trial in Antwerp in 2015, but most of those convicted were in absentia...nti-smuggling operations.... (FC) personnel deployed at the Pak-Afghan border were reported martyred while 12 others were maimed in an attack from across the border that started a day earlier, DawnNewsTV reported on Monday.
The attack, which was carried out from the Khost province ... across the border from Miranshah, within commuting distance of Haqqani hangouts such as Datta Khel and probably within sight of Mordor. Khost is populated by six different tribes of Pashtuns, the largest probably being the Khostwal, from which it takes its name... of Afghanistan, targeted a border post in Laka Tika area of Lower Kurram Agency ...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora... , officials of the political administration in Kurram Agency said.
According to MNA Sajid Toori, the skirmishes, which spanned more than 24 hours, also left at least 10 assailants dead and several injured. The bodies of the slain FC troops were recovered after officials from both sides held dialogues, of which MNA Toori and several others were a part of.
The political administration, however, has not yet confirmed the recovery of bodies.
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Mosul (IraqiNews.com) The Nineveh Operations Command has announced killing more that 20 Islamic State members, purging all the border regions, in the wake of infiltration of some militants into the province.
In remarks on Monday, Maj. Gen. Najm al-Jabouri, the commander, said troops “started purging the border regions, west of Nineveh. All the towns there were surrounded. Names of the residents were checked.”
“Security troops managed on Sunday to kill 22 IS members after setting an ambush for them. Information showed they were infiltrating through borders, west of Mosul. All were killed immediately. Their weapons were confiscated,” he added.
Nineveh (Iraqinews.com) – Five Iraqi civilians were killed while 11 others injured as two bombs exploded near a popular market in Mosul city, a security official was quoted as saying.
Captain Saleh Hassan from Iraqi police told the Kuwaiti Al-Aan newspaper that two explosive charges planted by Islamic State militants went off at al-Maash market in western Mosul, 400 km north of Baghdad, leaving five civilians killed and 11 others injured.”
Security forces cordoned off the blast site and prevented passers-by from approaching, Hassan pointed out.
Al-Maash market is deemed as the biggest vegetables market in Nineveh province, where merchants from across Iraq sell their vegetables.
Nineveh (Iraqinews.com) – Iraqi intelligence officers arrested on Monday a terrorist, who was wanted by the judiciary on terrorism-related charges, a police spokesperson was quoted as saying.
In a press statement, a copy of which was obtained by Alghad Press, Spokesman for the Iraqi Security Media Center Brigadier General Yehia Rasool said, “In Nineveh, troops of the 20th division of the Iraqi military intelligence arrested a terrorist at Qayyarah sub-district in Mosul city after receiving accurate intelligence reports on his location,” the statement read.
The terrorist is wanted pursuant to article ¼ of the anti-terror law, added the statement.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/17/2018
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#1
I figured from the title that this would be a TW posting. :-)
[TruePundit] As FBI Director, Robert Mueller awarded BackPage.com CEO Carl Ferrer recognition from the Justice Department and FBI for working in an investigative capacity to assist the FBI.
That award was bestowed on Ferrer and specifically Backpage,com by the FBI in 2011. Mueller, director at the time, signed the award. The citation may have also included a cash reward, FBI sources said.
Ironic especially since Ferrer — previously charged criminally for pimping — was arrested by the FBI last week and plead out to sweeping criminal charges on Thursday.
Last week the FBI seized the embattled BackPage.com website, the Justice Department alleging its founders and employees — including Ferrer — helped traffic underage sex victims, as well launder millions of dollars among other federal charges.
“For far too long, Backpage.com existed as the dominant marketplace for illicit commercial sex, a place where sex traffickers frequently advertised children and adults alike,” U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Thursday. “But this illegality stops right now.”
Sessions harsh statement came after Ferrer pleaded guilty to state and federal charges of conspiracy, money laundering and more. Ferrer likewise agreed to testify in ongoing prosecutions against other Backpage.com owners who are fighting the charges, authorities said.
But it is not the first time Ferrer has agreed to work as a rat for the FBI concerning BackPage.com’s operations. Mueller’s FBI award lists Ferrer as BackPage.com Vice President.
Issued in May 2011, Mueller’s FBI award to Ferrer reads:
“For your outstanding cooperation and assistance in connection with an investigation of great importance. The FBI’s ability to carry out its investigative responsibilities to the American people has been greatly enhanced through your help, and you can be very proud of your valuable contribution to the success achieved.”
[IsraelTimes] An Israeli wheat field near the Gazoo border caught fire after a burning can full of fuel was flown into it on a kite from the coastal enclave, in the third such incident in as many days, the local fire department says.
The fire was quickly extinguished.
Based on the photo at the link, it wasn’t much of a fire, though not for lack of trying.
This method of airborne arson was attempted on Friday, but failed. However, a lie repeated often enough remains a lie... on Saturday and Sunday, Gazooks succeeded in flying kites, to which they’d affixed Molotov cocktails and other incendiary devices, into Israeli territory.
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported tonight that the Syrian Air Defense managed to shoot down at least nine Israeli missiles in the eastern countryside of Homs.
According to the SANA report, the Israeli missiles targeted the Syrian military’s positions Shay’rat Airbase, which was the target for the U.S. strike last year.
However, there's more than one way to stuff a chicken... a source from the Syrian Army told al-Masdar News that the likely target was actually the T-4 Military Airport, as several kabooms were heard in that area.
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian military announced at approximately 1:10 A.M. (Damascus Time), the Israeli Air Force fired several missiles towards the Shay’rat Airbase and its surrounding area in the Homs Governorate.
According to the statement, the Syrian Air Defense managed to intercept several of the missiles, but there was no mention as to whether or not the Israelis scored any direct hits.
This attack by Israel tonight marks the second time in seven days that they have targeted the eastern countryside of the Homs Governorate.
[Jpost] Syrian media and eyewitnesses reported missile, anti-aircraft fire and fighter jets early Tuesday morning.
Syrian media and locals reported air strikes and Syrian air defense launching rockets in response in the early hours of Tuesday.
According to initial reports, the strikes may have targeted al-Sayrat airbase and rural Homs, as well as areas around Damascus.
Days after US-led Arclight airstrikes hit Homs and Damascus on April 14, Syrian Twitter accounts blamed Israel for alleged strikes on Tuesday morning. The first reports emerged around 1:30am. Al Sura Media claimed fighter jets had targeted Syria’s T4 airbase, where Iranian troops are alleged to be present.
Syria’s Sana Ajel news claimed anti-aircraft units responded to an attack in Shayrat airbase near Homs. That was the same airbase the US struck in 2017 in response to a chemical weapons attack at Khan Sheikhoun.
Reports of strikes at Shayrat airbase and areas south of Damascus were dismissed as rumors by some commentators online. Syria's regime is gearing up for a battle with ISIS in Yarmouk in southern Damascus, and some said that the sounds of missiles might be related to that conflict.
However, a hangover is the wrath of grapes... al-Mayadeen and other pro-regime channels showed video of a strange light, which they claimed was part of the airstrikes, hovering in the sky.
The Pentagon said that the US was not involved in any strikes Tuesday morning.
The map [at the link] shows the location of the reported strikes.
Big kabooms were heard near Al Shayrat Air base in Homs province, and in eastern Qalamoun near Damascus where two other air bases are located, the Syrian Observatory for Human rights reported.
Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said missiles did not hit any of the air bases.
Following reports the strike was carried out by Israel, an IDF front man said he was "not aware of such an incident."
Update at 9:15 a.m. EDT. It was a false alarm. See here for details.
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04/17/2018
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[PRESSTV] The Philippines has strongly denounced brutal treatment of a maid by her Saudi boss after the employer allegedly forced her to drink household bleach.
The Philippines Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday that the domestic worker underwent emergency abdominal surgery after she was taken, unconscious, to a hospital in Saudi's southwestern Jizan city on April 2.
"We are working closely with authorities in Jizan to make sure that justice will be given to Agnes Mancilla," the statement read.
The victim is in "serious but stable condition" in hospital and Saudi police have detained her female employer, who has not been named, it noted.
The statement, citing Edgar Badajos, the Philippine consul in the Saudi city of Jeddah, said that Mancilla had worked in 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... since 2016 "but was repeatedly physically abused by her lady employer" who had also failed to pay her salary.
The report is the latest incident of mistreatment of Filipino workers in the Arab monarchies of the Persian Gulf region.
In February, allegations of abuse of domestic workers caused a diplomatic row between the Philippines and Kuwait after President Rodrigo Duterte lashed out at Kuwait, where the body of a murdered Filipino maid was found stuffed in a freezer.
Duterte claimed that Arab employers routinely raped their Filipino workers, forced them to work 21 hours a day, and fed them scraps.
Also in August 2016, a Philippine worker, who was allegedly raped by her Saudi employer, succumbed to her wounds while in a coma. Irma Avila Edloy died at King Salman ...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Lord of Most of the Arabians.... Hospital in the Saudi capital Riyadh due to severe injuries.
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Ministry of Defense (MoD) confirms that a soldier of the Frontier Corps ...a provincial paramilitary force. Total manpower is about 80,000. They are tasked to help local law enforcement in the maintenance of law and order, and to carry out border patrol and a..the Antwerp-based Salafist organization that had campaigned to introduce Sharia law to Belgium before single-handedly making Belgium the highest per capita supplier of jihadis to Syria in Europe. There was a big trial in Antwerp in 2015, but most of those convicted were in absentia...nti-smuggling operations.... of the Pak military has been captured during the festivities from the vicinity of Khost province ... across the border from Miranshah, within commuting distance of Haqqani hangouts such as Datta Khel and probably within sight of Mordor. Khost is populated by six different tribes of Pashtuns, the largest probably being the Khostwal, from which it takes its name... MoD front man Gen. Mohammad Radmanish told news hounds that the clash in Zazai Maidan district hast left at least 14 FC personnel dead and 17 others maimed.
He did not disclose further information in this regard but this comes as the Pak military officials are saying that two Frontier Corps soldiers were killed and five others were maimed after coming under from the Afghan side of the Durand Line.
"FC KP troops fired upon from Afghanistan side in Kurram agency. Troops were carrying out routine surveillance along Pak Afghan border for plugging of gaps and making necessary preparations for starting fencing in that area," the Pak military said in a statement.
The statement further added that "2 FC soldiers martyred and 5 injured. Pak troops are exercising maximum restraint so as to avoid any Afghan civilian casualties. Military engagement is underway to defuse situation."
However, some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... the Afghan officials are claiming that the clash broke out after Pak troops attempted to intrude into the Afghan soil.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Pak military officials are saying that two Frontier Corps ...a provincial paramilitary force. Total manpower is about 80,000. They are tasked to help local law enforcement in the maintenance of law and order, and to carry out border patrol and a..the Antwerp-based Salafist organization that had campaigned to introduce Sharia law to Belgium before single-handedly making Belgium the highest per capita supplier of jihadis to Syria in Europe. There was a big trial in Antwerp in 2015, but most of those convicted were in absentia...nti-smuggling operations.... soldiers were killed and five others were maimed after coming under from the Afghan side of the Durand Line.
"FC KP troops fired upon from Afghanistan side in Kurram agency. Troops were carrying out routine surveillance along Pak Afghan border for plugging of gaps and making necessary preparations for starting fencing in that area," the Pak military said in a statement.
The statement further added that "2 FC soldiers martyred and 5 injured. Pak troops are exercising maximum restraint so as to avoid any Afghan civilian casualties. Military engagement is underway to defuse situation."
However, Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried... the Afghan officials are claiming that the clash broke out after Pak troops attempted to intrude into the Afghan soil.
The provincial government media office of Khost in a statement said the Pak militia forces launched attacks on security posts in Jando Sar and Bad Khawaran areas of Zazai Maidan district at around 8 am on Sunday.
The statement further added that the local residents and security personnel responded to Pak militia forces fire, claiming that some dead bodies of Pak military forces and their weapons were left in the area.
The source also added that two local residents fighting the militia forces also bit the dust during the clash.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A hideout of the ISIS bandidosbandidos krazed killers was targeted in the latest dronezap conducted by the US military in eastern Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province of Afghanistan.
The 201st Silab Corps of the Afghan Military in the East said the Arclight airstrike was carried out in the vicinity of Nazian district.
The source further added that one krazed killer affiliated with the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group was killed in the airstrike.
Nangarhar is among the relatively calm provinces in the East but the anti-government armed krazed killer groups including Taliban ...Arabic for students... and ISIS bandidosbandidos krazed killers have been attempting to expand their foothold in some remote parts of the province during the recent years.
This comes as counter-terrorism operations and airstrikes are underway in different parts of the country against ISIS and other krazed killer and terrorist groups.
The 201st Silab Corps of the Afghan Military in the East said Saturday that the US forces based in Afghanistan carried out a series of airstrikes on ISIS hideouts in Khogyani district.
The source further added that the bandidosbandidos krazed killers were targeted in Zawa area of the district by unmanned aerial vehicles and as a result at least six bandidosbandidos krazed killers were killed.
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Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) One of the people wounded in the attack against a police station, south of Samarra, Salahuddin province, has succumbed to death, making the total death toll rise to four victims, a security source said on Monday.
Speaking to Baghdad Today website, the source said, “one of the security personnel wounded during the attack by Islamic State members against Dalf police station in al-Abbassi region, south of Samarra, succumbed to death, following several attempts to rescue him.”
“The death toll went up reaching four victims, in addition to three wounded people,” the source added.
Earlier today, the source said the attack was carried out by a suicide attacker, wearing suicide belt, and was followed by an armed attack against the police station.
Salahuddin (Iraqinews.com) – Pro-government forces repatriated on Monday 38 displaced families in Samarra city in Iraq, a move which comes as part of the country’s efforts to help all internally displaced people return to their houses.
In a statement, a copy of which was obtained by Alforat News, the media service of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) said, “Troops of the 313th brigade helped a new batch of displaced families, totaling 38, to return to their homes in Haji Hussein village in western Samarra.”
“The families extended thanks to the paramilitary troops for their efforts to remove bombs from their houses and help them get back again to their home regions,” according to the statement.
Salahuddin (Iraqinews.com) – Iraqi intelligence officers arrested on Monday three terrorists, who were wanted by the judiciary on terrorism-related charges, a police spokesperson was quoted as saying.
In a press statement, a copy of which was obtained by Alghad Press, Spokesman for the Iraqi Security Media Center Brigadier General Yehia Rasool said, “Troops of the 7th division of Iraqi military intelligence set an ambush at the southern entrance of Tirkit city in Salahuddin province, managing to arrest three terrorists.”
The three terrorists are wanted pursuant to article ¼ of the anti-terror law, added the statement.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/17/2018
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[IsraelTimes] Senior source reportedly admits strike on airbase to NY Times, says drone incursion into Israel 'opened new period'; Iran: Israel will regret actions, we'll respond 'at right time'
An Israeli military official confirmed Monday that Israel carried out last week’s strike on Iranian forces in a Syrian airbase, the New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... Continued on Page 49
[AlAhram] Egypt's High Administrative Court ordered on Monday that former president Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... 's grandson be allowed to travel abroad.
The court rejected an appeal filed by the State Lawsuits Authority, the legal body which represents the government in judiciary related issues.
The state-affiliated authority challenged a November 2014 decision by the administrative court to suspend a decision barring Omar, the son of Alaa Mubarak, from travelling following an appeal by the ousted president's son.
Mubarak's family was barred from travelling in 2011 pending trial for Mubarak and his sons on charges of illicit gains and tampering with the stock market.
The defendants were convicted and served a three-year prison term for the illicit gains charge. The trial for stock market tampering is still ongoing.
After his ouster in 2011, the former president stood trial in a number of criminal cases on various charges, but received a final conviction in only one corruption case.
Mubarak's sons have been gradually reappearing in the public eye, often being seen in public places around Cairo and holiday getaways.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
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ISIS, Kurds, Gulenists? So many possibilities, and only four arrested.
[Ynet] Dutch prosecutors said on Monday they had tossed in the clink Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! four men suspected of planning an attack on the Ottoman Turkish consulate in Rotterdam.
In a statement, the national prosecutor's office identified the four as Moroccan-Dutch, and evidence of their plot had surfaced from a wiretap of a different man arrested in 2017.
Three of the men are to be brought before a judge this week, while the fourth was arrested in Belgium and will be extradited, prosecutors said.
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[PRESSTV] The political adviser to Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Scourge of Qusayr... has praised Syria’s air defenses for intercepting most of the missiles fired by the US and its allies at the Arab country on Saturday.
Bouthaina Shaaban said in remarks published on the Leb-based al-Mayadeen website that the victory marks the beginning of the end of the American empire.
"The breaking of their evil aggression is the beginning of the vanishing of their empire, which will be replaced by new forces which respects the humanity, illusory sovereignty and safety of peoples," she said.
In the early hours of Saturday, the US, Britannia and La Belle France launched a barrage of missile attacks upon President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... 's order in response to what they claimed a chemical attack in the myrmidon-held town of Douma.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Bouthaina Shaaban = Baghdad Bob after gender reassignment.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/17/2018 9:57
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[DAWN] A man axed his 50-year-old wife to death in Sujawal district, Sindh, on Sunday night reportedly for not preparing dinner on time. I suppose that'll make it on time in the future...
Kori Jatoi was killed by her husband Yar Mohammad Jatoi in Budho Khan Jatoi village. Later the accused surrendered to the police and confessed to committing the crime "Dat's right! I dunnit an' I'm glad!"
"In a fit of anger [for not preparing dinner on time], he attacked his wife and killed her on the spot," Head Muharrar Mushtaq Ali told Dawn. "Could happen to anybody, really."
A first information report of the incident has been registered under Section 302 of Pakistain Penal Code (PPC) against Yar Mohammad, on the complaint of the dear departed Kori Jatoi's brother Sahib Dino.
Posted by: Fred ||
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This could end badly. We seen dis movie.
[Guardian] Scientists have created a mutant enzyme that breaks down plastic drinks bottles ‐ by accident. The breakthrough could help solve the global plastic pollution crisis by enabling for the first time the full recycling of bottles.
The new research was spurred by the discovery in 2016 of the first bacterium that had naturally evolved to eat plastic, at a waste dump in Japan. Scientists have now revealed the detailed structure of the crucial enzyme produced by the bug.
The international team then tweaked the enzyme to see how it had evolved, but tests showed they had inadvertently made the molecule even better at breaking down the PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic used for soft drink bottles.
#5
I read that. It definitely did not end well. As i recall it didn't start well either - something about an airplane dropping ou of the sky for 'no apparent reason'. Amazon link - you can even get it on Kindle..
#10
Actually, from what I gather reading the article, it breaks the plastic down into... well, plastic. Only at its most basic, oily level where it can be made into more plastic stuff. Which should make large scale recycling financially feasible, rather than a pseudo-scam we have right now. So, on the whole, it sounds good.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Afghan cops have thwarted a plot by the anti-government armed hard boy groups to detonate an improvised bomb in Kabul city.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials said a remote-controllied improvised bomb was discovered from the 5th police district of the city before the holy warriors manage to detonate it.
The officials further added that the explosives were planted on a roadside and was successfully defused at around 7 am local time today.
This comes as the Afghan National Police (ANP) forces have thwarted three back to back kabooms in different parts of the capital as part of their ongoing efforts to foil the destructive plots being hatched by the anti-government armed elements.
The CID officials said last week that the kabooms were thwarted in Qarabagh district, 5th and 6th police districts of the city.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[DAWN] An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad indefinitely postponed the hearings of cases against Tehrik-e-Labbaik Pakistain (TLP) chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi and others on Monday.
The ATC, hearing the cases filed against TLP leaders in connection with last year's Faizabad sit-in, postponed the hearings on prosecution's request as police claimed it was investigating the case anew and wanted to file a new charge sheet.
The prosecutor requested the the court to not hold hearings until the new charge sheet is filed, which was accepted by ATC Judge Shah Arjumand.
The move comes in the backdrop of recent negotiations between the Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... government and TLP leaders protesting in Lahore. The organization had called off protests after being assured that the cases against its leadership, including Rizvi and Pir Afzal Qadri, and workers would be dropped, and the Faizabad agreement would be implemented.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[PRESSTV] The UK participated in recent attack on Syria because it was the right thing to do and because US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... asked us to, says British Prime Minister Theresa May.
May made the remarks while addressing parliament on Monday, where she stressed that the strikes were carried out to "further prevent the use of chemical weapons."
"We have not done this because President Trump asked us to do so," she added.
Early on Saturday, the US, Britannia and La Belle France carried out a string of Arclight airstrikes against Syria over a suspected chemical attack against Douma. Washington and its allies blamed Damascus for the suspected assault.
The Syrian government has strongly denied No, no! Certainly not! the allegation, calling on Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to send a fact-finding mission for investigations.
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#1
So this is the counter-propaganda they have chosen to run with. Interesting. Classic FUD.
[DAWN] Two Pak nationals were killed and five others were enjugged You have the right to remain silent... when Iran’s border security forces acted against a group of people allegedly trying to enter into Iran illegally.
Gwadar Assistant Commissioner Jamil Ahmed told DawnNewsTV that the bodies and arrested men were handed over to 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... Levies personnel by Iranian border authorities on border-post 250 located on the Pak-Iran border near Gwadar.
The bodies were shifted to District Headquarters Hospital Gwadar, while the arrested persons were handed over to Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) where a case will be registered against them under the Passport Act.
Officials at the DHQ hospital said the dear departed, identified as Shahzeb Khan and Mohammad Sadiq, belonged to Bannu district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Talks between U.S. and California officials about the duties the California troops would perform soured Friday and over the weekend after state authorities told federal officials that they would not participate in vehicle maintenance and the other jobs The Cali Rules of Engagement must be something else.
outlined for an initial phase across the border in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, the U.S. officials said. The other border-state governors ‐ all Republicans ‐ have openly embraced Trump’s plans. I was surprised when Brown originally agreed to the troops. Less so with this news. Somebody spoiling for a fight?
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy ||
04/17/2018
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#4
So Trump federalizes the California NG, sends in some active duty generals to command. End of problem. First NG person to refuse a lawfulorder is court martialed and sent to Leavenworth. End of second problem.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
04/17/2018 9:25
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#5
San Diego County Board of Supervisors just voted to side with Trump against CA. I'll post it for tomorrow
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/17/2018 17:23
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[Ynet] Security forces enjugged Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! 30 people in the West Bank overnight, suspected of terrorism, popular terrorism and violent riots. Suspects were taken in for questioning.
[IsraelTimes] The Israel Police says it has tossed in the slammer Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! three Paleostinian minors who confessed to hurling Molotov cocktails at IDF soldiers in the central West Bank several days ago. One of the teens has been indicted at the Ofer Military Court, a police statement says.
The police add that during their interrogation of one of the suspects, the minor confessed to buying the materials at a gas station in the Binyamin Regional Council and implicated two other conspirators.
[IsraelTimes] Israeli police arrest two Paleostinian youths from East Jerusalem suspected of burning Israeli flags in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of French Hill. The suspects are residents of East Jerusalem, police say in a statement.
Police say they were called to the area after reports that a number of people were burning flags there, and found the suspects with the charred flags and a lighter "suspected of having been used to commit the crime."
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Nearly three million Iraqis have been repatriated to their home regions, a U.S. agency said as Iraq struggles to recover from war against 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.... USAID’s deputy director in Iraq, William Patterson, was quoted by Alghad Press saying that nearly three million Iraqis returned to their regions, while two million others await.
He stressed that the agency favors a voluntary, rather than forcible, repatriation of those affected.
Ramadi (Iraqinews.com) – Twenty Iraqi civilians were wounded Monday in a grenade attack by a militant on a house in Ramadi city, in central Iraq, a security source was quoted as saying.
“A militant hurled a grenade at a house owned by an Iraqi civilian in central Ramadi city, leaving 20 people wounded,” the source told Knooz Media news website.
“All the injured were moved to a nearby hospital for treatment, and security forces launched a manhunt in search of the attacker, who fled to an unknown location,” the source said.
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi security services have announced confiscating a facility that was used as a hospital by Islamic State group as well as a number of tunnels and a training camp during operations in Anbar province, the Security Media Center said on Monday.
“Security troops of Al-Jazeera Operations Command managed, during operations north of Rawa and Qaim toward Nineveh and Salahuddin, to seize a hospital that was used by IS in Tamasha region, a rest house and a tunnel in al-Dabashi region. Several tunnels were found in Um al-Wohoush region,” the center said in a statement.
Moreover, the forces, according to the statement, “destroyed an old camp for the militants and arrested four suspects.”
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least thirty seven Death Eaters were killed and seven others were maimed in joint Arclight airstrikes conducted in the outskirt of Farah city.
The 207th Zafar Corps of the Afghan Military in the West said the airstrikes were jointly conducted by the Afghan and US forces in response to a coordinated Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... attack.
The source further added that dozens of Taliban holy warriors launched a coordinated attack on security posts in the outskirts of the city at around 2 am that lasted until 6 am in the morning.
According to Zafar Corps, the airstrikes were carried out around 3 am local time to suppress the murderous Moslems.
Several key commanders of the Death Eaters including Mullah Ibrahim ‐ leading a group of 40 Lion of Islams, Hafiz Niaz Mohammad ‐ leading of 30 murderous Moslems, Haji Basir commander of 20 Death Eaters and Saleh Moammad who was in charge of a group of at least 10 Death Eaters were among those killed.
At least one Afghan policeman also lost his life during the festivities and two others were maimed, the Zafar Corps added.
In another incident in Bala Bolok district, at least two key commanders of the Taliban group identified as Mullah Abdul Qayoum and Hesamuddin were killed, according to Zafar Corps.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2018
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[DAWN] Eight men accused of raping and murdering an eight-year-old girl pleaded not guilty "Wudn't me." on Monday to the horrific crime that has sparked revulsion and brought thousands to India's streets in protest.
Four police and a Hindu temple custodian are among those accused of gang raping and killing a Moslem girl from a poor tribe in Jammu and Kashmire state where the highly-charged case has stoked long-simmering religious tensions.
The accused men appeared in court in the city of Kathua on Monday for the first time since being tossed in the clink Book 'im, Mahmoud! in February for the girl's murder.
Ankur Sharma, a lawyer for the accused, said the men had pleaded not guilty and were willing to take a lie-detector test. The court adjourned the case for procedural reasons, he added.
"The court has directed that chargesheet copies should be provided to all the accused. The next date of hearing is April 28," Sharma told news hounds.
The girl was kidnapped, drugged and raped over five days at the Hindu temple in January before being strangled and bludgeoned with a rock.
The case ignited moral outrage and mass demonstrations across India after details of her gruesome death were made public by police last week.
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04/17/2018
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[RADIOSHABELLE] The UAE has decided to disband its military training programme in Somalia which started in 2014 to build the capabilities of the Somali army.
The decision comes in response to Somali security forces’ seizure of a UAE-registered civil aircraft at Mogadishu Airport and confiscation of money destined to pay the soldiers.
The UAE and Somalia are bound by historical relations based on mutual respect and the UAE Forces had carried out a number of training missions for thousands of Somalis to build up their capabilities.
In addition, the UAE has been paying the salaries of 2407 Somali soldiers and built three training centres, a hospital, and dispatched Emirati medical teams for treating Somalis.
The UAE is supervising the counter-piracy maritime police force in Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... where the UAE has been effectively contributing to leveraging the capacities of the Somali military and security facilities while supporting efforts to fight terrorism in collaboration with a number of international parties and the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... ’s forces in Somalia.
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04/17/2018
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Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)
#1
Did that plane with the UAE 'trainers' and their heavy bags of gold ever get off the ground?
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Afghan military has launched a major operation in Zazai Maidan of Khost and Dand Pathan of Paktia province in the southeastern parts of the country.
The 203rd Thunder Corps of the Afghan Military in the Southeast said the operation "Fatah" was launched earlier today in the two provinces.
The source further added that the security personnel from all the institutions participate in the operations besides the personnel of the 203rd Atal Corps.
The commander of the 203rd Thunder Corps Gen. Shahoor Gul is leading the operations, according to a statement released by the Thunder Corps.
The operation in Zazai Maidan was launched a day after a shootout broke out between the Afghan and Pak forces.
The provincial government media office of Khost in a statement said the Pak militia forces launched attacks on security posts in Jando Sar and Bad Khawaran areas of Zazai Maidan district at around 8 am on Sunday.
The statement further added that the local residents and security personnel responded to Pak militia forces fire, claiming that some dead bodies of Pak military forces and their weapons were left in the area.
The source also added that two local residents fighting the militia forces also bit the dust during the clash.
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04/17/2018
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[ALMASDARNEWS] At approximately 10:45 P.M. (Sana’a Time), 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 ... forces fired a ballistic missile towards Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... ’s Najran ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , a city in southwestern Saudi Arabia near the border with Yemen. It is the capital of Najran Province and a favored target of Houthirocket forces.... region in the southern part of this Gulf kingdom.
According to official media wing of the Houthi forces, their rocket battalion fired a Badr-1 ballistic missile towards the Najran electrical station near the northern border of Yemen.
No details were released regarding the fate of the missile.
Tonight’s attack by the Houthi forces marks the fourth time in the last seven days that their rocket battalion has fired a ballistic missile at a Saudi military or government site.
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04/17/2018
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Top|| File under: Houthis
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The dean of the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law is defending protesters who disrupted a speaking event by aggressively heckling a conservative professor.
[Forbes] When Mark Zuckerberg appeared before the House Energy and Commerce Committee last week in the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica revelations, he tried to describe the difference between "surveillance and what we do." "The difference is extremely clear," a nervous-looking Zuckerberg said. "On Facebook, you have control over your information... the information we collect you can choose to have us not collect."
[Daily Caller] Former MSNBC host Ed Schultz put the mainstream media on blast in a podcast on Monday, saying that "the fix was in" for Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
[Daily Caller] A cop killer received a check for over $15,000 from a North Carolina county court in early April for a land deal, according to a Saturday report.
[GatesOfVienna] Last Friday, a brave Afghan attacked employees of a bakery in Fulda and police officers with stones and a baton, wounding them; some seriously.
[PRESSTV] One person has been reportedly killed and several others injured after members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) clashed with the police in the capital Abuja.
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Paleostine
[Guardian] Russia and the Syrian regime have been accused by western diplomats of denying chemical weapons inspectors access to sites in the town of Douma, where an attack killed dozens and prompted US-led missile strikes over the weekend.
[ALMASDARNEWS] Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry had said that Syrian air defenses intercepted 71 of more than 100 missiles that the United States, the United Kingdom, 
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
[ZeroHedge] Back in March, we detailed how the United States Army M1 Abrams tank, an American third-generation main battle tank, was in the process of being upgraded with an invisible missile shield that will destroy all chemical energy anti-tank threats and other threats before reaching the vehicle. We even said, "that Washington is preparing their main battle tank for the next evolution of hybrid wars."
Kurram Agency
[Al Jazeera] James Comey says US president treats women like 'meat' and there is 'certainly some evidence of obstruction of justice'.
As FBI Director, Robert Mueller awarded BackPage.com CEO Carl Ferrer recognition from the Justice Department and FBI for working in an investigative capacity to assist the FBI.
...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Lord of Most of the Arabians....
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[DAWN] A man axed his 50-year-old wife to death in Sujawal district, Sindh, on Sunday night reportedly for not preparing dinner on time.
[DAWN] Eight men accused of raping and murdering an eight-year-old girl 
