Please click all articles submitted after 2 pm ET for the next day, unless it reports a major terror attack in progress. This article does not have that kind of urgency.
--trailing wife for the moderators at 9:50!pm ET
The highlights:
* 'Screw the next generation' and 'Harry Reid's a pompous a**': Democratic congressman writes Anonymous tell-all book slamming 'nation of naive, self-absorbed sheep' as he admits he never reads bills he votes on
* 'My main job is to keep my job, to get reelected. It takes precedence over everything,' an anonymous member of Congress writes in a new book
* 'Voters are incredibly ignorant and know little about our form of government and how it works,' he writes
* 'It's far easier than you think to manipulate a nation of naive, self-absorbed sheep who crave instant gratification'
* The author is a Democrat in Congress who laid out his complaints to a long-time friend and former Capitol Hill staffer who edited them into a book
* 'The Confessions of Congressman X' will be released May 24 by a small Minnesota-based 'vanity press' publisher
#5
The Progressives banked their political power with an alliance of special interest groups. Trump has simply exploited the opportunity to united the largest potential special interest group that both party establishments have shunned or ignored way too long.
#8
What Darth sez. Bottom line is the ave American is not stupid. The ave American is about raising their families. In the words of a former president "Its the economy Stupid"
h/t Instapundit
Our ruling class's forceful exaltation of the persons, proclivities, and symbols by which it defines itself, along with its pretense that its preferences trump reality, defeat themselves by their absurdity. That absurdity stems from its members' conceit about who they are.
...There is a sense in which the ruling icons of political correctness--lesser Americans are racist, sexist, religiously bigoted, and infested by pathologies for which they must make amends--are petty partisanship meant to squeeze the last drops of voter participation out of the Democratic Party's habitual constituencies. But our Progressive rulers' partisanship is more. It is identity politics waged as war.
...We may also remember 2016 as the year in which Progressives dropped pretenses about asserting the rise of their class as world history's main event, that all concerning the clash of empires and civilizations must be judged by its relevance to themselves.
...Why also, for example, do our rulers force schoolchildren to recite Islam’s act of submission, order male soldiers to walk around in pink high heels and wear simulated female breasts; why do they lecture others on how ashamed they should be of their "white privilege"; why do they proscribe common words and prescribe others in their stead, etc. ad nauseam?
Surely these impositions are not attempts to turn inferiors into equals by persuading them. Progressives view those outside their class not as fellow citizens who are capable of being persuaded into equality with them, but rather as a herd to be prodded into alienation from their irremediably flawed natures and affections. But why do that? To what end?
The answer is one of mankind’s oldest stories. Confessing other people’s sins (real or imagined) and inflicting punishment on them has ever been human beings’ preferred path to feeling good about themselves. The more fault I find and the more penance I impose on thee, the holier I am than thou. The worse you are, the better I am and the more power I should have over you.
Because feeling better about one’s self by denigrating and punishing others is an addictive pleasure the appetite for which grows with each satisfaction, victories can never satiate those who wage identity politics as war. The insatiability of their need to bolster self-esteem at others’ expense is the reason why our rulers must trump every imposition with another, without end.
#1
The addiction / compulsion to always build oneself up at the expense of denigrating & punishing others has been described by the term 'megalothymia'. Lots of that going around.
h/t Instapundit
A fit of high dudgeon has gripped many of my Republican friends, ex-friends, and soon-to-be-ex-friends now that Donald Trump has all but won the Republican nomination. My advice to them: get over it. This presidential race will look like Alien vs. Predator. I'm for Predator, without a second's hesitation, because he's our Predator. For all his faults Donald Trump would be (and I'm confident will be) an incomparably better president.
I'm not pleased about the outcome of the primaries. I supported Ted Cruz and helped out in his campaign with economic research and news analysis. Yes, Trump is a vulgarian with poor impulse control. I don't like him and find his vulgarity objectionable and his insulting remarks about Mexicans (for example) deplorable. The mother of my children is Mexican, and I take this sort of thing personally. If I ever have the opportunity I will give Trump a black eye.
But there's a war on--three different wars, in fact. To remain neutral is moral cowardice; to choose the wrong side would be downright wicked.
Russia is the last redoubt of the nasty old European nationalism that gave us so much conflict in the past. It is not a revived Soviet empire seeking to conquer the world, but a come-from-behind spoiler, burning with resentment at its would-be relegation to the scrapheap of former great powers.
It seems that there's quite a bit of recycling going on in the former world power game. Think Persia, Turkey, Russia, China.. All former big time players in the world looking to be reborn.
The only two on the scrap heap for sure are the UK and Rome.
#4
US headed to scrap heap the same way Rome did. Rotting from the inside, discarding what made the US powerful. Strong individualism. US is becoming collectivist by socialism Bernie progressivism Clinton/Trump or by populism Trump
h/t Instapundit
A Daily Caller News Foundation investigation reveals that Bill and Hillary Clinton received at least $100 million from autocratic Persian Gulf states and their leaders, potentially undermining Democratic presidential candidate Hillary's claim she can carry out independent Middle East policies.
#2
Be sure not to build the fences too high - don't want anyone to get hurt climbing over it. Oh, and if they steal from you, that's ok, because they need it.
By popular demand, Angolan authorities have taken pre-emptive action and decided to ban the Muslim religion, which they consider a cult, NOT a religion. They see what Muslims are doing to non-Muslims, especially in Africa, and are taking steps to prevent the same from happening in Angola. In early October 2013, the Muslims living in Luanda in the municipality of Viana Zango were shocked to see the minaret of their mosque dismantled into pieces on the ground without permission. On Thursday 03 October in the morning, the Angolan authorities decided to destroy the mosque Zango located in the urban district of Viana 17 km. The governor of Luanda Bento announced in a radio spot that radical Muslims are not welcome in Angola and the Angolan government is not ready for the legalization of mosques in Angola.
And on Tuesday, November 19, the Minister of Culture, Rosa Cruz e Silva said. "Regarding Islam, the legalization process has not been approved by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. Therefore all mosques would be closed until further notice. " It should be noted that the Angolan government has made closing of all mosques a priority. The only two mosques located in Luanda have already received a warning document signed by the mayor of the municipality of Viana JosĂŠ Moreno.
The provincial governor of Luanda, Bento Bento, said on the airwaves of local radio that "radical Muslims are not welcome in Angola and the Angolan government is not ready for the legalization of mosques." Minister of Culture, Rosa Cruz e Silva explained that the law on freedom of religion will be reviewed given the current national context , noting that the Government will redouble its efforts to fight relentlessly against religious cults like Islam which are contrary to the customs
#3
It is more or less true because Angola governement does not recognize religions with low number members. In Angola Islam is almost inexistant but there is also a governemnt and a culture that don't like Islam and what is happening.
Western World sick marxist rationalizations don't happen there.
I'm trying to figure out how this should not result in a declaration of war, besides the fact we're talking about Europe...
Confirming precisely that, was a warning by Burhan Kuzu, a high-ranking deputy for Turkey’s ruling AKP party and former adviser to President Erdogan, who said that Ankara will send migrants back to the EU if the European Parliament won’t grant visa-free travel to Turkish citizens. Kuzu made several statements on Twitter in anticipation of Wednesday’s session of European parliament, at which visa exemption for Turkish nationals in the Schengen zone, as part of a migrant deal between Brussels and Ankara, was to be discussed.
"The European Parliament will discuss the report that will open Europe visa-free for Turkish citizens. If the wrong decision is taken, we will unleash the refugees!" in what was an unmistakable threat.
#1
It gets better - Turkey is demanding the Euros turn over the €3 billion that the European Union pledged to help refugees in Turkey directly to the Turkish government rather than disbursing it through NGOs, as agreed upon.
#4
Greece is not up to the job. But, the third Rome already shown an interest---if not in outright conquest (at least in present), then in teaching Johnny Turk a lesson.
[IBD] Oil jumped Wednesday after the Energy Information Administration reported a surprise drop in crude inventories.
The EIA reported a draw of 3.4 million barrels last week. Late Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, said U.S. crude inventories rose by 3.45 million barrels, and analysts were expecting a build.
The EIA also said domestic production dipped to 8.805 million barrels a day from 8.825 million barrels the prior week.
Brent crude climbed rose 4.6% to $47.60 per barrel, and U.S. crude jumped 3.5% to 46.23. Oil had fallen earlier in the day as production resumed in Canada’s tar sands after a massive fire halted operations for a week. Gasoline futures shot up 6%.
Exxon Mobil (XOM) fell 1.3% on the stock market today. Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) and BP (BP) were virtually unchanged. Chevron (CVX) shares dipped 0.1%.
Meanwhile Iranian oil exports have come on stronger than analysts first expected, hitting 700,000 barrels per day from presanction levels in April, according to Helima Croft, chief commodity strategist at RBC Capital Markets, quoted in a report from MarketWatch.
#2
Doesn't matter so far as my job (Dead) goes. The gulf is dead for the next 2-3 years. It'll take consistent high prices for a while for the gulf to open back up.
[Fox News Bret Baier] A member of the U.S. Air Force, who was stationed in Italy during the 2012 Benghazi attacks, insisted Wednesday that the U.S. could have done more to help the four Americans who died that night.
"I definitely believe that our aircraft could have taken off and got there in a timely manner, maybe three hours at the most, in order to...at least stop that second mortar attack and have those guys running for the hills, and basically save lives that day," the man, who chose not to reveal his identity, said on Fox News’ "Special Report."
The man also shot down the military’s claim that a refueling tanker was not available at the time, claiming the excuse was invalid because U.S. jets frequently refuel using a "hot pit maneuver," allowing jets to touch down to get fuel without turning their engines off.
According to him, the military had multiple opportunities to help the four fallen Americans.
"As far as I’m concerned," he said, "we’re the world’s greatest Air Force. When we need something done and we need to save some American lives, we’re gonna get it done. They just kept telling me ’We’re waiting on a call, we’re waiting on the call."
The man, who said he did not want to hurt the military in any way, said he still feels guilty for not flying to Libya that September night.
"We could have been there, and that’s the worst part," he lamented. "That’s a horrible feeling to have, when you can help someone, especially when you don’t even find out until later, and you hear that people actually died."
Fox News got taken out to lunch on this one, and allow me to explain why.
It would have taken at least 90 minutes to two hours to get two birds properly configured for the 1,034 mile trip between Aviano and Benghazi, and that would have meant overlooking a fairly good sized chunk of The Book. This is JUST loading (20mm and AIM-9 ONLY - if you want any kind of air-to-ground munitions, add another hour or three to the time), fueling, and preflight checks - I will assume the aircrew could have been briefed en route. But even then it would have taken at least another two - three hours just to get there at any speed that would not have required scrambling a tanker into the mix.
First, we have to hang the targeting pods on the birds, and we've now just added a bit more time to the frag, not to mention the added time to build the PGMs in the first place - either guided bombs or AGM-65s (you are going to HAVE to send two of each - you don't dare assume that the first one won't crap out on you) need to be assembled and checked out before hanging, then transported out to the line, mated with the aircraft, and then checked out again. (BTW, we don't just have assembled bombs lying around for quick upload - the components stay properly and safely stored until needed lest the weather and human nature make them unusable.)
Second, the added weight has now increased our fuel usage, and we were cutting it close in the first place. Hopefully we can have a tanker or two on station as they come back. Either way, they aren't going to have enough fuel for more than one or two passes - but only if they fly slowly enough that they won't get there in time to do anything. And let's get that 'hot pit refueling' crap outta the way right now - hot pit is a absolutely real procedure for refueling/rearming a bird with minimum delay...but it requires them to LAND. Last time I looked, there were no bases in the Mediterranean Sea for them to land ON.
Third, collateral damage rears its ugly head. I don't think the 250 lb SDB is on the Lawndart yet, so that means at the very least a Mk82 500 lb weapon...with a 2000 ft danger zone from point of impact. Unless that mortar is in an open field with a half-mile on either side of it, we're hurting things we don't want to hurt. And as has been pointed out there was no direct contact between the guys on the ground and the Lawndart drivers.
So, once they get to Benghazi, close to or slightly past bingo fuel, the F-16s have only seconds to orient themselves, pick up the laser, and then drop, and all of that assumes everything works perfectly.
The reality of it is that unless there were armed and ready aircraft with tankers on station, there was little if anything we could have done. This story does nothing but embarrass Fox News and cloud the issue even further. I have no sympathy for the morons who allowed Benghazi to happen, but stories like this don't make it any better.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
05/12/2016 5:48
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#4
Mike. Sounds as if you're positing birds just coming from the factory with the cosmoline still fresh. Is that how they--every last one of them--stored?
Back in the day when I had the misfortune to be in Air Defense, we had an accidental genuine alert. The firing batteries were up faster than the surprise alerts--which featured guys sleeping soundly at zero-two in boots and field jackets. Of course, our parents had been adults on Dec 7, so there may be a difference.
So, are you telling us that every F16 stands bare, empty, and clean? Every last one?
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
05/12/2016 7:58
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#5
Richard,
Sadly, that is the case. It is likely that Aviano would have 2-4 birds cocked for air intercept alert, but AIM-9, AIM-120, and 20mm would have been useless in any effort to save the men on the ground. Now, if they had birds dragged for CAS - CBUs, AGM-65s, etc - that would be one thing. But there's no evidence that there were. As far as Aviano was concerned, it was just another day.
Also wanted to mention something I left out of my first post - even if the troops performed a miracle in getting the birds ready, they weren't going anywhere unless and until the Italians signed off on it. Remember that the Italians put vehicles on the runway to keep us from getting away with the bad guys after the Achille Lajro intercept.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
05/12/2016 9:05
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#6
I will bet that under President DJ Trump, the Italians will block our military aircraft from using runways in Italy exactly ONCE.
That is the same ONCE as the number of times that any randomly selected naval vessel can serve as a minesweeper.
#8
Mike. When I was in ADA--Herc--as S1, a terrible place for a simple but honest grunt, our commander told us from time to time that his staff's job was to find out how he could do what he wanted to do, not why he couldn't.
If it had been our command team at Aviano, and in the hustle and bustle, young Aubrey had forgotten to call his Italian counterpart to tell him all about it, it probably wouldn't have counted against me on my next OER.
Some of the reports had it that the requests were for, at least, a flyover, presumably going burner at 200 ft. Might have worked.
20mm is kind of surgical, all things considered.
There was a report that one of the ground guys was using a laser designator which, younger types tell me, you don't do unless you have comms with somebody ready to shoot for you.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
05/12/2016 12:11
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#9
Fascinating insight into the complexities of the Aviano response, my bigger question is what other response options Africom or the 5th fleet had?
#10
I understood that the gentleman was using a laser designator to fool the miscreants into thinking that they were being targeted.
Kept the 'Red Team' pinned down for a while I was told. Our guy was trying to buy some time.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
05/12/2016 14:26
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#11
5th Fleet, or any Carrier Battle Group would typically have a couple of go-fasters on the Alert 30 status; along with a recovery tanker; so it seems likely that at least a fly over could have been done to mark time until properly loaded birds arrived.
#14
and nobody anticipated that on a certain anniversary, elements of "Kill those F*ckers" might need to be armed, loaded, ready-crewed? I find that totally believable with the Regime and Hillary!, but our military should have better planning based in reality, not Obama-Reality
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/12/2016 20:25
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#15
Unfortunately, FP is now run by politics, not reality and that is what we must prepare ourselves for.
You do not have 400 NSC members unless you want nothing to get done.
[Daily Caller] German authorities are investigating 40 cases where Islamic militants are suspected of entering the country as refugees.
The BKA, Germany’s federal bureau of investigation, has 369 warnings about possible extremists since the migrant crisis broke out in 2015. A BKA spokeswoman said Wednesday 40 individuals are now under investigation, which represents a doubling from the 18 investigations it conducted in January.
The possibility of terrorists taking advantage of the migrant crisis has been a concern among many Germans after the country decided to let in more than one million refugees in 2015. The BKA has now received credible indications that terrorists are in fact being smuggled into Germany in an organized fashion. (RELATED: Poland Won’t Accept Any More Refugees Over Terror Threat)
"German security officials have indications that members and supporters of terrorist organizations are being smuggled in with refugees in a targeted, organized way in order to launch attacks in Germany," the BKA spokeswoman said.
[Wash Times] In a White House often accused of being stacked with loyalists, President Obama’s national security adviser said Wednesday there are too many white people in key government posts, endangering national security because they think alike.
Speaking at Florida International University’s commencement, Susan E. Rice, who is black, said a diversified government workforce is more likely to yield "better outcomes" than a predominantly white one.
Referring to criticism that the U.S. national security workforce is "white, male and Yale," Ms. Rice told the graduates, "In the halls of power, in the faces of our national security leaders, America is still not fully reflected."
"By now, we should all know the dangers of ’groupthink,’ where folks who are alike often think alike," she said. "By contrast, groups comprised of different people tend to question one another’s assumptions, draw on divergent perspectives and experiences, and yield better outcomes."
Her comments were reminiscent of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who said in a speech in 2001, before Mr. Obama appointed her to the high court, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life."
Ms. Rice elaborated in her speech on how having more minorities in the national security field would better protect the homeland.
#1
Ms. Rice elaborated in her speech on how having more minorities in the national security field would better protect the homeland.
Oh yeah, like you've been doing such a bang-up job on that front yourself, honey - your own performance these past couple of years is a convincing refutation of your own argument. Now fuck off.
#5
YOU, all of YOU in this administration should be thrown in prison.
Not a one of you are worth a shit.
Gallows were made for useless people that abused power like you.
Do you have any idea how many people have died just because you stupid useless assholes breathed and took the place of professionals?
No. And you do not care. But GOD Does and that is all that will matter in the end.
You need to quietly close up shop and find a place to quietly die. Period.
Keep spouting off and I will have to say a bad prayer and you don't want that.
#6
We tried Affirmative Action Government and ended up with Obama, the worse president in history and, of course, Mrs. Rice herself - the liar of Benghazi.
#7
"I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life."
Would that involve teaching me how to make better tacos?
#8
She was implying that Colin Powell and Condie Rice performed better than the current self aggrandizing do nothing for anyone push overs. Withdraw & activate Iran is not a difficult policy to execute but it failed. States have interests unfortunately and peace is not at hand in Syris nor anywhere. What were the achievements? Her memoirs are unlikely to sell here nor even Europe. That will be the only downside. Harvard or Princeton appointments are in the wings. Why? Well FP is improved when diverse voices are heard? Really?
#10
Considering that 95% of African Americans vote straight democrat I think the common thinking and race stereotype is more of an issue for people like Susan Rice..
#11
In 1995-6 Rice was in a position to capture Bin Laden. She passed on the deal. Since then, the Democrats have continued to reward her despite her all too obvious mediocrity.
#14
Is she suggesting: (1) whites got jobs over more qualified black candidates and that must change (2) that the government should hire extra black candidates despite the need to increase the numbers? (3) Or that we should have less qualified people in jobs as long as the colors are in the correct proportion.
I suspect 3 but I'd love to see someone ask her to sort hat out. I'd also like to see stats on "a diversified government workforce is more likely to yield "better outcomes" than a predominantly white one." which is a liberal truism but I'm not sure it is supported by data.
#15
I seem to recall that the demographic breakdown of the federal workforce is already disproportionately minority represented. Doesn't that give lie to her silly presumption?
#16
Since then, the Democrats have continued to reward her despite her all too obvious mediocrity.
You're mistaken. Democrats reward her because of her mediocrity.
Posted by: One Eyed Big Foot1131 ||
05/12/2016 17:12
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#17
Problem is not "white male, yale". White does not matter, love of country does matter and non white families do not value patriotism as widely as white ones do, simple fact. Male because that is who has the most experience in combat and command, females do not. Problem is not white not male, problem is YALE. Elitists. Put state university in there.
Posted by: Pearl Jones3061 ||
05/12/2016 22:30
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Iranian troops will be heading to the Damascus suburb of Ghouta to fight against Syrian rebels, while Russian forces prepare for an attack on Aleppo, a Syrian opposition figure revealed on Wednesday.
Asaad Al-Zoubi, who heads the Syrian opposition delegation in Geneva, said 3000 Iranian troops will be sent to eastern Ghouta as part of a Russian plan to "distract" Syrian rebel forces.
During an interview with Al Arabiya’s sister news channel Al Hadath, Al-Zoubi said the plan was leaked to the opposition by a spy from within the Syrian regime.
He also said the plan consists of sending more troops from Iran, the Syrian government and the Lebanese krazed killer group Hezbollah to northern Ghouta.
Russian forces will be heading to Aleppo, via Russia's Hmeimim airbase in Syria.
A local truce took effect in Aleppo last Thursday after a surge in fighting in the city killed more than 300 people and threatened to unravel a nationwide ceasefire between government forces and non-jihadist rebels in force since February.
The truce has led to a sharp reduction in the corpse count. Rebel rocket fire on government neighborhoods killed three civilians on Sunday but otherwise it has largely held.
It has been extended twice after 11th-hour diplomatic intervention by the major powers but there was no immediate word of any new extension ahead of Wednesday's expiry time.
Moscow and Washington pledged on Monday to redouble efforts to shore up the nationwide truce and reach a political settlement to the conflict which has killed more than 270,000 people in Syria since 2011.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2016
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[DAWN] WITH Wednesday’s hanging of Motiur Rahman Nizami ...During the liberation war of 1971, Nizami formed the Al-Badr Force and acted as its supreme commander. The Al-Badr militia took active part in rape, extortion, looting and killing of Bangladeshis who supported the liberation, including a pre-planned massacre on December 14, 1971, when the Al-Badr militia along with Pakistan Army rounded up hundreds of doctors, professors, writers, and other Bengali intellectuals, and executed them... , the number of prominent opposition leaders executed in Bangladesh has risen to five, four of them belonging to the Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... and the fifth one to the main opposition Bangladesh National Party headed by former prime minister the loathesome Khaleda Zia
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Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2016
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(IraqiNews.com) Diyali – A security source in Diyali province said on Wednesday, that two persons had been injured in a bomb blast that took place northeast of Baqubah.
The source, who requested anonymity, said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “In the late hours of yesterday, an explosive device that was emplaced on the road side near the village of al-Jizaniy (32 km northeast of Baqubah) went off while a taxi was passing in [the area], resulting in the injury of two persons that were inside it.”
The source also added, “A security force cordoned off the area of the incident and transferred the injured to a nearby hospital for medical treatment.”
(IraqiNews.com) Diyali – A security source in Diyali province said on Wednesday, that five civilians had been either killed or injured in a mortar shell fall south of Baqubah.
The source said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “In the late hours of yesterday, five mortar shells fell near residential houses in the vicinity of Bahraz (8 km south of Baqubah), resulting in the death of two civilians and wounding three others.”
The source also added, “The security authorities set up a committee of inquiry to look into the circumstances of the bombing.”
PESHAWAR: At least three people were killed and 11 others injured, including five Levies personnel, during an alleged exchange of fire between security officials and protesters in in Parachinar area of Kurram Agency on Wednesday, it has been learnt.
Clash occurred when the security officials tried to disperse the protesters who had blocked main Parachinar highway against the political administration's decision of not allowing entry to two scholars for attending a religious gathering.
Allama Ejaz Behashti and Pir Muqaddas Kazmi where were invited by a local religious group to attend the seminar on Tuesday. However, local administration barred their entry in Kurram Agency citing security concerns, sources said.
This move enraged the local people and they staged a protest against Kurram Agency's political administration and blocked the main highway.
Frontier Corps commander Lt Col Yasir Bashir said that security forces along with local police tried to disperse the mob peacefully but the situation turned violent when people in the mob opened fire on security officials injuring five Levies personnel.
In the exchange of fire three people were also killed, he added. "We are investigating the matter and have so far arrested 47 suspects," the FC commander said.
The local administration while confirming the death toll and casualties, maintained that the protesters resorted to violence and opened fire upon the law enforcers, which compelled them to use force against the protesters.
Sources in the local administration added that the cleric's entry was banned keeping in view past incidents of sectarian violence in the area during such programmes.
Kurram is the only part of Pakistan's border region that has a significant Shia population and has a history of sectarian violence.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Human Rights Watch ... During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, HRW received a pledge from the Foundation to Promote Open Society, of which George Soros is Chairman, for general support totaling $100,000,000. The grant is being paid in installments of $10,000,000 over ten years.Through June 30, 2013, HRW had received $30,000,000 towards the fulfillment of the pledge.... (HRW) has urged the Afghan government to halt further execution of holy warriors convicted of terror offences.
The New York-based rights organization said executions by hanging of six Taliban prisoners on May 8, 2016, were the first capital sentences carried out by President Ashraf Ghani
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05/12/2016
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Some Chinese state-owned entities, backed by the key government agency that oversees major state industrial companies, have adopted a controversial defense when they face US lawsuits: You can’t touch us because we enjoy sovereign immunity.
Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), China’s biggest state-owned aerospace and defense company, has used the strategy twice, while state-owned China National Building Materials Group Co (CNBM), a state-owned building products company, successfully used it in a case involving allegations that Chinese-made drywall led to health problems for US homeowners.
China’s Foreign Ministry in October complained to the US government over attempts by plaintiff lawyers to serve the drywall lawsuit on the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), which is responsible for 106 government-owned enterprises with 4.7 trillion yuan ($722 billion) in assets, including CNBM and AVIC. The ministry argued in a diplomatic note that US courts have no jurisdiction over suits against a country’s "state-owned properties."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2016
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Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
05/12/2016 8:54
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#3
Granting this would.give them a hell of a.competitive.advantage against US Companies. We're.creating a world.where third.world state owned entities.can create and compete but private Western ones can't and calling it capitalism and free trade.
[Intl Bus Times] Donald Trump has sparked rumours he will visit Israel before the US presidential election as advisers look to improve his image abroad and further his foreign policy credentials. The billionaire tycoon cancelled a planned trip to the country in December shortly after calling for a ban on Muslims entering the YS.
The comments led to condemnation from around the world and prompted a strongly worded statement from Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump said at the time he would postpone his visit to Israel until after the US presidential election.
But a recent report in the Ma'ariv daily ‐ which cited a close adviser to Trump ‐ claimed the presumptive GOP nominee was now planning a visit to Israel, Russia and Germany shortly after securing the nomination at the Republican convention in July.
Trump's campaign initially denied the report, but in a subsequent interview in Israel Hayom Trump appeared to confirm the trip. "I heard you are going to visit us soon, before the election?" the paper's Boaz Bismuth asked. "Yes ‐ I will be coming (to Israel) soon," Trump responded.
He added: "I just want to say that my support for Israel is great and strong, and I have always loved the Israeli nation. I have many friends in Israel. We will ensure that the situation in Israel will be very good, and will remain that way forever."
[DAWN] KARACHI: The Pakistain Rangers, Sindh, on Tuesday said it had suspended and tossed in the clink Please don't kill me! five paramilitary soldiers a week after Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif ..Pak chief of army staff, meaning he pulls the strings on the Nawaz Sharif puppet to make it dance and sing and not do much at all.... had ordered an inquiry into the custodial death of Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... worker Aftab Ahmed.
Earlier, the Rangers only mentioned suspension of unspecified number of paramilitary soldiers "possibly involved in the incident" and formed a probe body.
"Among the five personnel, two are [officials] in charge and three are soldiers," said Rangers director general Major General Bilal Akbar while talking to a TV channel.
"They all have been suspended and arrested. We are determined to meet every requirement of justice and we would move forward in line with the defined laws and rules. Our investigation in this regard will definitely meet the logical end."
Amid growing controversy and criticism over the death of Mr Ahmed in the Rangers custody, the army chief had ordered the inquiry. Initial findings of his autopsy confirmed the MQM allegations that his body had "multiple bruises" and "clotted blood spots".
The party, which welcomed the army chief move and Rangers DG directives, on Tuesday criticised the Sindh government for asking Mr Ahmed’s family to lodge a case against the paramilitary force instead of pursing the case on their own.
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[DAWN] KARACHI: The police informed the administrative judge of the antiterrorism courts on Tuesday that they had also released a fourth suspect out of the five allegedly detained for spying for India because of lack of evidence.
The counterterrorism department of police claimed to have jugged I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! five fishermen -- Saddam Hussain, Bachal, Nadeem, Zeeshan and Ghulam Sarwar -- on April 18.
The CTD detained them under Section 11-EEEE of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 for an inquiry for allegedly having ties with and spying for Indian spying agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
However, there's more than one way to skin a cat... an official through a report informed the court that they had also released Bachal as no evidence was found against him during the investigation.
It added that Saddam had formally been booked in a case and his remand was obtained from an area magistrate.
Earlier, the CTD had informed the administrative judge that they had released the other three suspects for want of evidence.
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[DAWN] The Foreign Office on Wednesday said it was deeply saddened over the hanging of the Jamat-e-Islami (JI) Bangladesh chief Motiur Rahman Nizami ...During the liberation war of 1971, Nizami formed the Al-Badr Force and acted as its supreme commander. The Al-Badr militia took active part in rape, extortion, looting and killing of Bangladeshis who supported the liberation, including a pre-planned massacre on December 14, 1971, when the Al-Badr militia along with Pakistan Army rounded up hundreds of doctors, professors, writers, and other Bengali intellectuals, and executed them... after a decision by a controversial war crimes tribunal for his involvement in 1971 events.
"The act of suppressing the opposition by killing their leaders through flawed trials is completely against the spirit of democracy," Foreign Office front man Nafees Zakaria said in a statement.
The statement said it is "unfortunate" for the people of Bangladesh who had elected Nizami as their representative in the parliament.
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[DAWN] THREE more individuals sentenced to death by military courts have had their sentences stayed by the Supreme Court while the appeals are to be heard.
The convicts and their families have raised a disturbingly familiar set of objections: the accused were not allowed to pick their own lawyers at the trial stage; the defence was not allowed access to the state’s evidence against them; and the families only learned of the sentences via blurbs.
The latest appeals add to the dozen cases already before the Supreme Court, and for now, there is no indication which way the court is leaning -- the stay of execution does not suggest innocence in the eyes of the court, merely that the sentence is irreversible and therefore the appeals process must be completed first.
Continued on Page 49
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[CNN] The terror group ISIS says it's behind a series of attacks in Iraq's capital Wednesday that left more than 90 people dead.
At least 64 people were killed when a boom-mobile went off at a market in Baghdad Wednesday morning, according to Iraqi police. Another 87 people were maimed in that attack in the largely Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City.
Pictures of the aftermath of the kaboom showed hundreds gathered near a chaotic scene. Blood marked the street, cars had their windows blown out and nearly an entire sidewalk was left charred.
Later in the day, a jacket wallah wearing an explosive vest detonated in a busy square in the Shiite neighborhood of al-Kadhimiya, killing 17 people and wounding 43 others, two police officials in Baghdad told CNN. A suicide boom-mobileer went kaboom! in the Sunni neighborhood of al-Jamia in western Baghdad, killing 12 people and wounding 31 others.
ISIS grabbed credit for the attacks, according to a message on the Twitter account for Amaq, a media outlet linked to the group.
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[STARTRIBUNE] Macy's slashed its full-year profit and sales expectations as the department store chain struggles to lure shoppers seemingly in an extended funk.
First-quarter income tumbled 40 percent and revenue fell 7.4 percent, sending shares down 10 percent in early trading Wednesday.
The report from Macy's, following dismal sales numbers from the Gap earlier in the week, dragged down the entire retail sector in premarket trading.
After a brutal holiday shopping season, retailers are muddling through another spending slump that began in mid-March.
Macy's had been a stand-out among retailers following the recession. Yet in the last year, the malaise suffered by others seemed to catch up with Macy's.
Department stores are face increasing competition from online retailers like Amazon.com. Macy's also has acknowledged that Americans, rather than spending money on clothes and accessories, are going out to restaurants or spas, vacationing, or plowing money into their homes.
When they do shop for clothes, increasingly they are doing it at discount stores like T.J. Maxx.
Macy's is trying to overhaul its business to counter slumping sales. It opened a group of Macy's Backstage stores last fall to compete with T.J. Maxx and other off-price stores. It's also expanding online also acquired Bluemercury, an upscale beauty and spa company.
They bought out Marshall Fields a long while back in Chicago. It didn't do anything for either them or Fields...
Does anybody still shop at full price stores?
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#1
Does anybody still shop at department stores? Sure they do. They just make sure they shop the sales which can often be as cheap as outlet stores. As easy as the internet can be when it comes to some items such as clothing being able to handle the item and use a fitting room make a big difference. Plus quality counts too. Face it a shirt from Wally World is not going to hold up as well as one from a name store from a quality, well constructed brand. The difference is often in the quality of construction. there is also a reason that items wind up at TJ Max, Marshall's and others. a lot of the time it is merchandise that stores could not move because nobody wanted it. Usually because the clothing is butt ugly. Just my $.02
#2
Coupla years ago, went into the big city to buy some shoes. I own shoes that are still in use after 30 or so years, and have always known that paying top dollar for a quality shoe is always a bargain, in the long run.
Went into Macy's and was appalled. Macy's purchased their presence in Oregon by purchasing the Meier & Frank chain. M & F competed with Lipman's and Nordstrom's. On that visit, it seemed their competition was Rite-Aid.
Quality is important. But it seems pointing this out is easy to ignore. (As newspapers ignore their declining subscriber bases.)
.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Italia has tossed in the clink Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! 13 Somalis accused of being part of a network which held migrants colonists hostage on their arrival in Sicily to extort money for the trip to northern Europe.
An eight-month investigation in Catania, in the island's south, uncovered a "criminal organization" which scanned reception centers for Somalis who had recently been picked up at sea while crossing from North Africa, police said Wednesday in a statement.
The migrants colonists, many of whom are likely to have faced similar extortion in crisis-torn Libya before attempting the perilous crossing, were held in apartments until relatives or friends abroad paid for their liberation and the rest of their journey in Italia or across Europe.
Police intervened several times during the probe to free those being held in Catania or the surrounding area, including minors.
According to the UN's refugee agency Somalis account for nine percent of the 31,000 migrants colonists who have landed in Italia so far this year.
Like Eritrea ...is run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), with about the amounts of democracy and justice you'd expect from a party with that name. National elections have been periodically scheduled and cancelled; none have ever been held in the country. The president, Isaias Afewerki, has been in office since independence in 1993 and will probably die there of old age... n and Sudanese migrants colonists, they rarely file for asylum in Italia and the majority hope to reach northern Europe.
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Britannia, La Belle France, the United States and Ukraine on Tuesday blocked a Russian request to add two Syrian rebel groups to a UN terror blacklist and sideline them from the Syrian grinding of the peace processor, diplomats said.
Russia had requested that Jaish al-Islam ...Liwa al-Islam (Brigade of Islam) was established by Zahran Alloush, the son of Saudi-based religious scholar Abdullah Mohammed Alloush, after Syrian authorities released him from prison in mid-2011 where he had been serving time for his Salafist activism. The group claimed responsibility for carrying out the July 2012 Damascus bombing that killed Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha, Deputy Defense Minister Asef Shawkat, and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani. It was a driving force behind actions in the Damascus region. It cooperated and conducted joint operations with al-Nusra. In Sptember 2013 Saudi Arabia engineered Liwa al-Islam's merger with fifty other more or less Salafist groups as a counterweight to al-Nusra, which the Learned Elders of Islam considered was growing too powereful... (Army of Islam) and Ahrar al-Sham ...a Syria jihadi group made up of Islamists and salafists, not that there's that much difference, formed into a brigade. They make up the main element of the Islamic Front but they don't profess adoration of al-Qaeda and they've been fighting (mainly for survival) against the Islamic State. Their leadership was wiped out at a single blow by a suicide kaboom at a crowded basement meeting in September, 2014... be added to the sanctions list for their ties to Al-Qaeda and ISIS.
Adding names to the UN sanctions list requires a consensus decision from the 15-member council and after objections were raised by the four countries, Russia's request was rejected.
"Russia publicly attempting to designate groups that are parties to the cessation of hostilities could have damaging consequences to the cessation just as we are trying to de-escalate the situation on the ground," said a spokesperson for the US mission to the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... "Now is not the time to shift course, but rather double-down on our efforts toward a reduction in violence."
Jaish al-Islam is a member of the Higher Negotiations Committee (HNC) that is taking part in negotiations in Geneva to end the five-year war in Syria.
The Saudi-backed rebel group is the most important in Damascus province.
Ahrar al-Sham is among the most powerful Islamist rebel groups in Syria.
Financed by The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... and Gulf states, it has fought alongside the Al-Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda's Syria affiliate, around Aleppo and in neighboring Idlib province.
The dispute over the sanctions list came amid word from Moscow Tuesday that the 17-nation International Syria Support Group (ISSG) would meet in Vienna on May 17 to try to get peace efforts back on track.
An attempt last year by the ISSG to come up with a single list of "terrorist" groups in Syria fell apart after scores of names were submitted from all sides.
A Security Council diplomat, who spoke on condition he not be named, said blacklisting the two groups would be "seriously counter-productive, damaging both efforts to maintain the cessation of hostilities and resume peace negotiations in Geneva."
He argued that isolating them from the mainstream opposition would result in a more hardline stance and drive them away from the search for a political settlement.
"It would provide a pretext for yet more moderate areas to come under target," he said.
The Damascus regime has consistently branded all its opponents -- armed or not -- "terrorists" since the outbreak of war in 2011.
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[War Zone] Earlier today the Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS William P. Lawrence was executing a freedom of navigation drill near Fiery Cross Reef, where China has built a 10,000-foot-long runway along with maritime and other military facilities. During the destroyer’s approach to the island, a pair of Chinese J-11 fighters, an indigenous variant of the Su-27 Flanker, along with a Y-8 surveillance aircraft, were scrambled from the island outpost. It is not clear at this time if the Y-8, which has been adapted for many missions, was a maritime patrol, airborne early warning and control (AEW&C), electronic intelligence collection, electronic warfare or a command and control variant.
The United States has been executing these maneuvers around the islands since last October. The tactic is meant to exercise the right of innocent passage under international maritime law and to challenge China’s blanket claims to the resource rich South China Sea as well as the validity of their man-made islands outposts. These missions are also intended to set a precedent that will hopefully keep China from denying access to the critical waterways and aerial routes on and above the disputed body of water. Currently, half dozen countries claim portions of the South China Sea. Champ meeting with the NSC soon? Appears we're only a trigger pull away from full-blown conflict in the Pacific.
#4
The Chinese strategy is to construct a series of island bases, bristling with weaponry, and use these to exert control over the region. It's a good strategy. We would do well to copy it.
#7
Question: How exactly vunerable are these bases to storms? I mean one big Typhoon hitting a base dead-center would do how much damage to an artificial Island if it causes a surge of, say, 12 feet?
Posted by: Charles ||
05/12/2016 21:54
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#8
The Japanese are now fortifying their islands. Unfortunately for the Chinese, many of them are in the first island chain and the PLAN will have to run a gauntlet of Japanese anti-ship missiles to get to open water.
#9
"Question: How exactly vunerable are these bases to storms? I mean one big Typhoon hitting a base dead-center would do how much damage to an artificial Island if it causes a surge of, say, 12 feet?"
[INVESTORS] When Wyoming rancher Andy Johnson decided to create a stock pond for horses and cattle on his 8-acre property, he did what any conscientious landowner would do. He got permits from both the state and local government before moving any dirt.
What he didn’t count on was a power-mad Environmental Protection Agency, which in January 2014 said Johnson’s pond violated the Clean Water Act -- even though the CWA exempts stock ponds -- told him to get rid of it, and threatened him with a $37,500 fine for every day he delayed.
Rather than cave to federal thuggery, Johnson refused the order, and then sued the EPA with the help of the invaluable Pacific Legal Foundation. Environmental experts he commissioned said the pond was exempt, and served as a habitat for migratory birds, fish and wildlife.
More than two years later, Johnson won. In a settlement reached with the EPA, he gets to keep his pond, he won’t need to get a federal permit, the EPA fines have been removed, and all Johnson agreed to do was plant some willow trees and limit access to a portion of his pond for a while.
Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Jonathan Wood called the settlement "a win for the Johnson family, and a win for the environment."
But what kind of win is this? The federal government storms onto private property and threatens a family with massive fines, upends their lives for two years, and walks away only after being countersued.
A real win would be if the EPA were banned from engaging in such tactics. Instead, the EPA gets away with almost anything because it’s always in the name of the environment. And it is endlessly testing the limits of its power.
Indeed, while the EPA was harassing Johnson over his pond, it was finalizing a new rule that would vastly expand its jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act to cover, as Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., put it, "everything from prairie puddles to power plants."
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Well, DoJ claims authority over all the nation's water closets.
(IraqiNews.com) Kirkuk – Media officials with the Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday the killing of 17 ISIS elements in an aerial bombing by the Iraqi F-16 warplanes in the district of al-Hawija southwest of Kirkuk.
The officials said in a brief statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “Today, Iraqi F-16 warplanes managed to destruct a shelter for ISIS and kill 17 terrorists, including two Arab nationals, in the district of al-Hawija southwest of Kirkuk.”
Earlier today, ISIS elements kidnapped 18 people on charges of cooperating with the security forces in the district of al-Hawija.
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This evening saw yet another car bomb attack on Misrata’s eastern Sadada gate and subsequent fighting in which one person died and eight others were injured. All were taken to Misrata Central Hospital. The dead man is reported to be a military commander from the city’s port brigade.
The attackers are believed to belong to the so-called Islamic State. In the past week, it has again vowed to destroy Misrata.
Sadada checkpoint, some 90 kilometres south of Misratra and not far from Abu Grain, has been the site of numerous bombings, mainly suicide attacks , by militants, the most recent being last Thursday.
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[DAWN] LAHORE: The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) locked away ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... on Tuesday two Lions of Islam linked to the banned Al Qaeda’s sub-continent outfit.
"The suspects were planning an attack on a vital government building," a spokesperson for the CTD said. He however, neither specified the government building, nor did give the detail of the suspects. They were identified as Muhammad Yasir and Touseef Ahmed.
He said a CTD police team received information about the presence of Al-Qaeda Lions of Islam who were planning to attack government building.
He said the team raided a house near Bhatti Chowk, arrested two persons and recovered 800 gram explosives and four feet prima cord with two electric wires from them. The suspects were later shifted to some undisclosed location.
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Translation: Rooshuns pound targets, then Syrian levies show up.
DAMASCUS – Subsequent to fierce clashes with Islamist rebel groups, pro-regime army forces were able to seize control of several areas in Syria’s southern province of Damascus, killing a number of rebels during the fighting, activists reported on Wednesday.
Syrian army forces recaptured several areas from Islamist rebels [led by al-Qaeda offshoot Nusra Front] in the town of Zibdeen south-east of the Eastern Ghouta in Damascus countryside, according to local sources.
Speaking to ARA News in Damascus, rights activists Wissam al-Sheikh said that the regime’s army, supported by Iranian and Lebanese militias, seized control of several positions and military posts in the town of Zibdeen near Damascus after fierce clashes with Islamist rebels.
“This came amid artillery and missile bombardment by pro-regime forces on the town,” al-Sheikh reported.
The source pointed out that the clashes resulted in the death of four soldiers from the regime’s army, while three rebels fighters were reported dead due to Wednesday’s clashes.
“The rebel factions were able to destroy a BMP vehicle,” he told ARA News.
In the meantime, the pro-regime forces attempted to storm the town of Bala in a bid to distract the opposition factions amid fierce artillery and missile shelling on the area, according to local activists.
However, the armed opposition groups were able to deter the attack led by the regime’s army troops, forcing them to retreat from Bala.
This coincided with the arrival of new military reinforcements, including the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, to the regime’s army forces in the vicinity of the eastern and western Ghouta in order to start a major military operation to regain the region from Islamist rebel groups.
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ERBIL – The extremist group of Islamic State (ISIS) has executed an entire family for trying to escape a district under ISIS control west of the oil rich city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq, local sources reported on Wednesday.
ISIS has recently banned civilians from leaving the areas under its control in a bid to use them as human shields, according to eyewitnesses.
Speaking to ARA News in Kirkuk, media activist Yilmaz Mahmoud said that ISIS burned five members of one family, including two children, to death in the Riyadh district west of Kirkuk, after trying to escape from the areas under the group’s control.
“ISIS has brutally committed this crime in order to terrorize the remaining civilians living in the region [controlled by ISIS],” Mahmoud said.
Rights activists reported fears among civilians of being used by ISIS as human shields in areas under the group’s control.
“These barbaric men [ISIS jihadis] have engaged in the most heinous crimes in Syria and Iraq in plain view of the international community,” Mahmoud told ARA News.
These executions come amid ISIS remarkable decline in Iraq as the battle for Mosul is approaching, according to activists.
Last month, the hardline group banned dozens of Christian families from leaving Syria’s northeastern city of Raqqa, especially after the U.S.-led coalition forces intensified their airstrikes on the group’s headquarters in the region, according to local sources.
This is both the first time for the extremist group to burn civilians to death. In February 2015, ISIS burned 45 people to death in the vicinity of the Ain al-Assad military base in the sub-district of Baghdadi in al-Anbar province, in western Iraq, according to local sources.
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Yemen's Houthi’s have denied reports that warring parties have reached a preliminary agreement on Tuesday to release all prisoners beginning within 20 days.
Government sources at UN-backed peace talks earlier on Tuesday said an agreement had been struck to release the prisoners.
However, a Houthi delegate, representing the prisoners' committee at the talks, said the session had only considered a proposal, not agreed on it. Naser Baqizqoz said the suggestion was to release half the detainees on either side within 20 days, not all of them.
A tentative UN-backed ceasefire has been in place since last month to give the peace talks in Kuwait a chance at progress.
Somali official said the country’s commando unity forces have killed three middle-level Al shabaab commanders during a covert operation in small militant-controlled village in Galgadud region.
Mid-level: regional #3, or local #3?
Speaking to Radio Shabelle via phone, Gal’ad district commissioner Qadar Mohamud Ali said Wednesday the special forces killed 15 militants, including three leaders in the attack on El Timir village.
Heads of finance and intelligence departs of Al shabaab were among the 15 Al shabaab militants killed in the raid which carried out by Somali commandos on Tuesday midnight.
There was no immediate comment on the raid from Al shabaab.
Perhaps the commandos also killed the press secretary?
Al shabaab said on Tuesday they had foiled an attack late on Monday night by Somali commandos and American forces with two helicopters who raided militant-held Toratorow town in Lower Shabelle region.
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[HotAir] Senator Harry Reid was a guest at a Congressional Progressive Caucus meeting Wednesday. Rep. Alan Grayson disrupted the meeting to confront Reid about his support for an ongoing ethics investigation into Grayson's alleged misdeeds in office.
The Hill reports Grayson turned on Sen. Reid saying, "Shame on you. It's not true." Reid, never one to back down from a fight, replied, "It is true and I want you to lose."
Rep. Ellison, who was running the CPC meeting reportedly called out Grayson for the disruption. An unidentified source told the Hill all the Democrats were "appalled" at Grayson's behavior adding, "It was embarrassing for him and embarrassing for us that he behaved that way."
Later, Sen. Reid's office released a brief statement about the encounter. It reads in part:
Senator Reid took the opportunity to express his low opinion of Congressman Grayson to his face and remind him that reason Senator Reid has said that Grayson is under ethics investigation and appears to be running a Cayman Islands hedge fund from his Congressional office in order to line his own pockets is because these things are true, as established by seventy-four pages’ worth of evidence from the Congressional Ethics Committee.
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#1
Grayson should have smacked Reid in the face with some large rubber bands.
[Law Newz] FBI Director James Comey held a "pen and pad" briefing with reporters on Wednesday where he provided some new insights about the Bureau’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server.
Director Comey was asked during the briefing about Clinton’s continued characterization of the investigation as a "security inquiry," according to Fox News.
"[I am] not familiar with the term ’security inquiry,’" Comey replied. "We’re conducting an investigation. ... That’s what we do."
#2
I have officially written off the FBI as a National non-partisan protectorate of This Nation. Blow up the Hoover building and fire them all. They are pieces of democrat shit like the rest of the government.
I have given up on any agency being true to it's purpose.
In fact, FIRE EVERYONE- They are all marxist corrupted. Do it or I will take my measures.
#4
Credit where due: It's team Hillary using the term "security review", Comey is directly refusing her. He's essentially said we don't do security reviews, we do investigation. "Security Review" a mushy Wiesel words used deflect and denigrate the investigation.
#5
amen, Ship. He's killed their talking point. Another one they use is "was not marked as 'classified' upon receipt or deliver". That is also bullshit and doesn't matter. I expect his comment was a subtle heads-up
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Afghan National Police (ANP) forces have incarcerated Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! a finance official of the Talibs group during an operation 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. Who cut the checks? What bank were they drawn on? Who was the payee?
The Ministry of Interior (MoI) said Mir Azam was arrested during an operation in Pichegeram district of Nangarhar.
A statement by MoI said Mir Azam is originally a resident of eastern Kunar province ... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country..... of Afghanistan and was arrested as he was apparently arranging funds for the group by carrying two cheques of 10 million and 30 million Pak rupees.
The statement further added tha the ANP forces have also confiscated a Pak ID card, some propaganda material, 2 Pak sim cards, and a Islamic Emirate ID.
The Talibs group has not commented regarding the report so far which comes as the group is busy in attempting to coordinate its spring offensive.
However, the hip bone's connected to the leg bone... the Afghan officials have said the group’s spring offensive launched under the name of Omari Operations last month has been successfully repulsed as the hard boyz of the group have suffered heavy casualties in the battle ground.
The group announced its spring offensive despite efforts by the Afghan government to end the violence in the country through reconciliation efforts.
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#1
So what's 40 million rupees in real money, like $12?
[FRANCE24] Gay Paree Regional Councillor Annie Lahmer is one of eight women who have come forward to denounce French MP Denis Baupin over alleged sexual harassment and assault. She told La Belle France 24 her story.
Sexual harassment in politics once again made headlines in La Belle France this week as Baupin, a former Green Party leader, stepped down as deputy assembly speaker on Monday over accusations he sent explicit SMS text messages and groped female colleagues in the past.
Lahmer recalled how Baupin tried to grab her while she worked as a staffer on his campaign for European parliamentary elections in the late 1990s.
"There was one evening when I was alone with him in the office... he came after me," Lahmer told FRANCE 24 on Tuesday. "It may actually seem a bit ludicrous, but he was actually chasing me around the office."
The Gay Paree councilwoman said she was able to thwart his sexual advances, but was shocked when he warned her she was ruining her political career by turning him down. Furthermore, she said Baupin’s behaviour was well known inside the party.
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[BIGSTORY.AP.ORG] Donald Trump may find it tough to get Republican leaders behind his campaign, but he's got some faraway fans trying to get the gods on his side.
Around a dozen members of a right-wing Indian Hindu group lit a ritual fire and chanted mantras Wednesday asking the Hindu gods to help Trump win the U.S. presidential election.
While Trump has dominated the Republican primary race to decide the party's candidate for the November election, his calls for temporarily banning Muslims from America and cracking down on bad boy groups abroad have earned him some fans in India.
"The whole world is screaming against Islamic terrorism, and even India is not safe from it," said Vishnu Gupta, founder of the Hindu Sena nationalist group. "Only Donald Trump can save humanity."
Members of the group gathered on a blanket spread out in a New Delhi protest park along with a collection of statues depicting gods including Shiva and Hanuman -- as well as photos of a smiling Trump.
Above them hung a banner declaring support for Trump "because he is hope for humanity against Islamic terror."
The group chanted Sanskrit prayers asking the gods to favor Trump in the election, and threw offerings such as seeds, grass and ghee -- or clarified butter -- into a small ritual fire.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2016
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#1
I assume they're praying to Agni, Kali or Shiva, not Vishnu...
#2
I think they'll be surprised by Trumps plans. I suspect he'll mostly tell the Russians and Chinese that they have a free pass to wallop Islamic minorities and defend their interests in Syria but will otherwise reduce American overseas commitments. Of course his positions are flexible so who knows.
[DAWN] MINGORA: The local police have nabbed Book 'im, Mahmoud! a key member of a gang allegedly involved in a child sex and pornography case.
The unearthing of the case has fueled public outcry with civil society groups and residents demanding of the provincial government and police to take strict action against the perpetrators.
The gang allegedly used to force children to have sex while being filmed after kidnapping them into their underground cells.
A few days ago, the police arrested the suspect, Aurangzeb, on a tip-off provided by a 13-year-old boy, who was kidnapped by the group in 2014, and was set free recently, Mingora city DSP, Sadiq Akbar, said, adding the police had got a three-day physical remand of Aurangzeb from the judicial magistrate for investigation. The police officer said the suspect would again be produced before the court today (Wednesday).
Mr Akbar maintained that Aurangzeb was caught while having sex with a boy, 14, saying handcuffs and chains were also recovered from the residence.
He said father of the 14-year-old boy had filed a report of his missing on Sept 28, 2014, adding a case was registered in Mingora cop shoppe under section 342 (wrongful confinement), 347 (wrongful confinement to constrain a person to illegal act), 365 (kidnapping), 377 (unnatural offence) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of Pakistain Penal Code.
Meanwhile, ...back at the pond, the radioactive tadpoles grown into frogs. Really big frogs, in fact... the 13-year-old boy told Dawn he was in the bazaar to buy sweets when two men, who he identified as Sajjad and Umar Khaliq, put something on his face and put me in a vehicle. "After sometime when I came to my senses I found myself in a room where Aurangzeb forced me to have sex with him," the boy said, adding he used to abuse him daily.
The boy claimed that some coppers were also involved in the crime as they would come there and fulfill their lust. "One day a policeman informed Aurangzeb about a possible police raid, on which the two controllers took me in a vehicle to Barikot and threw me out there," he added.
On the other hand, a man identified as Sherin Zada, has provided the local journalists with hundreds of photos and videos allegedly filmed while Aurangzeb sexually abusing different boys. Sherin Zada claimed to have got the material from one of his informers. He told journalists that his nephew was also kidnapped by the same gang and was still in their custody.
Surprisingly, the police have also arrested Sherin Zada, who is also the complaintant in the case.
The journalists have handed the material to the Swat ...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat... District Police Officer Saleem Marwat, who on the media persons’ demand, has formed a joint investigation team led by DSP Sadiq Akbar to probe the case.
Meanwhile, ...back at the pond, the radioactive tadpoles grown into frogs. Really big frogs, in fact... Neelam Chattan, a social worker and child rights activist in Swat who leads a campaign ’peace for new generation’, told Dawn the child abuse cases were on increase in Swat due to police leniency and parents’ carelessness. "All members of the gang must be arrested immediately and be punished strictly," she said, adding the government must take steps for child protection in the province.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2016
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#1
Goat butts man. Also...
O muse, puke the news all throughout the web,
Of sexual exploits of Aurangzeb;
How lust and sharia
Moved Sunni and Shia
To plunge human nature to lowest ebb.
[NATIONALREVIEW] For much of the last week, the very small world of pundits and policy wonks has been buzzing about the New York Times’s extended profile by David Samuels of Obama foreign-policy guru Ben Rhodes, the “aspiring novelist” (as the headline put it) with a master’s in fine arts who sneers with contempt at the president’s foes and has helped helm American foreign policy in the age of ISIS.
The story is rich with detail that should scandalize anyone who is concerned with either truth or humility in American policymaking. Rhodes apparently lied to sell the Iran deal to the American public, counting on ignorant, sympathetic leftist journalists and activists to peddle the administration’s foreign-policy line and dominate the public debate.
The Obama administration has become inured to tragedy, Rhodes confessed, adding, “There’s a numbing element to Syria in particular,” where 450,000 lives have been lost.
And, of course, when it comes to failures and disappointments, the buck stops with the traditional foreign-policy and military “establishment” that Obama (and Rhodes) despise. For men like Rhodes, his “entire job” (according to former speechwriter Jon Favreau) was assisting in a “larger restructuring of the American narrative.” In other words, Obama and Rhodes and Jarrett had a new story to tell about our nation and the world; all facts and circumstances were shaped to fit that story.
And so — to use one illustration from the piece — Iran’s capture and humiliation of American sailors wasn’t really a story of American weakness but in reality a story of American strength.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2016
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The Obama administration has become inured to tragedy
The only tragedy that impinges on these vermin is one that is a threat to their power.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Syrian army exchanged fire with rebels in battleground second city Aleppo even before the expiry at midnight on Wednesday of a Russian and US-brokered ceasefire.
Two people were maimed early Wednesday when regime aircraft strafed rebel positions in two eastern neighborhoods of the divided city with heavy machinegun fire, an AFP correspondent reported.
Late Tuesday, government warplanes struck two other rebel-held neighborhoods, the correspondent added.
Rebel rocket fire hit two government-controlled neighborhoods in the west of the city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Rebel sniper fire killed one person late Tuesday, the state SANA news agency reported.
A local truce took effect in Aleppo last Thursday after a surge in fighting in the city killed more than 300 people and threatened to unravel a nationwide ceasefire between government forces and non-jihadist rebels in force since February.
The truce has led to a sharp reduction in the corpse count. Rebel rocket fire on government neighborhoods killed three civilians on Sunday but otherwise it has largely held.
It has been extended twice after 11th-hour diplomatic intervention by the major powers but there was no immediate word of any new extension ahead of Wednesday's expiry time.
Moscow and Washington pledged on Monday to redouble efforts to shore up the nationwide truce and reach a political settlement to the conflict which has killed more than 270,000 people in Syria since 2011.
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At least 17 Taliban hard boyz were killed in separate air and ground raids of the Afghan National Security Forces in north of Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said at least 6 bully boyz were killed and 14 others were maimed during an Arclight airstrike in Chashme Sherin in the capital of Sar-e-Pul province.
A statement by MoD said at least 4 others were during a separate operation in Gorkab village at Soma Qala district of Sar-e-Pul province.
The statement further added that 6 others were also maimed and 2 cycle of violences of the bully boyz were totally damaged along with 4 bunkers.
MoD said at least 7 bully boyz were killed during a shootout between the Afghan cops and Taliban hard boyz in Koshinde district of Balkh province.
At least 4 bully boyz were killed and their bunker was destroyed during an Arclight airstrike in Darqad district of northeastern Takhar province, MoD said.
According to MoD, the Afghan forces also discovered and defused a landmine along with an Improvised Explosive planted by the Talibs in Aqcha district of Jawzjan province.
The Talibs group has not commented regarding the report so far.
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A prosecutor has demanded nine aggravated life sentences, amounting to hundreds of years in prison, for suspected members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) who staged an attack in the Ulukışla district of the Central Anatolian province of Niğde in 2014.
The prosecutor also sought the acquittal of four other suspects in the hearing at the Niğde Heavy Penal Court on May 11.
The attack in March 2014, which is considered the first attack staged by ISIL in Turkey, left three people dead, including a police officer, a sergeant and a civilian, and wounded five others. Four people are being tried under arrest and five are being tried without arrest.
Four aggravated life sentences amounting to 280 years and six months in jail are sought for arrested suspect Benjamin Xu, four aggravated life sentences amounting to 285 years in prison are sought for arrested suspect Chendrim Ramadani, and one aggravated life sentence amounting to 258 years in jail is sought for arrested suspect Mohammad Zakiri.
The trial has been adjourned to June 15.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/12/2016
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#1
How long is a 'life' sentence in a Turkiah jail?
[ARA News] HOMS ــ Militant fighters of the Islamic State (ISIS) on Wednesday pounded the regime’s T4 airbase in eastern Homs, central Syria, with heavy artillery shells and rockets, local sources reported.
However, the pro-regime army responded to the group’s bombardment with a number of air raids in the areas of al-Shaer and Hwesis.
In the meantime, Russian warplanes conducted several airstrikes on an ISIS-held military camp near T4 airbase in addition to the areas of Khinefis and the vicinity of Sukhna town to the north of Palmyra city in Homs province.
On Tuesday, ISIS was able to progress towards the highway of Homs–Palmyra, one of the major supply routes for the regime’s army forces stationed inside the city of Homs. On Wednesday, the militant group was able to cut off the regime’s supply lines entirely after taking over key areas near the highway.
Speaking to ARA News in Homs, media activist Tawfiq al-Qadi said: “After taking over a military camp near T4 airbase on Tuesday, ISIS has been focusing on the Homs–Palmyra highway, the only land supply route for the regime’s army forces.”
Al-Qadi pointed out that ISIS has infiltrated into the nearby hills of the highway in order to place bunkers on the road as well as installing heavy machine guns, rocket launchers and anti-tank guns [caliber 57] in the controlled areas.
The hardline group has earlier taken over two checkpoints for the regime’s defense line near the T4 airbase, after the withdrawal of pro-regime forces towards the airport, military sources told ARA News.
Also, ISIS has downed a pro-regime helicopter in Hwesis area to the west of the city of Palmyra after hitting it with a ground-to-air missile.
Posted by: badanov ||
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Hey kids! It's an actual War on Wimminzez
DAMASCUS – The only gynecologist in the eastern Ghouta of Syria’s southern province of Damascus was shot dead during battles between several Islamist groups in the region, local sources reported on Wednesday. No gyne in Ghouta. Take it away Zenobia.
Dr. Nabil Da’as, who was the only gynecologist in eastern Ghouta, was reportedly killed during clashes between Islamist rebel groups.
Don't expect a sympathy card from Code Pink, Human Rights Watch, the Syrian Rights Observatory, or the U.N....
Speaking to ARA News in Duma, media activist Muhammad Dumani said: “While he was at home, Dr. Nabil Da’as was exposed to a gunshot two days ago during clashes between the Islamist rebel groups of the Jaish al-Islam and Jaish al-Fustat in the eastern Ghouta in Damascus countryside.
“The victim remained in the hospital under intensive care until he died on Wednesday,” Dumani reported.
Dr. Da’as was the sole gynecologist in the besieged eastern Ghouta, according to local activists.
Walaa Tarabishi, a resident of Ghouta, told ARA News that Dr. Da’as has helped many women in the area, especially that the majority of doctors fled the region due to the raging conflict.
“Last month, he [Dr. Da’as] visited my neighbor and helped his wife give birth safely,” she said. “This man has provided medical care for dozens of women amid the shortage of medical staff in the war-torn Ghouta region.”
“Hundreds of students and academics have fled Syria, while education centers and institutions are being targeted by the various parties to conflict on a daily basis,” Tarabishi said.
On the other hand, a ceasefire began in the eastern Ghouta after the warring factions decided to hold a truce and agree on some points, including withdrawal of the Jaish al-Islam from the city of Misraba after the latter has imposed full control over the town subsequent to fierce clashes with Faylaq al-Rahman, Jaysh al-Fustat, and Nusra Front.
The regime’s army forces are still mobilizing troops on the outskirts of Bala town south of the Eastern Ghouta in an attempt to break into the town.
Posted by: badanov ||
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#1
Mohammedan madam Umm Lili:
"Jihadis who fancy the frilly
May play parts of ladies
Down by the Euphrates
With Gynecological Billy."
A surprisingly non partisan discussion on Ukraine's volunteer battalions. The site is a pro Russian, anti-US site I follow on Facebook. They have a lot of detailed information on the Syrian civil war as well. Written by Igor Pejic exclusively for SouthFront; Edited by Astroguy
[SouthFront.org] The Ukraine uprising which began in 2013 didn’t turn out to be a great revolution for democracy and civil liberties as portrayed by the West but rather an evolving crisis which gradually transmutes Ukraine into a failed state. Clumsy assistance provided by the “partners” turned Ukraine’s revolution into a chaotic power grab among various radical groups and influential individuals across the country; security forces which should have prevented this coup displayed a lack of competence and consistency in their work. Separatists’ efforts in the East of Ukraine come only as a natural reaction, the situation (economic, security, political) in Ukraine deteriorates at a steady pace day by day and it’s no wonder some regions want to distance themselves from that kind of government and especially from radical groups which have no sympathies towards Russian nationals.
These developments in Ukraine heavily favor the paramilitary groups which have risen to power after the Maidan coup in 2013; furthermore a weak military structure, inconsistent government and politics and also rampant corruption on all levels of society prevent the uniting of all these armed groups who usually have criminal activities.
According to some estimates there are between 7,000 and 10,000 “volunteers” in more than forty battalions; in fact after the coup in 2013 the military structure of Ukraine can be divided into two sectors: the Ukrainian army and various territorial defense battalions.
In 2014 Ukraine’s armed forces rapidly grew from 130,000 to more than 230,000. This rapid expansion was considered necessary because of the Russian “transgression” against Crimea and the problems in the East of the country. Although the armed forces grew, their quality became very questionable; throughout four mobilization waves in 2014 and 2015 the military managed to recruit a large number of “alcoholics and dodgers, drug addicts and morons” as stated by the advisor to the Ukrainian President.
The influx of new recruits without any security checks and with a questionable past pushed Ukraine’s Parliament to pass a law in 2015 which authorizes commanding officers to use physical force against defectors; the new law allows commanders to use not only physical force but special means and weapons when fighting those who commit criminal acts. This law clearly shows what condition the Ukrainian armed forces are in; furthermore after the outbreak of the conflicts in the Donbass region there were more than 10,000 cases of desertion.
These factors pushed the Parliament to go even further and pass a law that extends the upper limit of compulsory military draft age from 25 to 27 years. Despite these new laws the conditions for military mobilization quickly deteriorated and the effectiveness of the state in mobilizing men for military service decreased significantly. The main problem lies in the disorganized administration of the state as well as the local levels of governance. These are not the only problems that the Ukrainian army needs to deal with; a high level of corruption among officers usually ends up with negligence of the elementary needs of a regular soldier. Supplies such as boots and regular uniforms can be hard to come by if you don’t have any connections or if you simply can’t afford it. Lack of combat training is also evident especially if you compare older more experienced soldiers to the new recruits. Insufficient funds and lack of military instructors makes training courses for new recruits rather difficult and there are also reports of other soldiers feeling unsafe when practicing or conducting military drills with less experienced recruits.
There are of course remarks about the size of the army and why it’s getting bigger and not more professional. One of the main challenges in the future for the Ukrainian armed forces will be the professionalization of their military and creating a solid core of trained and tested soldiers who are capable of delivering good results. All these factors heavily contribute to the rise of the so called volunteer battalions across Ukraine. With the weak and unorganized military the paramilitary groups seem like a better solution for many young men.
Volunteer battalions started emerging in 2014 mostly out of Maidan self-defense groups and Maidan activists. Although there was a parliamentary decree according to which all armed groups that have emerged as a result of the Maidan unrest should be disbanded and demobilized, Volunteer battalions were given the option of joining the command structure of the Ukrainian Army, which some refused to do. Those who refused continue to fight in southeastern Ukraine.
many of these groups have just transformed into territorial defense battalions, special police battalions and reserve battalions of the National Guard. Jurisdiction of these battalions was divided between the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defense at the state as well as at the local level of governance, since these battalions were nominally funded by the regional budget but the supplies and equipment came either from the Ministry of the Interior or the Ministry of Defense. Of course it should be noted that large amounts of arms and some military equipment came from civil society organizations and local oligarchs.
A good example of this “private” funding is the Dnipro 1 and Dnipro 2 special police battalions who were helped financially by the Dnipropetrovsk governor and oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky. Though the funding of these battalions comes from different sources the training of the personnel is done mostly in Ministry of the Interior and Ministry of Defense training bases. The exact number of battalions varies between forty and fifty where some battalions numbers dozens and some hundreds of volunteers.
The membership in these formations varies at the social, linguistic, national and political levels. Most of the members of these armed groups have been active during the Maidan coup; they include police and army veterans, students but also individuals with a criminal record. Members often come from different parts of the country; usually it can be seen that some battalions have Ukrainian-speakers from the West as well as Russian-speakers from the East of the country.
Although the majority of volunteers are Ukrainians there is an unspecified number of Russians, Georgians and some other European volunteers who have joined the ranks of different battalions. According to some reports the Azov battalion is probably the most international; there are also cases which point out that other groups tend to invite or acquire members who have experience in wars against Russia (the Dudaev battalion is mostly composed of veterans who have fought in the Chechen wars against Moscow).
From the ideological perspective most of the battalions tend to lean towards far right ideologies, some of them like to call themselves patriots or strong nationalists but there is a significant number of groups who exhibit a classical neo-nationalist attitude. This can be troubling since we are talking about heavily armed groups in a rather unstable country; plus some commanders of these battalions have been elected to the parliament. Most of these parliamentary commanders have close ties to Prime Minister Yatsenyuk’s party.
Some Ukrainian observers have stressed that the oligarchs are using their political ties with the government to exploit the commanders and their battalions to settle their own disputes. There is a growing concern that some of the battalions can turn into some kind of a private army.
Two main problems of the volunteer battalions are the lack of discipline and the politicization of these groups. The lack of discipline can be easily seen on the frontline and in volunteer actions in civilian neighborhoods. There are numerous reports stating that human rights abuses, rape and looting were common in areas where some of the battalions were located. Though these groups are formally under the jurisdiction of either the Ministry of the Interior or the Ministry of Defense there is no guarantee that these state institutions can punish that kind of behavior or even prevent it, since most of the time the commander of a battalion is the only one who has authority among the volunteers.
Politicization of volunteer battalions is more or less inevitable, as in an unstable society such as Ukraine these types of organizations which possess real power (men and guns) can have a major influence on politics and government. After the Maidan protests much of the Ukraine saw that the newly elected government can’t bring peace and prosperity as it had promised; furthermore corruption became an even greater problem for the Ukrainian people than before, and finally the security apparatus showed itself to be rather incompetent at dealing with any kind of serious problem in the country.
The volunteer battalions which have rallied a lot of Maidan participants also managed to get some sympathy from the ordinary people; sadly the people of Ukraine see these groups as one of the possible solutions to the rampant corruption and crisis conditions which are tearing Ukraine apart. As I mentioned earlier there are already members of parliament who are commanding officers of these battalions; there is a probability that as the situation in Ukraine deteriorates other officers or members of volunteer battalions will seek political careers.
Many commanders have already established wide communication platforms using some social networks and some of them even have loyal political constituencies. Shifting between gray suits and military outfits many of them seem to be able to provide a vision and an inspiration in these difficult times; however, although they appear compelling they are not always reliable political actors. Others like reservists of some battalions have once more demonstrated in Kiev along with members of different veteran organizations that the current government is equally eligible for another Maidan if need be. Their potential to rekindle the protests in Ukraine is giving these armed groups a lot of leverage in the political sphere and of course in the society.
The positioning of the volunteer battalions in the Ukrainian society can potentially become an even greater threat; firstly there are many battalions and many of them have radical views; secondly the number of potential players that can misuse these armed groups, foreign and domestic (oligarchs), is high. Although at this time it can seem a bit extreme, if there comes a point at which a meltdown happens in Ukraine the sheer number of these armed groups can easily turn this country into something that is similar to the current situation in Libya, only with an Eastern European flavor.
List of territorial defense battalions:
1st Territorial Defense Battalion – Volyn oblast
2nd Territorial Defense Battalion – Rivne oblast
3rd Territorial Defense Battalion – Lviv oblast
4th Territorial Defense Battalion – Zakarpattia oblast
5th Territorial Defense Battalion – Ivano-Frankivsk oblast
6th Territorial Defense Battalion – Ternopil oblast
7th Territorial Defense Battalion – Khmelnytskyi oblast
8th Territorial Defense Battalion – Chernivitsi oblast
9th Territorial Defense Battalion – Vinnyatsia oblast
10th Territorial Defense Battalion – Zhytomir oblast
11th Territorial Defense Battalion – Kiev oblast
12th Territorial Defense Battalion – Kiev
13th Territorial Defense Battalion – Chernihiv oblast
14th Territorial Defense Battalion – Cherkasy oblast
15th Territorial Defense Battalion – Sumy oblast
16th Territorial Defense Battalion – Poltava oblast
17th Territorial Defense Battalion – Kirovohrad oblast
18th Territorial Defense Battalion – Odessa oblast
19th Territorial Defense Battalion – Mykolaiv oblast
20th Territorial Defense Battalion – Dnipropetrovsk oblast
21th Territorial Defense Battalion – Kherson oblast
22th Territorial Defense Battalion – Kharkiv oblast
23th Territorial Defense Battalion – Zaporizhia oblast
24th Territorial Defense Battalion – Luhansk oblast
25th Territorial Defense Battalion – Kiev oblast
34th Territorial Defense Battalion – Kirovohrad oblast
37th Territorial Defense Battalion – Zaporizhia oblast
39th Territorial Defense Battalion – Dnipropetrovsk oblast
40th Territorial Defense Battalion – Dnipropetrovsk oblast
41th Territorial Defense Battalion – Chernihiv oblast
42nd Territorial Defense Battalion – Kirovohrad oblast
43rd Territorial Defense Battalion – Dnipropetrovsk oblast
Other Ukraine volunteer battalions include:
Azov Battalion which was formed in the city of Mariupol. This battalion was one of the first to be formed after the conflicts began in the East of Ukraine. This group is usually connected to the nationalist and far-right agenda which can also be seen on their logo. It is reported that the Azov battalion has around 1,000 men.
Donbass Battalion was formed in the spring of 2014 in the Donbass region in order to fight the insurgency and since then it has been led by Semen Semenchenko. This is one of the largest battalions in the Ukraine with more than 900 men, with a rather diverse set of volunteers coming from all over the Ukraine as well as abroad.
Dzokhar Dudayev Battalion aka the Chechen Battalion was formed in March 2014. As of May 2015 it is in the process of integration with the Ministry of the Interior forces. This battalion is mostly formed of Ukrainians and Chechens from various European countries; also there are Muslims like Tatars, Azeris, Ingush and Georgians. This armed group specializes in subversion and countering subversion.
Shah Mansur Battalion was formed out of members of the Dzokhar Dudayev Battalion in 2015; this battalion was active in battles around Mariupol.
Noman Celebicihan Battalion is based in Kherson formed of Crimean Tatars. It is believed that Turkey actively supports this group.
Maidan Battalion formed in 2014 out of participants of the Maidan uprising. The intention behind this is to create a solid group which can serve the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Shakhtar Battalion was formed out of volunteers in the Donbass area in 2014. The group has around 700 members.
Battalion of Organization of Ukranian Nationalists or OUN was formed in Pisky, Donetsk.
List of special police units:
Artemivsk police battalion formed in Dnepropetrovsk oblast
Bogdan police company formed in 2014 in Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine
Chernihiv police battalion formed in Charnihiv oblast
Dnepro police battalion formed in Dnepropetrovsk oblast
Ivano-Frankvisk police battalion
Kharkiv police battalion formed in Kharkiv
Kremenchuk police company formed in Poltava oblast
Kyiv-1 and Kyiv-2 police battalion formed in Kiev
Kyivshchyna police battalion formed in Kiev oblast
Lugansk-1 police battalion
Lviv police battalion formed in the city of Lviv
Myrotvorets police battalion formed in Kiev oblast
Poltava police battalion formed in Poltava oblast
Saint Mary police battalion operates in Mariupol
Shtorm police battalion operates in Odessa oblast
Sich police battalion operates in Kyiv
Sicheslav police battalion formed in Dnepropetrovsk oblast
Skif police battalion formed from volunteers in Zaporizhia
Svityaz police battalion
Svyatyi Mykolai police battalion formed in 2014 in Mykolaiv area
Zoloti Vorota police battalion formed in Kiev oblast
MA Igor Pejic graduated from the Political Science Foreign Affairs Department of the Faculty of Political Science and now he is doing an MA in Terrorism, Security and Organized Crime at the University of Belgrade, Serbia.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Air strikes, a drop in the price of oil, and counter-smuggling efforts by neighboring countries have combined to cut ISIS’s oil revenues in half to about $250 million per year, a senior U.S. Treasury official said on Wednesday. My question would be, who's buying it and why aren't the consequences costing them much more than $250m?
A US-led coalition has targeted the ultra-hardline Sunni Islamist hard boy group with Arclight airstrikes since it seized control of parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014. The U.S. military launched an intensified effort in October to go after its oil infrastructure in hopes of cutting funding to the group, which US officials call the wealthiest terrorist group of its kind.
Those strikes, along with a drop in the international price of oil, counter-smuggling efforts by The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , and difficulties ISIS has in transporting its oil across battle lines have combined to halve its oil revenues, said Daniel Glaser, assistant secretary for terrorist financing at the US Treasury’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
"The number that we had been giving previously until about early this year was $500 million a year off of oil sales. I think they’re substantially less than that now," Glaser told a think-tank event in Washington. "I think they probably make about half of what they previously made."
The group also earns about $360 million per year from taxation in the areas it controls, Glaser said. Cutting its taxation revenues is challenging because it occurs internally within ISIS territory, he said. One approach he is looking at is drying up liquidity, or the availability of cash, to ISIS-held territory, he said.
"That prevents them from taxing, it also prevents them from profiting from oil sales because I think the vast majority of their oil profits are from oil sold internally within ISIS-controlled territory," he said, using an acronym for the group.
A US military official said in January that the air campaign had reduced ISIS oil revenue by about 30 percent.
Despite the cuts in its revenue, the group still controls much of its border-spanning "caliphate," inspires global affiliates and is able to orchestrate deadly external attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
My question would be, who's buying it and why aren't the consequences costing them much more than $250m?
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Monday distanced his country from North Korea and its nuclear program.
Sounds like disinformation to me. I'd like to see all the secret traffic between the two countries.
"We want changes on the Korean Peninsula and we are, in principle, opposed to any nuclear development,” Rouhani told reporters in Tehran. "Our basic principle is that there should be no nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula or in the Middle East."
Rouhani did not name North Korea or Israel, but it was clear he had them in mind. Someone miss a payment ?
He was speaking in a press conference with President Park Geun-hye, who arrived earlier in the day as the first Korean president to set foot in the country and the first female leader of a non-Muslim nation to visit Tehran.
Iran has long had a cooperative relationship with North Korea, which allegedly helped Iran develop its own nuclear program until Tehran gave it up under an international deal which led to the lifting of sanctions last year.
The remarks signal further isolation for Pyongyang in the international community.
Instead South Korea is hoping to get closer to Iran and reap the benefits of a vast resurgent market. Park is accompanied by an entourage of hundreds of business leaders, the biggest of any foreign state visit. Park and Rouhani agreed to open direct flights between the two countries, expand economic cooperation and oppose North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
Korean companies signed infrastructure business deals worth US$37.1 billion with the Iranian government. An Chong-bum, the senior presidential secretary for economic affairs, said, "These are projects that are almost certain to be won by Korean companies."
An said the amount would rise to $45.6 billion if deals that are still under negotiation are included.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/12/2016
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[DAWN] SELDOM is the outcome of a counterterrorism operation in Afghanistan of such direct significance to those on this side of the border. However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... a joint Afghan-US raid on Tuesday in Paktika ...which coincidentally borders South Wazoo... province led to Pakistain’s most high-profile kidnap victim, Ali Gilani, being rescued after three years in captivity.
The son of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's former prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics could be awe-inspiring ... had been kidnapped by gunnies from an election rally in Multan on May 9, 2013, in an attack that killed his secretary and bodyguard.
According to US officials, the commando raid on Tuesday targeted an Al Qaeda compound in response to intelligence about terrorist activity in the area.
It seems that seven officials of the Fata Development Authority, who had recently been kidnapped from South Wazoo, were also recovered in the same operation. Indications are that the captives were being held by an Al Qaeda-affiliated group, possibly the Pak Taliban.
As in the case of Shahbaz Taseer, who was recovered two months ago from Kuchlak in 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... after four and a half years of being kidnapped, Ali Gilani’s safe return to his family has sparked much jubilation in the country.
As in the earlier instance, details about his captivity or rescue may never come to light. For instance, it is still unclear whether the US-Afghan forces had any idea they were on a rescue mission or whether they stumbled upon the captives in a stroke of good fortune; or for that matter, whether intelligence originating from Pakistain played any role at all in the operation.
Regardless of the fine print, the happy outcome has generated a fair amount of goodwill all around and could offer an opportunity to improve bilateral ties and cooperation between the countries’ security forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2016
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[CBSNEWS] Sixteen black West Point cadets who posed with raised fists for a pre-graduation picture won't be punished for the gesture.
The U.S. Military Academy said Tuesday it concluded the group photo didn't violate any Department of Defense rules limiting political activity. West Point says in a statement an internal inquiry found the picture of the 16 female cadets captured a spur-of-the-moment gesture intended to demonstrate unity and pride.
The decision comes with the seniors poised to graduate May 21.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2016
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Top|| File under:
#1
That was quick.
Now lets have a bunch of White Men try it.
Ohh never mind.
The stupid race thing is overplayed and If i hear it in the ranks again, I fire all of you imbeciles.
THERE IS BUT ONE COLOR IN THE ARMY AND THAT IS GREEN.
#5
Well, hopefully, there are still a few majors and colonels on active duty that, when assigned these POSs, will have them supervising the shipping of pallets of obsolete horse collars to Ft. Polk.
The old quote "You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?" comes to mind. Unfortunately, the question answers itself.
#8
Sadly, many of these entitled jerks will get passed along just like Major Hassan, by commander and senior rated officers on the back nine of their career. It's tempting to do, but painful if you take them on, I know from personal experience when I had an investigative interview after an anonymous 1-800-revenge IG hotline call following the second counseling session.
[Jewish Week] An 11-year-old boy was charged Monday with setting fire to a school bus outside a Jewish school in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. The bus went up in flames on Sunday evening in front of the Beth Rivkah School for Girls in the haredi Orthodox Jewish neighborhood. There were no injuries.
The accused boy was released to his parents, WABC-TV reported. Up to five boys were on the bus when it was set on fire, the station reported, citing a witness, who was able to identify the boy who was charged as a juvenile in the incident.
A lit pizza box was found inside the burning bus.
Police reportedly planned to use surveillance video from the school in an effort to identify the suspects. That is correct, none of the youth involved were identified as Jewish.
The African-American youngster was charged with criminal mischief and arson, both as hate crimes. Police said the arson took place on Sunday evening while the bus was parked on Brooklyn Avenue in Crown Heights, outside the private girls school, Beth Rivkah.
Security video shows five children running into the bus with pieces of cardboard. Shortly afterwards the kids flee the scene and smoke is billowing from the bus, which soon becomes engulfed in flames. A witness confirmed seeing a group four or five African-American children, between the ages of 10 and 15, on board the parked bus, Yeshiva World News reported.
Local Jewish volunteer patrol group Shomrim received a call about the fire and the suspects. Volunteers who arrived on the scene located the boys within minutes but they denied involvement in the fire when police arrived. A witness initially identified them, but later said she was not sure if they were the boys responsible for the crime. Police took down their information and are reviewing surveillance footage from the scene.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/12/2016 10:17
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#2
Later in the second article:
Police sources said another Jewish school bus was targeted in a crime that took place on Thursday, less than a mile away from the fire scene. Insiders said a bus driver told police he was driving down Eastern Parkway when someone threw a brick at his bus, shattering the driver-side mirror. A separate attack took place on Friday, in which a group of African-American teenagers threw rocks and stones at a Jewish man in Crown Heights before hitting him with a heavy steel stick.
#3
I think that setting that kind of fire is not so easy a bunch of kids with just a book of matches and a few pieces of cardboard. It was more than just a little mischievous. They had to use some lighter fluid or other accelerant and know what they were doing. They had to really, seriously want that bus to burn.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] If the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... announces the failure of peace talks in Kuwait aimed at ending the year-long war in Yemen, Yemen’s internationally recognized government will launch a military operation to enter the capital Sanaa, the Saudi-led military coalition front man said on Tuesday.
Brigadier General Ahmed Asiri defended the presence of coalition troops in Yemen, saying it was meant to protect the Yemeni people, not invade the country or take its resources.
He said coalition forces used precision-guided munitions to hit targets in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... to avoid harming civilians.
Iran-allied 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 ... rebels and Yemen’s Saudi-backed government are trying to reach a peace deal in Kuwait.
Following a two-day interruption, the two delegations resumed face-to-face talks on Monday after mediation efforts and an appeal by the U.N. envoy.
The two sides met again on Wednesday and agreed in principle on a proposal to free half of the prisoners and detainees held by both sides ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, which starts in early June.
They also discussed the mechanism of the prisoners’ exchange, Al Arabiya’s correspondent in Kuwait said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2016
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Top|| File under: Houthis
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A Syrian national extradited to the US made an initial court appearance Tuesday on charges he helped hack and extort American targets perceived to be enemies of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad. Horror of Homs...
Peter Romar, 36, was extradited from Germany, where he had been living in Waltershausen. A magistrate ordered him held pending a detention hearing Thursday.
He is accused of violating Syrian sanctions, conspiring to hack computers and extort money, and other charges.
Prosecutors say he joined other hackers from the pro-Assad Syrian Electronic Army who harassed and sought to extort victims including Harvard University and Human Rights Watch ... During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, HRW received a pledge from the Foundation to Promote Open Society, of which George Soros is Chairman, for general support totaling $100,000,000. The grant is being paid in installments of $10,000,000 over ten years.Through June 30, 2013, HRW had received $30,000,000 towards the fulfillment of the pledge.... A public defender who had just been appointed to represent Romar after Tuesday’s hearing declined comment.
Romar, dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, said little during Tuesday’s hearing. But he asked through an Arabic interpreter to be allowed to call his wife in Germany, whom he said was in a German hospital dying of cancer. A magistrate responded that he was unsure of the ability to place international calls from jail but suggested he speak to his attorney to see what could be facilitated.
Two other members of the Syrian Electronic Army -- Firas Dardar and Ahmad Umar Agha, who used the names "the Shadow" and "the Pro," respectively -- also face federal charges and remain on the lam.
According to an FBI affidavit, the Syrian Electronic Army in 2011 targeted entities including Harvard University, The Washington Post, the White House, Rooters, Human Rights Watch, National Public Radio, The News Agency that Dare Not be Named, CNN, the Onion, NBC Universal Inc., USA Today, the New York Post, NASA and Microsoft.
In April 2013, they allegedly sent a tweet from The News Agency that Dare Not be Named account on Twitter falsely claiming a bomb had went kaboom! at the White House and injured the president. The message caused the stock market to dip significantly before the tweet was quickly determined to be a hoax.
The affidavit states that Romar wanted to join the Syrian Electronic Army and reached out to Agha, who put Romar in touch with Dardar. Romar was particularly useful in the conspiracy because his German address made it easier to collect money extorted from various hacking victims, according to the affidavit.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2016
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[DAWN] Sadiq Khan’s election as Mayor of London has sent Paks into a celebratory mode but amidst the bonhomie, some questions have emerged.
Many on social media have pointed out the rarity of such an event happening here in Pakistain, causing seemingly-emancipated people to go a delicate shade of mottled purple; the contention being that people from humble backgrounds are also making it big in politics in the motherland so there is nothing special about London voting in a Muslim Mayor.
People here who have come from similar working class origins and reached the pinnacle of political success have usually left a corruption-ridden trail.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2016
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[Daily Excelsior] In a serious development in sensitive districts of Leh having borders with both hostile neighbours including Pakistain and China, the Army has reported that some "inimical foreign intelligence operatives" have become active and were trying to extract information about Army including ORBAT (Order of Battle) plan from influential persons including Sarpanchs etc.
Quoting an instance and telephone number of the person, who had received such call and the telephone number from where the call was made to gather strategic information, the Army has alerted the district administration to sensitize civil persons especially elected members and office bearers, who had some information pertaining to Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), who man the borders with Pakistain and China, to remain alert and not to give any kind of information to the callers.
A senior Army officer has written a detailed letter to the Deputy Commissioner, Leh intimating him about telephone call from inimical foreign intelligence operatives being received by the local people of Leh for trying to gather information about specific unit and key appointments in the area of Ladakh.
Though the letter, a copy of which was in possession of the Excelsior, didn’t mention whether the inimical foreign intelligence operatives belonged to Pakistain or China, the latter is being doubted as China shared large un-demarcated Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India in Eastern Ladakh and often resorts to transgressions on the Indian side though all such issues were now being resolved in meeting between the two sides at the Border Meeting Points (BMPs).
Citing one of the instances, the senior Army officer in his official letter has stated that a call was received by Durbuk Sarpanch Stanzin, when he was incidentally present in the Army area on his mobile telephone No. 9419344560 from telephone number 011-404609809.
"The caller identified himself as a Colonel and was trying to extract information of ORBAT (Order of Battle) plan of Army formation from the Sarpanch," the letter said.
It added that the queries made by the caller included: "whether the outstanding issue of range has been sorted out with the Army"?
On being cross-examined by the Sarpanch as to where from he (the caller) got his telephone number, he said he got it from office of the District Collector, Leh. The caller wanted to know whether all Army units are present in Leh, for which the Sarpanch said: "you ask the Army". Thereafter, the call got dropped.
According to sources, some other civilians also had received calls of similar nature. The callers were targeting only those persons, who had some sort of information about the Army and the ITBP especially the Panchayat members and Government officials, who generally remained aware about movement of the troops and their activities in view of sensitive nature of Leh.
In the letter, the Army has pointed out to the Deputy Commissioner, Leh that there was necessity to sensitize civil appointments (elected members and office bearers) of the civil administration so that the information didn’t get leaked out accidentally.
"No information regarding the Army or Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) should be divulged by anyone," the letter said.
It added that each such incident (the caller seeking information about the Army from anyone) should be immediately reported to the nearest Army unit with names of the caller and his telephone number, name and telephone number of the recipient, details sought by the caller and queries raised by him.
The Army has called upon the civil administration to conduct mock drills to rehearse the key appointments (like officials and others) in handling such calls.
As far as the Army personnel were concerned, they were already aware in handling such calls, sources said. They were not sure as to whether the calls were handiwork of Pakistain or China as both countries shared boundary with India in Leh.
Though Indian borders with Pakistain in Leh and Kargil ... three months of unprovoked Pak aggression, over 4000 dead Paks, another victory for India ... were completely peaceful, the Chinese Army do indulge in transgressions sometimes, though their number has gone down considerably during the past two years. The Indian Army and People’s Liberation Army of China have increased number of Border Meeting Points (BMPs) from one to two and hold regular contacts to sort out the issues, if any.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2016
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – On Wednesday the leadership of al-Hashed al-Shaabi in Anbar Province announced the killing of ISIS Communication Officer in the city of Fallujah, along with nine of his companions during the cleansing battles of al-karma District in eastern Fallujah (62 km west of Baghdad), while emphasized that the ISIS suspended all of its communications.
The commander of the 1st regiment in Karmat Fallujah brigade, Colonel Mahmoud Mardi Jumaili, said in a press statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “This morning the security forces carried out a military operation targeted ISIS gathering in Subaihat area in the center of al-Karma District, (19 km east of Fallujah), killing the so-called ISIS Communication Officer in the city of Fallujah Moaz Salah, along with nine of his companions.”
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – Baghdadi Council in Heet District announced on Wednesday, that the security forces started a military operation to liberate Heet and Baghdadi axes from the ISIS control west of Ramadi (110 km west of Baghdad).
The Head of Baghdadi Council Malullah Barzan al-Obeidi said in a press statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “This morning the security forces launched a large-scale military operation to liberate Heet axes (70 km west of Ramadi) and the remaining areas of Baghdadi from the ISIS control.”
Obeidi added, “More than 14 villages and areas are targeted in the cleansing battles in Heet and al-Baghdadi axes,” noting that, “The next few hours will witness the liberation of new areas, as well as ensuring the safety of the innocent civilians and keeping them away from the clashes.”
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – A source in Anbar Operations Command announced on Wednesday, that the security forces liberated two areas in the district of Heet west of Ramadi (110 km west of Baghdad), while pointed out to the killing of dozens of ISIS members during the operation.
The source said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “The joint security forces were able, at noon today, to liberate al-Wadahiya and al-Rab’I regions in western Heet District (70 km west of Ramadi) during the liberation battles of the western regions of Anbar from the ISIS control,” noting that, “The operation resulted in the killing of dozens of ISIS members.”
The source, who asked anonymity, added, “The security forces destroyed three car bombs during the storming of al-Wadahiya area, as well as bombing a large weapons and rockets cache in al-Rab’i area and seizing large quantities of weapons and mortar shells,” pointing out that, “The cleansing battles are ongoing backed by the international coalition aviation.”
(IraqiNews.com) al-Anbar – The commander of Anbar Operations, Army General Ismail al-Mahalawi, announced the killing of eight “terrorists” in an aerial bombardment by the international coalition aviation west of Fallujah.
Mahalawi said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “The international coalition aviation, in coordination with Anbar Operations, had managed to conduct two air strikes against a gathering for ISIS elements in the areas of al-Halabsa and al-Fallahat west of Fallujah (40 km east of Ramadi),” adding that, “The bombing resulted in the destruction of a booby-trapped vehicle driven by a suicide bomber belonging to the [ISIS], in addition to killing 8 terrorists and wounding 2 others.”
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – On Wednesday, official journalists with the Ministry of Defense announced, that the international coalition aircraft killed 20 terrorists, including a doctor who was medicating the wounded in ISIS, in Heet District in western Anbar.
The journalists said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “Today the international coalition aircraft conducted an accurate air strike on al-Bakr neighborhood in Heet District in western Anbar, based on intelligence information.”
The statement added, “The bombardment destroyed a laboratory for manufacturing booby-trapped vehicles and a vehicle carrying an anti-craft cannon,” pointing out that, “The bombardment also resulted in the killing of 20 terrorists in a hideout, including the terrorist doctor Abu al-Yaman and the terrorist Abu Islam.”
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – On Wednesday, Jazeera Operations Command announced liberating al-Marwaniya and al-Wadahiya villages in northern Baghdadi in Anbar Province.
The command said in a press statement received by IraqiNews.com, “The army’s 7th brigade, commandos brigade and al-Hashd al-Ashae’ri liberated al-Marwaniya and al-Wadahiya villages in al-Jaba area in northern Baghdadi in Anbar Province,” pointing out that, “The security forces raised the Iraqi flag on the villages.”
Earlier today the commander of Jazeera and Badiya Operations Major General Ali Ibrahim Dabon announced, that the security forces started the liberation operations of al-Baghdadi Island from ISIS grip, while pointed out to the participation of the tribal fighters, international coalition aviation and the Iraqi Air Force.
(IraqiNews.com) al-Anbar – Member of al-Baghdadi District Council, Abdul-Jabbar al-Obeidi, announced on Wednesday liberating the bridge which links between al-Baghdadi Island and the center of the district.
Obeidi said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “Security forces belonging to the army’s Seventh Division as well as the police and the clan fighters had managed to free the bridge which links between al-Baghdadi Island and the center of the vicinity north of al-Baghdadi vicinity (90 km west of Ramadi),” adding also that, “The security forces and tribal fighters had managed to liberate the village of al-Marowaniya in al-Baghdadi Island and raise the Iraqi flag over one of its buildings.”
Posted by: badanov ||
05/12/2016
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[Daily Excelsior] An Army jawan slipped to death in Handwara area of North Kashmire’s Kupwara district during a shootout with bully boyz as massive searches continued for second day against a Lion of Islam group that was intercepted by security forces yesterday.
The Army man, Om Veer Singh of 21-Rashtriya Rifles (RR), fell from a ridge in Rajwar forests after a brief exchange of gunfire with bully boyz of Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... (LeT) last night.
Sources said that as the Army and Police launched searches at Bawan Watsar area of Rajwar forests in Handwara last night, bully boyz fired upon them. They said that the since bully boyz were wearing the night vision devices, they spotted the Army party and fired at them leading to a fierce shootout. He said that the shootout last for 20 minutes but bully boyz managed to escape under the cover of darkness and firing.
A top security official said that more troops belonging to 30 RR and 6 RR were rushed to the spot and more area was cordoned off last night to prevent bully boyz from fleeing the forest area. The searches were again started this morning and were continuing till last reports came in.
A top security official said that they spotted six members of a 10 member Lashkar-e-Taiba Lion of Islam group against whom they had launched searches two weeks ago after they received information about their presence in the forest area.
Army launched a massive operation in North Kashmire’s Kupwara forests against this group after reports that 10 bully boyz infiltrated into the forest area from Pakistain Indian Kashmiree (PoK) last month.
These bully boyz infiltrated into the forests of Budnambal during the intervening night of April 18 and 19 from PoK. Army’s 19-Maratha initially launched operation against them. However, corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds... after they failed to trace out the group, another operation was launched by Army’s 28-RR, 18-RR and Special Operations Group (SOG) of Police, Kupwara, in Patushai, Kantpora and Shumbreyal forest areas.
Army had already inputs that the bully boyz may try to sneak into Kashmire in large numbers this year into Kashmire and they have intensified patrolling along the LoC.
In the meantime, driver of a police officer was injured in a grenade attack in Anantnag town of South Kashmire today.
The grenade lobbed at old SP office building in Anantnag went kaboom! on the premises, resulting in injuries to SP Vigilance’s driver. Three vehicles were damaged in the blast.
Soon after the attack, security forces cordoned the area to find the attacker, but no arrests were made. This is the second grenade attack in Anantnag town during last two weeks. On April 28, a grenade was thrown at a Sher- Bagh Police Post. There was, however, no injury in the blast.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2016
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[BLOGS.WSJ] Andrew Weinstein is CEO of Ridgeback Communications. He was director of media relations for the Dole/Kemp presidential campaign and was deputy press secretary to then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich. He was responsible for dumbass ideas, I guess.
Last week John Feehery, a former colleague of mine in the House leadership staff, offered five reasons that he supports Donald Trump and thinks that other Republicans should too. Here, in response, are five reasons Republicans should consider voting for Hillary Clinton.
1. We are Americans first and foremost, not Republicans. Voting for Mr. Trump as a duty of party membership misunderstands the proper role of a political party. Parties exist to represent the interests of their members, not to issue diktats on how to vote, particularly over a candidate anathema to the members’ core beliefs. Depends on your core beliefs. If it's your core belief that you've voted for "conservative" house and senate candidates for years and watched them cave to the Party of Plunder, then you don't want to do it again because you're tired of being lied to.
A vote is a decision of individual conscience. A vote for president should be determined by judgment of a candidate’s emotional, intellectual, and professional fitness to hold the nation’s highest office. Questions have been raised about Mrs. Clinton’s character and actions, but she has proven herself qualified on all three of these points. I'd say she's been proven undesirable on each point. Emotionally she's been an enabler of her husband in his serial sexual conquests. Intellectually she's espoused virtually every cause "conservatives" claim to be against: gun control, abortion, you name it. She is the antithesis of a conservative. Professionally? As Secretary of State she was a disaster. As senator from New York she was a chair warmer. In many ways, being a Republican consists of not being a Democrat: the Party of Lincoln as opposed to the Party of Boss Tweed. 2. Donald Trump is neither a conservative nor a Republican. Look at the policy records of Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump, and you’d be hard-pressed to tell who is the Republican. But it's easy enough to tell which one's the politician.
Mr. Trump has supported a range of liberal Democratic positions, and he has not adequately explained his reversal on his long-standing positions on universal health care and Second Amendment rights, nor his shifts on abortion. Now that his primary rivals are gone, Mr. Trump’s conservatism-of-convenience is being replaced by more liberal stances on potential tax increases and a minimum-wage hike. It's the chance we take against the certainty of what we'd get. Devil? Deep blue sea? The writer suggests going with the devil we're familiar with. 3. Presidential respect for the Constitution is critical. Throughout this campaign, Mr. Trump has shown ignorance of and disregard for our nation’s Charters of Freedom. He has questioned the media’s First Amendment rights, claimed power to order the military to break the law, asserted a presidential prerogative to expand the death penalty through executive order, and proposed targeting religious minorities and birthright citizens through databases and deportation, respectively. To “preserve, protect and defend” our Constitution, a president must also understand it. And to elect a better constitutional course he suggests Hillary Clinton? I'll stick with Trump on the off chance he's got Newt Gingrich as part of his cabinet. 4. There is no viable third option. Politics is the art of the possible, and the possibilities in this contest are Mrs. Clinton or Mr. Trump. This year’s primaries have been dominated by a “Fight Club” electorate, voters who want to blow up the system rather than work within it, but experience matters in a chief executive. Trump has way more actual executive experience than the Lady of Chappaqua.
As distasteful as a President Hillary Clinton would be to many, the republic will survive four more years with a liberal in the White House, particularly if that liberal president is blocked by a GOP House and Senate filibuster. Mr. Trump, however, is a threat on a different order of magnitude. The GOP house blockage and senate filibusters haven't appeared over the past eight years. Suddenly they're going to appear like magick with the election of Hillary Clinton with the support of Publican turncoats? I have grave doubts. 5. The best way to save the GOP is a Clinton victory. A Trump win could create an institutional bond between the GOP and the racist demagoguery and proposals Mr. Trump has espoused while simultaneously abandoning the party’s positive messages of inclusion, growth, prosperity, and individual liberty. That's taking the Dem position that Trump's a racist. He wasn't one before the campaign started. I suspect strongly that he won't be after the election, regardless of which way it goes. The Wonder Bread Mitt Romney was painted as a racist. McCain was painted as a racist lunatic. Bush was painted as a racist incompetent. It's all racist, all the time. Doesn't it ever get old?
If Republicans rally behind Mr. Trump, the White House is likely to be lost for a generation. If Trump wins, the party's changed for good -- with a dose of Whiggery added to the mix of conservative and libertarian that are the dominant streams, of which I'd put Trump in the libertarian stream.
Voting for Mrs. Clinton, however, would signal that Republicans will not sacrifice the soul of their party on the altar of an angry authoritarian. It would usher in four to eight more years of the same poopslide we've been enduring.
A one-time vote for Mrs. Clinton is not an endorsement of her as a person or politician. Then what is it?
It is a statement that she is the lesser of two evils in a contest in which her opponent threatens the Republican Party and the country. Some of us regard her as much the greater of two evils.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2016
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Top|| File under:
#1
The greatest evil in his world is losing access and perceived power. Exactly why Trump and Sanders are such a shock.
#2
This year’s primaries have been dominated by a “Fight Club” electorate, voters who want to blow up the system rather than work within it, but experience matters in a chief executive.
-For more than half of Americans, the current wink-wink agreement between the two parties isn't working, Mr. Weinstein and his political fellow travelers show no sign of helping to fix this (and in fact seem to be profiting handsomely and resistant to changing things), and we have been lied to too many times about commitment to resist inroads from the left.
-The Blue State model is dead. All Democrats are attempting to keep it alive as a zombie because it keeps them in food and shelter and status. The few Republicans who are also doing the same are people like Weinstein. Scratch a #neverTrumper and you'll find - 100% of the time - someone who doesn't give a damn about gun rights and who makes their living either in the government, media, education, or entertainment.
At one time Republicans like him were pro-business. Now they are only pro-BIG business. The rest of us can go to hell, or go work for the other half of the Blue State model, big government. Get it through your head, Mr. Weinstein - your life may have only been inconvenienced by Obama, and will only be inconvenienced by Clinton, but mine has been savaged. Get out of the city more often and see what has happened to your fellow Americans in the heartland.
If you want to see what Weinstein wants in a "leader", look at Gov. Charlie Baker in MA, a fussy bureaucrat with no intention of shrinking the size of government, no intention of rolling back the regulatory leviathan, and who, like Weinstein, doesn't want government shrunk to a size in line with what the founders want. Rather, he agrees with this existence of every alphabet agency clown farm the Democrats ever created, and thinks that "republican" just means someone who can run those clown farms slightly better than Democrats do.
The WWII peace dividend and dirt cheap energy are forty years dead. The socio-economic system that could exist with those conditions is a stinking corpse that Democrats and Republicans like Weinstein think they can keep alive forever.
We are at one of those crossroads in history where things MUST change. The push towards centralization over the past ninety years represents the pendulum swinging all the way in one direction. It must go the other way now or we will die as a nation. If Weinstein can explain to me how Hillary Clinton - along with her two or three SCOTUS appointments who will certainly prevent any reform of the government work force or public pensions and will certainly disarm citizens and will push for centralization as hard if not harder than Obama did and will certainly use regulatory agencies to harm any industry that doesn't give campaign donations to Democrats - will absolutely be better than Trump or anyone else, I'm all ears.
"Fight Club" is appropriate. Those who can't see it are the ones out of touch. Most of us don't work for a "communications company". whatever the hell that is. If you can't understand why people would vote for Trump, or Cruz, or a seasick flounder, before they would vote for Hillary Clinton, you need to do a lot more communication.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
05/12/2016 6:02
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#3
Air is rare at his lofty level of self importance. Fight club? The contract between the citizenry and their government starts with "We the people..".
#8
What's that old saying the Devil you Know vs the Devil you don't. Well what if the Devil you know is so foul the other option looks significantly better by comparison.
That is this election.
Interesting this guy worked for Newt who is in the Trump camp. Guy has no loyalties or more likely stand for nothing.
This should automatically rule out any opinions he has on Presidential Races. Or Political Races. Maybe Foot-Races to out run the tomato's thrown at him.
Posted by: Charles ||
05/12/2016 21:42
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#12
I hate Trump - I think he is on so many things wrong, and not intellectually or morally fit for the office. These points are a must for any true conservative, pro-life, small government constitutionalist. But Vote for Hillary? No. HELL NO. This is something that would only unprincipled people do. When thinking conservative refuse voting Trump, then why the hell would you agree to voting someone probably worse, or just as bad?
Young, anti-social computer programmer Elliot works as a cybersecurity engineer during the day, but at night he is a vigilante hacker. He is recruited by the mysterious leader of an underground group of hackers to join their organization. Elliot's task? Help bring down corporate America, including the company he is paid to protect, which presents him with a moral dilemma. Although he works for a corporation, his personal beliefs make it hard to resist the urge to take down the heads of multinational companies that he believes are running -- and ruining -- the world.
#14
of course they could just vote for Mr Robot: Fsociety among 2015 presidential candidates
Following the 2016 presidential election has been unavoidable this campaign season. But for fans of Mr. Robot, the race may have just gotten a little more interesting.
According to USA Today, fsociety has been entered into the race, against other new “candidates” including Darth Vader, Yoda, and Bye Felicia. A comprehensive list of who has filed statements of candidacy is on the Federal Election Commission website.
After watching Mr. Robot’s first season, we’re pretty sure that putting a stop to corporate greed would be at the center of fsociety’s campaign strategy. Are you ready to join the fsociety revolution?
The Turkish Armed Forces has stated that a total 4,571 militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) have been killed since July 22, 2015, while 6,623 have been “neutralized” as part of anti-terror operations.
The statement said 4,571 militants were killed and 695 were wounded, while 761 were captured and 641 surrendered to the authorities.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/12/2016
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Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Turkish air strikes in the southeastern province of Hakkari and in northern Iraq killed 11 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters on Tuesday, the armed forces said in a statement on Wednesday.
It also said security operations in southeast Turkey killed three PKK fighters in Nusaybin and four in Sirnak on Tuesday, bringing the militant death toll in the two towns to around 700 during the operations of recent months.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2016
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Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A top Yemeni commander escaped an assassination attempt by a suicide car bomber in southern Yemen on Wednesday, in an attack that also killed three people and injured others, a military statement and security officials said.
The officials say that the bomber targeted Maj. Gen. Abdel-Rahman al-Halili, the commander of the First Army District in the province of Hadramawt.
He was heading to a camp located between the towns of Qatn and Sayoum. They said that he was injured in the head by shrapnel.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack but al-Hilali has been targeted by al-Qaida previously in failed assassination attempts.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2016
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia
[DAWN] Two coppers were killed and eight other people injured in a kaboom here on Tuesday.
The kaboom, which took place on Sariab Road in front of 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... University, also injured a five-year-old child and three police personnel. University students remained safe.
"The target of the blast was a police post located in front of the main gate of the university," Police Inspector Mushtaq Ahmed said, adding that an improvised bomb was used in the blast.
Police sources said that the IED was planted when coppers deployed at the post had gone for lunch.
"Two coppers, who were on duty at the post, bit the dust and three others suffered injuries in the blast," Inspector Ahmed said.
According to the bomb disposal squad, "around 2kg explosive was used in the IED". The dear departedcoppers were identified as Muhammad Arshad and Tanveer Ahmed.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2016
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Top|| File under: Baloch Liberation Army
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Afghan police forces seized at least 9,700 kgs of explosives as the bully boyz were looking to use the explosives for attacks in Afghanistan.
"Yesterday evening, Afghan National Border Police (ANBP) confiscated 9700 kilos of Ammonium Nitrate, a key component used to make Improvised Explosive Devices," a statement by Ministry of Interior (MoI) said.
The statement further added that "The Ammonium Nitrate was placed in a Pak truck transporting fresh fruits to Afghanistan."
"The police searched the truck and found the Ammonium Nitrate hidden under the fruits in the Torkham port," the statement said, adding that "Two suspects were incarcerated ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... on accusation of this case."
The Taliban bandidos krazed killers and bully boyz belonging to the other krazed killer groups are frequently using Improvised Explosive Device (IED) as the weapon of their choice to target the security forces.
The IEDs are the main contributors to the casualties of the Afghan cops but are also considered as a key factor in growing civilian casualties.
At least 600 non-combatants were killed and 1,343 others were maimed in the first quarter of 2016, the United Nations ...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said in its latest report.
UNAMA further added that consistent with 2015 trends, ground engagements caused the highest number of total civilian casualties, followed by improvised bombs (IEDs), complex and suicide kabooms, as well as assassination'>assassinations.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2016
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A police source revealed on Wednesday, that a booby-trapped vehicle exploded in al-Rabie’ street in western the capital, Baghdad.
The source reported for IraqiNews.com, “Today, a booby-trapped vehicle exploded targeting a checkpoint belonging to the police in al-Rabie’ street in al-Adl neighborhood in western Baghdad.”
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added, “A security force and ambulances rushed to the incident area.”
[BALTIMORESUN] Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has banned government travel to North Carolina and Mississippi over the states' controversial transgender laws.
With her order Tuesday, Rawlings-Blake has chosen sides in the escalating showdown between the two Southern states and U.S. Department of Justice, which sued North Carolina to block the bathroom law. North Carolina's governor answered with a countersuit, asking a judge to rule that the law is not discriminatory.
"I am hopeful that our efforts, combined with those of so many other progressive governments and companies, will push North Carolina and Mississippi to make the changes necessary to respect all citizens," Rawlings-Blake wrote in a letter Tuesday to city officials.
Mayors of New York, Seattle and the Socialist paradise of San Francisco ...where God struck dead Anton LaVey, home of the Sydney Ducks, ruled by Vigilance Committee from 1859 through 1867, reliably and volubly Democrat since 1964... have also banned their government workers from traveling to North Carolina on business.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2016
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Top|| File under:
#1
I can understand the whole transgender as a genetic issue. Its in their DNA. but this is an equipment issue. Until you have surgery deal with it. I certainly don't want my wife taking the granddaughter into the rest room and have some guy hanging his junk out because he has identity issues. IMO the people who complain loudest and longest about their rights often don't give a rats ass about yours or mine.
#2
Baltimore is off limits now to most people already. I spoke to a street policeman in Baltimore and Baltimore is off limits to his wife. You travel into minority areas now and you will not be welcome. In the old days in West Virginia it was considered polite to wave at out of town people. In the cities you get attacked. Blake is a poor example but that's how they do business.
#4
North Carolina and Mississippi should ban all travel from the City of Baltimore. I know who's getting the better of that deal
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/12/2016 9:06
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#5
btw - the 2nd Baltimore cop goes on trial with Judge, not Jury, deciding. No cherry-picking racialist jurors wanting to "send a message". Smart move
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/12/2016 9:09
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#6
Frank, what color is the judge? That's the important thing.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
05/12/2016 10:10
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#7
Oh, my. Now Mrs. Uluque and I will have to cancel our vacation to Baltimore.
#9
From now on all riots will be home games -- Mayor Hyphen.
Posted by: regular joe ||
05/12/2016 12:42
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#10
You would think Baltimore would have a few more important things to worry about than weather a group of people, far away, should be able to protect themselves.
#11
I have no data, but I'm guessing the amount of official government travel from Baltimore to North Carolina was somewhere in the low nones. Virtue signaling, both cost-free and meaningless. But it does give Mayor Hyphen-Blake some nice media exposure. As long as no one brings up the murder rate.
#12
I used to agree to go to Baltimore on business (no one else would go) but only because of the Little Italy restaurants. The rest of Baltimore was deplorable. And that was in the 85-95 timeframe.
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. Perfect dem name.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
05/12/2016 15:36
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[DAWN] HYDERABAD: An improvised bomb (IED) fitted to a carrier of an abandoned bicycle went kaboom! off main Jamshoro Road near Jamshoro Wapda Colony on Tuesday, police said.
There were no casualties, police added.
According to Bomb Disposal Squad official Mohammad Ramzan, an IED fitted to a carrier of an abandoned bicycle blew up through an electric device at around 12:30pm. The device carried 100 grams of home-made explosives. There was a loud noise which panicked residents of the locality. The blast did not cause any damage to the ground however the bicycle broke into two pieces, the official added.
Jamshoro DSP Khalid Iqbal said there was no one present when the blast occurred off main Jamshoro Road near Jamshoro Wapda Colony. They did not find any kind of pamphlet on the site of the blast and the police were investigating the case further, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2016
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Top|| File under:
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.
[Daily Caller] German authorities are investigating 40 cases where Islamic militants are suspected of entering the country as refugees.
[CNN] The terror group ISIS says it's behind a series of attacks in Iraq's capital Wednesday that left more than 90 people dead.
...Liwa al-Islam (Brigade of Islam) was established by Zahran Alloush, the son of Saudi-based religious scholar Abdullah Mohammed Alloush, after Syrian authorities released him from prison in mid-2011 where he had been serving time for his Salafist activism. The group claimed responsibility for carrying out the July 2012 Damascus bombing that killed Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha, Deputy Defense Minister Asef Shawkat, and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani. It was a driving force behind actions in the Damascus region. It cooperated and conducted joint operations with al-Nusra. In Sptember 2013 Saudi Arabia engineered Liwa al-Islam's merger with fifty other more or less Salafist groups as a counterweight to al-Nusra, which the Learned Elders of Islam considered was growing too powereful...
[War Zone] Earlier today the Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS William P. Lawrence was executing a freedom of navigation drill near Fiery Cross Reef, where China has built a 10,000-foot-long runway along with maritime and other military facilities. During the destroyer’s approach to the island, a pair of Chinese J-11 fighters, an indigenous variant of the Su-27 Flanker, along with a Y-8 surveillance aircraft, were scrambled from the island outpost. It is not clear at this time if the Y-8, which has been adapted for many missions, was a maritime patrol, airborne early warning and control (AEW&C), electronic intelligence collection, electronic warfare or a command and control variant.
[HotAir] Senator Harry Reid was a guest at a Congressional Progressive Caucus meeting Wednesday. Rep. Alan Grayson disrupted the meeting to confront Reid about his support for an ongoing ethics investigation into Grayson's alleged misdeeds in office.
[FRANCE24] 
[BIGSTORY.AP.ORG] Donald Trump may find it tough to get Republican leaders behind his campaign, but he's got some faraway fans trying to get the gods on his side.
[NATIONALREVIEW] For much of the last week, the very small world of pundits and policy wonks has been buzzing about the New York Times’s extended profile by David Samuels of Obama foreign-policy guru Ben Rhodes, the “aspiring novelist” (as the headline put it) with a master’s in fine arts who sneers with contempt at the president’s foes and has helped helm American foreign policy in the age of ISIS. 
Wazoo
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
The Turkish Armed Forces has stated that a total 4,571 militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) have been killed since July 22, 2015, while 6,623 have been “neutralized” as part of anti-terror operations. 
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Turkish air strikes in the southeastern province of Hakkari and in northern Iraq killed 11 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters on Tuesday, the armed forces said in a statement on Wednesday.
