[Bus Insider] After a week of rumblings that the US was preparing to arm and deploy Special Forces to Libya, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, said on Thursday that a military deployment to Libya could happen "any day."
Speaking to journalists after returning from a NATO meeting in Brussels, as The Washington Post notes, Dunford outlined a "period of intense dialogue" between the US and Libya's UN-recognized Government of National Accord, who seek to rid the country of a recent but pronounced ISIS presence.
The terrorist group ISIS has been gaining ground in Libya even as their so-called caliphate shrinks in Iraq and Syria as a US-led coalition and various regional forces attack the group from every angle.
For ISIS, branching out into Libya provides it a potential "back-up capital" in case the terrorist group is driven out of its main base in Syria.
"There's a lot of activity going on underneath the surface," said Dunford. "We're just not ready to deploy capabilities yet because there hasn't been an agreement. And frankly, any day that could happen."
"There will be a long-term mission in Libya," said Dunford.
In fact, US Special Forces have been on the ground in an advisory role since late last year.
The Russians have been in Libya for three years. I met one in a coffee shop in Tripoli. He even paid for my expresso. He said the high command was worried about what would happen to the ME if Libya went sideways...they were doing lots of "things" to try to discourage the militants but they were like cockroaches...stamp them out or step on them and they crawl out of another wall.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
05/21/2016 17:43
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#7
Bill, I still wonder if they were there on September 11, 2012.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
05/21/2016 20:35
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and "water is wet"
He wrote: "For many Muslims the antisemitism is visceral, an ingrained part of their unpleasant ideology," adding: "If you handed over Israel to the Palestinians they would turn it into Somalia before you could say Yom Kippur."
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/21/2016
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#1
"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
[Wash Times] A group that the Obama administration saw as a key ally in the push to win support for its Iran nuclear deal also gave $100,000 to National Public Radio in 2015.
A recent New York Times Magazine article featuring Ben Rhodes, one of Mr. Obama’s top foreign policy aides, said a media "echo chamber" was created to control news cycles leading up to the July 2015 deal. A report by the Associated Press
...long, detailed, and it wasn't just NPR by far...
released Friday indicates that The Ploughshares Fund was used to help accomplish that task.
I'll bet that the Ploughshares Fund has connections to George Soros and the Open Society Initiative...
"Ploughshares Fund is a global security foundation working to build a safe, secure world by developing and investing in initiatives to reduce and ultimately eliminate the world’s nuclear stockpiles and to promote stability in regions of conflict where nuclear weapons exist," the group’s website states. AP noted that while outside groups do give money to news organizations, the nexus between Ploughshares Fund, the White House, and NPR is "more unusual, given its prominent role in the rancorous, partisan debate over the Iran deal."
Ploughshares spokeswoman Jennifer Abrahamson pushed back against AP’s characterization of its efforts on Friday.
"It is common practice for foundations to fund media coverage of underreported stories," Ms. Abrahamson said, AP reported. "[Funding] does not influence the editorial content of their coverage in any way, nor would we want it to."
Then her nose grew too long and her lips fell off...
The group has contributed to NPR since 2005, but grants since 2010 have been specifically tied to Iran.
So they've been encouraging their version of the 'news' for over a decade...
[Guardian] Actor-comedian Alan Young, who played the amiable straight man to a talking horse in the 1960s sitcom Mister Ed, has died, a spokeswoman for the Motion Picture and Television Home said on Friday. He was 96.
The English-born, Canadian-educated Young died Thursday, according to Jaime Larkin, spokeswoman for the retirement community where Young had lived for four years. His children were with him when he died peacefully of natural causes, she said.
[LI] Sir Nicholas Winton rescued 669 mostly Jewish children from Czechoslovakia in 1939. Not a soldier, not a government official, Winton petitioned the British government for permission to organize "Kindertransport."
For fifty years, Winton kept his Kindertransport activities to himself. It wasn't until his wife discovered a scrapbook that his story was made public in 1988. It wasn't until the details of his rescue missions were unearthed that the children he saved learned who saved them and how. More than 7,000 people credit their lives to Winton's efforts.
Winton passed away last year at the age of 106. Thursday, hundreds attended a memorial service to commemorate Winton's incredible bravery and selflessness.
Mustafa Amine had been Hezbollah's operations chief since February 2008, when his predecessor and brother-in-law, arch-terrorist Imad Mughniyeh, was killed in a car-bomb attack in Damascus.
Last Friday, May 13, Badreddine, too, met a violent end--killed, according to reports, in a mysterious explosion near Damascus International Airport.
Badreddine's terror activity with Hezbollah went back to 1983, when he led a cell that car-bombed the U.S. embassy in Kuwait. Captured and imprisoned in Kuwait, he managed to escape in 1990 when Saddam Hussein invaded the country.
Badreddine made it back to Beirut, his Hezbollah comrades, and terror activity--both against Israel and against U.S. and British forces in Iraq. But Badreddine's most notorious exploit came on February 14, 2005, when he masterminded the vicious killing of moderate Sunni Lebanese leader Rafiq Hariri in Beirut.
As Israeli investigative writer Ronen Bergman describes it:
....a suicide bomber driving a van loaded with explosives equal in damage power to three tons of TNT collided with Hariri's armored convoy, turning it into a fiery hell.
The attack succeeded, Bergman says, even though
Hariri was one of the best-guarded people in the world, with his security protocol formulated by experts from Germany and the United States. Badreddine's success in killing Hariri (together with 21 other people) had once again proven that apart from Mughniyeh, he was the best operative in the organization.
Badreddine was also--surprisingly, perhaps, for a Hezbollah chief--a hedonist and womanizer who made sure to live life to the fullest, including studying at the American University of Beirut, dining at expensive restaurants, running a jewelry store and having many friends and pleasures that he was unwilling to give up, not even for Hezbollah.
Which still leaves open the question: who was it that finally put an end to Badreddine's versatile career last Friday?
[Intercept] MORLEY SAFER, who was a correspondent on CBS’s 60 Minutes from 1970 until just last week, died Thursday at age 84.
There will be hundreds of obituaries about Safer, but at least so far, there’s been no mention of what I think was one of the most important stories he ever told. Slipping down a few paras to the BLUF.
But in the 50 years since, from essentially everything the Nixon administration said about Vietnam, to the Reagan administration’s claims justifying the invasion of Grenada, to the George H.W. Bush administration justifying the Gulf War because Iraqi forces were massed on the border of Saudi Arabia, to the Clinton administration’s wild exaggerations about Serbian violence in Kosovo, to essentially everything the Bush administration said about Iraq, to Obama’s Director of National Intelligence James Clapper denying the National Security Agency gathers data on millions of Americans, most of the U.S. media has been, as Sylvester put it, "stupid." Not to mention the Mohammad video, Benghazi, Susan Rice and the Sunday Talks.
Time and again, members of the Washington press corps have credulously accepted officials’ lies and misinformation and passed them on to their readers as the truth. Their real-time skepticism is almost nonexistent. And they keep doing it. David Rhodes, brother of Presidential Advisor Ben Rhodes, is the President of CBS News. In February 2011, Rhodes was named President of CBS News, becoming the youngest network news president in the history of American television.
If you look at the last few weeks of the New York Times, you’ll learn that U.S. officials say that American troops in Yemen "are working at the headquarters’ level and are not near the front lines" and that a Navy SEAL killed in Iraq "was two to three miles behind the front lines" when it happened. Do you think they’re telling the truth? Assuming that would be stupid.
If you want a skeptical press corps that doesn't believe everything it's told by insiders and game-players, you need a Republican president and a Republican administration...
[Breitbart] Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with a range of establishment conservatives in Silicon Valley on Wednesday to discuss the reported suppression of conservative content.
There were reportedly 16 attendees at the meeting, which included:
- Glenn Beck, founder of the The Blaze
- Barry Bennett, an adviser to Donald Trump
- Jim DeMint, former GOP Senator from South Carolina
- Robert Bluey, editor in chief of the The Daily Signal
- Dana Perino, host at Fox News
- Alex Skatell, founder of the Independent Journal Review
- Mary Katharine Ham, Hot Air Editor at Large
- S.E. Cupp, CNN political commentator
- Jenny Beth Martin, CEO of the Tea Party Patriots
- Brent Bozell, President of Media Research Center
- Zac Moffatt, part of Mitt Romney’s campaign
- Arthur Brooks, American Entreprise Institute
Representatives from Breitbart were asked to attend but declined the invitation, as did American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp.
Cupp posted on Twitter after the meeting to say "it had been very productive."
Meanwhile Fox News host Dana Perino told The Blaze that the meeting was "overall positive," adding that Zuckerburg had a "genuine desire" to fix Facebook’s rift with conservatives.
President of Media Research Brent Bozell also talked positively of the meeting, saying that "Facebook understands there is a problem" and that they also "have a genuine desire to correct it."
Zuckerberg himself posted on Facebook shortly after the meeting to say "I know many conservatives don’t trust that our platform surfaces content without a political bias."
"I wanted to hear their concerns personally and have an open conversation about how we can build trust," he claimed. "I want to do everything I can to make sure our teams uphold the integrity of our products."
Meanwhile Breitbart’s Milo Yiannopoulos was critical of the meeting and the image it portrayed, saying that it merely assisted Facebook in its marketing efforts and that "extreme stupidity" was the only explanation for the participants’ attendance.
Facebook have also confirmed they are aware of Yiannopoulos’s invitation to debate Mark Zuckerburg one on one over the issue of censorship of conservative media.
#5
A conservative is someone who wants to protect the tried and tested, but will throw out anything that doesn't pass the test.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
05/21/2016 12:35
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Paps - Conservatives are Nazis - is that what you were going for? The NYT would be proud, not least because this view is counter factual.
Fascism was an Italian phenomenon. Nazism was a left wing movement. The name is a hint. It stands for National Socialists. Jonah Goldberg does a good job laying this out in Liberal Fascism.
#7
Meanwhile Fox News host Dana Perino told The Blaze that the meeting was "overall positive," adding that Zuckerburg had a "genuine desire" to fix Facebook’s rift with conservatives.
Good old Neville Dana!
I'm sure this will lead to peace no more bias in our time!
#11
Paps - Conservatives are Nazis - is that what you were going for?
It's called 'sarcasm'. Perhaps you've heard of it.
Fascism was an Italian phenomenon
The priciples of which seems to be making a comeback in Europe, and among a certain part of the American political spectrum - which doesn't like conservatives.
Back in the bad old days of the dead tree press, it was said that California leads the nation in trends. And it had for a good long time, at least in positive trends.
This newest drive is part of a nationwide effort which will follow Hillary Clinton should she wind up in the White House in January. You can tell because noted firearms experts such as Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric, for all intents and purposes Golden Throats who know what's best for you, much better than you.
As to Couric's claim that a "silent majority" of firearms owners want more gun control, I have zero doubt about that. You can see it even in Arms List, where about 15 to 20 percent of all sales listings require a background check by the seller.
This goes to Arms List's refusal to clean up their own sales lists, including gun shops who list their wares privately. Those shops are required by federal law to require a background check as a condition of sale. That requirement makes the private gun sale category meaningless because once the firearm is sold via a background check the sale is no longer private, but has been recorded for the government by the seller.
Individuals who require background checks as a condition of sale and gun shops should be required to list their sales as a vendor.
Individuals who require their gun sale through a background check are the exemplar of what Couric is taking about. People who believe that the rights enumerated on the Constitution apply to them and them alone. Everyone else can be left with nothing just as long as they have their rights. The left has been using this false sentiment against gun owners for decades now to tremendous effect.
Over at Knuckledraggin My Life Away blog, I guess blogger Ken Lane decided to start a fight about the AK vs AR comparisons. Some amazing reader's comments came from that post.
typical rifle cost AK win
ammo weight AR win
ease of tear down and maint AK win
long range accuracy AR win
typical skirmisher ranges 50 – 300 yds draw
quality ammo availability and choice AR win
barbie-dollability AR win
Bottom line the age old debate will continue. Thank god Kenny threw out the bait. There will be a bunch of responses to this one. ps I am an AK guy after a seeming lifetime with the AR platform as marksmanship instructor in the MC. For me the KISS principle rules all. :)
Thanks for saying that, WC. All I know is that 9 times outta 10 … When one squad with ARs is going at it with another with AKs …. The guys with the ARs win. The AK belongs to the third world and they can have it.
Above is a link from Tactical Response when Reid Henrichs was an instructor there. One video on youtube does not win the argument but it does give you a starting point and you can go on from there. But you wont. You have spent to much “sexifing” your vietnam’ war machine and been telling yourself and others for far to long and its become a point of self accomplishment in your mind.
[Al Ahram] Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah on Friday vowed to strengthen its presence in wartorn Syria and send more leaders to the conflict, a week after its top military commander there was killed.
The death of Mustafa Badreddine, who Hezbollah said was killed near Damascus by shellfire from Sunni Salafist tough guys, was one of the biggest blows yet to the Iranian-backed group's leadership.
Hezbollah, Leb's most powerful political and military group, has provided crucial support to the Syrian army, along with Iranian forces and the Russian air force. The group is estimated to have lost around 1,200 fighters in Syria's five-year-old conflict.
"No death of any of our leaders has driven us from the battle. This precious blood will push us to a larger, stronger and more sophisticated presence," leader His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... said in a speech broadcast live on the group's Al Manar television.
"We are staying in Syria. More leaders will go to Syria than the number that were there before. We will be present in different forms as well," he said without elaborating.
"We will complete this battle."
Nasrallah spoke on a big screen, projected live in a hall in southern Beirut as part of a ceremony honouring Badreddine a week after his death.
A military band dressed in white marched past the screen shortly before Nasrallah spoke, and men in fatigues paraded with yellow Hezbollah flags.
IRANIAN COMMANDERS KILLED
Nasrallah said Badreddine had been involved in recent weeks in the planning of an offensive to capture territory from rebels southeast of Damascus. Syrian government forces and Hezbollah fighters seized that area on Thursday, taking a substantial amount of territory from Death Eaters.
Badreddine directed Hezbollah's military operations in Syria, insisting on basing himself in the country, and had been a top commander since the 1990s, responsible for breaking up Israeli spy networks and helping develop the group's media apparatus, Nasrallah said.
He reiterated a Hezbollah statement that Badreddine was killed by Death Eater shellfire, and not by an Israeli attack, following speculation after one Hezbollah figure initially blamed Israel. But he warned that Hezbollah would retaliate if Israel targeted "any of our fighters".
At least four prominent figures in Hezbollah have been killed in Syria since January 2015. A number of high-ranking Iranian officers have also been killed, either fighting Syrian bandidos Death Eaters or in Israeli attacks.
Hezbollah has said it sees the Syrian war as an existential battle against Sunni myrmidons.
Nasrallah said the loss of commanders was not weakening the group.
Badreddine "is not the first martyr to die in this way nor will he be the last," he said.
"We have a generation of leaders" ready to fill the void left by those killed, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2016
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(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source within the police force in Baghdad province said on Friday, that eight people had been either killed or wounded in a bomb blast that took place north of Baghdad.
The source, who requested anonymity, said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “This morning, an explosive device went off near shops in the area of al-Husseiniya, north of Baghdad, resulting in the death of two persons and wounding six others,” adding that, “A security force rushed to the scene and transferred the injured to a nearby hospital for medical treatment and the two dead bodies to the forensic medicine authority, while imposed a security cordon around the area of the incident and prevented approaching it.”
[AlArabiya] Sudanese media say fierce clashes between two clans of one tribe this week in the country's southern West Kordofan State, have left dozens dead.
The independent Shorouk TV said on Friday at least 37 people died in the fighting, which took place on Tuesday, between the branches of the Hamar tribe, an ethnic Arab tribe. The official SUNA news agency confirmed the violence but didn't give a death toll.
The two warring clans are Awlad Subaih and Jamaaniyah in the district of Al-Nuhud.
It's unclear what sparked the clashes but Sudan Tribune reported that the two sides fought over theft of sheep.
The governor of West Kordofan, Aboul-Qassem al-Amin Baraka, says Sudanese security forces were deployed and the situation is now under control. An investigation is underway into the incident.
Last Update: Saturday, 21 May 2016 KSA 00:28 - GMT 21:28
#4
Wikipedia: "Cheek's primary goals upon taking the position as chancellor of UT have been improving the academic experience of students and advancing faculty research and scholarship. His ultimate goal is to help Tennessee become one of the top 25 research universities in the United States. He has already helped guide UT to a top 50 ranking." (I.e., undergraduate students be damned.)
#5
Research University is a polite eupherysm for "making the faculty rich and ignore the undergrads"
The University of California is a research university, there are faculty who have not stepped foot on campus for three years and undergraduates teaching freshman classes.
The "research university" gig is a vast welfare system for academia.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
05/21/2016 17:47
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[DAWN] The United States (US) House of Representatives on Thursday voted 277 to 147 in favour of a defence policy bill seeking to increase restrictions on military aid for Pakistain unless certain conditions are met.
The House, expressing frustration over what they term Islamabad's failure to crack down on the Haqqani network, passed the $602 billion National Defense Authorization Act 2017, or NDAA late on Wednesday.
The NDAA will block $450 million in aid to Islamabad unless it does more to fight the holy warrior group, which politicians see as a major threat to US forces in Afghanistan.
The bill requires the Pentagon to certify that Pakistain is conducting military operations to disrupt the Haqqani network, not letting the network use North Wazoo as a safe haven and actively coordinating with Afghanistan's government to fight the network along their border.
As they finalised the 2017 version of the annual bill, House members added three amendments related to Pakistain. All passed by unanimous voice vote.
One added a fourth requirement to the release of the aid, that the administration certify Pakistain has shown progress in arresting and prosecuting Haqqani network big shots and mid-level operatives.
Another required that the Secretary of Defence certify Pakistain is not using its military or any funds or equipment provided by the US to persecute minority groups.
And a third added a "sense of Congress" that Shakil Afridi is an international hero and calls for his immediate release from prison.
Pakistain sentenced Afridi in 2012 to 33 years in jail on charges of belonging to a holy warrior group, which he denies. That sentence was overturned and Afridi is now awaiting trial on another charge.
The government says its courts will decide Afridi's fate, and has angrily criticised US politicians, including Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, over calls to release him.
The House version of the NDAA is not the final version of the legislation. It must be combined with a Senate bill before being sent to the White House for President Barack Obama teachable moment... to sign, or veto.
However, Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried... there is also strong criticism of Pakistain in the US Senate. This month, Senator Bob Corker used his authority as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee to bar the use of any US funds for Pakistain to buy American F-16 fighter jets.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2016
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(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – On Friday, hundreds of followers of the Sadrist Movement stormed the Council of Ministers building in the Green Zone in central Baghdad.
An local source reported for IraqiNews.com “Today, hundreds of followers of the Sadrist Movement broke into the Council of Ministers building inside the Green Zone in central Baghdad,” adding that, “The security forces tried to prevent the protestors from storming the building by firing live bullets at them, resulting in a number of casualties.”
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – The number of wounded protestors as a result of storming the Council of Ministers building in the Green Zone amounted to 81 people, a source in the Ministry of Interior said on Friday.
The source said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “The number of wounded protesters who stormed the presidential green region rose to 81 wounded,” noting that, “Most of the cases are caused by suffocation with tear gas.”
The source, who asked anonymity, added, “The injured are receiving treatment in a number of hospitals in the capital, Baghdad.”
[DAWN] Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj PrunefaceAziz ...Adviser to Pak Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on National Security and Foreign Affairs, who believes in good jihadis and bad jihadis as a matter of national policy... on Friday said that the Afghan Taliban have not yet responded positively to the efforts made by the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) to revive talks between them and the Afghan government.
Addressing the fifth round of Pakistain-Afghanistan dialogue organized by Regional Peace Institute, Aziz said that QCG comprising Afghanistan, Pakistain, US and China, has been making joint efforts for reviving direct talks between the Afghan Government and Taliban but Taliban have not yet responded positively to these efforts.
He, however, expressed hope that that QCG countries in line with their shared responsibility would continue efforts for such talks to bring peace and stability to Pakistain.
Reminding the participants about Pakistain's efforts in this regard, Aziz said that apart from facilitating direct talks between the Afghan government and Taliban last year, Pakistain hosted the fifth Ministerial Conference of the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process which reaffirmed the commitment of the participating and supporting countries for regional peace.
He stressed upon need for wide ranging discussions between Pakistain and Afghanistan at all levels and said that Pakistain is ready to engage with its neighbour at all levels to restore trust and strengthen bilateral relations.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2016
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#1
“Analogically, the guerrilla fights the war of the flea, and his military enemy suffers the dog's disadvantages. Too much to defend, too small, ubiquitous, and agile an enemy to come to grips with. If the war continues long enough--this is the theory--the dog succumbs to exhaustion and anemia without ever having found anything on which to close its jaws or to rake with its claws.”
~ Robert Taber, War of the Flea; The classic study of guerrilla warfare, pg 20.
[Al Ahram] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... 's parliament on Friday approved stripping its members of immunity from prosecution, a move likely to see the pro-Kurdish opposition sidelined, ease President Tayyip Erdogan's path to stronger powers, and raise concern among Western allies.
Erdogan has accused the pro-Kurdish HDP, parliament's third-biggest party, of being the political wing of Lions of Islam who have waged a three-decade insurgency in the country's largely Kurdish southeast and wants to see them prosecuted.
The HDP denies such links and says its parliamentary presence could be all but wiped out if prosecutions go ahead.
In the third and final vote of a secret ballot, 376 MPs in the 550-seat parliament backed the plan to lift MPs' immunity, a high enough level of support to change the constitution directly without needing to hold a referendum.
Erdogan on Friday stressed his support for the bill, which will become law once approved by him and published, paving the way for the launch of judicial proceedings.
"My nation does not want to see guilty politicians in this country's parliament. Above all it does not want to see those supported by the separatist terror group in parliament," he told a crowd in the Black Sea town of Rize, referring to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) bad boy group.
Erdogan's opponents say the lifting of immunity is part of a strategy to push the HDP out of parliament, strengthen the ruling AK Party, and consolidate support in the assembly for the executive presidential system he has long desired.
The legislation has caused concern in Europe, which is trying to hold together a controversial deal with Turkey meant to stop illegal migration despite what many European politicians see as the country's deteriorating record on human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2016
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Time for another exciting edition of "Name That Party!"
[FREEBEACON] A top official in Boston Mayor Martin Walsh’s administration pleaded not guilty "Wudn't me." on Thursday to a corruption charge that could lead to a maximum of 20 years in prison.
Kenneth Brissette, the city’s director of tourism, sports, and entertainment, was tossed in the clink Book 'im, Mahmoud! for allegedly withholding city permits from a music festival until union workers were hired to staff the event in 2014.
A federal indictment released Thursday outlined allegations that Brissette had engaged in union-related extortion.
The Boston Globe reported "federal authorities were investigating whether Brissette had pressured organizers of Boston Calling, a biannual festival held at City Hall Plaza, to use union labor." The festival, which was held in September 2014, had originally employed non-union workers.
Brissette allegedly withheld the permits until festival organizers hired union workers from the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Local 11. Three days before the opening, Boston Calling entered a contract and hired Local 11 laborers. The necessary permits were not granted to the festival until afterward.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Marty's got another indictment to worry about, with or without Brissette cutting a deal with the Feds.
[PJ] The incompetence of the Champ regime has had its shining moments -- the Obamacare rollout, the Benghazi coverup, and Hillary Clinton's email server prominent among them. This month, a New York Times profile of Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes has again reminded the American people of the failures of the current president.
Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton said such scandal is the natural result of Champ's staffing choices. This "is what happens when you put van drivers and campaign flaks and failed novelists in charge of foreign policy and national security," he declared.
Cotton was barely scratching the surface. Throughout his eight years, The Champ has elevated to high office a long list of incompetent people, or people who revealed themselves to be utterly unsuited for the public office assigned to them.
Here is PJ Media's list of the 13 most egregious examples of failure in the Champ regime. This is by no means an exclusive list, and who knows what our Kenyan master president will cook up in his last few months.
13. Ben Rhodes
12. Tommy Vietor
11. Eric Shinseki
10. Kathleen Sebelius
09. Lois Lerner
08. Janet Napolitano
07. Timothy Geithner
06. Eric Holder
05. Hilda Solis
04. John Kerry
03. Lisa Jackson
02. Gina McCarthy
01. Hillary Clinton
#2
Had my own dealings with Rhodes - I rate him as the #1 failure, even ahead of Clinton. Behind the scenes this arrogant strap hanger damaged the war effort much more than Hillary did. Never did anything, thinks he knows it all, screwed up everything he touches, blames it on everyone else.
[Al Ahram] Pak police acting on intelligence killed 14 al-Qaeda members and other forces of Evil in two separate shootouts in central Pakistain, authorities said Friday.
Eight al-Qaeda operatives and other forces of Evil were killed near the city of Multan, in Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... province, on Wednesday, according to a statement issued by the province's counter terrorism department. It said several of the accomplices managed to flee but were traced to the district of Dera Ghazi Khan, where six were killed in a firefight with security forces the following day.
Among those killed was a man linked to a 2010 bad boy attack on two mosques of the Ahmadi minority sect in the eastern city of Lahore that killed 97 people.
Other were involved in attacks against the security forces, the counter terrorism department said.
Also Friday, three suspected jacket wallahs were killed when one of the Death Eaters accidentally detonated his suicide jacket while approaching the northwestern city of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. on a cycle of violence from the Khyber tribal region bordering Afghanistan, police official Shakir Ullah said.
He said officers were still trying to identify bodies of the men.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2016
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Police in the northern German port city of Cuxhaven have stopped dozens of migrants colonists from stowing away on freighters heading to Britannia in recent months.
The local daily Cuxhavener Nachrichten reported Friday that Germany's border police have been monitoring the phenomenon since last fall. It quoted police front man Holger Jureczko saying the young men, mostly from Albania and Kosovo, had repeatedly tried to climb over security fences to reach trucks being loaded onto freighters.
Three Albanians who had traveled to England illegally were sent back to Cuxhaven on Monday.
Jureczko said police and port operators had increased security measures, and authorities believe they are apprehending the majority of illegal migrants colonists now.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2016
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Top|| File under: Human Trafficking
[Dhaka Tribune] Hefajat-e-Islam ...a madrassa-based false nose and mustache of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, formed in 2010 to protest against secular education. In 2011 demonstrated violentyly against women's rights and in 2013 held large rallies demanding capital punishment of Shahbag Square protesters and banning women working outside the home... , a fundamentalist Islamic outfit in Bangladesh, has issued a 72-hour ultimatum demanding punishment for Shyamal Kanti Bhakta, a Hindu school teacher accused of disrespecting Islam.
At a rally in Narayanganj after the Jumma prayers yesterday, Hefazat’s local branch, alongside several other religious organizations, also demanded resignation of Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid within the given time for reappointing Shyamal as headmaster of Piyar Sattar Latif High School.
Rifat Hasan, the student who first raised the allegations against Shyamal, was brought to speak before a crowd of around a thousand people in front of the DIT Mosque in the city.
Although Rifat denied making the allegations in an interview with a private TV channel, he reiterated them when speaking to BBC Bangla.
At yesterday’s rally, Rifat accused his teacher of name-calling Allah as an angry crowd roared in response.
DIT Mosque’s Khatib Abdul Awal, who is also the head of the local Hefazat chapter, claimed his organization had carried out an investigation into the incident and found Shyamal to be guilty.
On May 8, Shyamal Kanti Bhakta was beaten up by a mob and publicly humiliated by local politician Salim Osman after allegations of defaming Islam were brought against him. The politician’s actions triggered countrywide protests, resulting in the Education Ministry dissolving the school committee. Shyamal has consistently denied the charges.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2016
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Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
[Al Ahram] A police officer was killed and two others were maimed when they attempted to arrest a "terrorist element" in southern Cairo, a statement from the Egyptian interior ministry said on Friday.
The officer who was killed was named as Lieutenant Ahmed Hussien Radwan; Lieutenants Ahmed Sobhi Zakariya and Ahmed Abdel-Fattah Abu Rayya were transferred to hospital.
All three were Central Security Forces officers.
The ministry did not disclose the exact location or further details about the nature of the attack.
In recent months, Egyptian security forces have carried out several raids on apartments where suspected or runaway Islamists murderous Moslems were reportedly either hiding or preparing for "terrorist operations." These raids have often ended with suspects killed by police, who say they were met with gunfire upon arrival at the hideouts.
Earlier in May, eight coppers were bumped off by unknown assailants in the capital's southern district of Helwan. Four individuals, who were waiting in a mini-van, opened fire on a police patrol, resulting in the deaths of all eight officers.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A policeman has killed eight of his comrades in the latest insider attack in southern Zabul province of Afghanistan, local officials said Thursday.
The incident took place late on Wednesday night in a police check post located on Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... -Kandahar highway.
A security official confirmed that the policeman carried out the attack with the help of two others who were apparently brought into the check post as guests.
The official further added that assailants including the policeman managed to flee the area and an investigation is underway regarding the attack.
No group including the Talibs has so far grabbed credit behind the incident.
The latest insider attack follows nearly month after a policeman killed three of his comrades in eastern Laghman province of Afghanistan.
Earlier, at least seven coppers were killed in southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan in a similar attack.
There has been a considerable rise in insider attacks mainly among the Afghan police forces during the recent months alarming the security officials to take steps in a bid to reduce such incidents.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Senate, the partisans of Honorius went for their knives and the partisans of Stilicho went for the doors... the Afghanistan National Security Council (NSC) approved in principle the strategy to fight the enemy moles, a step that could reduce insider attacks in the country by large extent.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2016
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A commander of the loyalists of Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group has killed his 11 fighters 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.
Provincial governor’s front man Ataullah Khogyani said the incident took place late on Thursday night in Achin district.
He said the ISSI commander has been identified as Zamin Jan and was popular as Abu Bakr who managed to flee the area after killing his 11 fighters.
According to reports, Abu Bakr was detained by the Talibs and had suffered injuries as he was fleeing following the attack on his own fighters.
The Talibs group which is an arch rival to ISIS loyalists has not commented regarding the report so far.
The loyalists of ISIS terrorist group have stepped up insurgency activities in eastern Nangarhar province during the recent weeks which comes as the terror group received major setbacks as a result of the Afghan and US forces raids.
Local officials in Nangarhar said Thursday that 27 gunnies belonging both to Taliban and ISIS terrorist group were killed during a clash in Achin and Khogyani.
Earlier, the loyalists of ISIS released several photographs which purportedly shows the horrific execution of three men who are believed to be members of the Taliban group.
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05/21/2016
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
Two soldiers and one police officer, wounded in attacks by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and a military vehicle crash, succumbed to their injuries at hospitals where they were being treated in the southeastern provinces of Van, Hakkari and Diyarbakır.
PKK militants had detonated an improvised explosive device buried under the asphalt road stretching between Aktütün and Beyyurdu near Turkey’s border with Syria on May 18. The blast occurred during the passage of two armored army vehicles at 2:05 p.m., around 70 kilometers from the center of the Şemdinli district of Hakkari.
Four soldiers were killed and nine others were wounded in the attack and the injured soldiers were taken to hospital on May 18. One of the wounded soldiers succumbed to his wounds, thus increasing to five the number of soldiers killed in the attack.
Another soldier, specialized sergeant Fırat Kılıç, succumbed to his injuries after an armored vehicle that he was in, heading to the Gürpınar district of Van, crashed.
Two soldiers were killed in the crash on May 19, while a specialized sergeant was also killed on the Gürpınar-Edremit motorway in Van on the same day, bringing the number of killed soldiers to three.
Meanwhile, a police officer succumbed to his injuries in the Gülhane Military Medical Academy (GATA) in Ankara, after being hit in a PKK attack in Diyarbakır on May 10.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/21/2016
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[NATIONALREVIEW] In one of the most stinging court opinions I’ve ever read, federal district judge Andrew Hanon blasted Department of Justice officials for misleading the court during the course of executive amnesty litigation.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2016
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Top|| File under:
#1
"The judge has made his ruling. Now let us see him try to enforce it."
#3
He ordered the DOJ lawyers to attend annual ethics classes. How will he enforce that? And just because they attend ethics classes doesn't mean that they will be more ethical. They probably already understand the ethical principles. They just ignore them.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
05/21/2016 9:41
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#4
Easery! Integrate the 'mandetory ethics class' into periodic security updates. No 'mandetory ethics' attendance, security clearance suspended.
Info-Security - Personal Security and Reliability - Ethics, nice ring to it, don't you think ?
#5
One of the many fine services funded by your tax dollars is the Office of Professional Responsbility (OPR), a unit of the Department of Justice specially charged with the job of making sure that federal prosecutors don't do the kind of thing that Judge Hanen says they did. OPR is basically the last line of defense. The head of OPR is currently an Eric Holder appointee named Robin Ashton. So: with all due respect, do your damn job, Ms. Ashton.
Posted by: Matt ||
05/21/2016 11:35
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#6
classes, BFD.
Given the recent (and not so recent history) all gov't types should be made to testify under oath so they can be charged with purgery when, not if, they lie to the court.
(IraqiNews.com) Kurdistan – The Kurdistan Democratic Party announced on Friday, that the ISIS militants kidnapped 22 persons in central Mosul.
The spokesperson for the party, Saeed Mamouzini, said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “Today, elements of the ISIS kidnapped 22 persons from the residents of al-Zohour neighborhood in central Mosul,” noting that, “The ISIS did not disclose the reasons behind the kidnapping of the citizens.”
“The [abductees] were transferred to an unknown destination,” he added.
Posted by: badanov ||
05/21/2016
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
Beirut-Recent military attacks carried out by Syrian regime militants in Damascus’s Western and Eastern Ghouta suburbs revealed that the local agreements reached out with opposition factions in a partially independent way, aimed at neutralizing surrounding areas temporarily until it finds time to attack them; unlike Northern Ghouta suburbs that disclosed the regime’s military weakness despite its aerial strikes.
Moreover, challenges facing the opposition these days are considered greater than the chances of the regime breaking into areas that fall under local agreements between the two parties and destroying them.
Member of the Syrian National Coalition, Ahmed Ramadan, told Asharq Al-Awsat the risk in the coming period “is not limited to areas falling under local agreements since Syria as a whole is threatened.”
He revealed information about the Syrian regime and the Iranian National Guards’ intentions to escalate in the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan at Damascus’s Western and Eastern Ghouta suburbs, and Aleppo as well.
Ramadan further explained the Iranian and Syrian regime’s military scheme, which was found out by the Syrian opposition, aims at launching attacks under the supervision of Iranian generals, who follow the directives of the Iranian National Guard and Supreme Leader of Iran and a Muslim cleric Ali Khamenei, not the Iranian government.
He pointed out that these generals are amassing in Damascus, Western Ghouta, and in Aleppo and are planning military escalation in June, coinciding with the beginning of Ramadan.
He also noted great possibility of Russia’s aircraft involvement in the planned military attacks, as the file that tackles peaceful solution for the Syrian crisis is not achieving any progress.
“Iran, Russia, and the Syrian regime are benefiting from the political stumbling and the U.S. hesitation regarding implementation of agreements and U.N. resolutions,” Ramadan added.
However, the likelihood of the plan’s success is not guaranteed according to the opposition, which confirms that the military power in the North is capable of halting such attacks.
Leader in Ahrar ash-Sham, Mohammed al-Shami, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the entrance of Army of Conquest (Jaish al-Fatah) to Aleppo has changed the whole formula as the opposition forces was able to achieve progresses and repel attacks.
“1174 raids were carried out over Khan Tuman two weeks ago, yet the regime militants were not able to gain ground,” al-Shami noted; adding that the opposition forces in the North prevented the regime from attempting to impose any truce or local and partial deals in their areas.
Notably, local agreements granted the regime chances to restore power through neutralizing areas surrounding the Syrian capital from the fights and later disregarding these agreements since the regime, according to Ramadan, is well known for its coup against the truces and international and local deals.
The regime has earlier neutralized these areas located in south Damascus and Eastern and Western Ghouta suburbs from the fight under the virtue of local agreements that were sponsored by elites from these areas.
However, the regime has breached these agreements after the opposition handed over its heavy arms.
Posted by: badanov ||
05/21/2016
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[ARA News] QAMISHLO – Russia expressed serious concern about attempts by Turkey to create a vast ‘security zone’, to keep out both the Syrian government and Kurdish forces. Also Kurdish officials have expressed concern over Turkish attempts to prevent the Kurds from expanding their territory northern Syria.
“We are seriously concerned by the attempts, which are being made not without the involvement of external forces, to “rebrand” certain radical groups operating on Syrian soil,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.
“It became known, among other things, that an “umbrella” formation, called the Northern Front or Northern Army, is being created in northern Syria, which is supposed to unite all anti-government forces active in the Aleppo province,” she added. “In reality, the idea may be to create a vast “security zone” along the Turkish border that external forces hope to control with assistance from the aforementioned Syrian illegal armed formations, keeping both the government army and Kurdish militias out of the zone.”
Last week, Jamil Karmo, a member of the Turkey-backed Northern Army claimed responsibility for the killing of two alleged members of the Kurdish forces of People’s People’s Protection Units (YPG). However, the YPG denied any link to the two persons killed, and suggested they were civilians.
On Thursday, Abdo Ibrahim, defence chief in the Kurdish city of Afrin northern Aleppo said they have proof that Turkey is supporting the Northern Army with arms and ammunition to prevent the unification of the Kurdish cantons of Kobane and Afrin.
However, Abdo said the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) remain committed to liberate the Shahba regions to unify the two enclaves.
On 12 May, the SDF official spokesman Talal Silo said their forces would not accept the Turkish attempts.
“Turkey wants to create a safe zone between Azaz and Kobane, we will not accept that,” he said.
Reports have previously emerged, that there have been significant talks between the United States and Turkey to take control of the 98 kilometers Manbij pocket, and Turkish special forces have conducted operations against the Islamic State (ISIS) with US air support in northern Syria on 8 May.
The Turkish government wants Syrian opposition rebels to take control of this pocket, fearing that otherwise Kurds could unite their administrations by connecting Kobane to Afrin.
Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook in the beginning of May confirmed there were talks between Turkey and the US. “These are ongoing conversations we’re having at a significant level with the Turkish government, both the Department of Defense and other members of the U.S. government,” he said.
“And anything that can be done to remove ISIL (ISIS) from that part of Syria, we think would be significant, certainly would shore up the effort to prevent foreign fighters from being able to cross that border,” he added.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The residence of a prominent former Jihadi leader Abdul Rab Rasool Sayyaf ...Afghan Salafist warlord, owned by Saudi Arabia. He was the guy who invited al-Qaeda to come into Afghanistan and make themselves at home... once again came under rocket in Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... this morning.
Sources close to Sayyaf said at least two rockets were fired in the early hours of Friday morning which landed in the vicinity close to his house.
There are no reports regarding the casualties and no group has so far grabbed credit behind the attack.
This comes as several rockets were fired on the residence of Sayyaf nearly a week ago but the attack did not result into any casualties.
Sayyaf is one of the most influential jihadi leaders and has been harshly criticizing the Taliban group for their insurgency activities.
He has been harshly criticizing the Talibs group and dismiss their so called jihad as a move against th principles of Islam.
Sayyaf reaffirmed his hard stance against the krazed killer groups last month last month during a gathering on the eve of Mujahideen’s victory and called on krazed killer groups last month to end slavery for the outsiders.
He insisted that the krazed killer and terrorist groups fighting in the country should not brand their insurgency as Jihad, insisting that killing of children, women, destroying houses and committing other horrific crimes are not a holy war.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2016
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A security guard of the United Nations ...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly... Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) was killed and a staff member of the UN mission was maimed in a shooting incident in Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... "The United Nations in Afghanistan confirms that a security guard at one of its compounds in Kabul was killed today in a shooting incident," the UN mission in Afghanistan said in a statement.
The statement further added that "A staff member of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) was also injured in the incident. The injuries are described as not serious."
No further details were given regarding the exact location of the incident by the UN mission, saying "The circumstances around this tragic incident are still being investigated."
"UNAMA extends its condolences to the family of the victim and wishes our UNAMA colleague a speedy recovery," the statement added.
No group has so far grabbed credit behind the attack which follows almost eight months after a UNAMA staff was killed in attack in southern Kandahar city.
Meanwhile, ...back at the comedy club, Boogie was cracking himself up, but nobody else seemed to be getting the non-stop jokes... four staff members of the United Nations were killed in a terrorist attack on a restaurant in capital Kabul nearly two and half years ago.
The victims of the incident were senior UN officials who were serving with UNAMA, UNICEF, and the UN-affiliated International Monetary Fund.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2016
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[Dhaka Tribune] Yaar Hossain, father of Sohagi Jahan Tonu, has demanded legal action against the medical examiners who conducted the first autopsy of his daughter, claiming that they tried to hide evidence related to her murder.
Speaking with the Dhaka Tribune yesterday evening, Yaar said: "The doctors who conducted Tonu’s first post-mortem examination claimed that they had found no evidence that she had been raped before being murdered.
"But when the CID ran a DNA test, they found evidence that she had been raped by three men before she was killed."
Two months have passed since Tonu’s body was found in Comilla cantonment area. Asked if he was satisfied with the progress of the investigation, Yaar said: "We are now. There was no significant development for a while, but now that the CID has revealed the results of the DNA test, we are hopeful that we will get justice.
"I believe that the doctors who conducted the first autopsy committed some sort of irregularities. I demand that the CID take legal actions against them."
Dr Kamda Prasad Saha, head of the forensics department at Comilla Medical College, refused to comment on the DNA test results when the Dhaka Tribune contacted him.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2016
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[Al Ahram] At least 10 people have died and 40 were suffering from an outbreak of haemorrhagic fever in South Sudan, the latest calamity in the war-torn country, the World Health Organization said.
"A total of 51 suspected cases, including 10 deaths, had been reported," the WHO said in a statement on Thursday. Cases are from the northeastern Aweil region, with the last recorded death in late February.
"The most frequent symptoms include unexplained bleeding, fever, fatigue, headache and vomiting," WHO said. "The symptoms do not seem to be severe and rapidly resolve following supportive treatment." Samples tested were all negative for Ebola and Marburg virus diseases.
A more than two-year civil war has left South Sudan surviving off handouts, with more than five million people in need of aid. Despite a peace deal, violence continues.
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[Bus Insider] To say that Gurkhas are simply soldiers from Nepal would be a massive, massive understatement. If there’s a single reason no one goes to war with Nepal, it is because of the Gurkhas’ reputation.
They are elite, fearless warriors who serve in not only the Nepalese Army but also in the British and Indian armies as well, a tradition since the end of the Anglo-Nepalese War in 1816.
They are known for their exceptional bravery, ability, and heroism in the face of insurmountable odds. Faithful to their traditions, one Gurkha in Afghanistan, Dipprasad Pun, single handedly held his post against more than 30 Taliban fighters.
It was a September evening in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province. It was 2010, and Sergeant Dipprasad Pun of the Royal Gurkha Rifles was on duty at a two-story outpost. He heard some noises and found two insurgents attempting to lay an IED in a nearby road. He realized he was surrounded. The night sky filled up with bullets and RPG fire. Taliban fighters sprang into a well-planned assault on Pun’s outpost.
Pun responded by pulling his machine gun off its tripod and handholding it as he returned fire toward the oncoming fighters. He went through every round he had available before tossing 17 grenades at the attackers. When he was out of grenades, he picked up his SA80 service rifle and started using that. He even threw a land mine at the enemy.
As Pun defended his position, one Taliban fighter climbed the side of the tower adjacent to the guard house, hopped on to the roof and rushed him. Pun turned to take the fighter out, but his weapon misfired. Pun grabbed the tripod of his machine gun and tossed it at the Taliban’s face, which knocked the enemy fighter off of the roof of the building.
Pun continued to fight off the assault until reinforcements arrived. When it was all said and done, 30 Taliban lay dead.
He was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.
"At that time I wasn’t worried, there wasn’t any choice but to fight. The Taliban were all around the checkpoint, I was alone," he told the crowd gathered at the ceremony. "I had so many of them around me that I thought I was definitely going to die so I thought I’d kill as many of them as I could before they killed me."
In all, he fired off 250 machine gun rounds, 180 SA80 rounds, threw six phosphorous grenades and six normal grenades, and one claymore mine.
Pun comes from a long line of Gurkhas. His father served in the Gurkha Rifles, as did his grandfather, who received the Victoria Cross for an action in the World War II Burma theater.
In Burma on 23 June 1944, a Battalion of the 6th Gurkha Rifles was ordered to attack the Railway Bridge at Mogaung. Immediately the attack developed the enemy opened concentrated and sustained cross fire at close range from a position known as the Red House and from a strong bunker position two hundred yards to the left of it.
The cross fire was so intense that both the leading platoons of 'B' Company, one of which was Rifleman Tulbahadur Pun's, were pinned to the ground and the whole of his Section was wiped out with the exception of himself, the Section commander and one other man. The Section commander immediately led the remaining two men in a charge on the Red House but was at once badly wounded. Rifleman Tulbahadur (sic) Pun and his remaining companion continued the charge, but the latter too was immediately wounded.
Rifleman Tulbahadur Pun then seized the Bren Gun, and firing from the hip as he went, continued the charge on this heavily bunkered position alone, in the face of the most shattering concentration of automatic fire, directed straight at him. With the dawn coming up behind him, he presented a perfect target to the Japanese. He had to move for thirty yards over open ground, ankle deep in mud, through shell holes and over fallen trees.
Despite these overwhelming odds, he reached the Red House and closed with the Japanese occupants. He killed three and put five more to flight and captured two light machine guns and much ammunition. He then gave accurate supporting fire from the bunker to the remainder of his platoon which enabled them to reach their objective.
His outstanding courage and superb gallantry in the face of odds which meant almost certain death were most inspiring to all ranks and beyond praise.
— Supplement to the London Gazette, 7 November 1944 (dated 9 November 1944)[3]
Posted by: John Frum ||
05/21/2016 16:16
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#3
An eighty year old man was out fishing one day when he heard a voice. Knowing no one was around he just thought he was hearing things. Once again he heard psst- psst hey you. The man looked around and saw a frog in the water. The man said, are you talking to me? The frog said yea, pick me up. So the man picked the frog up. Now kiss me and I will turn into the most beautiful woman you have ever seen. The man proceeded to put the frog in his coat pocket. Pretty soon the man hears the frogs muffled voice again. He reaches into his pocket and retrieves the frog. Hey, didn't you hear me? I said kiss me and I will turn into the most beautiful woman you have ever seen! No thanks said the man, at my age I would rather have a talking frog.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The provincial governor of northern Faryab province Sayed Anwar Sadat has slammed the acting provincial governor of northern Balkh province for his provocative statement over a deadly clash between the supporters of Junbish Millie and Jamaat-e-Islami parties.
In an online statement, Sadat criticized Noor for the emotional release by issuing the statement, adding that the remarks by Noor is more than a statement which is aimed at criticizing the leadership of Faryab province.
Sadat further added that he has learnt to remain unbiased as a provincial governor and react equally to all tribes and political parties under his leadership.
Admitting that he is one of the prominent members of Junbish Millie party, Sadat said they have been taught to consider the national interest and respect all political parties and movements.
Sadat further added that the clash between the supporters of the two parties is not acceptable to Faryab leadership as they have close relations and big shots of Jamaat-e-Islami are involved in major decision makings.
He questioned Noor for providing opportunities to Junbish Millie members and said the leadership of Faryab province has always helped the security forces fighting the Taliban murderous Moslems in remote areas of the province.
According to Sadat, the clash between Jamaat and Junbish supporters broke out after the internally displaced people in Chagahatak area of Almar district were returning to their homes and faced a resistance from the Jamaat.
Sadat further added that the displaced people were members of Junbish Millie and were forced to leave their homes due to internal issues they had with the Jamaat-e-Islami.
He said festivities started after Jamaat fighters and Wakil Fatehullah Qaisari and police chief of Almar Nasimullah who is also brother of Farooq Qateh went to the area to support the Jamaat fighters and as a result and the police chief of Qaisar Nezam Bai Qaisari went to support the displaced people.
Sadat insisted that the provincial governor intervened to end the conflict and as a result a delegation consisting of security officials and local elders were deployed in the area at 7 am on Wednesday to investigate the incident.
He said the Afghan National Army forces were also deployed to the area based on Vice President General Dostum ...ethnic Uzbek warlord who distinguished himself fighting the Soviets and the Taliban. The story that he had a bad guy run over with a tank is an exaggeration. It was an armored personnel carrier... ’s instructions which resulted to the end of clash between the two sides.
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[Al Ahram] Chile, Argentina ...a country located on the other side of the Deep South. It is covered with Pampers and inhabited by Grouchos, who dance the Tangle. They used to have some islands called the Malvinas located where the Falklands are now. They're not supposed to cry for Evita... and Uruguay appealed Friday for an "effective political dialogue" in Venezuela amid a deepening crisis in the leftist-led South American country. In a statement, the three countries made "an urgent appeal for an effective political dialogue and a genuine civic understanding among all the political and social actors in this sister nation."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2016
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Top|| File under: Commies
[NYPOST] A New Yorker who joined ISIS said he’s sorry he hooked up with the terror group and wants to do all he can to dissuade other Americans from doing the same.
"It’s obviously the worst decision I’ve ever made in my life," the 27-year-old man named "Mo" told NBC News, which planned to air his interview Thursday and Sunday.
Mo, who once attended an elite college, is now in US custody after joining ISIS in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... and Syria.
He’s cooperating with the feds, who OK’d the TV interview.
He told NBC he saw ISIS commit unspeakable horrors: "I did see severed heads placed on spiked poles. Like a lot of things, I just blocked it out."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2016
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[FREEBEACON] A controversial regulation to update the nutrition facts label that is part of the first lady’s Let’s Move push was finalized by the Food and Drug Administration on Friday, and scientists are warning the new label is not based on sound science.
The changes to the nutrition facts label, which first lady Michelle Obama will announce Friday when she speaks at the Let’s Move-aligned Partnership for a Healthier America, requires food manufacturers to list added sugars, which scientists say lacks "scientific rigor." The label will also cost companies at least $640 million to update, and a net social cost of $1.4 billion.
"I am thrilled that the FDA has finalized a new and improved Nutrition Facts label that will be on food products nationwide," Mrs. Obama said in a statement. "This is going to make a real difference in providing families across the country the information they need to make healthy choices."
In her remarks, Mrs. Obama called the added sugar change to the label the "most important of all."
The regulation requires calorie amounts to be larger, and companies will have two years to begin including "added sugars" in order to "help consumers know how much sugar is added to the product during the processing of foods," the White House said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2016
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#1
Another big, "SO WHAT!"
Those consumers that can read, can't read the tiny numbers anyway.
[ARA News] HOMS – At least seven Syrian army forces were killed and a dozen more injured in renewed offensives by militant fighters of the Islamic State (ISIS) near the ancient city of Palmyra in Homs province, local sources reported on Friday.
ISIS militants attacked the Syrian regime troops near the military airport of Palmyra east of the city, destroying two military vehicles and killing seven soldiers.
“The ISIS-led offensive on the military airport took place after the militants infiltrated into an army position and detonated several explosive devices. The initial death toll among the army ranks has so far reached 7 and 11 more were wounded in the attack,” local media activist Imad al-Hussein told ARA News in Palmyra.
Also on Friday, ISIS fighters attacked a Syrian army position near the al-Shaer oil field in Homs province with mortar shells. It was not immediately clear how many forces were killed in the al-Shaer attack.
“The Syrian army forces and allied militias are now on alert in Palmyra and other parts of Homs due to the intensified ISIS attacks on their positions in the past few days,” al-Hussein reported.
Violence resumed last Sunday in Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra, which was regained by Syrian army forces –supported by Russian air cover– from militants of the Islamic State (ISIS) in March.
Subsequent to clashes with the Syrian army forces, ISIS militants on Sunday captured two hills near Mount Bin Ali in Palmyra suburbs, according to military sources and local activists.
“ISIS militants launched a surprise attack on Syrian army headquarters in northwestern Palmyra. Fierce clashes took place in the vicinity of Mount Bin Ali, and ISIS fighters were eventually able to seize control of two hills that overlook the ancient city,” media activist Amro al-Hussain told ARA News in Palmyra.
The source added that the Syrian army troops withdrew towards their headquarters inside the city of Palmyra. At least four Syrian soldiers were killed in the clashes, and ISIS was reportedly able to seize a deal of ammunitions and light weapons subsequent to the army’s withdrawal.
A Syrian army officer, who spoke to ARA News on condition of anonymity, confirmed the ISIS-led offensive in northwestern Palmyra, describing the army’s retreat as “a tactical withdrawal”.
“The terrorist group launched a surprise attack on an army position on Sunday evening. However, the clashes are still ongoing and those two hills will be regained very soon, since Daesh cannot make further movements towards the city because our army forces are heavily deployed in Palmyra suburbs,” he said, using an acronym for ISIS. The army officer pointed out that the two hills that fell to ISIS were “not of strategic importance”, adding that the army’s withdrawal was to avoid “unnecessary losses”.
In May 2015, ISIS took over Palmyra after fierce battles with Syrian regime army forces.
In March 2016, the pro-regime troops supported by Russian air force were able to impose full control over Palmyra downtown after ISIS extremists retreated towards the northern villages of Palmyra and its eastern outskirts. The group’s leadership has later ordered its militants to withdraw towards its main bastion of Raqqa, northeastern Syria.
In August 2015, satellite images confirmed the destruction of the Baal Shamin temple in Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra, according to the United Nations, which condemned ISIS claims of destroying the temple.
The U.N. has slammed the destruction of the temple as a “war crime,” and the act has raised concerns for the rest of the UNESCO World Heritage site.
Also, ISIS published images last August, showing militants placing explosives into the temple in order to destroy the ancient monuments arguing they are worshipped by people and must be smashed, according to ISIS ideology.
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[Ynet] The US has rejected a Russian proposal to carry out coordinated air strikes against Sunni rebels in Syria; US aim remains for Russia to persuade Assad to abide by the cessation of hostilities
The United States made clear
...very, very pellucidly clear, which is perhaps less wise than it appeared to the clarifiers...
on Friday it had little interest in the idea, noting Russia has floated similar proposals in the past and stressing that it expected Moscow to pressure its ally the Syrian government and to avoid unilateral strikes.
Western officials suggested that the proposal, which the Pentagon said had not been formally presented to the U.S. Defense Department, was an attempt by President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... to raise Russia's profile on the international stage.
"There is no agreement to conduct joint air strikes with the Russians in Syria," said U.S. State Department front man John Kirby, He added that the United States believed that the Syrian government of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Trampler of Homs... was responsible for most of the violations of the fitful ceasefire that began on Feb. 27.
"We look to Russia to end such (government) violations, which includes strikes that have hit civilians and civilian facilities," he said.
White House front man Eric Schultz said the US aim remains for Russia to persuade Assad to abide by the cessation of hostilities in Syria, saying it was not the first time Russia had made such a proposal.
"You've seen Russia show an eagerness to cooperate with us militarily. This is not something that's new," Schultz said.
In private, US officials said the idea was a non-starter.
"Don't see it happening," a US official said, adding the US military "will ensure safety of flight but nothing else."
A Western official from a coalition country also played down the proposal.
"Putin has long had a strategy regarding Syria of trying to share the geopolitical stage with the United States and its allies, and his latest proposal appears to reflect that goal," the official said.
Washington has consistently refused to join any operation that is coordinated with the Syrian government, as has been the case with Russia's campaign of air strikes that began in September last year.
[Al Ahram] At least six non-combatants were killed and seven injured in an attack by Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... Islamist fighters in Niger on Thursday evening, according to the country's army.
Four of the victims were burned alive and two were rubbed out during the attack near the south eastern garrison town of Bosso, close to the border with Nigeria, according to an army statement broadcast on state TV and radio Friday.
Cross-border raids by the Nigeria-based Boko Haram group are not uncommon. In November Boko Haram killed 18 people and injured 11 others during a raid in the village of Wogom, close to Bosso.
The army said that the fighters struck the village of Yebi at around 10:50 pm (2150 GMT) on Thursday, setting fire to the local market, 10 houses and killing several cattle before fleeing back to Nigeria along with two stolen cars.
"Search operations are ongoing in the area to neutralise these terrorists," said the army statement.
Since February 2015, Niger has been plagued by Boko Haram attacks in its south east region. In April, two non-combatants were killed in a suicide kaboom near the town of Diffa, the regional capital. On March 30, six Nigerien soldiers were killed in an ambush by Boko Haram fighters, also in the Diffa region which borders north east Nigeria, the cradle of the Islamist insurgency.
The violence has forced more than 240,000 people in the region to flee their homes. Boko Haram's insurgency has left at least 20,000 people dead and made more than 2.6 million homeless in neighbouring Nigeria.
[AnNahar] A campaign group on Friday said an kidnapped schoolgirl rescued from Boko Haram was a student in Chibok but was not among the 219 seized more than two years ago.
Nigeria's military announced late Thursday that Serah Luka was among 97 women and kiddies rescued earlier that day in the Damboa area of the northeastern state of Borno.
Even if she, and they, are not from the group publicized by our beloved First Lady, at least they have now been freed from the same vile kidnappers.
But the head of the Chibok Abducted Girls Parents group, Yakubu Nkeki, said she was not on the list of 219 girls held by the snuffies since the mass abduction on April 14, 2014.
A senior military source maintained it was "beyond reasonable doubt" that the schoolgirl was one of them.
But BringBackOurGirls front man Sesugh Akume said background checks with a community leader in Chibok had established that although Serah was a student at the same school, she was in a different class.
"She was an SSS1 learner at (Government Girls Secondary School) Chibok, who was kidnapped by the murderous Moslems in her home in Madagali (in neighboring Adamawa state)," he added.
SSS1 is the first year of the final three years of secondary school in the Nigerian system. The 219 girls held were in the final year, SSS3.
News of the rescue came just hours after the first student to be found, Amina Ali, met President Muhammadu Buhari in the capital, Abuja.
Boko Haram has kidnapped thousands of women and young girls.
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Turkish jets have conducted air strikes against outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) positions in northern Iraq, the Turkish Armed Forces stated on May 20. The jets hit the Gara region of northern Iraq between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. and destroyed shelters belonging to the PKK on May 20, according to the statement.
Meanwhile, the jets also hit the Kandil Mountains in northern Iraq, known as the headquarters of the PKK, between 9 and 9:45 p.m. on May 19.
Shelters and weapon-launching areas belonging to the PKK were destroyed in the airstrikes, according to the armed forces statement, adding that the warplanes returned to their bases in Turkey after the operation.
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least eleven members of a single family were killed in a roadside kaboomkaboom in northern Baghlan province of Afghanistan, local officials said Friday.
The incident took place late on Thursday evening in Baghlan-e-Markazi district after their vehicle struck an Improvised Explosive Device.
The district police chief Mohibullah Kohistan ...a backwoods district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa distinguished by being even more rustic than is the norm among the local Pashtuns.... i said five children, two women and four men were among those killed and three children were maimed.
The provincial public health officials have said the maimed children are at death's door and there are fears that the corpse count could rise.
No group including the Talibs has so far grabbed credit behind the incident.
The Taliban snuffies and Lions of Islam belonging to the other bad boy 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 ...an idea whose time has gone... 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.
According to UNAMA, actions by Anti-Government Elements caused at least 60 per cent of casualties while Pro-Government Forces caused at least 19 per cent.
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[NATION.PK] SHAWAL: Pakistain Army said on Friday it had cleared the last krazed killer stronghold in the country’s northwestern tribal area after a three-month long operation.
In February troops began the final phase of Operation Zarb-e-Arb in North Wazoo.
"We have cleared the Shawal valley completely of krazed killers," Brigadier Shabbir Narejo told news hounds at a briefing.
Troops, helicopter gunships, tanks and jets were deployed in the operation, during which Talibs put up "stiff resistance", Narejo said.
"There were up to 2,000 trained murderous Moslems in the valley, but we surprised them by launching the operation in the peak of winter in minus 12 degrees Celsius," he said.
He said that six soldiers and up to 120 murderous Moslems died in the fighting.
Reporters were shown weapons and missile launchers that were seized and also huge tunnels where murderous Moslems had been hiding in the thick, forested valley.
Narejo said some murderous Moslems had fled to Afghanistan, but that troops had set up around 15 posts on the border to intercept any movement.
"We have eliminated the threat and it would pave the way of the return of some 150,000 people of North Waziristan to their homes soon," he added.
The army launched the operation under US pressure in mid-2014 in a bid to wipe out krazed killer bases in the area and end the near decade-long Islamist insurgency that has cost Pakistain thousands of lives.
The operation was intensified after the Taliban massacred more than 150 people, the majority of them children, at a school in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. in December 2014.
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[Al Ahram] The US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group has dropped flyers on Syria's Raqa urging residents for the first time to leave the jihadist stronghold, an activist and a monitor said Friday.
"It's not the first time that coalition airplanes have dropped flyers on Raqa but it's the first time that they've addressed residents and asked them to leave," a founding member of the citizen journalist group Raqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS) said.
Flyers usually address IS fighters in the city, telling them "Your time is coming, your end is coming", Abu Mohammad said.
On its Facebook and Twitter accounts, RBSS shared an image of what they said was the flyer dropped on the jihadists' de facto capital in Syria.
"The time you have been waiting for has come, the time has come to leave Raqa," reads the top of the comic book style water-coloured sketch.
It shows residents -- three men wearing backpacks, a veiled woman and a child -- fleeing a grey battered city into an idyllic green countryside, running past dead soldiers and IS fighters and a sign marked: "IS, Raqa province, checkpoint".
Abu Mohammad said that IS fighters in Raqa were increasingly using residents as human shields against coalition air strikes.
"Their positions used to be clear but since the beginning of the air campaign against them, they've started to resort to hiding among civilians," he said.
At least 408 civilians have died in coalition air strikes in Syria since they began in 2014, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
"It's the first time residents have been advised to leave the city," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.
But "these flyers are just a part of the propaganda campaign against IS," he added.
Kurdish forces, which control a swathe of territory north of Raqa, are regarded by Washington as the most effective fighting force against IS in Syria and have received US military support.
"There has been information circulating about the Kurds preparing a campaign against IS in Raqa with the support of the international coalition," Abdel Rahman said.
But "that's not likely now because (retaking) Raqa will require planning a massive battle, and huge preparation of fighters and popular support," he said.
"If the krazed killer group had feared a battle against it in Raqa, it wouldn't have sent its best fighters to take part in fighting in the north of Aleppo province."
IS and its jihadist rival Al-Qaeda are not party to a February ceasefire between government forces and other rebel groups.
Air strikes against them have continued, not only by the coalition but also by the Syrian government and its ally Russia.
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[AlAhram] Egyptian search teams have recovered "more body parts" and other debris from a site in the Mediterranean where the missing EgyptAir flight is assumed to have crashed on Thursday.
EgyptAir said on its official Twitter account that the Egyptian army and navy had found body parts, luggage, passengers' personal belongings, and plane seats.
The military had said earlier on Friday that it had located "personal belongings of the passengers and parts of the plane debris," in the sea 290km north of Alexandria.
The Egyptian authorities, assisted by forces from La Belle France, Greece, Britannia, Cyprus and Italia, continue to scour the search area for futher debris from the plane that disappeared from radar while flying over the Mediterranean on Thursday. All 66 on board are presumed to have perished.
The Airbus 320 jet, which was flying from Gay Paree to Cairo, disappeared from radar screens shortly after entering Egyptian airspace early on Thursday morning.
Later on Friday, the European Space Agency said that one of its satellites had detected a possible oil slick in the Mediterranea Sea in same area where the Airbus vanished.
The image, taken by satellite Sentinel-1A at 1600 GMT on Thursday, shows a slick about 2 km (1.2 miles) long, roughly 40 km southeast of the aircraft's last known location.
A second image taken at 0400 GMT on Friday showed that the slick had drifted by about 5 km.
The ESA said it had passed on information related to the image to relevant authorities but said there was no guarantee that the slick was from the EgyptAir plane. It said another satellite, Sentinel-2A, would pass over the same area on 22 May.
Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said earlier that flight MS804 had swerved sharply and plummeted from 37,000 feet to 15,000 before plunging into the sea.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi offered condolences on Friday to the families of victims of the tragedy, declaring his country's official confirmation of the deaths.
The head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Tawadros II, said a mass service would be held for the dear departed at Cairo's Abbasiya Cathedral on Sunday.
Thirty Egyptians, including seven crew member and three security personnel, were on board the doomed plane. Frenchies made up the second-largest number of passengers, at 15. The other passengers included two Iraqis, two Canadians, and one each from the UK, Belgium, Chad, Sudan, Kuwait, Algeria, and Portugal.
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[NATION.PK] ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court on Thursday accepting compromise in the honour killing acquitted the main accused.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali heard an appeal against the 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... High Court verdict.
The parents of the dear departed Reshma Bibi appeared before the bench and said they had pardoned the accused Abdul Sattar. The chief justice remarked that the Lahore High Court had ruled that in ’Karo Kari’ cases there are certain conditions for compromise.
The accused counsel, Zahoor-ul-Haq Chisti, argued that the honour killing is a compoundable offence. Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh said killing in the name of honour is not of individual but of the whole tribe.
However, denial ain't just a river in Egypt... the counsel contended that under section 338 (C) of Pakistain Penal Code there is no hurdle in compromise in the honour killing cases, adding the Balochistan High Court had dismissed the prosecution application to enhance the punishment from life imprisonment to death sentence.
According to the case Reshma Bibi was declared ’Siakari’ by her husband Shoukat Ali. She had taken refuge at the Kot of Sardar Yar Muhammad Jamali but when she was shifted from the Kot of Jamali to Dar-ul-Aman her husband Shoukat with the help of Abdul Sattar killed her in May 2011.
The dear departed mother lodged an FIR in Police Station Usta Muhammad on 28-05-2011 against Shoukat Ali and Abdul Sattar. The Sessions Judge, Usta Muhammad, Balochistan, awarded Abdul Sattar for life in jail for ’Qatl-e-Amd’ as ’Tazir’ under section 302 (b) of Pakistain Penal Code. The court, however, acquitted Shoukat Ali by giving benefit of doubt.
Abdul Sattar later filed an appeal in the Balochistan High Court, Sibi, against the Sessions court, which was dismissed. The accused later entered into a compromise with the dear departed family, which they accepted.
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[FREEBEACON] Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as America's Blond Eminence and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another John Foster Dulles ... ’s top campaign lawyer lost a challenge against Virginia’s voter identification laws that was fueled by money from liberal billionaire George Soros.
The lawsuit, filed early last year on behalf of the Democratic Party of Virginia, sought to end Virginia’s voter identification law, known as SB 1256. The lawsuit was dismissed by a federal court Thursday after a lengthy trial that saw numerous witnesses testify, dealing a blow to an organized effort by the left to take on voter ID laws in numerous states leading up to the 2016 election.
The plaintiffs challenged the constitutionality of the law throughout the case by alleging it violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and said that it has an adverse impact on minority groups.
They also argued that the law violates the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by putting an undue burden on the right to vote of minorities and disfavored the groups because of their political views. The plaintiffs contended that the law was specifically put into place to suppress the votes of African-Americans, Latinos, and young people.
The federal court dismissed the lawsuit on all counts.
J. Christian Adams, president of the election integrity group the Public Interest Legal Foundation, filed a motion to assist the state against the suit.
"We’re happy that the court dismissed this attack on Virginia’s common sense Voter ID law," said Adams. "It’s a shame civil rights groups are wasting so much donor money in failed efforts to block a law most people like and that stops nobody from voting."
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#1
Well it stops the dead, felons, and imaginary friends from voting....
[NYPOST] Besieged by federal and state Sherlocks, Mayor Bill de Blasio turned Nixonian Thursday and declared five of his closest outside confidants exempt from public disclosure laws when they advise him on running the city.
His administration extended the stunning "agents of the city" privilege to BerlinRosen co-founder Jonathan Rosen; Hilltop Public Solutions partners Nicholas Baldick and Bill Hyers; and AKPD partner John Del Cecato.
All four worked on de Blasio’s political campaigns. Also included was Patrick Gaspard, US ambassador to South Africa and a former wardheeler at SEIU Local 1199.
He's the bagman for all the correct progressive groups and foundations...
BerlinRosen, AKPD and Hilltop were collectively paid nearly $2 million for work on the mayor’s Campaign for One New York, a privately funded nonprofit cheerleading outfit that’s under investigation by the US Attorney’s and Manhattan District Attorney’s offices.
They also worked on the mayor’s fundraising efforts on behalf of state Senate Democrats in late 2014. That, too, is being probed.
de Blasio telling everyone that these folks are 'exempt' isn't going to save them, or him, from a federal subpoena...
"Their communications to the Mayor’s Office, along with those of their support staff working at the principal’s direction on those particular matters, are exempt from disclosure when related solely to city business and not on behalf of any client," said de Blasio counsel Maya Wiley.
Hilltop and BerlinRosen communications with the mayor on behalf of their clients are subject to public disclosure, officials added.
None of the five advisers has been paid by the city.
Not above the table, anyways...
The list of exemptions was announced after the administration rejected Freedom of Information requests for the mayor’s email exchanges with Rosen on the grounds that he was an "agent of the city."
More litigation on the way...
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#1
"There are places in my neighborhood
no one ever thinks about.
You see them every day
and every day you forget about them.
These are the places where all the things
happen that people are not allowed to see.
You see, in Brooklyn New York,
money changes hands all night long.
It's just not the kind
you can deposit in a bank.
All that money
needs to end up somewhere.
They call it a drop bar the mayor's office, BerlinRosen, AKPD and Hilltop."
Today, Friday, May 20 2016, the Baltic Dry Index decreased by 9 points, reaching 625 points.
Baltic Dry Index is compiled by the London-based Baltic Exchange and covers prices for transported cargo such as coal, grain and iron ore. The index is based on a daily survey of agents all over the world.
Baltic Dry hit a temporary peak on May 20, 2008, when the index hit 11,793. The lowest level ever reached was on Wednesday the 10th of February 2016, when the index dropped to 290 points.
The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, fell on Friday on weaker demand for larger vessel segments.
The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, was down nine points, or 1.42 percent, at 625 points.
The capesize index lost 36 points, or 3.97 percent, at 870 points.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were down $397 to $6,981.
The panamax index was down three points, or 0.49 percent, at 614 points.
Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, decreased $19 to $4,909.
Among smaller vessels, the supramax index rose four points to 562 points, while the handysize index rose one point to 343 points.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Nithin Prasad in Bengaluru)
[USMC Times] One of the most time-honored phrases in the Marine Corps -- "every Marine a rifleman" -- could get an update as the service's top leaders consider new gender-neutral job titles for all positions.
The Marine Corps is conducting a sweeping review of its military occupational specialty titles, Capt. Philip Kulczewski, a Marine spokesman at the Pentagon, told Marine Corps Times. The move follows a January directive from Navy Secretary Ray Mabus that Navy and Marine leaders ensure all job titles are gender neutral as ground combat jobs opened to women.
Mabus specifically wanted the word "man" dropped from all titles. That could mean that female Marines -- or even men -- heading to ground-combat jobs may not pick up traditional titles like rifleman or artilleryman.
Kulczewski declined to answer questions about how many titles could change, when the review would be complete or what the new job names could be, since the review is still ongoing.
Navy Capt. Patrick McNally, a spokesman for Mabus, also declined to comment on the status of the sea services' reviews.
"[The Navy secretary] has met with leadership from both services on the issue and we will have an announcement on a way ahead at the appropriate time," he said.
Initially, a Navy official told Marine Corps Times that Mabus didn't intend to change iconic titles like infantryman, rifleman or midshipman. Instead, the official said, he only wanted titles to change the titles if "man" stood alone as a separate word, as in reconnaissance man or field artillery sensor support man.
But a Marine official with knowledge of the review said "every single" title, billet and job description is being looked at.
#6
Mr. B - just been lurking. Currently in Vietnam for the road show. Stuck at the hotel so I won't get to see much of it. HCMC is somewhere between PP and BKK but closer to PP. They may have hated the French but they kept the baguettes and the buildings.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
05/21/2016 11:49
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#7
BB: Just finished 'Embassy House.' You've probably already read it. But if not....
#13
WHat utter bullshit. There is nothing sacred for these asshats except poking their finger in the eye of everything they hate. centuries of tradition mean nothing to the little cupcakes of the left, and they have no idea what they are joyously tearing down has stood between them and an introduction to inhumanity and cruelty on an epic scale. Sadly, the rest of us will suffer for allowing these twits to ascend to power. The fix grows ever more likely to involve a lot of really tragic, hard things....
[ARA News] ERBIL – Authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran executed five Kurdish rights activists in the northwestern Urmia city, officials and local activists confirmed on Friday.
The Kurdish rights activists Naji Kiwan, Ali Kurdian, Haidar Ramini, Nadir Muhamadi and Ruhman Rashidi were arrested on Wednesday on charges of “conspiring against the Islamic Republic of Iran”.
They were publicly hanged to death in central Urmia in front of hundreds of people, including their families who have been obliged by the Iranian authorities to witness the execution.
“The victims were human rights activists who used to document violations by Iranian security forces against civilians in the Kurdish city of Urmia,” member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Iran Dara Natiq told ARA News.
“By executing those activists, the Iranian government tries to prevent any reporting about its violations against human rights,” he said.
The Kurdish official added that Iran is executing an average of seven civilians and activists every week.
“Public executions have become a common scene in the main cities of Iran, mainly conducted on baseless charges,” Natiq told ARA News. “The Kurdish people have been for long suppressed and persecuted by the Iranian Islamic government. However, our activists will keep documenting those violations with a hope that the international community would ever take action and stop such barbaric acts by this tyrannical government.”
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[ARA News] KOBANE – Militants of the Islamic State (ISIS) on Friday launched a mortar attack on a Kurdish village in Kobane countryside northern Syria, causing casualties among civilians, local sources reported.
The ISIS-led attack targeted the village of Gire Ebri in western Kobane on the border with Turkey.
“The Gire Erbi village, located between Kobane and the ISIS-held Jarablus city, was exposed Friday to several mortar shells fired by ISIS militants from their strongholds at the top of Shamiya hill near the Turkish border,” rights activist Massoud Darwish told ARA News in Kobane.
“Over a dozen civilian casualties fell during the attack,” the source reported. “There are no military forces inside the village, so the ISIS attack was meant to kill Kurdish civilians.”
The shelling stopped on Friday midnight after the US-led coalition hit ISIS positions on the Shamiya hill with several airstrikes, eyewitnesses told ARA News.
Dozens of villages in Kobane countryside have been liberated by the Kurdish forces of People’s Protection Units (YPG) after pushing ISIS back towards Jarablus.
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
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.
[LI] Sir Nicholas Winton rescued 669 mostly Jewish children from Czechoslovakia in 1939. Not a soldier, not a government official, Winton petitioned the British government for permission to organize "Kindertransport."
The death of Mustafa Badreddine, who Hezbollah said was killed near Damascus by shellfire from Sunni 
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source within the police force in Baghdad province said on Friday, that eight people had been either killed or wounded in a bomb blast that took place north of Baghdad..png)
Wazoo
...Adviser to Pak Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on National Security and Foreign Affairs, who believes in 
[NATIONALREVIEW] In one of the most stinging court opinions I’ve ever read, federal district judge Andrew Hanon blasted Department of Justice officials for misleading the court during the course of executive amnesty litigation.
Afghan Salafist warlord, owned by Saudi Arabia. He was the guy who invited al-Qaeda to come into Afghanistan and make themselves at home...
[Al Ahram] At least 10 people have died and 40 were suffering from an outbreak of haemorrhagic fever in South Sudan, the latest calamity in the war-torn country, the World Health Organization said.
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
[Al Ahram] At least six 
Hillary Clinton
[NYPOST] Besieged by federal and state 
