h/t Instapundit
[DefendDemocracy.org] Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday presented the Islamic Republic of Iran with a stark choice: Either change or face "unprecedented financial pressure" in the form of "the strongest sanctions in history when we are complete." The Trump administration has declared financial war on the Iranian regime. Given the seriousness of its currency emergency, it’s a good bet America will win.
Iran’s economy is in crisis. Inflation is skyrocketing, banks are in turmoil, and Iranians protest daily against the regime’s ineptitude, corruption and foreign adventurism. The currency is collapsing. In 1979, just before the Islamic revolution, Iran’s official exchange rate was 70 rial to the dollar. Today’s official rate, 42,000 to 1, is only available to those with regime connections. Most Iranians have to accept less favorable terms on the black market.
The rial experienced several waves of devaluation, including during the last ramp-up in U.S. sanctions. The black-market rate per dollar went from around 11,000 in early 2011 to close to 37,000 in 2013, immediately before the June election of President Hassan Rouhani. The latest deterioration signals a worse crisis. It was triggered by Mr. Trump’s decision in October to decertify the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, indicating his intention to reimpose sanctions. The black-market rate has settled at 63,500, a nearly 40% loss of value since October. It dipped to 70,000 in the 24 hours after Mr. Trump announced on May 8 America’s official withdrawal from the nuclear deal. The regime is so desperate to avoid further collapse, it is taking extreme measures like criminalizing private currency trading and severely restricting the amount of currency Iranian travelers can take out of the country.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru ||
05/22/2018
15:38 ||
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[National Review] His voters knew what they were getting, and most support him still. Why exactly did nearly half the country vote for Donald Trump?
Why also did the arguments of Never Trump Republicans and conservatives have marginal effect on voters? Despite vehement denunciations of the Trump candidacy from many pundits on the right and in the media, Trump nonetheless got about the same percentage of Republican voters (88‐90 percent) as did McCain in 2008 and Romney in 2012, who both were handily defeated in the Electoral College.
Here are some of reasons voters knew what they were getting with Trump and yet nevertheless assumed he was preferable to a Clinton presidency.
1) Was Trump disqualified by his occasional but demonstrable character flaws and often rank vulgarity? To believe that plaint, voters would have needed a standard by which both past media of coverage of the White House and the prior behavior of presidents offered some useful benchmarks. Unfortunately, the sorts of disturbing things we know about Trump we often did not know in the past about other presidents. By any fair measure, the sexual gymnastics in the White House and West Wing of JFK and Bill Clinton, both successful presidents, were likely well beyond President Trump’s randy habits. Harry Truman’s prior Tom Pendergast machine connections make Trump steaks and Trump university seem minor. By any classical definition, Lyndon Johnson could have been characterized as both a crook and a pervert. In sum, the public is still not convinced that Trump’s crudities are necessarily different from what they imagine of some past presidents. But it does seem convinced, in our age of a 24/7 globalized Internet, that 90 percent negative media coverage of the Trump tenure is quite novel.
2) Personal morality and public governance are related, but we are not always quite sure how. Jimmy Carter was both a more moral person and a worse president than Bill Clinton. Jerry Ford was a more ethical leader than Donald Trump ‐ and had a far worse first 16 months. FDR was a superb wartime leader ‐ and carried on an affair in the White House, tried to pack and hijack the Supreme Court, sent U.S. citizens into internment camps, and abused his presidential powers in ways that might get a president impeached today. In the 1944 election, the Republican nominee Tom Dewey was the more ethical ‐ and stuffy ‐ man. In matters of spiritual leadership and moral role models, we wish that profane, philandering (including an affair with his step-niece), and unsteady General George S. Patton had just conducted himself in private and public as did the upright General Omar Bradley. But then we would have wished even more that Bradley had just half the strategic and tactical skill of Patton. If he had, thousands of lives might have been spared in the advance to the Rhine.
#1
Unfortunately, NeverTrumpers and Dims couldn't get past the first 100 words without throwing up their hands. They need to get to the last paragraph.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/22/2018 15:23
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#2
Pretty much sums it up for me and the rationale for my vote.
#5
To be honest, I didn't really so much vote FOR Trump. I voted AGAINST Hillary. I would have crawled the two miles to my polling place to vote against that evil witch.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
05/22/2018 17:18
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#6
naked, over broken glass
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/22/2018 19:08
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#7
I voted against Mrs. Clinton last time. I’ll vote for President Trump next time, or Nicki Haley.
[Powerline] Our local Fox affiliate has exposed or publicized what appears to be rampant fraud in the state daycare program for low income families. The story prominently features Somali daycare providers; they seem to have discovered how easy it is to rip off this particular welfare program among the panoply of such Minnesota welfare programs. Jeff Baillon’s original story (video and text) is posted here. It’s a hot story.
Over the weekend the Star Tribune reported the indignant response of Somali daycare providers here. The story refers to "[a] series of high-profile criminal prosecutions involving Somali-owned day cares" that have "put the industry on the defensive." The industry, however, apparently has more than one Minnesota minority childcare association to speak up on behalf of the Somali providers.
The Star Tribune also published an editorial that (among other things) tries to sort out facts from implications and bring the scope of the possible fraud into focus. The editorial is posted here. I found it useful.
Baillon’s story elicited a hearing over the state legislature before its adjournment on Sunday. It also prompted the state legislative auditor to undertake investigation into the program. Baillon reports that development here.
When the State Department first directed Somali refugees to Minnesota in the early 1990’s, I believe it had Minnesota’s social service welfare complex in mind. In February 2015 Kelly Riddell pointed out in the Washington Times that Somali refugees were to "take advantage of some of America’s most generous welfare and charity programs." Riddell quoted Professor Ahmed Samatar of Macalester College in St. Paul: "Minnesota is exceptional in so many ways but it’s the closest thing in the United States to a true social democratic state."
With the daycare fraud story, we have the emergence of the "Minnesota women" featured in the Star Tribune story linked above. It put me in mind of the "Minnesota men" charged and convicted of terrorism offenses in mid-2016 before Judge Michael Davis. Governor Mark Dayton has instructed us not to entertain guilty thoughts about immigration and assimilation in such cases. He has sought to retard public discussion of obvious issues, and you can see the same inhibition in the Star Tribune editorial.
My friends at City Journal invited me to write something about the daycare case. City Journal has published my column under the heading "Mogadishu, Minnesota." I confess to the guilty thought that what we may have here is assimilation, Minnesota style. Come and get me, Governor Dayton!
#1
Governor Mark Dayton has instructed us not to entertain guilty thoughts about immigration and assimilation in such cases. He has sought to retard public discussion of obvious issues, and you can see the same inhibition in the Star Tribune editorial.
But guns are a different matter. There the same people will broad brush entire sectors of the population in a nano-second.
#2
OK, so we shut down Mueller and use the money for Somali day care. It's a win-win.
Or we tell Mueller and his battalion-sized staff that from now on out they're working for free. "Bob, you don't have anything against Somali children getting good daycare, do you?"
Posted by: Matt ||
05/22/2018 10:49
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[Jpost] Israel has struck targets in the Middle East with the F-35 Adir stealth fighter jet twice, Israel Air Force Commander Maj.-Gen. Amikam Norkin said Tuesday, becoming the first country to use the US-made jet in combat.
"We are flying the F-35 all over the Middle East. It had become part of our operational capabilities. We are the first to attack using the F-35 in the Middle East and have already attacked twice on different fronts," he said during the IAF Senior Air Force Conference in Herzilya. Glad to see it is being put to good use.
Norkin made the comments while showing a picture of one Israeli F-35 flying over the Lebanese capital of Beirut during the day. He did not mention when the picture was taken.
Israel declared initial operational capability of the world's most advanced jet in December after receiving nine F-35s. The Air Force is expected to receive a total of 50 planes to make two full squadrons by 2024.
With an extremely low radar signature, the F-35 is able to operate undetected deep inside enemy territory such as Iran as well as evade advanced missile defense systems like the advanced Russian-made S-300 missile defense system which Tehran announced in March had become operational.
Israel is also said to be still considering acquiring F-35B Lightning II short takeoff/vertical landing jets. According to Lockheed Martin, the B variant "is designed to operate from austere bases and a range of air-capable ships near frontline combat zones. It can also take off and land conventionally from longer runways on major bases."
This could be crucial in times of war when air force bases - and particularly runways - run the risk of being targeted by enemy missiles and rockets.
Current US Department of Defense plans state that Washington will acquire a total of 2,456 F-35s from the United States Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy. According to Lockheed Martin, over 280 F-35 aircraft have been delivered and are operating from 15 bases around the globe with over 580 pilots and 5,600 maintainers who have been trained on the aircraft whose fleet has surpassed more than 130,000 cumulative flight hours.
#4
As I recall, they also took a very proactive look at the software -- hardening security and junking subprograms they felt could be better done manually by trained ground crews.
#5
Israel should have some Mossad guys blow up a few buildings in Syria and then claim the F-35s did it. Let their neighbor wonder how invisible the thing is.
[Breitbart] Rep. Steve King (R-IA) has introduced legislation named after Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf ‐ who infamously helped criminal illegal aliens evade deportation ‐ that would imprison sanctuary city politicians. Never going to pass... but man would it be funny!
As Breitbart News has reported, back in February Schaaf tipped off illegal aliens and businesses who employ illegal aliens of a pending raid by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Schaaf's warning of the ICE raid allowed illegal aliens convicted of sex crimes to evade deportation, as Breitbart News reported. As Breitbart exclusively reported, Schaaf is facing a lawsuit by the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI).
Now, Schaaf is the unofficial poster-child for Rep. King's newest immigration enforcement legislation that seeks to prosecute public officials who help illegal aliens evade deportation.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/22/2018 11:34
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#4
But wait. Don't we already have laws that make it illegal to help felons escape justice? Maybe what we really need are some prosecutors who have the guts to go after these creeps.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/22/2018 11:37
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#1
A spokeswoman for the nation's largest teachers union says it's no surprise these legislative efforts are failing.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/22/2018 10:38
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#2
Given that an entire sector of the education establishment is OK with drugging a portion of their classes cause they can't deal with them, I'm not overwhelmingly in support of giving those same teachers a gun.
#2
I suppose it would be difficult to 'bungle' a robbery more than killing the victim and not actually taking anything. Prima faciae that may be, but there sure are a lot of coincidences and intriguing timelines that are coming to light.
[American Thinker] The idea is floated frequently that the still nameless Russian collusion scandal is "worse than Watergate." It may well be, but that comparison overlooks a more useful parallel.
The gold standard of government conspiracy remains the investigation into the July 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800 off the south coast of Long Island. The ensuing cover-up involved many of the same players as in the Russia conspiracy and for the same immediate goal: to secure a presidential election for a Clinton.
As with the Russia scandal, not all the collaborators in the TWA 800 case were equally motivated or equally powerful. The White House drove the conspiracy through its Justice Department. The CIA executed it without conscience. The FBI grudgingly yielded to the CIA. And the New York Times dutifully reported what the FBI whispered in its reporters' ears.
h/t instapundit
[AmericanThinker] Last week I reported that Internet sleuths had winkled out the name of the spy/agent provocateur that Obama's intelligence officers had used on the Trump campaign. The New York Times and Washington Post, the Democrats' semi-official newspapers this week megaphoned the instigators, offering up their justifications without naming his name.
Again, the name is Stefan Halper, who, as I wrote here last week, was paid a substantial sum by the Department of Defense's Office of Net Assessment.
If it was for this work ‐ and it suspiciously looks like it because the payments were made in July and September of 2016 when he was weaseling his way into the campaign ‐ then we know we have the DNI, CIA, DOJ, FBI, Dept. of State and the Defense Department working for Hillary's election and to smear and create a basis for further spying on Trump and his campaign.
...If his surmise is valid, it's likely all leading Republican contenders were also the subject of preliminary investigations.
...How desperate are the Democrats to keep us from knowing what went on and what is still going on? This desperate: Senator Mark Warner (D-Va) is claiming that the FBI must not accept congressional oversight:
In essence he's arguing a notion that Judge Ellis has correctly swatted away ‐ that the intelligence community is entitled to operate as a government on its own, without oversight. A preposterous argument from a member of the Gang of Eight whose job it is to conduct ‐ wait for it ‐ all oversight of the DOJ and FBI. Of course, as Sundance notes, Warner has every reason to shun congressional oversight and transparency ‐ he was in on the intelligence scam himself:
...We now have an imaginary crime ‐ collusion ‐ with imaginary evidence and even imaginary defendants. What is not imaginary is the selfish effort to destroy our polity by several handfuls of men and women who abused their positions of trust for intended partisan gain that failed. Give them the hook already.
[Zero Hedge] Less than a week after Stefan Halper was outed as the FBI informant who infiltrated the Trump campaign, public records reveal that the 73-year-old Oxford University professor and former U.S. government official was paid handsomely by the Obama administration starting in 2012 for various research projects.
A longtime CIA and FBI asset who once reportedly ran a spy-operation on the Jimmy Carter administration, Halper was enlisted by the FBI to spy on several Trump campaign aides during the 2016 U.S. election. Meanwhile, a search of public records reveals that between 2012 and 2018, Halper received a total of $1,058,161 from the Department of Defense. I'll wager his classes at Oxford were PACKED !
[Right Scoop] From the sounds of this things are about to get juicy. According to former Trump campaign adviser Michael Caputo, there were other Obama agencies that had infiltrated the Trump campaign (watch video).
#2
Maybe the Agriculture Department didn't. Maybe...
The establishment of the Department of Homeland Security muddled historical jurisdictions and authorities hammered out in past legal decisions. It only needed an administration with a totalitarian mindset to expand and weaponize that ambiguity...
h/t Instapundit
[FreeBeacon] European countries are currently examining a range of options to counter the reimposition of harsh U.S. sanctions on Iran in a bid to continue doing business with the Islamic Republic, a move that is being met with chilly reception on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are already putting in place measures to ensure that any European nation caught skirting U.S. sanctions faces harsh repercussions, according to a new policy paper being examined by lawmakers and viewed by the Washington Free Beacon.
Ahead of a landmark foreign policy speech on Iran Monday morning by newly installed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, his first since taking the office, European nations have been locked in meetings to develop contingencies to continue doing business with Iran after new U.S. sanctions go into effect in the coming months. So, what motivates them: (a) Greed, (b) pathological envy of USA, (c) pathological hatred of Israel?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru ||
05/22/2018
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#3
Bright Pebbles, would it be possible for you expand upon what you mean by American internationalism a bit, please? I am just trying to get a better understanding. Thank you.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
05/22/2018 7:05
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#4
So, what motivates them: (a) Greed, (b) pathological envy of USA, (c) pathological hatred of Israel?
embrace the power of "and"
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/22/2018 7:12
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#5
With friends like these, who needs enemies?
Why are we still allied with them? Why are we not pulling our troops out? They are clearly working against us and not the least bit sorry about it.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
05/22/2018 7:58
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#6
Why is America running a $150 billion annual trade deficit with them? That's 1.5 million primary manufacturing jobs lost to them. Add to that support jobs in the economy.
#7
According to my UK friends a large part of this is that they do not understand the disconnect between US government and US companies.
So any issues with an American company / industry, think hi tech, is bundled into their feelings about the US gov't. Of course 20 years ago I blamed the Euros for this...now? Not so much.
#8
Well if the EU said to an American company that you can't trade with say India because they have nukes you'd be complaining about EU over-reach and it's the same the other way.
#9
I don't remember Indians shouting "Death to America" or being the world's foremost government sponsor of terrorism, some taking place in Europe. Please enlighten me.
If Europeans are dead set against trade with India, I am sure Americans will take a second look. What do you have against Indians?
#10
I think you totally miss my point, it's got not much to do with the reason why more the invasion of sovereignty.
My own opinion (which is not relevant to my point) is that Iran is not following the agreement so the agreement is over, but that's not why people are annoyed.
#11
If they fought bled and paid for their defense instead of defaulting to the USA to do it all they would have rights to feelings of sovereignty. Since they don’t they are nothing but spoilt pikers.
#15
It’s hard to make the transition from an America willing to follow the EU (including Britain) lead, and an America strongly acting in its own interest. Especially after having been assured by the outgoing administration first that Mr. Trump could not possibly win, and then that Mr. Trump was a bloviating idiot who would not be able to figure out how to get out of the Obama commitments. Their actions following being informed that they had until April to get Iran to agree to certain changes or America was out of the deal show they firmly believed what President Obama’s people told them.
It must feel a great deal like whiplash over there at the moment, a feeling that creates anger and indignation.
#17
Their actions following being informed that they had until April to get Iran to agree to certain changes or America was out of the deal show they firmly believed what President Obama’s people told them.
You can keep your doctor if you want to.
No boots on the ground.
etc etc etc
Heh, indeed! One thing I learned from reading Scott Adams and watching the last presidential election is that facts don't matter. It's all about 'the feelz'.
Information (aka 'facts') that challenge our world view are either rejected outright or drive our brains into cognitive dissonance. The tell for cog-diss is a retort that starts with 'So...' followed by some word salad rebutting a point you never made. At this point, you have won the argument.
The example here is "So you acknowledge you don't have a point and Iran and India are not comparable."
#21
Now, BP, lets stop and think a bit.
(a) Your country is run by a Quisling Government loyal to the EU - as proven by their delays and attempted sabotage of Brexit.
(b) The only way to save your country from becoming a Pakistan in the West is destruction of the EU and its ideologies. The only ones who can accomplish this are Russians or Americans. And Russians will destroy not just the EU but depopulate Europe (including Britain).
(c) So, instead of feeling injured national pride, you should cheer the Americans on - the way I'm sure Frenchmen in Vichy France, or East Europeans behind the Iron Curtain, did.
#23
Just was watching a show about Vlad the Impaler.
Seems he had a hard time with his "supposed" buddies in Europe but the Holy Roman Empire left him to twist in the wind so he had to fight off the Ottoman scourge however he could.......wasn't pretty.
#5
Or girlcott whichever gender identity you sexually fluid 'parents' chose for your children to moan to their future, federally subsidized, counselors about.
[EurekAlert] Nanoparticles derived from tea leaves inhibit the growth of lung cancer cells, destroying up to 80% of them, new research by a joint Swansea University and Indian team has shown.
The team made the discovery while they were testing out a new method of producing a type of nanoparticle called quantum dots. These are tiny particles which measure less than 10 nanometres. A human hair is 40,000 nanometres thick.
Although nanoparticles are already used in healthcare, quantum dots have only recently attracted researchers' attention. Already they are showing promise for use in different applications, from computers and solar cells to tumour imaging and treating cancer.
Quantum dots can be made chemically, but this is complicated and expensive and has toxic side effects. The Swansea-led research team were therefore exploring a non-toxic plant-based alternative method of producing the dots, using tea leaf extract.
Tea leaves contain a wide variety of compounds, including polyphenols, amino acids, vitamins and antioxidants. The researchers mixed tea leaf extract with cadmium sulphate (CdSO4) and sodium sulphide (Na2S) and allowed the solution to incubate, a process which causes quantum dots to form. They then applied the dots to lung cancer cells.
#1
BP: Can you arrange a couple of modestly paid research positions for us on the Swansea team? In fact, a small cottage with a Rover Velar and I'll forgo the wages.
Excerpt:
[PJ] Walking down Oslo's parade street, Karl Johans Gate, Snegirov took note of the ugly concrete objects that are intended to foil vehicular jihadists of the sort who terrorized Nice's Promenade des Anglais in 2016 and London Bridge last June. He followed this, however, with a sobering reflection: such efforts notwithstanding, Norwegians have been brainwashed into a tolerance toward Islam that will ultimately "overwhelm and sink" it.
In one telling anecdote, Snegirov described a type of conduct I've witnessed repeatedly in Norway: he's on a train from Hamar to Oslo on which all the seats are taken; although a number of able-bodied males (including young men in military uniforms) are seated, none of them stands up to offer his seat to any of the several elderly women (some of them weighed down by massive backpacks) who are forced to stand. But then a Pakistani man boards the train, and a red-bearded Norwegian immediately "jumps up ... and invites the Muslim to sit down." The Pakistani says no, but Redbeard insists. After the Pakistani sits, Redbeard stands with his back to the door, his facial expression making it clear that he feels he has "done a good deed."
[Guardian] The Swedish government has begun sending all 4.8m of the country’s households a public information leaflet telling the population, for the first time in more than half a century, what to do in the event of a war.
Om krisen eller kriget kommer (If crisis or war comes) explains how people can secure basic needs such as food, water and heat, what warning signals mean, where to find bomb shelters and how to contribute to Sweden’s "total defence".
The 20-page pamphlet, illustrated with pictures of sirens, warplanes and families fleeing their homes, also prepares the population for dangers such as cyber and terror attacks and climate change, and includes a page on identifying fake news.
h/t Instapundit
Exposure to common medications used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder has increased by more than 60% in US children and adolescents, according to a new study.
The study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, looked at all calls to US poison control centers for unintentional or intentional exposure to ADHD medications between 2000 and 2014 among children and adolescents. The researchers found that the number of calls increased from 7,018 in 2000 to 11,486 in 2014 -- a 64% increase. Why kill the potential opposition (intelligent, imaginative boys grow up to be men, and such men are dangerous), when you can drug them?
#1
Guess who disproportionately requests the drugging?
If males, were to dominate in an occupational proportion similar to primary teachers, had demanded females be drugged for their [insert your descriptive] activity, it would be denounced in the most strident terms.
h/t Instapundit
[TheRightScoop] Mark Levin explained on the first hour of his show tonight how the appointment of Robert Mueller by Deputy AG Robert Rosenstein is unconstitutional. And I’ve got all the audio from his first hour for you to listen to below.
To sum it up the main idea in a couple of tweets..
On @marklevinshow, a novel theory‐ Mueller’s appointment is unconstitutional because he was never confirmed by the Senate, as a US attorney would have been...
‐ Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) May 21, 2018
Citing the Appointments Clause, Levin argues Mueller has been acting as a "principal officer," like a US attorney, and not an "inferior officer," as an assistant US attorney...
#1
At this point, what difference does it make? Seriously, someone should have pointed that out a year ago. Nowt that the investigation is running on fumes seems a little late.
[Breitbart] "ABC News has learned President Trump will meet today at the White House with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray. The meeting is scheduled for 3pm. I’m told this "demand" will be a topic of discussion," ABC’s Jon Karl tweeted, referencing Trump’s demand that the Justice Department probe possible surveillance of his 2016 campaign ordered by federal law enforcement officials.
[Breitbart] The FBI informant who sought information about President Donald J. Trump’s 2016 campaign was looking for a way to join the administration after Trump unexpectedly won.
Reporter Jonathan Swan of Axios revealed on Monday that University of Cambridge Research Professor Stefan Halper was on a list of recommended possible ambassador roles in Asia. Halper was recommended by White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, according to Axios.
According to a White House official, Halper visited the White House complex in August 2017 for a meeting about China.
During the campaign, Halper reportedly met with Trump campaign contacts Carter Page, Sam Clovis, and George Papadopoulos and reported back to the FBI.
Harper and Navarro were both advocates for tougher action with China and knew each other professionally in academic circles. They both appeared on a CSPAN panel on the likelihood of economic and military conflict with China in 2015 to promote Navarro’s new book Crouching Tiger: What China’s Militarism Means for the World.
#2
Before this is all over I expect we'll start to see evidence planted to frame Trump team members. We've already seen basically every other dirty trick, and this one is a staple.
[DAWN] All Chinese mosques should raise the national flag to "promote a spirit of patriotism" among Moslems, the country's top Islamic regulatory body has declared, as the Communist Party seeks to tighten its grip on religion.
Flags should be hung in a "prominent position" in all mosque courtyards, the China Islamic Association said in a letter published on Saturday on its website.
This would "further strengthen the understanding of national and civic ideals, and promote a spirit of patriotism among Moslems of all ethnic groups", it read.
Mosques should also publicly display information on the party's "core socialist values", and explain them to devotees via Islamic scripture so that they will be "deeply rooted in people's hearts", it said.
The China Islamic Association is a government-affiliated body and has the sole power to accredit imams.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2018
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#1
...and there will be a loyal toast, of maotai, drunk to the flag, five times a day, at convenient times of the day when all mosque-goers are assembled.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Taliban ...Arabic for students... group has threatened to carry out attacks on security institutions in Kabul as part of their spring offensive, urging the civilians to stay away from such compounds amid growing criticisms that such attacks mostly lead to civilian casualties.
The group issued a statement claiming that the civilian casualties rate has dropped significantly during the attacks carried out by the group.
However, alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... the group admits that the attacks in Kabul cause civilian casualties, accusing the government and security institutions for using the civilians as human shields by establishing compounds in civilian frequented areas.
Taliban in its statement stated that the group has plans to carry out attacks on security institutions as part of their spring offensive and urged the residents of the city to cooperate and stay away from such compounds.
The latest Taliban claims regarding the reducing civilian casualties and adopting necessary precautions to prevent civilian deaths are following the growing criticisms that the majority of civilian deaths are caused in Taliban attacks, particularly in suicide and roadside kaboomings.
A total of 10,453 civilian casualties ‐ 3,438 people killed and 7,015 injured ‐ were documented in the 2017 Annual Report released last month by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the UN Human Rights Office.
The report further added that the high number of casualties to the civilians were inflicted by suicide kabooms and other attacks using improvised bombs (IEDs).
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2018
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least five de-miners who were clearing the path for the TAPI gas pipeline project were killed in turbans attaack in southern Kandahar province.
According to the local officials, the incident took place earlier today in the vicinity of Maiwand district.
The provincial governor’s front man confirmed that five de-miners working in TAPI field were killed and another one was kidnapped by the krazed killers.
In the meantime, provincial police chief Gen. Abdul Raziq, said the de-miners belonged to AMDC company and were killed while clearing the TAPI gas pipeline route in Malang Kariz area.
Gen. Raziq further added that one of the de-miners has been kidnapped by the turbans following the attack.
No individual or group including the Talibs has so far grabbed credit behind the incident.
Kandahar is among the relatively volatile provinces in southern Afghanistan where the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... forces of Evil are active in some of its remote districts and often carry out terrorist related activities.
The anti-government armed turbans often carry out attacks on security forces and babus government employees in some restive districts of the province although attacks on de-miners and aid workers are not rare.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2018
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#1
God bless them and the polio vaccination workers. Doing your job among the ungrateful.....
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
05/22/2018 1:18
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#2
Died trying to save little kids and innocent civilians.
[PRESSTV] Bahrain has upheld death sentences against two activists as the ruling Al Khalifah regime intensifies its crackdown against political dissidents and pro-democracy campaigners in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom.
The defendants, Ahmad al-Abbar and Hussein Mahdi, were sentenced to death by the Bahrain Criminal Court after they made forced confessions, according to the Manama Post website. Their charges were not immediately known.
Another Bahraini court also sentenced nine citizens to jail and revoked their citizenship.
Separately, a court in the capital Manama on Sunday also sentenced 20 activists to prison sentences ranging from 3 to 15 years after they were convicted on "terrorism" charges.
This came days after a Bahrain court on Tuesday revoked the citizenship of 115 people at a mass terrorism trial.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2018
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[DAWN] India's Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that India will take any "comment on wanting peace" by Pak officials "seriously", The Times of India reported on Monday.
Sitharaman, while talking to Indian media on the sidelines of a seminar in New Delhi today, said that: "Any comment on wanting peace will definitely be taken seriously."
The Indian minister was referring to Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa's remarks made in April where he called for "comprehensive and meaningful dialogue" between both countries to look for a peaceful solution to the Kashmire dispute.
While addressing a passing out parade ceremony, Gen Bajwa had expressed Pakistain's "complete political and moral support" for the people of Kashmire who are fighting for their "basic right of self-determination". He added that while "such dialogue is no favour to any party" it is the only way to ensure peace across the region.
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05/22/2018
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#1
I'm sure he said something more along the lines "With the seriousness they deserve".
[DAWN] Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... fighters closed in on another district in Afghanistan on Sunday as officials sought to reassure an increasingly angry public that security would improve.
On Sunday, the holy warriors were besieging the governor’s compound in Ajrestan district in Ghazni, south of the capital Kabul, although officials said reinforcements had arrived and were relieving police defending the town.
The fighting in Ghazni, which has long had a heavy Taliban presence, follows several days of fighting in Farah province, on the other side of Afghanistan on the border with Iran where the holy warriors came close to overrunning the bustling provincial capital.
General John Nicholson, the top US commander in Afghanistan visited Farah on Saturday with the ministers of the interior and defence and the head of the NDS intelligence service.
"Farah did not fall and Farah will never fall," he said, calling on the Taliban to accept President Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. ’s offer of peace talks. "We will stay with you until we bring this war to a peaceful conclusion," he said.
He met local officials in the governor’s compound and heard a bitter litany of complaints about the failure of the government to protect the city and the province, where the Taliban control many areas.
"If you want to make Farah better, then please, you should help before there’s an incident," said Belqis Roshan, a former senator. "We have 10 districts, and apart from the centres, they’re under Taliban rule," she said.
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Perhaps one day she’ll conclude she regrets having run the second time, though that was the only way to know for certain that not nearly enough people want her as president.
[PRESSTV] Former US Secretary of State Perennial Presidential Campaigner Hillary Crooked Hillary Clinton ... former first lady, former secretary of state, former presidential candidate, Conqueror of Benghazi, Heroine of Tuzla, formerly described by her supporters as the smartest woman in the world, usually described by the rest of us as The Thing That Wouldn't Go Away... she still regrets losing the 2016 presidential face-off with her Republican rival Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... "No, I'm not over it. I still think about the 2016 election. I still regret the mistakes I made. I still think, though, that understanding what happened in such a weird and wild election in American history will help us defend our democracy in the future," she told graduating Yale students at Sunday's Class Day address.
Throughout her speech, the former first lady tried to crack jokes at her failed campaign and yet remind the students of the many scandals that overshadowed the race for the White House.
Clinton, who graduated from Yale Law School in 1973, joked about her audition to join a famous singing club, saying she had buried the audition tape "so deep that not even WikiLeaks will be able to find it."
The anti-secrecy website dealt heavy blows to Hillary’s campaign by leaking hacked emails about the inner works of the Democratic Party.
Referring to a high-profile FBI investigation into her handling of classified emails, Clinton said, "If you thought my emails were scandalous, you should hear my singing voice."
The former New York Senator then took an indirect jab at Trump and the ongoing probe into his alleged collusion with Russia, pulling out a Russian hat.
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#1
What a fucking sore loser. DAMN I am glad we dodged that bullet. Imagine her in a position of real power. FUCK we would have been so screwed. We'd be in the second year of a major war with Russia by now.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
05/22/2018 2:45
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#10
Yeah... Just imagine all the Clinton Foundation 'contributions' she missed out on. Now she'll just ahve to get by on the billions she already scammed.
Poor dear.... she's practically little miss orphan Clinton again!
#12
Her bitter hate and loathing and never ending public complaining makes it very clear why Bill never divorced her.... He would never survive here attacks.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
05/22/2018 11:13
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#13
Well, yes, magpie. They say beauty's only skin deep but ugly goes all the way down to the bone.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/22/2018 11:42
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#14
She may still regret it but I don't doubt that there are many who join me in REJOICING!!
[HudsonValley360] A woman was found guilty Monday of spraying fake blood on the steps of the Alexandria, Virginia, home of National Rifle Association lobbyist Chris Cox in January.
If she does not comply, she could owe another $500.
She is also under a temporary restraining order that bars her from Cox's wife's business and from NRA offices in Virginia and Washington, D.C.
And on Monday after court, Hill was served with a warrant for another vandalism charge, stemming from a similar incident in October. Nebraska? Seriously?! There is something very wrong in Americas colleges.
Melody Vaccaro, vice president of Nebraskans Against Gun Violence, came to support Hill.
She said Cox was a hypocrite for demanding prosecution and a protective order over fake blood while lobbying for open carrying of deadly weapons across the country.
"We think this is the NRA using the criminal justice system to reign terror on regular people," Vaccaro said. And other (aligned) places too I guess.
#1
Once upon a time, college professor was a respectable occupation. Nowadays, they seem to fill the ecological niche formerly occupied by unmedicated lunatics.
#2
Research Assistant Professor = nontenured. People like her are: (a) desperate, and (b) know only one way (being a loud leftard - note the total absence of publications in her CV*) for academic advancement.
*I remember when you couldn't get PhD without publications.
#5
Does Virginia still have 'chain gangs'? Maybe a few hundred hours scrubbing graffiti off of walls might get the point across that defacing other people's property is a bad idea.
Nineveh (Iraqinews.com) – Up to 13 Islamic State (IS) militants were arrested Monday in their former stronghold of Mosul, a police chief was quoted as saying.
“Nineveh police arrested the 13 militants upon accurate intelligence data in al-Entisar, Judaydat al-Mufti and al-Nour districts in Mosul’s eastern side,” Baghdad Today website quoted Nineveh Police Chief Brig. Gen. Hamad Nems al-Jabouri as saying in a statement.
“The arrests were made pursuant to article 4/1 of the anti-terrorism law,” the statement read.
The arrestees were found to have pledged allegiance to Islamic State and worked for its Hisbah (vigilantism) and confiscation departments, the statement concluded.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced last July the liberation of the second largest Iraqi city of Mosul from IS militants, who had captured it in 2014.
More than 25,000 militants were killed throughout the campaign, which started in October 2016.
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Two security personnel were killed in an armed attack launched by Islamic State members, northwest of Mosul, a security source from Nineveh said on Monday.
Speaking to BasNews, Cap. Amir Wathiq said “Islamic State members launched an armed attack against Iblig village in Sinjar town, northwest of Mosul.
IS members, according to Wathiq, “managed to kill two personnel of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces), while the third was wounded. The militants then ran away.”
PMFs “cordoned off the region in search for the militants,” he added.
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Anbar (Iraqinews.com) – Four Iraqi policeman were killed and injured in a bomb blast near Iraqi-Syrian borders, a security source said on Monday.
“An explosive charge planted by Islamic State on the side of a road in Al-Qa’im district near the Syrian borders went off while a police vehicle was patrolling the area, leaving a policeman killed and three others injured,” the source told Knooz Media.
“All the injured were moved to a nearby hospital for treatment, while the dead policeman was carried to the forensic medicine department,” according to the source.
“A security force cordoned off the blast site and prevented passers-by from approaching,” added the source.
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi security troops have arrested Islamic State’s police chief in an ambush, west of Anbar, a security source from the province was quoted saying on Monday.
Speaking to Almaalomah website, the source said “security troops set up an ambush after information located the prominent leader Abu Fatma al-Muhajir, who was in charge of the Islamic police within the group in Hit town.”
The troops, according to the source, “set up the ambush for Muhajir, who was trying to escape toward Qaim town, on borders with Syria. He was then arrested.”
The militant “was hiding at desert regions and valleys,” he added. “He was transferred under tight measures to a security cell for investigation.”
Posted by: trailing wife ||
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#1
Rockets to go and careful , Issis , Ruse A Velt Style !!
[AnNahar] Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman jugged Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! in Tehran for two years, has appeared in court to face a new charge, her husband said on Monday.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe was summoned to a court in Tehran on Saturday, according to a statement from Richard Ratcliffe, who runs the Free Nazanin campaign group.
The charge is for "spreading propaganda against the regime," which she denies, he said.
On Sunday, she was allowed to speak to the British ambassador to Tehran, Rob Macaire.
"This is the first time that she has been allowed any contact with the embassy in over two years," he said.
Contacted by AFP, Britannia's foreign ministry said in a statement: "We will continue to approach each case in a way that we judge is most likely to secure the outcome we all want.
"Therefore we will not be providing a running commentary on every twist and turn," the statement said.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian dual national who works for the Thomson Rooters Foundation -- the media organization's philanthropic arm -- was jugged Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! at Tehran airport in April 2016.
She is serving a five-year jail sentence for alleged sedition -- a charge she has always denied.
The couple have a three-year-old daughter Gabriella who is being looked after by Zaghari-Ratcliffe's parents in Tehran.
She has asked for temporary release from prison next month to celebrate her daughter's fourth birthday.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson visited Iran in December last year to press for Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release on humanitarian grounds.
[Breitbart] Before his tip sparked a divisive witch hunt, former Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer helped to secure $25 million for the Clinton Foundation.
Downer arranged one of the largest foreign donations ever made to the Clinton Foundation in February 2006. He and former President Bill Clinton signed a "Memorandum of Understanding" that purportedly dedicated the substantial funding to a project meant to provide screenings and drug treatment for AIDS patients in Asia.
The donation, originally intended for the Clinton Foundation, was then rerouted through an affiliate ‐ the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI). The project was lauded for its help in China, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Vietnam, but auditors criticized its "management weaknesses" and inadequate budgetary oversight.
"The Clintons’ tentacles go everywhere. So, that’s why it’s important," said Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee that has taken up arms in defense of the Trump administration over the course of the Russia probe. "We continue to get new information every week it seems that sort of underscores the fact that the FBI hasn’t been square with us."
Interestingly, The New York Times failed to disclose these details in a May 16 story entitled "A Secret Mission, a Code Name and Anxiety: Inside the Early Days of the F.B.I.’s Trump Investigation" in which they detailed Downer’s involvement in "Crossfire Hurricane," the code name for the interview which led directly to an investigation into ties between Russia and then Presidential candidate Donald Trump.
They did, however, manage to capture something that Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida once told the Fox Business Network: "It’s like the deep state all got together to try to orchestrate a palace coup," he said.
[PRESSTV] A court in western The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... has handed down life sentences to 104 people convicted of involvement in a coup attempt two years ago.
The court in the city of Izmir issued the rulings on Monday, saying the former military personnel had been "attempting to overthrow the constitutional order."
The life sentences were of the "aggravated" nature, which Turkey uses instead of the death penalty and carries harsher conditions than normal life sentences.
Among those sentenced to life were lieutenant general Hasan Huseyin Demirarslan, who served as former air force chief of staff, and major general Memduh Hakbilen, ex-Aegean army command chief of staff.
The suspects are believed to have played a key role in the July 15, 2016 coup attempt against President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey... . The coup, which left more than 260 people killed, including 24 coup plotters, triggered a large-scale crackdown in Turkey, with over 200,000 either nabbed Book 'im, Mahmoud! or discharged from their jobs over their role in the coup.
In its Monday rulings, the court in Izmir also issued 20-year jail sentences for 21 other suspects for "assisting the liquidation of the president" as well as sentences between seven years and six months and 10 years and six months for 31 suspects for being a member of an armed terror group.
Erdogan said after the botched putsch that he had been the target of a terror plot when he was on holiday in the Aegean resort of Marmaris with his family on the eve of the coup attempt.
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[PRESSTV] At least three people were killed and nine others maimed in Ukraine's pro-Russia eastern region in the latest surge in violence between pro-Russian forces and the Ukrainian army, the authorities from both sides said Monday.
The latest casualties brought the corpse count to nine people over the past five days, marking the sharpest spike in the long-running conflict in recent months.
The Ukrainian army reported two soldiers were killed and four maimed in fighting near the government-controlled village some 40 kilometers (25 miles) northeast of the separatists' de facto capital of Donetsk.
Authorities in the eastern regions said one of their fighters was killed and another one maimed in the renewed festivities along the front line.
Four civilians in Gorlivka, an industrial town in one of the two separatist-held regions, were also maimed in mortar shelling, they said.
A series of periodic truce deals have helped lower the level of violence in Ukraine's east but have not fully ended bloodshed.
The situation has tanked again in recent days with two Ukrainian soldiers killed in fighting on Thursday and four people, including two civilians, dying on Friday.
"Last week was in many ways the worst we have seen so far this year," the mission from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe ...also known as Moslem Lebensraum... monitoring the conflict said Monday.
"In total, we recorded 7,700 ceasefire violations."
More than 10,000 people have been killed since the anti-government protests broke out in April 2014 following Russia's integration of Crimea.
Ukraine and its Western allies accuse Russia of funneling troops and arms across the border to fan the flames of the conflict.
Moscow has denied the allegations. No, no! Certainly not! despite overwhelming evidence that it has been involved in the fighting and its explicit political support for the pro-Russia forces.
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#1
Ukraine's pro-Russia eastern region
We generally condemn this behavior, but in the larger context hasn't Israel engaged in the same behavior on the West Bank?
I'm conflicted, to a point, about border hardlines. Many regions of south Texas are wholly Mexican, but I'm not willing to surrender the lands to another country any more than giving Minnesota to Somalia or DC to the communists...
[PRESSTV] US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... has proposed to establish a Paleostinian state with limited illusory sovereignty over around half of the West Bank and Abu Dis as its capital, an Israeli intelligence website reports.
The plan, due to be revealed next month, is reportedly intended to serve as a springboard for more negotiations between Israel and Arab governments, DEBKAfile reported Sunday.
Five administration officials told US media on Friday that Trump was preparing to reveal the "peace" plan after the end of the holy month of Ramadan in mid-June.
His son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt, his special adviser for international negotiations, are the main authors of the text, it added.
Trump had discussed the text with three Arab leaders, namely Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, UAE emir Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayed, Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... i ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Egyptian President Abdel-Fatteh el-Sisi.
However, today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... Ottoman Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan declined an offer to come aboard even before tensions rose between Tel Aviv and Ankara over Israeli massacres in the Gazoo Strip, the report said.
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least three suspects including two Pak nationals were tossed in the slammer Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! during a patrol of the Afghan National Army (ANA) forces in capital Kabul.
The 111 Division of the Afghan National Army in a statement said the suspects were held from Hot Khel district of Kabul during an operation of the Quick Reaction Forces of the 6th Kandak, 2nd Brigade, 111th Division of the Afghan National Army Forces.
The statement further adds that one of the suspects is the original resident of Surkh Rod district of 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.. while two others are the residents of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 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. city of Pakistain.
According to the 111th Division, the Afghan forces have also discovered two kilograms of Ammonium Nitrate and C4 potent explosives from the detained individuals.
The Afghan armed forces have also confiscated 177,790 Afghans, 1230 Pak Rupees, 5 mobile sets, 2 Pak passports, 6 SIM Cards, and other type of explosives, the statement added.
According to the 111th division of the Afghan National Army, the detained individuals are in jug of the security forces for further investigations.
This comes as the anti-government armed holy warriors are attempting to carry out large scale attacks in Kabul city and other key cities and provinces of the country during the recent months.
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[DAWN] RAW ... India's Research and Analysis Wing, Pakistain's equivalent of the Boogie Man... ALPINDI: The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) has claimed that the four terrorist attacks 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.... last year were carried out by Jamatul Ahrar (JuA), a faction of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban ...Arabic for students... (TTP) which was operating from Afghanistan.
It said all controllers of the attackers had been placed in durance vile Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! . Mohammad Tahir Rai, additional inspector general CTD, said except the four terrorist attacks the security situation in the province remained satisfactory in 2017.
He stated this while briefing participants of a meeting of National Counter-Terrorism Authority (Nacta).
The meeting was attended by the interior minister, police high-ups and representatives of intelligence agencies.
The official said handlers of those who carried out the four terrorist attacks had been arrested by law enforcement agencies.
Among those killed in the fourth suicide kaboom in Lahore on July 13, 2017, were six coppers, including Zahir Gondal, the SSP operations, and Ahmed Mobin, the DIG traffic.
At least 26 people were killed and over 50 injured in the attack.
The CTD official said radicalisation of the youth through the social media by terror groups was posing a security threat to Punjab.
He suggested establishing social media monitoring mechanisms at Nacta for countering the terrorists’ narrative. He also stressed the need to form a body at the federal government level to deal with transnational and inter-provincial terrorism.
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05/22/2018
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[IsraelTimes] Paleostinian media publish pictures and video of 83-year-old PA leader walking around in his robe in hospital and reading a newspaper
Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... is suffering from pneumonia but his condition is improving, officials said late Monday as pictures emerged showing the Paleostinian leader walking around a hospital in his robe.
"I visited President Abbas in hospital tonight. He suffers from pneumonia and is treated with antibiotics," Ahmed Tibi, an Arab Israeli politician, said on Twitter, adding that the octogenarian’s condition had "markedly improved."
Paleostinian media published pictures and video of a jovial looking Abbas walking around in hospital in a dark blue robe and sitting in his bed reading a newspaper, surrounded by associates.
Earlier it had been reported that Abbas, 83, was suffering from a fever as a result of an ear infection.
On Monday afternoon a senior Paleostinian official told The Times of Israel that Abbas’s health condition is "good" and has improved considerably in recent hours, a day after he was hospitalized for the third time in a week.
According to the Paleostinian official, Abbas, was suffering from an ear infection as a result of a recent surgery. The fever, a symptom of the infection, has since dropped, the official said.
Abbas has been receiving intravenous antibiotics since Sunday,
...that’s what they do when the situation is serious, in my experience...
is fully conscious and communicating with those around him, and is walking to the bathroom alone, said the official.
"We hope that he will be released within two days and his condition is certainly good," the official said.
Abbas was admitted to the Istishari Arab Hospital near Ramallah in the West Bank on Sunday with complications following the ear operation.
Abbas, who is a heavy smoker and overweight, has a long history of health issues, ranging from heart trouble to a bout with prostate cancer a decade ago. Two years ago, he underwent an emergency heart procedure after suffering exhaustion and chest pains.
More recently, a cardiologist moved into the presidential compound in Ramallah to monitor the longtime leader after a mysterious hospital visit in the United States, following Abbas’s address to 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... Security Council in which he appeared weak.
Abbas, who insisted after the ear surgery last week that he was fine, has refused to designate a successor. But after more than a decade of avoiding discussion of the post-Abbas era, Paleostinian officials acknowledge that they are concerned, and potential successors are quietly jockeying for position.
He won a four-year term as president in 2005, but he has since remained in office in the absence of elections.
Abbas argues the split between his Fatah party and Islamist terror group Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",, which control the Gazoo Strip, has made elections politically impossible.
He has been involved in decades of negotiations with Israel but is unpopular among Paleostinians, with the majority wanting him to step down. He has also infuriated Israel’s government with a series of recent speeches denying any Jewish connection to the holy land and veering into anti-Semitism.
[AnNahar] The United States will increase the financial pressure on Iran with the "strongest sanctions in history," after Washington pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday.
"We will apply unprecedented financial pressure on the Iranian regime. The leaders in Tehran will have no doubt about our seriousness," Pompeo said in his first major foreign policy address since moving to the State Department from the CIA.
"The sting of sanctions will only grow more painful if the regime does not change course from the unacceptable and unproductive path it has chosen for itself and the people of Iran," he added in the speech at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank.
"Iran will never again have carte blanche to dominate the Middle East," he said in outlining the new U.S. strategy on handling the Islamic regime, including 12 tough conditions from Washington for any "new deal" with Tehran.
Pompeo's list of 12 tough requirements included many that Iran is highly unlikely to consider.
He said Iran must "stop enrichment" of uranium, which was allowed within strict limitations under the 2015 deal. Iran must also allow nuclear "unqualified access to all sites throughout the country," Pompeo said, alluding to military sites that were off-limits under the 2015 deal except under specific circumstances. To that end, he also said Iran must declare all previous efforts to build a nuclear weapon, reopening an issue that the U.N.'s ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency has already deemed a closed matter.
Pompeo also demanded that Iran cease from a range of activities throughout the Middle East that have long drawn the ire of the U.S. and its allies. He said Iran must end support for Shiite Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... rebels in Yemen, "withdraw all forces" from Syria, halt support for its ally Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... and stop threatening Israel.
Iran must also "release all U.S. citizens" missing in Iran or being held on "spurious charges," he said.
At the same time, Pompeo offered Iran a series of dramatic potential U.S. concessions if it agrees to make "major changes." Under a new agreement, the U.S. would be willing to lift all sanctions, restore full diplomatic and commercial ties with Iran, and even support the modernization of its economy, Pompeo said.
"It is America's hope that our labors toward peace and security will bear fruit for the long-suffering people of Iran," Pompeo said.
[AnNahar] U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday vowed that Washington will "crush" whom he called Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... 's operatives around the world, as he issued a steep list of demands that he said should be included in a nuclear treaty with Iran to replace the Obama-era deal.
"We will track down Iranian operatives and their Hizbullah proxies operating around the world and crush them," Pompeo said.
[The Hill] Former Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday urged Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI officials to "simply say no" to President Trump's demand for an expanded investigation into his claims of FBI wrongdoing as it relates to his campaign.
"More DOJ norms being eroded. Trump-a SUBJECT of the investigation-wants access to material related to the inquiry," Holder tweeted.
#5
#2 & #3 hear, hear. Today's USA is not Czarist Russia, or Wiemar Germany - the real danger is not popular revolt but (as we seen in EUrope) the Mandarinate quietly taking over.
#9
Um, I'm not a lawyer or anything, but don't the DOJ and the FBI work for the President. In my opinion, Trump should summon Sessions, Wray and the rest to the oval office,ORDER them to turn over the material, and summarily fire anyone who refuses. Lather, rinse, repeat, until he gets down to a level where someone will cooperate.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
05/22/2018 9:14
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[PRESSTV] A member of Congress has urged the US to recognize Syria’s Golan Heights as an Israeli territory after Washington's relocation of its embassy to Jerusalem al-Quds last week.
Republican Representative Ron DeSantis said in an interview published on Israel’s Walla news website on Sunday that he had brought the proposal before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, of which he is a member.
Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and has continued to occupy two-thirds of the strategically-important territory ever since, in a move that has never been recognized by the international community.
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[Telegraph] Removing shoes when entering the house could help people stay slim, scientists claim.
Removing shoes when entering the house and swapping carpet for wooden floors could help people stay slim because it prevents environmental chemicals accumulating in the house, scientists have claimed.
According to new research presented at the European Society of Endocrinology in Barcelona, everyday products contain ‘obesogens’ which interfere with hormones and promote the build up of a fat in the body, Researchers at the Universities of Aveiro and Beira Interior in Portugal carried out a review into the current surveys and studies on obesogenic chemicals to see where people are most likely to come into contact with them.
They found that diet, house dust, and everyday products such as cleaning chemicals, kitchenware or cosmetics are the biggest sources of contaminants.
#5
All the researched links to chemicals may be true, but these do not suggest ways to ameliorate the situation of an ever increasing average body mass in the population with its associated ailments. "This is how it's done" is what I would like to read about.
[AnNahar] U.S. President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... on Monday tightened financial sanctions against Venezuela following what the U.S. called a "sham" election, making it harder for the government to sell-off state assets.
The White House said Trump signed an executive order barring Americans from buying debt obligations from Venezuela, instruments officials said had been used to garner much-needed revenue for the cash-starved regime.
HT Insty
The scenario anticipated more than a year ago in King vs. King has advanced to the semi-finals. The Russian collusion affair, which began with the incoming president on the defensive, has now become a set of simultaneous offensives with each side trying to jail the other. "President Trump on Sunday said he would 'demand' a Justice Department investigation into whether the FBI 'infiltrated' his 2016 presidential campaign," USA Today reported.
I hereby demand, and will do so officially tomorrow, that the Department of Justice look into whether or not the FBI/DOJ infiltrated or surveilled the Trump Campaign for Political Purposes - and if any such demands or requests were made by people within the Obama Administration!
This demand follows revelations that an FBI operation codenamed Crossfire Hurricane ran "at least one government informant" against the Trump campaign in counterintelligence fashion. Andrew McCarthy writes:
The FBI, lacking the incriminating evidence needed to justify opening a criminal investigation of the Trump campaign, [in contrast to the Clinton campaign, he adds elsewhere] decided to open a counterintelligence investigation. With the blessing of the Obama White House, they took the powers that enable our government to spy on foreign adversaries and used them to spy on Americans ‐ Americans who just happened to be their political adversaries.
This implication was quickly denied. "Former Director of Intelligence James Clapper said Thursday night on CNN that it was 'a good thing' there was an FBI informant spying on the Trump campaign."
Clapper admitted the FBI "may have had someone who was talking to them in the campaign," referring to President Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. He explained away the possibility of an FBI informant spying on the campaign as the bureau was trying to find out "what the Russians were doing to try to substantiate themselves in the campaign or influence or leverage it."
Obama's Director of National Intelligence then went on to say, "So, if there was someone that was observing that sort of thing, that's a good thing."
The invaluable timeline of the investigations compiled by Sharyl Attkisson seems to confirm what Lee Smith of Tablet Magazine has already suggested: that the roots of domestic spying predated the Trump candidacy. He notes that "Obama officials vastly expand[ed] their searches through NSA database for Americans and the content of their communications. In 2013, there were 9,600 searches involving 195 Americans. But in 2016, there are 30,355 searches of 5,288 Americans." see link for hyperlinks to the referenced articles. Well worth it
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/22/2018
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[The Nation] Muslim insurgents carried out more than ten simultaneous bombings in Thailand's southern border provinces of Pattani and Yala Sunday evening, injuring three civilians. Two other attacks happened at the same time on ATMs in Songkhla province.
Pattani police chief Piyawat Chalermsri said seven attacks were carried out in four districts in Pattani, all at about 7pm. Two women were slightly injured by a blast in front of an ATM in Muang district. A man was also hurt when shrapnel hit his left eye after a blast at another ATM in Muang district. Two other explosions in Muang district were also launched on ATMs.
In Nong Chik district, an ATM at a bank was damaged, the second took place near a police station in Yarang district and the third happened in front of a school in Sai Buri district.
Pattani's police chief said security cameras detected several militants riding motorcycles to plant improvised bombs.
Meanwhile in Yala, improvised bombs damaged ATMs in front of five banks in Bannang Sata district. Another blast damaged an ATM in Kabang district at nearly at the same time. Police said militants also fired an M79 grenade at a military post in Than To district.
Meanwhile, two ATMs in Songkhla province were damaged in explosions that happened at about the same time as those in Pattani and Yala.
[PRESSTV] Russian's military has said that it shot down an "unknown drone" that came close to Khmeimim air base in Syria.
"There are neither casualties nor physical damage. Russia's Khmeimim air base is operating as normal," said the Russian Defense Ministry on Monday.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that kabooms had been heard from the base's vicinity, which appeared to be from Russian air defenses.
In January, Russia said that its troops have successfully repelled multiple drone attacks launched by bully boyz on its naval and air bases in Syria.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2018
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Baghdad (Iraqinews.com) ‐ An Iraqi civilian was killed Monday in a terrorist attack in northern Baghdad, the latest in a series of terrorist attacks that target Iraqi civilians and security forces on almost a daily basis, a security source was quoted as saying.
"A sticky bomb fixed into a car went off in al-Tarmia district in northern Baghdad, leaving the car’s driver killed," the source told Alghad Press.
The body was carried to the forensic medicine department, while security forces opened a probe into the incident, the source added.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam ...a Pak religious party. It is usually part of the govt, never part of the solution... -Fazzl (JUI-F) led by Maulana Fazal Ur Rehman has threatened to block the highway between Afghanistan and Pakistain.
The party reportedly issued the warning after the decision by the government of Pakistain to merge Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, according to The Express Tribune.
JUI-F’s Fata chapter Mufti Abdul Shakoor said Sunday Fata’s merger with the K-P "is an international agenda which will not be supported at any cost."
Speaking during a presser with JUI-F’s general secretary Mufti Ijaz Shinwari and information secretary Jihad Shah, Mufti Shakoor said the party will stage a protest demonstration at the Pak-Afghan highway in Landi Kotal and a separate one at the Indus Highway in Darra Adam Khel simultaneously against ignoring the will of tribal people and imposing decisions on them against their wishes.
The party’s chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ... had earlier announced that the party had decided to part ways with the ruling Pakistain Moslem League-Nawaz (PML-N) over the implementation of reforms in Fata.
Terming the merger a global conspiracy, Maulana Rehman had said that the government had backed off from the promise it made with their party for not going ahead with the merger.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2018
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Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami
[DAWN] As temperatures soar, at least 65 people have died in different areas of Karachi from heatstroke, Faisal Edhi of the Edhi Foundation told DawnNews TV on Monday.
According to Faisal, 114 bodies were brought to the Edhi Foundation's morgues in Karachi's Korangi and Sohrab Goth areas in the past three days, out of which at least 65 had died from heatstroke. Most of the citizens who died from heatstroke were residents of Landhi and Korangi, Faisal said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2018
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#4
The elderly are particular vulnerable to heatstroke. They seem to lack awareness of being overheated. The large death toll in the Paris heat wave of years ago was high in the elderly, as was the death toll in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
#5
Whenever I see stories like this, I always wonder is this a fresh new outrage or is it just part of an ongoing process, and if so, what is the trend or delta?
A bit of googling turns up this headline from 2015: Pakistan heatwave: Death toll crosses 800 people in Sindh
Apparently, summertime heatstroke deaths in Pakistan are totally unprecedented. At least in the modern sense of "unprecedented", meaning "since the last time it happened". Yes, it sucks to be dead, but this is why God invented air conditioning.
[RADIOSHABELLE] Francis Macharia Karishu, a suspect believed to be facilitating al-Shabaab ... an Islamic infestation centering on Somalia... activities has been tossed in the slammer Book 'im, Mahmoud! Macharia was arrested on Sunday evening in Kayole and handed over to the anti-terrorism police unit.
The arrest comes just two days after police placed an Sh1 million bounty on his head.
Security agencies have warned members of the public that the terror group is planning to carry out attacks during this month of Ramadhan.
Police are also looking for another "armed and dangerous" suspect from Kitui.
Two weeks ago, front man Charles Owino said Anthony Munyasya alias Abdalla is a "highly trained" al-Shabaab operative who has been fighting for the Lions of Islam in Somalia since 2014.
"He was recently deployed to the country as part of operatives who were to conduct an attack in Nairobi in February," he said.
The Spokesman added that Abdalla is a close associate of Abdimajit Hassan, a man facing terror charges.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2018
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[DAWN] China launched a relay satellite on Monday as part of a groundbreaking program to be the first to land a spacecraft on the far side of the moon later this year.
The satellite, lofted into space aboard a Long March-4C rocket, will facilitate communication between controllers on Earth and the Chang'e 4 mission, the China National Space Administration said on its website.
China hopes to become the first country to soft-land a probe on the moon's far side, also known as the dark side because it faces away from Earth and is comparatively unknown.
The satellite, named Queqiao, or "Magpie Bridge," after an ancient Chinese folk tale, was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan, the Space Administration said.
The launch is a "key step," but the satellite's mission must still overcome challenges including making multiple adjustments to its orbit, "braking" near the moon and using lunar gravity to its advantage, project manager Zhang Lihua was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.
According to the administration and website space.com, Queqiao was expected to arrive shortly at the Earth-moon Lagrange point 2, a gravitationally stable spot located 64,000 kilometers beyond the far side of the moon.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2018
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#1
"Far side moon landing" sounds like a Garry Larson cartoon
#5
Interesting, the original headline and article said "dark side of the moon".
I guess someone finally caught and corrected the error.
Still, because of that, I ignored the original story as it is obvious that the writer and whomever wrote the press release had no clue what they were talking about!
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least sixteen Lions of Islam were killed during separate operations conducted in southeastern Ghazni and Paktika ...which coincidentally borders South Wazoo... provinces.
The 203rd Thunder Corps of the Afghan Military in the Southeast said the Afghan forces conducted operations in Andar district of Ghazni province leaving at least four Lions of Islam dead and three others maimed.
The source further added that the US forces conducted Arclight airstrikes in Chaharbaran district of Paktika province leaving at least sixteen Lions of Islam dead.
According to Thunder Corps, a vehicle and three cycle of violences belonging to the Lions of Islam were also destroyed during the airstrikes.
In the meantime, the Thunder Corps said the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team of the Afghan armed forces also discovered and defused two improvised bombs in Ghazni province.
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[PRESSTV] Yemen’s popular Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... Ansarullah movement has fired a ballistic missile at an airport in southwest Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... in retaliation for fresh Arclight airstrikes by the kingdom.
Yemen’s al-Masirah television network said on Monday that the Houthis had fired a Badr-1 ballistic missile at Jizan's airport which successfully hit the target.
A Saudi television report said the country’s air defense systems had intercepted and destroyed the projectile.
The Houthis have fired a salvo of missiles at Saudi Arabia in recent months, including the capital Riyadh, while the kingdom launched thousands of airstrikes on Yemen, killing hundreds of civilians at hospitals, schools and markets.
Riyadh frequently reports intercepting missiles fired from Yemen, but various reports have pointed out that US-made Patriot interceptors were repeatedly failing against the counterattacks.
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Iranian officials reacted at the allegations linking the country to the recent war and violence in western Farah province of Afghanistan.
A front man for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran Bahram Qassemi told news hounds that Tehran notes the allegations by certain sides in Afghanistan accusing the neighboring countries for supporting the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... after the past week attacks in Farah city.
Qassemi further added that the US commanders who have grown desperate at establishment of security in the country after years of extensive military presence in Afghanistan and shedding the blood of thousands of innocent people in the country, are attempting to accuse the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran of supporting the Taliban to derail the public opinion from the real reasons behind the continued war in the country, according to Fars News.
In the meantime Qassemi said talks about water resources are also underway between the two countries and linking the issue to the internal problems in Afghanistan is not logical, correct and rational.
This comes as the Afghan defense Gen. Tariq Shah Bahrami had earlier said that the war in Farah has links with the water resources management issues.
The US Department of Defense or Pentagon had also said earlier that Washington cannot rule out the involvement of Iran in Farah violence.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[PRESSTV] Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi calls on foreign sides to respect the vote of the Venezuelan people in the country's presidential election and support the establishment of political stability and economic development in Caracas.
"Holding the election and its result despite domestic pressure and foreign threats and sanctions is a big success and victory for democracy in Venezuela and the country's government and nation," Qassemi said on Monday.
He once again expressed the Islamic Theocratic Republic's solidarity with the Venezuelan government and nation and its full readiness to further strengthen mutual relations with the Latin American country.
Nicolas Maduro has been re-elected for a second term in office as Venezuela’s president after he took 68 percent of votes - more than three times as many as his main challenger, Henri Falcon.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Sounds like Pelosi should weigh in next and commend Maduro for his "Free and Fair" Election ? And if you can't trust Iran when it comes to "democracy" then Who can you trust?
#2
respect the vote of the Venezuelan people in the country's presidential election and support the establishment of political stability and economic development in Caracas.
Those are mutually exclusive
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/22/2018 7:39
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[AnNahar] The "jumbo Iran negotiation" sought by U.S. President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... will be "very, very difficult" to achieve, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson warned Monday.
U.S. counterpart Mike Pompeo on Monday set 12 tough conditions for a "new deal" with Iran after Trump walked away from the existing nuclear agreement.
But Johnson said that he didn't see a comprehensive deal "being very easy to achieve, in anything like a reasonable timetable."
Britannia and the other powers who signed the 2015 agreement have vowed to honor the deal, despite the U.S. promising to increase financial pressure on Iran with the "strongest sanctions in history," hampering companies hoping to deal with the Middle Eastern state.
Johnson defended the original deal, saying it "protected the world from an Iranian nuclear bomb, and in return it gave the Iranians some recognizable economic benefits."
He added that G20 foreign ministers would discuss the issue when they meet in Buenos Aires later Monday.
"I think we will be discussing, not in the session but we'll certainly be discussing it with friends and colleagues today, how to take it forward," he told news hounds.
"But the prospect of a new jumbo Iran treaty is going to be very, very difficult.
"I think in the end, we will get back to the kind of additions to the JCPOA that we initially envisaged -- but it may take a long time," he added.
Johnson said Britannia was already taking measures to try to shield British companies dealing with Iran from being hit by U.S. sanctions.
"We're going to do everything we possibly can," he said.
[Dhaka Tribune] The Police Bureau of Investigation is looking into various irregularities which have enabled gunnies to be granted bail.
To arrest just one myrmidon, law enforcers have to deal with tremendous challenges, but have also found it difficult to keep gunnies in jail.
Many gunnies have gotten out on bail by exploiting loopholes in the law and absconded. There is now evidence that incorrect information is provided on bail petitions for myrmidon suspects.
On October 18 of last year, new JMB myrmidon Bulbul Ahmed Sarkar alias Fuad alias Rocky alias Mehedi, 26, took bail from the High Court through a petition that listed a fake guarantor.
Upon realizing this, the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) appealed to the court to investigate the matter. The court ordered PBI to investigate the matter and submit a report.
PBI has now undertaken an initiative to investigate each and every case of bail for other gunnies after it was found that a fake guarantor had been named for bail in Bulbul Ahmed’s case.
PBI has ordered each of its department, metro, and district officials to investigate the bail petitions of myrmidons.
Nagar DB police detained five people including the myrmidon commander Javed and second in command Fuad, from a JMB base station in Khoyjanagar area of Chittagong city on October 5, 2015.
Javed was killed in an alleged shootout with DB at Hathazari Kuaish area during a police operation on October 6. Cases were filed against them in an anti-terrorism lawsuit.
Four other JMB members Fuad alias Mohammad Bulbul, Sujan alias Babu, Mahbub, and Sohel alias Kajal were shown tossed in the clink You have the right to remain silent... . There are several cases filed against each of them.
Chittagong Metropolitan Police PBI Inspector Santosh Kumar Chakma filed a petition with the court on November 4, 2017 for further interrogation of Bulbul for investigation in a case.
He then came to know that Bulbul had been granted bail from October 18 of that year and looked into the matter of his bail.
Jalal of Tulsipara of Gobindaganj thana of Gaibandha and Jamal of Isanagar of Karnaphuli thana of Chittagong were mentioned as guarantors.
The police later found that both the guarantors were fake, and no such people live at the given addresses.
This matter prompted the PBI to investigate further. There have been questions about whether the myrmidons’ cases were run by any organized institutions.
PBI inspector Santosh Kumar Chakma said he is still investigating the matter as ordered by the High Court.
He said: "The guarantors’ names [Jamal or Jalal] on the custody papers have the same signature and are the same person. But their addresses are different. The matter is very sensitive."
In this regard, Chittagong Metropolitan PP Fakhruddin Chowdhury said: "PBI has brought the matter of fake guarantor to the attention of the court. After the hearing, the court ordered an investigation of the matter."
Apart from this incident, other gunnies arrested from different parts of the country have obtained bail from time to time. Many of these gunnies have now disappeared.
Most of the gunnies have cases filed against them in many parts of the country, under the anti-terrorism act, including Dhaka. Law enforcers are now trying to find and re-arrest them.
Members of Ansar al-Islam, JMB, Harkat-ul-Jihad, New JMB, and other banned myrmidon organizations have also managed to get bail. PBI has been examining their bail cases separately.
Head of PBI DIG Banaj Kumar Mazumder said: "We are investigating the issue of the two custodians of the myrmidon leader from Chittagong. Besides, other myrmidons’ bail conditions are also being investigated."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2018
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A key Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... local group leader Mullah Din Mohammad and his lovers comrades were killed in an Arclight airstrike in western Farah province of Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said Mullah Din Mohammad was killed in an airstrike conducted in Posht Rod district of Farah province.
The source further added that a total of four faceless myrmidons including Mullah Din Mohammad and his three comrades were killed in the airstrikes.
Farah is among the relatively volatile provinces in West of Afghanistan where the anti-government armed bad boy groups are active in some of its remote districts.
Hundreds of Taliban bandidos hard boys launched a coordinated attack on Farah city the bustling provincial capital of Farah in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The Afghan national defense and security forces responded to the attack by launching air and ground operations that lasted until early hours of Wednesday morning.
The Afghan officials said Wednesday that the city has been cleared of the Talibs although they did not rule out the presence of the Talibs in some parts of the city as well its outskirts.
The local residents in Farah said late on Wednesday night that fresh festivities resumed after some Taliban bandidos hard boys launched coordinated attacks on Farah prison and other government compounds.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Xinhua] The Abu Sayyaf released on Monday a Philippine government engineer they had kidnapped three months ago, the military said Monday. Military spokesman Cirilito Sobejana said the rebels freed Enrico Nee on Monday morning in Latih, a village in Patikul town in the southern Philippine province of Sulu.
Nee was abducted by Abu Sayyaf militants in Jolo town on February 14.
Sobejana said,"He recalled that he was cornered by seven heavily armed men on board a jeep. He was brought to the mountainous part of Patikul where a bigger Abu Sayyaf formation was waiting."
Sobejana said the rebels abandoned Nee due to health problems. The villagers reported Nee's presence to officials immediately, he added.
Nee told military that he has been in three armed clashes between the military and the Abu Sayyaf during his captivity. Sobejana said, "He said the Abu Sayyaf may have released him because he delays their movement due to his health condition and probably the Abu Sayyaf don't want him to die due to sickness under their custody."
Posted by: ryuge ||
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Baghdad (Iraqinews.com) ‐ A criminal court in Iraq has sentenced two bully boyz to death by hanging for joining 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.... , a judicial front man said.
The Wasit criminal court issued the ruling "after the pair admitted belonging to Islamic State," Abdul-Sattar al-Birqdar, the front man for the Supreme Judicial Council, told Alghad Press Monday.
"One of the bully boyz was behind a boom-mobile blast in Wasit governorate in August 2011 that left scores of innocent civilians dead, while the other was involved in several terrorist attacks in Taj al-Din area in the governorate," the front man noted.
Al-Birqdar added that another terrorist was sentenced to life in jail over collaborating with the Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... Iraqi courts have sentenced tens of Islamic State members, including a big number of female members, to death over joining the holy warrior group.
The exact number of detained faceless myrmidons is still unknown, however, it’s estimated to be at thousands. It’s also unclear how many members are likely to face death sentences.
Moreover, the Iraqi government did not provide estimates about number of the foreign detained faceless myrmidons or those who have Arab or Iraqi origins.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
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#1
It’s also unclear how many members are likely to face death sentences.
Weren't they willing to die for the movement when they joined? Now's their time!
[RADIOSHABELLE] Southwest State president Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden has sacked the governor of Lower Shabelle region Ibrahim Aden Ali [Najah] through a presidential decree.
Ali who has been serving the office for years was relieved of his deputy for unspecified reasons. He has been replaced with Mohammed Ibrahim Barre.
Meanwhile, ...back at the chili cook-off, Chuck and Manuel's rivalry was entering a new and more dangerous phase... Southwest leader has fired the deputy governor of Somalia’s breadbasket region, Lower Shabelle on social affairs Abdullahi Mohammed Nur.
In a Presidential decree, Southwest leader has appointed Ibrahim Adan Ali, immediate former governor of Lower Shabelle region as the minister for the presidency.
The new governor pledged to improve security and economy of the region which been plagued by inter-clan festivities and fighting between Somali military and al-Shabaab ... the personification of Somali state failure... Al-Shabaab fighters control several towns and villages in Lower Shabelle region. The group has training bases, its own court and reinforcement bases in the region.
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[PRESSTV] Syrian army says it is in full control of the capital city and its outskirts after ousting terrorist members of ISISTakfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed... group by fully cleansing their last strongholds around Damascus.
Issuing a statement on Monday, the General Command of the Syrian Army and Armed Forces said complete security was restored to Damascus and its countryside after al-Hajar al-Aswad district and al-Yarmouk Camp were totally purged of terrorists. The development was preceded by cleansing Yelda, Babila and Beit Sehem districts in southern Damascus.
The Syrian army’s general command added that the new victory was particularly important, because it signified the total elimination of terrorist organizations around Damascus.
It added that the entire towns of Western and Eastern Ghouta are now completely clear of Takfiri terrorism.
Earlier in the day, Syrian Air Force military aircraft had struck hard boy fortifications in al-Hajar al-Aswad amid a collapse in terrorists’ ranks.
Infantry units stormed the building blocks in which murderous Moslems had taken position, engaging in fierce exchanges of gunfire with the Takfiris and chasing them along narrow streets.
Syria’s state-run television network reported that the Syrian army resumed its offensive against ISISfaceless myrmidons south of Damascus following a temporary humanitarian ceasefire to allow women, children and old people leave.
Video footage showed Syrian army soldiers giving victory signs, waving weapons and national flags.
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[PRESSTV] The Israeli regime has summoned the ambassadors of Spain, Slovenia and Belgium over their countries’ votes at the United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... in favor of an international probe into the latest massacre of dozens of Paleostinians in the besieged Gazoo Strip.
Spanish Ambassador Manuel Gomez-Acebo and Slovenian envoy Barbara Susnik were summoned on Monday, while Belgian Ambassador Olivier Belle is to be called in the next day, according to a statement released by the Israeli foreign ministry.
The three European countries were among the 29 nations that voted at the UN Human Rights Council on Friday in favor of sending a team of international war crimes Sherlocks to probe the deadly shootings that left more than 60 Paleostinian protesters dead and over 2,000 others injured in Gazoo.
Only two of the council's 47 members -- the United States and Australia -- voted against the resolution, while 14 abstained, including Britannia, Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... and Germany.
The text said the team should "investigate all alleged violations and abuses ... in the context of the military assaults on large scale civilian protests that began on 30 March 2018 ... including those that may amount to war crimes."
On March 30, Paleostinians marched to the fence separating Gazoo from the occupied territories at the start of a six-week protest, dubbed "The Great March of Return," demanding the right to return for those driven out of their homeland.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Spain has her "Occupied Territories" in Cueta and Melilla. Let's talk about the Cueta Border Fence, hmmmm?
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.
[Jpost] Israel has struck targets in the Middle East with the F-35 Adir stealth fighter jet twice, Israel Air Force Commander Maj.-Gen. Amikam Norkin said Tuesday, becoming the first country to use the US-made jet in combat.
[Breitbart] Rep. Steve King (R-IA) has introduced legislation named after Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf ‐ who infamously helped criminal illegal aliens evade deportation ‐ that would imprison sanctuary city politicians.
[Zero Hedge] Less than a week after Stefan Halper was outed as the FBI informant who infiltrated the Trump campaign, public records reveal that the 73-year-old Oxford University professor and former U.S. government official was paid handsomely by the Obama administration starting in 2012 for various research projects. 
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..
Perennial Presidential Campaigner Hillary 
[PRESSTV] A court in western 
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey...
...also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 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.
[The Nation] Muslim insurgents carried out more than ten simultaneous bombings in Thailand's southern border provinces of Pattani and Yala Sunday evening, injuring three civilians. Two other attacks happened at the same time on ATMs in Songkhla province. 
Maulana Fazlur Rehman
an Islamic infestation centering on Somalia...
[PRESSTV] Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi calls on foreign sides to respect the vote of the Venezuelan people in the country's presidential election and support the establishment of political stability and economic development in Caracas.
[Dhaka Tribune] The Police Bureau of Investigation is looking into various irregularities which have enabled 
the personification of Somali state failure...
...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed...
...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell...
