#1
Unsurprisingly, anti-gun advocates were quick to attack the bill. The gun control group Everytown released the following statement after the SHUSH Act was introduced, “The bill would end the federal requirement for background checks on firearm silencer sales, and make it legal for convicted felons, domestic abusers, and the dangerously mentally ill to buy and possess silencers to the satisfaction of NRA headquarters, the legislation would profit gun manufacturers, who could mass market firearm silencers at the expense of public safety.”
Um.... it is already illegal for those groups to own firearms so you expect a law to keep them from getting one anyway?
h/t Instapundit
...As late as the 80s, California was democratic in a fundamental sense, a place for outsiders and, increasingly, immigrants--roughly 60 percent of the population was considered middle class. Now, instead of a land of opportunity, California has become increasingly feudal. According to recent census estimates, the state suffers some of the highest levels of inequality in the country. By some estimates, the state’s level of inequality compares with that of such global models as the Dominican Republic, Gambia, and the Republic of the Congo.
...Much of this has to do with the changing nature of California’s increasingly elite-driven economy. Back in the 80s and even the 90s, the state’s tech sector produced industrial jobs that sparked prosperity not only in places like Palo Alto, but also in the more hardscrabble areas in San Jose and even inland cities such as Sacramento. The once huge California aerospace industry, centered in Los Angeles, employed hundreds of thousands, not only engineers but skilled technicians, assemblers, and administrators.
This picture has changed over the past decade. California’s tech manufacturing sector has shrunk, and those employed in Silicon Valley are increasingly well-compensated programmers, engineers and marketers. There has been little growth in good-paying blue collar or even middle management jobs. Since 2001 state production of "middle skill" jobs--those that generally require two years of training after high-school--have grown roughly half as quickly as the national average and one-tenth as fast as similar jobs in arch-rival Texas.
#1
Most of the good middle class jobs in the mentioned fields have been lost as businesses flee the hostile environment. The big tech companies only survive as they bribe politicians to get exemptions, otherwise Google and the like would be finished in CA.
Eventually they will be as the need for more of other people's money becomes more and more acute and there isn't a bribe in the world that will keep the politicians from raiding their accounts.
More and more people will flee and the collapse of California is assured.
TW, please don't burst my newly formed bubble. ;-)
Is your desk overflowing with scraps of paper, coffee cups, envelopes and wilted plants? Well, far from being idle, it turns out you might just be a creative genius. How do the dust bunnies behind my monitor factor into this?
In world where ’cleanliness is next to godliness’ is a well-valued idiom, being a messy person can often be mistaken as a hallmark of laziness. But thanks to a recent study, researchers have found there is a method to this madness. Or the crumbs in my keyboard.
Proving that sometimes working in mess is much more productive than precision and order, researchers at the University of Minnesota found that creative geniuses favour a chaotic workspace.
After testing how well participants came up with new ideas when working in both tidy and disorderly work areas, it revealed that while those in the messy room generated the same number of ideas as their clean-room counterparts, their ideas were considered as far more interesting and creative when evaluated by impartial judges.
Furthermore, the data also found that people with a messy desk are more prone to risk taking while those at cleaner desks tend to follow strict rules and are less likely to try new things.
"Disorderly environments seem to inspire breaking free of tradition, which can produce fresh insights," researchers said. I'm not sure if my boss will see things that way, but I can try.
But why? Perhaps geniuses have far more important things to do than stewing over complicated filing systems, instead, under that mass of papers there is a sense of organisation that only they can operate through.
Just look at Albert Einsten, Thomas Edison and even Steve Jobs, they all had messy workspaces. Ah, but do they have 10-year old sticky notes everywhere?
In fact, the idea that a clean desk creates a productive worker is very much a construct of the mid-20th century.
Historically, geniuses were always pictured with an unkempt desk with Einstein famously pointing out that, ""If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?" Spontaneous "retirement"?
So, if your work space, like many of ours, is usually a mess, stop agonising over how you look to your colleagues and embrace your untidiness for what it is ‐ genius.
#1
If a cluttered desk is an indication of a cluttered mind, what's an empty desk a sign of? It's not messy, you just haven't discerned my pattern of organization.
#3
My bosses no longer bother me about my "messy" desk: The secret is getting rid of the parts of the mess that truly belong in the trash can to make room for the mess that doesn't belong there.
#1
Another 200 VA workers were suspended and 33 demoted, according to data newly published by the department as part of VA Secretary David Shulkin’s commitment to greater transparency. Those disciplined include 22 senior leaders, more than 70 nurses, 14 police officers, and 25 physicians.
A good start. Glad congress passed the laws to help this happen.
The U.S. on Tuesday test-fired its THAAD anti-ballistic missile system from Alaska that successfully intercepted a target missile launched from an Air Force Cargo plane north of Hawaii.
The drill was previously scheduled in June and comes a week after North Korea successfully test-launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of hitting Alaska.
THAAD is used to intercept short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. It does not target intercontinental ballistic missiles. The U.S. has a perfect record on launches, hitting 14 out of 14 targets.
"I couldn't be more proud of the government and contractor team who executed this flight test today," said Missile Defense Agency Director Lt. Gen. Sam Greaves. "This test further demonstrates the capabilities of the THAAD weapon system and its ability to intercept and destroy ballistic missile threats. THAAD continues to protect our citizens, deployed forces and allies from a real and growing threat."
Fox News was told it will be a few hours before imagery and video are released.
Soldiers from the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade on Kodiak conducted launches using the same procedures they would use in an actual combat scenario, the statement read. Soldiers operating the equipment were not aware of the actual target launch time.
This latest demonstration comes following a show of force when two U.S. B-1 bombers flew to the Korean Peninsula from Guam to conduct a mock bombing run using dummy bombs on Saturday escorted by South Korean and later Japanese fighter jets.
The U.S. also launched short range surface-to-surface missiles from South Korea hours after the North Korean missile test on July 4.
Heck of a series of good shots. If I was Russia or the Norks, I would be very upset by this.
#1
But - always remember what lefties whine: It can't work, it's destabilizing, it's too expensive, blah, blah, blah...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/11/2017 10:06
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#2
I remember a long discussion back about 2000 on a mailing list. It started out in Space 4X Games and Planetary Genocidal Bombardment and segueing into what effect the first Soviet ABM systems had on the nuclear deterrence arsenals of England and France.(His daytime job had been in the Think-Tank business...)
The short answer is that they ceased being Doomsday Weapons and became Symbols of National Prestige. ABMs make ICBMs 'iffy' enough that the expectation is that they will hurt the enemy and not kill them... The US/USSR could just smother their defense in MIRVs. England/France went from being able to individual target all of the major population centers west of the Urals to maybe having enough throw weight to obliterate the Greater Moscow Urban Area.
#3
And lefties always remind that since it can't stop a smuggled in nuke, why even bother?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/11/2017 16:11
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#4
Back in the day, when SDI was a big deal, there was one of those "40,000 scientists say it can't work and we should stop it," things.
Just idling through it, I noted one signatory worked for Woods Hole Oceanagraphic Institute. Though by nature and training an Infantryman, I'd had, for my sins, a year in Air Defense, the old Nike Herc. So I knew something about the issue, having been exposed to early work on the Nike Zeus, Nike X, and Sprint systems.
I wondered why my view counted for less than that of some guy who pestered fish for a living.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
07/11/2017 19:36
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My church members attend an annual retreat at a retired Nike base near Saint Louis that is now a park. I explain to the youth of the congregation that they are bivouacking where 40 years ago soldiers their age were prepared to defend the nation by firing nuclear missiles with a 100 mile range at Soviet bombers.
From Saint Louis.
Over the years, not one of them actually understood what I told them.
Tal Afar (IraqiNews.com) The Islamic State has declared its runaway supreme leader dead, announcing it was going to name a successor soon, a source in Nineveh province said, the latest episode in clashing, unconfirmed reports around the leader's survival. Did he poison himself and Mrs. al-Baghdadi and have one of his ruthless henchmen set fire to their bodies?
Alsumaria News quoted a local source Tuesday saying that IS made a brief statement in the town of Tal Afar, west of Mosul, Tal Afar is the Potsdam of Mosul...
in which it confirmed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's death without adding further details In that case they're more embarrassing than gruesome. Sucked his pistol, did he?
except stressing an imminent declaration of a successor and a call upon fighters to remain resilient. "Hokay, Omar. You get to be successor..."
"Not me! Mustafa wants to be successor!"
"I do not! Abdul said he wants to..."
"Abdul, we've voted. You're [bang!] successor."
"Okay. Who wants to be Abdul's successor? Show of hands!" Chaos flared in Tal Afar following the declaration, according to Alsumaria News's sources. Infighting among Baghdadi's loyalists and opponents broke out, prompting the group to carry out wide-scale arrests and to impose a curfew at most of the town. "Yer under arrest!"
"No, yer under arrest!"
No official Iraqi authority confirmed the reported statement, but it came one day after Alsumaria News said the group reversed a ban on discussing Baghdadi's death and a 50-lashes punishment prescribed for the violation. "Okay! Okay! We can talk about it!"
"Well, then why'd you give me fifty across my back?"
The group had earlier, according to sources, executed a top preacher and a close aide to Baghdadi who inadvertently brought up the issue of his death during an emotional sermon. "... an' I exhort youse, brethren and sistern, to foller the example of our late, beloved leader..."
"Waitaminnit! Did you say 'late?'"
"Well. yeah, but what I meant wuz‐"
"[BANG!]
[AlAhram] The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Rooters on Tuesday that it had "confirmed information" that 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.... (IS) leader His Supreme Immensity, Caliph of the Faithful and Galactic Overlord, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ...formerly merely the head of ISIL and a veteran of the Bagram jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us... has been killed.
Russia's defence ministry said it may have killed Baghdadi when one of its air strikes hit a gathering of IS krazed killer commanders on the outskirts of the Syrian city of Raqqa, but Washington said it could not corroborate the death and Western and Iraqi officials have been sceptical.
Rooters could not independently verify Baghdadi's death.
Baghdadi's death, which has been frequently reported since he declared a caliphate from a mosque in the Iraqi city of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... in 2014, is one of the biggest blows yet to IS, which is trying to defend shrinking territory in Syria and Iraq.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/11/2017
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#1
Set as today's headline. Thank you for being on top of this for us, Frank G. Rantburg truly is a group project.
[Military Advantage] Update: The last time Forrest Cornelius, 51, shopped in a base exchange was 1989 when he completed his six-year stint in the Marine Corps. He recalls saving 10 to 15 percent on department store goods and that shoppers paid no sales tax.
Last month, Cornelius began to enjoy those advantages again as one of 12,000 or so "beta test" participants for veterans’ online exchange shopping, which is to open for millions of honorably discharged veterans on Veterans Day Nov. 11th.
All veterans are being encouraged to take the same first step that Cornelius did by confirming veteran eligibility status at: https://www.vetverify.org. It might be a multi-step process if the Defense Manpower Data Center lacks information to verify that a veteran served and received an honorable discharge.
But for Cornelius it went smoothly. He also got an email inviting him to be a test participant and begin to shop immediately through four exchange service portals: www.shopmyexchange.com for Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES): www.mynavyexchange.com for Navy exchanges; www.mymcx.com for Marine Corps stores and www.shopcgx.com for Coast Guard exchanges.
Cornelius said his email invitation was timely. He had lost his sunglasses and the replacement pair of Ray-Bans, priced at a local retail outlet near his Texas home, would cost $180. In using AAFES online to comparison shop, he found a special sale, $20 off any pair of sunglasses costing $100 or more.
A hoard of 25 personal letters and lists has been discovered near Hardian's Wall after they were discarded during the 1st Century AD.
The ink documents were found several metres down in damp earth at the Roman fort of Vindolanda in Northumberland.
One of the letters was written by a man called Masclus, who is best known for a previous letter to his Commanding Officers asking for more beer, this time asking for leave from work.
[Don Surber] ABC News reported good news from the G20 summit. The World Bank now has pledges of $325 million toward a billion-dollar fund to help finance women entrepreneurs.
The fund is Ivanka Trump's idea.
Hillary set a record raising $1.2 billion for herself in her foolish presidential campaign last year. I don't recall her giving a dime to or a damn about helping other women.
[NDTV] TEHRAN, IRAN: Iran has congratulated Iraq on its declared victory over the ISIS terrorist group in Mosul and offered its help to rebuild the devastated country.
"Congratulations to brave people and Government of Iraq upon liberation of Mosul," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote late Sunday in a tweet.
"When Iraqis join hands, no limits to what they can achieve."
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi was in Mosul Sunday, officially marking the end of a difficult campaign to retake the city, where IS declared its self-styled caliphate three years ago.
Other Iranian officials were also quick to welcome the victory, Iraq's biggest yet against the terrorists.
It was a "great achievement in the path to ending the presence and savage actions of the criminal Daesh (ISIS) group against the Iraqi nation", said Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, in messages to Abadi and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the country's most revered cleric.
"The government, armed forces and the brave nation of Islamic Iran... are prepared to offer aid to the displaced and injured in the war and help rebuild the cities and vital infrastructure in the country," official news agency IRNA quoted Shamkhani as saying.
Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan and the chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, also congratulated Abadi, saying they were ready to boost defence and security ties with Baghdad.
[Right Scoop] Brit Hume wants to know why the story about Trump Jr. getting duped by a Russian woman who claimed she had dirt on Hillary is getting scandalous coverage when he says it’s "much ado about not much":
How was he duped? He met with a woman who claimed she had useful information, but concluded she did not. Surely that is the opposite of being duped.
Hume says there is no evidence of collusion with Russia anywhere in this story, yet the story is getting widespread coverage all over the MSM.
Hume also hits back at the argument that this woman has ’ties’ to the Kremlin:
Hume said this meeting appears to simply have been an attempt by someone to make some headway with the Trump campaign on the issue of adoption, which he believes hardly suggests improper behavior on her part or the Trump campaign’s part. The Russia story is going flat. We'd better stop for air.
#2
The way they are shopping the story on National People's Radio is that the meeting was illegal because Natasha was offering opposition research on Felonia's campaign and since opposition research has market value, this violates the law against accepting anything of value from foreigners to influence an election. QED, bitches!
#3
There are three possible explanations for the events described by the emails.
They are:
1. This was an attempt by the Russian government to do something.
2. It was an attempt by the Russian attorney or parties she represented to do something
3. It was an attempt by Democratic operatives to do something.
If it was the Russian government the purpose must have been to see if the Trumps could be bribed. But apparently the attorney was not informed of the email message and, whether she was an agent or not, she succeeded only in annoying the Trump people at the meeting. Is Russian intelligence this clumsy? I doubt it.
If she was the instigator of the scheme, I imagine she would have shown some knowledge of the emails, and offered some tale about the people mentioned in them. That she annoyed everyone within five minutes by talking only about other matters would mark her as an idiot, if she was familiar with the emails.
The third possibility is the only one that really makes sense.
Perhaps the Dems were trying to create dirt about the Trumps to help their campaign. The attorney had contacted them about the Magnitsky question, (which was of interest to both the Russian government and others she may have represented), and they decided to foist her on the Trumps by very indirectly getting the email message to them.
The comment by Goldstone "...is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump–helped along by Aras and Emin."
is something that is peculiar. Where did Goldstone get this idea?
It is not implied elsewhere in the email.
Where did it come from?
Did it originate with Goldstone? Or did it come from whoever communicated the message to Goldstone?
Perhaps Goldstone could answer these questions. If he was a loyal friend of Trump, (odd for a British journalist) he would not have invented it.
The simplest interpretation is that the original authors of the message in the email were attempting to plant evidence that the Russian government favored Trump.
The only people wanting to do so were the Democrats.
Why would they want to do so?
Perhaps they wee afraid that the lucrative relations between the Podestas and the Russians would come out, and they were looking for insurance, in evidence that the Russians favored Trump.
Someone should ask Goldstone who told him that the Russians favored Trump?
Posted by: Daniel ||
07/11/2017 17:41
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[Daily Caller] French president Emmanuel Macron angered fans with his weekend speech at the G20 Summit that suggested Africa has "civilizational" problems which might be related to women having "7 or 8" kids.
The full quote shows that the comment about "7 or 8" kids was just one of many "challenges" Macron attributes to Africa.
"The challenge of Africa is completely different, it is much deeper. It is civilizational today," Macron said, according to one English translation. "Failing states, complex democratic transitions, the demographic transition...One of the essential challenges of Africa...one of the eight countries, that today has seven or eight children born to each woman."
#6
That Colonialism was an unmitigated evil has been one of the unquestioned pillars of modern thought. But as any sentient being who now looks at Africa must ask, How exactly? On the one hand they were provided with roads, railroads, airports. electricity, education, regular courts of law, modern agriculture and regular and regulated access to world markets. This coupled with an end, however temporary to such Africa delights as cannibalism and festive times with some of the lower primates which the WHO quietly admits was the beginning of AIDS. They were colonies for some time, true, but they also got their countries back in a vastly improved state which on balance they could not be bothered to maintain. Not survey, level, drain sweat and build mind you, but maintain. Of the 1,000,000 miles of road in the former Congo, less than 1,000 miles remain. Uganda once grew enough produce to feed itself AND Western Europe. Rhodesia was so abundant they could easily afford to put land into cash crops like tobacco. What exactly has colonialism been replaced with?
#9
Colonialism was the domination of weaker tribes by a stronger one--and the side effects of resource extraction were sometimes almost genocidal.
The "countries" that appeared post-colonialism typically ended up with a stronger tribe dominating weaker ones, with resource extraction that sometimes has genocidal effects.
The colonial powers, when minded to do so (remember King Leopold), had the resources to build infrastructure and institutions. Shaky "semi-countries" usually didn't, especially when engaged in stealing each other blind.
The post-independence history of much of Africa would have been very different if it had been more finely divided into tribal groupings. I suspect that, on the whole, it would have been better.
Posted by: james ||
07/11/2017 21:39
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#10
The post-independence history of much of Africa would have been very different if it had been more finely divided into tribal groupings.
We appear to be headed there now in the U.S. James. Perhaps we shall see.
[Wash Times] With the effort to defund Planned Parenthood stalled at the federal level, Texas is spearheading a plan that could "open the floodgates" for states to strip taxpayer dollars from the abortion giant one by one.
Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, sent a first-of-its-kind waiver to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on June 28 asking the agency to approve federal funding for a state-administered family planning program that excludes abortion providers and their affiliates from participation.
If the Trump administration approves the request, Texas Right to Life legislative director John Seago said, it could set off a chain reaction of copycat programs in red states across the nation.
"For the majority of states that want to provide family planning services without sending taxpayer dollars to the abortion industry, that’s a win-win solution," Mr. Seago said. "Republicans do want a strong network for women’s health services, and the prospect that you can do that while protecting life is something that I think a lot of states would jump on board with."
CMS will take public comment until Aug. 4 before deciding whether to approve the request.
#2
Yet there are still some who believe genetically modified crops or gene manipulation i.e., is a sinister human invention. Recombinate deniers I call them. They're perched on the top rung of the multicultural ladder.
Abortion separates certain groups from the rest of the sample groups which results in a skewing of the results. I'm against it, for that and other reasons as well.
Seed germination and the 'four soils.' (See Mathew 13.1-23)
Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi Air Force has destroyed a convoy of booby-trapped cars near al-Shirqat town, north of Salahuddin province, Alsumaria News reported on Monday citing statements by a local source.
The attack resulted in the killing of Abu Qutaiba, a leader in the Islamic State (IS), the network said.
“A column of vehicles belonging to IS, which was carrying dozens of C4-made improvised explosive devices, was attacked near al-Shirqat town, resulting in destroying the whole convoy and killing several elements of the terror group,” the source said.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, added that the IS transferred Abu Qutaiba to a hospital in Eastern al-Shirqat before his death.
IS has controlled eastern Shirqat since June 2014.
On Sunday, a Syrian national designated by the Islamic State as a governor of combined Iraqi areas was seriously wounded in an airstrike in Shirqat, and was seriously injured, while two of his assistants were killed.
The airstrike targeted a rest house in Zuweya, northeast of Salahuddin, where a secret meeting was held.
Having achieved victory over IS in its biggest stronghold in Mosul on Sunday, Iraqi government forces are expected to carry out further offensives at other IS holdouts in Iraq, including Shirqat.
Posted by: badanov ||
07/11/2017
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Jeddah- Insurgents in Yemen plan to buy the loyalty of as many tribal sheikhs as possible, using the money of the people in which they have taken by force after transferring the revenues of the areas under their control to what they call the “war effort.”
Houthi and Saleh militias are working on fragmenting the national and social fabric and have prioritized changing the sheikhs and rebelling against them, especially in the outskirts of Sana’a, according to Yemeni sources.
Sources stressed that the coup militias will issue resolutions that convict these sheikhs of treason in order to get fighters to continue their coup against the legitimate authority.
The coup militia has earlier established the so-called “Tribal Cohesion Council” and appointed a loyal sheikh as its president, taking advantage of the policy of some countries that support terrorism.
Houthis have forced the tribal heads in Yemen to choose between two options, either being loyal to them or ousting the unqualified sheikh and appointing another one to fill his place.
“Tribes in Yemen are the basis of the social component, and any political force can not but to activate its presence in the tribes and receive their consent, which is what Houthis are doing,” Mohammed bin Naji al-Shayef, Leader of the Bakil tribe told Asharq al-Awsat.
Shayef attributed Houthis’ penetration in the Yemeni tribes and their keenness to deepen their relations with their sheikhs to the aim of controlling their children intellectually and militarily, pointing out that the Yemeni tribes constitute the largest proportion of society and gaining their consent leads to achieving many political and military goals.
He expected the failure of the council that was established by Houthis because he believes that the tribal councils can not agree or continue since each tribe has its own independent council.
Speeding up the failure of this council could be done by the legitimate government and the coalition forces that can communicate with the leaders of the Yemeni tribes and activate their roles, he added.
Shayef confirmed that tribes in Tawq Sana’a are considered a major target for Houthi militias to keep the city and the rest of the provinces under their control.
Taking care of them, forming alliance with them and gaining support of the poor ones in these tribes by giving them money and appointing them in major posts in their institutions are the means taken by the coupists Yemen to earn their loyalty, achieve their goals through them, and adding as many fighters as possible to their ranks.
[AnNahar] A policeman and two civilians have been maimed in shootings in a Shiite-majority province in Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , police said Monday.
Qatif, an eastern province in Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia, has been hit by a string of attacks over the past week, some of them deadly.
Police said an off-duty officer was maimed late Sunday when gunnies opened fire on his car as he was driving by private farmland.
And two civilians were admitted with gunshot wounds early Monday to a hospital in Qatif's town of Awamiya, police added.
All three are in stable, pH balanced condition.
Violence over the past week has gripped Qatif, where two coppers were killed in two separate bombings targeting their patrols on Tuesday and Thursday.
Two more coppers were maimed in a Saturday attack.
Last month, three people, including an officer, were also killed in bombings in the area.
Saudi authorities have said they are treating the bombings last week as "terrorist crimes" and have blamed drug and arms traffickers for unrest in the area.
Residents have accused police of opening fire on civilians and give a higher corpse count.
[WashingtonPost] Vice President Pence is spending considerable time cultivating big-money Republican donors at small, private events, including hedge fund managers and executives from brokerage houses, chemical giants and defense contractors, Kenneth P. Vogel reports at the New York Times. Many of these events, whose participants are kept secret from the media and are omitted from Pence’s public schedule, have been taking place at the vice-presidential residence at the Naval Observatory, as well as other nongovernment venues.
While cultivating support from deep-pocketed business interests is nothing new in GOP politics, Pence’s activities raise the question of whether he is doing this for Trump-Pence 2020 -- or for himself. As Vogel’s piece points out, Pence’s intimate confabs with wealthy donors and conservative power brokers "have fueled speculation among Republican insiders that he is laying the foundation for his own political future, independent from Mr. Trump." Continues, and absolutely check out the essayist's bio.
Author - Sarah Posner is a reporter and the author of "God's Profits: Faith, Fraud, and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters." For more than a decade, she has covered the intersection of politics and religion, and more recently has covered the rise of the so-called alt-right in the Trump era. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Mother Jones and many other publications.
[NJ] A young child shot in Newark over the weekend drew dozens of activists to the streets Sunday evening in opposition to the city's violence. "Dozens"? How many dozens?
The boy, 6, and two men were struck by gunfire around 5:45 p.m. Saturday on the corner of Central Avenue and 3rd Street, authorities said. All three were transported to University Hospital and are in stable, pH balanced condition. They really turned out, didn't they?
But 24 hours later, the scene of the crime was transformed. If a cop had shot the perp it woulda been thousands.
Police blocked off a section of the street as protesters stood in a circle expressing outrage over the violence that hospitalized a child and sharing solutions to Newark's high crime rate.
Newark resident Viva White, who called national trends of urban violence "a public safety issue," said she was heartbroken when she read about Saturday's shooting.
"He did nothing wrong by walking down the street," said White, who moved to the city in 2001. "That baby has to live with that for the rest of his life, and he had nothing to do with it."
Chanting "stop the killing," community members and speakers blamed insufficient investment, poverty, unemployment and lack of personal responsibility as the culprits for Newark's violence.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/11/2017
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Chanting "stop the killing," community members and speakers blamed insufficient investment, poverty, unemployment and lack of personal responsibility as the culprits for Newark's violence
#4
Cops, cameras, and activists! Dozens!
"Miss Viva, her kids, couple cousins...
Ummm, who'm I forgettin'?"
So far from Manhattan,
So close to your boyfriends and husbands.
[AlManar] A Syrian Army and Armed Forces unit targeted ISIL hideouts in Howeijet Sakker on the eastern outskirts of Deir Ezzor city, destroying a mortar launcher.
SANA reporter said on Monday that the Syrian Air Force carried out intensive airstrikes on ISIL hideouts and movements on the Raqqa-Deir Ezzor Road, destroying 4 machinegun-equipped vehicles.
The source added that a number of terrorists were killed in the army operations against ISIL in Muhassan city 20 km east of Deir Ezzor city.
Self-claimed leaders in ISIL “Abu al-Qa’qa al- Albani” and Safwan al-Yassin were identified among the dead, according to the source.
Other army units operating southwest of the city clashed with ISIL in al-Bghiliyeh, in the surroundings of Regiment 137, the Panorama, and the cemeteries area, killing and injuring a number of terrorists.
The Syrian army and allies also started a new attack on the terrorist groups in southeastern Damascus countryside.
The Syrian army and allies further regained control over a large number of village in Sweida northeastern countryside, killing scores of terrorists.
Posted by: badanov ||
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[AlAhram] Egypt’s Prime Minister Sherif Ismail has renewed a nighttime curfew in designated areas of North Sinai just days after a deadly attack that killed dozens of army personnel.
According to state-run news agency ...and if you can't believe the state-run news agency who can you believe?... MENA, the curfew runs from Tal Rafah in the eastern part of Sinai to the international border at Rafah, and from Halal Mountain until Ouga on the border.
An announcement in the Official Gazette stated that the curfew runs from 7 pm until 6 am the following day, except in al-Arish city and on the international road, where it runs from 1 am to 5 am, or until further notice.
The decision by Ismail comes just a few days after Egypt’s parliament approved an extension of a nationwide state of emergency for three months starting July 10.
Jeddah- A Saudi civilian was injured and two vehicles were completely damaged when a number of projectiles fired from inside Yemen hit the southwestern Saudi province, Arda.
Lieutenant colonel Yahya al-Qahtani, civil defense spokesman for the Jizan region, which Arda belongs to administratively, said that the civil defense teams reported Sunday evening on “military projectiles launched by Houthi militiamen from inside the Yemeni territory towards Arda resulted in injuring a citizen and damaging two vehicles.”
The Houthi insurgency in Yemen pits Houthis militiamen joined by armed loyalists backing ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh against Yemen’s constitutionally elected authority– it began in Northern Yemen and has since escalated into a full-scale civil war.
The Iran-aligned putschists have long targeted the stability and security of Yemen’s neighboring state, Saudi Arabia.
Qahtani pointed out that concerned authorities transferred the injured to the closest hospital. He added that security measurements are in effect.
[REUTERS] A decision on whether Illinois becomes the first U.S. state whose bond ratings tip into junk was not imminent on Monday as credit rating agencies said they were still reviewing the state's newly enacted budget and tax package.
Analysts at the three major rating agencies, which rate Illinois one or two notches above junk, declined to comment on the timing of their decisions.
With the help of some Republican votes, the Democratic-controlled Illinois Legislature last Thursday overrode Republican Governor Bruce Rauner's vetoes and enacted a $36 billion fiscal 2018 budget and a $5 billion income tax increase.
The action ended an unprecedented two-year budget impasse that ballooned the state's unpaid bill backlog to about $15 billion.
Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs, a Democrat, on Monday unveiled a five-step plan to avoid a junk rating that included Rauner taking steps to issue up to $6 billion of bonds the legislature authorized to begin paying off bills. He also recommended the governor visit credit rating agencies to assure them he intends to implement the budget package.
A junk rating would make future bond sales more difficult and expensive.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/11/2017
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Junk bonds
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/11/2017 6:59
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Il. Is like the Feral govt. they can raise taxes but they cannot curb spending. The trajectory still stands.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/11/2017 7:40
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I'm still waiting to see what happens to a state when all the money runs out.
The refugee crisis alone would nearly bring down the neighboring states.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A deadly Arclight airstrike was carried out on the leaders of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group’s offshoot in Afghanistan, ISIS Khurasan, in northern Jawzjan province of Afghanistan.
The Afghan Intelligence, National Directorate of Security ...the Afghan national intel agency... (NDS), said the Arclight airstrike was carried out in the vicinity of Qosh Tapa district.
A statement by NDS said a total of five key leaders of the terror group were killed in the Arclight airstrike.
The statement further added that the ISIS leaders killed in the Arclight airstrike have been identified as Mullah Abdul Ahad, Qri Muhibullah, Damullah Sadruddin, Qarid Mawdood, and Faiz Mohamad.
Among those killed are one of the key leaders of the terror group, Qari Mawdood, who was in charge of the terror group’s financial affairs in Jawzjan.
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President Mohammad 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. .. once again called on the Taliban ...Arabic for students... group to join grinding of the peace processor, warning that the group will be designated as global bandidosholy warriors if its pursues violence. What's it been pursuing all these years, I wonder?
Speaking during a conference in Kabul, President Ghani said the Taliban group should understand that time is not waiting for them.
"They should wholeheartedly accept the grinding of the peace processor or they should get ready to be included in the international list of the globally designated terrorists," President Ghani said.
President Ghani further added that the government of national unity has a crystal clear approach and policy towards grinding of the peace processor since the beginning of its formation.
He said the Afghan government will continue to pursue its policies for peace and reconciliation although it has not been successful so far but the government is ready to achieve it at the cost of lives and finances.
The Afghan president also added that it is the time that the international community should understand and ask themselves that what is the solution when the Death Eaters are even attacking embassies and consulates.
According to President Ghani, the Afghan government and nation is in the frontline in the fight against terrorism and for Afghanistan and global security.
Posted by: Fred ||
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The de-NATOization of neo-Ottoman Turkey proceeds apace.
[AlAhram] Austria's block on The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... 's economy minister entering the country for an event marking the anniversary of last year's coup shows Vienna is not sincere in protecting democratic values, the Ottoman Turkish foreign ministry front man said on Monday.
Earlier, the Ottoman Turkish economy ministry said Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci did not request to stage an event in Austria as media reported and that while there had been plans for talks with Austrian officials, there had not been a firm request in this regard.
The decision followed a similar move by the Netherlands, which said on Friday Ottoman Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Tugrul Turkes was not welcome to visit for a ceremony among Ottoman Turkish expatriates to commemorate the anniversary.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
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[NYPOST] A Maryland man arrested in the strangulation of his stepfather allegedly took selfies next to the body and posted the photos online before he was taken into custody, according to reports. "Yer honor, my client can't be tried as an adult!"
Navar Beverly, 38, was arrested in the death Saturday of 65-year-old Rodney Pinkney in a home in Bowie, WRC-TV reported. "He's almost forty years old!"
Cops found the photos on a Twitter account and took them down, WJLA-TV reported. "Yeah, but he's got a grasp of reality that's childish!"
“What we’re seeing in terms of conditions and what we’re seeing in terms of social media, it’s disturbing,” Prince George’s County Police Chief Hank Stawinski said.
Cops said Beverly fled the scene after the alleged murder.
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[BBC] Giant posters vilifying the financier George Soros ...the secretive Hungarian born Ernst Stavro Blofeld-like billionaire who seems to fund every horrible progressive organization you can think of... have gone up all over Hungary - the crudest step in the latest campaign by the rightwing Fidesz government against the 86-year-old Hungarian-born philanthropist.
Many Hungarian Jews fear that open or concealed anti-Semitism lies behind the campaign. The government strenuously denies this.
The posters show a grinning Mr Soros beside the words, "Don't let Soros have the last laugh".
In smaller letters at the top of the poster is the message, "99% reject illegal immigration."
The government has spent an estimated 5.7bn forints (€19m; £16.3m; $21m) on the campaign, which follows an earlier series of poster campaigns and "national consultations" designed to stir up public feeling against refugees.
[Ynet] Israel's foreign ministry says a call by its ambassador to Hungary for an end to the billboard campaign against George Soros was not meant to ’delegitimize’ criticism of the Hungarian-American billionaire.
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[IsraelTimes] Two Paleostinians are injured in border festivities with Israeli security forces in the northern Gazoo Strip, according to reports in Paleostinian media.
The Wafa news site says IDF soldiers used tear gas and shot up a group of Paleostinians who approached the border fence adjacent to Jabaliya.
According to the report, one young man is at death's door after being struck in the head with a tear gas canister, and another man is being treated for a gunshot injury to his foot.
[IsraelTimes] Israeli soldiers tossed in the slammer Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! two Paleostinians who crossed the border fence from the Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",-ruled Gazoo Strip into Israel, the Israeli military said on Sunday. The two were apprehended immediately after entering Israeli territory from southern Gazoo, and were transfered to security authorities for questioning. The men were unarmed, the IDF said.
The border fence contains a bevy of sensors and cameras to support the large number of soldiers who regularly patrol the area. Infiltrators are typically caught within moments.
#1
My common sense is tinkling, I wonder if those two Paleostinians who crossed the border fence were there as decoy to allow other Palestinians to sneak in via some as yet undiscovered tunnels?
A tactic not unlike causing a major event at one location to draw all the cops to the area, while the real crime proceed unimpeded across town.
[CBS] A U.S. Army soldier on active duty in Hawaii has been charged with providing material support to the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the FBI said.
FBI officials identified the soldier to CBS News as 34-year-old Ikaika Erik Kang. According to the FBI, Kang allegedly attempted to provide military documents, and training, to ISIS.
His service record indicates he was deployed to Afghanistan in 2013 and Iraq in 2011 and was highly decorated, CBS News' Paula Reid reports. According to CBS affiliate KGMB, Kang was awarded the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.
Kang was nabbed Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! on Saturday and is expected to appear in court on Monday afternoon. The FBI said Kang was the subject of a year-long, joint investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Army.
According to the criminal complaint, Kang swore allegiance to ISIS. The FBI said it believes Kang worked as a lone actor and was not associated with others who present a threat to Hawaii.
KGMB reports that Kang graduated from Kaiser High School in Honolulu. He was stationed at Schofield Barracks in Honolulu.
Kang's father, Clifford Kang, told KGMB that he is "shocked" about the allegations against his son.
"I'm just in shock. He's a great kid. He's not real outgoing, he's never been, but neither was I," Kang told KGMB. "But other than that he's a great kid, a normal kid who grew up in Waimanalo."
Kang said he believes his son may be suffering from PTSD from his tours overseas.
Update at 6:30 a.m. EDT:
The younger Kang's court-appointed defense attorney, Birney Bervar, said it appears his client may suffer from service-related mental health issues the government was aware but neglected to treat. Bervar declined to elaborate.
Sgt. 1st class in the 25th Infantry Division, Level IV Tactical Combat Instructor
Current assignment as an air traffic control operator at Wheeler Army Airfield
Affidavit: He was reprimanded on several occasions for threatening to hurt or kill other service members, and for arguing pro-ISIS views while at work and on-post
Gave classified military documents to an undercover FBI agent to pass on to ISIS
Posted by: Besoeker ||
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[WSB-TV2 Atlanta] The plane was reportedly carrying eight or nine people, according to WNCN.
Alan Hammons, an official at Greenwood Airport in Mississippi, told WNCN that the plane was tracked by air traffic controllers and suffered a "structural failure" at 20,000 feet.
Initial reports indicate that the plane came from the Naval Support Activity Mid-South Base located in Millington, Tennessee according to the Clarion Ledger.
The Lockheed Martin KC-130 is a four-engine turboprop military tanker aircraft used for aerial refueling. This variant of the C-130 is used by the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Marine Corps.
Firefighters are working to put out the fire in the field, which was sparked by the crash. The Governor of Mississippi, Phil Bryant, shared his prayers in a Facebook post shortly after the crash:
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A top police official was among those killed in back to back kabooms in Pakistain on Monday, the security and government officials said.
The incidents took place in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... province and Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistain earlier today.
The Chaman DPO SSP Sajid Khan Mohmand was killed in a suicide kaboom that took place in the vicinity of Eidgah Chowk area earlier today.
According to the officials, at least ten others were also maimed in the attack.
In another attack in Laka Tika area of Kurram Agency ...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora... , at least two Pak soldiers were killed.
The local media reports suggest that the Tehrik-e-Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... Pakistain (TTP) group has grabbed credit behind the two attacks.
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least sixteen Taliban ...Arabic for students... holy warriors were killed in a joint operation conducted in central Pashtun-infested Logar province of Afghanistan.
According to the local government officials, the operation was launched in the early hours of Sunday morning in Mohammad Agha district.
The provincial government media office in a statement also confirmed the operation.
"An operation was launched around 4 am local time in Mohammad Agha district which ended in the afternoon and as a result 16 holy warriors were killed," a statement by the provincial government said.
The statement further added that eight Improvised Explosive Devices stored in a mosque were also confiscated during the operation along with ten cycle of violences.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Though the guns have fallen silent in Benghazi, the killing continues. Three Libyan National Army (LNA) soldiers died in mine and boobytrap explosions today.
It is being reported that one of the deaths came when a soldier was helping a family return to their Sabri home.
He warned them to stay outside while he went in first to check the property. When he entered the building the fatal blast was triggered. The family was unharmed.
Three soldiers were injured in Benghazi this morning when a militant, who had apparently escaped from Sid Akribesh, blew himself up when he was cornered.
The militant, who said said to be a Tunisian, was found in a school opposite the Al-Najma football club in the Salmani district. When troops advanced to detain him he detonated a suicide vest or a grenade. Another man with him was however captured.
To the despair of its inhabitants, Garabulli has remained a battleground for a second day with pro-Ghwell forces from Misrata still reportedly occupying the town. They have been exchanging gun and rocket fire with pro-Presidency Council (PC) units sent out the 50 km from Tripoli to stop them.
There have been unconfirmed reports that two jet fighters from Misrata dropped bombs. It has also been said that Grad rockets have been fired.
The townsfolk are trapped between the opposing forces and because the coast road is closed they have no way of escaping the violence. At noon, municipality spokesman Al-Shareef Jaballah told Reuters by phone that he could hear heavy gunfire. He said he had received reports of two people living in the town, one of them an Egyptian, being killed. Casualties among the combatants are unknown.
“The clashes have resulted in severe damage to houses and shops because of indiscriminate shelling,” said Jaballah, “and forced a large number of resident to flee.”
A senior figure inside the town has told this newspaper that the rival forces have undergone a change in the course of the day. Some 330 vehicles together with artillery are reported to have come from Misrata. It is unclear if the new arrivals are members of Sala Badi’s Samoud militia and the Benghazi Defence Brigades which have been leading the attack, or have come to support them.
Meanwhile some of the militias from Tripoli which came out on Friday to block the advance of the pro-Ghwell forces have withdrawn back into the capital. These include Abdul Rauf Kara’s Nawasi Brigade and some at least of Gneiwa’s Abu Sleem Brigade. The main force now opposing the attackers is Haytham Tajouri’s Tripoli Revolutionaries’ Brigade. It is unclear why these militias have been pulled back but it is possible that the PC fears a second attack on Tripoli from another direction.
UNSMIL has today messaged that the Garabulli threat to Tripoli’s security was unacceptable. It urged no further escalation in the fighting.
Also today, UNSMIL security chief, Italian general Paolo Serra was in Tripoli to meet PC member Mohamed Al-Amari. It is not know whom else Serra met but his visit must have focused on the imperilled security in the capital.
On Friday as pro-Ghwell forces were advancing towards Tripoli, PC head Faiez Serraj said he would ask for “friendly countries” to take action against these “rogue groups … and outlaws”.
[38North] After the frenzy of technical speculation over the successful launch of North Korea’s Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the dust seems to be clearing and the emerging reality is that the North has an unreliable missile that can reach Alaska or Hawaii with a single nuclear warhead, and would be lucky to hit even a city-sized target. However, with a year or two of additional testing and development, it will likely become a missile that can reliably deliver a single nuclear warhead to targets along the US west coast, possibly with enough accuracy to destroy soft military targets like naval bases. In perhaps five years, North Korea may be able to incorporate a modest suite of decoys and penetration aids to challenge US missile defenses. Let’s hope US missile defenses are up to that challenge.
Contrary to the assertions of some analysts that the missile is currently capable of carrying several warheads, not just one, it may eventually be able to carry a modest suite of decoys or penetration aids, though probably not for several years. A multiple warhead capability, while theoretically possible, would require a very lightweight warhead, which will require a lot more nuclear testing and is probably a decade in the future at best.
That said, the Hwasong-14 that flew last week was surprising in several respects. On the surface, it appeared to be a completely different missile than the one North Korea rolled out under the name of "Hwasong-14" back in 2015. On close examination, however, this new Hwasong-14 appears to be closely based on elements of several previous North Korean missiles. In fact, very little of the Hwasong-14 is truly new: it uses the same engine as the Hwasong-12, a structural technology first developed for the original Hwasong-14 and demonstrated on the Hwasong-12; it also featured an upper stage very similar in size and performance to the Hwasong-13 (itself derived from the upper stage of the Unha space launch vehicle), and probably a reentry vehicle (RV) derived from the original Hwasong-14. An estimate of how all these parts come together is shown below.
#2
On close examination, however, this new Hwasong-14 appears to be closely based on elements of several previous North Korean missiles.
Wouldn't it be more surprising if it was not an evolution of prior models? How many competing design bureaus do they have? One? Zero?
Soon to be mine clearing operations
[ARA News] The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on Monday the creation of an Arab women battalion under the name Battalion of Martyr Amara for Arab women, which aims to fight ISIS and protect women’s rights.
“Attacks by extremist terrorist groups in the region have seriously damaged the social structure of the region and women have suffered the most due to this war and the brutal attacks that have devastated the country,” the SDF said, in reference to the ongoing war in Syria.
The group said that a women’s force of Kurdish, Arab and Christian women emerged to resist terrorism in Syria.
“As Arab women, we have suffered from the oppression of society and the oppressive practices and masculine mentality of extremist groups. We took up arms like [Kurdish] Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) and fought for liberation from terrorism,” the newly formed force said in a statement on Monday.
The SDF-led Euphrates Wrath campaign has the primary aim to liberate women, according to the battalion’s leadership.
“After our numbers increased and our organization grew, we saw it would be better to form a military battalion within the Syrian Democratic Forces, for women. The Battalion of Martyr Amara for Arab women is the first group of Arab women that is fighting in the Deir ez-Zor province [easter Syria],” it said.
“We are confident that this will be the beginning of the formation of women’s battalions in all areas in Syria to fight terrorism and strive for the liberation of women and society, and build a system based on democracy, justice and freedom,” the group said.
Latakia (Syria News) Turkish army troops, on Monday, shelled the locations of the Syrian army in Turkman Mountain, in the countryside of Latakia.
Qasioun News reported that the Turkish army shelled, using heavy artillery, the locations of the Syrian army in Turkman Mountain, in the countryside of Latakia, leaving several casualties.
On a related news, a number of the Syrian regime forces were either killed or wounded in a shelling conducted by the rebels on the areas of Burj Zaheya and Atbara, in Turkman Mountain in Latakia.
Meanwhile, ongoing clashes continue between the rebels and syrian regime forces in several areas, north of Latakia.
It is noteworthy that the rebels-held areas in Turkman Mountain, north of Latakia, are a part of the de-escalation zones agreement made in Astana, where zones aimed at reducing tensions were set up in four areas, mainly in Idlib Province and some neighboring territories (Latakia, Hama and Aleppo) to the north of Homs, East Ghouta and some provinces in southern Syria (Daraa and Quneitra).
Israel sees you when you're sleeping,
They know when you're awake,
They know if you've been bad or good,
So you better be good for goodness sake!
[Ynet] Lebanese news report says high-ranking military official met with Hezbollah's leader to convey a message from the Kremlin that his terror group may soon be called upon to play a role in the conflict raging in Syria.
A high-ranking Russian military official recently visited a southern suburb in Beirut where he met with Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah along with other senior military activists from the terror group, a Lebanese news site reported Monday.
According to the report, the Russian official paid the visit in order to deliver a message from his bosses in the Kremlin that Hezbollah may be called upon to play a role in the conflict raging in the country in the near future. In all likelihood, that role would require actions in support of the Assad regime, which is being propped up by Moscow.
The relationship between Russia and Hezbollah is well known, with some even positing that Russia supplies the Shiite turban group with advanced weaponry. But the claims are inconsistent with numerous Russian promises to Israel that Russian weaponry would not fall into the hands of the group.
Israel has carried out a number of attacks on weapons caches being transported to Hezbollah. Against the backdrop of these attacks, Moscow has denied sanctioning Israeli strikes in Syrian air space against Hezbollah.
Amid rumors of the alleged meeting between Nasrallah and the Russian military, the current ceasefire in south Syria agreed upon by the United States and Russia has continued to hold.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday that Russia is only interested in strengthening the ceasefire and is searching for possibilities to widen the cooperation with the Trump administration to bring about an end to the crisis in Syria which has claimed untold numbers of lives.
"We are in constant contact with the American officials and are interested in promoting a ceasefire in other areas in Syria," Lavrov said during a presser.
#1
Amid rumors of the alleged meeting between Nasrallah and the Russian military, the current ceasefirehudna in south Syria agreed upon by the United States and Russia has continued to hold.
What is the Over/Under Estimate by the Rantburg Crew for how long it will take the Syrian Army/Hezbollah to rearm for the next push? Two weeks?
Hezbollah troops have not carried out some of the assignments that Russia wanted them to do
no doubt Hezbollah had their reasons
but also Russia had their reasons for wanting the work done
Posted by: lord garth ||
07/11/2017 16:04
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A high-ranking Russian military official recently visited a southern suburb in Beirut where he met with Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah
"This is ridiculous! I can't talk to you like this. Come out from under your daughter's bed. And, really. Who buys Little Mermaid stuff anymore? It's all Frozen with little girls right now!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/11/2017 20:39
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Deir Ezzor (Syria News) Five civilians were either killed or wounded in a raid carried out by the US-led international coalition air force, on Monday, on Mayadin City, east of Deir Ezzor.
Qasioun News reported that the international coalition aircraft raided the city of Mayadin, east of Deir Ezzor, at dawn today, killing three civilians and wounding two others.
The raids intensified on Nuri al-Sa’eed Hospital in al-Souq area, near al-Sharia Mosque and Dawar al-Baloum, causing severe damage to the civilian property.
Meanwhile, clashes broke out between the security members of the Islamic State group and another one of its members, who tried to move his family to the countryside of al-Hasakah.
Noteworthy, US-led international coalition carried out hundreds of air strikes, lately, on the city of al-Mayadin, east of Deir Ezzor, killing more than 250 civilians, as well as injuring dozens.
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Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) A family of six members were killed and injured due to a bomb blast that targeted families fleeing Islmaic State-held regions, north of Salahuddin, a local source said.
“Three members of one family were killed, while three others were wounded as a bomb, planted by IS at the region of Hamreen mountains,” the source, who preferred anonymity, told AlSumaria News on Monday.
“The blast targeted the families fleeing regions held by IS militants in Hawija town, southwest of Kirkuk, and the surrounding villages,” he said, adding that many civilians were killed and injured over the past few days as families were fleeing through dangerous roads.
The militants, according to the source, “banned families from fleeing in order to use them as human shields.”
Hawija, located 55 KM west of Kirkuk, has been held by IS since mid-2014, when the group emerged to proclaim an Islamic “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria. The group executed dozens of civilians and security members there, forcing thousands to flee homes.
Dozens of residents from Hawija and the regions in its vicinity escape to Kirkuk province on a daily basis. Despite the risky routes to the freed regions, the civilians prefer death to staying under IS control.
IS still holds a few areas in each of Anbar, Salahuddin, Diyala and Kirkuk.
Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State has carried out the fourth mass execution of its militants this year, east of Salahuddin.
AlSumaria News quoted a source as saying that “IS shot dead five members on Monday at the outskirts of Mutaibija, north of Salahuddin, over reluctance in fulfilling duties instructed by the group.”
Most of the executed members, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, were from Diyala province. “It’s the fourth execution that occurred this year in Mutaibija, an important IS stronghold, from which the militants launch its armed attacks against liberated regions either in Salahuddin or Diyala,” the source added.
On Friday, news reports said the group burnt the ninth emir of Diyala province in Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk over reluctance in fulfilling duties and failing to achieve victories over the past few months.
IS still holds a few areas in each of Anbar, Salahuddin, Diyala and Kirkuk.
Occasional attacks have been witnessed in Mutaibija by Islamic State against government and paramilitary troops deployments since Iraqi forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and PMUs, launched a major offensive to retake areas occupied by IS since 2014, most notably the city of Mosul.
ISIS starts kid recruiting drive in Hawija the Thrill of One Way Missions await them
Hawija (IraqiNews.com) Having lost Mosul, its main stronghold in Iraq, Islamic State is preparing for a military parade in Kirkuk’s Hawija, another bastion it has held since 2014, according to intelligence sources.
Shafaq News website quoted the source saying that IS called upon young men, aged at least 15, to sign up for the planned show of force. The source said the parade aims to make up for demoralization caused by losing Mosul, which Iraqi commanders announced recapturing totally on Sunday.
Hawija and other neighboring areas in southwest Kirkuk have been under Islamic State control since 2014, when the group emerged to proclaim an Islamic “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria. The group executed dozens of civilians and security members there, forcing thousands to flee their homes to refugee camps or neighboring provinces. The civilians are executed for either attempting to flee the town or for collaboration with security forces.
Local tribal leaders and politicians from Kirkuk have mounted pressure on the Iraqi government to hasten with invading Hawija, suggesting that its people were experiencing a humanitarian crisis under the group’s rule. Having concluded its campaign in Mosul, the Iraqi government is planning to launch further offensives at other IS pockets across Iraq, including Hawija.
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Two Yazidi girls were freed during an operation in western Mosul, the Ministry of Defense’s War Media Cell (WMC) said on Monday according to AlSumaria News.
“Iraq’s 9th Armored Division managed on Monday to free two Yazidi girls during an operation in al-Maidan district of Mosul,” the WMC said in a statement.
The Ministry of Interior announced today that a Yazidi girl was freed in Nineveh.
Early today, Sinjar Women’s Units (SWU) announced the participation of some of its members in the battle for Raqqa in Syria to avenge the Islamic State’s (IS) violence against the Yazidi women.
“The SWU has sent a special unit of its fighters to the Syrian City of Raqqa to take part in the liberation of the city from the IS’ grip,” an official from the all-female militia, Privian Sinjari, told Alsumaria News.
Sinjari stressed that the decision to participate in the Raqqa battle came in revenge of IS violence against the Yazidi women and girls.
“The female Yazidi fighters wants to send a message to the world through their participation in the war against the IS that ‘they are strong women who have the ability to defend herself. The Yazidi woman will not give up despite their suffering”.
According to the Philippine military, ISIS fighters executed six hostages in front of other prisoners for refusing to fight the Philippine Army in the city of Marawi.
Lt. Col. Christopher Tampus, commander in the Philippine Army, said three freed hostages confirmed that ISIS was forcing the hostages to fight the Philippine Army. More at the link
Taiz – Insurgency militias in Yemen have carried out mass executions, killing several of their members on accusations of fleeing a losing battle against government forces, said army chief of staff Mohammed al-Maqdishi.
Maqdashi condemned the executions in the Mokhadara area in Sirwah and vowed to prosecute militias’ leaders for all their crimes against the Yemeni people.
Yemen’s Saba news agency reported Maqdishi as saying that Sirwah, west of Maarib, will soon be liberated and it will soon be within the government’s jurisdiction and control.
He had also made a field visit to army units near the Marthad mountain northwest of Sirwah, praising the efforts and victories of the soldiers
In related news, 30 Houthi and Saleh militants were killed and injured during raids launched by the Coalition to Support the Legitimacy in Yemen against several insurgency positions, said a military source.
The source added that the bombardment was centralized on insurgent locations in the Khalid Ibn al-Walid camp west of Taiz.
On Saturday, Arab coalition air forces bombed Houthi militant posts off the Jazan port after militias attempted to target civilian sites on the Saudi border, according to al-Arabiya television.
Military sources confirmed that the coalition targeted two positions, killing 27 Houthi and Saleh militants and destroying anti-tank shields, military vehicles and an ammunition cache.
The militias are trying to advance towards army positions in al-Mafalis in the Haifan district to the south of Taiz. The army retaliated on Saturday by increasing its raids against the militants, killing eight, including an insurgency war media photojournalist. Several other militants were injured while trying to infiltrate army locations in Mafalis.
Posted by: badanov ||
07/11/2017
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[CurrentAffairs] The Democrats are trying out new campaign slogans, and all of them should leave progressives deeply worried. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) recently sent out a series of proposed bumper stickers, asking party members to vote on which they liked best. The four possibilities included: "Resist, Persist," "She Persisted, We Resisted," "Make Congress Blue Again," and, most tellingly of all, "Democrats 2018: I Mean, Have You Seen the Other Guys?" Many of those on the party’s left have long been concerned that contemporary Democrats don’t seem to actually stand for anything beyond "not being Republicans." The bumper stickers seem to confirm exactly that.
The party’s struggle to offer voters reasons to support Democrats has been going on for some time. Bernie Sanders has said explicitly that he doesn’t know what the party’s political principles actually are these days, and even Vox’s Matthew Yglesias has suggested that the party "could use a substantive agenda." But party leaders seem to have adopted the position that having a "substantive agenda" would be unduly divisive. That could be seen very clearly in the recent special congressional election in Georgia: Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff, funded by tens of millions of dollars from the national party, carefully refrained from advocating any actual policies. His advertising focused on pointing out the (obvious) fact that he was not Donald Trump, and the closest he came to proposing any legislation was in his plan for "consolidating federal data centers," a policy so arcane that it would put even the wonkiest Capitol Hill politicos to sleep. The presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton was similar: Clinton’s strategy was entirely focused on issues of character rather than plans for how to make voters’ lives better, to the point where almost nobody can name a single thing Clinton was promising to do as president. (If you don’t believe me, ask your Clinton-supporting friends what her policy proposals were.)
The bumper stickers are the absurd logical endpoint of this approach. Note that they do not imply anything about what the Democrats’ actual values are. It’s not "Democrats: Fighting For a Humane and Decent World," or "Democrats: Because Your Health and Happiness Matter." It’s just "Democrats: We’re Not Them," a statement that is totally empty of meaning. (It is, after all, true by definition that Democrats are not Republicans.) The differences between the parties are reduced to the fact that one of them is the Red Team and the other is the Blue Team.
This kind of focus, on why Democrats aren’t Republicans rather than what Democrats actually are, is a strategic disaster. Hillary Clinton lost, Jon Ossoff lost, and since 2010 Democrats have been losing catastrophically at every level of government. Formerly safe blue states now have Republican governors, and in red states Democratic opposition has collapsed completely. Worse, there seems to be almost no recognition in the party leadership that there is even a problem: Nancy Pelosi has flatly rejected the idea that the party needs to change, and if the new bumper stickers are any measure of what the DCCC is planning for 2018, the party’s messaging is only going to get worse rather than better. I have a theory. These days, the new pornos that are coming out show us that leftists are really, really into cuckoldry. Like, the fantasies are being tied down while an Islamic invader fucks and impregnates your wife. They like losing. It's a fetish. Hell, if they won, what would they do? They couldn't be "La Resistance".
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 ||
07/11/2017
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#1
I've complete confidence in GOP's ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
#4
On top of snatching defeat, the GOP has the amazing ability to both stick both feet in their mouth and shoot themselves in the foot at the same time.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/11/2017 9:54
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#6
"Democrats 2018: I Mean, Have You Seen the Other Guys?"
That one could apply well to the 'other guys' too.
"Repblicans 2018: I Mean, Have You Seen the Other Guys?"
Each and EVERY other concern (diversity, human rights, equality, higher wages, bigger safety net, etc) they sell out time and time again so long as doing so accumulates *power*. But they have NEVER sold out their belief in the unmitigated "right" to destroy babies.
#2
JohnQC, I can't access your link from my work site (NSFW), but the information in the original post makes a LOT of sense.
A computer (the server or a workstation on the local, on-site network) was rebooted, probably under pretext of applying patches, but booted to a Linux installation on a large capacity USB drive. Linux has this capability to allow people to "try out" a specific flavor of Linux without installing it on a hard drive, and thus not lose their Windows installation. This reboot bypasses the Windows workstation/server protection software intended to monitor, record, and block activities *just like this*, for later auditing. The installation was a stand-alone boot, which allowed the drive to be overwritten with the data being copied. The command used to copy the files updates the time-stamp with the current time. The time difference between the youngest and oldest copied files, divided into the total size of all the files copied, gives a rough speed at which the files were written.
The copy speed was 23mb per second: way too high for this to have been done over the internet, which is how a *Russian* hacker could have moved the data off the server after they hacked into it. However, the speed is consistent with a copy to a USB drive inserted into the server. It could have been done using a workstation provided it was a typical 100Megabit or top-of-the-line 1 Gigabit network, and done at a time when it would be very lightly loaded (i.e. at the dead of night, with nobody else around on the network.)
Yeah, it was an inside job.
I cannot address, however, the validity of the accusation that the Guccifer 2.0 "hacking" of these data files was actually a false-flag operation conducted by the DNC to discredit the Wikileaks released. However, I know that a lot of IT security organizations would know how to do it, who also would have been in the tank for the Democrats (especially if well compensated).
Annah, Rawa (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi army warplanes killed dozens of Islamic State militants and destroyed combat equipment west of Anbar on Monday, military media reported.
Quoting the Iraqi intelligence service, the Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell said in a statement that army jets pounded three booby-trapping factories and three weaponry depositories, killing dozens of IS militants in the town of Rawa, west of Anbar.
Thirteen other militants were killed in airstrikes that targeted three weaponry reservoirs in Annah, according to the statement.
Anbar’s western towns of Annah, Qaim and Rawa have been held by the extremist group since 2014, when it emerged to proclaim a self-styled Islamic “Caliphate”. The border area between Anbar and Syria has seen occasional bloody attacks against security forces over the past months, but Iraqi paramilitary forces continue advances to impose control over that region.
Fighter jets from the Iraqi army and the U.S.-led international coalition have also regularly pounded IS locations in the province.
With the Iraqi government’s campaign to drive IS out of Mosul, its largest bastion in Iraq, is expected that government troops will aim at those strongholds as well as other pockets across Iraq.
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Three suicide attackers and a policeman were killed in the city of Hit, in Anbar province, an Iraqi security source said on Monday.
“Three suicide bombers, wearing suicide belts, accessed Hit in the night on Sunday to blow themselves while between citizens. However, they were discovered and followed,” Police Cap.Magid al-Nimrawi told DPA.
“The attackers took shelter at a building known as the headquarters of ‘women association’, in central Anbar,” the source said adding that shootout left three of the attackers and a policeman killed.
Iraqi troops liberated Hit from Islamic State militants in mid-April 2016.
Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State Sunni extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.
More than 700 Iraqis were killed and wounded during the month of June as result of violence and armed conflicts, according to a monthly count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) which excludes security members deaths. Baghdad ranked the second place with 22 deaths and 88 injuries.
According to a previous count by UNAMI, 824 Iraqis were killed and wounded during the month of May.
According to observers, IS is believed to constitute a security threat even after the group’s defeat at its main havens across Iraqi provinces.
Posted by: badanov ||
07/11/2017
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Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Nineteen Islamic State militants were killed in western Mosul’s Old City on Monday as troops continue to clear the city after declaring victory over the extremist group.
A Counter-Terrorism Service officer, Ali Mohsen, told BasNews that the service’s forces opened fire at two IS suicide bombers after suspecting them in the Old City. “Our forces are currently combing the liberated areas and have intensified vetting of refugees from the Old City for fear that they might be infiltrated by terrorists or IS suiciders.”
Col. Khaled al-Jawari, from the Joint Operations Command, told the website that Iraqi warplanes also killed 17 other militants after detecting their attempt to flee the Old City to the eastern side of Mosul via Tigris River.
BasNews quoted another source at Nineveh police service saying that four buildings at Shahwan and Qleyat neighborhoods exploded after they had been previously booby-trapped by IS members. The explosions left no casualties, according to the source.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi arrived in Mosul on Sunday and celebrated victory over IS in Mosul, but abstained from delivering an official speech on the occasion until the last combing operations are concluded. “It is a matter of time until we announce victory to our great nation,” he was quoted saying.
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) A Chinese Islamic State militant has been killed, five other militants were arrested in Mosul city, according to troops of Atheel al-Nujaifi, former Nineveh governor.
Troops from the Nineveh guards killed a Chinese militant as he was trying to escape Dekket Barakah region in Mosul’s Old city while the forces were combing the region in collaboration with security troops, Zuhair al-Jabouri, spokesperson of the guards, told Shafaq News.
Moreover, Jabour announced the arrest of five militants at the outskirts of Imam Gharbi village in southern Nineveh, which is held by the militants, during operations there.
Nujaifi was the governor of Nineveh when Mosul was captured by IS in 2014. The guards were formed after the city fell to the militants. The armed force, trained by Turkey, include more than 5,000 fighters, 180 of them were killed while liberating the eastern side of the city, according to its leaders.
On Sunday, a security source told Shafaq News that the militants are in control of 60 percent of the village, located in Qayyarah, south of Mosul.
Iraqi troops had liberated Qayyarh in August.
Last week, twenty-five tribal forces personnel were killed and injured in an attack launched by IS in the same village.
Posted by: badanov ||
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[NYPost] One night in the mid-1990s I tried out a computer game called “Civilization.” You started with a screen that was completely black, except for one square of land. As you pushed outward from this base, you’d make discoveries about the land around you and its inhabitants. You’d start to build a society, first primitive stuff like granaries, then advancing to roads and weapons.
Trade-offs would arise: Should I build a library or a cannon? As your world advanced, you’d run into other civilizations. It was disconcerting to discover somebody else had a battleship while you were working with catapults. As I was journeyed through all of these fascinating challenges, I discovered to my surprise that the sun had come up. Something had gone haywire with time. It was already 7 a.m.
If you had asked me at any point in my relationship to “Civilization” whether I was happy, I would have said no. I was ecstatic. I was euphoric. Making simulated granaries. Building simulated roads. Firing simulated cannon. These were my obsessions.
After a while I realized that becoming master of a fake world was not worth the dozens of hours a month it was costing me, and with profound regret I stashed my floppy disk of “Civilization” in a box and pushed it deep into my closet. I hope I never get addicted to anything like “Civilization” again.
Today millions of people, disproportionately young men, are similarly caught in the throes of video games, which are far more enticing than their 1990s counterparts and often involve many players engaging at once. The hand-eye coordination of these men is no doubt impressive, plus they form friendships and learn to work through problems in teams.
Surveys tell us that these men are happy. The 1990s fear that playing first-person shooter games turns you into a violent psycho has been debunked.
The problem is that for many young men, video games have become a substitute for living. They’re so addictive and soul-consuming that they’re unlike other leisure activities. Every hour spent on “Ghost Recon” or “Grand Theft Auto V” is an hour that could have been spent more productively.
Sure, that’s also true of golf — but rarely do you hear that someone has quit his job and is living in Mom’s basement obsessing over putting.
The problem is that for many young men, video games have become a substitute for living.Yet video-game addicts are engaged in a mass retreat from life. Men aged 21 to 30 worked 12 percent fewer hours in 2015 than in 2000. The percent of young men who worked zero weeks over the course of a year doubled in that period, to an alarming 15 percent. Those working hours were largely replaced by gaming, and fully 35 percent of young men now live with their parents or other close relatives, up from 23 percent in 2000. Their unemployment rate jumped by 10 percent. More at the link
The editorialist does not say if the inflection point was in 2009, hard on the heels of the economic meltdown and followed in turn by a severely anemic recovery in which the new jobs reportedly went to illegal immigrants rather than Americans, full time employment was redefined by Obamacare as 30 hours per week, and colleges became blatantly hostile to the men who ventured there. Could it be that young men gaming is an effect of Democratic policy choices rather than merely an addiction to pleasure?
#1
Why shouldn't young men dive into video games, when the world has made it clear they're the problem and getting rid of them is the solution?
Oops, turns out we need these young men to work so we can get that delicious, delicious tax money.
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 ||
07/11/2017 3:47
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#2
Nonsense, Herb. I've this problem with Grom Jr, and he (and his friends) are definitely don't suffer from low self esteem. IMO, computer games are (inadvertently) designed to appeal to certain types of introvert, high IQ mentality.
#6
I've seen people playing EVE online
Who are very disabled and for them, it's massively liberating.
Who enter into the economic aspect and learn vast amounts about trade etc.
#7
I play Arma 3 with friends and it teaches you a great deal about working in a team, delegation, roles and communicating swiftly, verbosely and accurately!
Also dealing with differing skill sets.
I think computer games like Europa Universalis also enable kids to learn history vastly better than schools ever did!
#10
Yeah and the generation before was lost to Console games, and the one before that to Television, and the one before that to Radio... Next up is getting lost to Social media and mobile phones.
Its relatively new so people get into it - and later, like the author's experience with CIV, will decide 'meh - back to life.' and it will become a side-item.
1) I fell pray to the allure of Civilization too. It started when I was working on VAX computers and the screen was delimited by different characters or letters for the pieces, armies, ships, land etc. This was literally a follow on to Dungeons and Dragons (You are in a maze of twisty passages....) The challenge wore off as the bit-head in me realized that you could never really beat the machine.
2) Long about the mid '70s I read a study by psychologists that planned to deal with the anti-social inferiority complex ridden computer geeks at IBM. They were shocked, and honest enough to report, that reality did not match their preconceptions. Rather than feeling inferior, the geeks KNEW that they were superior to their run of the mill peer group and that the others weren't worth the waste of time. It was judged to be a result of the mentality necessary to be told constantly by an infallible machine that you had screwed up. Only those with incredible self confidence could deal with that.
3) living in Mom’s basement obsessing over putting. Yeah, well Mom's basement doesn't stimp fast enough.
#13
The problem is that for many young men, video games have become a substitute for living.
TL/DR: My hobbies are ♫Great♫ and Your hobbies are time wasters for LOSERS.
#14
Much safer being a gamer these days. Drugs and alcohol are taking a toll on many people. Many men are not dating because the women are so difficult. Last night all young men were out and about. Not a single female. This is a very difficult world for young men but they stubbornly refuse to change. So they go and do as they wish free of the many constraints of socialization.
Yeah, my son is safe. But he isn't producing any grandchildren for me. The challenge in life is to face its risks, take your lumps, keep going and thrive in spite of the risks.
You try to meet women, you're gonna get rejected a time or two or maybe even three or four. Shake it off and keep trying, dumbass, the right girl is out there somewhere.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
07/11/2017 11:39
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#16
...unfortunately, today, 'bearing false witness' is rewarded. You taking your lumps may include 5 to 10 in prison. Not worth it.
#17
I loved Civilization back in the day. When Civilization Revolution came out for the consoles I fell in love again, similar game without the super-nit-picky details and designed for a 2 hour game instead of 2 week slog. Yet I don't think it caught on, the typical fan wanted the 2 week slog of minutia. Go figure.
#20
For those of us brought up on ASCII terminals the two week slog was the cat's pajamas. All the high speed super graphics just made it more obvious that the computer was in control, your mind couldn't do the imagination of those "twisty passages" at the same rate.
#23
The problem is that for many young men, video games have become a substitute for living
The problem is that amoral hypergamic young women told themselves that the whole world should worship their ladyparts, and that each and every one of them deserved only the most alpha male and wouldn't give the time of day to any other guy, and told themselves that it was morally acceptable to divorce a guy and take all his stuff the microsecond they were even slightly bored.
Ninety percent of young women in cities and close-in suburbs are having sex with 10% of the most alpha and wealthy young men in a sick carousel, hoping that some day one of those alpha men will blow off all the other women in his de facto harem and want only her, verifying her own notion that only her ladyparts are worship worthy. And of course, if it doesn't work out, out comes the divorce club.
If Chad Millionaire or Brute Billy the Biker doesn't marry them eventually, they'll settle for someone "less", but will always be looking to cheat with an alpha should one become available.
The bottom ten percent of men and women console each other with themselves. Eighty percent of young urban men have little chance at all at companionship, sex, friendship, marriage, etc.
Does that sound harsh? Does it sound like hyperbole? In the postmodern urban world, it describes all but some small single digit percentage of people 18-34. Rural America does a better job of matching up young people, but rural America is shrinking in population.
Given these facts, young men retreating into internet pR@n and gaming is a rational act. I don't think it's ideal by any means - I would advise them to work out, be healthy, develop their vocations and avocations and be patient looking for one of those few young American women who isn't a totally hypergamic sociopath. But the response of these guys as rational actors makes sense in many ways.
Thank God I was born and got through my youth before this stuff blew up in the country's face.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
07/11/2017 16:59
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#24
Arma 3 coz it teaches you to be a sneaky f*ckin Chernarusian.
#25
no mo uro is correct, but then the gals are only doing as instructed/encouraged by our system. The guys are refusing to take part in a system that demands they 1st confess their original sin of being born male, and that they also spend their entire life making amends for it. And as for that inflection point? That would be the one where for a time, women outnumbered men in the workforce. The only time in the history of the Industrialized West. We have Obama to thank for that.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
07/11/2017 18:30
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#26
Young people do eventually come out of cyberspace and back to earth.
I was helping a friend put in a sink in a bath room and we chose nice faucets, sink, cabinets and after a weekend the half bath looked cool.
My friend had a son who had been an avid gamer for years and he popped in and just couldn't stop talking about how cool his half bath was. He realized reality can be impacted by creativity and soon he was part of the remodeling crew.
AnNahar] For years as fighting raged in Syria's Aleppo, property agent Saer Daqaq had fleeing residents knocking at the door of his beachside offices, seeking refuge in his flats in coastal Latakia.
A popular seaside resort largely untouched by the country's six-year civil war, Latakia became a haven for those escaping Syria's second city, so much so that part of it was even dubbed "Aleppo Beach".
But since fighting for Aleppo ended last year, Daqaq's offices just steps from the waters of the Mediterranean have been much quieter. With the army's recapture of Aleppo in December, many displaced residents are now finally heading home after years away, though others who have set up businesses or whose homes are destroyed are staying put for now.
Continued on Page 49
As Suwayda (Syria News) The Syrian regime forces, backed by foreign militia, advanced into several villages and town in the eastern countryside of As Suwayda, sources told Qasioun News on Monday.
The sources said that the government forces recaptured the areas of Deir al-Nusrani, Rajm al-Bakar, Tlul Salman, Tlul al-Fedyeen, Tal Asfar, Ashayheb, Tlul Ashhab, al-Moftra, Tal al-Moftra, Shenwan, al-Sakeya, al-Qasr, Tal Banat Baeer, Kherbet Saad and Tal Sa’ad.
This came after violent clashes between the regime forces and Syrian rebels, amid mutual artillery and rockets shelling.
It is noteworthy that the eastern countryside of As Suwayda witnessed several battles between the regime forces and Syrian rebels, lately destroying six helicopters belonging to the Syrian regime.
Posted by: badanov ||
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[NYPOST] Mayor Bill de Blasio -- fresh off his trip to Germany -- visited the grieving family of slain cop Miosotis Familia on Monday.
Hizzoner paid his respects at Familia’s Bronx home five days after deranged gunman Alexander Bonds assassinated the 12-year department veteran and single mother of three while she sat in an NYPD command vehicle.
De Blasio was blasted for skipping town Thursday on a junket to Germany to protest at the G20 summit rather than visiting the family or attending a Saturday night vigil for the fallen hero.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/11/2017
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#1
If I was the family I would tell him to get out and leave them alone.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/11/2017 7:43
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Hundreds of people rallied against the Iranian President in southern Helmand province of Afghanistan, slamming the Iranian leader for his remarks regarding the construction of water dams in Afghanistan. It's safer there.
The demonstration was organized on Friday and several civil society activists, youths, and local elders had participated in the rally. On the other hand, it's more people than rallied against violence in New Jersey, so we shouldn't bitch.
They condemned the Iranian President’s remarks regarding the construction of water dams and said such remarks reflect the direct interference of the country in the internal affairs of Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/11/2017
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A strange piece, a bit far afield from our usual fare here at Rantburg, that casts current events in a different light.
[Jpost] Geographically, Israel is just off-center. Why then is it treated with such respect, especially by the likes of Russia and China?
In the new and surprising economic world order, Israel could gain a degree of wealth not seen since the days of King Solomon.
For the Western world, strong new alliances between certain non-Western countries constitute something of a mystery. But while the West is distracted by political uprisings and remains enamored with the idea of its own "manifest destiny," a new world order is emerging, dominated by up-and-coming global superpowers like Russia, China and India.
Over the past eight years, many unexpected diplomatic changes have occurred. The Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran has formed a partnership with the "infidel" nation of Russia. Less than two years ago, Russia moved into Syria, and shows no signs of leaving. And Syria, despite its own problem with radical Islam, has strengthened bonds with Iran’s fundamentalist regime.
Continued on Page 49
[IsraelTimes] Turning on first completely Paleostinian-owned and -managed substation, Israeli energy ministry and PA premier hail cooperation.
High-ranking Paleostinian and Israeli officials gathered in a field outside the West Bank city of Jenin on Monday to turn on the first-ever piece of Paleostinian-owned electricity infrastructure and ink a new electricity agreement between the two sides.
The deal, hailed as "historic" by signatories, will for the first time set parameters for the supply of power between Israel and the Paleostinian Authority, which for years has seen the PA default on billions of shekels of debt and Israel subsequently withhold electricity.
Continued on Page 49
#2
maintaining an electrical transmission line may be a step toward energy independence but its a really really small step, especially since the electricity is generated in Israel
and the next step of having a generator use gas from Israel is also a really small step also
Posted by: lord garth ||
07/11/2017 7:22
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#3
Infrastructure be hard.
Wonder how long it will take to go the way of the greenhouses and synagogues?
And inshallah maintenance.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
07/11/2017 9:07
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#4
how long before the PA shop equipment for repairs are cranking out Carl Gustavs?
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/11/2017 11:24
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#5
How long before all of the spare parts and the repair budget walks out the back door?
[AnNahar] India on Monday announced it will send a top minister to Iraq in an effort locate dozens of its missing citizens after djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... was all but recaptured from the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group.
Thirty-nine Indian laborers have been missing, believed taken hostage by IS, since the holy warrior outfit overran Iraq's second largest city in 2014.
There has been no word on their fate since but New Delhi has insisted that without information otherwise, the Indian construction workers are still considered alive.
An Indian foreign ministry front man said all possible avenues for locating the missing nationals would be explored now that the city had been liberated by Iraqi forces.
Iraq has declared victory in Mosul, with its forces fighting to eliminate the last pockets of IS resistance after months of difficult battles that have left much of the key northern city in ruins.
The Indian front man said junior foreign minister V K Singh would travel to the Kurdish city of Erbil to coordinate the search efforts.
"The Ambassador of India to Iraq and our Consul General in Erbil have been instructed to continue the efforts to locate them on priority," he said in a statement.
Iraqi authorities had extended their cooperation to help find the missing workers, the front man added.
The Indians laborers were employed by the Baghdad-based Tariq Noor al-Huda construction company.
The workers were trying to leave battle-ravaged Mosul when they were intercepted by Lions of Islam soon after they stormed the city in June 2014, reported Indian media.
More than 10,000 Indians fled Iraq amid the upsurge in violence in 2014, including dozens of nurses who were held briefly by suspected IS bandidosLions of Islam in Tikrit and Mosul before being allowed to return home.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Sunday announced that his forces had retaken Mosul from IS after a months-long battle that killed thousands of civilians and forced nearly a million people from their homes.
[Speisa] In a crisis or war, the Armed Forces will collapse in a short time, says Defense Chief Haakon Bruun-Hanssen.
It is evident from a report that the newspaper Klassekampen has gained access to.
The report, entitled "Defense Chief Performance and Control Report for 2016", is marked confidential, and includes the Chief of Defense's assessment by the end of last year.
According to the report, central parts of the Armed Forces are "poorly manned and of low perseverance" and will therefore collapse in a short time in case of a crisis or war, writes Klassekampen.
The preparedness of the Army, the Air Force, the Home Guard, the Cyber Defense, the Armed Forces and the Armed Forces logistics organization are considered to be "unsatisfactory."
The Armed Forces' operational ability is considered "less good", while the special forces (Telemark Battalion) is the only part of the defense that is graded "good", writes Klassekampen.
#7
Norway back in the day gained independence from Sweden and made it stick. Against an airborne or seaborne attack their geography turns from an advantage to a fatal flaw -- like the Greeks they can be carved into bite sized junks at the attacker's pleasure.
The takeaway: their governing elite has spent all of that North Sea Oil money on bread and circuses...
#11
Folks doubting the intestinal fortitude of the Norwegian soldier have perhaps forgotten the 5th SS Viking Panzer Division. What has happened since then? Western Socialists don't much care for national preservation these days
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
07/11/2017 19:49
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#12
...The Norwegian armed forces aren't supposed to defend the country. They're intended to show just enough manpower to make sure the Americans defend Norway.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
07/11/2017 20:52
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[AnNahar] Ottoman Turkish opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu on Monday visited a enjugged ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... MP in an Istanbul prison, a day after finishing a nearly one month long "justice march" in a show of solidarity with the detained politician.
Kilicdaroglu, head of the secular Republican People's Party (CHP), visited journalist-turned politician Enis Berberoglu in his prison in the Istanbul district of Maltepe, a party front man told AFP.
Berberoglu was placed in durance vile I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! last month for leaking classified information to an opposition newspaper and Kilicdaroglu immediately began a foot march from Ankara to Istanbul to protest his plight.
The march culminated in a rally on Sunday that attracted hundreds of thousands of people, the biggest event that critics of President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... have staged in years.
"Berberoglu found the march 'impressive' and thanked the party leader," the CHP front man said. "He is writing a book," he added, without elaborating on its content.
Kilicdaroglu walked 450-kilometers (280 miles) in 25-days, with the march becoming a rallying point for all those protesting against alleged injustices under Erdogan.
About 50,000 people have been arrested under The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... 's state of emergency, imposed after last July's failed coup, and another 100,000 have lost their jobs, including teachers, judges, soldiers and coppers.
"People who have committed no sin, who have absolutely no link to terror, people who are wrongly accused are being put in jail, hurting the conscience of society," Kilicdaroglu was quoted as saying by Ottoman Turkish media after the meeting with Berberoglu.
"Enis is one of these people," he added.
The government dismissed the march as a stunt but the police did not impede its progress and also provided security for the final rally. Erdogan has so far not commented on the magnitude of Sunday's giant meeting.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
07/11/2017
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants... -led Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan (RSM) reacted at the claims of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group’s offshoot in Afghanistan, ISIS Khurasan, regarding the killing of two US soldiers.
Rejecting the claims as baseless, the Resolute Support mission, said only two US soldiers were maimed in Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province.
NATO front man in Afghanistan, U.S. Navy Captain William K. Salvin, said "As is usually the case, the ISIS-K claim of killing 2 U.S. Soldiers in Nangarhar Province over the weekend is false. Two service members were maimed on July 7th and were medically evacuated out of theater for treatment."
This comes as the Afghan forces are busy conducting counter-terrorism and clearance operations in some restive districts of Nangarhar as the ISIS loyalists have been attempting to expand their foothold and activities in certain districts of the during the recent years.
The US forces based in Afghanistan have stepped up Arclight airstrikes against the anti-government armed bully boyz in Afghanistan.
The Arclight airstrikes were increased particularly after the former US administration granted broader role to the US forces to resume counter-terrorism operations, a step that was taken after growing instability in the country, mainly due to the insurgency led by the Taliban ...Arabic for students... and ISIS holy warriors.
The US forces based in Afghanistan also used one of the largest non-nuclear bombs on ISIS loyalists in April this year, leaving more than 100 bully boyz dead and sanctuaries and networks of the tunnels destroyed.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/11/2017
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[AnNahar] Turkey marks one year on July 15 since a coup attempt aiming to topple President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that failed within hours but etched far-reaching consequences into its society and politics.
The country is in the throes of the biggest purge in its history against alleged coup supporters while Erdogan has seen his grip on power tightened rather than weakened.
But Turkey is also facing some isolation on the diplomatic stage, experiencing tense relations with the European Union and the United States, and now trying to limit the damage from an explosive crisis over its ally Qatar in the Gulf.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
07/11/2017
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[NYPOST] A New Mexico man was arrested for allegedly beating his girlfriend and threatening to kill her — after Amazon’s Alexa called police, authorities said. Life imitates art. I used this in Cinderella and the Devil, available cheap as an ebook on the right.
Eduardo Barros, 28, became angered with his unidentified girlfriend while house-sitting in Tijeras, about 15 miles east of Albuquerque, and the dispute suddenly turned physical on July 2, authorities said.
During the assault, Barros waved a gun and threatened to kill the woman before he allegedly asked: “Did you call the sheriffs?”
The question was inadvertently picked up by the smart speaker and the voice-powered virtual assistant recognized the phrase as a command — prompting it to call 911, Bernallillo County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Felicia Romero confirmed to The Post on Monday.
It’s unclear whether the speaker was connected to an Amazon Echo or Echo Dot device, but the Alexa virtual assistant was connected to a landline in the home, Romero said.
The violent ordeal unfolded after Barros allegedly got upset over a text message the woman received and accused her of cheating on him, KRQE reported.
“Barros told her she was not going anywhere and he was going to kill her,” according to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by The Post. “When 911 called her phone, Barros saw the caller ID and threw [her] to the floor. Barros then kicked her while on the ground at least 10 times in the face and stomach. Barros told [the victim] he could not believe the cops had been called and he was not going back to prison and that she knew he was a felon. [The victim] stated she thought she was going to be killed or shot.”
Posted by: Fred ||
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In which the movement of goalposts is made explicit.
[AlAhram] A Tunisian man accused of brutally murdering an elderly couple in their Austrian home last month was a supporter of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... jihadist group, police said Monday.
But police front man David Furtner told AFP the case was being treated as a "double murder" and not a jihadist killing.
"We currently don't believe that it was an IS-motivated murder or terror attack," Furtner said.
"It seems the man radicalised himself but there is no third party who ordered him to carry out the killings and IS has not grabbed credit."
The suspect attacked the couple in the northern city of Linz on June 30, slitting the 85-year-old woman's throat before stabbing and beating her 87-year-old husband to death.
The brutal nature of the killings shocked many in the country.
Police said the man knew the victims, having regularly delivered their groceries from a shop run by his wife, and believed the elderly couple had links to the far right.
The latest investigations show that he became increasingly radicalised last year and recently swore allegiance on his Facebook page to IS leader His Supreme Immensity, Caliph of the Faithful and Galactic Overlord, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ...formerly merely the head of ISIL and a veteran of the Bagram jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us...
It's been a while since we called it Sudden Jihad Syndrome, but the overt pledge of allegiance is surely a marker of the moment the jihad-curious becomes jihad-serious, as it were.
While Austria has been spared the major attacks that have hit other European countries including La Belle France, Britannia and Germany, a relatively high number of Austrians have left to wage jihad abroad.
The interior ministry estimates that 300 have left or tried to leave to fight in Syria or Iraq -- a figure that is proportionately high in a population of 8.7 million.
Most of those accused of jihadist links in Austria have been of Chechen or Bosnian origin.
Good to know.
There is no indication that the man suspected of murdering the couple had travelled abroad to fight alongside murderous Moslem groups.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
07/11/2017
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[Jpost] 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... has blocked access to a popular Israeli Arab website after it posted articles about alleged Saudi plans to normalize relations with Israel and cited reports from the Hebrew press that Israeli officials were pleased with King Salman ...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Cutodian of the Two Holy Mosquesand Lord of Most of the Arabians.... 's designation of his son, Mohammed Bin Salman, as crown prince.
The Arab48 website, whose coverage is sympathetic to the hard-line anti-Zionist Balad party and sharply criticizes Israeli policies, was blocked in Saudi Arabia beginning July 6, according to its editor-in-chief, Rami Mansour. That was four days after it published an article titled "Israel is betting on Saudi Arabia for normalization with the Arab world."
"It seems we have been blocked because of articles about the relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel and about Mohammed Bin Salman," Mansour said."The Saudis are simply isolating their citizens from the outside world." He said it was the first time anyone had blocked the site since it was established in 1999.
Blocking websites is common in Saudi Arabia, according to Freedom House, an American watchdog group that rated the kingdom as "not free" in its 2016 report on freedom on the interpretation of Islam."
The article which apparently inspired Saudi Arabia to block the Arab48 site was published July 2 and described a recent Yediot Ahronoth article by Smadar Perry that focused on Anwar Eshki, a Saudi former major-general who heads the Saudi-based Center for Middle East Strategic Studies and led a delegation of academics and businessmen on an unprecedented visit to Israel a year ago.
"Perry finds in him a model and a trial balloon that the Saudis released to normalize relations with Israel and define their future strategies concerning diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv," the article said.
"Perry sees in the major-general that he is a character of experience and he doesn't have any aspiration to freeze or obstruct any attempts to make a dialogue with Israel. She is sure that Saudi Arabia, which is a closed country, would not allow him to have his positions without a green light from other circles in Riyadh."
The article said that Perry had suggested that King Salman's appointing Mohammed Bin Salman last month as crown prince in place of Mohammed Bin Nayef was among several developments linked to normalization with Israel, provided Israel agrees to make progress on the Paleostinian issue.
It added that Perry had written that Saudi Arabia is willing to make compromises on its 2002 peace initiative so that negotiations with Israel "will not explode."
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The leader of Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin Hekmatyar ... who used to be known in intelligence circles as The Most Evil Man in the World but who now seems merely run-of-the-mill evil... has asked the tribal elders across the country to maintain security in their respective regions.
Hekmatyar made the remarks during a large gathering in Kabul to discuss the ongoing violence and conflict.
He said one of the easiest ways to ensure security and stability in the country is to use the influence of the tribal elders.
The leader of Hezb-e-Islami further added that the tribal elders must declare the areas under their control as safe zones and prohibit the Lions of Islam to establish sanctuaries for the insurgency activities.
Hekmatyar insisted that necessary measures should be taken to ensure stability so that the residents of the country can live peacefully and without any fear.
He also called on the Afghan people to remain united and thanked the people for their participation in the large gatherings in Kabul, Laghman ...It has a population of about 445,600, which is multi-ethnic and mostly a rural society. During the invasions of Alexander the Great, the area was known as Lampaka, wich is apparently Olde Macedonian for Laghman.The city of Mihtarlam serves as the bucolic capital of the province. The population is half Pashtun, the remainder Tadjik and Pashai. It had a reputionagreat wealth until it was conquered in the tenth century by Abu Mansur Sabuktigin.
He conquered it and set fire to the places in its vicinity which were inhabited by infidels, and demolishing the idol-temples, he established Islam in them, He marched and captured other cities and killed the polluted wretches, destroying the idolatrous and gratifying the Musulmans. After wounding and killing beyond all measure, his hands and those of his friends became cold in counting the value of the plundered property.
, and Jalalabad, emphasizing that Hezb-e-Islami can play a role in ending the ongoing violence.
In the meantime, a member of the executive council of Hezb-e-Islami Qutbuddin Helal said they are hopeful that Hekmatyar’s presence will help in grinding of the peace processor and end the ongoing violence and conflict in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/11/2017
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[AlAhram] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... issued arrest warrants for 72 university staff, state media said on Monday, including a former adviser to the main opposition leader who staged a mass rally on Sunday to protest a crackdown since a failed military coup last year.
The warrants were issued under an investigation into the movement of the U.S.-based Islamic holy manFethullah Gulen ... a Turkish preacher living in Pennsylvania whom the current govt of Turkey considers responsible for all the ills afflicting Turkey and possibly the entire world... , who is accused of orchestrating the attempted coup on July 15, state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the secularist CHP, told a huge crowd on Sunday Turkey was living under dictatorship and pledged to keep challenging the government after completing a 25-day protest march from Ankara to Istanbul.
Police have so far detained 42 of the staff from Istanbul's prestigious Bogazici University and Medeniyet University, which is based on the Asian side of the country's largest city, Anadolu said.
It said eight of the 72 were from Bogazici, including well-known academic Koray Caliskan, who worked in the past as a voluntary adviser to Kilicdaroglu, according to a CHP official.
The other 64 people being detained were from Medeniyet University, 19 of whom were medical faculty professors, Anadolu said. All were suspected users of ByLock, an encrypted messaging app the government says was used by Gulen's followers.
About 50,000 people have been nabbed Book 'im, Mahmoud! and 150,000 state workers including teachers, judges and soldiers, have been suspended in the crackdown under emergency rule which was imposed soon after the attempted military takeover.
Meanwhile, ...back at the shootout, another bullet hole appeared in Butch's hat...... the Ankara chief public prosecutor issued arrest warrants for 43 people including six staff currently working at the prime minister's office and related institutions, Anadolu reported Monday.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
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#1
They are getting about as much mileage out of this 'coup' crap as Hillary is out of her daily 'why I lost' babble.
[Stratfor] Editor's Note
This is the fourth installment of a five-part series that originally ran in May 2016 examining the measures that could be taken to inhibit North Korea's nuclear weapons program. The purpose of this series is not to consider political rhetoric or noninvasive means of coercion, such as sanctions. Rather, we are exploring the military options, however remote, that are open to the United States and its allies, and the expected response from Pyongyang. Part five can be found here. Paywall away from link.
[WASHINGTONPOST] A federal investigation of a land deal led by Jane Sanders, the wife and political adviser of Sen. Bernie Sanders ...The only openly Socialist member of the U.S. Senate. Sanders was Representative-for-Life from Vermont until moving to the Senate for the rest of his life in 2006, assuming the seat vacated by Jim Jeffords... (I-Vt.), has accelerated in recent months -- with prosecutors hauling off more than a dozen boxes of records from the Vermont college she once ran and calling a state official to testify before a grand jury, according to interviews and documents.
Half a dozen people said in interviews in recent days that they had been contacted by the FBI or federal prosecutors, and former college trustees told The Washington Post that attorneys representing Jane Sanders had interviewed them to learn what potential witnesses might tell the government.
The investigation centers on the 2010 land purchase that relocated Burlington College to a new campus on more than 32 acres along Lake Champlain. While lining up a $6.7 million loan and additional financing, Jane Sanders told college trustees and lenders that the college had commitments for millions of dollars in donations that could be used to repay the loan, according to former trustees and state officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/11/2017
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#1
Wait, a socialist expropriated other people's funds? Next you will suggest Obama is a Muslim Trojan Whore.
Posted by: Jack Salami ||
07/11/2017 9:34
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[AlManar] Six civilians were killed when armed groups fired shells on the southern Halab al-Jadida neighborhood in Aleppo city, in a new breach of the Russian memorandum on de-escalation zones.
A source at Aleppo Police Command told SANA that armed groups positioned in the southwestern countryside of Aleppo fired three shells on citizens’ houses in the southern Halab al-Jadida neighborhood.
[AlAhram] Egypt's Ministry of Interior said on Monday that police have killed six "terrorists" affiliated with the ISIS bully boy group during a raid on an abandoned apartment building in Upper Egypt's Assiut governorate.
The raid in Dayrot town centre was aimed at eliminating a terrorst cell before it was able to conduct attacks, and was based on intelligence from Homeland Security, the ministry said.
The forces of Evil were killed during a shootout with police personnel, who seized large amounts of guns, ammunition and counterfeit military uniforms.
Couldn't have been much of a shootout if there was a large amount of ammunition left...
The raid is the second in recent weeks in Assiut governorate, with the interior ministry also claiming to have killed seven gunnies involved in attacks on Christians and churches.
Security forces in Giza also said that two members of the Hasm terrorist movement were killed in a shootout on Sunday in 6th of October City, a suburb of Greater Cairo.
The police found a bomb, five automatic weapons, ammunition, military uniforms, and "educational publications containing the concepts and slogans of the (IS) group," the interior ministry added.
[INSIDER.FOXNEWS] Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) last week signed into law the so-called "Blue Alert" bill, which creates a system similar to Amber Alerts that let law enforcement agencies and the public know when an officer has been assaulted.
It also increases the penalties for assaults on law enforcement officers.
Flanked by officers and politicians at the St. Louis Municipal Police Academy on Thursday, Greitens said more has to be done to protect the men and women who put their lives on the line for the public every shift.
Missouri becomes the 28th state to adopt the alert system.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/11/2017
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#1
Now adopt the "serious boot" approach to BLM terrorists - because that's what they are.
#2
Could that become the new 'Bat Signal' whereby those supporting the LEOs will come to their aid and perhaps inflict hurt upon the miscreants?
The beginnings of our own US of A version of a 'Crossfire?"
[Ynet] Attacker crashes vehicle during attack in West Bank, before exiting vehicle and attempting a stabbing; soldier now lightly injured apparently hurt from pole that fell due during incident; attacker has been shot and killed.
An attacker attempted to carry out a vehicular and stabbing attack on Monday at the T intersection, located in the Gush Etzion West bank cluster, between the settlements of Tekoa and Ma'ale Amos. The attacker reportedly crashed his vehicle, before exiting it and pulling out a knife in a stabbing attempt. He was shot and killed by Israeli security forces.
One IDF soldier was moderately injured during the incident, when a pole hit by the vehicle fell and hit him. MDA administered emergency care and rushed him to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. He was later reported to be lightly injured.
The attacker is believed to have been acting alone and independently.
Initial reports stated that the attacker drove his vehicle into an Infantry soldiers' station, causing a pole to fall and hit one of the soldiers, who is currently being treated for injuries in his lower extremities.
[AnNahar] The Iraqi military's hard-fought victory over the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group in djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... marks a defining moment not just for them. It is also a key win for the U.S. doctrine behind it.
Continued on Page 49
#1
This is a big win for the Iraqi Special Ops, our Air Power, munitions and weapons provided, and the will of the Iraqi soldier and police officer. Many units suffered close to 40% casualties - stunning that they didn't fall apart. They have won the battle - now can they hold what they have paid so dear a price for?
Posted by: chris ||
07/11/2017 2:18
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#4
Actually, it is a success for "Pentagon Training Plan". The old approach "we can train Iraqi military to perform to American standards". The new approach "these are f*cking baboons - lets deploy them accordingly".
#7
The Iraqi army has become surprisingly effective. There are actually troops sacrificing themselves for their fellow soldiers by raming suicide bombers with their cars, or standing and fighting while surrounded and other feats of heroism. Very unlike typical Arab armies.
The question is how long it will last when the advisers leave and the old habits of corruption and power hoarding pop back into being.
#9
Depends on when the State Department takes over from the Pentagon
Ah, remembering 2003 Iraq.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
07/11/2017 11:06
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#10
They won't keep their gains. There's still no will to overwhelmingly crush the stupid-side of Islam because there is no will to acknowledge that Islam itself provides the stupid in its very own "holy" texts.
They can re-take it again in a year or two...and a year or two after that...
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.
![]("https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/51/02/70/51027017ab24ab14f620b531afabd6b6--bubblegum-pink-blowing-bubbles.jpg")
The U.S. on Tuesday test-fired its THAAD anti-ballistic missile system from Alaska that successfully intercepted a target missile launched from an Air Force Cargo plane north of Hawaii.
Tal Afar (IraqiNews.com) The Islamic State has declared its runaway supreme leader dead, announcing it was going to name a successor soon, a source in Nineveh province said, the latest episode in clashing, unconfirmed reports around the leader's survival.
Chaos flared in Tal Afar following the declaration, according to Alsumaria News's sources. Infighting among Baghdadi's loyalists and opponents broke out, prompting the group to carry out wide-scale arrests and to impose a curfew at most of the town.
[Right Scoop] Brit Hume wants to know why the story about Trump Jr. getting duped by a Russian woman who claimed she had dirt on Hillary is getting scandalous coverage when he says it’s "much ado about not much":
[Daily Caller] French president Emmanuel Macron angered fans with his weekend speech at the G20 Summit that suggested Africa has "civilizational" problems which might be related to women having "7 or 8" kids.
[Wash Times] With the effort to defund Planned Parenthood stalled at the federal level, Texas is spearheading a plan that could "open the floodgates" for states to strip taxpayer dollars from the abortion giant one by one.
[NJ] A young child shot in Newark over the weekend drew dozens of activists to the streets Sunday evening in opposition to the city's violence.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A deadly 
...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. ..
[NYPOST] A Maryland man arrested in the strangulation of his stepfather allegedly took selfies next to the body and posted the photos online before he was taken into custody, according to reports.
the secretive Hungarian born Ernst Stavro Blofeld-like billionaire who seems to fund every horrible 
[WSB-TV2 Atlanta] The plane was reportedly carrying eight or nine people, according to WNCN. 
Kurram Agency
[VICE] 
[CurrentAffairs] The Democrats are trying out new campaign slogans, and all of them should leave progressives deeply worried. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) recently 
[AnNahar] Turkey marks one year on July 15 since a coup attempt aiming to topple President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that failed within hours but etched far-reaching consequences into its society and politics.
[NYPOST] A New Mexico man was arrested for allegedly beating his girlfriend and threatening to kill her — after Amazon’s Alexa called police, authorities said.
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
[AlAhram] 
[WASHINGTONPOST] A federal investigation of a land deal led by Jane Sanders, the wife and political adviser of Sen. 
