I suspect LTC Heffington's DA Form 2823 was reviewed by the West Point Superintendent Lieutenant General Robert L. Caslen. I believe LTC Caslen is still the Superintendent. Perhaps he could shed some light on the CDT, now Captain Rapone situation.
Hat tip: gCaptain. Peter Van Buren, a 24-year State Department veteran, is the author of "We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi."
It seems there's a template that critics follow for Donald Trump versus the hurricanes: they say he won't do enough, that it isn't being done fast enough, that everything will collapse (ready Katrina headlines) and then the draining, heroic reality of the response takes hold. With post-Maria Puerto Rico the latest example of that trope, it's time for a better understanding of how disaster management works.
A disaster destroys in hours infrastructure that took decades to build. Millions of people lose the services that separate a middle-class suburb from an impoverished slum – clean water, sewers, power, hospitals, roads. And Maria was the strongest storm to strike the area in 80 years.
Meanwhile, the media tends to focus on drama and controversy. They often overplay the story via anecdotal reporting ("Here's Mrs. Hernandez without electricity," says the reporter, "with no help in sight") and underplay the work being done, especially at the beginning of the response where progress is hard to see. First responders on laptops methodically solving supply problems are not very mediagenic, after all.
At the moment of any disaster, needs are at 100 percent while the response is at a zero point. The response starts in deficit. It always looks grim, especially to participants and outside observers unfamiliar with the process. They want what is a marathon to play out like a sprint.
In dealing with a major disaster, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the military follow a standard playbook. I know because I worked with both on and off for two decades while with the State Department. I trained with them, and was on the ground for relief efforts after the 1995 Kobe, Japan earthquake (more than 6,000 dead) and 2004 Asian tsunami (280,000 dead.) I worked the Washington end of many other disasters. I read after-action reporting from 20-30 other such events.
The critical initial step is a needs assessment, from which everything else flows. Everyone wants to jump in and do something, but responders need time to visit sites, confer with local officials, and determine what is needed and where the needs are greatest. It is a slow process in a chaotic environment, delayed by weather, roads, and communications. From the outside it can look like nothing is being done; Mrs. Hernandez still doesn't have electricity even as helicopters are flying around, apparently ignoring her!
The needs assessment gets the right help to the right places in order of priority. As an example, I was part of a liaison team with the American Navy at Phuket, Thailand following the Asian tsunami of 2005. Without any local input, the U.S. first helicopters brought in huge fresh water bladders. It turned out most of the water was unneeded; the city had warehouses full of the bottled version.
It took a day for us to track down, but the most urgent need the Navy could address was a buildup of medical waste at local hospitals. Waste pre-disaster was trucked out daily; the tsunami wrecked the roads, and so boxes of soiled bandages and infected sharps accumulated. When American resources turned to help dispose of that, hospitals were able to run at peak capacity. Lives were saved. The water bladders lay abandoned in parking lots around town.
Other decisions that can flow from a needs assessment might include restoring power to one school to shelter 50 families before fixing 50 individual homes. It can mean blocking people from calling internationally so limited cell capacity can be directed to local emergency calls. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, for example, set as a priority reopening dialysis centers across Puerto Rico. Somebody else didn't get helped first to make that possible.
At the early-to-intermediate stages of a disaster response people in less affected areas will wait in long lines for supplies. It looks bad on TV, but can actually mean the system is working, as help was directed to a higher priority. It takes good reporting to know if that's the case. Instead, progress is often too quickly defined as "make everything back to the way it was before the storm."
The military plays a key role in disaster response. The problem is Americans are conditioned to believe there are unlimited resources of all types, instantly movable across notable distances.
Military units tend to have war fighting as their primary job and most are somewhere doing that, or training to do that. Shifting to a disaster mission can happen quickly but not instantly. It's also essential to gather people with the right skills – electrical engineers, teams that desalinate sea water for drinking, and sewage crews (3.4 million people's waste festering with fecal-borne disease is a dreaded secondary killer in this disaster.)
Much mockery has been directed at Trump's statement about Puerto Rico being an island, surrounded by "big water." His phrasing was callous, but the fact Puerto Rico is an island is significant. Unlike Texas or Florida, no one can self-evacuate, by car or even on foot. Same for incoming aid. Everything must travel by plane, or, more likely, ship.
Puerto Ricans now need some two million gallons of fresh water a day. A gallon weighs about eight pounds, so that's 16 million pounds of water. A C-130 cargo plane can carry some 42,000 pounds. So that's 380 flights a day, every day, just for water. There are bigger aircraft, but the bottom line is always the same: you simply have to move the epic quantities required to respond to an epic island disaster by ship to a port, then inland by truck.
That last step, moving supplies from a port (or airport) to those who need them is known as the "last mile" problem. It haunts every disaster response.
Success with the last mile depends on local infrastructure. If it was neglected before the disaster, it will never be better (and often will be worse) during the disaster response. Next comes the need for trucks, fuel for those trucks, drivers, security, and personnel and equipment to offload the ships and load the vehicles. If you're missing one link in the chain, the aid does not move.
These are tough realities, not excuses for why more hasn't been done for desperate people. It can be a complex, methodical process, addressing a single problem (get water to that village) as a cascading string of nested problems. While the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's remark that Puerto Rico relief is the "most logistically challenging event" the United States has ever faced seems exaggerated, it does underscore the size of the job at hand.
So don't be distracted by the apocalyptic tweets between Trump and his critics; they exist independent of the ground truth. Because while no response is ever fast and robust enough, the systemic breakdowns that hit New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina have largely been fixed, well-before Trump even took office.
Responses are always imperfect; lack of drinking water remains a critical issue. The loss of life in Puerto Rico is sure to rise from 16, as rescuers reach more remote areas. For Harvey, the death toll was at least 70, Irma 72. Katrina saw 1,836 fatalities with over 700 people still missing.
But a tipping point will take place, where adequate services are restored and people will start to receive the help they need. Problems will reduce from regions without power to villages without power to an isolated home without power. The principles of disaster management should not be lost in the politics surrounding events in Puerto Rico. Everything else right now seems to be just Twitter wars.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/05/2017
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#1
Puerto RIco is a mirror image of New Orleans.
Corrupt local DEMOCRATIC administration neglects and siphons off funds for disaster preparedness to cronies and friends.
Disaster strikes and they have a convenient punching bag that the media is only more than eager to bash because they've spent their entire time demonizing the president.
The Democrats and the media have a play book that has not changed since Lenin highjacked the Russian Revolution.
[PJ] The Los Angeles Times calls anal cancer "the next big crisis" for the gay community. According to the American Cancer Society, the future looks grim.
The American Cancer Society estimates there will be 8,200 new anal cancer cases in 2017. In the absence of national screening recommendations, more than 50 percent of these individuals will be diagnosed at stage III or IV, when five-year survival is less than 40 percent. This creates a major public health concern.
The study shows that anal cancer comes from the sexually transmitted virus HPV. What it doesn't mention is why the gay community is so susceptible to contracting HPV. Perhaps the answer is too politically incorrect for the L.A. Times. NBC reported on a similar study that was done in Hawaii involving women who contracted anal HPV. They danced around the cause in an almost laughable way.
It’s not clear exactly how the women contracted anal HPV. Those who developed infections were more likely to be young and white, with lower levels of education and income and a history of multiple sexual partners, the study showed. Women who engaged in anal sex were also at higher risk, though transmission could have occurred in other, non-sexual, ways...The findings are important because anal HPV infection is strongly linked with anal cancer...
Really? Non-sexual ways? What ways are those? The article does not elaborate but goes out of its way to deny the very findings discovered!
The Hawaii study showed a greater risk of HPV infection in women who recently had anal sex, though the association wasn't as high as researchers expected. Non-penetrative sex and use of fingers and sex toys also may have contributed to transmission of HPV, or the virus could have been shed from cervical secretions, the report said. It is also possible that responses to our questions regarding anal sex were less than candid," the authors wrote. Study participants were twice as likely to contract the high-risk strains of the HPV virus associated with cervical and other cancers than the low-risk variations of the virus, the report showed.
So what we have here is a clear warning that putting things into the anus that don't belong there is a very bad idea‐and yet the media is unable to report that clearly. Why? Could it be the LGBTQWTF lobby doesn't want them to? Researching the negative effects of anal sex is darn near impossible. Very little is written on the subject, even though we know anal prolapses, fissures, tears, and infections are common. No one will report on it. Instead Teen Vogue is writing "how to" guides about anal sex (and cancer) for your minor daughters.
If you want to know the truth, it still exists on the American Cancer Society's website (at least until the gaystappo find out someone is telling the truth).
#6
I imagine that amyl-nitrate knocking out the immune system for a hour after using it to amp up the pleasure of that sort of sex didn't help one bit.
[The Hill] Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Wednesday that it is "common sense" for Congress to ban the type of device used by the the Las Vegas gunman to enable a semi-automatic gun to shoot more rapidly.
"Look, if there is something that makes it easy to convert a semi-automatic into an automatic, then maybe that does have to be looked at and put under the Federal Firearms Act, which makes it illegal to have a genuinely automatic weapon," Gingrich said on Fox News.
"I think this is as technology changes, sometimes we have to change the rules to catch up with those technologies," he continued.
Gingrich's comments came after Rep. Bill Flores (R-Texas), the former chairman of the Republican Study Committee, similarly called for the devices known as bump stocks, to be banned. Republicans are increasingly supporting such a ban, despite party opposition to expanding overall gun restrictions in the wake of the deadly shooting.
#1
Additionally, permits for concert organizers to hold events like the tragic Vegas C&W show should take into account the potential for criminal activity as a safety measure. In this case, sniper fire.
If the President of The United States were scheduled to attend that concert, you can bet Secret Service security concerns (best in class security scenario) would have included adjacent structures, sewer drains, car parks, and other potential ambush locations to include issues such as lighting, wind direction, drones, overflights, and IED/VBIED's.
It pains me greatly to admit it, but the Hillary Clinton made a valid 'what if' point regarding sound suppression. Add to that muzzle flash stand-off and angle of fire. The law enforcement response could have been greatly exaspirated. Many more could have been slain.
The SOB wasn't trained and he took out nearly 60 people and wounded many more. What if the next guy knows what he is about? We appear to be moving into a new or more advanced and deadly phase of lawlessness and anarchy. Active counter-measures are needed.
As General Mike Flynn used to say, "we need to get there before the boom, not after."
#2
The bump stock was approved by the Obama administration as an ADA disability device so people with handicaps can fire an AR. Were such a law to ban it to pass, it would never pass court muster. The bump fire stock was being misused in Vegas.
#3
The intent was for the militia to be as well armed as the standing army. They learned that lesson a few years prior, starting in 1776. You don't like it, use Article V to amend the constitution.
#7
It's easy to say "let's ban those things" it's much, much more difficult to write precise language that won't affect other mechanisms that involve inertia and trigger rate. This is another feel good reaction to a senseless act. With a little practice, the proper trigger pull, and a rubber band one can achieve the same action.
#8
I hadn't even heard of a Bump Stock until in 2013 I reviewed Feinstein's list of items she wanted banned. Frankly I don't see how a Bump Stock could possibly help ADA-wise, wonder whether the Republican Senators will allow all current lawful owners to become felons.
Bloomberg White House correspondent Jennifer Jacobs reports on Twitter that Trump's chief of staff, General John Kelly, was originally going to be on the Air Force One flight to Las Vegas but was "pulled off flight" at the last moment.
#1
My reading indicates that Paddok had multiple hotel rooms in Vegas. The question is where would Members of the Whitehouse team be expected to visit or hold rallies. Were any high level visits canceled before Paddok went off the rails. Will victims or members of the family be able to sue the bump stock company. Will bump stocks be outlawed?
#2
Could he have been needed for something urgent at the office? Is it possible it never happened at all? The deep state and the news media have a vested interest in creating mountains out of molehills about President Trump and his people.
#3
Obliquely re #1: Twenty-three place settings would suggest an expectation of company, while twenty-three firearms (or whatever that's up to now) suggests demonstrates... lunatic lonerhood! Swallowed that without a sniff, myself. Silly me.
#4
You have to have members of the inner staff fly separately for continuity and security reasons. SOP with military and corporate. Remember Polish contingent going to Russia that time.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/05/2017 11:22
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Salt removed. See AP's comment at #4.
Scratches bald head, sez to meself NWTFDITOT ?
[Ynet] Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said on La Belle France-Inter radio Tuesday that the assailant in Sunday's attack had Italian residency and a valid Tunisian passport. The attacker was killed by soldiers after the stabbings, which were claimed by 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.
One of the seven IDs the attacker used in previous encounters with French police was a Tunisian passport identifying him as Ahmed H. A judicial official said Tuesday that authorities have determined that is the Marseille attacker's true identity.
Rome prosecutors opened a terrorism investigation into the suspect, identified in the Italian media as Ahmed Hanachi. He had lived in Aprilia, south of Rome, from about 2006 to 2014, Italian news agency ANSA said.
According to Gay Paree Prosecutor Francois Molins, he didn't have any past convictions in La Belle France. Hanachi's most recent arrest occurred in the Lyon area Friday‐just two days before the train station stabbing. He was detained on suspicion of shoplifting and released the day before the attack.
Hanachi also had a record for petty crimes but no terrorism-related offenses or indications he had been radicalized, Italian daily La Repubblica said.
The reports said he lived in an area with a sizeable Tunisian community, and had married then divorced an Italian woman.
The region has already seen four people expelled from Italia for alleged radicalization-related reasons, Repubblica said.
Citing state security, Italia has expelled more than 200 people since 2015 who are suspected of radicalizing others or recruiting would-be jihadis‐offenses that wouldn't necessarily hold up in court but which the Interior Ministry uses as reason to expel them.
The area south of Rome was also where the Berlin Christmas market attacker, Anis Amri, spent about a week in July 2015 after getting out of an Italian prison. There's no indication the two ever crossed paths, Repubblica said, without citing sources.
[Ynet] European countries will do their utmost to preserve a deal limiting Iran's nuclear programme despite misgivings by US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... , a senior European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... diplomat said on Wednesday.
"This is not a bilateral agreement, it's a multilateral agreement. As Europeans, we will do everything to make sure it stays," Helga Schmid, secretary general of the European Union's foreign policy service, told an Iranian investment conference of the deal brokered by the bloc between Iran, the United States, La Belle France, Germany, Britannia, Russia and China.
Trump is weighing whether the pact serves US security interests as he faces an Oct. 15 deadline for certifying that Iran is complying, a decision that could sink an agreement strongly supported by the other world powers that negotiated it.
[IsraelTimes] IED planted on road near Iranian border goes off as military vehicle passes by, in kaboom that also wounds 4
Ottoman Turkish officials said four soldiers were killed and four were maimed Wednesday in a kaboom by Kurdish rebels in southeast The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... The governor’s office for the Hakkari province said that the improvised bomb was planted on a road near the town of Yuksekova, close to the border with Iran, and went off as a military vehicle was passing by.
It blamed a "separatist terrorist organization" ‐ its official term for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The maimed soldiers were transported to a hospital in Yusekova. There was no immediate information on their conditions.
The Hurriyet newspaper said the military launched an operation, backed by air power, to catch the murderous Moslems.
PKK rebels have waged a three-decade long insurgency in southeast Turkey. Violence flared again in 2015 after the collapse of a two-year grinding of the peace processor.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
10/05/2017
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Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) One civilian was killed and seven others were wounded on Wednesday when a bomb blast hit an area north of Baghdad, security sources were quoted saying.
Baghdad Today quoted the source saying that an explosive device went off near a popular market in Saba al-Bur region, north of the capital, leaving one dead and seven others injured.
A monthly count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), which excludes security members deaths, said 196 civilians were killed, while 381 others were wounded due to violence and armed conflicts during the month of September. The fatalities included 10 foreign nationals. Baghdad was the most affected province with 37 deaths and 157 injuries.
The Iraqi capital has seen almost daily bombings and armed attacks against security members, paramilitary troops and civilians since the Iraqi government launched a wide-scale campaign to retake Islamic State-occupied areas in 2016.
While most of of the explosions and attacks went without a claim of responsibility, Islamic State has claimed several incidents.
[GEO.TV] The chief of the Ansarul Shariah Pakistain (ASP) was in contact with members of a proscribed group which was involved in a major terrorist attack in the country, confirmed a security official on Wednesday.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... , claimed that the attack was carried out in Bloody Karachi
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Iran Press TV] A so-called monitoring group says Syrian army soldiers, supported by allied fighters from popular defense groups, have flushed ISISTakfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed... turbans out of their last positions in the western-central province of Hama as they continue to make territorial gains across the war-ravaged Arab country.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Wednesday that ISISDeath Eaters were no longer present anywhere in the province for the first time in three years.
The observatory's director, Rami Abdel Rahman, said government forces had "managed to take control of all the last remaining villages in the hands of ISIS in Hama province after more than a month of fierce festivities between the two sides."
The Britannia-based monitoring group further noted that more than 400 ISISturbans and nearly 190 Syrian soldiers and pro-government fighters had been killed in the fighting.
Posted by: Fred ||
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TRIPOLI: At least four people were killed Wednesday in a Daesh suicide bomb attack at the main court building in Libya’s third-largest city Misrata, security officials told AFP.
The officials said a suicide bomber was able to detonate an explosive vest inside the building in the center of Misrata, a coastal city about 200 km east of Tripoli.
Three men belonging to Daesh “carried out a suicide attack against the court complex in Misrata... killing four people and wounding 15 others,” Gen. Mohammed Ghassri, a spokesman for armed forces in Misrata that are loyal to the country’s internationally backed government, told AFP.
He said the three men got out of a vehicle and one was able to push his way into the building and set off explosives. Of the other two, one was shot dead and the other arrested, Ghassri said.
Misrata is home to powerful armed forces who were the backbone of an offensive that routed Daesh from the coastal city of Sirte in December 2016.
That offensive was backed by Libya’s UN-endorsed Government of National Accord (GNA), one of two main rival governments that emerged from the chaos that followed the 2011 ouster of long-time strongman Muammar Qaddafi.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility from Daesh for Wednesday’s attack, but the militant group remains a force in Libya despite losing control of Sirte.
Many of its fighters have redeployed to the country’s vast and lawless desert south.
The US military last month carried out a wave of air strikes on Daesh in Libya, killing 17 people on Sept. 22 at a desert camp 240 km southeast of Sirte.
The US Africa command said the camp was used to move militants in and out of the country, store weapons and plot attacks.
In August, Daesh claimed responsibility for an attack in which 11 people were beheaded at a checkpoint manned by forces loyal to military strongman Khalifa Haftar.
Nine soldiers and two civilians were killed in that attack in the Al-Jufra region about 500 km south of Tripoli.
Haftar supports an eastern-based administration that is a rival to the GNA.
Posted by: badanov ||
10/05/2017
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[Breitbart] Not sure this is what Commissioner Goodell had in mind when he emphasized community outreach. A pair of new videos showing several NFL players taunting fans, and screaming the "f-word" have been revealed.
The videos from last Monday’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Washington Redskins show Redskins player Terrell Pryor and Chiefs player Marcus Peters going off on fans who were yelling at them from the stands.
In the first video, Chiefs defensive back Marcus Peters responds to fans who were likely offering less than kind criticism after he gave up a 44-yard touchdown early in the game.
Peters is seen yelling out, "F**k you, b**ch," and then slamming his helmet to the ground in anger:
#2
We are at the tipping point of the NFL losing the the whole shebang. I am up to here with shadenfreude for the NFL.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/05/2017 1:11
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This seems like another rule broken (apart from breaking the rules on your national anthem ceremony) that the NFL will ignore as it swirls into the drain.
#8
I wonder if the "taking a knee" about the police might be popular among NFL players not just because of virtue signalling, but because there may be a lot closer contact with the police. Maybe not player X, but he undoubtedly knows somebody. https://www.usatoday.com/sports/nfl/arrests/
Posted by: James ||
10/05/2017 9:44
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#9
It'll be interesting when a few ex-millionaire players living on welfare (because higher minimum wages replaced the fry cook with a robot) learn that the NFL players weren't racist after all, they just didn't want any politics (as was shown by the minimal anger when pro-Cop and pro-9/11 support efforts were shut down by the NFL). When they truly grasp they killed the golden goose because they were stupid and misinformed.
#10
It's not the first time in NFL history that the fans and the players have 'interacted'; it just took this latest bout of progressive idiocy to get past the network cameras.
[DAWN] A Ottoman Turkish court on Wednesday handed life sentences to 34 people for plotting to assassinate President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... at a luxury Aegean hotel during last year's failed coup.
The 34 were given four life sentences each at the trial in the southwestern city of Mugla, state-run TRT Haber television said.
The group includes former brigadier general Gokhan Sahin Sonmezates who was accused of directing the plot.
The trial began on February 20 and is one of many such processes taking place across The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... to try those who allegedly plotted the failed bid to oust Erdogan on July 15, 2016.
Some verdicts have already been handed out in low profile cases but it is the first ruling involving top plotters.
The failed coup left 249 people dead, not including the putschists, and the authorities have vowed no compromise in bringing those involved to justice.
Turkey accuses Pennsylvania-based Moslemholy 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... of orchestrating the attempted coup. Gulen, a former Erdogan ally-turned-foe, strongly denies Ankara's claims.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[HOSTED.AP.ORG] President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... 's pardon of former Sheriff Joe Arpaio's conviction for disobeying a court order in an immigration case will stand after a judge on Wednesday rejected arguments that it would encourage government officials to flout similar judicial commands in the future.
U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton cited U.S. Supreme Court precedent in formally dismissing the criminal case against the former six-term sheriff of metro Phoenix known for his harsh treatment of inmates and immigration enforcement crackdowns.
She held off on ruling on Arpaio's request to throw out all orders in the case, including a blistering 14-page ruling in which the judge explained her original reasoning in finding that Arpaio was guilty of a crime.
"I have concluded the pardon is valid," Bolton said.
The hearing Wednesday came five weeks after Trump pardoned Arpaio's conviction for intentionally defying a 2011 court order to stop his traffic patrols that targeted immigrants colonists.
The former sheriff, who didn't attend Wednesday's hearing in federal court, was accused of continuing the patrols for 17 months so that he could promote his immigration enforcement efforts in a bid to boost his successful 2012 re-election campaign. And I have concluded that upon learning of this, Robert Mueller quietly shat himself.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#3
The Judge that issued the order to stop aggressivsly enforcing the immigration law is responsible for all of victims caused by the illegals allowed to remain as predators in our communities. The victims of the illevals are inconvenient truth in this case.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Talibs and their commanders suffered heavy casualties during the latest counter-terrorism operations in northern Kunduz province of Afghanistan.
According to the 209th Shaheen Corps of the Afghan national army, the latest casualties were inflicted to the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... bully boyz in Imam Sahib district.
The officials of the Shaheen Corps said at least elevent Taliban bully boyz were killed and seventeen others were maimed during the operations.
The officials further added that two senior commanders of the group identified as Qari Turab and Qari Nazir were among those killed.
Two other senior Taliban leaders identified as Mawlavi Mazhari and Qari Khanjar were also maimed during the operations, the official said.
The Shaheen Corps officials said the operations were conducted by the Afghan Air Force and ground forces in the past 24 hours.
This comes as at least 31 Lions of Islam were killed and 16 others were maimed after Arclight airstrikes and artillery raids pounded the Taliban positions in Imam Sahib district on Sunday.
The officials of Shaheen Corps said Monday that the operations were conducted in Pul-e-Pak, Nasiryan, and Joi Begum villages of the district.
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The US Secretary of Defense James Mattis has warned that President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... is prepared to take whatever actions are necessary if Washington’s efforts fail to work with Pakistain in Afghanistan.
Speaking to the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, Mattis said Washington considers to try one more time to work with Pakistain.
He said "We need to try one more time to make this strategy work with them, by, with and through the Paks, and if our best efforts fail, the president is prepared to take whatever steps are necessary."
Relations and ties between Islamabad and Washington have deteriorated since President Trump announced the new US strategy for South Asia and strongly criticized Pakistain for sheltering the terrorist groups.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States General Joseph Dunford has confirmed that the military intelligence of Pakistain’s military, Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), has connections with the terror group.
"It is clear to that ISI has connections with the terrorist groups," Gen. Dunford said.
The Afghan and US officials are saying that the conflict in the country has links with the sanctuaries of the terrorist groups, particularly the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... and Haqqani network which have remained intact in the key cities of Pakistain.
However, the man who has no enemies isn't anybody and has never done anything... Islamabad has repeatedly rejected the allegations although in some stances the country’s bigwigs have admitted the presence of some of the notorious terrorist networks and leaders, including Haqqani network.
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least eleven bully boyz affiliated with the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) Khorasan were killed in the latest Arclight airstrikes conducted by the US forces in eastern Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province of Afghanistan.
The provincial government media office in a statement said the Arclight airstrikes were carried out in Achin district on Tuesday.
The statement further added that the bully boyz were targeted in Mamand Dara and Dab village areas of the district.
Some weapons and ammunition of the bully boyz were also destroyed in the Arclight airstrike, the statement said.
It also added that the local residents and security personnel on the ground did not suffer any casualties in the Arclight airstrikes.
Nangarhar is among the relatively calm provinces in East of Afghanistan but the anti-government armed bully boyz have increased their insurgency activities in some districts of the province during the recent years.
A similar Arclight airstrike killed a key member of the terror group in this province earlier this week.
The provincial police commandment in a statement said the Arclight airstrike was carried out by the US forces with unmanned aerial vehicles on Sunday killing two ISIS members including a key member of the terror group identified as Qari Zahid.
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Pak officials are saying that an army soldier was killed while another one has sustained injuries in the fresh wave of violence along the Durnad Line.
The officials in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... province of Pakistain are saying that two soldiers were maimed after they came under fire from the other side of the line from Afghanistan.
The officials further added that the soldiers were based in a check post in Tirah valley when they were attacked and one of the maimed soldiers departed this vale of tears after he was taken to hospital for the treatment.
The local officials are claiming that the soldiers were attacked from Nazian district of eastern Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province of Afghanistan.
In the meantime, the local officials in Nangarhar province of Afghanistan are saying that more than eighty rockets landed from the other side of the line since Tuesday.
The officials said at least forty rockets landed in Achin district while forty four others hit the areas in Nazian district.
The shelling apparently took place in response to the violence close to Khyber Agency ... the place to go if you've got an Indiana Jones hat and whip. Chock full of high adventure and treacherous Pathans. You should really train up to it, though... but the officials in Nangarhar are saying that the shelling did not incur any casualties.
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[DAWN] Former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry's Pakistain Justice and Democratic Party (PDJP) on Wednesday filed a petition in the Supreme Court (SC) against Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... for his "criticism of the judges and judiciary" in his speeches since the Panamagate verdict.
The petition was submitted by PDJP vice president Ahsanul Din Sheikh.
"Nawaz Sharif has not accepted the SC's verdict and has been criticising it in his speeches," the petition said, adding that the former prime minister has been "passing remarks against the judges and the judicial system."
"Pakistain Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) chairman Absar Alam has failed to do his duty and thus, the court should hold him and Nawaz Sharif in contempt," the petition said.
The SC, on July 28, had disqualified Nawaz Sharif in the landmark hearing of the Panamagate case. Since then, even though he stepped down from his position as the prime minister, the newly re-appointed PML-N chief has taken to raising questions against the verdict in public gatherings.
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[Iran Press TV] Iraqi army forces, backed by allied fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units, have fully liberated more areas near the strategic northern town of Hawijah from the clutches of ISIS bully boys, as they have launched a final assault to retake the terrorists’ last bastion in the country’s oil-rich northern province of Kirkuk.
The commander of the Hawijah liberation operation, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah, said on Wednesday that army troops, members of the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) and pro-government forces, commonly known by their Arabic name Hashd al-Sha’abi, had freed the villages of al-Maslakha, al-Mullali, al-Sada and al-Fathah, Arabic-language al-Sumaria television network reported.
Yarallah added that the troops established complete control over the Makhoul mountain range, fully liberated al-Harrariyat region, and took back the western flank of al-Fathah Bridge.
The high-ranking Iraqi military commander further underlined that Iraqi government soldiers and their allies had accomplished their tasks concerning the liberation of Hawijah, located 45 kilometers west of Kirkuk.
Meanwhile, ...back at the pond, the radioactive tadpoles grown into frogs. Really big frogs, in fact... the media bureau of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) stated that a total of 98 villages had been retaken during the second part of the second phase of the Hawijah liberation operation.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Iran Press TV] Fearless Leader of the Islamic Revolution ...Iran's doddering head theocrat... Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei ...the successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the actual dictator of Iran... says the United States and Israel benefit from the recent referendum in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, stressing Washington and foreign powers seek to create a new Israel.
"The United States and foreign powers are untrustworthy and seek to create a new Israel in the region," Ayatollah Khamenei said.
The Leader made the remarks in a meeting with Ottoman Turkish President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... in Tehran on Wednesday.
Ayatollah Khamenei stressed that holding the Kurdish vote in Iraq was an act of betrayal against the region and posed a threat to the future of the Middle East, warning about the long-term repercussions of the vote for Iraq’s neighbors.
"Iran and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... should take every possible measure against the move and the Iraqi government, too, should make decisions and take serious action," the Leader said.
Ayatollah Khamenei said enemies were trying to keep Iran and Turkey away from major regional developments, noting foreign powers and Israel have been seeking to create contention between regional countries.
The Leader said Iran-Turkey cooperation on major developments in the Moslem world was highly significant and instrumental.
Ayatollah Khamenei expressed satisfaction with Tehran-Ankara cooperation during the Astana talks on Syria, which he said had resulted in the improvement of the situation in the Arab country.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq
#1
Aww,
Shut up. None of you have made crap, ever.
BEIRUT: A Russian air strike killed at least 20 civilians on Wednesday as they tried to cross the Euphrates river to escape fighting in eastern Syria’s Deir Ezzor province, a monitor said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said children were among those killed as they tried to cross the river aboard rafts, escaping from areas where Russian-backed regime forces are battling the Daesh group.
Two campaigns are being fought against the jihadist group in east Deir Ezzor, with one on the western side of the Euphrates river that slices diagonally across the province led by Syrian troops and backed by ally Russia.
The second is being fought by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, on the eastern bank of the river.
The Observatory relies on a network of sources inside Syria and says it determines whose planes carry out raids according to type, location, flight patterns and munitions used.
The group has reported hundreds of civilians killed in operations against Daesh in Deir Ezzor and neighboring Raqqa province, where the SDF is fighting with US support to capture the former jihadist bastion Raqqa city.
On Tuesday, the Observatory said a US-led coalition strike in Raqqa killed at least 18 civilians.
The coalition says it takes all measures possible to avoid civilian casualties and that it investigates all credible allegations.
Last month, it acknowledged the deaths of over 700 civilians in its strikes in Syria and Iraq since 2014.
Russia has not acknowledged any civilian deaths in its strikes since its intervened in Syria’s war in 2015 and dismisses the Observatory’s reporting as biased.
The deaths in Deir Ezzor on Wednesday prompted outrage from the opposition Syrian National Coalition which described the incident as a “heinous crime.”
More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.
Posted by: badanov ||
10/05/2017
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The Afghan forces regained control of Fandoqestan valley of Seyagerd district of northern Parwan province early Wednesday after it collapsed to the Taliban late last week.
Zaman Mamuzai, provincial police chief said that the Afghan security forces launched a military operation early Wednesday with the support of the airforces.
“The Taliban fled the area and went to Wardak province. The forces have also seized vehicles and weapons from the insurgents. The forces now have control of the area,” Mamuzai said adding that “two security forces were wounded during the operation.”
However, he did not provide further details about the operation nor about casualties among the insurgents.
Over 2,000 people were displaced from the valley due to clashes in the past five days, according to officials.
Two girls were also killed and seven other civilians were wounded.
Taliban in a statement has rejected the report, claiming that the area has not been retaken by the Afghan forces.
[FOXNEWS] Leb's murderous Moslem Hezbollah group says one of its top commanders has been killed while fighting 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.... holy warriors in Syria.
The 44-year-old Ali al-Hadi al-Ashiq is the latest fatality for the Shiite group that has fought alongside Syrian government forces in the civil war next door since 2012.
Hezbollah said on Wednesday that he was killed fighting IS in the central desert of Palmyra on Monday.
Hezbollah sent thousands of fighters to Syria, helping government forces in major battlefields victories against armed opposition and Islamic murderous Moslems.
More than 1,000 Hezbollah fighters have been killed there.
Al-Ashiq, also known by his nickname Alhaj Abbas, was among first Hezbollah commanders sent to Syria and he took part in the key battle in al-Qusair, near the Lebanese border.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Libya Herald] Fighting erupted this evening near Gasr Ben Ghashir, next to Tripoli International Airport, between units mainly belonging to Tripoli strongman Haithem Tajouri and forces from Tarhouna.
There has been considerable confusion as precisely who the latter are. Local reports say that they are members of the Islamist-leaning Marghani brigade led by Salah Al-Marghani and his nephew Sharif. However, some reports claim they are now Qaddafi supporters and support the Libyan National Army.
There are also reports of Tarhouna’s notorious Kani Brigade being involved, but this time not with Marghani but with Tajouri. They are said to have created a new and unexpected alliance with him against their erstwhile Marghani allies.
They were part of Libya Dawn and have, until now, supported the would-be government of Khalifa Ghwell.
The Tripoli forces are said to also include fighters under the control of Tajouri’s ally Abdulghani Al-Kikli (Ghneiwa).
The reason for the clashes is also less than clear. Local reports say that Tajouri had launched a pre-emptive attack after being told that the Tarhouna forces were rallying to move against the capital. Manoeuvres allegedly involving pro-LNA and pro-Qaddafi forces in the area near the airport have been reported over the past fortnight. Tajouri himself said the same last month, adding that he was keeping a close eye on the area.
By late evening it was reported that the Marghani forces had fled towards the Wirshefana area.
Posted by: badanov ||
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#1
Macro F8
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/05/2017 9:46
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#2
As the late great Casey Stengel said:
"Can't anyone play this game?"
Of course this is Libya....and Benghazi... and Islamists
[DAWN] Four more women were stabbed and injured by the "knifeman" in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... in the vicinity of Aziz Bhatti and Shahrah-e-Faisal cop shoppes on Wednesday, bringing the official number of victims to 10, a police spokesperson told Dawn.
Fear and panic prevailed among the residents of the area as police authorities fail to arrest ostensibly a lone attacker who has been on a stabbing spree since last week in Gulistan-e-Jauhar and adjoining areas.
Fear gripped residents after reports surfaced of a "knife attacker" targeting women in the area. Subsequently, the police had launched a manhunt and an investigation into the motive and identity of the attacker.
The latest attacks come after the Karachi East-Zone Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Sultan Ali Khowaja announced that police officials were deployed in at least 30 points in Gulistan-e-Jauhar along with decoy teams in order to prevent the attacks and arrest the culprit, a day before.
According to the police, a woman was stabbed near Millenium Mall in the Gulistan-e-Jauhar area. Another woman was attacked at Aziz Bhatti Park in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. Both attacks occurred in the jurisdiction of the Aziz Bhatti cop shoppe.
A third woman was attacked in Gulshan-e-Jamal that falls under the Shahrah-e-Faisal cop shoppe.
The fourth incident was reported in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, where a 13-year old girl was stabbed and injured.
She was taken to Jinnah hospital for treatment. The hospital’s executive director, Dr Seemin Jamali said that the girl sustained minor stab wounds on her back.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[DAWN] Shouting "occupation forces out" and "the streets will always be ours," hundreds of thousands turned out in Barcelona on Tuesday to protest police violence during a banned weekend independence referendum in Catalonia.
Columns of people converged onto the city centre as the region went on general strike. A police helicopter flying overhead drew angry whistles as Catalans reel from the unrest that marred parts of the Spain’s northeast region on Sunday.
"On October 1, we were an occupied country, and they haven’t left yet," Antonia Maria Maura, a 56-year-old primary school teacher, said of national police and Guardia Civil forces that were deployed to Catalonia from other parts of Spain to stop the vote.
City police said 300,000 people were marching in the streets of Barcelona in a peaceful atmosphere, though there were tense moments as protesters said they feared agitators would try and sow discord.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
What did the Europeans expect after decades of diminishing sovereignty in favor of national organizations. Why not have Catalonia and Scotland and Bavaria as members of the EU. Assuming the EU is the future as they've been saying.
Russia’s Aerospace Forces have critically wounded Nusra Front ’emir’ Abu Mohammad al-Joulani in Syria.
According to reports, Russia’s Aerospace Forces have critically wounded al-Joulani in Syria, and killed 12 field commanders of the terrorist group which controls Idlib Governorate.
“As a result of the strike, Jabhat al-Nusra leader Abu Mohammad Jouliani received multiple heavy fragmentation wounds and, having lost his hand, is in critical condition, according to several independent sources,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Wednesday.
“Along with numerous (about 50 people) security guards, 12 field commanders of Jabhat al-Nusra, including the closest aide of Jouliani, were also killed,” he added.
Moscow has been conducting an anti-terrorist operation in Syria since September 30, 2015, at its president’s request.
[FOREIGNPOLICY] The notorious jihadi Hafiz Saeed ...founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and its false-mustache offshoot Jamaat-ud-Dawa. The United Nations declared the JuD a terrorist organization in 2008 and Hafiz Saeed a terrorist as its leader. Hafiz, JuD and LeT are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Pak intel apparatus, so that amounted to squat... has apparently had a change of heart. Like many turbans in Pakistain, the 67-year-old firebrand ...firebrands are noted more for audio volume and the quantity of spittle generated than for any actual logic in their arguments... used to rage against democracy. But earlier this month a new political party, controlled in all but name by Saeed ‐ the leader of the bully boy organization Lashkar-e-Taiba
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
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[BREITBART] At long last, we appear to finally have some proof that the Russians interfered in American democracy. Before some of you get too excited, there is still zero proof of any collusion between the Russians and the Trump campaign. There is still zero proof the Russians in any way “hacked the 2016 election.” There is still zero proof the Russians changed a single vote in 2016.
According to CNN, though, what we do have proof of is that in late 2015 and early 2016, the Russians used Facebook ads to promote Black Lives Matter.
Moreover, the report also says that the Russians’ overall goal in Ferguson and Baltimore was pretty much the same as CNN’s overall goal in Ferguson and Baltimore — to stir up division and chaos. Communists seeking to clandestinely undermine democracy through racial division? Have you not heard?
"The cold war has been over for twenty years."
~ Soetoro
[ABC] As investigators delve deeper into how Sunday night's massacre in Las Vegas unfolded, more chilling details have emerged about the suspected gunman and how he allegedly carried out the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Authorities said Paddock opened fire on a music festival crowd from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, killing 58 people and injuring 530 others. The shooting lasted nine to 11 minutes, with the first reports of gunshots beginning Sunday at 10:05 p.m. PT and the final shots being fired at 10:15 p.m.
Paddock is believed to have been solely responsible for the attack, according to police.
Speaking this evening, Lombardo said that there is evidence that indicates Paddock, a 64-year-old resident of Mesquite, Nevada, planned to escape.
However, Lombardo did not provide any details on what the evidence was or why he believes that.
Lombardo added that there are indications Paddock had some kind of help.
Car loaded with 50lbs of Tannerite. Where was it parked?Could he have ignited it with a well placed shot and created a diversion in order to escape? Was there another vehicle in the parking lot, an accomplice? Then there is the issue of wiring $100k to his girl friend on vacation in the PI, with instructions to "buy a house."
[LasVegasReviewJournal] Las Vegas Strip mass murderer Stephen Paddock used his Mandalay Bay hotel room to spray massive aviation fuel tanks with bullets Sunday night, a knowledgeable source told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The bullets left holes, but did not penetrate the two circular white tanks, sparing the nearby Route 91 Harvest country music festival from a potentially massive explosion, the source said Wednesday.
The tanks are roughly 1,100 feet from the concert site, where Paddock killed 58 people and wounded almost 500.
Within the past couple of days, construction crews repaired and painted the holes, and FBI agents inspected the tanks and took measurements of the line of fire from Mandalay Bay, the source said.
Paddock, a 64-year-old Mesquite resident, had broken two windows in his 32nd-floor suite — one in line with the concert site and the other with a direct view of the fuel tanks, the source said. The bases of private aircraft operators are close to the tanks.
FBI spokeswoman Sandra Breault declined to comment. “We can’t comment on an ongoing investigation,” she said late Wednesday.
Baqubah (IraqiNews.com) Diyala police service said Wednesday security forces killed a suicide bomber before he carried out an attack on civilians.
Ghaleb al-Attiya, media official at the province’s police department, told Alsumaria News that a police force killed a suicide bomber after trapping him inside a vehicle he was riding at al-Kawthar, east of Baqubah.
Meanwhile, Alsumaria News quoted a local source saying that Mutaibija, an Islamic State militancy hotspot on the borders between Diyala and Salahuddin, has witnessed an “unprecedented calm” over the past 24 hours.
According to the source, the current quietness follows the death of several senior IS leaders in air raids. “Infiltrations of Mutaibija from Hawija and nearby regions have completely stopped over the past three days after all ground routes through Hamreen mountains were cut off.
Posted by: badanov ||
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[SFGATE] Russia said Wednesday it carried out air strikes in Syria this week that critically maimed the leader of an al Qaeda-linked group and killed 12 other myrmidon commanders.
There was no immediate comment from fellow Lions of Islam or other Syria monitors on the fate of Abu Mohammed al-Golani, leader of the al Qaeda-linked Levant Liberation Committee.
Russia has been waging an air campaign in support of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now... ’s forces since 2015, helping them to make major advances against 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.... , al Qaeda-linked bully boyz and mainstream rebels.
Syrian troops are currently closing in on the eastern city of Mayadeen, one of the last major Islamic State strongholds in the country.
The Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syrian troops and allied snuffies have advanced to about six miles north of Mayadeen. The activist-operated Deir Ezzor24 says dozens of rockets and barrel bombs fell on Mayadeen and surrounding villages on Wednesday.
The Observatory said at least 20 people were killed in air strikes on a village north of Mayadeen, while Deir Ezzor24 said at least 15 were killed. Tens of thousands of civilians have fled Mayadeen and the surrounding areas in the past week.
The Observatory said the government advance has been preceded by a barrage of air strikes, counting over 1,000 since Friday.
Mayadeen has become the main hub for Islamic State myrmidons, including the group’s leaders, as its former strongholds in Raqqa, Deir el-Zour and djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... have come under attack.
U.S-backed Syrian forces and the Russia-backed Syrian military are in a race for control of territory in eastern Syria as they both battle the Lion of Islam group.
Al-Golani’s Levant Liberation Committee controls the northwestern Idlib province, on the other side of the country. The province recently has come under intense aerial attack. Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, the Russian Defense Ministry front man, announced the wounding of the myrmidon leader.
As with other top murderous Moslem leaders, al-Golani’s death has been falsely reported in the past.
Konashenkov said Russia carried out the air strikes at some holy man's guesthouse an undisclosed location in Syria on Tuesday after receiving intelligence about an upcoming high-level meeting of the group’s leaders. He said 50 other Lions of Islam who were securing the gathering also were killed.
[Ynet] Syria's Tahrir al-Sham militant group denied in a statement on social media on Wednesday that its leader had been critically wounded in a Russian air strike and said he was in good health and performing his duties.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it had seriously injured Abu Mohamad al-Golani on Oct. 3 in an intelligence-led special operation while he was meeting his field commanders. Golani headed the Nusra Front, the former al Qaeda affiliate, before it merged with other groups to form Tahrir al-Sham.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Top|| File under: al-Nusra
The author is in the left's writers farm system
(CNN) In the wake of one of the worst massacres in modern American history, our government's highest leaders will be silent about why things like this keep happening. "Warmest condolences" will be tweeted to families of those who lost their lives, minutes of mourning will pass and murmurs of mental health issues and lone-wolf actors will taper into silence. Taming homegrown terror and tightening gun control will be dismissed as inappropriate or unnecessary politicizing of a tragedy and quickly become secondary to more pressing issues on the administration's agenda. America has been here before.
In fact, America has been here 273 times in 2017 alone, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which compiles deaths and injuries from shooting incidents and defines a mass shooting as any incident where four or more people are wounded or killed. According to their tally, there have also been 11,698 deaths as a result of gun violence so far this year. Between 2001 and 2014, 440,095 deaths by firearms occurred on US soil, while deaths by terrorism during those years numbered 3,412. Today, America faces approximately one mass shooting per day on average. I wish this gal would keep to stats from 2017 to make her point. Instead she has to stretch out the statistics so they compile into large numbers, all without pointing out differences between the data sets and what she is trying to say. We know now that many of those mass shootings in 2017 are crime and gang related, and are from extremely violent cities such as Chicago and others run or controlled by the left. And she fails to point out that while trying to fold statistics from the data sets from 2001 and 2017, including suicides and gun accidents. All in all, a rather dishonest attempt at discussing gun violence.
Mass shootings are a violent epidemic that have been met with fatal passivity for far too long. If mass shootings were perpetrated mostly by brown bodies, this would quickly be reframed and reformed as an immigration issue. If thousands died at the hands of black men, it would be used to excuse police brutality, minimize the Black Lives Matter movement and exacerbate the "raging black man" stereotype. If mass shooters identified as Muslim, it would quickly become terrorism and catalyze defense and security expenditures. No, but instead this author wishes to politicize the Las Vegas incident through racial frames.
But this is a white man's problem. According to an analysis by Mother Jones, out of 62 cases between 1982 and 2012 (a time period that would not include the actions of Dylann Roof or Stephen Paddock, among others), 44 of the killers were white men and only one was a woman. There she goes again, splitting data sets.
Since 1982, mass shootings in the United States have been committed by white men who are often labeled "lone wolves" or "psychologically impaired." As a result, the government that would otherwise be mobilizing its institutions to bring about reform remains a stalwart of the Second Amendment and mass shootings' greatest ally. An over-affinity for guns among white men, dangerous against any other backdrop, gets defended as patriotism by many conservatives or even as white pride by those on the alt-right. Gun ownership affinity includes all races, not just "white men." Everyone wants to take responsibility for their own safety, and not rely on this author's customers to show up to protect her and her ilk.
In fact, according to a 2014 poll conducted by Fox News, nearly seven in 10 Republicans believed that gun ownership is patriotic. If espoused by other groups, this sentiment and this number might be considered threatening. Instead, it is welcomed in a way that many believe gives tacit encouragement to potential mass shooters. "Many" to include the "many" in the author's fetid imagination.
Make no mistake: this is war culture that has dressed up as Uncle Sam and embedded itself into the American psyche. Any other path -- let's say, for example, abortion or foreign-born terror -- that led to the destruction of life on this level would be attacked as violently opposed to American values. But because this culture is embraced by the race and party that controls the government, it continues to be celebrated and defended in the spirit of love of country. So what's your problem again?
#2
Doesn't seem silent to me. Endless talk about it, public court cases where the perp is still alive, calls for gun control.
If you want silence, check out Chicago. "What's that?" "Why?"
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
10/05/2017 7:43
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#3
When you see their real rage, it won't be silent. I promise you that.
#4
The real problem is how do we stop the gang violence. Clearly gun laws don't work, less intrusive policing doesn't work. Shorter sentences doesn't work.
#5
Hmmm. Could be white men tend to have health insurance and therefore greater access to psych meds. Americans have always had guns. How long have we had some of these medications?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
10/05/2017 12:33
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#6
#3: Procopius2K:
How America has silently accepted provoked the rage of white men
[DAWN] Three Death Eaters tried and convicted by military courts were executed at a jail in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... on Wednesday, according to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
The convicts were "involved in committing heinous offences relating to terrorism, including [an] attack on a Pakistain International Airlines (PIA) plane at Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. Airport, killing of civilians, attacking the armed forces and law enforcement agencies," the ISPR handout read.
Former army chief Gen Raheel Sharif ..Pak chief of army staff, meaning he pulls the strings on the Nawaz Sharif puppet to make it dance and sing and not do much at all.... signed the death warrants of the three terrorists, identified as Sajid, Behram and Fazal-e-Ghaffar, on Nov 7, July 14 and March 15 last year.
The details of the convicts provided by ISPR are as follows:
Sajid s/o Ibrahim Khan: The convict was a member of proscribed organization. He was involved in firing on a PIA plane landing at Peshawar Airport which resulted in death of a woman and injuries to two other passengers. He was also involved in killing of innocent civilians and attacking LEAs, which resulted in death of a man identified as Pir Israr, along with eight of his family members, a civilian Niaz Gul, Assistant Sub Inspector Sajid Khan and injuries to civilians and police officials. The convict was in possession of fire arms and explosives. He admitted his offences before a magistrate and the trial court. He was awarded a death sentence.
Behram Sher s/o Khairan: The convict was a member of proscribed organization. He was involved in destruction of the Government Girls Primary School as well as attacking army personnel, which resulted in the death of a soldier and injuries to 2 other soldiers. He was also in possession of explosives. The convict admitted his offences before a magistrate and the trial court. He was awarded a death sentence.
Fazal-e-Ghaffar s/o Shehzada: The convict was a member of proscribed organization. He was involved in attacking the armed forces which resulted in death of four soldiers and injuries to another soldier. He was also in possession of a suicide jacket. The convict admitted his offences before a magistrate and the trial court. He was awarded a death sentence.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/05/2017
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[POLITICO] The mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, strongly denounced Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... Tuesday night after the president visited the island, calling him the "miscommunicator in chief" and "insulting."
"He was insulting to the people of Puerto Rico," Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz said Tuesday night on MSNBC hours after meeting Trump face-to-face at a briefing with Puerto Rican leaders and the president. Beyond the briefing, Trump also toured damaged areas and helped distribute supplies, flicking paper towels into a crowd with the motion of a jump shot in basketball. All of it, Cruz said, was disingenuous.
"This was a PR, 17-minute meeting. There was no exchange with anybody, with none of the mayors," the mayor said. "And in fact, this terrible and abominable view of him throwing paper towels and throwing provisions at people, it really ‐ it does not embody the spirit of the American nation, you know?"
Particularly egregious, according to the mayor, was Trump’s remark during the briefing with Puerto Rican officials that they should "be very proud" because the corpse count on the island has not spiked as it did in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, which the president said was "a real catastrophe."
"He kind of minimized our suffering here by saying that Katrina was a real disaster, sort of implying that this was not a real disaster because not many people have died here," Cruz said. "Well you know what? They’re dying. They don’t have the medical resources."
The mayor and Trump butted heads ahead of the president’s Tuesday visit, a feud that began last week when Cruz appeared on CNN, begging for more help from the federal government and slamming the glowing appraisal of the recovery effort that acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke had given earlier in the week. Trump then lashed out at the mayor, writing online that she had been instructed by Democrats to attack the president and that she and other Puerto Rican leaders "want everything to be done for them."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/05/2017
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#1
The slave owners party that also gave you KKK and Jim Crow, now instructs the new slaves party apparatchik members on what to say at the worst of times.
#2
Joyfull interaction is obviously disgusting to her so I recommend our Commander in Chief order the distinguished General who served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan on a bitch slap mission on behalf of the army of hard working first responders in Puerto Rico.
#7
50 years ago (gosh I'm old) I had a summer job in a Linden NJ factory that made toy musical instruments. Most of the workers were Cuban or Puerto Rican immigrants. The "interactions" between the two groups was memorable.
Basically the Cubans were hard working and fun to be around. The PRs were sullen and lazy by comparison and the two groups were constantly bitching at each other in Spanish. There weren't a lot of physical confrontations but there were a few.
#8
Ok, so there are 3.5 Million Puerto Ricans and the island's government has a debt they cannot pay of over $123 Billion? I'm gonna need a bigger calculator.
#9
Trump is giving free stuff which cuts her off from her constituents. She probably hoped he give the free stuff to her so she could take a cut and distribute it, the old fashioned way.
#10
Cesare,
Just use scientific notation (exponents of ten) and you could even handle Zimbabwe currency cdalculations. No bigger calculator needed. :<]
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/05/2017 11:16
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[THESUN.CO.UK] A JEALOUS chimp called Romeo beat up a zookeeper and chewed off his ear because he thought the man was flirting with his partner Juliet.
Romeo flew into a rage when his female mate tried to kiss zookeeper Sergey through a glass window in their cage at the Feldman Eco Park zoo in Lisne, Ukraine.
The chimp started pummelling Juliet and when Sergey stepped in to try and break them up, Romeo turned on him, biting off his fingers and part of his ear. Johnny Cash once sang about this, a song called A Boy Named Sergey...
He also gave the horrified zookeeper a black eye.
Fortunately, Sergey escaped and was rushed to hospital where he underwent surgery for his injuries.
Hospital spokesman Andriy Kozachenko told local media: “The man's right ear and fingers on his left hand had been chewed and some parts of his ear and fingers are missing as they were bitten off.
“We did our best to save what was left.”
Zoo spokeswoman Valeria Ivashenko said: “Chimpanzees are very dangerous animals with strong jaws that can easily tear off flesh.
“He should not have entered the cage.
“But he has been looking after the pair of chimpanzees for six years and had feelings for them.”
Sergey said he had a close relationship with both chimps and nothing like this had ever happened before.
He said: “When Juliet kissed me through glass, Romeo became very angry.
A few months ago Romeo and Juliet had their first baby.
The zookeeper added that he knew he shouldn’t have entered the cage but broke the rules on purpose because he didn’t want Juliet to be injured.
He said is now looking forward to going back to work. Never monkey with another monkey's monkey.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/05/2017
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#1
When you return to work, remember not to monkey with Juliet.
#4
Sergey controls when and what the Chimpanzees get for dinner. Lots of opportunity in that.
A Lot of things can happen to Romeo at dinner time. Sawdust mixed with monkey crap for Romeo. OR a LOT of ExLax and nobody the wiser. Keep it up and then spice it up with Nausea medication. An entire Pharmacology taken to extremes. And THEN we move Juliet to a separate cage....and stop cleaning up after Romeo. The full treatment.
Posted by: Glalet Scourge of the Boskonians5304 ||
10/05/2017 6:22
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#5
Re #4, Based on our experience with abusive spouses, it wouldn't do any good.
[Dhaka Tribune] Jessia Islam has been selected as the new face to represent Bangladesh in the main competition of Miss World. Jannatul Nayeem Avril, the former Miss World Bangladesh champion’s title was disqualified followed by all the controversies about her past marriage and more. Jessia as new Miss World Bangladesh was announced by the organisers at a presser on Wednesday evening (October 4) at The Westin Dhaka hotel in Gulshan.
The judges of the grand finale including fashion designer Bibi Russell, actress Shampa Reza, photographer Chanchal Mahmood were present at the presser. Organiser Swapan Chowdhury of Antar Showbiz, Co-organizer Omicon Entertainment’s Chairman Mehedi Hasan and title sponsor Lovello’s Managing Director Md Ekramul Haque were present at the presser.
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[DAWN] Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif raised the issue of United States's South Asia Policy with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and told him that Islamabad has pursued a zero-tolerance and indiscriminate approach in its campaign against "all terrorist and myrmidon groups", read a statement issued by the Foreign Office on Wednesday.
Pakistain and the US shared a common desire for peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region on the lam, the foreign minister maintained.
The minister pointed out that Pakistain has been making achievements in its war against terrorism.
"In contrast to other countries, the incidences of terrorism in Pakistain has seen a marked decline ‐ with a salutary impact on economic and commercial activity," Asif was quoted as saying.
"This was made possible because Pakistain has pursued a zero-tolerance and indiscriminate approach in its campaign against all terrorist and myrmidon groups."
The foreign minister informed the US Secretary of State about the strong public reaction in Pakistain regarding the pronouncement of the US Administration’s South Asia Policy, which Asif said was based on "inadequate recognition of Pakistain’s sterling contribution in the fight against terrorism."
In addition to huge human and material cost incurred by Pakistain, Asif said, "Our cultural ethos as a moderate state had suffered due to protracted instability in Afghanistan."
Secretary Tillerson acknowledged and appreciated the sacrifices rendered by Pakistain in the struggle against terrorism, said the blurb.
He agreed that cooperation between Pakistain and the US in Afghanistan was crucial to achieving durable peace and stability in the region. "Pakistain’s interests and concerns will be accommodated since its role was critical to President Trump’s South Asia Strategy," he was quoted as saying.
"The future stability of Pakistain was an important element of the Strategy."
Khawaja Asif reiterated Pakistain's position on the need for an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned political approach to achieving peace and stability in Afghanistan.
He conveyed Pakistain's concerns with regard to ungoverned spaces within Afghanistan, from which attacks against Pakistain continued to be planned and carried out.
The minister urged the US to take note of the gross human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... violations being perpetrated by Indian security forces in held Kashmire. "Peace in South Asia would remain out of reach until the resolution of all longstanding disputes, including the core dispute of Jammu and Kashmire," he said.
Inviting Secretary Tillerson to visit Islamabad to continue their discussions, the minister stressed that a broad-based and structured framework for dialogue would best serve the two countries' mutual interests.
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As Equifax's former chief executive tried to explain how the company responded to the massive data breach before a stern congressional panel, viewers couldn't help but notice the oddly dressed character hovering over his left shoulder.
It was the "Monopoly man," a.k.a. Rich Uncle Pennybags.
The man was actually a woman, Amanda Werner, a campaign manager for the nonprofits Americans for Financial Reform and Public Citizen.
Werner, who sported a tuxedo, an enormous white mustache and a bulging bag of $100 bills, said her goal was to photobomb Smith as he testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Her group aims to bring attention to congressional attempts to undermine a new consumer protection rule intended to weaken the forced arbitration clauses in many contracts.
To guarantee the perfect seat from which to troll Smith, one of Werner's interns from Americans for Financial Reform arrived at the Dirksen Senate Office Building at 7 a.m. to save her a spot.
Werner chose a seat just behind Smith ‐ where cameras would capture her ‐ and performed live-action trolling throughout the hearing. Those included dabbing invisible sweat off her brow with ridiculously large paper money bills and using her monocle to gaze intently at Smith, with mock curiosity. (As many close observers have noted, the Monopoly man does not, in fact, wear a monocle.) "I was able to figure out, by having seen a lot of these hearings, which seat would be most visible," Werner said. "Once I got it, I went full in and just did as many visual gags as I could." Werner and her colleagues also hand-delivered "get out of jail free cards" to all 100 Senate offices on Tuesday, she said.
Skid nails it! Find out who funded Steele's efforts, and the facts will begin to come out. Possibly inconvenient facts, but facts nonetheless. Two things make the world go around, and the other one is money.
If I were Chris Steele, I'd be avoiding lonely roads in the moors whenever possible.
#8
Democrats have discipline and don't rat each other out the way Republicans do. Thus most investigations end up at a dead end or picking up the low hanging fruit.
[NDTV] Former Hizbul Mujahideen ...Party of Holy Warriors, founded by Muhammad Ahsan Dar in September 1989. One of the Pak sock puppets waging jihad in Indian Kashmir. It was originally organized as the armed wing of Jamaat-e-Islami. In 1990, Dar declared Hizbul as the sword arm of Jamaat. Hizbul murdered many of the pro-independence intelligentsia in Kashmir. After the organization was taken over by Syed Salahuddin Dar and several other ex-Hizb leaders were assassinated between 2001 and 2003... commander and the head of al Qaeda-linked group Ansar Ghazwat-ul Hind, 23-year-old Zakir Musa sits at the top of a new list of most wanted turbans who are currently operating in the valley.
According to the report prepared by the Intelligence Bureau, "Musa is considered quite dangerous because he's been using propaganda to call for an Islamic caliphate in Kashmire and throughout India, an ideology that's rapidly gaining ground in the valley."
The engineering dropout appears to have seen an increase in his following after quitting the Hizbul to head the al Qaeda linked group.
Second on the list is Riyaz Naikoo of Hizbul Mujahideen, who the report says is an 'A++' category terrorist. "He is just 29 years old but is one of the most experienced Hizbul commanders and at present head of operations in Kashmire," reveals a police brass hat.
The report says Naikoo took over from Yaseen Ittoo after his death in an encounter last month. "Naikoo hails from Durbug, Awantipora. He is very tech savvy," adds the report.
Intelligence officials claim that Naikoo is considered to be moderate among the Hizbul terrorists. Recently, at a terrorist's funeral, he appeared in public to counter Zakir Musa's anti-Pakistain propaganda and tried to whip-up support for Pakistain.
Naikoo is said to be involved in several murders including that of coppers. To bolster his moderate image he had earlier during the year also released an 11-minute video asking Kashmiri Pandits to return to the valley.
The report, prepared by security agencies, lists another Hizbul Mujahideen commander, Saddam Padder, at number three.
"Remember the group photograph shared by Hizbul commander Burhan Wani? Padder is now the only active terrorist of the 12 men shown in the picture. Apart from Padder, only Tariq Pandit, who featured in that photograph, is alive as he had surrendered," reveals a senior police official.
The Intelligence Bureau report states that Padder comes from a family of farmers. Not much is known about him except for the fact that the Hizbul thinks highly of him. Padder is a school dropout who joined terrorism about four to five years ago. He was with the Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... until he joined the Hizbul in 2015.
After Musa left as the chief of the Hizbul, Saddam Padder was one of the top contenders to be the next chief, a place later taken by Naikoo. While he might not be highly educated, he is considered a 'clever' terrorist and was among the few people whom Burhan Wani trusted.
Next on the list of most wanted is Zeenat-ul-Islam of Lashkar-e-Taiba. He is most likely to take on the Lashkar's leadership in the valley, as per the report.
"The 28-year-old is a resident of Sugan Zanipura, Shopian, and was recruited in 2015. He is considered one of the main accused in the Shopian attack in February that left three soldiers dead. Known as an IED expert, he is a former member of al-Badar Militant outfit," the report states.
"He was once enjugged Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! in 2008 where he is said to have confessed to being an over ground worker (OGW). He was eventually released four years later and is said to have gotten married too before joining the Lashkar module," the report adds.
Last on the list of top five turbans is Khalid of Jaish-e-Mohammed. Not much is known about the terrorist who operates in North Kashmire and now security agencies are suspecting that he was the criminal mastermind who planned out an attack on a BSF camp in Srinagar.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/05/2017
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From Mr. Ringo's Facebook page. His wife generously allowed him to share her story, the rest of which can be read at the link, dear Reader.
I may be the only person in the 'pundit' world who can put what we know about the Las Vegas shooter in perspective because I've dealt with something similar before. My personal take, at this point, is 'homicidal psychotic break, rationale currently unknown, possible pharmacological.'
To debunk a few of the recent urban legends and prolapse some of the stupider arguments:
ISIS: Nothing in his electronic trail indicates any contact with ISIS despite their claims and some rumors. Nothing.
'There were multiple shooters/he was a patsy!': All the guns in the room were registered to Paddock. He was covered in GSR and even had burns on his hands from hot barrel/rounds.
'He was antifa killing Republicans!': Nothing in his electronic trail indicates the slightest political affiliation or interest. Nothing.
There weren't even angry emails. He never posted comments. Rarely read political news. Nada.
Gambling debts! He was broke!
Paddock was a habitual hobby gambler who was the sort of person casinos hate. He would set a budget on his gambling and stick to it religiously. He also rarely lost big or won big and never let either one change his habits.
He was a perfectly normal, successful, retired accountant well-invested in real estate with very little or no recent change in demeanor or actions.
Perfectly normal guy and only a ‘loner’ to the extent he wasn’t terribly socially active. ‘Loner’ apparently means he didn’t frequent wild parties. If he had the narrative would be ‘wild party animal.’
'Homicidal psychotic break means he couldn't have done the planning!'
Au contraire. Deep sigh. Been here, had someone in my life nearly do if not that than similar. With their permission I will now recount a story and show why everything about this makes a terrible sort of sense to me. The story is about my lovely and extremely loving wife, Miriam, and her descent to homicidal psychotic break due to a nasty drug interaction.
#2
I read this earlier. The rather large flaw in this theory is motivation. Why shoot up a country music festival? When he was apparently a fan and attended concerts himself.
Paddock bought most, if not all the guns used (33 rifles) in October 2016. This was no sudden breakdown.
#7
All the planning but remember if its tied to the Left or Muslims, its a mental illness issue, if its tagged to anyone else, its just pure evil and people need to surrender their rights (for the children).
#8
Newc is dead on - very little evidence is in. We know nothing of the real investigation...nothing on his phones or real financial transactions...nothing on his search histories...nothing of any potential illegal drug abuse...nothing on Ms. Danley's affiliations...
Even crazy people have motives...this one did and they know what it is. The only questions at this point is when will they tell us if they won't tell...why not?
#9
I also agree that it's way to early to tell. I suspect he's left a note or spoke on video about motivations. Still, ignoring Vegas, the connected dots in this article were eye opening.
#12
We do seem to be in the midst of an epidemic of these types of events. Didn't seem to me that twenty or thirty years ago we had this kind of thing nearly as often. I remember the Texas bell tower incident and how shocking it was back in the 1966. Now it's like "What? Again?" I don't believe it's the guns. The guy in the bell tower didn't have a bump stock or even an AR-15. Wikipedia says he used a hunting rifle, probably a bolt action, and he did a lot of damage with it. Oswald used a bolt action. They're not gonna ban hunting rifles.
Then there was an incident in a McDonalds at San Ysidro, just down the road from me in 1984 and it was shocking too. But the bell tower incident and the McDonalds incident were decades apart. Now it seems like these things are only months apart. Maybe it's all the publicity, the nonstop yammering about it on TV. There are certainly more talks shows, a lot more, and they all feel compelled to weigh in ad nauseam on these incidents. Add Islamic terrorism and it's tough to feel safe anywhere in public. But the pace is quickening. Drugs certainly sound like a possible cause. Might be interesting for a real researcher to look at all the drugs that all of these perps took and find out if there's a connection.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
10/05/2017 12:17
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#13
Well, thanks rjschwarz. You beat me to it. Maybe if the shrinks prescribe more marijuana and beer some of these people would be too stoned, too mellow, to fire a weapon. That might keep them from becoming successful accountants but at least they wouldn't become mass murderers.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
10/05/2017 12:20
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#14
Americans have always had guns. How long have we had some of these medications?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
10/05/2017 12:34
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#15
I added width=400 to rjschwarz's image, because it was seriously bending the Burg.
Sorry, Abu, they want to ban ALL guns and will use any excuse. If they get their hands on AR-15s and the like you can bet your life that a Remington Model 700 or a Marlin lever gun will be next on their agenda.
#19
the shrinks prescribe more marijuana and beer some of these people would be too stoned, too mellow, to fire a weapon.
I have a relative living in CO who thinks the recent legalization of marijuana there has resulted in a great many workers who are either too stoned or too mellow to do their jobs (like drawing blood in a medical lab, or lawn work) properly.
#20
FYI. MSM continues to spin this as the biggest massacre in recent history in the US. The truth id the biggest massacre in recent history was on 9/11/2001. And no guns were used.
#21
A drug induced psychotic break similar to the one described in the article and a political or religious-political motive for the shooting are not explanations that are mutually exclusive.
#22
Trauma networks are discussing victim clusters being 'herded' between exits. High velocity rounds penetrating one and ending in a second. Another reason for two windows.
#25
TW.
400 is the exact number of pixels. If a frame is 300 pixels wide, the frame expands.
Style width % will size the image to fit exactly 80% of the original frame size, whether it is a comment box or the screen in a football arena without screeimg up the original size.
[Iran Press TV] The United States and Israel cannot tolerate Iran as an "independent force" and that is why Washington and its allies have been "tormenting" the people of Iran over the past decades, says prominent American scholar Noam Chomsky ...intellectual and political theorist of a socialist persuasion. He is noted for being so far out in left field he can't see the shortstop on every issue he pushes... In an interview excerpted from his upcoming book Global Discontents: Conversations on the Rising Threats to Democracy, Chomsky discussed the real reasons behind his country’s years-long animosity towards Iran, dismissing as mere smokescreens Washington’s objections to Iran’s nuclear program and its support for resistance groups in Leb and Paleostine.
"Iran has long been regarded by US leaders, and by US media commentary, as extraordinarily dangerous, perhaps the most dangerous country on the planet," Chomsky said in response to a question by David Barsamian, the book’s co-author.
The scholar noted that Washington’s doctrinal system tends to introduce Iran as a "dual menace" that "is the leading supporter of terrorism, and its nuclear programs pose an existential threat to Israel, if not the whole world."
Support for ’terrorist’ groups
Chomsky explained that America’s branding of Iran as a state sponsor of terror was based on Israel’s interests.
"In the real world, Iranian support for terrorism translates to support for Hezbollah, whose major crime is that it is the sole deterrent to yet another destructive Israeli invasion of Leb, and for Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, which won a free election in the Gazoo Strip‐a crime that instantly elicited harsh sanctions and led the US government to prepare a military coup," he argued.
Rather ironically, the philosopher pointed out to America’s unconditional support for 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... , which he described as "a brutal dictatorship, miserably repressive" committing "disgraceful atrocities in Yemen."
The US has been providing weapons and intelligence to the Riyadh regime over the course of its more than two-year-long aggression that has killed more than 12,000 Yemeni civilians.
Iran’s nuclear program
Chomsky dismissed US claims that Iran was in possession of nuclear weapons and said any concerns in this regard had been alleviated by Tehran’s own calls for destroying all weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in the Middle East region.
"Such a zone is strongly supported by the Arab states and most of the rest of the world and is blocked primarily by the United States, which wishes to protect Israel’s WMD capabilities," he said.
Real reasons behind Washington’s animus
The renowned historian said the "true reasons" behind America’s hostility towards Iran were the country’s growing regional influence and the 1979 Islamic Revolution that led to the ouster of US-backed monarch Mohammad Reza Shah.
"The United States and Israel cannot tolerate an independent force in a region that they take to be theirs by right," he argued. "An Iran with a nuclear deterrent is unacceptable to rogue states that want to rampage however they wish throughout the Middle East."
Chomsky said Washington was still angry about the Iranian people’s removal of Shah, "the dictator installed by Washington."
"Iran cannot be forgiven for overthrowing the dictator installed by Washington in a military coup in 1953, a coup that destroyed Iran’s parliamentary regime and its unconscionable belief that Iran might have some claim on its own natural resources."
Citing more instances of US double standards, Chomsky noted that former US President George H. W. Bush had invited Iraqi nuclear experts to the US for advanced training in nuclear weapons production.
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#1
You kind of can't blame Iran Press TV for catching a slow, soft pitch. And you have to give the old, insane, genocide-loving commie credit: his description of Saudi Arabia is accurate!
[PHILADELPHIA.CBSLOCAL] A Camden woman is facing murder charges in the beating of her boyfriend last month.
It was Labor Day weekend when police in Woodlynne, Camden County were called to a convenience market on Mount Ephraim Avenue.
Jason Lewis, 35, was conscious, but bleeding from the head after he said he had been beaten by his girlfriend with a pair of frying pans, according to the Camden County Prosecutor.
The woman, 31-year-old Maleia Cole, fled to her home about a block away.
Lewis later underwent emergency surgery but departed this vale of tears last week.
Cole was apprehended without incident after being charged with murder, and awaits a pre-trial detention hearing.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/05/2017
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Police requested the security footage from the store which shows Maleia Cole smash the frying pans into Jason Lewis’ head several times, literally knocking him across city limits (the town limit for Camden County and Woodlynne is right beside the convenience store).
#10
Well, as I have always said about kitchen stuff - like pots, pans, knives, rolling-pins, etc - if it isn't heavy enough to kill someone with, don't buy it.
Deir Ezzor (Syria News) The Syrian army forces and allied militia carried out, on Wednesday, an offensive on a village, in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, Qasioun News reported.
Local sources said that the Syrian army forces, backed up by Russian, carried out an offensive on the Sa’alo village, in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor.
The offensive was launched from the outskirt of Mariya village on the Islamic State military headquarters that controls Deir Ezzor – Mayadin highway, in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, while resulted in capturing more than 30 Kilometers of the highway.
Meanwhile, Russian warplanes carried out dozens of air strikes on the cities of Mayadin and Buleel and their outskirts, leaving dozens of civilian casualties.
It is noteworthy that the Islamic State has recently retreated, in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, which is considered the largest stronghold of the terrorist group in Syria, after several military operations carried out Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Syrian army forces.
The Syrian Army units thwarted on Wednesday an ISIL attack on a military post in the southwestern countryside of Deir Ezzor, in parallel with continued airstrikes in al-Mayadin in the southeastern part of the province.
The army members clashed with the ISIL terrorists who attacked the military post, located in in Kabajib town, killing scores of them and destroying their weapons and munitions, a military source told SANA.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Air Force launched intensive strikes against fortified positions, centers and movements of ISIL terrorists in the villages of Buqrus al-Fouqani, Jadid Ekeidat, al-Bouleil, and al-Mayadin city in the eastern and southeastern countryside of the province.
The source affirmed that a large number of the terrorists were killed and several of their armored vehicles, cars equipped with machineguns, and artillery positions were destroyed in the airstrikes.
In the same context, SANA reporter said the army advanced further on Deir Ezzor-al-Mayadin road, establishing control over new areas after fierce clashes with ISIL.
A number of ISIL terrorists were killed or injured and three vehicles rigged with a large amount of explosive materials and other vehicles equipped with heavy machineguns were destroyed in the course of the army’s advance, according to the reporter.
More terrorists were reported killed as the army units engaged in fierce clashes with ISIL groups, backed by intensive strikes on ISIL positions, in the villages of Khsham, Hatla Fouqani, al-Husseniyeh, Saalo, Islah al-Tibeh, al-Bouleil, and al-Salehiyeh as well as in the cities of Mohassan and al-Mayadin and the neighborhoods of al-Jbeileh, Kanamat, al-Ardi, and Khassarat.
The Syrian Air Force carried out intensive sorties against ISIL gatherings, positions, and vehicle convoys in the eastern countryside of Salamiyeh in Hama province.
A military source told SANA Wednesday that the Syrian Air Force destroyed scores of ISIL vehicles, some equipped with machineguns, and killed a number of ISIL terrorists in intensive airstrikes against their gatherings and positions in the villages of Jib Aeid and al-Maksar al-Janoubi and its surroundings and in the eastern countryside of Salamiyeh.
Source: SANA
Posted by: badanov ||
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[DailyCaller] The Pentagon has officially severed all ties to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) after previously relying on the group’s training materials on extremism. Got Woke?
Brian J. Field, assistant U.S. attorney from the Civil Division, stated that the Department of Defense (DOD) Office of Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity removed any and all references to the SPLC in training materials used by the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI), in an email obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation from the Department of Justice.
The DEOMI is a DOD school founded to fight segregation and inequality that teaches courses in racial, gender and religious equality, among other subject areas like equal opportunity and pluralism. The courses are available to DOD civilians and service members.
As part of a response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from the Immigration Reform Law Institute, Field wrote in the email sent in late September:
Additionally, the DEOMI office informed me that, based on a previous FOIA request, DEOMI records concerning, regarding, or related to the preparation and presentation of training materials on hate groups or hate crimes were forwarded ... That 133-page document did reference the SPLC; however, based upon guidance from the Office of Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity, all references to the SPLC have been removed from any current training.
Interestingly, DEOMI still makes use of materials on "Hate Symbols" from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a group similar to the SPLC. Students at DEOMI use the Hate Symbols reference on the ADL site to "learn more about gang colors or clothing; hate group tattoos and body markings associated with such gangs."
As a matter of policy, the DOD does not have an official list of hate groups.
In early 2014, the Pentagon told CNS News that while it would remove information on hate groups provided by the SPLC, it would continue to rely on SPLC data in "non-federal reference material" for DEOMI. It appears that the DOD’s DEOMI has now decided to sever ties with the SPLC, as DEOMI is the only sub-branch of the Pentagon with any records of SPLC materials.
The Pentagon’s decision to terminate its relationship with the SPLC comes at a time when the group has under major fire from conservative organizations, particularly in the form of lawsuits. D. James Kennedy Ministries, a Christian ministry from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., recently sued the SPLC after being labeled a hate group. The SPLC has also faced criticism from liberals. In late August, anti-Muslim extremism activist and feminist Ayaan Hirsi Ali argued in The New York Times that "the S.P.L.C. is an organization that has lost its way, smearing people who are fighting for liberty and turning a blind eye to an ideology and political movement that has much in common with Nazism."
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/05/2017
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Reminder that some people do more than a sad face and hashtag campaign. RIP, heroes
Three United States Army Special Forces were killed and two were wounded on Wednesday in an ambush in Niger while on a routine patrol with troops they were training from that nation in northwestern Africa, American military officials said.
"We can confirm reports that a joint U.S. and Nigerien patrol came under hostile fire in southwest Niger," Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Falvo, a spokesman for the United States Africa Command in Stuttgart, Germany, said in an email.
A United States military official said that three Army Green Berets were killed in the attack, which took place 120 miles north of Niamey, the capital of Niger, near the border with Mali, where militants with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, an affiliate of Al Qaeda, have conducted cross-border raids. Two other Green Berets were wounded, another military official said. Niger's troops were also believed to have suffered casualties, but details were not immediately known.
The deaths mark the first American casualties in a mission in which United States Special Forces have provided training and security assistance to the Nigerien armed forces, including support for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
The military official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss continuing military operations, said American forces were rushing to the scene of the ambush, presumably to evacuate American and Nigerien casualties, and possibly to hunt down the attackers.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/05/2017
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#1
I think when the GBs first embedded with the Montagnard they found fierce fighters with a hatred for the ethnic Chinese 'downlanders' who hunted them.
Given the experiences in AFG, IRQ and now perhaps NIG, it would seem political, religious and nationalist separatists are less adverse to turning on their comrades in arms. It might be time to examine the localist dependent nation building strategy.
Hawija (IraqiNews.com) Fighter jets from the United States-led coalition killed on Wednesday 13 Islamic State leaders in an air raid on Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk, as operations to closer to retaking the strategic haven.
Dijlah TV quoted a local source saying that the dead militants included seven members of the group’s so-called “treasury”.
The Iraqi Joint Operations Command said joint forces launched on Wednesday morning a new offensive targeting the center of Hawija, a major Islamic State stronghold which the militants occupied since 2014. The decisive onslaught comes as part of a second stage of operations launched last Friday.The first phase of operations launched on September 24th, and managed to retake eastern Shirqat, an Islamic State haven in neighboring Salahuddin province.
Also on Wednesday, Popular Mobilization Forces’ media said the troops managed Wednesday to take over the road linking central Hawija. A senior leader within the force, Jabbar al-Maamouri, had told Alsumaria News that the PMF were one kilometer from the town’s center.
Hawija (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi forces invaded on Wednesday the center of Hawija town, Islamic State’s major bastion in southwestern Kirkuk, the Iraqi military command said.
The Popular Mobilization Forces’ media outlet had said earlier on Wednesday that Iraqi forces fully recaptured the town, but a later statement by the Joint Operations Command suggested that the invasion of the town’s center was just beginning. It said army, Federal Police, Rapid Response Forces, and PMF caused “serious losses” for IS militants with the invasion.
JOC field commander, Abdul-Amir Yarallah, said operations have so far seized back 98 villages and left 196 militants dead.
The decisive onslaught came as part of a second stage of operations launched last Friday to seize the town held by Islamic State militants since 2014. The first phase of operations launched on September 24th, and managed to retake eastern Shirqat, an Islamic State haven in neighboring Salahuddin province.
Hawija (IraqiNews.com) A photographer working with Iraq’s military media was killed while covering heightening encounters between Iraqi forces and Islamic State militants in Hawija, Kirkuk, military media reported.
Hamza al-Abboudi, a photographer with the Defense Ministry’s“War Media Cell”, was killed when Islamic State militants fired a mortar shell on his locations when troops were invading the center of the group’s bastion in southwestern Kirkuk.
Iraqi joint forces invaded central Hawija earlier on Wednesday, having launched a major offensive to retake the strategic haven late September.
Conflicts in Iraq have killed 465 Iraqi journalists in 14 years, the head of the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, Moayed al-Lami, said on Wednesday.
Seven reporters were killed in Iraq in 2016, out of a total of 57 who were killed in conflict areas across the world, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF)’s 2016 report. In the organization’s press freedom index for 2017, Iraq came in the 158th place globally and 13th among Arab countries.
The Committee to Protect Journalists ranks Iraq as the world’s leading country in terms of impunity regarding journalists’ killing, attributing the fact to the involvement of extremist militias in the murders.
Posted by: badanov ||
10/05/2017
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
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.
Additionally, permits for concert organizers to hold events like the tragic Vegas C&W show should take into account the potential for criminal activity as a safety measure. In this case, sniper fire. 
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least eleven 
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Pak officials are saying that an army soldier was killed while another one has sustained injuries in the fresh wave of violence along the Durnad Line.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[DAWN] Three 
[THESUN.CO.UK] A JEALOUS chimp called Romeo beat up a zookeeper and chewed off his ear because he thought the man was flirting with his partner Juliet.
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