#2
They already live in socialism: from each according to their abilities (very modest in many public servants' case), to each according to their need (never modest).
#3
I'm a gov't worker and I've never seen this poll. Must of been in DC. Of course, I've never been polled about anything. Do you think it's because of where I live or how I vote?
Inquiring minds would like to know.
#4
They see the kind of moolah the third world Government 'workers' bring in and wish for a system like theirs. America is already quite socialist in spirit, enough to satisfy the most suicidally guilt-ridden public conscience; but what they want is more opportunity for graft.
Ask any retired or middle rung civil servant and they'll tell you everything is fine as is, it's only reasonable policies, execution and employee incentive that is needed. But ask a 'big-wig' and you shall get this litany the article speaks of. Tighter controls on what people can earn, own, keep in their homes, drive, watch, eat oh yes ! ... and arbitrary re-distribution of moolah the final goal in the back of their heads They may never acknowledge it to themselves, such is the nature of the disease we call corruption.
While most western nations may deride us for people shitting in the streets, trust me when I say their civil servants are especially taken with us as a rather interested audience, and only for the wrong things. You can see the experiments with 3rd world level graft and the results already in some American states.
My words may seem like tinfoil hat buffoonery to some, but I know I'm right. It's not a theory, it's something observable throughout the world's history and even around us so kindly bear with me. And in my country I'm part of 'the boot', so I know.
The deepState will not usurp rights of people and sell out America to others overnight. There is an unwritten plan, 'a vision for the future' as if it were, in the leagues of overly autocratic officers, judges and legislators - for a Utopia of corruption where taxes and resource leases to foreign States or corporations will fuel a 'Socialist Dole State'. This will mean enormous sums of money to distribute through the hands of some civil 'servants'. Like the planned Insurance nightmares.
A crackdown on the 'long leash' given to arms manufacturers will also become evident in time. It shall be couched as civil interest litigations over trifles like hi-capa mags with enough inanity for the average person to assume it's just daft activism.
Absolute control and zero resistance to further control requires a public that is always scared, defenseless, looking to the State to protect their families, property, businesses. And that's where the 'monopoly of force' comes in. For all who think your 2A is something that shall enable you to fight the APCs rolling down Madison Square, or defend against SWAT teams that come for your M1903 and Colt Root repeaters, that is not the game the park is being mowed for.
Your 2A may say it is for defense against the 'tyranny of States' in word, but in practice in the real world it mainly protects against things like Antifa and violent criminality from illegal immigrantsThese, and the 'civil servants' are actually banking upon them to chip away at public self-confidence and the very spirit of nationalist communities. Oh, the police will rush there as soon as you dial that '911', but soon all you may have left is the '911' and an underpaid dispatcher saying 'Alhamdulillah' while your throat is cut. And the rulers will be okay with mayhem in numbers acceptable to them. The State shall assume control of life in acquiring the sole right to defend it. In a few generations, when the last 'rebellious white bastard', Republican voter, NRA member and 'nationalist nut' has been incarcerated and ousted from society - their work of transforming America shall be complete.
Someone will be doing the same to Israel mind you, and in other nations where a woman doesn't need a 'rape-whistle' if she's got a Taurus .32. These fine ideas they are getting from watching other 'sheep democracies' perform their task of propping up their respective ruling classes. People lorded over by illiterate assholes and absolute thieves in executive suits driving around in motorcades, uniforms trotting about only concerned for their masters and ready to bring the truncheon down on the next upraised neck. Economies functioning just well enough for bureaucrats and politicians to secret away moolah in securities and offshore accounts, where the usual reply to a 'Right to Information' petition is a drive-by or 'accident' paid for by a contractor. Police-states with a happy face and people drowning in shit in the hinter parts.
So the Government Workers this thingy speaks of simply cannot be clerks and report jockeys. They are surely the highest echelons of bureaucracy.
United States Army General and the 20th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley introduces the 45th President of the United States @realDonaldTrump at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!🇺🇸🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/uMRA5t5yyk
#4
Heh! He even has impressed brainwashed the troops overseas! The poor dears, can't they understand what a great terrible President he is?!?
[sarc off]
#8
My Air Force son, who was deployed to Afghanistan this year, was not impressed. Trump went to Bagram base, rather than someplace more dangerous.
Dude, the president of the US is NOT going to go into an active combat zone.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/28/2019 20:24
Comments ||
Top||
#9
"President Joltin' Joe Biden would, shirtless, driving an armored Pontiac Trans-Am with a T-roof, steering with his foot while gunning down Talibunnies".
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/28/2019 22:05
Comments ||
Top||
#1
The building is in Little Mogadishu, known for the many Somali immigrants
Firefighters believe the blaze was an accident but its cause is still unknown
Rescue teams had to run upstairs while residents were fleeing on the stairwells
The building was built in 1969 and wasn't required to have a sprinkler system
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/28/2019 22:06
Comments ||
Top||
Some years ago Besoeker posted this poem in the comments on Thanksgiving Day. This year, with all the important things going on in the world, I’ve decided to be grateful for the small pleasures that are the reason we pay attention to the big stuff.
Thanksgiving
by Edgar A. Guest (1881-1959)
Gettin' together to smile an' rejoice,
An' eatin' an' laughin' with folks of your choice;
An' kissin' the girls an' declarin' that they
Are growin' more beautiful day after day;
Chattin' an' braggin' a bit with the men,
Buildin' the old family circle again;
Livin' the wholesome an' old-fashioned cheer,
Just for awhile at the end of the year.
Greetings fly fast as we crowd through the door
And under the old roof we gather once more
Just as we did when the youngsters were small;
Mother's a little bit grayer, that's all.
Father's a little bit older, but still
Ready to romp an' to laugh with a will.
Here we are back at the table again
Tellin' our stories as women an' men.
Bowed are our heads for a moment in prayer;
Oh, but we're grateful an' glad to be there.
Home from the east land an' home from the west,
Home with the folks that are dearest an' best.
Out of the sham of the cities afar
We've come for a time to be just what we are.
Here we can talk of ourselves an' be frank,
Forgettin' position an' station an' rank.
Give me the end of the year an' its fun
When most of the plannin' an' toilin' is done;
Bring all the wanderers home to the nest,
Let me sit down with the ones I love best,
Hear the old voices still ringin' with song,
See the old faces unblemished by wrong,
See the old table with all of its chairs
An' I'll put soul in my Thanksgivin' prayers.
#1
Thank you TW for remembering to post this poem. Thank you besoeker for finding it. We’re in Seattle right now for thanksgiving. Despite all the entropy of these days of modern times we do have a lot of blessings to count. Happy thanksgiving Rantburgers.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/28/2019 13:19
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Happy Thanksgiving! Today is about Family, even the ones you'd happy take out back and shoot. They are still family and today is a day that we all sit down at the table for a meal and fellowship. I never plan on dealing with politics or any of the family dramas that crop up, because I hope that today, everyone will be nice. Today I will hope, despite my view that most people are scum. Today everyone gets a chance. Those of you not at home, safe journeys and for those in the field for our great nation, thank you and stay safe.
#3
Thank you Fred and TW and Besoeker and all of you'se fir all you do. Rantburg is a ray of sanity in this 'burger's life. I'm grateful to have it. Best to all and
Happy Thanksgiving!
l.
[New Republic] Every day, I start the shift by throwing on my marking gear. It’s not as heavy as my kit in Afghanistan, just an easy 40-odd pounds with the paint. Instead of a blaze orange cruiser vest like the ones my co-workers use, I still take the old tactical vest I wore over my armor back then. The mag pouches hold the Relaskop I use to measure tree height, and the dump pouch holds my clipboard of data cards, with room to spare for the wild mushrooms and onions I collect. Add to that my four-gallon backpack paint sprayer and I’m ready to go.
Sometimes I think about the blood on the vest. You can’t see it anymore; everything I own is splattered with timber-marking paint nowadays. We use water-based paint for marking in pine stands, and oil-based for hardwoods. The water-based paint wears off of hardwood bark after only a few years. My best friend bled on me during a firefight. He had been hit in the fingertip by something minor enough to not notice, but because it was during a fight, the Army would call your family and freak them out no matter how quaint the injury. The paint manufacturer uses citrus oil, so by the end of the day, my beard smells like an orange from the overspray. We didn’t tell our NCOs he had been hurt. He’s been dead five years. He shot himself.
After spending six years overseas, I came back and couldn’t deal with the hectic lower-48 lifestyle, so I went to Alaska. When I first became a forest ecologist, I’d wanted to do research, make the world a better place through learning. But I learned quickly that none of it mattered if policymakers ignored your work. Last year, I decided I needed to be involved in direct management, and took a job in the Wisconsin northwoods. It took 18 months to finally get VA appointments for my TBI and PTS. The doctor tried several medications to help me. One of them made me certain I was having a heart attack. Thinking I was dying, I made peace with God on the floor of my one room cabin. Next time I saw him, the doctor told me to just smoke cigarettes to dull the anxiety. He said he couldn’t do anything for my other symptoms.
I spend my time working in Wisconsin’s second-growth forests, administering timber sales and marking trees for harvest. Old growth takes a long time to regenerate, so I help the process along by cutting to favor the old growth species. In a hundred years or so, I hope my grandkids will walk through the forest and think well of what I did. The next VA doctor told me he thought I was just a drug addict looking to score Xanax when he saw my medical allergies. So I chew nicotine gum like a fiend to keep the edge off.
#1
What an odd piece. I hope he finds peace, and the family he wants. Pappy occasionally mentioned that another of his Marines had committed suicide — it’s tough, and the VA doesn’t do enough, possibly because psychiatry seems only beginning to understand how PTSD works, never mind anxiety and depression.
[NYPOST] They’re soaking up some rays where the sun don’t shine. "What's the matter, Hervè?"
"I went butt tanning."
"Wossa motta widdat? All us trendy folk are doing it. It's very edgy."
"I got second degree burns of my bung hole."
"Ooh! Dat's bad!"
"And I gotta poop."
"Ooh! Dat's worse!"
The hottest trend gripping wellness die-hards is tanning their cans, or "perineum sunning," as influencers are calling it. Occasionally airing out the old gennies is good for you. Scorching them, not so good.
"In a mere 30 seconds of sunlight on your butthole, you will receive more energy from this electric node than you would in an entire day being outside with your clothes on," says an influencer, who goes by Ra of Earth. If you can't believe someone named Ra of Earth, who can you believe?" In a viral video that has racked up more than 35,000 views, he gestures toward the sun as three naked men lie down, point their backsides to the sky and make sounds of pleasure. If it's cloudy, pop on down to the drug store and buy some Vitamin D gummies. Then go home and pop one right in there. Works like a charm, I'm sure. Maybe I should change my name to Anubis of Arcturus? Kinda catchy, I think.
Ra of Earth has also posted a step-by-step "Sun Worship exercise" pulled from "The Tao of Sexology: The Book of Infinite Wisdom" by Dr. Stephen T. Chang that says the practice can help keep the area "healthy and free of germs." "Infinite Wisdom?" Does that imply that Doctor Chang knows everything about everything?
Chang and Ra of Earth aren’t the only ones, either. Other influencers appear to be just as inspired to catch some ultra-vile rays. It's the new Goldfish Swallowing, the Mutton Chop whiskers of the 21st Century... No. Wait. That's Taliban Beards. Phone Booth Packing then. Or maybe Saint Vitus Dance.
"[Thirty] seconds of direct sunlight injection to the anal orifice is equivalent to being outside in the sun all day!" writes influencer Troy Casey. Better than two enemas and a light spanking, without the mess! One Caliphornian Dewd, are you surprised?
claims butt-chugging vitamin D not only helps her sleep better but helps to regulate her hormones. Best to get a little regulation into those raging hormones!
"For the past few weeks I have included sunning my bum and yoni into my daily rising routine," a woman who goes by Metaphysical Meagan captions an image of herself fully naked on a rock. For the past few years I have included groaning, scratching, brushing my remaining teeth, and peeing into my daily rising routine. Then I go looking for breakfast. My preferred breakfast is owls, but I'm not the hunter I used to be. Last week I did bring down a box of Raisin Bran.
Meagan says she first learned about perineum sunning through her study of Taoism and has recently given up her morning cup of coffee in favor of sunning her anus. If you use a gummy bear you can sit on it and have your coffee, too.
The phenomenon caught the wider internet’s attention after one Twitter user posted Meagan’s photo and caption, to the tune of more than 84,000 likes. Since she's nekkid as an egg and holding her feet up by her toes, I can see why. 83,902 of the likes were from eighteen-year-old boys, the remainder from lesbians.
Even A-listers are sunning their bums. Be still, my racing heart! "Big Little Lies" actress Shailene Woodley, who is known for her holistic lifestyle that doesn’t even include a TV, has admitted she’s also practiced a version of perineum sunning. No teevee? The woman is serious! How can she watch herself on the... ummm... Maybe she goes out or something.
"Another thing I like to do is give my vagina a little vitamin D," she told Into The Gloss in 2014. That's certainly essential information. I'll bet the GRU jumped on that!
"I was reading an article written by an herbalist. I studied about yeast infections and other genital issues. She said there’s nothing better than vitamin D. I can think of several things, but I'm a Dirty Old Man™.
If you’re feeling depleted, go in the sun for an hour and see how much energy you get. Or, if you live in a place that has heavy winters, when the sun finally comes out, spread your legs and get some sunshine." It's a vision to take your breath away. Especially if the vision is really, really fat. However, there's more than one way to skin a cat... medical professionals are far from convinced the practice has any merit. "What's your opinion, Young Doctor Kildare?"
"Those people are crazy!"
"Doctor Casey?"
"I got more important things to do."
"Doctor Quincy?"
"They're not dead."
"There is no evidence that sunbathing in this way has any effect on physical well-being," Dr. Diana Gall of UK-based online doctor service Doctor 4 U tells Insider. "Works really good if you're into attracting attention, though."
"Yes, practicing mindfulness and meditation, and getting your dose of vitamin D, is beneficial for mental and physical health, but you don’t need to damage your skin in the process from sun exposure," she says. "Not to mention any essential orifices!" That taint right....
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2019
09:57 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[25 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Alien probe is quicker and more thorough. Only rates one star on enjoyability though...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/28/2019 10:22
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Here's an indoor solution. Think of it as the tanning bed concept, miniaturized and shaped to fit your 'energy receptacle'.
#13
So when they get cancer of the bung hole they can learn to play bagpipe tunes on their colectomy bags . At least this will stop a lot of them from reproducing leaving more for the rest of us. " Oh God! You are so old an wrinkled ! , "Yeah baby but I'm all that's left , close your eyes and think of England. "
[The Hill] Former Navy Secretary Richard Spencer on Wednesday admonished President Trump for repeatedly involving himself in an internal review of a Navy SEAL whose case led to controversy and Spencer's ouster over the weekend.
Spencer penned an op-ed in The Washington Post in which he laid out multiple instances in which Trump attempted to intervene in a military review of Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher, who was accused and later acquitted of several war crimes.
"This was a shocking and unprecedented intervention in a low-level review," Spencer wrote. "It was also a reminder that the president has very little understanding of what it means to be in the military, to fight ethically or to be governed by a uniform set of rules and practices."
Spencer called it "highly irregular" for senior military officials to be involved in personnel matters. But he described how Trump "involved himself in the case almost from the start."
The former secretary wrote that the president called him twice to request Gallagher be released from confinement in the Navy brig while he awaited trial. Trump later asked Spencer to have Gallagher transferred.
The ex-secretary attributed Trump's intense interest in the case to its prominence in the media.
Gallagher was convicted earlier this year of one charge of posing with an ISIS captive’s body. He was acquitted on more serious charges related to an incident in which he allegedly shot at several civilians during a 2017 deployment and killed the ISIS captive, who was already injured, with a hunting knife.
Earlier this month, Spencer wrote to Trump asking him not to get involved in the review of whether Gallagher would retain his rank and status as a member of the SEAL force, according to the op-ed. But he said White House counsel Pat Cipollone later called to say Trump would order him to restore Gallagher's rank.
A week later, Trump tweeted that Gallagher would keep his Trident pin and subsequently retain his status as a SEAL.
"I recognized that the tweet revealed the president’s intent," Spencer wrote Wednesday. "But I did not believe it to be an official order, chiefly because every action taken by the president in the case so far had either been a verbal or written command."
Spencer acknowledged that he sought to find a workaround with the White House without consulting Defense Secretary Mark Esper, a decision that ultimately contributed to his ouster from the administration.
"That was, I see in retrospect, a mistake for which I am solely responsible," Spencer wrote. But, but, but.... nobody fires MEEEEEE !!!
Trump invoked the controversy during a rally Tuesday in Florida, portraying those opposed to his pardon of Gallagher and grant of clemency for two others involved in war crimes cases as members of the "deep state."
"I will always stick up for our great fighters," he said. "People can sit there in air-conditioned offices and complain, but you know what? Doesn’t matter to me whatsoever."
#1
The President of the United States (POTUS) is of course The Commander In Chief. He can pardon whomever he wants. Like any other lawful order, his pardon is an order which must be followed. Orders should not be a matter of debate, they must be followed. Liking or disliking the order is optional. Subverting the order, or failing to carry it out are not.
The onerous Soetoro pardoned dozens of murderous Taliban varmints and released them from GITMO. Thanks to Soetoro, they immediately returned to their old jobs in the Stans, murdering and pillaging. The fact that they returned to their old jobs is indisputable.
As expected, the liberal media didn't make much of the Soetoro pardons.
By the way, I have no use for men taking fotos of dead enemy combatants, or for alleged UBL... 'face shooter' and sometimes FOX teevee guest, former USN SEAL Rob O'Neill. Nor do I have much use for any of the other book writers and story tellers. Men who talk about such exploits and take pictures are crude, vulgar, and lack professionalism.
Remember the old fellas from 'the greatest generation?' Many refused to talk about the war until much later in life. Some never spoke of it at all. Those are the "quiet professionals" the real warriors. Perhaps you have known or have served with some of those fellows. Perhaps you are one.
Just my two cents worth. Please excuse the lengthy rant.
#2
An Op-ed. Well, I guess THAT will put Trump in his place!
Posted by: Tom ||
11/28/2019 10:09
Comments ||
Top||
#3
That was, I see in retrospect, a mistake
Your mistake was voicing your opinion in the first goddamn place. Once the Chief merely indicates he wants a thing a certain way, you embrace the suck and don't have a second thought. No army worth its MREs can function with a 'democratic' ethos; where everybody can question orders, rat on brothers, and seek redress for imagined outrages on the enemy.
#4
Let me see if I grasp the story correctly.
They wanted to convict this chap Gallagher of murder (probably as PR stunt) failed and used a trivial technicality - betcha lots of GI took pix with dead Talibs and brass looked the other way - as an excuse to get revenge for making fools of them.
Am I correct?
#5
I think his fellows had the smaller dick syndrome with this one. He was 'a difficult guy' even before this whole thing and they just wanted him gone from the team. His infantile slip just gave them the chance.
The way they went about it was still better than some other people have in the past. I'm afraid we have just witnessed an attempted 21st century 'career fragging' attempt.
"I recognized that the tweet revealed the president’s intent," Spencer wrote Wednesday. "But I did not believe it to be an official order,
tl;dr: Spencer's claim that he didn't get an 'order order' is BS.
One of the interesting aspects of the US military is that even though it is a hierarchical organization, it pushes a lot of decision-making capability down to lower levels, which gives it flexibility when unexpected events occur in war - which is pretty much all the time. This allows it to run rings around a top-down organization like Saddam's army, for example.
A consequence of pushing decision-making down is that everyone is supposed to know their commander's intent two levels up the food chain. Spencer's claim that he knew the CinC's intent but didn't have a written order is simply ass-covering. If you are unsure, pick up the damn phone.
/disclaimer: not a mil guy, just on the outside looking in.
#7
What Besoeker said. In our age of nonstop noise and self-advertising, where No Thought However Foolish Can Go Unexpressed, the quiet professionals might as well not exist.
Whatever presence they have in the physical world is completely overshadowed by our virtual world's braying donkeys and smirk-snarling hyenas.
#12
"People can sit there in air-conditioned offices and complain, but you know what? Doesn’t matter to me whatsoever."
Is it me or is he not aware of the irony in that statement.
Also, as a veteran who has been on the receiving end of a Captain's Mast for not following a senior officer's "suggestion". I can assure you that Mr. Used-To-Be SecNav is wrong! I second what everybody else has said, hear it then do it.
#13
I'm in no position to judge military affairs, but people claiming "The silent professionals" just irritate me. Yes, plenty of soldiers serving before the centuries turn were like that. God Bless their souls.
But there were many I'm sure who simply never saw an opportunity. The internet, media, television, and flat out benefit just wasn't there. I admire the hell out of The Greatest Generation, but blindly saying a generation wouldn't when they never received that chance seems... distasteful.
And the politics of this time also don't make such a thing on these "Big" missions impossible. Didn't Biden out the group having done the Bin Laden raid?
Posted by: Charles ||
11/28/2019 19:06
Comments ||
Top||
#14
Shakespeare's ironically named character "Francis Feeble" in Henry IV, Part II has the last word:
Francis Feeble. By my troth, I care not; a man can die but once; we owe God a death.
I'll ne'er bear a base mind. An't be my destiny, so;
an't be not, so.
No man's too good to serve 's Prince; and,
it go which way it will, he that dies this year is quit for next.
[American Thinker] Just days before our national Thanksgiving holiday, a report explained that Millennial students in their wisdom say, "It's not okay to celebrate Thanksgiving."
What would we do without these young people correcting the rest of us, the fossil generations?!
According to The College Fix, college students think Thanksgiving represents "oppression" because it is "based off of the genocide of indigenous people." They see Thanksgiving in terms of the "themes of oppression and colonization." More to the point, with the focus on eating a "bunch of food," Thanksgiving is "just a bunch of capitalist b-------." Some of the students "believe most American holidays are rooted in oppression." Others see Americans celebrating "unethical holidays." A few proclaim that "no holidays with religious connotations should be observed."
No wonder today's students have such warped views of life; most have no grounding in history. They do not know, for instance, that half of the Pilgrims who braved the storms of the North Atlantic for two months in early winter died before the feeling the warmth of summer. A few died at sea before they were able to leave the Mayflower. They have little to no appreciation of the fact that throughout most of history, life for all but a few has been the struggle for bare survival. Thus, they cannot understand the fact that some Pilgrims were willing to endure being indentured servants for the desperate hope of an opportunity for a better life after they worked off the cost of their passage. The thankfulness of the Pilgrims was rooted in these harsh realities, something today's students should be thankful to have never experienced.
It's not enough that Thanksgiving is already being swallowed up by Halloween and Christmas. Before the Halloween candy is all gone and the jack-o-lantern candles are blown out, Christmas paraphernalia is displayed in stores, and Christmas lights go on around neighborhoods. Now we have a whole generation who cannot be bothered to express thanks for what they already have before making out a list of expensive items they want at the Black Friday sales that, this year, begin Thanksgiving afternoon.
#2
I read a superb story about the conceit of the cotton-wool kids of America. 'Turbo Satan' by Christopher Fowler. I find short horror fiction to be have hardest hitting takes on contemporary society and its failings.
I'll post a link to the collection in the 'O Club' if anyone's interested.
#7
Well, Thanksgiving can be stressful if you have to share it with liberal in-laws.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
11/28/2019 12:04
Comments ||
Top||
#8
if you have to share it with liberal in-laws.
As Zman calles em, "w(h)ine box aunties." Enjoy the food. Agree with the most absurd bullshit because nobody can hold you to it. Let other people be miserable, just enjoy *your self*.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/28/2019 12:14
Comments ||
Top||
#9
There is a small and very loud group of socialist/communists that happen to be of millennial age that want to remove everything culturally American: thanksgiving, Columbus DAY, ETC... Once we have no common culture we cave no "united" in our states...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/28/2019 12:30
Comments ||
Top||
President Trump has a stellar sense of humor. So, as the press put itself deep into the weeds, piously blovating about impeachment and a presidency on the ropes, he responded with perfect comic timing: the Rocky pic
The pious and self-important press, as you may imagine, reacted in exactly the way Trump calculated they would, dancing to his tune like marionettes.
...Rest assured, the WaPo and the rest of the Beltway swamp are not confused, they're bitter. And with this tweet, he's now rubbing their noses in it, getting them to get busy and make one of their stupid excuses for analysis and befuddlement. It's just like him to pull out the laser pointer at a time like this and watch them go running. He knew they wouldn't get it.
[NYPOST] A drunken man who was masturbating in a Florida supermarket’s parking lot slugged an elderly man who told him to cut it out, a report said.
The suspect, 39-year-old Kerry Vandergriff, was allegedly masturbating with his pants down in the Fresco Y Mas in Miami on Saturday afternoon at about 5:30 p.m., CBS New York reported.
The elderly man approached Vandergriff and told him to stop, he later told police.
Vandergriff then slugged him in the face, knocking him to the ground, according to the report.
Vandergriff then allegedly continued pummeling the man while he was on the ground.
He was arrested on a number of charges, including indecent exposure, battery and disorderly intoxication.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2019
08:52 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Lesson
Do not play the hero with a Florida man, unless you're the Florida Man.
[IsraelTimes] Paleostinian authorities claim move unrelated to agreements with Israel; latest cancellation follows rocket fire from Strip, retaliatory Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!...s.
For the third week in a row, organizers in the Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Continued on Page 49
#1
The protests have included frequent rioting with rocks, explosives and fire bombs hurled at IDF soldiers who respond with tear gas and live fire. At least 200 Paleostinians have been killed, according to the health ministry.
These aren't protests; call it the rioting that it is.
[American Thinker] A story making the rounds, based on court testimony from a Saudi fixer ‐ that Rep. Ilhan Omar is a spy for Qatar ‐ is starting to fall apart. It didn't smell right from the start, which is why we at AT didn't touch it, but now the Daily Caller News Foundation has pretty decisively blown the rubbish out of the water.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/28/2019
07:48 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[16 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Well, the way the left does it, it doesn't have to be true, per se, just believable. Dirty, yes, but the rules are set to the lowest common denominator, people like Mittens' inability to see that not withstanding.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/28/2019 8:12
Comments ||
Top||
#2
More of such attacks please.
"Dirt, gentlemen. What we want is dirt!"
- Shattered Glass(2003)
[Gateway Pundit] Stick a fork in him, he's done A super PAC formed to support the campaign of Sen. Cory Booker has announced that it is ending their operations, as the candidate's chances continue to dwindle in the Democrat presidential primary.
The PAC, Dream United, was formed by Booker's former classmate and friend Steve Phillips and T-Bone.
Phillips, a major Democrat donor, has previously fundraiser for former President Barack Obama and other candidates.
On Wednesday, Dream United announced that they will be shutting down after failing to reach Phillips' fundraising goals. He had aimed to raise $10 million for Booker's campaign, but was only able to come up with $1.1 million during the first six months of the year, the Associated Press reports.
Ironically, Booker has disavowed funding from super PACS, despite having one formed just for him.
The website for Dream United now features a statement about the end of their efforts.
"We remain firm in our belief that Senator Cory Booker is uniquely qualified to unite and heal Americans across this country at this critical point in our history. Respecting the Senator's publicly-stated sentiments about SuperPACs, Dream United will cease operations effective immediately. On November 27, 2019, Dream United initiated the steps to formally close down," the website said. "Dream United PAC was a federal, independent-expenditure only committee (or super PAC) that is registered with the Federal Election Commission and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee."
Booker is currently polling at 1.7%, according to the Real Clear Politics average from multiple polling sources.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/28/2019
07:25 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[16 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I'm sure his rating are stratospheric inside his bubble.
#2
The steak picture is not quite appropriate. Fartacus is more like that dented can of Spam that's leaking all over the shelf at the dollar store. What's that smell?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/28/2019 8:14
Comments ||
Top||
#3
That's his imaginary friend: T-Bone
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/28/2019 8:39
Comments ||
Top||
#4
Hopefully he won't adopt the on-going Clinton error.
Kurt Schlichter
On this special day, we should reflect upon the blessings we enjoy, and I enjoy nothing quite as much as stupid people who are miserable. There are a lot of stupid people who are miserable right now, and this is good. The misery stupid people cause themselves should disincentivize future stupidity ‐ with luck, America will be burdened with less stupidity because of it. Think of it as natural selection of people who aren’t stupid.
But there are other things to be thankful for besides the pain dummies cause themselves as a result of their own dumbness. There are good things happening out there, though the media and the elite want to conceal them. You see them if you look ‐ in the world, in our country, in your personal life.
There’s a lot to be thankful for, and it is right and proper that we be thankful. So, without further ado, here is what we should be especially thankful for at Thanksgiving 2019:
The Continuing Humiliation of the Fredocons
...Donald Trump: Imagine, if you will, living under the cold, smarmy dictatorship of Stumbles McMyturn. We knew about the staggering incompetence of our garbage elite ‐ Iraq, Wall Street, girl Ghostbusters ‐ but we never really understood the full extent of the corruption and rot until after the inauguration. We’ve seen a Deep State determined to undermine the will of the voters because the faculty lounge consensus at Harvard feels that promoting American interests is gauche. We’ve seen our intelligence agencies, which can’t do their actual job, meddling in domestic politics. We’ve seen formerly respected law enforcement agencies and the DoJ shamelessly push a dual-track justice system that protects the connected and persecutes the elite’s political enemies. Under Felonia Milhous von Pantsuit, this would have escalated; under Trump, the festering abscess that is our ruling caste has been exposed to the sunlight. She would have continued to marginalize and oppress us. Donald Trump stopped her, and probably saved this country from the violent conflict her tyranny would have provoked. Thanks!
Dogs: Be thankful for dogs, especially ones that try to rip the gonads off cowardly jihadi terrorists. Thanks!
Twitter: Imagine a marketplace of ideas where you can talk to thousands of other people just by typing in a few characters on your computer or phone. We all have beefs with Twitter, and too often its lefty functionaries put their soft, spindly fingers on the scales for their leftist pals, but the fact is that Twitter has created a forum for exposing liberal foolishness as well as communicating with, and organizing, fellow conservatives that has made our conservative populist rebellion possible. We isolated the gatekeepers by breaking down their walls. And it infuriates them. Thanks!
The Impeachment Schiffshow: Trump was always getting impeached. The thing is, the Democrats could have done it in a manner that appeared at least superficially fair. But instead they gave it to that weirdo Adam Schiff, whose googly eyes make him look like some sort of second-tier anime sidekick, and he has predictably turned it into a disaster. When after two weeks of testimony by bow-tied dorks, foreign-born schoolmarms who were totally "I’m with Her," and the sausage soldier, the American people have chosen to respond with a significant increase in support for the president. Way to go, dummies. Thanks!
Economic Prosperity: You might not have heard about it, but we’re in a boom ‐ though it is not the kind of boom the elite prefers because normal people are sharing in the benefits. The people hurt most by the greed and self-service of our globalist elite are finally getting their cut of the good times, and it’s magnificent. Unemployment for blue collar workers and minorities is the lowest in the history of ever, but hey ‐ Trump tweeted something mean so we need to go back to malaise because of principles or something. Thanks!
The Senate and Cocaine Mitch: It’s weird to think anything positive about the Senate, but damned if it has not been a bulwark of freedom, as opposed to a Bulwark of otherwise unemployable cruise-shillin’ losers, by punching out judge after Constitution-reading judge under the stern guidance of the Murder Turtle.
...Chick Fil-A’s Cowardice: It pained me to see what had been a stalwart and independent voice of conscience cravenly submit to the left. Their spines turned out to be as boneless as their chicken patties. Of course, anyone with even the tiniest bit of wokeness could have seen what would (and instantly did) happen. As soon as the poultry purveyors groveled, the professional LGBTQ+X&#z8 malcontents started with more demands.
#1
And I am thankful that Kurt's new book is downloading right now.
And for Rantburg.
And other things, you know, the usual stuff.
Posted by: Bobby on the road ||
11/28/2019 7:24
Comments ||
Top||
#2
The heavenly promise is that we will lack for nothing that we truly need. I still have good health at an advancing age. I owe no one, nor they me. It would appear that I have arrived, and I am very thankful. My current prayer is that I be permitted to stay a bit longer.
#3
Echo B’s words.
Where can I go to place a bet on number of shootings/victims that will occur tomorrow during black friday looting and pillaging events?
#6
I'm grateful that two polls are showing enough Black voters have figured out the "keep them in the dark and feed them bullshit" tactics of the Democrats and their skunks in the Media to throw the election to Trump. The 95% has shrunk to about 82% and the Dims are a panicking big time and my popcorn stock are rising.
#8
Thank you, B.
Thank you, Fred, and TW, and all Rantburgers. You have been and continue always to be, as Ezra Pound urged, a "blight upon the dullness of the world."
THANK YOU.
Happy Thanksgiving!
h/t Instapundit
Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.
#1
It's a highly profitable activity too, where your individual odiousness can actually be encashed. Like p0rn, but for rabid ugliness and public nuisance.
In fact, not even 10% of professional activists know or care what the campaign wants overall, or is aware of the reasons/ethics/science involved. More than half have got to be the ugly, frustrated brats of the cotton wool generation, products of an over-systematized nanny state.
The Democrats have long trusted the dysfunctional human individual as a 'grunt' in n army. To be regimented under an umbrella of causes and sent out as fodder against political or economic 'enemies'. They did the same thing with the contras, the muslims, and now with their own citizens.
[Hot Air] Can you imagine what the presidential sh*tposting about Bill Barr will be like if the Horowitz report turns out to be a dud? Trump is counting on it to deliver his vindication in the Russiagate mess. Barr was the Roy Cohn figure POTUS had longed for after being massively disappointed by Jeff Sessions, the AG who would finally prove that Trump’s worst fears were right all along. The bogus Steele dossier inspired the witch hunt; the renegade deep-staters at the FBI spied on the campaign; Comey, McCabe, Strzok, Page, and God knows who else were all rancid with bias against Trump because they resented a right-wing anti-interventionist president who wasn’t chummy with Washington’s entrenched bureaucracy.
According to last week’s Times story about the IG’s draft report and now this new one, none of it is true. Per this afternoon’s reporting, inspector general Michael Horowitz is prepared to conclude that the FBI didn’t spy on the campaign.
...although it did use at least two informants to make contact with Trump campaign staff. Huh?
Until now, the debate over whether the FBI had "spied on the campaign" focused on the spying part. Is it "spying" when the police use an informant as part of a legitimate counterintelligence or criminal investigation? (Last week’s reporting claimed that the draft report will find that the Russiagate probe did have a sufficient factual and legal basis when it was opened.) But now we’re going to end up debating the "on the campaign" part too. Was the FBI spying on "the campaign" if it had informants in touch with advisors to the campaign but not attempting to join the campaign themselves? Remember that both Stefan Halper and a mystery woman were each working for the feds when they made contact with George Papadopoulos.
#1
Obama administration's faux concern over Russian espionage. Oh WTF, just release all ten of them. We'll call it a 'swap' and go grab some lunch.
Anna Vasilyevna Chapman (Russian: А́нна Васи́льевна Ча́пман, born Anna Vasil’yevna Kushchyenko 23 February 1982) is a Russian intelligence agent, media personality, and model who was arrested in the United States on June 27, 2010 as part of the Illegals Program spy ring. At the time of her arrest she was accused of espionage on behalf of the Russian Federation's external intelligence agency, the Sluzhba vneshney razvedki (SVR).[2][4][5] She had previously gained British citizenship through marriage, which she used to gain residency in the U.S.
Chapman pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government. She and the other Russians were deported to Russia on 8 July 2010, as part of the 2010 Russia–U.S. prisoner swap. Learning that Chapman had wanted to return to the United Kingdom, the UK government revoked her British citizenship and excluded her from the country.
Since her return to Russia, Chapman has worked in a variety of fields, including for the government as head of a youth council, a catwalk model in Russian fashion shows, and running a television series.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/28/2019 6:54
Comments ||
Top||
#4
Nothing heard on the topic from Admiral(Ret) Michael S. Rogers, U.S. Navy, former Director NSA. Yes, that's the fellow who conducted a solo visit to Trump towers (the day before the Trump campaign team moved to more secure quarters).
#5
If they were spying or whatever they kept notes and tapes and all sorts of data. Trump could declassify it all. I'm sure it would make interesting reading.
[The Federalist] Late Tuesday, federal prosecutors filed a motion to cancel the briefing due in mid-December in the Michael Flynn criminal case.
In early September, D.C. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan had ordered the government to file a supplemental sentencing memorandum by December 2, 2019, and directed Flynn’s new attorney, Sidney Powell, to file a supplemental sentencing memorandum for the retired general by December 10, 2019. Judge Sullivan had then set a December 18, 2019, date for Flynn’s sentencing.
But now, after having previously argued stridently that there was no reason to delay Flynn’s sentencing, the government has asked the long-time federal judge to put both the briefing and the sentencing hearing on hold.
Government attorneys presented two justifications for the requested delay. First, they stressed that the court had not yet ruled on Flynn’s pending motion to compel the production of Brady material. As prosecutors note in the motion to delay the sentencing proceedings, Judge Sullivan had scheduled a hearing on the motion to compel for October 31, 2019, but then "canceled the hearing for the Motion to Compel because of the parties’ ’comprehensive briefing.’"
Nearly a month has passed since the original hearing date and the court has not yet ruled on Flynn’s Motion to Compel. The government’s motion, which Flynn joined, stressed that while "both parties share the Court’s goal to move this case along expeditiously[,], [t]he parties nonetheless believe that their sentencing submissions will be incomplete if they are filed prior to the Court’s issuance of its ruling on the Motion to Compel."
This explanation for the delay makes imminent sense: If the court orders the government to turn over more information it could well alter the arguments made in the sentencing memorandum. Alternatively, newly disclosed evidence may trigger other proceedings‐such as a motion to dismiss based on egregious prosecutorial misconduct‐that need resolving prior to sentencing.
What is surprising, however, is that the government agrees with this reasoning. Until now, federal prosecutors argued that the Motion to Compel is a fishing expedition and the evidence sought is immaterial to sentencing. But now, the government seems to accept the possibility that the Motion to Compel has some merit.
#2
Hoping for a Ray Donovan outcome for Gen. Flynn.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/28/2019 8:09
Comments ||
Top||
#3
He tried to do a good job at DIA. He and his deputy stepped on too many Klingon-Soetoro toes.
No lawyer here, but I suspect that basing a criminal conviction on a contrived and false Steele Dossier may be a problem. Illegally obtained FISA evidence may also be problematic. 'Fruit of the poisonous tree' perhaps. We shall see.
#4
I think going forward, considering Turkey and Ukraine "no go zones" from an engagement standpoint would be a good thing. There are other places that belong on the list as well.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/28/2019 9:21
Comments ||
Top||
[ToloNews] Seven Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... were maimed in the fighting in Marjah, according to officials.
At least 17 Taliban were killed during a 10-day clearing operation in Marjah district, which is in the southern province of Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... , local military officials said on Wednesday.
"Most parts of the district have been cleared of murderous Moslems," said Gen. Hokum Khan, a military commander of 205th Atal military corps, who said "the district was surrounded by Taliban gunnies over the past four years, and equipment had to be brought in to the security forces by air."
"Now the security forces have broken the Taliban’s encirclement and the operation will continue in the district to clear all murderous Moslems," he said.
Local officials confirmed that the district has been surrounded by the Taliban over the past four years and "all the highways were blocked to military convoys,"
The Afghan forces have also been supported by Afghan air forces, officials added.
The Ministry of Defense in a statement on Wednesday said that the two gunnies were killed in an Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... in the ongoing operation.
The Taliban has not commented on the operation.
[ToloNews] In Sar-e-Pul ...a city and eponymous province in northern Afghanistan, population about 500,000. Demographically it is majority Tadjik and Uzbek. There are small Pashtun, Arab, and Hazara communities, of which the Hazaras mostly don't bother anyone... province, 13 civilians were maimed in a boom-mobile explosion.
According to the local officials, the earth-shattering kaboom happened after the Taliban ...Arabic for students... were trying to move a car full of explosives to the center of the province.
13 civilians were maimed in a boom-mobile explosion in Sar-e-Pul province, said Noor Agha Faizi, front man for the Sar-e-Pul police.
It occurred around 4:00 pm as the Taliban were moving the car from Sayyad district to the center of Sar-e-Pul province, according to the front man.
[KhaamaPress] Separate Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s killed three Talibs in southern Kandahar and Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... provinces, the military officials said Wednesday.
The officials further added an airstrike in Maiwand district of Kandahar killed a fighter of Taliban ...Arabic for students... group.
An airstrike in Marjah district of Helmand province killed two fighters of the group, the officials added.
Meanwhile, ...back at the barn, Bossy's udder had begun to ache... the Ministry of Defense in a statement said the airstrike in Maiwand district of Kandahar killed 5 Talibs and maimed 3 others.
The statement further added that the airstrike in Marjah district of Helmand killed 8 Talibs and destroyed a cycle of violence, some weapons and munitions.
The Taliban group has not commented regarding the airstrikes so far.
h/t Instapundit
About 90 additional foreign students at a fake university in metro Detroit created by the Department of Homeland Security have been arrested in recent months.
A total of about 250 students have now been arrested since January on immigration violations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of a sting operation by federal agents who enticed foreign-born students, mostly from India, to attend the school that marketed itself as offering graduate programs in technology and computer studies, according to ICE officials.
Many of those arrested have been deported, while others are contesting their removals. One has been allowed to stay after being granted lawful permanent resident status by an immigration judge.
The students had arrived legally in the U.S. on student visas, but since the University of Farmington was later revealed to be a creation of federal agents, they lost their immigration status after it was shut down in January. The school was staffed with undercover agents posing as university officials.
#2
I read an Ad in a local paper for an 'Emigration Consultants' agency. A pvt business that 'prepares, coaches and provides legal support' to Indians who want to simply 'Live in America !'
They blatantly offer to arrange all documents, knock a bit of smarts into you to pass checks and have slimy lawyers and agents waiting in Chicago, Detroit, Toronto etc. to fake a university course or employment over there.
And the kicker, and I quote -
'We promise a high paying career in Social Re-engineering in a welcoming and forward society. Learn to operate Twitter Yupp ! and influence people, medical and social services training, help other people settle in America... '
As noted by The Washington Post, the Florida man was mad at Miami Dade College and Broward College ‐ he’d been suspended from the former and expelled from the other.
So the 23-year-old allegedly met with ISIS members to plan attacks on the schools.
Sounds like a super sound terroristic tactic.
But he hit a snag: The ISIS guys were, in fact, undercover agents for the FBI.
Therefore, he’s been charged with soliciting another person to commit a crime of violence.
Posted by: Besoeker ||
11/28/2019
02:44 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[20 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
Not a real Florida Man. Wannabe shit-bag. It takes inventiveness, uniqueness and bewildering obstinacy to be Florida Man. Or unseen bravado, wisdom or lack thereof .
This is just a regular islamic asshole who shoulda been shot the moment he grew that beard.
I propose "What happens in Florida may remain in Florida or flee to Georgia, Alabama or as far as Mississippi or Louisiana, depending on the take and or the severity of the crime."
Weeks from my second anniversary of moving here I know damn well I am years away from being able to claim to be "Florida Man" (in the good sense) but I'm working on it every day. Wish I'd have started 10 years ago.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/28/2019 9:03
Comments ||
Top||
#7
Well, as the star shows, I can at least get on a plane next year. People from PeeAye may be ridin' the dog (what my college roommate called his summertime employer, Greyhound Lines) Or maybe they won't be eligible for that either. Would serve them right...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/28/2019 10:51
Comments ||
Top||
#8
Oh, above meant graphic. As an old time ink stained wretch, graf means something entirely else to me. Sorry.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/28/2019 11:00
Comments ||
Top||
#9
And. Chubby tough boy in the first post sure as hell ain't Florida Man.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/28/2019 11:17
Comments ||
Top||
[American Thinker] Ana Navarro-Cardenas managed to produce one of the most offensive tweets of the year in response to the news that multiple polls show black job approval of President Donald Trump now at 34%.
She tweeted, "Zero chance this is accurate. Zero. The poll must have only been conducted in the homes of Ben Carson, Kanye, that sheriff guy with the hat and those two Cubic Zirconia & Polyester-Spandex ladies."
You can almost smell the fear oozing from her keystrokes, competing with the hate that was already there. This is so blatantly racist that only a liberal could have spouted it. And, to my knowledge, not a single liberal has called her out on it, choosing to celebrate her instead. She wasn't just mocking the polls, as Newsweek suggests. She was mocking courageous black Americans.
First, she charmingly assumes that black Americans have no right to form their own political opinions and belong to the Democrats, which is an odd position for somebody who plays a "Republican" on CNN.
Second, she insults prominent and accomplished Americans who support the president and intentionally refuses to name three of them, even though surely she could have looked up the names of David Clarke and Diamond and Silk (Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson), in seconds. She chose to marginalize them by focusing on appearance choices that offend her delicate sensibilities instead of engaging their arguments.
#1
We are their outgroup. Of course they are allowed to use ugly words that they deem off-limits to us. That's what you do to the outgroup. Don't expect them to abide by the rules they make: those rules are for US to follow.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
11/28/2019 3:15
Comments ||
Top||
#2
What is this person's job, exactly?
Is she a reporter?
If so, then why is she so rancid with vile and hostility and bias?
If not, then what expertise does she have to offer, on what subject, gained how?
#6
The Dems are afraid of a preference cascade - that moment when people realize that instead of being a single individual with a forbidden opinion, that pretty much everyone thinks the same way. The problem is that when you hear the rumble, the avalanche has already started. Kanye West is just the loud, visible tip of the iceberg, if I may stir my metaphors.
#9
^ True-- allegiance is necessary, but it's not enough. Dems also need A-As to actually show up and vote. I forget the number but if A-A turnout in Cleveland and Milwaukee falls below a certain threshold percentage, the Dem presidential candidate will lose OH and WI.
h/t Instapundit
[Spectator] ’You can talk about anything you like,’ said Radu, a young Romanian academic when he invited me to a conference in Bucharest. The theme was ’Real liberty or new serfdom?’ marking the anniversary of the fall of Nicolae Ceausescu 30 years ago. The audience was made up of Romanian undergraduates.
The keynote speaker, a German federalist, was planning on making the classical liberal case for the EU, which made the title of my lecture ‐ ’The classical liberal case against the EU’ ‐ a no-brainer. But I was nervous when I told Radu what I wanted to talk about. Thirty years ago, Romanians had been ruled by a man who literally gave his critics cancer. Would fears of criticising the powerful die hard in Bucharest? I waited for the explanation that there had a been a mix up, that my lecture would be cancelled, and... ’Excellent!’ replied Radu. ’That’s exactly what we need.’
A week later I was preparing to talk to a student politics society at Cambridge and I suggested the same subject. Only this time I did get the explanation. ’The problem is... we’re looking for something a bit more mainstream.’ Mainstream? But this is broadly the view of 52 per cent of the UK population! ’Right. It’s just that we had a pro-Brexit speaker once and it all got a bit uncomfortable, a bit... controversial.’ Controversial ideas? At a university? Whatever next?
He was quite honest about it. It seemed like his society’s director had introduced a policy of no-platforming Brexiteers. I spared him the thoughts crystallising in my mind about Cambridge as the scholarly heart of the English Reformation and the Parliamentarian struggle against arbitrary power. ’Something on China, perhaps?’ he suggested. An authoritarian regime that suppresses free speech. Yes, I can see why that would go down better at Cambridge.
Back in Romania, we all got together in a hotel in Bucharest. The German federalist did his thing: Kant, perpetual peace, the brotherhood of Europe like the good old days of the Holy Roman Empire (never mind the Thirty Years’ War). He was asked how he squared this vision with the mess the EU is in today. ’We need to squash down these nation states, that’s the way,’ he said cheerfully. He ended with a flourish, explaining how ’these days, under the EU system, Bratislava for example is a great German, I mean European, city.’ Nervous laughter; polite applause.
...The students in Bucharest were doing what students are supposed to do: hearing each side of the argument. They didn’t show any of the symptoms of intellectual decay that I often encounter among students in the Anglosphere ‐ in particular, using someone’s dissent from progressive orthodoxy to exclude, purge, persecute, or otherwise gain power over them (I mean no-platforming, social-media mobbing or denouncing in an ’open letter’). But there is another malady that afflicts so many of our students, and is often indicative of an authoritarian mindset: they are so boring.
#2
So, so sad what's happened to our universities.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
11/28/2019 3:13
Comments ||
Top||
#3
...kill the student loan program and the invisible hand of the market place will kick in. Toss in the endowments as fully taxable entities and watch the wailing begin.
[KhaamaPress] The Afghan Special Forces ...established in 2007 with the intent of taking one conventional infantry kandak (battalion) from each of the regional ANA corps, giving them special training and equipment, and reorganizing based on the U.S. Army Rangers. Each battalion is assigned to one of the six regional corps. The commandos comprise 7% of the Afghan National Security Forces but conduct 70% to 80% of the fighting... killed 13 Talibs and arrested 5 others during the operations in Kabul and four other provinces in the past 24 hours.
The military officials said Wednesday the Special Forces killed 5 Talibs and destroyed a small cache of weapons in Alisheng district of Laghman ...Afghan province with a population of about 445,600, which is multi-ethnic and mostly a rural society. During the invasions of Alexander the Great, the area was known as Lampaka, wich is apparently Olde Macedonian for Laghman.The city of Mihtarlam serves as the bucolic capital of the province. The population is half Pashtun, the remainder Tadjik and Pashai. It had a repution for great wealth until it was conquered in the tenth century by Abu Mansur Sabuktigin.
He conquered it and set fire to the places in its vicinity which were inhabited by infidels, and demolishing the idol-temples, he established Islam in them, He marched and captured other cities and killed the polluted wretches, destroying the idolatrous and gratifying the Musulmans. After wounding and killing beyond all measure, his hands and those of his friends became cold in counting the value of the plundered property.
After that it was mostly notable for the production of dirt, rocks, and holy men... The officials further added that the Special Forces killed 2 Talibs and destroyed a small cache of weapons in a similar raid in Pul-e Alam district of Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... The Special Forces arrested 2 Talibs during a raid in Matun district of Khost, the officials said, adding that the Special Forces arrested another Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... hard boy during a raid in Kabul.
The officials also added that the Special Forces killed 6 Talibs, arrested 2 others and destroyed a cache of weapons during a raid in Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand.
The Taliban group has not commented regarding the operations so far.
[KhaamaPress] The Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed that an Indian-American lost his life in the attack on United Nations ...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly... vehicle in Kabul city on Sunday.
Speaking to news hounds on Tuesday, Pompeo said Ani Raj, an American citizen from the Socialist paradise of San Francisco ...where God struck dead Anton LaVey, home of the Sydney Ducks, ruled by Vigilance Committee from 1859 through 1867, reliably and volubly Democrat since 1964... who was working as an aid worker lost his life in the attack in Kabul city.
Pompeo further added that attacks targeting United Nations personnel helping the Afghan people are ’unconscionable’.
Unknown button men hurled hand grenade on a vehicle of the United Nations in the vicinity of 9th district of city at around 6:20 pm local time on Sunday, according to interior ministry officials.
The officials further added that the attack killed a foreign national and maimed five others including 2 workers of the UN agency.
No individual or group including Taliban ...Arabic for students... has so far grabbed credit for the attack.
#1
Anil Raj was from California. Did his Master's in human rights from Denver and had the misfortune to join the UNDP at the age of 26 when he was sent to Sudan as a reports officer. He was in Kabul as 'management specialist'.
ANP bomb disposal unit discovered and neutralized two roadside bombs, planted by terrorists in Ghazni City of Ghazni province. pic.twitter.com/7SrHUuJVxj
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The United States on Wednesday accused its adversaries Venezuela ...a country in Central America that sits on an enormous pool of oil. Formerly the most prospereous country in the region, it became infested with Commies sniffing almost unlimited wealth. It turned out the wealth wasn't unlimited, the economy collapsed under the clownish Hugo Chavez, the murder rate exceeds places like Honduras and El Salvador, and a significant proportion of the populace as refugeed to Colombia and points south... and Cuba of fomenting strife in South America, where a number of countries have seen major protests.
Elliott Abrams, who leads the US effort to topple Venezuela’s leftist leader Nicolás Maduro ...Commie el presidente para la vida of Venezuela, successor to Hugo Chavez. Nick is his country's attempt at producing a Muammar Qadaffy, except that even though his country's sitting on an enormous puddle of oil, he can't manage to get it out of the ground... , said the two governments have used social media and other means to stir up unrest.
"There is evidence beginning to build about an effort by the regimes in Cuba and Venezuela to exacerbate the problems in South America," he told news hounds.
Abrams pointed to US ally Colombia’s recent expulsion of 59 Venezuelans for taking part in mass demonstrations against the unpopular conservative president, Ivan Duque.
He also cited allegations, denied by Havana, that Cubans financed protests against the right-leaning interim leader in Bolivia, where longtime leftist president Evo Morales quit after disputed elections.
US officials have previously also alleged Venezuelan involvement in demonstrations that have rocked Ecuador and Chile.
Despite the turbulence in the region, Maduro remains in power even though most Western and Latin American nations consider him illegitimate after wide reports of irregularities in elections last year.
The United States in January launched a campaign of sanctions and other pressure to topple Maduro and back Juan Guaidó ...Venezuelan politician, a member of the social-democratic Popular Will party, and serves as a federal deputy to the National Assembly representing the state of Vargas. In 2019 he was appointed by the Popular Will party to become the president of the National Assembly, after which he declared he was acting president of the country, challenging Nicolás Maduro's presidency and starting the 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis.... , the head of the opposition-led National Assembly whom Washington considers interim president.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2019
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[17 views]
Top|| File under: Commies
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A Hawaii man tormented a Utah family for over a year by sending more than 500 people to their house for unwanted services including food deliveries, repairs, tow trucks, locksmiths, plumbers and hookers, according to a US prosecutor who called it "extreme cyberstalking."
Loren Okamura is scheduled for a detention hearing Wednesday afternoon in Honolulu’s federal courthouse following his arrest last week. He was indicted last month on charges of cyberstalking, interstate threats and transporting people for prostitution, court documents show.
Okamura, 44, targeted a father and his adult daughter, sending the woman threatening messages and posting her picture and address online, authorities said. One posting said the homeowner wanted drugs and hookers at the house in a quiet, middle-class neighborhood in a Salt Lake City suburb.
The Gilmore family was "tormented" during the year-plus that the "extreme cyberstalking" took place, US Attorney John Huber told news hounds on Tuesday.
Investigators had been focused on Okamura as the suspect since January when the Gilmores were granted a protective injunction from him in Utah. It took Sherlocks time to gather enough evidence to charge Okamura because of his use of encryption and apps that made him appear anonymous, Huber said.
"For all the good that technology offers us in our modern lifestyles, there is also a darker, seedier side to it," Huber said. "That’s what you have here."
Huber declined to disclose the relationship between the victims and Okamura, but said it was not random. He noted that most stalkers have had previous relationships with their victims and said, "those dynamics are present in this case."
A sealed indictment was issued on October 2, but Okamura wasn’t arrested until Friday as police struggled to find him because he doesn’t have a permanent address or job and authorities said he was "savvy" with technology used to mask his phone’s location.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2019
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under:
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] La Belle France’s foreign minister suggested on Wednesday that Gay Paree was seriously considering triggering a mechanism within the Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan, the abbreviation IRGC is a cognate form of Stürmabteilung (or SA), the term Supreme Guide is a cognate form of either Shah or Führer or maybe both, and they hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... nuclear deal that could lead to UN sanctions, given Tehran’s repeated breach of parts of the 2015 accord with world powers.
The comments come at a time of heightened friction between Iran and the West, with Tehran breaching the deal’s restrictions step by step in response to Washington’s withdrawal from the deal and renewed sanctions.
"Every two months, there is another dent (in the deal by Iran) to the point where today we ask ourselves, and I’m saying this very clearly, about the implementation of the dispute resolution mechanism that exists in the deal," Jean-Yves Le Drian told a parliamentary hearing.
Britannia, La Belle France and Germany have sought to salvage the pact, under which Iran undertook to curtail its uranium enrichment program in return for relief from sanctions crippling its economy, since the United States withdrew last year.
But the three Europe ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... an powers have failed to make good on the trade and investment dividends promised to Iran under the deal as they have been unable to shield Tehran from renewed USsanctions that have strangled its vital oil trade.
That has prompted Iran to renege step by step from its non-proliferation commitments under the deal. Until now the European powers have opted to hold back on triggering the mechanism, fearing it could further impede diplomatic efforts, notably by La Belle France, to defuse tensions.
The remaining parties to the deal meet in Vienna on December 6 to discuss how to move forward.
The mechanism involves a party referring a dispute to a Joint Commission comprising Iran, Russia, China, the three European powers, and the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... and then on to the UN Security Council if that commission cannot resolve it.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Protesters blocked roads with burning tires in southern Iraq and clashed with police in Baghdad on Wednesday, aiming to use economic disruption as leverage to push the government from power and root out state corruption.
Security forces rubbed out two people in Karbala overnight and two in Baghdad on Wednesday, while a fifth person died from gunfire by security forces during protests in the southern oil capital of Basra.
Demonstrators prevented babus babus government employees getting to work in Basra by installing concrete barriers painted as mock-up coffins of relatives killed in weeks of unrest, a Rooters witness said.
Young, mostly Shia protesters say politicians are corrupt and blame them for Iraq’s failure to recover from decades of conflict and sanctions despite two years of relative calm following the defeat of ISIS.
Government reform has amounted to little more than a handful of state jobs for graduates, stipends for the poor and pledges of election reform which politicians have barely begun to discuss.
Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi expressed concern over both the violence and the financial toll of unrest late on Tuesday, but mostly blamed unidentified saboteurs for the damage.
"There have been deaders among protesters and security forces, many maimed and arrested ... we’re trying to identify mistakes" made by security forces in trying to put down the protests, he told a televised cabinet meeting.
"The blocking of ports has cost billions of dollars," he said.
Protesters have blocked traffic into Iraq’s main commodities port near Basra this month and tried to surround the Central Bank in Baghdad, apparently bent on causing economic disruption where calls for removal of the government have failed.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Sixteen people were arrested in connection to violent incidents that took place Tuesday night in several Lebanese regions, said the Lebanese Armed Forces on Twitter.
Public property was vandalized in the northern city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... , as well as several banks, and a building belonging to one of the political parties, according to a statement released by the army on Wednesday.
The statement also said that 33 soldiers were maimed by Molotov cocktails and stones which were thrown at the soldiers. A grenade that didn’t explode was also thrown.
Several cycle of violences were confiscated after being left behind by those who expeditiously departed at a goodly pace, added the statement.
Meanwhile in other regions of the country, over 18 soldiers were maimed by stones and physical altercations while attempting to restore order and reopen several roads.
Order has been restored in various areas throughout Leb, said the statement. An investigation has been initiated into the detainees under the supervision of a special judiciary.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2019
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[24 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia is militarily ready for a Cuban Missile-style crisis if the United States wanted one and threatened to place hypersonic nuclear missiles on ships or submarines near U.S. territorial waters. https://t.co/rgKSYRfUSh
#4
The Cuban Missile Crisis was just a gambit on the geo-political chessboard. IIRC, the end goal was the removal of intermediate-range missiles in Europe. Not sure exactly what prompted Putin's statement, but "we're tired of all your shit" has a lot of explanatory power.
#5
Suddenly, it dawns on me: Anti-missile defenses in Poland, Javelins to Ukraine - it's the Cuban Missile Crisis with the roles reversed. Still filed under "we're tired of all your shit".
Victor Davis Hanson. Just an excerpt, maybe not even the best one.
[NATIONALREVIEW] Schiff’s overweening ambition and ego drove him into a full-fledged, prime-daytime soap opera. Previously washed and rinsed witnesses returned for televised cross-examinations with Schiff in the star inquisitor role. He apparently thought he could outperform his own Republican colleagues on camera — people he had blatantly misrepresented for weeks.
But television allowed the country to conclude that seeing and hearing Schiff all day long was a different experience from catching minute- or two-minute glimpses of him. The TV version was entirely toxic.
In person, some of the House civil-servant witnesses were haughty. They were certainly obsessed with their positions, titles, and résumés, and eager to talk down to others while talking themselves up. But mostly they sounded incoherent in decrying a brief hold on military assistance to Ukraine by a president who in fact has armed Ukrainians in a way his predecessor never dared. Most of the public came away with several general takeaways — all harmful to the Democrats.
One, the more viewers learned of the corrupt, wily Ukrainians (who were constantly shifting alliances to bet on the anticipated 2016 front-runner), the more they thought that Trump might have been circumspect to have held up, if only for a few weeks, U.S. military assistance in the first place, at least until he learned the nature of the new Ukrainian president. The more one learned about the baffling array of freelancing and often duplicitous Ukrainian ambassadors, prosecutors, foreign ministers, presidents, and gas directors, the more one concluded it might be better to let them get their house in order first.
Two, why blast a president who armed the Ukrainians while staying silent about a prior president who refused military aid and even used non-military aid as a lever to adjudicate Ukraine prosecutions?
Three, the House Republican interrogators, previously mostly unknown, turned out to be far more effective cross-examiners than their Democratic counterparts, in part because the latter were trying to remove a president on the basis of hearsay.
While Democrats talked of Fiona Hill’s pigtails as an eleven-year-old and raincoat metaphors, Republicans Conaway, Jordan, Nunes, Ratcliffe, Stefanik, Stewart, Turner, and Wenstrup drew out contradictions, hearsay, fuzzy memories, and mostly anemic “I suppose,” “I heard,” “I assumed,” and “I presumed,” rather than documents, tapes, and proofs from the witnesses.
Schiff had no White House tape of Trump channeling Richard Nixon’s obscenity-ridden machinations, a Ken Starr or a Leon Jaworski report, or Monica’s stained dress.
By Thursday night, a pale Schiff was reduced to mock outrage and lecturing a purportedly dense nation — on the admissibility of hearsay. When the last remarks of the chairman were to rail into the microphone, one knew he had lost control of his star chamber.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2019
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[18 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Again the eyes. He needs to get his thyroid tested ASAP.
#4
they sounded incoherent in decrying a brief hold on military assistance to Ukraine by a president who in fact has armed Ukrainians in a way his predecessor never dared.
This. Whatever one thinks of OrangeMan or his foreign policy, the hard indisputable fact is that, in practice, Trump's is the most anti-Russian and confrontational US administration we have seen since 1983. Or maybe ever.
The madness, the sheer barking lunacy, of the the Trump's-a-Russky-puppet meme, is obvious when you consider any of literally dozens of facts that are hidden in plain view. Trump has confronted, challenged and escalated Russia on every front.
Trump pulled us out of the INF Treaty.
Trump reversed Obama's Russia policy on missile sales and signed two massive sales of our most advanced weaponry, the Patriot anti-missile systems, to Russia's neighbors. Putin is furious about this.
Trump reversed Obama's Ukraine policy and will ship Javelin antitank missiles to the Ukrainians so as to destroy Russian tanks. The Russians are enraged.
Trump closed two Russian consulates, sanctioned dozens more Russian oligarchs and government officials, and expanded the Magnitsky List.
Trump officially called out Russia for the devastating ForPetya computer virus.
Under Trump, and for the first time in history, American troops have directly engaged Russian soldiers (not uniformed but under the Russian command structure) on the ground, in battle.
Trump has dramatically raised military spending aimed at countering Russia and has loudly, publicly urged NATO allies to do the same.
Perhaps, to our media morons, these seem bewildering in light of Trump's foolish tweets, but these are hard, undeniable FACTS.
In reality, this is the most aggressively anti-Russian presidential administration since Reagan's.
Reagan, too, was called a dumb entertainer, a warmongering racist, a fascist by his critics. It was Reagan whose pressure brought the Cold War to a peaceful conclusion (near-peaceful: Gorbachev slaughtered 14 Lithuanian protestors).
Reagan slashed our nuclear arsenal.
Here's hoping after next November Trump will now pivot and de-escalate. No war with Russia.
[JISS.ORG.IL] A worldwide network of terrorist groups and alliances is Iran’s strategic weapon for any military escalation scenario. A systematic counterterrorist strategy is necessary to deprive Iran of this powerful tool. Long, very detailed analysis that's well worth the read.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2019
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[BLOGS.SPECTATOR.CO.UK] Jeremy Corbyn’s interview with Andrew Neil was one of the most uncomfortable half hours of the Labour leader’s tenure. In contrast to the ITV debate, where he appeared confident and quick-witted, Corbyn struggled to answer questions on a number of different issues, complaining all the while that Neil wouldn’t let him finish. By the end, he might have wished that he’d had more interruptions as this was a very poor interview.
His refusal to apologise for the Labour party’s handling of anti-Semitism has naturally attracted the most attention. He point blank disagreed with the Chief Rabbi, saying he was ’not right’ to say it was ’mendacious fiction’ that Labour had investigated every single case of anti-Semitism, and once again saying he was ’looking forward to having a discussion with him because I want to hear why he would say such a thing’. He expressed clear irritation at having his anti-racist credentials questioned, insisting that opposing racism is ’what my life is about’ and that he felt ’very passionately’ about this, as though making the sort of statements you’d see in a university application immediately inoculates you against ever being wrong. Taken together, these two responses to Neil’s questions suggest that Corbyn still blames those who accuse him, rather than wondering whether there might be a different way of approaching the racism in his own party. He could quite easily have said that he too was appalled that his party had given Jews the impression they wouldn’t feel safe if he were in government, and that he would do everything in his power to change things in Labour to win back trust. Instead, he wants to do everything in his power to persuade those Jews that they are wrong.
But there were other areas where he seriously floundered too ‐ and on these he lacked the strange confidence that he exudes when asserting his lifelong anti-racist credentials. His case that he can bring the country back together by remaining neutral in a referendum on a Brexit deal that he’d just negotiated would be much stronger were Corbyn able to give at least an inkling that he’d thought through how this might work.
[RUDAW.NET] Adil Abdul-Mahdi, the embattled Iraqi prime minister, admitted human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... violations have occurred during Iraq’s nationwide protests, claiming "mistakes happen", after a new UN report called for restraint.
Protests demanding jobs, basic services, and action against corruption began in Baghdad on October 1 before spreading nationwide.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2019
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[29 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq
#1
Starting to wonder if Iraq was just a training exercise for what the deep state has planned here. Thanks boosh...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/28/2019 10:46
Comments ||
Top||
If compensation is paid to 800 families, that means the government has killed since October 1st a 800 protester not 300! Names and numbers most be exposed! https://t.co/RgYqO2Q19X
[DAWN] The Pakistain Bar Council (PBC) has announced that lawyers will observe a countrywide strike on Thursday to protest what it called the "unconstitutional moves" of the federal government regarding Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa's tenure extension and the high treason case against former military ruler Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... According to a blurb issued by the body on Wednesday, lawyers will observe a full-day strike tomorrow when they will hold protest and condemnation meetings in their respective bar rooms against the government measures to grant an extension in service to the incumbent army chief and "rescue" Musharraf from punishment in the high treason case.
The PTI-led government is currently engaged in the Supreme Court where it is defending the procedure under which Prime Minister Imran Khan ...aka The Great Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight... approved an extension in the tenure of Gen Bajwa. Also, the interior ministry earlier this week petitioned the Islamabad High Court to halt a special court from announcing its judgement in the high treason case against Musharraf. Its plea was accepted by the IHC today.
PBC Vice Chairman Syed Amjad Shah and the chairman of its executive committee, Sher Muhammad Khan, strongly condemned the "belated efforts and maneuverings of the federal government" after yesterday’s order of the Supreme Court in the case pertaining to Gen Bajwa's extension, according to the statement.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Trampler of Homs... says ISIS members held in the country will stand trial in local courts specialized in terrorism cases.
Assad made his comments in an interview with Gay Paree Match when asked about a deal with a Kurdish-led force that would eventually bring their areas under government control.
The Syrian Democratic Forces, who defeated ISIS in March with the help of the US-led coalition, is holding more than 10,000 hard boys, including some 2,000 foreigners.
Abandoned by their US allies, the Kurds turned to Assad and Russia for protection and over the past weeks Syrian and Russian forces have moved into areas once held by Kurds.
"Every terrorist in the areas controlled by the Syrian state will be subject to Syrian law," said Assad.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Leb's Speaker of Parliament Nabih Knobby Berri Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, a member of AMAL, a not very subtle Hizbullah sock puppet... claimed on Thursday to be concerned with preserving democracy and criticized the "dictatorship" of the streets in an appearance on al-Manar TV.
"Dictatorship should not be practiced on the streets or in institutions," said Berri, who claimed that "we" are concerned with the preservation of democracy.
"There is no room for leisure and we are surprised that the resigning government is not fulfilling its duties," he added.
Berri made the comments to al-Manar TV, which is affiliated with Iran-backed Hezbollah, amid ongoing protests in Leb.
Berri, who leads the Shia political party Amal, has previously criticized the protests and men waving Amal flags have joined Hezbollah supporters in attacking protesters on several occasions.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Air strikes halted production at Libya's 70,000 barrel per day (bpd) al-Feel oilfield on Wednesday, the National Oil Corporation said, as eastern-based forces retaliated after a rival group took control of the field.
The fighting reignites a conflict for control of large oilfields in southwestern Libya between competing military alliances that are also battling on the outskirts of the capital, Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... "There have been air strikes at the gates of the al-Feel oilfield and inside a housing compound at the field used by NOC personnel," NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanalla said in a statement.
"Production will remain shuttered until military activity ceases and all military personnel withdraw from NOC's area of operations."
The eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Khalifa Haftar ...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy, so it's kind of hard to describe him as a Qadaffy holdover. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all... , said its jets had launched air strikes "at the perimeter of al- Feel oilfield targeting the positions of gangs that attacked the field."
Earlier on Wednesday, forces aligned with the internationally recognized government in Tripoli had claimed control of al-Feel following festivities.
Some members of the forces posted videos or photos on social media appearing to show them at the field.
Libya's oil production has been repeatedly disrupted in recent years by conflict and blockades, but is currently relatively stable at about 1.25 million bpd.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The new EU chief insisted Wednesday the bloc would not replace NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... as guarantor of Europe ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... an security as the backlash to French President Emmanuel Macron’s criticism of the alliance rumbles on.
Ursula von der Leyen, the incoming European Commission president, became the latest major European leader to distance herself from a pugnacious Macron interview in which he said NATO was suffering "brain death" and that Europe could defend itself.
The French leader’s comments have caused a rift with Germany, with Chancellor Angela Merkel ...chancellor of Germany and the impetus behind Germany's remarkably ill-starred immigration program. Merkel used to be referred to by Germans as Mom. Now they make faces at her for inundating the country with Moslem colonists... breaking with her usual reserve to slap down unnecessary "sweeping judgements", and anger among eastern European allies who see NATO as a vital bulwark against Russian aggression.
The EU has launched various initiatives to make its military spending more coherent and efficient, but former German defense minister von der Leyen said the transatlantic alliance would remain responsible for European collective security "without any question."
"The European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... will never be a military alliance. The European Union is completely different," she told news hounds after the European Parliament approved her new commission team.
"I see many, many fields where I do not see NATO but the European Union is called upon," she added, pointing to the bloc’s "huge tool box of instruments" including trade, development aid and humanitarian assistance.
In his Economist interview, Macron said allies should "reassess the reality of what NATO is" in light of US President Donald Trump ...Oh, noze! Not him!... ’s apparent ambivalence about the alliance, adding that he believed "Europe has the capacity to defend itself.”
[Yahoo] France’s defense minister criticized the U.S. on Saturday over what she described as "unanswered" attacks in recent months threatening the Persian Gulf, warning that the decades-long American deterrence in the oil-rich region appeared to be losing its power. It’s starting to seem like the actions we take or don’t take don’t actually matter and Europeans just want somebody to complain about.
Florence Parly separately said France "deplored" both U.S. President Donald Trump’s unilateral withdrawal of America from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers that led to the re-imposition of crushing sanctions, as well as Tehran recently breaking the deal’s enrichment, stockpile and centrifuge limits. The arrogance of France is monumental. Nothing is stopping France from responding, it even mentions they have a base in the region.
While saying France would continue to talk to Iran, her speech before the annual Manama Dialogue in Bahrain struck a muscular tone for Paris, which maintains a naval base in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. She said France would push for a European-organized maritime security force in the region that would cooperate with but be separate from an American-organized force. She’s criticizing the US for not bombing Iran after they bombed a ship in the Persian gulf, when France was trying to prevent the US from bombing Iran when this event actually occurred. Reuters adds:
Responding to Tehran's move, Washington on Monday said it would deploy about 1,000 more troops to the Middle East on top of a 1,500-troop increase announced following the May tanker attacks. The Pentagon said the new deployment will include Patriot missiles as well as manned and unmanned surveillance aircraft.
France and Germany said on Wednesday they would crank up efforts to halt any spiral towards conflict with Iran, but said time was running out and the risk of war could not be ruled out.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
11/28/2019
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
[The National] A war crimes probe has identified 160 ISIS members who could eventually face prosecution for atrocities carried out against the Yazidi community in northern Iraq, the UN Security Council was told on Tuesday.
The UN team known as Unitad, set up a year ago to make ISIS accountable for its crimes, says its information gathering has increased significantly in the past six months.
Criminal case files are being prepared and the inquiry's geographical scope was recently broadened.
Karim Khan, a UN special adviser and head of the team, said members met tribal leaders, victims' relatives and survivors in Arbil, Tal Afar, djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , Anbar Province, Diyala Province, Nineveh and other parts of Iraq.
"Despite suffering abduction, enslavement and unspeakable treatment, they were willing to re-engage with these memories to assist in holding their abusers to account," Mr Khan said.
He was referring to meetings he had with ISIS victims in Dohuk, northern Iraq, last week.
Mosul, Sinjar and Camp Speicher in Tikrit ...birthplace of Saddam Hussein... are prime areas being looked at the 107-member UN team, more than half of whom are women.
More than 50 per cent of its senior management positions are also held by women, Mr Khan said.
Laser scanning of scene of the crimes in Sinjar, where most of the Yazidis lived, has enabled 3D models to be built.
ISIS fighters killed men, kidnapped children, and raped and enslaved women and girls.
With ballistics data, accounts from survivors and DNA from the remains of victims excavated from mass graves, evidence is also mounting against the killers of judges, religious figures, journalists and health workers.
"In the context of our investigation in relation to the attacks committed against the Yazidi community in Sinjar, we have identified over 160 perpetrators, and have now focused our work to build case files that may be presented to appropriate courts," Mr Khan told the council.
Iraq's government is assisting the UN team but despite "purposeful steps being taken", there is still no legislation to try acts committed by ISIS as war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide, he said.
"The government of Iraq also facilitated the transfer of an ISIS detainee to Unitad premises to provide testimony," said Mr Khan, stressing that prosecutions would one day be possible.
#4
Things don't get fixed till people start paying significant price for crimes, as in bearing false witness. We're quickly headed to a zero trust society, all made possible by libel laws gutted by our judiciary aristocracy.
A respected policy in the IT world. I prefer my bank and investment counselor operate this way, why shouldn't I want that of the gummint too?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/28/2019 8:42
Comments ||
Top||
#6
I'm with P2K. We're seeing an explosion of malicious lies, slander, libel aimed at destroying people the slanderer doesn't like. The Gibson case, Sandmann, Kavanaugh: this madness can't be allowed to spread any further, or else we will re-create a Soviet-style culture in which no one speaks the truth or trusts his neighbor not to denounce him.
[AXIOS] President Trump signed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act on Wednesday, reaffirming U.S. support for the city's autonomy after months of pro-democracy protests.
Why it matters: The bill, which was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in both the Senate and the House, serves as a major rebuke of China at a time when Washington and Beijing are engaged in critical trade talks. China has warned that it will take retaliatory measures if the bill becomes law.
Between the lines: Even if Trump had declined to sign the bill, it would still likely have the two-thirds support in Congress necessary to override a veto. In a statement acknowledging the signing, Trump noted that certain aspects of the bill would "interfere" with his "constitutional authority to state the foreign policy of the United States."
#4
A couple of friends and I are trying to get some Trump masks to get to HK. If they get to the guy, we should soon see. They're made in China Yupp ! , so they look ridiculous but it should be... interesting.
#5
Should have made a deal. We'll take the faculty and students of the Hong Kong demonstrations, in return we'll send you the Oberlin faculty and students.
At least 10 ISIS fighters have escaped the prison. All security forces in Mosul have launched a manhunt to find them and issued red alert. All bridges and streets have blocked.
The government negligence of Mosul, the militia domination of the political and economical situation, and demographic change will not only lead to prison breakouts. Further mayhem is only waiting to erupt. https://t.co/4H57HQahkD
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2019
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[16 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
mow them down
Posted by: chris ||
11/28/2019 10:28
Comments ||
Top||
#2
I hope the Kurds have learnt their lesson now. It is no use fulfilling stupid, unreasonable Geneva and NATO conventions or feeling obliged to preserve altruistic propriety in dealing with these creatures. When you most need it, the western world doesn't give a fuck about you and you better kill that sasquatch while you still can.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] An explosion at a chemical plant in Texas early Wednesday sent a large fireball into the sky, media reports said, triggering a mandatory evacuation.
"Please be aware that there is a mandatory evacuation for everyone within a 1/2 mile of the TPC plant in Port Neches," local fire officials said in a post on the Nederland Volunteer Fire Department’s Facebook page.
Dramatic videos and photos shared on social media showed a massive explosion, with one resident describing waking up to a huge boom and "glass all over us".
Ryan Mathewson, who lives roughly two minutes from the plant with his family, told AFP: "We woke up to glass all over us and parts of the ceiling caved in, (and) doors blown in."
The 25-year-old said they were "shook up and scared" following the blast.
County Judge Jeff Branick told local news site KFDM News that there were no injuries reported.
The site of the earth-shattering kaboom is believed to be a petrochemical plant roughly 85 miles (135 kilometers) from Houston.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2019
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[12 views]
Top|| File under:
[KhaamaPress] An explosion killed 15 civilians and wounded 2 others in northern Kunduz province of Afghanistan, the security officials said.
Nasrat Rahimi, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior said a vehicle struck a Taliban roadside bomb at around 5 pm local time in Imam Saheb district.
Rahimi further added that the explosion killed 15 civilians and wounded 2 others.
Meanwhile, the provincial government in a statement said the civilians were on their way from Khanabad district to Imam Sahib district to participate in a wedding ceremony.
The statement further added that the explosion killed 15 civilians including 6 women, a man and 6 young girls and 2 children.
The Taliban group has not commented regarding the incident so far.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2019
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[18 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
Hassan #Rouhani, the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran once again tied the recent country-wide protests to foreign countries and especially the United States, demanding the arrested protesters to explain themselves to the nation.#IranProtestshttps://t.co/wM7AxONeGjpic.twitter.com/HxhxT7V6a2
[DW] Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday underscored her commitment to NATO, pledging to raise Germany's defense spending to the alliance's 2% target "by the early 2030s." Russia, in a spectacular outbreak of European solidarity, promises no hostile action against European countries until at least the early 2030s.
"The preservation of NATO is in our own interest, more than during the Cold War," Merkel said while addressing lawmakers in German parliament. As protesters chanted "USA fascists out of Germany!"
"At the moment, Europe is unable to defend itself," she added, urging the bloc to stay together. If only there were some kind of way for European countries to defend themselves. Some kind of...armed force. That countries could spend money on. Just a pipe dream, I guess.
Ouch.
Merkel said NATO has been a "bulwark for peace and freedom." Highlighting Washington's changing role in foreign policy, she said that "the United States no longer automatically takes up responsibility when it's burning around us." And it was about goddamned time. Europeans sneering at us for having a military, and expecting us to do everything for them despite being wealthy First World nations that can easily afford it. The broomstick industry is now considered as part of their military spending.
I've been looking at comments by Europeans and they think they shouldn't have to spend the money. They don't see why a military is important and think they might as well just flush the money down the toilet. They should spend instead on things they like for themselves, like social welfare and infrastructure. Ungrateful assholes, the lot of them. Cut 'em loose. Disband NATO, bring the boys home.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
11/28/2019
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[20 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
If it takes you that long to spend 2% on defense, you ain't serious. Let the Germans rot on their migrants.
The Trump administration has moved to substantially cut its contribution to NATO's collective budget according to several US and NATO officials, a symbolic move that comes as many continue to question President Donald Trump's commitment to the transatlantic alliance as he prepares to attend a summit to mark its 70th anniversary in London next week.
Previously the US provided some 22% of NATO's direct funding, which covers the cost of maintaining the NATO headquarters, joint security investments and some combined military operations.
It's a largely symbolic move as NATO's direct budget is relatively small, at about $2.5 billion, and is separate from national defense budgets that NATO recommends should stand at 2% of GDP.
US defense officials tell CNN that the Trump administration sought to reduce its contribution to about 16%, bringing it in line with Germany's, which provides 14.8% despite the US having a larger economy.
But when it came to committing to upholding Article 5—the alliance’s sacred cow, which requires NATO members to defend an ally if it is attacked—the results were devastating. The Pew poll showed that among Europeans, a median of 49 percent of respondents thought their country should not defend an ally, a response that exposes a lack of commitment to collective defense. Not only that: the majority of Europeans (67 percent), with the surprising exception of the Poles (49 percent), believed the United States would come to the defense of its allies.
Once again, the Europeans take the United States as their security guarantor for granted. Why successive U.S. administrations ever tolerated this is hard to fathom. Europe is prosperous. It has the means both to take care of its own security and to contribute to a greater role in burden sharing.
It does neither.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
11/28/2019 2:53
Comments ||
Top||
#6
Replace NATO with bilateral deals w Poland, Romania, Sweden, Denmark, UK, Germany Italy Spain.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Former US President Jimmy Carter ...only the second worst president ever... has been released from Emory University Hospital in Atlanta after recovering from surgery to relieve pressure on his brain caused by bleeding from a fall.
Carter Center spokeswoman Deanna Congileo said Wednesday that the Carters "look forward to enjoying Thanksgiving at home in Plains, where he will continue to recover."
The Carter Center has said the bleeding was connected to Carter’s recent falls. A fall required him to get hip replacement surgery. He fell twice in October, hitting his head at least once.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Iranian security agents arrested at least eight people linked to the US Central Intelligence Agency during last week’s unrest over gasoline price hikes, the official news agency IRNA reported on Wednesday.
"These elements had received CIA-funded training in various countries under the cover of becoming citizen-journalists," IRNA quoted the Intelligence Ministry as saying.
"Six were arrested while attending the riots and carrying out (CIA) orders and two while trying to ... send information abroad."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2019
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[16 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[TELEGRAPH.CO.UK] Benjamin Netanyahu has suggested Israel may halt its intelligence cooperation with the UK if Jeremy Corbyn becomes prime minister and carries out his pledge to impose an arms embargo on Israel.
Israel has become one of Britannia’s most important intelligence partners after the US, but the Israeli prime minister indicated that security relationship would be damaged under a Corbyn premiership.
During a visit to London in September, The Telegraph asked Mr Netanyahu whether security cooperation could continue if Mr Corbyn follows through on his promises to stop arms sales to Israel and to recognise a Paleostinian state. "What do you think?" Mr Netanyahu said.
The Israeli leader refused to elaborate.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2019
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[21 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Isn't this the same kind of interfering with foreign elections that we all despised Obama for doing? Remember when he said, "vote the way I think you should, otherwise you go to the back of the line for a trade deal"? This is the same shit.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
11/28/2019 2:58
Comments ||
Top||
#4
#1 - our resident troll suggests the Jooos are interfering with British elections? Twat-time again. Bibi is saying they will not have the same relations if an active hater is elected. Nothing more
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/28/2019 7:03
Comments ||
Top||
#5
Herb__ the flaw in your proposition is that this "interference" is only effective if the country as a whole loves Israel. Given the recent demographic changes as well as Britain's (ancient) history with the Jews, it would be more likely to boost Corbyn.
[IRANINTL] Recently a video has been circulating in social media where citizens of Baneh in Iranian Kurdistan province are riding children tricycles to mock the petrol price hike a man in the video is seen to say from now on people would have to commute using tricycles. In only two days, this ironic protest turned into a massive crackdown where tens of people bit the dust as a result of police and security forces’ shootings in Kurdistan.
On Tuesday, November 19, Amnesia Amnesty International reported their research results according to which at least 106 people have bit the dust during the recent protests in 21 Iranian cities. The report also shows that 44 people, about half of the casualties, were in Kurdish provinces of Kermanshah, Kurdistan and West Azerbaijan.
Nine dead bodies have already been identified in the border city of Mariwan, where a video has been published of the blood being shed on streets. Reports say that the number of dead people in the city is far greater than what the media claim.
In an interview with ISNA, Artikas Eqbal, the governor of Mariwan, commented on this and said the statistics lie about the death of 15 people during the recent unrest in Mariwan, but they are not authorized to give out more information as the Public Relations of the State Government Council will hold blurb on this.
A video distributed in social media shows security forces shooting at people from the roof of the Ministry of Justice building in the small city of Javanrood in Kermanshah, where according to Amnesia Amnesty International, 14 people have been killed. Eyewitnesses have reported on the death of an old deaf man who was killed not by bullets but by repeated blows of a gunstock.
The massacre of people in Mariwan and Jawanrood happened in spite of what independent journalists and civil activists in Kurdistan witnessed; the protests were peaceful and the police and security forces were the instigators of violence.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2019
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[22 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
As a result of overnight search operation, GCPSU discovered & seized an ammunition cache containing 50 heavy rounds, 20 various types of land mines & some amount of military equipment & hand grenades in Dara-e-Hazara region, Maidan Shahr City of Maidan Wardak. pic.twitter.com/kYpPaQryAI
Iraqi authorities have released 2,500 detainees arrested during recent demonstrations, Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi says at a parliament session, adding that the government has begun forming and training a security force to "maintain law and order."https://t.co/lt1jNCGHW1pic.twitter.com/aSTqUtTpGo
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan, the abbreviation IRGC is a cognate form of Stürmabteilung (or SA), the term Supreme Guide is a cognate form of either Shah or Führer or maybe both, and they hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... gave a glimpse on Wednesday into the scale of what may have been the biggest anti-government protests in the 40 year history of the Islamic Theocratic Republic, with officials saying 200,000 people had taken part and a politician saying 7,000 were arrested.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The US Justice Department on Wednesday asked an appeals court to put on hold a ruling requiring former White House Counsel Don McGahn to testify to politicians as part of the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump ...The man who was so stupid he beat fourteen professional politicians, a former tech CEO, and a brain surgeon for the Republican nomination in 2016, then beat The Smartest Woman in the World in the general election... .
The filing in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit came after Obama Appointee US District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson did not act on a similar request to prevent her ruling on Monday from going into effect.
[DAWN] Iran's state TV says a delegation of the Taliban ...Arabic for students... visited Tehran and discussed efforts to bring a negotiated end to Afghanistan's 18-year war.
Wednesday's report said Taliban politburo chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar
... group co-founder, deputy political chief, and head of the political office of Taliban in Qatar...
met with Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif. It said they discussed Tehran's readiness to help facilitate intra-Afghan dialogue.
Taliban front man Suhail Shaheen tweeted that the meeting took place on Tuesday.
While rare, these are not the first talks between the Taliban and Iranian officials.
US-Taliban peace talks collapsed in September. In the following weeks, a Taliban delegation travelled to Russia, China, Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan, the abbreviation IRGC is a cognate form of Stürmabteilung (or SA), the term Supreme Guide is a cognate form of either Shah or Führer or maybe both, and they hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... and Pakistain.
Last Tuesday, the Taliban freed an American and an Australian held hostage since 2016 in exchange for three top Taliban figures. The holy warrior group said the swap could help rekindle peace negotiations.
Shaheen added that the two sides also discussed the issues of the Afghan refugees based in Iran and Mr. Zarif vowed to resolve the issues of the Afghans living as refugees in Iran.
They would be the 390,000 Afghan refugees who suddenly returned home from Iran thus far this year.
Almost unbelievable - #Iranian consulate burned to the ground by #Iraqi protestors in Najaf. After setting it on fire, they blocked firefighters from putting it out. Diplomats believed evacuated weeks ago. This kind of anger won't be extinguished by wrangling over election law.
And so Mr. el-Ashmawi continues to wend his way through the minor Hell that is the Egyptian court system. After several more iterations, and assuming the Elders of Islam concur with the sentence once consulted, there will be a final appeals court and then a final sentence passed — at which point we will finally be able to move this case from Page 2 to Page 1.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] An Egyptian military court has handed down a death sentence ...the barbaric practice of sentencing a murderer to be punished for as long as his/her/its victim is dead... to one of the country’s most high-profile holy warriors for his participation in scores of attacks on government targets.
The court convicted Hisham el-Ashmawi,
....also known as Abu Omar El-Mohager (the immigrant). El-Ashmawy graduated in 2000 from the Egyptian military academy, then within eleven years earnt himself a dishonourable discharge. He subsequently joined Ansar Bayt Al Maqdis, the local branch of Al Qaeda, for whom he had too much fun applying the training given him by the Egyptian taxpayers. When they became ISIS in the Sinai, he left to form the Al Qaeda linked al-Mourabitoun, which at some point wandered off to Libya where the LNA caught him and sent him back. Egypt convicted him in absentia in 2014, leaving very little for the court to do now...
a former army officer turned bad boy, and sentenced him Wednesday to hanging. He was captured in Libya by Cairo-allied forces and returned to Egypt last year.
Egyptian authorities link el-Ashmawi, 40, to several major attacks, including a 2013 attempt to assassinate Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim and a 2017 ambush that killed 30 Christian pilgrims. He is also been convicted of leading assaults on security forces near Egypt’s desert border with Libya.
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.
Ask any retired or middle rung civil servant and they'll tell you everything is fine as is, it's only reasonable policies, execution and employee incentive that is needed. But ask a 'big-wig' and you shall get this litany the article speaks of. Tighter controls on what people can earn, own, keep in their homes, drive, watch, eat 
[New Republic] Every day, I start the shift by throwing on my marking gear. It’s not as heavy as my kit in Afghanistan, just an easy 40-odd pounds with the paint. Instead of a blaze orange cruiser vest like the ones my co-workers use, I still take the old tactical vest I wore over my armor back then. The mag pouches hold the Relaskop I use to measure tree height, and the dump pouch holds my clipboard of data cards, with room to spare for the wild mushrooms and onions I collect. Add to that my four-gallon backpack paint sprayer and I’m ready to go. 
[NYPOST] They’re soaking up some rays where the sun don’t shine.
In a viral video that has racked up more than 35,000 views, he gestures toward the sun as three naked men lie down, point their backsides to the sky and make sounds of pleasure.
One 
"Big Little Lies" actress Shailene Woodley, who is known for her holistic lifestyle that doesn’t even include a TV, has admitted she’s also practiced a version of perineum sunning.
[NYPOST] A drunken man who was masturbating in a Florida supermarket’s parking lot slugged an elderly man who told him to cut it out, a report said.
...
The heavenly promise is that we will lack for nothing that we truly need. I still have good health at an advancing age. I owe no one, nor they me. It would appear that I have arrived, and I am very thankful. My current prayer is that I be permitted to stay a bit longer. 
[Hot Air] Can you imagine what the presidential sh*tposting about Bill Barr will be like if the Horowitz report turns out to be a dud? Trump is counting on it to deliver his vindication in the Russiagate mess. Barr was the Roy Cohn figure POTUS had longed for after being massively disappointed by Jeff Sessions, the AG who would finally prove that Trump’s worst fears were right all along. The bogus Steele dossier inspired the witch hunt; the renegade deep-staters at the FBI spied on the campaign; Comey, McCabe, Strzok, Page, and God knows who else were all rancid with bias against Trump because they resented a right-wing anti-interventionist president who wasn’t chummy with Washington’s entrenched bureaucracy.
[The Federalist] Late Tuesday, federal prosecutors filed a motion to cancel the briefing due in mid-December in the Michael Flynn criminal case.
...
...Arabic for 
...
[Red State] Salman Rashid is in big trouble.
[American Thinker] Ana Navarro-Cardenas managed to produce one of the most offensive tweets of the year in response to the news that multiple polls show black job approval of President Donald Trump now at 34%. 
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
...Arabic for 
...a country in Central America that sits on an enormous pool of oil. Formerly the most prospereous country in the region, it became infested with Commies sniffing almost unlimited wealth. It turned out the wealth wasn't unlimited, the economy collapsed under the clownish Hugo Chavez, the murder rate exceeds places like Honduras and El Salvador, and a significant proportion of the populace as refugeed to Colombia and points south...
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A Hawaii man tormented a Utah family for over a year by sending more than 500 people to their house for unwanted services including food deliveries, repairs, tow trucks, locksmiths, plumbers and 
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Protesters blocked roads with burning tires in southern Iraq and clashed with police in Baghdad on Wednesday, aiming to use economic disruption as leverage to push the government from power and root out state corruption.
Schiff’s overweening ambition and ego drove him into a full-fledged, prime-daytime soap opera. Previously washed and rinsed witnesses returned for televised cross-examinations with Schiff in the star inquisitor role. He apparently thought he could outperform his own Republican colleagues on camera — people he had blatantly misrepresented for weeks.
Gotta love it! I suspect it is fotoshopped, but one never really knows. 
[JISS.ORG.IL] A worldwide network of terrorist groups and alliances is Iran’s strategic weapon for any military escalation scenario. A systematic counterterrorist strategy is necessary to deprive Iran of this powerful tool.
[RUDAW.NET] Adil Abdul-Mahdi, the embattled Iraqi prime minister, admitted 
Pervez 
...aka 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy, so it's kind of hard to describe him as a Qadaffy holdover. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all...
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
[DW] Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday underscored her commitment to NATO, pledging to raise Germany's defense spending to the alliance's 2% target "by the early 2030s."
Jimmy Carter
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
...The man who was so stupid he beat fourteen professional politicians, a former tech CEO, and a brain surgeon for the Republican nomination in 2016, then beat 
...Arabic for 
...the barbaric practice of sentencing a murderer to be punished for as long as his/her/its victim is dead...
