The more evidence has piled up against Moore, the more the White House has drifted towards supporting him. You can interpret that in two ways. From the standpoint of expedience, Team Trump had to be cautious after the scandal first broke because there was too much uncertainty about what might happen. Moore might quit; the state party might oust him; Alabama Republicans might revolt; more, and worse, accusations might surface. The safe play was to say Moore must go if the allegations are true. Twelve days later, there’s much less uncertainty. Moore won’t quit and the state GOP won’t remove him as nominee. Alabama Republicans are hanging with him for the most part but he’s lost enough of them to give Jones a credible chance of taking the seat. It’s now a binary choice, just as it was last November. And given a binary choice, the tribe always sides with its own, no matter what its representative is accused of. Moore calculated that as long as he stands firm, no matter how bad the scandal gets, the belief that anything is better than a Democrat will keep most of the party with him. He was right. Another way to put it "It's time to take a stand against the baying mob".
#2
True, though, and I'm skeptical of the lack of timeliness and age of the accusations against Moore along with the details that don't jibe. This guy has been in a very public eye for a long time.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/21/2017 21:50
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#3
>The more evidence has piled up against Moore
Trump's moved as the "evidence" has been shown to be a fake. Moore has called the faker's bluff, and Trump has joined him.
#4
Judge Moore is against many pet issues of the left and therefore he has a target on his back. The left uses the usual tools of character assassination and smear tactics. If there are no issues, they will make them. They are just that evil.
[NoPasaran] Initially promising freedom, like all revolutions, it has entered something like its Reign of Terror phase and is devouring its own children. As with other revolutions, it is not because the revolutionaries enjoy broad popular support; it is because civic and religious leaders are confused, divided, and cowed into silence. Those whom one expects to impose some order on all this‐conservative politicians, religious leaders, civil libertarians, journalists, scholars‐are either hiding under the table or signaling their virtue by themselves fanning the flames of a hysteria that they show no interest in trying to understand.
Even as one hysteria‐the campus "rape epidemic"‐is finally exposed as a hoax by the common sense of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, another breaks out over Harvey Weinstein and others (and still others) emerge almost daily. The commentariat from the left to the right is either diffident or so intoxicated with sanctimony that they are unable to write about it critically. Yet once we strip away the obfuscating jargon and ideology, it becomes very clear what is going on.
For there is nothing new about the sordid behavior. All that is new‐and all that makes it newsworthy‐is that it has been politicized.
To begin with, there is not, and never has been, any epidemic of "sexual harassment," "sexual assault," "domestic violence," or the rest. It is not that deeds associated with these terms do not happen; the terms themselves are ideological constructions designed to create hysteria and mean nothing. There are, and always have been, criminal statutes in place to protect women (along with everyone else) from violent crime. There have also long been civil provisions to protect them from sexual pressure from superiors in the workplace. Anyone experiencing either of these offenses can readily file charges or complaints. And no, there is certainly no longer any "stigma" against doing so, if there ever was.
What we do have‐as many long ago warned we would have‐is a highly sexualized culture controlled by men and women who have succeeded in changing the terms of sexuality because they have both ideological and pecuniary interests in using sex as a financial tool and a political weapon. Privileged men and women have thrown off virtually all controls on sexual indulgence, which they can use not only for personal self-gratification but also‐and quite predictably‐as the means to advance their careers, accumulate wealth, eliminate rivals, punish opponents, extort money, and generally acquire political power. These practices are especially rampant in the commanding heights of our culture: the media, universities, Hollywood, television, and the fashion industry, all of which by their nature are dedicated to profiteering off sexual appeal and which bestow high rewards on people who provide it. Because most of us are consumers of these industries, few of us can completely wash our hands of responsibility. 1938
#1
"rape epidemic" - cause it was on going within the Left. It was all Freudian Projection on others. Their core rationale was 'yeah, we're bad, but they are worse' except they aren't. They want everyone else to pay for their sins.
#4
The Campus Rape epidemic probably started because Liberals control the university system and they know that pretty much everything they control has a rape epidemic before long. They just assumed...
#2
DV, my guess would be all of 'em...at least on the Dem side.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
11/21/2017 10:45
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#3
The takeaway from this article is that the number of sexual harassment settlements is much, much higher than reported:
It took several months of navigating the labyrinthine Office of Compliance (OOC) for the woman to receive a grand total of $27,111.75 over a three-month period by setting her up as a temporary employee who didn’t have to show up to work. That kept the settlement within Conyers’ office budget rather than the normal fund used to settle workplace complaints from Congressional staffers.
I.e. If the settlement is paid out of the legislator's office budget, it doesn't count towards the sexual harassment statistics.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
11/21/2017 13:12
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#5
Monica Conyers served 3yrs+ for corruption in the Federal lockup. These people are not public servants--they are leeches who feed off the rest of us.
There are risks to criticizing/exposing these criminals. Dinesh D'Souza ended up in prison for a ginned-up charge. The time seems to be ripe for taking them down. They are tearing the country down; not building it up.
[Newsweek] On November 10, Muslims laid their prayer mats on a road in the northern Parisian suburb of Clichy-la-Garenne. They were met with a banner held aloft by local politicians, led by right-wing Mayor Remi Muzeau, which read: "Stop illegal prayers in the streets."
For eight months, hundreds of Muslims have gathered in front of the town hall every Friday to worship. Now, French lawmakers have pledged to put an end to the public worship sessions, not only in the suburb, but elsewhere in the country.
"They will not have prayers on the street, we will prevent street praying," Interior Minister Gerard Collomb told Questions Politics on Sunday.
#6
Flamethrowers would be my choice. Nothing says disapproval like spraying someone with flame, then watching them rush about til they fall over as a charcoal briquette.
As Mohammed goes a la francaise,
Marianne meets a man in a fez
And invites him to dine. "Fine!
I'll bring some nice whine."
His muezzins wheezed "La Marseillaise."
C'est la vie. C'est la guerre. C'est l'islame,
So, "Adieu, jambon-beurre! Bonjour, bombes!"
Encore viande a les Halles...
Bonnes croissants dans l'Etoile...
Mais les femmes show no ham to les hommes.
[Reuters] The White House asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to allow President Donald Trump’s latest travel ban to take full effect after an appeals court in California ruled last week that only parts of it could be enacted.
A three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Nov. 13 partially granted a Trump administration request to block at least temporarily a judge’s ruling that had put the new ban on hold. It ruled the government could bar entry of people from six Muslim-majority countries with no connections to the United States.
Trump’s ban was announced on Sept. 24 and replaced two previous versions that had been impeded by federal courts.
The administration’s appeal to the top U.S. court argued that the latest travel ban differed from the previous orders "both in process and in substance" and that the differences showed it "is based on national-security and foreign-affairs objectives, not religious animus."
It also argued that even if the 9th Circuit ruled to uphold the partial ban, the Supreme Court was likely to overturn that decision as it had "the last time courts barred the President from enforcing entry restrictions on certain foreign nationals in the interest of national security."
Last week’s appeals court ruling meant the ban would only apply to people from Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Chad who did not have connections to the United States.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of about a dozen U.S. State Department officials have taken the unusual step of formally accusing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson of violating a federal law designed to stop foreign militaries from enlisting child soldiers, according to internal government documents reviewed by Reuters.
A confidential State Department "dissent" memo not previously reported said Tillerson breached the Child Soldiers Prevention Act when he decided in June to exclude Iraq, Myanmar, and Afghanistan from a U.S. list of offenders in the use of child soldiers. This was despite the department publicly acknowledging that children were being conscripted in those countries.[tmsnrt.rs/2jJ7pav]
Keeping the countries off the annual list makes it easier to provide them with U.S. military assistance. Iraq and Afghanistan are close allies in the fight against Islamist militants, while Myanmar is an emerging ally to offset China’s influence in Southeast Asia.
Documents reviewed by Reuters also show Tillerson’s decision was at odds with a unanimous recommendation by the heads of the State Department’s regional bureaus overseeing embassies in the Middle East and Asia, the U.S. envoy on Afghanistan and Pakistan, the department’s human rights office and its own in-house lawyers.
#1
These deep state burrowers could care less about 'child soldiers.' Their goal is to disrupt the Trump objectives and topple the administration if possible.
[Reuters] Residents on the Greek island of Lesbos went on strike on Monday to protest against European policies they say have turned it into a "prison" for migrants and refugees.
Islanders shut businesses, shops, municipal offices, nurseries and pharmacies and dozens rallied on a central square, calling on the government to transfer asylum-seekers to the mainland.
"Lesbos is not a place of exile," a banner read.
Just a few miles from Turkey’s coast, Lesbos has borne the brunt of Europe’s migrant crisis. In 2015, nearly a million people - most fleeing Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan - landed on its shores before heading north, mainly to Germany.
It is now hosting some 8,500 asylum-seekers in facilities designed to hold fewer than 3,000.
"Lesbos is not an open prison, nor will we allow anyone to view it as such," Mayor Spyros Galinos was quoted as saying by the Athens News Agency.
Thousands of asylum-seekers have become stranded on Lesbos and four other islands close to Turkey since the EU agreed a deal with Ankara in March 2016 to shut down the route through Greece.
[IsraelTimes] Suspected terrorist, accomplice were in PA custody since attack outside a supermarket in November 2015, Shin Bet says
Israeli forces last week locked away Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! a Paleostinian man suspected of carrying out a stabbing attack in which an Israeli man was injured two years ago, the Shin Bet security service said Monday.
On November 6, 2015, the 29-year-old Israeli was stabbed outside a grocery store in the Sha’ar Binyamin industrial park in the West Bank, and his attacker expeditiously departed at a goodly pace.
The victim, Shmuel Raisman, was stabbed in the back and taken to the hospital at death's door, medics said at the time.
Raisman, who lives in the nearby Tel Zion settlement, said he scared off his attacker with a bottle of pepper spray.
According to the Shin Bet, the terrorist ‐ identified as Bara’a Issa ‐ turned himself in to Paleostinian Authority security services shortly after the attack and was in their custody until his arrest last week.
Though he was detained by PA forces for some two years, Issa never stood trial for the stabbing, the Shin Bet said.
Issa is a member of Fatah, the largest faction in the Paleostine Liberation Organization, which controls the PA, the Shin Bet said.
He was arrested in his hometown of Anata, outside Jerusalem, last Tuesday, after being released by PA forces, the security service said.
The Shin Bet said the PA security services did not alert Israel that Issa was going to be released.
An accomplice, Amro Abu Hlil, who was also initially detained by PA forces, was arrested by the Shin Bet in May and is currently standing trial in a military court.
"The Shin Bet security service, along with its partners in the IDF and Israel Police, will continue to work with determination in order to capture terrorist operatives and assailants who flee from security forces ‐ even if years pass from the time of the attack," the Shin Bet said in a statement.
[Ynet] Ottoman Turkish authorities on Monday issued arrest warrants for 107 teachers for suspected ties to the US-based holy man Ankara blames for orchestrating last year's coup, the Dogan news agency said.
Fifty-one of the teachers were detained in Ankara after the local prosecutor issued the warrants, Dogan said, adding that operations continued to round-up the remaining teachers.
The teachers were previously suspended from their jobs as part of the ongoing crackdown that followed the attempted coup in July 2016, it said.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
11/21/2017
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[AnNahar] About 300 wives and children of foreign jihadists captured in djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... have been transferred from northern Iraq to Baghdad "for expulsion to their home countries," an official told AFP Monday.
"This is the second wave of expulsions, and two or three more will follow," said Nureddin Qablan, deputy head of the Nineveh provincial council.
Iraq's second city, Mosul was recaptured in July after being taken in a lightning summer 2014 offensive by the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group.
"A total of more than 1,200 members of jihadists' families will be transferred" from Tel Keif detention centre north of Mosul to a similar facility in the capital, Qablan said.
In mid-September, a security bigshot said when the families arrived in Tel Keif that they comprised 509 women and 813 children from 13 different countries in Europe, Asia and America.
An Iraqi government source has told AFP that about 300 of the women were Ottoman Turkish.
According to the Norwegian Refugee Council NGO, which is seeking access to the detainees for humanitarian purposes, they are mainly from The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , Azerbaijan, Russia and Tajikistan.
What to do with captured jihadists and their families has been an issue of great concern in their home states.
For example, French jihadist prisoners will be tried in Iraq, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has said, adding that children would be treated "on a case by case basis".
In neighbouring Syria this month, Russian officials took charge of 13 women and 29 children from Chechnya who had been found in the city of Raqa, which was recaptured from IS in October.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
11/21/2017
06:04 ||
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[Ynet] An IDF soldier was lightly hurt early Monday from gunfire on the northern part of the Israel-Egypt border.
The IDF believes this was errant fire from the fighting across the border between the Egyptian army and the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... 's (ISIS) Sinai branch.
The IDF did not return fire. The soldier was taken to the Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva for treatment.
[AnNahar] The Ottoman Turkish army and Kurdish militia exchanged fire Monday in the northern Syrian province of Idlib where Ankara's troops are stationed as observers, the first report of such an incident in the area, state media said.
Kurdish militia fighters fired five mortars at an observation post in Idlib staffed by Ottoman Turkish troops, the Anadolu news agency said. No casualties were reported and the mortars did not hit their target, it added.
In response, the Ottoman Turkish army fired towards Kurdish militia-held positions around the town of Afrin, it added.
Ottoman Turkish troops are deployed in Idlib as part of of an agreement with Iran and Russia to implement four so-called de-escalation zones in flashpoint areas arou
Up until the deployment of Ottoman Turkish troops in mid-October, Idlib had largely been controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group led by al-Qaeda's former Syria affiliate.
The incident comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... prepares to host Ottoman Turkish and Iranian counterparts Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... and Hassan Rouhani for summit talks on Syria in Sochi on Wednesday.
The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... has repeatedly threatened to launch a military operation on Afrin, which is controlled by the Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) militia considered by Turkey to be a terror group.
Ankara views the YPG as the Ottoman Turkish branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has been waging an insurgency inside Turkey since 1984.
The PKK is blacklisted as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... .
Ottoman Turkish troops have repeatedly clashed with the YPG in Aleppo province, especially during Ankara's incursion last year, but this is the first time such an incident has been reported in Idlib.
Russia, along with Iran, is the key supporter of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... while Turkey has backed the rebels seeking Assad's ouster.
But Russia and Turkey have been working together since a 2016 reconciliation deal ended a crisis caused by the shooting down of a Russian war plane over Syria.
Analysts say that Erdogan will be keen to discourage Putin from backing the YPG in Syria at the Sochi talks, as Ankara seeks a say in post-war Syria after over six years of conflict.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
11/21/2017
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[New York Post] The family of Queens jogger Karina Vetrano broke down in court Monday as they for the first time watched her accused killer detail to cops the tortured final minutes of their daughter’s life.
Cathie Vetrano let out an anguished moan in between sobs as she heard Chanel Lewis calmly confess to the brutal August 2016 beating, in which he broke her daughter’s teeth and kept beating her until she lost consciousness before strangling her.
At one point, the mom brought the foot-long, golden crucifix she routinely totes to court to her face, watching the footage through tears. Her sister Tana Vetrano sat frozen, her teeth bared at Lewis as she cried.
#3
All types of genocide should be examined and dealt with. Unless you choose to ignore it, ruck-up and leave it all to the savages, which is of course an option. The problem is not in the 'knowing.' The problem is in the doing nothing.
h/t Instapundit
He believes that every right enumerated in the Bill of Rights is limited, and the Second Amendment is no exception.
According to the Alabama Political Reporter, Jones described himself as "a Second Amendment guy," but stressed that some gun control is necessary. He said, "We’ve got limitations on all constitutional amendments in one form or another." This position is contrary to the clear language of the amendment, which states that the right to keep and bear arms "shall not be infringed."
He stressed that he loves to hunt but still believes in "smart" gun laws.
During a September 24, 2017, appearance on Meet the Press, Jones said, "The biggest issue, I think, that’s facing the Second Amendment right now is that we need to make sure we shore up the National Crime Information System, the NICS system for background checks, to both keep guns out of the hands of criminals, but at the same time, cut down on error so that law-abiding citizens can get those."
New gun control focused on background checks has been introduced by Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) since Jones’ appearance on Meet the Press. Like Jones, Sen. Murphy believes the Second Amendment has limitations.
During a May 2013 appearance on Rachel Maddow Lean Forward, Murphy said, "The Second Amendment is not an absolute right, not a God-given right. It has always had conditions upon it like the First Amendment has."
#4
Well that whole Constitution thingy was about 'limitations' of the power of government. The Proggies have no concern about any stinking limitations on government.
#5
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Two or three nights later, when the commander was perched on a sofa in the requisitioned civilian house they were using, playing with his phone, a group of civilians entered the room, pushing a man in front of them. They forced him to kneel, his hands tied in front of him with a piece of cloth ripped from his colourless shirt. The locals sat around him, shouting that he was a former Isis executioner.
"Remember when you stood in the middle of that roundabout and killed three men?" said one.
"He’s been working with jihadis since 2005," said another.
The man looked up, confused, and mumbled that it was his brother who had joined Isis, not him.
The commander handed the man’s ID card to a soldier to be burned, to disappear him from official records, and nodded. Kifah, the lean soldier, joyfully dragged the man out into the street. Other soldiers and officers followed, and locals cheered and celebrated. Kifah pushed the man ahead of him, while others kicked and punched the man to the ground, jeering and taunting him, dragged him up and kicked him again, laughing when he fell.
"Sing one of the caliphate songs for us," Cpt Wissam said, laughing hysterically, his eyes blazing with rage. They made their prisoner run in front of them, telling him he was free to go. He ran, stumbling as he tried to pull his falling trousers up with his hands tied. They chased him, kicking and slapping. A soldier jumped in the air, and kicked him in the face with the theatrical relish of a professional kickboxer. He was dragged through an open drain, pulled into a dark side street and forced to kneel.
The man stared blankly at the pile of rubbish in front of him, the powerful headlights of a truck lighting the scene. Behind him stood Kifah, stretching out an arm with an American pistol at the end of it. Another soldier stood behind him, filming on his mobile phone. "This is to revenge all the martyrs killed by Daesh," said Kifah. A single shot rang out, echoing in the deserted street. Blood squirted from the man’s head and he fell on his side. Kifah flipped him on his back with his feet, looked at him and walked away.
"Maybe we should check he’s really dead," said the soldier who was filming.
"If he survived that bullet then he deserves to live," said Kifah.
Posted by: 3dc ||
11/21/2017
02:51 ||
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[Townhall] Liberal commentator Sally Kohn and several left-wing groups called for Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) to step down Monday after new allegations surfaced that Franken had groped a second woman in 2010 at the Minnesota State Fair. Franken was accused last week of groping and forcibly kissing Leeann Tweeden who released a photo of Franken groping her while she slept.
"Time for Al Franken to go," Kohn tweeted. "Wrong is wrong. And the Democrats need to show they strongly AND CONSISTENTLY stand for women’s rights."
#2
He'll never resign. Mugabe is the right comparison. Power is too important to him, he's long felt that he is a super important person, and now that he's got it he'll never give it up.
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 ||
11/21/2017 3:41
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#3
"And the Democrats need to show they strongly AND CONSISTENTLY stand for women’s rights."
Ya know, I couldn't agree more. Hillary Clinton is awfully quiet about her lady friends in Saudi Arabia. She's awfully quiet about Bill's lady friends as well.
Folks that age know when speaking outside their 'meme' they sound diminished. Hilarity clings to her unelection, my mother-in-law pounds the table about 'false or symbolic narrative'.
#5
After another news cycle or two this will all be forgotten. Franken understands this. He'll lay low until then and hold onto his Senate seat. He will not relinquish his power.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
11/21/2017 10:57
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#6
#5 He will not relinquish his power.
If the donks really want him gone, they'll primary him. But don't hold your breath.
#10
Yep, having 5+ years of his term left is a problem. An alternative strategy would be to make him an unperson, i.e. strip him (aaaagh! my eyes!)) of all duties and committee assignments. Again, don't hold your breath.
[LI] Former NAACP activist Rachel Dolezal is quietly selling homemade lollipops from her website.
You may remember Dolezal as the gal responsible for making selective race a national discussion. Dolezal, born of two white parents, masqueraded as a black woman for years saying she self-identified as black.
Dolezal’s self-professed race wasn’t accepted by most, but maybe her lollipops will fare better.
A wide variety of delicious suckers that both adults & children will enjoy!
Since I was in the 4th grade, I made lollipops to sell at school to earn money to pay for new shoes and clothes. If you have never tasted a homemade lollipop, you are definitely missing out! Try one of my original flavors and give your mouth a treat.
Dolezal sells flavors ranging from Banana Pudding to Cherry Bourbon. Five lollipops will cost ya $7.99.
#6
At least she is trying to make a living by the sweat of her brow, rather than living off the public purse. Her hardworking Swedish ancestors woul approve of that much.
$8 for 5 lollipops is two much?
But they’re gourmet, g(r)omgoru. And no doubt the cost even more when the shipping and handling charges are added.
[Guardian] A panel of Nebraska regulators have voted narrowly in favor of allowing the Keystone XL pipeline to follow a path through the state, removing the last major regulatory hurdle for the controversial project. Well prior to the advent of welded pipe sections, this photo depicts a gang of men laying what appears to be a ten inch section of threaded pipe.
The Nebraska public service commission voted 3-2 to approve a permit for the pipeline, which will stretch for 1,200 miles and carry up to 830,000 barrels of oil a day. The vote saw one of the four Republicans on the commission, Mary Ridder, join with the Democrat, Crystal Rhoades, in opposing the permit. Rhoades said she was concerned about the impact upon landowners and that there was "no evidence" the pipeline would create jobs in Nebraska.
The vote will allow the pipeline to go through Nebraska, but not on the path favored by TransCanada, the developer of the project. The approved path is further east than originally planned.
The decision is likely to be immediately challenged by Native American and environmental groups that claim the pipeline endangers water supplies and will worsen climate change. Last week, an existing Keystone pipeline spilled 210,000 gallons of oil in South Dakota, although the Nebraska panel did not take this into consideration in its decision.
While the pipeline has been ostensibly approved, it faces a thicket of legal challenges that may delay or even halt the project. Bill McKibben, the co-founder of climate group 350.org and a leading opponent of the pipeline, said lawyers he’d spoken to are “cheerful and that there is “lots of room to fight.”
BLUF:
[Townhall] This indulgence of the self leads nowhere good. As Goethe observed, "All eras in a state of decline and dissolution are subjective; on the other hand, all progressive eras have an objective tendency." A nation cannot long endure when "every man [does] what is right in his own eyes." When truth and virtue become subject to "what works for me," societal decline cannot but follow.
Americans tend to take their future prosperity for granted, believing that the United States will reign as the world’s greatest power for many decades to come. But superpowers have fallen before. And not necessarily because of war. Internal rot has just as often been the culprit. Should we not worry?
On this 75th anniversary of "Casablanca," let us emulate Rick Blaine. Let us once again commit ourselves to the pursuit of honor and virtue. Let us aim to oblige, not ourselves, but the right and the good ‐ no matter the cost.
[Free Beacon] States with lower taxes on businesses and personal income have higher economic growth, according to an economist at the American Legislative Exchange Council.
Jonathan Williams, an economist at the council, spoke at an event on the Hill Monday and used two states, Kansas and North Carolina, to illustrate how raising and cutting taxes can affect the local state economy in either a positive or negative way.
Williams explained that while many try to suggest Kansas's economic difficulty has been due to tax cuts they have implemented in the past, the data suggest otherwise.
"Based on our ranking of rich states, poor states of economic competitiveness, Kansas started out about 10 years ago at 29th in America," Williams explained. "After tax reform, about 2013, it bolted up to number 11."
Additionally, data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis find that from 2012 to 2015 Kansas had annualized job growth of 1.3 percent per 10,000 residents.
"Kansas trailed the national averages in economic growth for years before the 2012 reforms," Williams said. "That was one of the primary drivers for tax reform in the first place."
But since this time, Kansas has implemented more tax increases and has since fallen from 11th place.
"After subsequent tax increases they've fallen ... way down to 26 now in terms of economic outlook," Williams said. "So you see a see-saw effect based on taxes and refusal to cut spending."
Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, said the left tries to use Kansas as a case study for why taxes should not be cut. Instead, he says, the states with no income tax and the states with the highest taxes should be compared.
[ARABNEWS] Afghanistan’s government said on Monday that it has ordered its border forces to respond to the wave of shelling on its eastern areas by Pakistain, which Kabul says has displaced over 300 families since last week.
Afghanistan Defense Ministry front man Gen. Dawlat Waziri said Kabul was also pushing through diplomatic channels, including the UN and the US-led coalition force in Afghanistan, to halt the shelling.
"People’s houses have been destroyed, their livestock killed, and over 300 families have been displaced since Pakistain resumed the shelling, this shameless act, last week. Some people have been hurt and the shelling continues. We have instructed the frontier force to fire on any target that (fires) shells," Waziri told Arab News.
Pakistain has been repeatedly accused by locals and government officials of firing rockets at targets in Afghanistan over the past several years. This latest wave of attacks has taken place in several districts situated on the disputed border area of the Durand Line in eastern Kunar province ... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country..... "People face a lot of difficulties in the extreme winter weather conditions, and the central government has not taken any action so far," Saleh Mohammed Saleh, an MP from Kunar, told Arab News.
He said the government is consumed by its internal divisions, adding that the focus of President Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. ’s administration is on the parliamentary elections slated for next year and the 2019 presidential poll when he is expected to run for office again.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/21/2017
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[ARABNEWS] Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... ’s economic reform plans are paying off, with an 80 percent hike in the country’s non-oil revenues in the third quarter of 2017, figures published Sunday show.
The Kingdom, hit hard by the crash in energy prices from mid-2014, last year unveiled the ambitious Vision 2030 plan, which aims to wean the economy off its "addiction" to oil.
That plan appears to be working, with non-oil revenues hitting SR47.8 billion ($12.7 billion) in the third quarter, and total revenues up 11 percent to SR142.1 billion.
The former statistic highlights "the feasibility of the economic reforms" underway, the Ministry of Finance said in its budget performance update.
The figures also show increased efficiency in public spending and a further reduction of the deficit.
"The government continued to prioritize expenditure that directly benefits its citizens, with education being the single largest sector spend in the first nine months of 2017," the ministry said.
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11/21/2017
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least twenty forces of Evil of the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... group and loyalists of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group were killed or maimed during the operations in eastern Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province of Afghanistan.
The 201st Silab Corps in the East said the forces of Evil were killed or maimed in three different districts in the past 24 hours.
The Silab Corps officials said at least 13 ISIS forces of Evil and 3 Taliban gunnies were killed during the Arclight airstrikes in Khogyani and Achin districts.
The officials further added that a local leader of the ISIS bandidosgunnies identified as Saqib was also among those killed.
At least 4 ISIS forces of Evil were killed and 2 others were maimed during a clash with the security forces in Chaparhar district, the officials added.
The anti-government armed hard boy groups have not commented regarding the reports so far.
The Afghan national defense and security forces have stepped up counter-terrorism operations to suppress the insurgency activities of the hard boy groups.
The US forces based in Afghanistan also conduct Arclight airstrikes on forces of Evil hideouts as the terror groups attempt to expand their insurgency.
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11/21/2017
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[Iraq News] Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... Lions of Islam have freed a kidnapped citizen in Diyala Province, after his family paid a $50,000 ransom.
"IS Lions of Islam had kidnapped the citizen from his house in Jalawla Town, in Diyala Province, two weeks ago," local sources told al-Ghad Press on Monday.
The sources added that the kidnapped citizen was released after his family sold their farm to pay the ransom.
IS forces of Evil had demanded a $150,000 ransom first, but the kidnapped citizen’s family managed to reduce it to 50,000 U.S. dollars, the sources pointed out.
On Sunday, two kidnapped girls have been freed at al-Obaidy District, east of Baghdad, the Baghdad Operations Command said.
In a statement, the command said two of the kidnappers were locked away You have the right to remain silent... and referred to the bodies concerned for interrogation.
Iraqi officials fear that kidnapping cases are affecting investments in Iraq, where these cases have become a threat to businesses, their employees and investors. This could lead businesses to move or avoid the country.
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11/21/2017
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[BBC] Zim-bob-we's ruling Zanu-PF party has summoned its MPs to discuss the future of its leader, President Bob Muggsy Mugabe Nonagenarian President-for-Life of Zim-bob-we who turned the former Breadbasket of Africa into the African Basket Case... , after a deadline for his resignation came and went on Monday.
The deadline was set by Mr Mugabe's own party, Zanu-PF.
The embattled leader surprised Zim-bob-weans on Sunday, declaring on TV that he planned to remain as president.
Zanu-PF says it backs impeachment, and proceedings could begin as soon as Tuesday when parliament meets.
In a draft motion seen by Rooters news agency, the party blamed the president for an "unprecedented economic tailspin".
Mr Mugabe's grip on power has weakened considerably since the country's army intervened last Wednesday in a row over who should succeed him.
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11/21/2017
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[Iraq News] Iraqi troops confiscated huge amounts of weapons of Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... in southwest of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , a security source from Nineveh said on Sunday.
"The weapons are estimated by 40 tons," the source told Alghad Press. "The weapons were found buried under the ground in Ain al-Jahsh region, southwest of Mosul."
Earlier on the day, curfew was imposed in al-Eraij village, south of Mosul,in search for IS members, who launched an armed attack against the village on Saturday night. Moreover, five IS members were killed as the pro-government al-Hashd al-Shaabi [Popular Mobilization Forces] foiled an attack by the Death Eaters through Tal Sufuk crossing on the Iraqi-Syrian borders.
Despite declaring the victory over IS in Mosul, the group’s former bastion in Iraq, observers say IS is believed to constitute a security threat even after the group’s defeat at its main havens across Iraqi provinces.
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11/21/2017
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
#4
Once launched, it is hard to tell where this thing will end up. I just know that people are weary of the venality that is in the DNA of the Dem Party. Grom, enjoy the show awhile longer. DNA changes take a awhile.
Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) settled a complaint in 2015 from a woman who alleged she was fired from his staff because she rejected his sexual advances, according to a new report from BuzzFeed.
Conyers‘ office reportedly paid the woman more than $27,000 to settle the complaint under a confidentiality agreement.
Conyers, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, "repeatedly made sexual advances to female staff that included requests for sexual favors, contacting and transporting other women with whom they believed Conyers was having affairs, caressing their hands sexually, and rubbing their legs and backs in public," BuzzFeed reported, citing signed affidavits.
“I was basically blackballed. There was nowhere I could go,” the alleged victim told BuzzFeed in a phone interview.
#11
Re all the outing of pervs..
I suspect Bannon of plotting it. Kills rhinos, cultural war on the other side between each other and cleans out questionable support on the right. It's a win win without being in the target
I call it a cultural purge.
But the purge might have been sparked by Bannon or the like but now it has a life of it's own. Think of donations for cute puppies and kitties... now these folk like babies too. Pedophiles better run. Next is predators upon young wimmin.
I think it's just reaching critical mass. Will be fun to watch.
I was talking to a gay retired engineer yesterday. He's done the 180 to all pols are crooks not just pubs. So gay is fracturing..
The dems and to extant old pubs are going to have a "can't put humpty dumpty back together again" problem.
That's a huge win against deep state.
and deep media
maybe deep corporate but I doubt it.
Or put another way Alinsky methods used against the users of it.
Trump gets to tweet away as he may but the wimmin's eyes are on the "abusers".
Deep corporate will be real quick to welcome a bulletproof way to take out the trash without employment discrimination litgation and you can just hear the glee over "What? You mean we don't have to embrace that demographic anymore? Heheheheeeee..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/21/2017 22:28
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#13
And when the hipsters start openly admitting "some of their best friends" are "actually pretty icky," it's game over...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/21/2017 22:34
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[ARABNEWS] UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday he was horrified by video footage showing migrants colonists sold as slaves in Libya and that these auctions should be investigated as possible crimes against humanity.
US television network CNN aired the footage last week of an apparent live auction in Libya where black men were presented to North African buyers as potential farmhands and sold off for as little as $400.
"Slavery has no place in our world and these actions are among the most egregious abuses of human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... and may amount to crimes against humanity," Guterres told news hounds.
"I am horrified at news reports and video footage showing African migrants colonists in Libya reportedly being sold as slaves," he said, adding: "I abhor these appalling acts."
Guterres called on "all competent authorities" to investigate the slave auctions without delay, adding he had asked the "relevant United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... actors to actively pursue this matter."
Libyan Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Metig said his UN-backed Government of National Accord would investigate the allegations, in a statement posted Sunday on the Facebook page of the GNA’s press office.
The images have fired up the rubes from African leaders and calls for an inquiry.
Guinean President Alpha Conde, who is also chairman of the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... , on Friday called for an inquiry and prosecutions relating to what he termed a "despicable trade... from another era."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/21/2017
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[ARABNEWS] Kenya’s Supreme Court on Monday validated the election victory of President Uhuru Kenyatta, sparking opposition protests that left two dead, according to police.
While the court decision led to celebrations in ruling party strongholds, protesters took to the street in opposition areas in the capital and the west of the country.
One protester was killed in Nairobi’s Kibera slum, while a paramedic tending the injured at a demonstration in western Migori was also rubbed out, according to police.
The corpse count from four months of election chaos now stands at 54, with most protesters killed at the hands of police, according to rights groups.
The protests erupted after the Supreme Court dismissed two petitions seeking to overturn the victory of Kenyatta in the October 26 elections, paving the way for him to be sworn in for a second five-year term on November 28.
"The court has unanimously determined that the petitions are not merited. As a consequence, the presidential election of 26 October is hereby upheld as is the election of the third respondent," said Chief Justice David Maraga, referring to Kenyatta.
Maraga had in September annulled an August election due to "irregularities and illegalities," a historic decision hailed across the globe as an opportunity to boost Kenyan democracy.
However, denial ain't just a river in Egypt... the ruling ‐ a rare victory for Odinga ‐ only deepened acrimony and protests, leaving the country deeply divided.
Accusing the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) of failing to make fundamental reforms to improve the vote, Odinga withdrew from the October ballot which he urged his followers to boycott.
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Militants affiliated with the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group suffered casualties during festivities with the local residents in eastern Kunar province ... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country..... of Afghanistan.
The 201st Silab Corps officials in the East said the festivities between ISIS holy warriors and local residents broke out on Saturday in Suki district.
The officials further added that the residents of Chambil village started armed festivities with the ISIS holy warriors due to unknown reasons.
According to Silab Corps officials, at least three ISIS holy warriors were killed and two others were tossed in the clink Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! alive during the festivities.
The residents of the village did not suffer any casualties during the festivities, the officials said, adding that additional contingent of police and armed forces were deployed in the area to push back the ISIS hard boys.
The anti-government armed hard boy groups including ISIS holy warriors have not commented regarding the report so far.
Kunar, located in eastern parts of Afghanistan, borders the tribal regions of Pakistain and is home to several terrorist groups.
The Afghan Taliban ...Arabic for students... forces of Evil as well as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group’s offshoot, ISIS Khorasan, operate in some of the restive districts of the province.
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11/21/2017
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Jordan has signed an agreement with a leading American company and a number of international firms to construct a logistics airport and a major logistics center in the province of Mafraq to be a springboard for reconstruction work for Syria and Iraq.
Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Ya’rub al-Qudah, said that the government has reached a deal to establish an airport for logistics services in Mafraq, 60 kilometers northeast of the capital Amman, close to the Jordanian-Syrian borders and on the international road connecting Jordan with Iraq.
"The government has developed a plan of action with the World Bank to make Jordan a major platform in partnership with the countries of the region towards reconstruction projects," al-Qudah said.
The minister had previously announced that Jordan would take part in the reconstruction process of Syria once the country regains stability as a result of the recommendations of the 2016 London Conference of engaging Jordan in the process of rebuilding Syria.
Al Qudah has already called on the Jordanian private sector to be ready for the reconstruction process of Syria.
"The Jordanian private sector has to intensify their efforts and to work in a strategic manner in preparation of future opportunities due to the expected opening of the Syrian borders once war is over," he said.
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash has said that Iran and its proxy group Hezbollah are the main perpetrators of undermining the region’s stability.
"Iran’s proxy, Hezbollah, playing an outsize role in undermining regional stability. Hezbollah actions & rhetoric a major source of instability in the Arab world," Gargash tweeted on Monday.
His comments come a day after the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... held an extraordinary summit where most of the 22 member states condemned Iran’s Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, as a "terrorist organization."
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[EXPRESS.CO.UK] The alarm was raised after a suspected kaboom at 23.27pm local time, 22.27 (GMT).
There are currently no reports of any injuries.
Malmo Police said: "On site, we have found damage to two apartment doors and a lift."
The kaboom is believed to have taken place in the stairwell of the apartment building.
Local police do not know the cause of the kaboom and have called in the national bomb squad for advice.
No suspicious packages or items were seen in the stairwell before the kaboom.
The kaboom comes just weeks after a nightclub was devastated by a detonation in the Swedish town.
The bomb squad responded to the kaboom at the Babel nightclub on November 3.
Police chief officer Magnus Lefèvre said: "There has been some kaboom on the club, but we do not know what has been detonated.
"The bomb group and technicians are on your way to investigating it."
The club was closed at the time and no one was injured.
The kaboom followed a similar event almost exactly one year before.
Article updated as of 8:20 a.m. ET:
Police said they were talking to witnesses and the incident is likely to be deemed an act of “gross public delinquency".
Malmo police confiscate over 200 firearms annually
Malmo Police officer Daniel Jonasson said: “It was a big bang. We can not say exactly what kind of charge, but it's no small banger or something like that.
"We have heard a lot of people, but nobody is arrested or retrieved.”
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11/21/2017
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#1
The kaboom followed a similar event almost exactly one year before.
Bad batch of lutefisk, you betcha. Apparently the recipe could use some fine-tuning.
#3
Maybe a can of Surströmming was left unopened too long?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
11/21/2017 6:41
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#4
Since it is Malmo, I assume this was done by a member or members of the refugees for the Ummah who have been arriving since at least the 1990s... and causing trouble nearly as long. The question is whether he/they are gang members, jihadis, or a creative youth practicing their craft.
[ARABNEWS] Saudi Border Guards foiled attempts to smuggle 1,214.77kg of cannabis and 22,010 amphetamine tablets into the Kingdom and tossed in the calaboose Please don't kill me! 15 infiltrators.
According to a Border Guards front man, the forces stationed in Jazan, Najran and Asir apprehended 15 people in over a week. Of those arrested by the Border Guards, 14 were Yemeni nationals and one was an Æthiopian. The front man said that the arrested men had large quantities of cannabis (963.18kg) in their possession.
Giving details of another operation carried out in the Makkah region, he said that the Border Guards foiled a bid to smuggle narcotics into Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... through al-Leith sector.
Marine patrols, he added, intercepted a boat in al-Leith and arrested a Yemeni national and confiscated 251.586kg of cannabis and 22,010 amphetamine tablets.
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[ARABNEWS] The US Treasury Department on Monday sanctioned a network of individuals and companies it said counterfeited Yemeni bank notes potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars for Iran Revolutionary Guard’s Qods Force.
The network circumvented European export restrictions in order to provide the counterfeiting supplies and equipment, according to a Treasury statement.
President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... last month declared Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a supporter of terrorism and authorized Treasury to impose tough sanctions limiting its access to goods and funding.
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[ConservativeDailyNews] Most recently, Campbell has confided to close friends that he’s afraid that he won’t be able to testify today. The informant explained that during a routine hike in the hills behind his home, he met an armed man. The two gentlemen held each other’s gaze with weapons drawn.
After an intense moment the man walked away. Campbell believes this was an attempt on his life, caused by the Department of Justice’s release concerning his testimony.
...
[ARABNEWS] The four-decade alliance between Iraqi Kurds and Shiites was thrown into doubt on Monday as Baghdad moved to further consolidate its grip on northern Iraq.
The Federal Supreme Court ruled that the controversial referendum in September, in which more than 90 percent of Kurds voted for independence, was unconstitutional, and canceled the results.
Kurdish leaders said they respected the decision, but senior Shiite figures noted that the Kurds had not agreed to be bound by it ‐ and they told Arab News that relations between the two groups could not return to where they were before the referendum.
The Shiites considered the referendum a "stab in the back" by the Kurds, and a betrayal of all the charters and agreements between the two parties since the 1970s.
"We have been suffering from verbal manipulation by the Kurdistan Regional Government. Today they said the court’s decision was unilateral and they respected it but they did not say they were bound by it," Abdullah al-Zaidi, who is responsible for Shiite-Kurdish relations in the ruling Shiite National Alliance, told Arab News.
"The KRG must take a forward step and say it is bound by the court’s decisions, rather than saying it respects the court’s decisions."
Leading Shiites, federal officials and members of Parliament told Arab News that talks between the Kurds and the federal government would be based only on the Iraqi constitution.
In addition, the situation on the ground in disputed areas and the steps taken by the federal government to impose its control of regional airports and border crossings would not change, and Baghdad would exert more pressure to impose fully constitutional federal authority in and around the region.
"Baghdad is continuing to implement the constitution and the imposition of federal authority within the region and in the disputed areas, with no return to the situation prior to Sept. 25," al-Zaidi said.
"Kurdish leaders wrote the constitution with us and they know what it contains."
Habib al-Turfi, a senior Shiite MP, told Arab News: "Whether they accept it or not, it the referendum is over and a new page is supposed to be opened."
"They have no choice, but to accept the decision of the court and work based on it. The region has been given much more than its right, but now things have to go back to normal."
The Kurdistan regional prime minister, Nechirvan Barzani, said: "The government of the region confirms its commitment to all articles of the Iraqi constitution and demands the application of all of it. The lack of application of the constitution is what led the Kurdistan Region to hold the referendum."
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[Guardian] Donald Trump has announced that the US will designate North Korea as a state sponsor of terror amid heightened nuclear tensions on the Korean peninsula.
Trump said the designation will impose further penalties on the country. He called it a long overdue step and part of the US "maximum pressure campaign" against Pyongyang. North Korea would join Iran, Sudan and Syria on the list of state sponsors of terror.
"In addition to threatening the world by nuclear devastation, North Korea has repeatedly supported acts of international terrorism including assassinations on foreign soil," Trump said in a cabinet meeting.
US officials cited the killing of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s estranged half brother in a Malaysian airport in February as an act of terrorism.
The United States has long imposed severe sanctions on North Korea, and secretary of state Rex Tillerson, speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday, said the designation was "very symbolic" but that "the practical effects may be limited".
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Sudan has become the first Arab country to acquire the fourth generation Su-35 fighter jets from Russia just ahead of President Omar Ahmed al-Bashir’s first visit to Moscow on Thursday.
The first batch of jets were delivered late last week are considered the backbone air superiority fighters for the Russian airforce. The UAE signed a similar agreement earlier this year to develop the same jets with Russia.
Sudanese deputy air force commander, Salahuddin Abdul Khaliq Saeed, announced the deal in March. He told Sputnik news agency that the aircraft will contribute to the consolidation of Sudan’s defenses and will provide it protection from any threat.
The number of fighters delivered, however, was not released.
Thursday’s visit by Bahsir to Moscow will include a number of high level agreements expected between the two countries, according to government officials.
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11/21/2017
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#1
...Yeah, I expect they'll effectively be static displays in about a week.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/21/2017 4:58
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#2
I'm sure the contract stipulates MRO as well as pilots. Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO)
#3
Those Ivans gonna love working at Sudanese airbases with only diplomatic bag hooch and no decent female company. I predict low mission availability for those planes...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/21/2017 22:20
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[DAWN] Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Monday announced an extension granted by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the deadline for religious parties to end their sit-in at Islamabad's Faizabad Interchange.
Daily life in the capital has been disrupted for nearly two weeks by protesters belonging to religious parties ‐ including the Tehrik-e-Khatm-e-Nabuwwat, Tehrik-e-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLY) and the Sunni Tehrik ...formed in Karachi in 1992 under by Muhammad Saleem Qadri. It quickly fell to trading fisticuffs and assassinations with the MQM and the Sipah-e-Sahaba, with at least a half dozen of its major leaders rubbed out. Sunni Tehreek arose to become the primary opposition to the Deobandi Binori Mosque, headed by Nizamuddin Shamzai, who was eventually bumped off by person or persons unknown. ST's current leadership has heavily criticized the Deobandi Jihadi leaders, accusing them of being sponsored by Indian Intelligence agencies as well as involvement in terrorist activities... Pakistain (ST) ‐ who are calling for the sacking of Law Minister Zahid Hamid and strict action against those behind the amendment to the Khatm-e-Nabuwwat oath in the Elections Act 2017. The amendment had earlier been deemed a 'holy manal error' and has already been rectified.
The protesters had occupied the Faizabad Bridge which connects Rawalpindi and Islamabad through the Islamabad Expressway and Murree Road, both of which are the busiest roads in the twin cities.
The deadline for ending the sit-in is now Nov 23, Iqbal said, addressing a presser after a court hearing on the matter today.
"We will implement the court's order," Iqbal asserted, referring to an earlier order issued by the IHC to the capital administration on Friday to evict the protesters by Saturday using "any means necessary" and with the help of the Frontier Constabulary and Rangers, if needed.
"The Islamabad administration did not conduct an operation against the protesters on my orders, because I do not wish for any unrest. I asked for an extension in the deadline so that we can find a solution," he added.
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#1
The tank transporters are slower than expected?
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir has said that Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates... ’s crisis is small matter and there are more important matters to attend to.
Some of the threats that Jubeir mentioned include the Iranian threat to Arab national security, the fights against terrorism, the Syrian crisis, Libya, Yemen’s stability, internal development, implementing Vision 2030 in Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... and reform.
Jubeir stressed that "we need not to concern ourselves with the Qatari subject."
Speaking to editors of Egyptian newspapers on Sunday on the sidelines of the Arab foreign ministers meeting at the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... in Cairo, Jubeir said that the boycotting countries have sent a message to Qatar demanding that it commits to not supporting or funding terrorism.
Jubeir said that the Arab quartet’s demands were in six principles, however Qataris chose to deny the existence of any problem among them, we ask them to leave the denial stage behind and begin the stage of reconsideration and problem solving.
The foreign minister also said: "We only want the best for them, they must not interfere in the internal of countries or find platforms for people who justify suicide kabooms. [They must not] host individuals involved in financing forces of Evil ‐ and they continue to collect money and send it forces of Evil and [there shouldn’t be] terrorist elements operating in Qatar, including the Moslem Brüderbund."
Jubeir also pointed out that Qataris refer to the boycotting countries’ actions as a "siege" however, he says that a blockade means there are warplanes over Qatari airspace and warships.
He continued saying that they [the boycotting countries] refer to the current state as a "boycott."
He noted that it has been previously said that if Qatar continues on its current path, they will not be dealing with them.
Now, Qatar is doing everything except recognizing the problem, said Jubeir. Recognizing the problem is not wrong, it is positive because it is the first step towards a solution, he added.
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11/21/2017
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too. is a natural reaction of anyone, who has a sense of dignity and self esteem, is forced to accept his continued presence in a team that threatens his ministers with arms and extortion and supports a sectarian system with no purpose other than to destabilize the region and indulges in money laundering, drug trafficking and militia financing.
Hezbollah is undeniably and unmistakably a terrorist organization that does not deserve to live in a respectful and honorable manner, and therefore it has no place to continue officially in Lebanese political life even if some Lebanese decide to accept this criminal group and "beautify it" by giving it funny titles such as the resistance movement or the opposition axis.
This criminal group is accused of killing former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and dozens of other political and media figures. It is also accused of financing terrorism and supporting militias in different places around the world.
This gang is led by Hassan Nasrallah, a terrorist par excellence, who in the garb of religion and resistance in fact indulges in criminal activities which have nothing to do with Israel. As a matter of fact the terrorist Hassan Nasrallah was never subjected to any liquidation attempt by Israel.
A stark reality
This is a stark reality that must be recognized by all. The terrorist organization serves as a link and a great starting point for the Iranian project of exporting the sectarian revolution in the region. Iran has used these Lebanese tools and means for years for its nefarious design.
The Arab world remained quiet until Iran and its tools, led by Hezbollah, the terrorist organization, and its leader Hassan Nasrallah joined hands with sectarian Khamenei, who has been spearheading his vicious and divisive ...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled... agenda in the region from Qom for a long time.
The nefarious and diabolic design took its toll on of Leb, resulting in the rise of sectarian rift, social strife and political upheaval. It also gave rise to the financial corruption, as it is evident that the Lebanese banking system is facing serious because of Hezbollah's terrorism.
There can be no more evidence of Hezbollah’s terrorism than the evidence of its involvement in the "Abdali cell" in Kuwait, which was explicitly seeking to overthrow the regime, just as in Bahrain through its terrorist intervention.
The same is said about what happened in Yemen, Syria and Iraq. Leb is kidnapped, occupied and threatened by an organization with no honor, no morals, and no loyalty but to Iran. If Leb is led by a group that is absent and chooses to be absent, the Arab world does not have to cope with this nonsense and political hypocrisy.
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] While the Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... dossier continues to shed even more light on al-Qaeda as an organization, the late Osama bin Laden ... who used to be alive but now he's not... as its leader, the documents prove more evidence of Iran’s close hand in with the bad boy group that committed countless of atrocities across the world.
Continued on Page 49
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#1
Since the Russian Dossier thing, I can't read the word dossier without expecting to read a story about someone (in Bin Laden's case, a female goat) peeing on a mattress...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/21/2017 22:38
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[DAWN] The Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) and the Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam ...the political wing of the Pak Taliban... -Sami (JUI-S) have agreed to formulate a "joint strategy" for the next general elections.
The decision was made by the leaderships of the two parties at a meeting also attended by JUI-S chief Maulana Samiul Haq ...the Godfather of the Taliban, leader of his own faction of the JUI. Known as Mullah Sandwich for his habit of having two young boys at a time... and PTI chairman Imran Khan... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems... , said a handout issued by the PTI’s media department here on Sunday.
The leaders of the two parties agreed to continue consultations and contacts with each other so that they could come closer before the next elections.
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Yemeni Vice President General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar has reaffirmed that the "Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... party represents Iran’s claws in Yemen, the Arabian Peninsula and the region."
Ahmar also said that Yemenis cannot target Mekkah or Riyadh "the nation’s cradle."
The general made this statement during his visit with the Saudi-led Arab coalition in Ma’rib the Nahem front east of Sanaa.
Also during his visit, Ahmar expressed his congratulations on the Yemeni army’s victories, backed by the coalition’s efforts.
Referring to the victories, Ahmar said that they are "in order to complete the liberation of and to restore the capital Sanaa, and to save it from Houthi militia corruption."
Meanwhile, ...back at the cheese factory, there was only one thought in the mouse's mind: I can do this! I can do this! Then the trap sprung... the vice president noted that all areas bordering Sanaa were not a platform for the Houthis and will never be. At this point Ahmar called on the tribe members of these areas to actively participate in the "liberation battle."
Also, Ahmar directed a message to the children of Sanaa, the free members of the armed forces, the General People’s Congress (headed by ousted Yemeni President former President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... ) and all political and social elements.
In his message, Ahmar demanded these sides to "be warned and remain alert from the Houthi’s backstabbing" whom he said, "does not exclude any one and targets houses, camps, schools and places of worship."
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Top|| File under: Houthis
[The Hill] An FBI informant gathered extensive evidence during his six years undercover about a Russian plot to corner the American uranium market, ranging from corruption inside a U.S. nuclear transport company to Obama administration approvals that let Moscow buy and sell more atomic fuels, according to more than 5,000 pages of documents from the counterintelligence investigation.
The memos, reviewed by The Hill, conflict with statements made by Justice Department officials in recent days that informant William Campbell’s prior work won’t shed much light on the U.S. government’s controversial decision in 2010 to approve Russia’s purchase of the Uranium One mining company and its substantial U.S. assets.
Campbell documented for his FBI handlers the first illegal activity by Russians nuclear industry officials in fall 2009, nearly a entire year before the Russian state-owned Rosatom nuclear firm won Obama administration approval for the Uranium One deal, the memos show.
Campbell, who was paid $50,000 a month to consult for the firm, was solicited by Rosatom colleagues to help overcome political opposition to the Uranium One purchase while collecting FBI evidence that the sale was part of a larger effort by Moscow to make the U.S. more dependent on Russian uranium, contemporaneous emails and memos show.
"The attached article is of interest as I believe it highlights the ongoing resolve in Russia to gradually and systematically acquire and control global energy resources," Rod Fisk, an American contractor working for the Russians, wrote in a June 24, 2010 email to Campbell.
The email forwarded an article on Rosatom’s efforts to buy Uranium One through its ARMZ subsidiary. Fisk also related information from a conversation with the Canadian executives of the mining firm about their discomfort with the impending sale.
#4
Robert Mueller may just get his own Special Counsel investigation
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/21/2017 21:28
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#5
Why do I recall WJC's trip to the USSR as a college-aged youngster, Obama's open mike moments during a meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (Putin's guy), and HRC's reset moment with her little button--now there's Russian collusion. Are these three super criminals driven by money or ideologically-driven leftists?Both? Someone described BHO, in a comment, as a "Pseudo-intellectual crypto-Marxist troglodytic dimwitted oaf...I'll just call him a puppet. IMO, they all deserve to be in SuperMax.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Syrian opposition leader Riyad Hijab has said he is stepping down as the General Coordinator of the High Negotiations Committee ahead of a much-anticipated conference of the anti-Assad camp on Nov. 22.
Hijab tweeted his full official resignation letter stating the end of his duties since he began to lead the HNC in 2015.
The opposition leader said that since the beginning he has supported the cause of seeking a unified Syria that has no place for Assad and his regime.
He added that there were many challenges that faced the revolution prolonging Assad’s command and exposing Syria and Syrians to external forces that sought to divide it.
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[ARABNEWS] Zim-bob-we’s ruling party expressed confidence Monday that longtime President Bob Muggsy Mugabe Nonagenarian President-for-Life of Zim-bob-we who turned the former Breadbasket of Africa into the African Basket Case... could be impeached within two days, while the world’s oldest head of state ignored the party’s midday deadline to resign.
As ruling party politicians began meeting on impeachment plans, deputy secretary for legal affairs Paul Mangwana said they would move a motion for impeachment on Tuesday and set up a parliamentary committee, and on Wednesday the committee would report back to all politicians and "we vote him out."
The main charge against the 93-year-old Mugabe is "allowing his wife to usurp government powers" and that "he is too old and cannot even walk without help," Mangwana told news hounds.
He said the ruling ZANU-PF party needs the backing of the MDC opposition group to have enough votes in Parliament but "we have talked to them and they are supporting us."
Zim-bob-weans were stunned by Mugabe’s defiance during a national address Sunday night in which the increasingly isolated president, put under military house arrest last week, had been expected to step down. Mugabe did acknowledge "a whole range of concerns" about the chaotic state of the government and the economy, which has collapsed since he took power after independence from white minority rule in 1980.
The military appears to favor a voluntary resignation for Mugabe, one of Africa’s last remaining liberation leaders, to maintain a veneer of legality in the political transition and avoid accusations of a coup. Mugabe, in turn, is likely using whatever leverage he has left to try to preserve his legacy or even protect himself and his family from possible prosecution.
Amid the political confusion, the government on Monday urged Cabinet ministers to pursue business as usual. Meanwhile, ...back at the laboratory, Igor and Oleg were discussing what the quickest way might be to deal with the monster... opposition activists and the influential liberation war veterans association announced more demonstrations to pressure Mugabe to go.
"Your time is up," veterans association leader Chris Mutsvangwa said at a presser. He suggested that the military was still beholden to Mugabe and compelled to protect him because he is officially their "commander in chief."
The war veterans’ association will go to court to argue that Mugabe is "derelict of his executive duty," Mutsvangwa said.
Mugabe was stripped of his party leadership on Sunday by the ruling party’s Central Committee but said in his speech he would preside over a party congress next month.
That congress is expected to ratify his firing as party chief, the expulsion of the unpopular first lady and the naming of Mugabe’s recently fired deputy, Emmerson Mnangagwa, to succeed him.
The firing of Mnangagwa and the positioning of first lady Grace Mugabe to succeed her husband as president led the military to step in last week. Mugabe has discussed his possible exit on two occasions with military commanders.
Some people in the capital, Harare, have become more cautious about talking to news hounds. That contrasted with the jubilation and open condemnation of Mugabe over the weekend, when the bulk of Harare’s population of roughly 1.6 million appeared to be in the streets, dancing and taking selfies with soldiers in an event backed by the military.
At the University of Zim-bob-we, students protested and refused to sit for exams, demanding that Mugabe step down. The front man for the Zim-bob-we National Students Union, Zivai Mhetu, said they want all universities shut down until he does.
The once-formidable Mugabe is now virtually powerless, largely confined to his private home by the military.
Yet he sought to project authority in his speech Sunday night, which he delivered after shaking hands with security force commanders. The army commander himself leaned over a couple of times to help the president find his place on the page he was reading.
"I, as the president of Zim-bob-we, as their commander in chief, do acknowledge the issues they have drawn my attention to, and do believe that these were raised in the spirit of honesty and out of deep and patriotic concern for the stability of our nation and for the welfare of our people," Mugabe said.
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[Daily Caller] Much of the world’s conflict can be attributed to illegal immigration, which spreads terrorism and instability, Myanmar leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi said in a speech on Monday.
Speaking to European and Asian leaders gathered in Myanmar’s capital, Suu Kyi said the world is in a new period of unrest partly because of "illegal immigration’s spread of terrorism and violent extremism," according to the Associated Press. She also cited "social disharmony and even the threat of nuclear war."
Suu Kyi’s remarks at the annual EU-Asian foreign ministers conference come as Myanmar is embroiled in a humanitarian crisis over the forced exodus of Rohingya Muslims from the country’s western Rakhine state. Although she did not mention the Rohingya situation in her speech, Suu Kyi’s reference to illegal immigration echoed the widespread view among Myanmar’s majority Buddhist population that the Rohingya are illegal interlopers and responsible for terrorist attacks.
#1
It would follow that illegal acts such as illegal immigration would be likely to be precursors to further illegal acts. Seldom does a successful bank robber stop and then get out--success in an endeavor is reinforcing despite the endeavor being illegal.
[DAWN] Police have moved 134 people, tossed in the calaboose Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! during sporadic festivities between law enforcement agencies and sit-in protesters, to Adiala jail.
According to sources, none of the suspects taken to Adiala jail are prominent religious leaders. Out of all the cases registered with the police against the protesters, three have been registered on charges that include section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
The protest is being led by the Tehrik Labaik Ya Rasool Allah and Sunni Tehrik ...formed in Karachi in 1992 under by Muhammad Saleem Qadri. It quickly fell to trading fisticuffs and assassinations with the MQM and the Sipah-e-Sahaba, with at least a half dozen of its major leaders rubbed out. Sunni Tehreek arose to become the primary opposition to the Deobandi Binori Mosque, headed by Nizamuddin Shamzai, who was eventually bumped off by person or persons unknown. ST's current leadership has heavily criticized the Deobandi Jihadi leaders, accusing them of being sponsored by Indian Intelligence agencies as well as involvement in terrorist activities... parties, and has continued for 12 days.
A senior Rawalpindi police official said the police have already been placed on alert in the city, as personnel have been deployed at Faizabad, Koral and on I.J. Principal Road to prevent the protesters from entering the city.
"We are taking all possible measures to maintain peace in [Rawalpindi]," a senior police official said, adding that additional police personnel have been deployed around the residence of former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan ...Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz Uncle Fester Sharif. He is noted for his vocal anti-American railing in the National Assembly. However (comma) Khan told the U.S. ambassador that he was in fact pro-American but he and the PML-N would have to be critical of US actions in order to remain publicly credible. Khan cited his wife and children's US citizenship as proof, which means he's lying to one side or the other and probably both. He wears a wig, but you probably guessed that. since hair doesn't grow naturally in that shape or texture... in Faizabad, which is a few hundred metres from the site of the sit-in.
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[NEWS24] Zim-bob-we's ruling party on Monday ordered impeachment proceedings to begin against longtime President Bob Muggsy Mugabe Nonagenarian President-for-Life of Zim-bob-we who turned the former Breadbasket of Africa into the African Basket Case... and expressed confidence that he could be voted out within two days, while the world's oldest head of state ignored the party's midday deadline to resign and instead summoned ministers to a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning.
The ruling Zanu-PF party's deputy secretary for legal affairs Paul Mangwana said politicians would move a motion for impeachment on Tuesday and set up a parliamentary committee, and on Wednesday the committee would report back to all politicians and "we vote him out."
The main charge against the 93-year-old Mugabe is "allowing his wife to usurp government powers" and that "he is too old and cannot even walk without help," Mangwana told news hounds.
He said the ruling party needs the backing of the MDC opposition group to have enough votes in Parliament but "we have talked to them and they are supporting us."
Zim-bob-weans were stunned by Mugabe's defiance during a national address on Sunday night in which the increasingly isolated president, put under military house arrest last week, had been expected to step down. Mugabe did acknowledge "a whole range of concerns" about the chaotic state of the government and the economy, which has collapsed since he took power after independence from white minority rule in 1980.
A notice by Mugabe's chief secretary announced on Tuesday morning's Cabinet meeting at State House and said all ministers "should attend." However, it's easy to be generous with someone else's money... a tweet by one minister, Jonathan Moyo, indicated that several had left the country.
The military appears to favor a voluntary resignation for Mugabe, one of Africa's last remaining liberation leaders, to maintain a veneer of legality in the political transition and avoid accusations of a coup. Mugabe, in turn, is likely using whatever leverage he has left to try to preserve his legacy or even protect himself and his family from possible prosecution.
Amid the political confusion, the government on Monday urged Cabinet ministers to pursue business as usual. Meanwhile, ...back at the shouting match, Bart was wondering if fisticuffs would be appropriate at this point... opposition activists and the influential liberation war veterans association announced more demonstrations to pressure Mugabe to go.
"Your time is up," veterans association leader Chris Mutsvangwa said at a presser. He suggested that the military was still beholden to Mugabe and compelled to protect him because he is officially their "commander in chief."
The war veterans' association will go to court to argue that Mugabe is "derelict of his executive duty," Mutsvangwa said.
Mugabe was stripped of his party leadership on Sunday by the ruling party's Central Committee but said in his speech he would preside over a party congress next month.
That congress is expected to ratify his firing as party chief, the expulsion of the unpopular first lady and the naming of Mugabe's recently fired deputy, Emmerson Mnangagwa, to succeed him.
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[ARABNEWS] Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too. , who resigned on Nov. 4, will land in Cairo on Tuesday to meet the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi "to complement his international and Arab tours," Hariri’s media office announced.
Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit arrived in Beirut on Monday ‐ the day after his urgent meeting in the Egyptian capital with Arab foreign ministers, at which he condemned "the firing of an Iranian-made ballistic missile from Yemeni territories to Riyadh" and considered it "blatant aggression against Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... and a threat to Arab national security."
The statement released after the meeting held "the terrorist organization, Hezbollah, a major player in the Lebanese government, responsible for supporting terrorism and terrorist groups in Arab countries through providing them with advanced arms and ballistic missiles."
Aboul Gheit heard Lebanese President Michel Aoun ...president of Leb, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah... say: "Leb is not responsible for Arab or regional conflicts and had never attacked any country. Therefore, it must not pay the price for these conflicts."
Aoun stressed that "Leb faced Israeli aggression and managed to free its lands, but Israel continues to target Leb, which gives Lebanese people every right to resist and thwart Israel’s plans in every possible way."
He also refused to "suggest that the Lebanese government plays a role in terrorist acts," pointing out that "the stance of the permanent representative of Leb to the vaporous Arab League during the foreign ministers’ meeting reflects a strong national determination."
Leb objected to "the describing of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, as well as referring to it as being part of the government."
In a statement released by the presidential palace after Aboul Gheit’s meeting with Aoun, Aboul Gheit said: "Arab states are keen on ensuring Leb’s illusory sovereignty, independence and role as well as protecting its unique political structure and refusing to allow any harm to get to it."
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[ARABNEWS] Iraq today has an elected Parliament, and 90 years ago it also had an elected Parliament; one of the oldest countries in the world to exercise modern democracy.
In theory, community awareness should develop over time, but this is not always the case.
Iraq’s parliamentarians are considering amending the Personal Status Law to allow for several pieces of legislation, including permitting girls as young as 9 to marry, and allowing tribal customs between clans and others.
It is almost not too far from the thoughts and practices of ISIS, the terrorist group!
The problem of democratization in "simple" societies (less developed and less aware) has been repeated.
The Parliament reflects the state of society and its culture. Parliamentarians deal with democracy in its basic concepts by applying what the people want, by pleasing their constituents and by meeting their demands.
The prevalence of culture and awareness in Iraqi society is similar to that in most Arab societies ‐ simple and limited, dominated by old rural customs and traditions, although Iraq is a country of great ancient civilizations and a country that has been associated with new civilization since the beginning of the last century.
Egypt, too, is a country of ancient civilizations and the first Middle Eastern country to respond to and assimilate modern industrial civilization, but it suffers the same situation as Iraq.
After the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... , an outcome of the "Arab Spring," there was a debate among the victors about the concepts of democracy and liberalism associated with it.
When the Moslem Brüderbund group came to power, by election, represented in the party of President Mohammed Morsi, they tried to write a new constitution in line with the rest of the Egyptian political forces.
Because they won, the Islamist group thought they had the right to dictate their views in the proposed constitution on the ground that they had won the most votes.
Their vision of the constitution would be written at the expense of minorities such as the Copts and women, and the marginalization of the principle of separation of powers by domination over the judiciary. This is a distorted concept of democracy.
Iraqis are overpowered by conservative, religious and tribal social forces; the constitution allows those forces to practice political action without setting limits on their power to use their influence in elections, and on parliamentary or government action.
Religious forces, in particular, exploit this to attack their rivals or strengthen their influence by raising money in the name of religion to form armed militias, claiming that it is their religious duty.
Because the central authority is weak and cannot confront these militias to avoid internal sedition, all it has done is prevent armed religious political forces from contesting elections. However, the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits... these forces can maneuver through the appointment of those who won the backing of the armed militias to run in the elections.
But the state cannot deny religious workers, as it prevents the military, from entering politics, because more than half of Iraq’s politicians today belong to religious organizations as well as tribal groups.
The supreme judicial authority cannot intervene to prevent Parliament from imposing legislation that violates the principles of democracy and the basic rights of Iraqis, whether ethnic or religious minorities, women, or others.
Democracy suffers in backward societies, and the elite’s relative awareness fails to impose itself; although segments of society are well aware and educated, they remain a minority.
Extremists can override democracy by voting for the same ends that the snuffies failed to achieve by force of arms!
The irony is that if Parliament votes to amend the Personal Status Law and allows the marriage of female children, then Iraq will be placed on the list of countries that violate human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... ; but at the same time it will remain classed as one of the democratic countries in the world because of its government and its legislation.
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#1
Quaint Tribal Customs™ Where would humanity be today without them? Oh, sorry I asked...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/21/2017 21:31
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[NRTTV] Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said a decision by the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court to cancel the results of the Kurdistan independence referendum was "unilateral".
KRG Premier said during a presser on Monday (November 20) that the federal supreme court reached verdict without attendance of representatives from the Kurdistan Region.
A statement by Iraqi federal court said on Monday the court "rendered a decision declaring unconstitutional the referendum held on September 25, 2017 in Iraqi Kurdistan... and cancelling all the consequences and results that resulted".
Regarding talks with Baghdad, KRG premier said the KRG continues efforts to launch dialogue with the government of Iraq to resolve the issues on the basis of Iraqi constitution.
"We are committed to the Constitution ... all the articles of the Iraqi Constitution must be implemented, not one article is implemented and another is ignored," Barzani added.
Barzani further said a third party should be present during talks between the KRG and Iraqi government to ensure the Iraqi constitution is implemented.
The feud between Erbil and Baghdad stems from Baghdad’s economic and military measures in retaliation for the Kurdistan referendum on Sept. 25, which saw 92.7 percent of the population vote in favor of independence.
KRG continuously expresses readiness to hold talks with Baghdad to resolve the issues between both sides according to the Iraqi Constitution. However, the hip bone's connected to the leg bone... the Iraqi government appears reluctant to participate in large-scale formal discussions.
Last month, the U.N. Security Council urged the Iraqi government and regional leaders in the Kurdistan Region to set a timetable for talks to end the crisis.
The world body's appeal came after Baghdad dismissed an offer from the region’s leaders to freeze the outcome of the referendum and hold talks.
Rejecting the freeze offer, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi instead demanded the annulment of the independence vote.
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[THECONSERVATIVETREEHOUSE] Interesting juxtaposition when you contrast the ’impossible mandate’ election results in Germany, against the ’incredible mandate’ election results in Japan for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. It’s as if there’s something, well, almost divinely nationalist guiding it.
Things are challenging for Angela Merkel ...current 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 Moslems .. in Germany, and amid the reality we see just how entrenched the globalists are in their ideological demands for ’open borders’.
The issue of unfettered immigration has collapsed any hope for German Chancellor Angela Merkel to be able to form a government. Merkel’s Christian Democrat Union (CDU) party had hoped to form a coalition with the center-left Social Democrat (SPD) party and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) party. However, a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package... the primary issues surrounding immigration, spending and climate change are so deeply divided no coalition is possible.
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#1
So, she is one step below the Congressional GOPe.
[This Ain't Hell] Yakota Air Base, Japan - Effective immediately, U.S. service members on Okinawa are restricted to base and their residences. Until further notice, alcohol consumption is prohibited. This includes in residences and public locations such as bars and clubs, and hotels.
Additionally, U.S. service members on mainland Japan are prohibited from purchasing or consuming alcohol, on or off base.
#2
It's the march of the broadbrush conviction of the many for the act of a few. As for the incident, to provide a message to others, just turn the miscreant over to the locals for judgement. That will open eyes wider than the usual 'mandatory' briefing harangue.
#5
The War on Terror™ is winding down so the Rear Echelon Nannies are coming out of the woodwork? Aren't there rocks to whitewash that they could personally supervise out there, somewhere?
[DAWN] The mother of a teenage girl, who was forcibly paraded naked in the streets of Garahmat village of Dera Ismail Khan ... the Pearl of Pashtunistan ... , has filed a petition requesting the Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. High Court (PHC) to supervise the ongoing investigation of the case, DawnNews reported on Monday.
On October 27, a group of men had intercepted the girl at gunpoint while she was fetching water from a pond along with her two cousins, disrobed her and forced her to run in the streets of Garahmat village. According to the petition filed by the victim's mother, the culprits filmed her as well.
The petition provided further details of the incident, stating that two years ago, the victim's brother, Sajid, had been accused of "teasing" and gifting a mobile phone to a girl of the rival tribe. The matter was taken to a local jirga and the victim's family was ordered to pay a fine of Rs300,000.
The petition claimed that the girl's family had paid the fine; yet, last month, she was attacked to exact Dire Revenge against her brother.
The victim had lodged a first information report with the Daraban police after the incident, following which the police nabbed Book 'im, Mahmoud! eight suspects and recovered video footage from their possession. Three of the suspects confessed to being involved in the incident during a court hearing earlier this month.
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[DAWN] Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said on Monday he was prepared to pull his forces from Iraq, after the krazed killerIslamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group lost control over its last urban stronghold in the country.
In a televised address on Monday evening, Nasrallah said the Lebanese movement had deployed "large numbers of our commanders and cadres" to Iraq to fight IS.
"We consider that the mission has been accomplished, but we are waiting for the final, Iraqi announcement of victory," he said.
Once that official declaration came, Hezbollah would reassess its presence in Iraq and may pull its members out.
"If we find that it's over, that there is no need for the presence of these brothers, they will return to be deployed in any other arena that needs them," Nasrallah said.
Hezbollah mostly deployed experienced commanders as advisers and trainers to work alongside the Hashed al-Shaabi, a paramilitary umbrella dominated by local Shiite militia groups also loyal to Tehran.
Iraqi forces on November 17 announced they had retaken Rawa, the last town to have been held by the Islamic State group in Iraq, capping three years of anti-jihadist military operations.
The latest efforts against IS have been spearheaded by Iraqi special forces and other regular troops but the Hashed, which counts tens of thousands of fighters, has been a key component of the bruising campaign.
While IS no longer controls any urban hub in Iraq, its surviving fighters have regrouped in remote desert areas along the border with Syria and mopping up operations remain to be completed.
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[DAWN] Hopes that 44 crew members of a missing Argentine navy submarine may be found alive rose after the defence ministry said the vessel likely tried to communicate via satellite on Saturday as an international search mission was underway in the stormy South Atlantic.
The ministry said seven failed "satellite calls" that it believes came from the ARA San Juan submarine were detected in a likely sign the crew was trying to reestablish contact.
The signals, in the late morning and early afternoon, lasted between four and 36 seconds, the ministry said. Argentina ...a country located on the other side of the Deep South. It is covered with Pampers and inhabited by Grouchos, who dance the Tangle. They used to have some islands called the Malvinas located where the Falklands are now. They're not supposed to cry for Evita... is working on tracing the location with an unnamed US company specialised in satellite communications, the ministry said.
The satellite communications were believed to have failed because of foul weather, a source in the defence ministry said.
It was not immediately clear what type of calls the vessel may have tried to make but submarines that are stricken underwater can float a location beacon known as an EPIRB to the surface that can then emit emergency signals via satellite.
Whipping winds and more than 20-foot waves in the South Atlantic hindered the international search for the submarine.
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[NEWS24] Zim-bob-we army chief General Constantino Chiwenga called Tuesday for "maximum restraint" and law and order to be upheld after Bob Muggsy Mugabe Nonagenarian President-for-Life of Zim-bob-we who turned the former Breadbasket of Africa into the African Basket Case... 's resignation sparked wild celebrations and plunged the country into uncertainty.
"Against the backdrop of the latest developments in our country, your defence and security services would want to appeal to all Zim-bob-weans across the political divide to exercise maximum restraint and observe law and order to the fullest," Chiwenga said at a press briefing.
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#1
Fat Lady has not been notified yet, though. I'll believe Bob is gone when he's pushing up the daisies.
[ARABNEWS] The Iranian regime’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is ratcheting up his criticism of President Hassan Rouhani, echoed by Iran’s state-owned media.
Some scholars and policy analysts are interpreting Khamenei’s opposition to Rouhani as a manifestation of Iran’s dynamic, democratic and inclusive political system. However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... looking closely at the history of the Iranian regime and Khamenei’s nearly three-decade rule, it becomes evident that this argument is simplistic and fails to demonstrate the complexity of the regime’s apparatuses.
Since Khamenei became supreme leader in June 1989, he has distanced himself from his presidents, especially in their second presidential term; he has done this with Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjnai, Mohammad Khatami, Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad and now Rouhani. For example, Khamenei’s criticism of Ahmadinejad in his second term was evident, although the regime’s leader strongly endorsed Ahmadinejad at the beginning of his term and promoted him later.
So why would Khamenei criticize his presidents in public? First of all, he knows that they cannot fulfill people’s economic demands because the nation’s revenues are directed to the treasury of the Office of the Supreme Leader and spent on Khamenei’s gilded circle of cronies, proxies and military advisers. Khamenei has made it clear in his speeches that Rouhani has failed to improve the Iranian people’s economic life or fulfill any of his economic promises.
Khamenei is distancing himself from the president’s failures. He is evading responsibility and accountability. He is attempting to manipulate the disaffected population, who are suffering from unemployment and poverty, by telling them simply that Rouhani is the one to blame, and your supreme leader sympathizes with you. Khamenei is deluding the people into believing that, like the overwhelming majority of the Iranian people, he too is opposed to the government in the shape of the presidential office.
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Chief Executive of the Government of National Unity of Afghanistan Abdullah Abdullah ... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun... blames Pakistain’s two-faced game helped in return of the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... insurgency.
Speaking during the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada, Abdullah said the Taliban group returned and resumed its insurgency in Afghanistan due to the two-faced games of the neighboring Pakistain.
Abdullah further added that the decision to withdraw forces from Afghanistan in 2014 also had a negative impact on security of Afghanistan.
In the meantime, Abdullah said the Afghan government is optimistic regarding the strategy of Washington about South Asia.
According to Abdullah, the new strategy announced by President Trump will hopefully increase pressures on Taliban and its supporters to opt for the reconciliation process.
The Afghan and US officials have long been insisting that the leadership councils of the Taliban and the notorious Haqqani terrorist network are based in the key cities of Pakistain where from they plan and coordinate attacks in Afghanistan.
The United States has also increased pressures on Islamabad to take immediate steps in dismantling the safe havens and sanctuaries of the Taliban and Haqqani network in its soil and in its latest move restricted the future military aid to Pakistain to certification of the country’s steps against the two groups.
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[DAWN] South Korea's spy agency says North Korea has punished two top military officers during a highly unusual inspection of the military's powerful political bureau.
The office of South Korean politician Kim Byung-kee says Seoul's National Intelligence Service provided the information during a closed-door parliamentary briefing Monday.
Kim's office cited the spy agency as saying the inspection, the first of its kind in 20 years, occurred because of an unspecified "impure" attitude in the North Korean military's political bureau.
The spy agency told politicians the head of the bureau, Hwang Pyong So, and his top deputy were punished. It was unclear whether they were verbally warned, dismissed or banished to a rural area.
South Korea's spy agency has a spotty record in reporting developments in North Korea.
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#1
"...an unspecified "impure" attitude..."
How does one say "My boodle train is running very very late." in Korean?
[Libya Herald] A 17 year-old neighbour has been tossed in the slammer ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... following the discovery of the body of a kidnapped nine year-old boy inside a freezer in Benghazi’s al-Aslam district.
Security sources say that Abdul Raouf Ali Abhairi Ojali was seized a week ago near his home and a ransom of LD2 million demanded from his parents. The boy’s father, Ali Ojali, recently appointed the head of the Benghazi Rebuilding Committee, said he could not afford it.
A medical report said that Ojali had died on Friday and his body had then placed in the freezer. The cause of death was not specified but one report said death had been caused by starvation.
A 17 year-old youth has been arrested suspected of the kidnapping and murder. The attorney-general’s office in Benghazi has announced that it is taking over the case.
There has been an outraged backlash on social media over the murder with posts accusing the police of not doing their job properly. Many messages have carried a picture of a smiling young boy with a school satchel which is supposed to be Ojali. The picture is in fact of an Iranian child.
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Lugansk People's Republic has been a mess since the start of 2015, when select military commanders were sanctioned by the Lugansk authorities, or killed outright.
Their main crime was dissent against the Lugansk political leadership.
If you look at my blog under the rubric of DONBASSAR, I have described several incidents relating to the murder of formation commanders in Lugansk, at one point, ethnic Cossacks were being deported back to Russia or killed.
The political leadership of Lugansk and Donetsk, former and current have continually denied the charges, which were actually fairly common among writers -- Russian and others-- that all the killings of Lugansk formation commanders was the work of Ukrainian saboteurs.
The evidence, from videos and other sources, painted a picture of a Lugansk political leadership refusing to brook any opposition, a political leadership not adverse to using the power of the state to commit those murders.
Last week came a story, obviously planted, that Plonitsky was planning for a return to Ukraine, presumably with safe passage for him and the rest of his government.
To understand how important that is consider: If a political solution was ever to be worked out which included a return to Ukraine, many formation commanders, many of them ethnic Russians, but citizens of Ukraine, would be men without a country, facing arrest, humiliation,prosecution and execution by the Ukrainian national government.
The prospect of that is too grim to simply ignore.
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.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of about a dozen U.S. State Department officials have taken the unusual step of formally accusing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson of violating a federal law designed to stop foreign militaries from enlisting child soldiers, according to internal government documents reviewed by Reuters.
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[Townhall] Liberal commentator Sally Kohn and several left-wing groups called for Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) to step down Monday after new allegations surfaced that Franken had groped a second woman in 2010 at the Minnesota State Fair. Franken was accused last week of groping and forcibly kissing Leeann Tweeden who released a photo of Franken groping her while she slept.
I take it these will quite likely not appear in her product line ? 
[Free Beacon] States with lower taxes on businesses and personal income have higher economic growth, according to an economist at the American Legislative Exchange Council.
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..
Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too.
the 
[The Hill] An FBI informant gathered extensive evidence during his six years undercover about a Russian plot to corner the American uranium market, ranging from corruption inside a U.S. nuclear transport company to Obama administration approvals that let Moscow buy and sell more atomic fuels, according to more than 5,000 pages of documents from the counterintelligence investigation.
[Daily Caller] Much of the world’s conflict can be attributed to illegal immigration, which spreads terrorism and instability, Myanmar leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi said in a speech on Monday.
Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz 
Michel Aoun
[ARABNEWS] Iraq today has an elected Parliament, and 90 years ago it also had an elected Parliament; one of the oldest countries in the world to exercise modern democracy.
...current chancellor of Germany and the impetus behind Germany's remarkably ill-starred immigration program. Merkel used to be referred to by Germans as 
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun...
North Korea
[Libya Herald] A 17 year-old neighbour has been 
