[federalist] In Tom Friedman's world, a Cabinet officer's faithful execution of a president's policies after private disagreement is both 'cowardly' and 'slimy,' not to mention cause for eternal damnation. The Dictator-Loving Friedman has lost his shit mind
In 42-plus years of analyzing lawyers' briefs, I have gained some experience in spotting written advocacy that resorts to a variety of mechanisms to camouflage a weak argument. Sometimes authors use personal attacks and inflammatory but baseless accusations to cover up the weakness of their argument.
So it is with political journalists and advocates (an overlapping set, to be sure). Tom Friedman, The New York Times’ resident "intellectual" foreign affairs columnist, demonstrates this technique in spades in his recent unhinged personal attack on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for not publicly disagreeing with President Trump's decision to recall Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovich.
Friedman's charge is that Pompeo's failure to voice his public disagreement with Trump's decision shows that even though Pompeo finished No. 1 in his class at West Point ‐ a composite of academic, leadership, and physical fitness rankings ‐ "he must have flunked all his courses on ethics and leadership." Friedman lards up his baseless argument with inflammatory, red-meat personal attacks that can fairly be described as sophomoric, in the sense that they are more typical of something written by an inexperienced but passionate youth, rather than a serious man.
Thus, Friedman's analysis is that Pompeo is "cowardly" and "slimy," he must have "failed or skipped" all West Point's classes on ethics and leadership, and his failure to behave as Friedman would demand is "one of the most shameful things I have ever seen in 40 years of covering U.S. diplomacy." He has "the mark of Cain on his forehead" and it "will not wash off." Continuing his biblical references, Friedman assures us it is really a "simple" matter: Pompeo will "lose his soul."
Well, what on Earth is the basis for damning Pompeo's soul to hell? It is this, in Friedman's words:
Though he reportedly argued privately to the president to keep Yovanovitch in place, Pompeo faithfully executed Trump's order without uttering a word to defend his ambassador's reputation in public.
In the Friedman world, a Cabinet officer's faithful execution of a president's policies after private disagreement is both "cowardly" and "slimy," not to mention cause for eternal damnation.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/26/2019
12:12 ||
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[Combating Terrorism Center] Abstract: Now is an opportune time to revisit the question of succession to the leadership of al-Qa`ida, for a number of reasons: the organization’s current emir, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is 68 years old and reported to have a potentially serious heart complaint; bin Ladin’s heir apparent, his son Hamza, is reported by the United States to have been killed in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region; and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of al-Qa`ida’s principal rival, the Islamic State, is also dead. An analysis of al-Qa`ida’s history and current decision-making structure points to one man in particular: the longtime jihadi commander known as Abu Muhammad al-Masri. Abu Muhammad has long played a critical role in al-Qa`ida, both as an operational commander and as a member of the governing shura council. Yet despite his importance to the organization, Abu Muhammad remains a shadowy figure. Little is known about his early life or his current activities. Unlike most al-Qa`ida Central figures, he is based not in northern Pakistan but in Iran, where he was previously imprisoned and now resides under a murky arrangement by which he is apparently allowed a great deal of freedom while still being barred from leaving the country.
The fall of 1998 marked a high point in Abu Muhammad al-Masri’s career. He had just returned to Afghanistan from East Africa, where he had masterminded al-Qa`ida’s deadliest attack on the United States yet‐the twin truck bombings of U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.1 He had positioned himself as one of Usama bin Ladin’s key confidants, to be consulted on the planning of all major attacks. And he had risen to the leadership of al-Qa`ida’s network of training camps.
Around this time, reports came to Abu Muhammad that a certain recruit, a Palestinian-Jordanian named Abu Moutassem, was behaving strangely.2 Despite claiming a history in the jihad stretching back over a decade, he struggled to control his rifle. He had a suspiciously large amount of cash, as well as a valid visa for Afghanistan in his passport‐a formality with which most self-respecting jihadis would not bother. And he was overheard talking on the phone apparently speaking in code.3 Abu Jandal, bin Ladin’s bodyguard, had a concise take on the matter: "If that chap is a jihadi," he said to al-Qa`ida’s military chief, Abdel Hadi al-Iraqi, "you can cut my arms off!"
Abu Muhammad had Abu Moutassem arrested and proceeded to interrogate him personally. It was not long before Abu Moutassem confessed that he was working for Jordanian intelligence. "I’m ready to tell you everything," the terrified spy told Abu Muhammad, "so long as you guarantee me a fair trial."
Evidently Abu Muhammad calculated that the prospect of a fair hearing was worth the potentially valuable intelligence Abu Moutassem might provide. Instead of shooting the man on the spot as many other jihadis might have done, he bundled the Jordanian into a car and drove him to Logar, south of Kabul, to meet face-to-face with bin Ladin. Saif al-`Adl, the hot-headed Egyptian former paratrooper then serving as al-Qa`ida’s security chief, was less eager to show mercy to the unmasked spy. Al-`Adl quickly pulled together a lynch mob of fellow jihadis and followed Abu Muhammad’s vehicle.
In late 2015 or early 2016, Abu al-Khair, having been named as “general deputy” to al-Zawahiri, was sent to Syria to serve as al-Zawahiri’s personal representative to al-Qa`ida-aligned jihadi groups fighting in that conflict. Abu al-Khair was killed in Idlib province in February 2017 when a missile from a U.S. drone struck his car.12 According to what is known about al-Qa`ida’s succession, that leaves Abu Muhammad al-Masri first in line to inherit the leadership.
The death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the so-called “caliph” of the Islamic State, further raises the stakes for the next emir of al-Qa`ida. The Islamic State began life as an al-Qa`ida franchise, and only split from the parent organization in 2014. Since then, scholars and analysts have speculated on whether and how the two groups might merge once more. Ayman al-Zawahiri is unlikely to be capable of leading such a reconciliation, given the perception of him as an interloper who spent most of his career with a different organization, Egyptian Islamic Jihad. But Abu Muhammad, as will be outlined, has been with al-Qa`ida from the very beginning and would therefore face no such impediment. Moreover, al-Baghdadi’s death bequeaths the Islamic State its own succession challenge: with so many of its senior leaders dead or captured, the group has resorted to promoting virtual unknowns. Its new leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Quraishi, had no name recognition among global jihadis when the group announced he had become ‘caliph’ and has not yet been seen nor heard from.13 a Moreover, much of the animosity between the Islamic State and al-Qa`ida has built up around a war of words between al-Zawahiri and al-Baghdadi personally; with both of them gone, reconciliation could become markedly easier. Abu Muhammad, should he succeed al-Zawahiri relatively soon, will therefore potentially enjoy an unprecedented opportunity to bring former Islamic State members into the al-Qa`ida fold.
Abu Muhammad was born Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah in June 1963 in Gharbia, a governorate of Lower Egypt in the central Nile Delta. As a young man, he played soccer professionally for a club in the Egyptian premier league.
...of the founding — Afghan war — generation of Al Qaeda.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Eight people died north of Aleppo following air raids by unidentified warplanes on Tuesday, the war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
Sounds of several explosions were heard in areas controlled by factions loyal to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... .
Local sources said that six explosions were heard in different areas, and the sources confirmed that the raids targeted the al-Haraqat area near Tarhin village, al-Burj village and the southern part of Jarabulus city.
A number of civilians were maimed in Tarhin Village and several tankers used for fuel transport were burned, the Syrian Observatory reported.
The Ottoman Turkish aircraft flew over Mare’ city amid news about the possibility of carrying out a new airdrop, similar to a previous airdrop carried out by the International Coalition to arrest an ISIS member, added the monitor.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2019
11:28 ||
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#1
they are always civilians
Posted by: chris ||
11/26/2019 21:49
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[Mil.com] Second Lt. Willie Evelyn Webster served as an Army nurse during World War II, and she's turning 100 years old on Dec. 14. Let's all send her a birthday card in honor of her service and for reaching birthday triple digits!
Webster graduated from Celina High School in Texas and then from St. Paul Hospital's nurses training course in Dallas. She received her Army commission in January 1944.
Evelyn deployed to Europe and served with the 168th General Hospital, which was actually a tent hospital set up in an open field in rural France. In the field hospital, she administered penicillin and sulfa drugs. Nurses changed dressings on wounds and gave the injured hot packs and alcohol rubs while working closely with the ward surgeon.
"There's nothing we could do for our wounded men that would be too much," she said in an interview with her hometown paper during the war. "They come in from forward area hospitals, many with deep wounds, amputations, bad burns -- but they never whimper or complain."
[NY Post] A mid-air collision between two helicopters has killed 13 French soldiers fighting against Islamic extremists in Mali, French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday.
Macron expressed "deep sadness" at the news of the Monday evening crash, which took place during a combat operation.
In a written statement, he expressed his support for the French military and stressed the "courage of the French soldiers" fighting the persistent Islamic threat in the Sahel region.
The statement provided no further details about the accident.
French defense minister Florence Parly said an investigation has been opened to determine the exact circumstances of the accident.
The operation in West and Central Africa involves 4,500 personnel and is France's largest overseas military mission.
A new surge in extremist attacks in Mali has killed well over 100 local troops in the past two months, with the Islamic State group often claiming responsibility.
The United States has said West Africa's Sahel region is an emerging front in the fight against IS and other extremist groups, including those linked to al-Qaida.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/26/2019
06:44 ||
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[cigar afficiando] For the first time ever, Brazil joins the U.S. in voting no
The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday overwhelmingly voted to denounce the 57-year-old U.S. trade embargo against Cuba. The tally on the annual resolution, titled "Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba," was 187 to 3. The United States, Israel and Brazil were the only nations to cast votes against the resolution, with Ukraine and Colombia abstaining.
The vote marks the 28th year in a row that the U.N. has denounced U.S. economic sanctions against Cuba. Last year, the vote was 189 to 2, with Israel and the U.S. voting no. At the time, then-Ambassador Nikki Haley denounced the U.N. for even considering the resolution.
The decision of Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro to side with the Trump administration on the embargo resolution marks the first time Brazil has voted against the annual resolution. But unlike the U.S., Brazil has extensive trade with, and investments in, Cuba.
The Brazilian tobacco company, Souza Cruz Ltda, has a joint venture in Havana that manufactures Cuban cigarettes. In return for preferential trading status for at least $800 million worth of Brazilian goods and services, Brazil’s leading development bank, BNDES, advanced Cuba more than $700 million in financing to modernize the deep-water port of Mariel. Today, most of Cuba’s imports and exports flow through that port.
The United Nations’ first condemnation of the trade embargo came in November 1992, shortly after President George H.W. Bush signed the "Cuba Democracy Act" that extended sanctions under the embargo to third countries that continued to trade with Cuba.
Donkey populations are being pushed to the brink of collapse by the demand for their skins, a leading charity has warned.
Millions of donkeys each year are being stolen, transported and killed as traders harvest their hides to export as an ingredient for the traditional Chinese medicine ejiao.
The Donkey Sanctuary has reported that the animals are in a state of "global crisis" and has called on governments to put an urgent halt to the trade.
In an update to itsUnder The Skin campaign, the charity revealed that local populations have been "virtually wiped out" in several countries as the numbers being slaughtered are "unsustainable".
The Chinese donkey population has declined by 76% since 1992 and since 2007, donkey populations have declined by 28% in Brazil, by 37% in Botswana and by 53% in Kyrgyzstan.
The gelatin from the hides provides a key ingredient in ejiao production, which requires 4.8 million skins per year. The demands cannot be met within China, leading traders to source skins in Africa, Asia and South America.
Donkeys are key to the livelihoods of more than 500 million people world wide, particularly in some of the world’s poorest communities and projections suggest that the ejaio industy will require more than half the world’s current donkeys over the next five years to meet demand.
Stephen Njoroge from Kiserian, near Nairobi, Kenya, is totally dependent on his donkeys for his livelihood, and all of them were stolen on the same night.
"I used my donkeys for general transport, collecting water, taking vegetables to market and carrying construction materials," he said.
"I am still recovering from the loss. I have heard much about the donkey slaughterhouses and they are causing the thefts in this area ‐ they should be closed down straight away; it is the only way to stop the thefts."
To provide enough skins, pregnant jennys, foals and sick animals are being stolen and transported miles without food, water or rest before facing appalling conditions in slaughterhouses.
One slaughterhouse in Africa was immediately closed after witnesses recorded footage of dead and dying donkeys some with open, maggot-infested wounds. Aborted foetuses were also seen as well as skinned carcasses dumped next to live donkeys awaiting slaughter. The slaughterhouse has since reopened.
[Rediff] Social media posts in Pakistan indicate Brigadier Raja Rizwan was hanged on Sunday, November 24, 2019 after his mercy plea was rejected for spying against the country. He had been charged for espionage and leakage of sensitive information to foreign agencies prejudicial to the national security.
Cases involving two senior Pakistan army officers, Lieutenant General Javed Iqbal and Brigadier Raja came to light in October 2018 after Ali Rizwan, Brigadier Raja's son, filed a habeas corpus petition in the Islamabad high court reporting that his father had gone missing on October 10, 2018 evening, near a busy shopping centre in the city. Justice Aamer Farooq heard the petition and sought a report from the authorities.
In the last week of February 2019, Major General Asif Ghafoor, director general Inter-Services Public Relations, admitted while addressing a news conference that two senior officers were in military custody on charges of espionage.
Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had ordered their field general court martial. General Ghafoor also disclosed that the retired army officers were arrested in individual cases and there was no link between them. There were three separate cases. One other, involved a civilian working in a sensitive nuclear installation, Dr Wasim Akram.
Brigadier Rizwan hailed from Khanpur, Rahimyar Khan district, Punjab. His father was a junior commissioned officer (JCO, Engineers). He had his early education at the Hassan Abdal cadet college, a popular nursery for army recruits. He joined the 68th PMA course at Kakul and was commissioned in the 10th Frontier Force Regiment.
While in the army, he commanded a brigade in the tribal areas and thereafter, held a prestigious appointment as Pakistan's military attaché In Germany for three years, from 2009 to 2012. He retired from service in 2014.
Peers within the Pakistan military speculate he may have been honey-trapped as he had the reputation of having a glad eye. A video created by a Pakistani Pashtun Web site circulated on YouTube some time ago alleged India's Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW) may have initiated the honey-trap.
This seems unlikely. It is more probable he may have been snared and recruited by the Americans during his tenure in Germany. There was a sideshow involved, apparently relating to alleged army assistance to selected sectarian groups, which was being fed to the CIA possibly through US Defence Intelligence Agency officials in their embassies in Berlin and Islamabad.
Investigation by the ISI's counter-intelligence wing found traces to foreign bank accounts and vast properties disproportionate to known sources of income of the arrested brigadier.
Some social media tweets in Pakistan today alleged that Brigadier Raja's death sentence was expedited only because he was a Shia, while the other officer convicted of spying, General Javed Iqbal is still languishing in jail on a 14-year conviction. He was not hanged only because he is a Sunni.
Questions have also been asked why the nature of punishment meted out is different for sons of JCOs and civilians while generals were given more lenient punishment, though crimes damaging national security may be similar.
Brigadier Raja's fast-track hanging at this juncture seeks to wrest mileage by stressing across-the-board accountability in the armed forces in Pakistan, which has been an exception rather than the norm. The army's sanctimonious stance is unlikely to convince cynics in civil society there.
#3
Despite Boston Dynamics' reluctance to deploy its robots in a more offensive setting, civil rights groups like the ACLU have already voiced concern over where the technology might go from here.
And there we go. The enemies of progress. Anus Clenching Liberals United.
Clemson University professors and Russian trolling experts Darren Linvill and Patrick Warren reveal how Russia's 2020 disinformation operations work
They say that Russian trolls create Twitter accounts that appear to be run by Americans and share uplifting and heartwarming messages as a 'Trojan horse'
After building a following the accounts then spew divisive tweets
The controversial tweets are designed to plant distrust in the U.S. government
Linvill and Warren spent two years studying online disinformation to understand Russian strategy and combed through data Twitter released to the public
Together they worked with Twitter to suspend Russian-operated accounts
They say these kinds of accounts are run by Russia's Internet Research Agency
The IRA was the very group that was at the center of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation for interference in the 2016 presidential election
#4
Interesting that the examples of trollers these "researchers" highlight almost always involve accounts / characters whose postings serve to further the America-is-Evil-and-Racist narratives of Black Lives Matter and the NYT's "1619" campaign.
These trolls aren't scoring any points; they're just giving an assist to our own homegrown liars.
There's literally nothing that these Russian bots are saying that hasn't been said 100,000,000x already by our country's wretched race-baiters.
The Russian trolls' contribution to dividing and demoralizing this nation is about as close to zero as possible when you set it next to the cumulative destructive contribution KaepernickSharptonCoates TheSqualid Fauxcahontas Fartacus Dr.BlowseyFord NYT WaPo CNN MSNBC et al.
#5
I noticed the same thing. The 'russian trolling experts' seem to be saying some pretty conflicting things too. Like how is this helping Trump win ? What purpose would the Kremlin achieve by this ? Also, it seems like too subtle a scheme to divide America - the mass psychology equivalent of a Rube Goldberg machine.
And there are already more effective in-country demoralizers working harder for this, so why does Russia waste money on this ?
It is fairly cheap to do and given that the goal is not to help a particular candidate but to keep the country in turmoil, it seems to be working quite well.
Recall the name of the Soviet-style nemesis of spoof-sitcom Agent Maxwell Smart: KAOS.
Putin's Chaos Operation has succeeded beyond his or any FSB operative's wildest dreams.
Hating other Americans, our civilization's achievements and and our cultural heritage now defines American elite culture. It's what our elites do. Attacking the great men of our pastand distorting our history are required signs of 'woke' bona fides.
Putin's people are running rings around our pseudo-sophisticated fools. It's like watching a judo champ throw a blustering brawler on his arse again and again.
#9
And at the same time he's getting Trump elected by... what, setting in motion some predetermined dynamic that shall motivate conservatives to vote in larger numbers so... uhh no. I don't get it.
Is Trump good for Russia ? Or is chaos good ? Or is Trump the reason there's chaos and...
Look, isn't it just possible this divisiveness is a wholly indigenous product, and these are just inept mischief makers operating out of Moscow on Soros' dime to make it look like Putin's finest is up to no good ? A greater divisiveness at play ? I'm just thinking aloud, I may be wrong.
#10
As I recall, the old Soviet game plan was to keep things stirred up wherever and however it could, presumably on the theory that there were unpredictable opportunities in chaos. Think of it as chumming the waters.
#13
I see your point, Dron. Probably correct that this is not driven from the top, nor is it part of any coherent strategy.
Most likely just rogue elements of the GRU having some fun, effing with our (elite's) excitable minds the way that we used to mess with the Cubans and v-v.
#14
Trump 's administration has most definitely NOT good for calm, peaceful relations with Russia.
Which is not to say that, purged of the pestilent influence of the foolish "Interagency Consensus" Trump could not set our relations with Russia on a rational, realistic, intelligent and stable footing.
#16
It's a very convenient ruse of certain 'experts' in the west, armed by greater media reach, and inordinate amounts of time, to raise McCarthy's ghost whenever they want to shift blame from Democrats. Nothing bad ever happens in America unless it's done by a white hyper-conservative, or got its roots somehow in Russia.
Besides, even if all this is correct, we can't blindfold or cotton wrap the population lest they hear 'what a sodding russian has to say to them !'
It's our job to make our national cultures and pride in our own societies more appealing and infinitely valuable to our generations. And MAGA was all about that. Trolls and influencers will exist forever. It's not new, posing as a citizen while disseminating incendiary ideas to destabilize society. The muslims have been doing it too. Wind up the natives, watch 'em go, pick out the remnant.
The trouble is, national integrity is held together by a willingness in society itself to remain integrated. I'm afraid it comes down to only this : there are just too many wakandans, militant bulldykes, globalist sell-outs and mercenary activists in America that have not been crushed under the nationalist boot. Remember that incident from the NYC subway, the mad tranny with her stilettos ? And the decent folks of NYC setting there like mannequins ? That is the problem.
This is nothing new. The Russkies have been using dezinformatsiya and agitprop for over a century to spread the notion that AmeriKKKa is incorrigibly fascist 'n' racist and hyper capitalist.
But in the 20th century, no one took that stuff seriously.
It's only now, with the rise of social media, far-left identity politics taking over the Dems and craven virtue-signaling among our media and entertainment and corporate elites, that the Son- er Russian dezinformatsiya is getting legs and actually running over American common sense and culture.
Or maybe the metaphor is of seeds and soil: the American cultural soil was barren until the identity-politics warriors began to cultivate it and make it fertile for anti-American chaos-mongering.
[Rudaw] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... ’s President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important... claimed Friday evening that Ottoman Turkish troops have found thousands of weapons given to the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria and are seizing them.
"They [YPG] run and we chase them. We have entered all of their hideouts. They wanted to establish a terror state in northern Syria. Did they make it? Between 32 and 33 thousand truckloads of weapons were given to them from somewhere. We have found the whereabouts of their depots and we are now collecting them," Erdogan said at an event in Izmir province, reported state-owned Anadolu Agency.
The United States supplied the YPG-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) with light arms, combat training, and air support during the fight against the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really 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 western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) in Syria, beginning in 2014. The SDF declared the terror group territorially defeated in Syria in March this year.
Washington’s alliance with the YPG angered Turkey, which considers the Kurdish forces a terror organization with ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Erdogan repeatedly demanded the US stop arming the Kurds, expressing concern that after ISIS was defeated, the guns would be turned on Turkey.
The US tried to placate Turkey by promising to collect the weapons after the jihadists were ousted from northern Syria and sharing information on the weapons with Ankara.
On October 9, Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring against the YPG, vowing to push the Kurdish forces away from the border and establish a 32-kilometre deep "safe zone." A day later, a YPG source told Rooters that they do not have American weapons to match Turkey’s air force or tanks.
"The heaviest weapons we got from the U.S. are some mortar shells, nothing heavier. No missiles, no anti-aircraft weapons, no anti-tank," said the anonymous source.
Washington and Moscow separately brokered deals with Turkey to end the northern Syrian incursion, though festivities have continued.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
11/26/2019
03:16 ||
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[GeoTV] LONDON: A record number of British-Pakistanis could become a part of the Parliament after the general elections on December 13.
Serves them right, actually. They're the ones planted the seed for the idea of Pakistain in the 40s. The creation of Pakistan was integral to Britain's grand strategy.'
'If they were to ever leave India, Britain's military planners had made it clear that they needed to retain a foothold in the NWFP and Baluchistan. Another sad, unheeded example for playing around with muslimeen.
For the first time Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats have given tickets to more than 70 candidates of British Pakistani origin for the elections ‐ the highest number of candidates. Many are also contesting the election as independent candidates.
Most British-Pakistani candidates are from the Conservative Party but candidates on the Labour ticket have a greater chance of winning.
The Conservative Party has fielded 20 candidates of Pakistani origin. The list includes current chancellor Sajid Javid who has been part of the Parliament since 2010 from Bromsgrove in Warwickshire. Other notable candidates include Nusrat Ghani, Rehman Chishti and Saqib Bhatti.
Ghani has served as the Minister for Transport and was elected first in 2015 from Wealde in Southeast. She was the first female of Pakistani origin to represent Conservatives in the House of Commons.
Chishti, who is prime minister's special envoy for religious freedom, was first elected from Gillingham and Rainham in 2010. The most interesting candidate in the list is Bhatti who is from Birmingham but has been awarded ticket in these elections from one of the safest Conservative seats ‐ Meriden in Warwickshire. An accountant by profession, Bhatti is also the current president of Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce. He is the first Muslim and youngest Pakistani to hold this position.
Others contesting from Conservative Party’s platform are Iftikhar Ahmed (Barnsley Central), Mohammad Afzal (Bradford West), Ex MEP Amjad Bashir (Leeds North-East), Kashif Ali (Halifax), Imran Ahmad-Khan (Wakefield).
From Greater London region Tamkeen Sheikh (Barking), Noshaba Khilji (Leyton & Wanstead) and Ali Azeem (Ilford South) will be taking on their Labour rivals. From Greater Manchester region Atiffa Shah (Rochdale), Attika Chaudhary (Salford & Eccles), Tayyab Amjad (Stalybridge & Hyde) and Mussadak Mirza (Stretford & Urmston) are standing on Tory tickets.
Also in the Conservative list are Wass (Wasim) Mughal (Sefton Central, Lancashire), Ahmed Ejaz (Wolverhampton South East), Pervaiz Akhtar (Luton South) and Haroun Malik (Inverclyde, Scotland). Gawd ! Why don't they just shift the HoC to Bloody Karachi ? For more Abdul names and faces, go to the proud Pak GeoTV link
#3
Majority are from Mirpur, Jammu province, though they like to call themselves Kashmiri. Ethnic Punjabi, Urdu speaking, and brought to the UK after the World Bank financed Mangla High Dam flooded their villages as the reservoir filled.
Posted by: John Frum ||
11/26/2019 7:25
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[KhaamaPress] A group of ten Indian women and kiddies, all relatives of ISIS affiliates have also surrendered to Afghan forces in eastern Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province.
Sources privy of the development have said at least 900 ISIS affiliates including foreigners have surrendered to the Afghan forces since the launch of offensive on 12th of November.
The sources further added that the Indian women and kiddies hail from Kerala state of India who have been shifted to Kabul.
"We are evaluating them one by one. More details will emerge once this process is finished," the Hindustan Times quoted an informed official as saying.
This comes as the Ministry of Defense of Afghanistan on Saturday announced that 22 ISIS holy warriors surrendered to Afghan forces in Achin district on Friday.
The defense ministry had earlier announced that more than 600 ISIS holy warriors and their family members have surrendered to Afghan forces during the recent weeks.
[KhaamaPress] A group of 22 militants of ISIS Khurasan, the offshoot of IS terrorist group in Afghanistan, surrendered to Afghan Special Forces in Nangarhar province.
According to a statement released by Ministry of Defense (MoD), the militants surrendered to Special Forces in Achin district of Nangarhar.
The statement further added that the militants also handed over 18 Ak-47 assault rifles to Special Forces.
This comes as a group of 10 ISIS militants surrendered to Special Forces in Achin district a day earlier, days after more than 600 militants and family members of the group surrendered to security forces in Nangarhar.
The terror group started its operations in Achin district of Nangarhar nearly five years ago and were attempting to turn the province into their regional operational hub.
However, the security forces backed by coalition forces suppressed the terror group before they could expand their foothold in Nangarhar and other parts of the country.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
11/26/2019
03:08 ||
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#1
damn, they just giving up in droves aren't they?
Posted by: chris ||
11/26/2019 21:52
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h/t Instapundit
[BBC] "Indian food is terrible and we pretend it isn't," said international affairs professor Tom Nichols.
Critics called his comment a tasteless generalisation.
The remark led to a wider discussion of the immigrant experience and how many in the US have experienced racism in relation to food.
Mr Nichols - who teaches at the US Naval War College in Rhode Island - posted his opinion after another Twitter user had asked for "controversial food opinions".
...First-generation American Saira Rao wrote: "Having white people trash Indian food is extremely triggering as an Indian who has been told that I smell weird, that my food smells weird and that Indians [expletive] on the street which is why everything we are smells bad."
Comment cited by Instapundit
Any white man who doesn’t like Indian food is a genocidal racist.
Any white man who likes Indian food is guilty of cultural appropriation and is no better than Hitler.
#7
Was called a racist once for criticizing Mexican restaurants - don't know how they are in general, but in NM they think that slow service is a mark of a fancy restaurant.
#16
I've been told by Indian guys I used to work with that the best Indian food on the planet was in London.
Personally, put me down in the Hitler column (Like I wasn't already there!)
And if you are not familiar with Titania McGrath, it is one of the most savagely funny parody accounts going.
What's that, curry and ... sausage ? Errm...not that I know of. The possibility can't be negated though. India is so freakishly diverse you can travel it all yet miss some weirdo demographic that might eat just that. I think Goa could have such a thing.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
11/26/2019 13:42
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#27
I like chili, just not that Cincinnati stuff. I like Indian food even tho they insist on spelling "chile" as "chilli." Panang curry please...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/26/2019 15:14
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#28
Mr. Wife brought me home a cookbook from his time in India — the pages are falling out. I really ought to scan the key recipes into the computer before he mistakes the scraps of stained paper for garbage, which is how I usually lose recipes.
M.Murcek, Cincinnati chili is strongly polarizing for those not born to it. It”s basically an unbaked Greek pastitsio without the bechamel sauce and with beans and/or chopped onion optional. (The pages of the Greek cookbook Mr.Wife brought home when he was starting up the factory in Athens also has loose pages...)
#29
As for the good professor, we all now know better than to rond to a joking “Say something controversial about X,”right? The humourless scolds have destroyed another opportunity for lighthearted human interaction. I can’t wait until the Crazy Years are over.
[KhaamaPress] Clashes in northern Balkh and Jawzjan provinces left 16 Talibs dead or maimed including local commanders of the group, the 209th Shaheen Corps said.
According to a statement released by Shaheen Corps, the Talibs attacked Khel Guli Base in Dawlatabad district of Balkh at 7 pm local time on Saturday which sparked festivities that continued until 9 pm.
The statement further added that Talibs retreated after 4 losing of their comrades during the festivities.
The security forces killed 2 Talibs and maimed another Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... fighter during a separate clash in Joi Uzlek area of Chahar Bolak district in Balkh proivnce, the 209th Shaheen Corps added.
The 209th Shaheen Corps also added that the security forces killed local Taliban commanders Qari Toofan and Chari Pawalan during a clash in Qarqeen district of Jawzjan on Saturday.
Four other Talibs sustained injuries during the clash including their commander Qari Qayoum, the 209th Shaheen Corps said.
[KhaamaPress] The Talibs suffered heavy casualties during the operations in northern Faryab and South-eastern Ghazni provinces, the Afghan military said.
The 209th Shaheen Corps in the North said in a statement that a series of Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s killed 6 Talibs and maimed 3 others in Qaramqol and Andkhoi districts of Faryab.
The statement further added that the security forces conducted the airstrikes amid ongoing Shaheen-607 operations.
Meanwhile, ...back at the shootout, Butch cautiously raised his hat over the edge of the horse trough on the end of a stick...... the 203rd Thunder Corps in the South-east said the security forces killed 4 Talibs and maimed 5 others during the operations in Nogha and Shahbaz areas of the thriving provincial capital of Ghazni province.
The security forces also discovered and defused 10 improvised bombs during the operations in Paktika ...which coincidentally borders South Wazoo... , Ghazni, Wardak and Pashtun-infested Logar provinces, the 203rd Thunder Corps added.
The Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... group has not commented regarding the operations so far.
#4
There was a tongue in cheek analysis of the various units in an old Avalon Hill wargame called Panzerblitz: "Soviet T-34c Loss: Shruggable. 'What is one rat to the pack?' "
To the Taliban Collective the loss of a fellow bandit tribe often means that your tribe has a new place to expand into...
Drug profits? His daughter’s dowry? Inquiring minds want to know.
[KhaamaPress] The Central Industrial Force (CISF) personnel of India arrested an Afghan national on charges of carrying $14,000 in an ’unauthorized’ manner while attempting to travel to Kabul from New Delhi.
The Indian security officials have said the CISF personnel arrested Bakhtyari Waheedullah from Inhira Gandhi International Airport at 5:30 am local time on Saturday, according to local media reports.
The officials further added that the man was about to board a SpiceJet flight to Kabul when CISF personnel intercepted him and confiscated $14,000 which he was in his possession in an ’unauthorized’ manner.
The CISF personnel handed over the man to Customs officials after he failed to produce any document for carrying the relatively large amount of foreign currency, the officials added.
#2
One has to declare how much they're taking if it's above $10k. A few hundred over won't matter, but on checking if they find bills and coins secreted away, they'll just follow protocol and seize all of it. Considering he was afghan, they were playing safe.
#4
Police and federal agents do that here as well. Police say its drug money and you have to sue to get it back. Same at airports with the federal agents.
#5
p2k has got it right, I think it may be called civil forfeiture if you are carrying large amounts of cash. Usually don't get it back either. kinda like imminent domain laws.
Posted by: chris ||
11/26/2019 21:57
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[KhaamaPress] The Afghan forces thwarted bandidosturbans bid to detonate multiple Improvised Explosive Devices in South-eastern Khost province ... across the border from Miranshah, within commuting distance of Haqqani hangouts such as Datta Khel and probably within sight of Mordor. Khost is populated by six different tribes of Pashtuns, the largest probably being the Khostwal, from which it takes its name... According to a statement released by Ministry of Interior, the security forces discovered and defused 8 IEDs during the operations which they launched few days ago in Musa Khe district.
The statement further added that the bandidosturbans had planted the IEDs on main roads frequented by ordinary civilians.
Some of the IEDs also carried ’illusory’ messages about paradise, the Ministry of Interior added in its statement.
Talibs and bandidosturbans of the other groups frequently use improvised explosives as the weapon of their choice to target the security personnel and government officials.
However, the way to a man's heart remains through his stomach... the roadside kaboomings often inflict casualties on ordinary civilians.
[KhaamaPress] The Afghan forces suffered casualties in a coordinated Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... attack in central Daikundi province, the local security officials said.
Gul Aqa Sajadi, a front man for the provincial police headquarters confirmed that eight security personnel bit the dust after a large number of Talibs attacked the security check posts in Kajran district.
He said the Talibs launched the attack at around 1 am local time which lasted for several hours.
According to Sajadi, eight coppers and a soldier of the Afghan national army bit the dust in the attack and four others sustained injuries.
Meanwhile, ...back at the abandoned silver mine, the water was up to Jack's neck and still rising. And then he smelled the smoke... another official said the Afghan forces also inflicted heavy casualties on Talibs but did not elaborate further regarding the exact number.
The official further added that additional forces have arrived in the district and the Afghan forces are in full control of the area.
[KhaamaPress] A series of Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s killed eight faceless myrmidons of Taliban ...Arabic for students... and ISIS groups in four provinces in the past 24 hours, the military officials said.
The officials further added an airstrike in Gulistan district of Farah killed 3 Talibs, destroyed an IED and a Taliban vehicle.
Another airstrike in Musa Qalah district of Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... killed 3 Talibs, the officials said, adding that a similar airstrike killed a Taliban Death Eater and destroyed a small cache of weapons in Shindand district of Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... The officials also added that an airstrike in Achin district of Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province killed a Death Eater of ISIS Khurasan group.
The Taliban and ISIS groups have not commented regarding the airstrikes so far.
[KhaamaPress] The Special Forces killed 5 Talibs and arrested 4 others during the operations in Farah, Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... and Kabul provinces.
The military officials said Sunday the Special Forces killed 5 Talibs and destroyed a cache of weapons in Pusht-e Rod district of Farah.
The officials further added that the Special Forces arrested 3 Talibs and destroyed a small cache of weapons during a similar raid in Ghoriyan district of Herat.
The Special Forces also arrested a Taliban ...Arabic for students... bully boy during a raid in Chahar Asyab district of Kabul, the officials added.
The Taliban group has not commented regarding the operations so far.
An Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... in northern Faryab province killed four Talibs including the shadow district chief of the group, the Afghan military said. Who is now but a smudge
According to a statement released by 209th Shaheen Corps, the security forces conducted the airstrike in Khwaja Gowhar Village of Almar district on Saturday, targeting a compound of Talibs.
The statement further added that the airstrike killed 4 Talibs including Mawlavi Abdul Ghafar, the shadow district chief of Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... The airstrike also maimed 7 other krazed killers, destroyed the compound of Taliban, 6 motorycles and some weapons and munitions, the statement added.
The Taliban group has not commented regarding the airstrike so far.
[WICNews] A 19-year-old Indian-American student was sexually assaulted and afterwards strangulated to death in Chicago, police said about a severe homicide that has stunned the network in the United States.
Ruth George, initially hailing from Hyderabad and a distinctions understudy at the University of Illinois was discovered dead in the secondary lounge of a family-claimed vehicle in a grounds carport on Saturday.
The attacker, Donald Thurman, 26, was captured Sunday from a Chicago metro station. He isn't related to the college. On Monday, he was officially accused of first-degree murder and bothered rape for killing George. Bothered rape ?
The therapeutic analyst administered George's demise a murder by strangulation.
As per the college, George was a sophomore and kinesiology major.
From Heavy.com
▪️ Thurman Was Convicted of Armed Robbery in 2018 & Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison, but Was Released on Parole After Serving Only 2 Years. Earlier, 1½ years I think
▪️ Thurman Has Been in Custody SInce Sunday & Will Be Held at the Chicago Police Lockup Pending His First Appearance in Cook County Court More at the link.
[ToloNews] The Times of India reported that the treaty will enable India to extradite bully boyz of Pak origin who operate on Afghan soil.
The acting minister of foreign affairs, Idrees Zaman, and the Indian ambassador in Kabul, Vinay Kumar, on Monday signed an extradition treaty between Afghanistan and India.
The document was already approved and ratified by the relevant authorities of both governments, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement in New Delhi, India on September 14, 2016.
Under this agreement, the two countries will be able to deliver a person accused of, or convicted of, committing a crime to the other country’s law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement process that requires formal arrangements.
India’s Embassy in Kabul in a tweet said that Ambassador Vinay Kumar and Acting Foreign Minister Idrees Zaman "took a step closer to cement bilateral relations" by ratifying the India-Afghanistan Extradition Treaty.
The Times of India said that once the treaty is fully in effect, it will enable India to extradite bully boyz of Pak origin who operate on Afghan soil.
[PJ] Over the weekend, Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas) shared an inspiring video ‐ a man in a wheelchair scaling a rock-climbing wall, with his wheelchair hanging below him! The video has personal meaning for Abbott, who was paralyzed from the waist down at age 26. Twitter users said they would rather die than lose the use of their legs, and one even told Abbott that God put him in a wheelchair. Abbott's responses were perhaps even more inspiring than the original video.
"So great to see but if I ever end up in a wheelchair I’m just ending it," one user wrote in response to the video. He would rather commit suicide than live without his legs.
"That’s what I thought before I ended up in a wheelchair," Abbott responded. "I’ve done more AFTER the accident that left me paralyzed than before that accident. With God all things are possible."
"God didn’t cause the accident that left me paralyzed, but He did help me persevere over that enormous challenge," the governor replied. "I’m a testament that the glory of God is revealed by a young man’s back being broken in half and still rising up to be Governor of Texas. With God all is possible."
[LI] Killed in the Battle of Qala-i-Jangi (11-25-2001). John Walker Lindh, the American Taliban interrogated by Spann just before Spann was killed, was released from prison last May.
For many years, on November 25 and also Memorial Day, we have remembered Johnny Micheal Spann, a CIA Operations Officer who was the first American killed in Afghanistan after 9/11.
We have told Spann’s story many times, but it never gets old. Our 15th Anniversary post summed up much of what we had learned, 15th Anniversary: Johnny "Mike" Spann, first American killed in Afghanistan.
A small group of special operations officers, often riding on horseback, helped organize the Northern Alliance forces and overthrow the Taliban.
[ToloNews] SIGAR also reported an increase of women among the ranks of Afghan forces.
30 insider attacks occurred within Afghan forces between June and August of 2019, according to a report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), which is "nearly double the number" reported last quarter.
That brings this year’s total to 49 attacks, which resulted in 167 casualties, according to the report. While there have been three fewer attacks this year compared to the same period last year, there were 56 more ANDSF casualties.
"There have been five more attacks and 30 more casualties than roughly the same period in 2017," it said.
SIGAR’s report also reported an increase in the number of females in the Afghan cops.
The women in the Afghan cops this quarter, according to the RS Gender Advisor Office, numbered 6,395 female personnel, which is an increase of 933 women since last quarter and about 1,900 women compared to roughly the same period in 2018.
The increase since last quarter includes" 721 women in the ANP and 212 in the ANA," it said.
The vast majority of ANDSF female personnel (4,371) are in the ANP, including 165 women in the General Command of Police Special Units (GCPSU), the report said.
"There are 2,024 female personnel in the ANA, including 110 in the AAF and 20 in the ASSF," it said.
[ToloNews] A group of Farah residents gathered in Farah city on Sunday to protest the killing of nine civilians who they claim were targeted in an Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... in Posht Rod district on Saturday.
They brought the bodies on Saturday evening to the governor’s office and called for an investigation into the incident.
The residents also claimed that seven others were maimed.
"One of them is my son, others are relatives. Why were we hit like this?" asked an angry protestor
.
"They were martyred last evening," another protestor said.
One person interviewed said the attack happened as some locals were returning to their homes after evening prayers.
"Almost 20 to 30 people were standing outside a mosque after praying when the airstrike occurred," said one resident.
A hospital official said they received a number of dead and maimed on Saturday evening.
"Five maimed and eight dead were taken to the provincial hospital on Saturday evening. One child is among the maimed and is at death's door," said Abdul Hakim Rasuli, head of the Farah provincial hospital.
A local official confirmed that two separate operations were carried out in Posht Rod and Gulistan districts of Farah, but none of the officials confirmed the civilian casualties.
"We call on the president and the central government to prevent such incidents from happening again. You can see in the hospital that all of the victims are vulnerable people," said Khair Mohammad Nawrozi, a member of the Farah Provincial Council.
This comes as civilian casualties in Afghanistan are on the rise, according to a UN report published in mid-October.
The United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... Assistance Mission in Afghanistan reported that in the first nine months of 2019 the UN documented 2,563 civilians killed and 5,676 injured, which is similar to the same period from last year; however, in the third quarter‐July 1 to September 30--UNAMA documented an unprecedented spike in civilian casualties, with 1,174 civilian deaths and 3,139 injured.
[ToloNews] The Ministry of Interior says 2,331 joint military operations were conducted over the past eight months.
With the arrival of the cold season and typically reduced Death Eater activity, the Ministry of Defense, or MoD, said on Sunday that Afghan cops operations against Death Eaters have risen over the past two months.
The Ministry of Interior said the number of joint operations in the past eight months was higher than the total number of operations last year.
But the Afghan security agencies said the Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... has not reduced the level of violence, even with the arrival of the cold season.
"The operations by National Defense and Security Forces are underway and they have inflicted high casualties on the enemy," MoD front man Rohullah Ahmadzai said.
A recent report by the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan (SIGAR), indicates that Afghan forces’ casualties have increased by five percent amid a rise in violence in the first quarter of 2019.
"They cannot defeat the government. The conflict and calamity will continue, but nothing will come of it. But, ultimately, peace will come," military affairs analyst Atiqullah Amarkhil said.
According to the Ministry of Interior, 2,331 joint military operations were conducted in the past eight months while last year it was less than 2,000 operations.
"The security and defense forces operations have increased this year. This year, the enemy has been suppressed and weakened more than any year," Interior Ministry front man Nusrat Rahimi said.
The SIGAR report, citing TAAC-Air, says the Afghan Air Forces’ average monthly flight hours this quarter (July 1 through September 30, 2019) increased by about 19 percent compared to the last reporting period (April 1 through June 30, 2019).
"The National Defense and Security Forces in Kunduz decided to launch a large-scale operation in Kunduz to suppress the enemy," said Nabiullah Mirzaee, Commander of 207 Pamir Corps.
Others await clearing operations: "Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... requires a widespread operation to help displaced families to go back to their homes," said Attaullah Afghan, the head of Helmand Provincial Council.
[THEGUARDIAN] The former Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, congresswoman Katie Nice Boobies! Hill ...Dem representative from California who ran as a bisexual, resingned from Congress when nude pictures of her came to light, along with information that she was being bisexual with one of her aides. Katie appears to be unacquainted with the word shame... , who resigned in October after the publication of nude photographs and allegations of an affair with a member of her congressional staff, said on Sunday rightwing media outlets attacked women because "they’re easier targets" for bullying.
In an interview on CNN’s Reliable Sources, the Democrat said bullying affects women across the US, whether they are teen girls or power-players such as the former ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and ex-national security council official Fiona Hill.
Yovanovitch and Hill, both naturalized US citizens, testified in the congressional impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump ...the Nailer of NAFTA... . As with other witnesses, Trump supporters in the media questioned their loyalty to the US.
"As a public figure," Katie Hill said, "you’re used to attacks, right? But when it gets to the level of these threats and feeling like you’re not seen as a person any more ... the dehumanization is something that I think people can’t really understand unless you have been there.
"And that’s exactly what the rightwing media does and that they’re doing to these witnesses. And look what they’re doing to Fiona Hill and what they did to Ambassador Yovanovitch.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2019
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#1
rightwing media attack women because ‘they’re easier targets’
You ain't seen nothing yet dear. The push for "equality" filled all kind of positions from high school teachers to POTUS candidates with women who are NOT competent for the job.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A major Lebanese business group called on Monday for a three-day general strike to press divided politicians to form a government and end a crisis that has brought the economy to a standstill.
Leb has faced five weeks of protests, fueled by anger at corruption among sectarian politicians who have governed for decades. Demonstrators want to see the entire ruling class gone from power.
Despite the unprecedented protests, which led to the resignation of 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.... on October 29 and exacerbated the economic crisis, deeply divided politicians have yet to agree on a new government.
The Lebanese Economic Bodies group, which includes industrialists and bankers, called for the closure of private institutions from Thursday to Saturday to push major parties to form a new government and avert further economic damage.Leb business group urges general strike to push for end to crisis
"The political forces have not assumed their national responsibilities and have not shown the seriousness necessary to produce solutions to the current crisis," it said.
Banks reopened last week after mostly being shut since unrest began on October 17. Fearing capital flight and amid a hard currency shortage, commercial banks have placed tight restrictions on withdrawals and transfers abroad.
It was not clear if any banks would heed the strike call.
The hard currency shortage has spawned a black market where the price for dollars has surged since the start of unrest, reaching over 2,000 pounds to the dollar on Monday, about a third higher than the pegged rate of 1,507.5.
In its statement, the Economic Bodies group said its "escalation" would continue until a new government was formed, with further steps to be announced.
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11/26/2019
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[ALMASDARNEWS] The US and La Belle France are planning to undertake steps in order to prevent future attacks on 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 oil refineries by improving the country’s radar network so it can detect incoming threats in a timely manner.
The commander of the US forces deployed in the Middle East, General Kenneth McKenzie, stated that the Pentagon is continuing to study the data from the September 2019 attack on Saudi Aramco facilities. Once it understands where the gap in the defences was, the US will start working on fixing it.
"We continue to refine information on the attack against [Saudi state oil firm] Aramco [...] We are working with the Saudis to increase the networking of their systems. That will make them better able to defend against this type of threats", McKenzie said.
French Defence Minister Florence Parly, in turn, said that Gay Paree will be sending advanced radars to Saudi Arabia to help it detect low-altitude flying weaponry, which was reportedly used in the attack on the refineries.
"It will be in Saudi Arabia in the coming days so it will be operational very, very rapidly. But there is an analysis to be done in order to better identify how to fill the gap", the minister explained.
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11/26/2019
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#1
Waste of equipment, unless you provide operators as well.
[CBSNews] For the first time since beginning his sentence at a maximum-security prison near Philadelphia, Bill Cosby has gone on the record about his trial and life in prison. In an interview with the National Newspaper Publishers Association's BlackPressUSA.com, the disgraced comedian said he won't tell the parole board that he feels any remorse for his crimes. BlackPress ? There is a... Black Press ? "I have eight years and nine months left," the 82-year-old said in a phone interview. "When I come up for parole, they're not going to hear me say that I have remorse. I was there. I don't care what group of people come along and talk about this when they weren't there. They don't know."
Cosby was sentenced three to 10 years in prison in 2018 after he was found guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault. His comments imply he does not expect to be granted parole at any point and will instead serve his full sentence for the 2004 incident. Sex offenders usually have to show remorse before they are granted parole, according to AP.
Cosby also railed against the jury that found him guilty, claiming, "It's all a set up. That whole jury thing. They were impostors." During the trial, Cosby's spokesman Andrew Wyatt ‐ who was also on the call with BlackPressUSA ‐ said prosecutors presented falsified evidence, although that claim has not been substantiated.
Approximately 60 women have accused Cosby of drugging and violating them over the past 50 years.
While at SCI-Phoenix, Cosby often speaks to those who are part of the prison reform program Mann Up, although he is not formally associated with the group. As part of the program, he speaks to and works with other male inmates, most of whom are African American. The program, according to BlackPressUSA, "serves to encourage and empower African American men to strive for self-respect and dignity and to put their family first." The one they know of anyway.
Cosby told the outlet that he is concerned that black people are "under siege."
"They've thrown respect for the family out the window and they're blaming each other for what's going on. There is post-traumatic stress syndrome and there are also bad manners," he said. "...The influx of drugs and what they've done with their own history. If they would pay attention to these things and put education first and respect for others first...it's almost insane to hear someone say they don't know how to be a father."
Despite being incarcerated and the attention he has received for sexual misconduct, Cosby assured BlackPressUSA that he is a "privileged man."
"I am a privilege man in prison," he said, calling his cell a "penthouse." You know what would just kill it at this point ? If the 'phone interview' had been on the other end with some wiseguy jail guard impersonating the bastard.
#4
I believe they waited for the last possible day before the statute of limitations ran out to file charges because they were waiting for his dementia to get worse so they'd have an easier time prosecuting him.
#7
#5: "Surrender your virtue to me and I'll make you a movie star!" but unfortunately they weren't smart enough to get some kind of receipt when they did it.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The head of the global chemical weapons organization on Monday defended the agency’s conclusion that poison was used in a high profile attack in Syria last year after leaked documents suggested two former employees doubted some of its findings.
More than 40 people were killed in the April 7 attack in Douma, a town on the outskirts of Damascus that was then held by the opposition.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons' chief, Fernandon Arias, said the body stands by the findings it published in March this year.
“While some of these diverging views continue to circulate in certain public discussion forums, I would like to reiterate that I stand by the independent, professional conclusions” of the report, he told delegates on Monday.
“The secretariat has, as it always does, considered and taken into account all information submitted,” he said.
The United States, Britain, and France retaliated a week later by firing missiles at Syrian government targets, the biggest Western military action against the Damascus authorities of the eight-year war.
Inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons concluded in a report released on March 1 that a toxic chemical containing chlorine was used in an attack. The team was not mandated to assign blame for who used the toxic chemical.
However, the Syrian government and its Russian allies have rejected the findings, saying they believe the incident was staged by the opposition and no attack had taken place.
On Saturday, anti-secrecy group Wikileaks published an internal email to the former chief of staff at the OPCW in which an unidentified inspector described a report as having been edited to appear more conclusive than the inspectors’ findings.
“I am requesting that the fact-finding report be released in its entirety as I fear this redacted version no longer reflects the work of the team,” the inspector wrote. An OPCW source told Reuters the June 22, 2018 email was genuine.
Douma is expected to be a major theme at the annual conference of the OPCW being held in The Hague this week.
[Libya Observer] The Defence Ministry has said that statements of the front man for "Haftar's militias" regarding the imposition of an air embargo, were to gain more time and raise the spirit of his "defeated" forces.
"Haftar has handed over military bases, including al-Jufra and al-Witya bases, in addition to military sites in the east, and other vital facilities, to foreign powers, in an aim to return the country to the dictatorship era and for killing Libyans," the ministry stated yesterday, underscoring that the Libyan army forces are determined to repel Haftar's aggression and will continue to fight until he is defeated.
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[ALMASDARNEWS] The Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... i Army launched a large-scale offensive in the Sa’ada Governorate on Monday in a bid to regain the initiative in this area along the Saudi-Yemeni border.
According to a statement from the Yemeni Army commander General Yasser al-Harathi, his forces managed to "penetrate the ranks of the Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...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 legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. 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 They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... s in the areas between the districts of Baqim and Safra and hit their fortifications, and destroyed their military vehicles."
The Yemeni Army commander also stated that their forces were able to score some advances at this axis after an intense battle.
Since the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... declared a truce on December 18, 2018, in Hodeidah, the Yemeni government and Ansarallah forces have exchanged accusations of bombing and attacking each other’s positions, especially in the city’s contact areas and suburbs.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Clashes between supporters of Leb’s caretaker 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.... , and Shia groups Hezbollah and Amal erupted into gunfire in Beirut late on Monday, state news agency NNA reported.
The festivities marked the second consecutive night of violence linked to Leb’s political crisis, threatening to tip largely peaceful demonstrations directed at the country’s ruling elite in a more bloody direction.
A video posted by Lebanese broadcaster LBCI showed heavy gunfire around Cola bridge in Beirut. The source of the gunfire was not immediately clear. No injuries were reported.
In the southern town of Tyre, supporters of Hezbollah and Amal tore up protest tents and set them on fire, prompting security forces to intervene and fire into the air, according to Lebanese media.
The protests that have swept Leb since October 17 are fueled by deep resentment for a ruling class seen as mired in corruption and having driven the economy into crisis.
Supporters of Amal and the heavily armed Hezbollah have occasionally sought to break up the demonstrations and clear roads cut off by protesters. They destroyed a main protest camp in central Beirut last month.
The groups were influential in the coalition government led by Hariri, who quit on October 29 after the protests began. They had opposed Hariri’s resignation.
In a statement, Hariri’s Future Movement warned its supporters to refrain from protesting and stay away from large gatherings to "avoid being dragged into any provocation intended to ignite strife."
Groups of men on cycle of violences, some waving Amal and Hezbollah flags, were seen roving streets in Beirut and Tyre, according to witnesses and videos broadcasted on Lebanese media.
Adding to tensions, two people were killed when their car slammed into a traffic barrier on a coastal road on Monday, sparking criticism from Hezbollah and others of protesters that have cut roads as a primary tactic to keep up pressure.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Four months before a swarm of drones and missiles crippled the world’s biggest oil processing facility 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... , Iranian security officials gathered at a heavily fortified compound in Tehran.
The group included the top echelons of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an elite branch of the Iranian military whose portfolio includes missile development and covert operations.
Continued on Page 49
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[DailyExcelsior] SRINAGAR, Nov 24: The weekly flea market in Srinagar witnessed a huge rush of customers today, four days after threatening posters had enforced a shutdown in most parts of Kashmir, officials said.
Shops opened today morning at some places in the Kashmir valley, including here in civil lines areas of the city and mini buses plied, the officials said.
They said few shops were also open in areas around the commercial hub of Lal Chowk.
However, officials said, most of the shops and other business establishments were shut in downtown – the old city areas of the city here.
While there was a semblance of normalcy in the Kashmir valley over the past few weeks after about three months of protest shutdown over the abrogation of Article 370, the fresh shutdown started on Wednesday as threatening posters warning shopkeepers and public transport operators appeared at some places in the city here and elsewhere.
The police have taken note of these incidents and several such modules have been busted by arresting several persons.
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#1
Some trouble yesterday at Jehangir Chowk - a popular commercial area, it was dealt with swiftly. Some ruffians tried to throw a brick at a uniform for not letting them open someone else's shop without his permission. They were taken in, slapped around and let off.
[IsraelNationalNews] She is receiving a first rate education in an Israeli university, but would like Israel to cease to exist.
A chat I recently had with an Arab university student studying in Israel throws much light on why there is no peace between Israel and her neighbors. Our chat is especially relevant to these days, unfortunately, when Moslem terror organizations are firing rockets into Israeli towns.
I must emphasize that the person I met was not illiterate. She was a young, "educated" woman taking a master’s degree at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev in the Israeli city of Beer Sheva, one of the best universities in the region. We began chatting while waiting for a bus. She told me she came from eastern Jerusalem, an area that she called "Paleostine". She opened her heart to me, sharing her uncensored thoughts about Israel, when I told her I was Ottoman Turkish and not Jewish, because the government of The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
Continued on Page 49
#6
Remember Arafat. Back then the problem was corruption rather than Islam. Saudi money made the world a worse place. What would things be like if we let Saddam have the place.
#8
Islam has been at war with the non-Islamic world for nearly fourteen centuries, but for the occasional lull when they felt too weak to do more than cheer on other bullies (Kaiser Bill, Hitler, the Soviets).
[BREITBART] Mexico’s president announced Monday that he will reject any designation of cartels as terrorist organizations by the U.S. government.
During his morning presser, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) said he would not accept the U.S.’s potential designation of cartels as foreign terrorist organizations‐which could enable direct actions in Mexico.
"We will never accept that, we are not ’vendepatrias’ (nation sellers)," Lopez Obrador said.
The president’s statements come after the relatives of nine U.S. women and kiddies who died in a cartel ambush in Sonora revealed they would be meeting with President Donald Trump ...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons...... . The family is expected to ask for some cartels to be labeled as terrorist organizations.
Last week, Tamaulipas Governor Francisco Cabeza de Vaca used the term "narco-terrorism" to refer to the brazen attacks on citizens of Nuevo Laredo by a faction of Los Zetas Cartel called Cartel Del Noreste. Cabeza de Vaca publicly called out Mexico City for past inaction in confronting Los Zetas.
#3
He doesn't think the US can keep him safe. He's the head of a failed state.
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11/26/2019 6:46
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Of course he does because as terrorists the US can ignore the border like they ignore the border in 'hot pursuit'. See - incursions into Mexico chasing the Apache in the late 19th Century.
#12
Okay, so we'll just declare mexico to be a terrorist state raze it to the bedrock. Sounds good to me. Take Cartel money, get a hellfire through the window.
[NEWS.YAHOO] The United States and Europe ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... bear more than half the cost of repairing the damage already wrought by climate change, a coalition of environmental groups said Monday.
Based on their historic greenhouse gas emissions, the US and EU should be held jointly responsible for 54 percent of funding owed to developing nations already dealing with extreme flooding, droughts and megastorms rendered more frequent and intense by global warming, the groups said.
Based on current emissions measurements, China and India are putting out more “greenhouse gasses” than the U.S. and EU combined, emissions that are forecasted to continue increasing. And the US has significantly more carbon dioxide absorbing trees now than a century ago, so we’ve been doing our bit to absorb what we’ve produced. Perhaps you should go back and calculate net emissions after plant growth before pointing fingers.
A week ahead of a UN climate summit in Madrid -- in which the controversial issue of how funding for the so-called "loss and damage" inflicted by climate change will be provided -- they said the amount needed would hit $300 billion annually within a decade.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, under which the 2015 Gay Paree agreement was signed, is based on the principle that all countries must give at least their fair share in global efforts to mitigate and adapt to our changing climate.
That would be the one President Trump tore up, so we don’t owe anybody anything. Sorry.
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#1
US and EU should be held jointly responsible for 54 percent of funding owed to developing nations
Let it be said that no one owes us anything, thank you very much. Well, except maybe the UN a measly $38 m. It's okay, we like 'em in our debt.
#2
India is proceeding nicely along the path from developing to developed — Mr. Wife is even prouder of y’all than I am (he was working there in 1989-91, when things when things were very different). Any country that has a respectable space program needn’t beg for financial support.
#6
The United States and Europe bear more than half the cost of repairing the damage already wrought by climate change, a coalition of environmental groups said Monday.
...People in Hell want ice water. They ain't getting that either.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/26/2019 5:19
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#7
Send the bill to Trump; I'm sure he'll get right on it.
#11
Have any of these climate warriors factored in the potential role of dissolving limestone? Since there are orders of magnitude more 'fossil CO2' locked up in limestone than fossil fuel one would think it needs to be in the analysis, but I have yet to see it.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Hundreds of Sudanese women Monday marched in Khartoum to mark International Day for Eliminating Violence against Women, in the first such rally held in the northeast African country in decades.
Chanting “Freedom, peace, justice,” the catch cry of the protest movement that led to autocrat Omar al-Bashir’s ouster in April, the demonstrators took to the streets in the Burri district, a site of regular anti-Bashir protests earlier this year.
Many women, dressed in orange, carried banners that read: “Women’s revolution continues” and “We are the revolution, we are the change.”
Many also carried banners such as “Stop rape of Darfuri Women,” as they called for justice for female victims of the war in the western Sudan region.
“There is an atmosphere of freedom now,” said 21-year-old university student Fatima, as others behind her whistled, clapped, and ululated, an AFP correspondent reported.
“There is less violence now, but we still need to change the laws that are against us,” she added.
Bashir seized power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989 and since then the role of women had been severely restricted in Sudan.
During his 30-year-old rule, authorities implemented a strict moral code that activists said primarily targeted women, using harsh interpretations of Islamic sharia law.
Thousands of women were flogged and handed hefty fines under a controversial public order law for “indecent dressing” or consuming alcohol, which is banned in the country.
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[AMERICANTHINKER] Catholicism is on the decline in Pope Francis ...Argentine liberation theologist, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio. He was elected pope in 2013. Rather than setting up shop in Avignon, where he belongs, the first Jesuit Pope chose to reside in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse instead of the papal apartments. He is big on climate change, against consumerism, and in favor of throwing a blanket over homosexual activity within the clergy. He's not real sure about the Resurrection, about Christ's divinity, and a few other things that would have gotten him burned at the stake a few hundred years ago, but he's hot for a certain South American Earth Mother Goddess... ' 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... , a new study from the CONICET (National Scientific and Technical Research Council) has revealed.
The results also showed that close to three-quarters of the population believes the State should not finance religious institutions, while 46.2 percent believe that religious education should not be taught in public schools.
The government agency published a study on Wednesday revealing that while Catholics remain the biggest religious force in Argentina by a long way, the number of faithful has fallen by more than 13 percentage points over the past decade.
According to CONICET, 76.5 percent of the population said they were Catholics in 2008, compared to the 62.9 percent who say so today. That's because the bears are pooping in Argentina's toilets.
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[BREITBART] Mayor Pete Buttigieg ...the testicleless mayor of South Bend, Indiana, since 2012. Buttigieg graduated from Harvard College and, on a Rhodes Scholarship, from Pembroke College, Oxford. From 2007 to 2010, he worked at McKinsey and Company, a consulting firm. From 2009 to 2017 Buttigieg served as an intelligence officer in the United States Navy Reserve, attaining the rank of lieutenant and deploying to Afghanistan in 2014. Buttigieg was first elected mayor of South Bend in 2011 and was reelected in 2015. During his second term, he announced he was gay. Buttigieg also campaigned for Indiana state treasurer in 2010 and for chair of the Democratic National Committee in 2017, losing both elections. He is running for the Dem nomination in 2020 on the theory that being mayor of a nondescript medium sized city is qualification to run the country... wants to raise taxes on the more wealthy Social Security earnings, as part of a plan to save it from bankruptcy, according to a plan released Monday.
Buttigieg announced individuals earning above $250,000 (Families earning over $500,000) would face higher Social Security taxes if he is elected president.
The mayor’s plan also suggested more wealthy seniors would also get "modest Social Security benefits" as a result of their additional taxes.
Those earning less than $250,000 would not be taxed extra.
Buttigeg made the announcement as his campaign released a lengthy policy plan on how to preserve Social Security in the future.
"Politicians in Washington have known this crisis was intensifying for years," the South Bend mayor wrote. "And for years, they have failed to address it. It is time for a new approach."
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#1
Of course Buttigieg would, he's very very experienced in screwing people in the butt!
#2
Prior to the Clinton administration and legislation of 1993, there were no 'taxes' on Social Security. What you paid into the fund and never touched for 50-60 years was yours.
[Jpost] Ilhan Omar was recruited by a foreign government, received funding from a foreign government, and passed sensitive information through intermediates to Iran, a Florida court has been told.
The claims came during testimony by Kuwati-born Canadian businessman Alan Bender, who was giving evidence in the trial of Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al-Thani. The Qatari emir's brother stands accused of ordering his American bodyguard to murder two people, and of holding an American citizen hostage. His deposition, obtained by Al Arabiya English, was authenticated by the attorney for the plaintiffs, according to the publication.
Speaking from Toronto by video link, Bender told the Florida District Court that he met with Qatar’s Secretary to the Emir for Security Affairs Mohammad bin Ahmed bin Abdullah al-Masnad and two other senior Qatari officials.
According to his sworn deposition, the three officials told him: “If it wasn't for our cash, Ilhan Omar would be just another black Somali refugee in America collecting welfare and serving tables on weekends."
Not possible. The lady has a masters degree in... something. She’d be waiting tables at least five days a week.
Bender testified that the officials asked him to recruit American politicians and journalists as Qatari assets, and that when he objected, was told that several prominent figures were already on the payroll. US Congresswoman Omar was described as the "jewel in the crown," he said.
...in the turban, surely.
Qatar “recruited Ilhan Omar from even way before she thought about becoming a government official. […] They groomed her and arranged the foundation, the grounds, for her to get into politics way before she even showed interest. They convinced her,” he added.
The deposition shows he further told the court that, during a 2017 meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Omar swore allegiance to him.
Swore allegiance as what? Sultan of the caliphate? President of Turkey? Head of the Turkish branch of the Muslim Brotherhood?
At the time she was a junior state representative in Minnesota.
Omar was said to also have passed information to Qatar which was subsequently handed along to Iran, and was actively involved in recruiting other American politicians to likewise work for Qatar, Bender testified.
And what are their names, pray tell?
“The best thing money can buy are American officials because they are the cheapest of the cheapest costing officials in the world,” the Qatari officials were said to have told him.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Congresswoman Omar told The Jerusalem Post "Since the day she was elected, Saudi Arabian trolls and mouthpieces have targeted Rep. Omar with misinformation and conspiracy theories."
"The latest outlandishly absurd story from a Saudi-funded media outlet is of course false and only the latest in that trend," they said. "The only people Rep. Omar represents in Washington are the people of Minnesota’s 5th District. She will continue to speak out against human rights violations around the world—whether it is war crimes in Yemen or the caging of children at our border—regardless of who commits them."
Omar has already been found by the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board to have broken campaign finance rules, by improperly using campaign money for out-of-state travel while a state representative. Conservative group Judicial Watch has also called on the House Ethics Committee to investigate Omar for alleged offenses, including immigration fraud. But these claims go much further.
Omar was one of 107 House Democrats who co-signed a letter Thursday, calling on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to reverse his announcement on the legality of West Bank settlements. The signatories claimed such a move "severely damaged prospects for peace" in the region.
“No,” quoth the honourable Secretary Pompeo. “Never more.”
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Omar was said to also have passed information to Qatar which was subsequently handed along to Iran, and was actively involved in recruiting other American politicians to likewise work for Qatar, Bender testified.
Surely all of this was somewhere on the FBI' radar.
#2
The brilliance of jihad is that not all participants need to be sworn members of a circle, or report to some shadowy figure. All you have to do is work the host nation's legislature to its own detriment, destabilize their law, health, public admin, etc. any way you can. You report to Allan.
Between Tlaib and Omar, I've always suspected Omar of being a plant of some sort. If not a plant, a champion of the jihad. Tlaib you can say is batshit crazy, because she always was. There was nobody writing her script.
But this one. She rose from a gradually coordinated, concerted campaign of employed and even moneyed immigrants embedded within her district. The most refugees to successfully exodus from a war torn state with their money are often undocumented fighters or middle rung regime enforcers. I don't know what story her father gave the officials. Then her mother was from the coastal based Haji Husein clan with ties to militants and pirates. Young Ilhan insinuated her way into the democratic farmer labour groups, and kept her scams going with young Somalian men she kept smuggling into the US even with the WOT raging in Africa.
There was never a peep from the bitch whenever an act of atrocity was heard of from Al Shabab. It has always been 'America the devil, islamophopia, my people, my culture,
israel should die', ad nauseam. She's unapologetic, wears her islam proudly, even some somalis in her district fear her and she repeatedly makes statements that must inspire her kind across the oceans. They see her, and they think 'Not far now... the great satan is almost bridled'.
We've seen this pattern in Asia and Europe for decades now. They are a very private bunch, seemingly unconnected too, like a hive mind in their plodding approach. They chip away at the State, the constitution, populating a region with malcontents and muscle from across borders, and rise to offices on swollen constituencies by intimidating and guilt tripping people.
#8
Blanket ban on muslims would be smartest. Muslim ? No visa, FOAD ! In fact an indefinite moratorium on all immigration won't be so bad either.
A prosperous nation is somehow considered an unending font of freebies for every shitholian who otherwise hates whites but cannot wait to leech them. They are like :
"It is our right to come in ! Why aren't you letting us in ?"
It is clear the Iranian regime bears “enormous responsibility” for the September 14 attacks on Saudi Aramco facilities, says US Senator Chris Murphy, a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, who has received classified briefings about the attacks. pic.twitter.com/gyERsqrvX0
[ToloNews] The Refugee Ministry reports that 390,000 Afghans have been deported or returned willingly to Afghanistan from Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan, the abbreviation IRGC is a cognate form of Stürmabteilung (or SA), the term Supreme Guide is a cognate form of either Shah or Führer or maybe both, and they hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... this year.
The International Organization for Migration, or IOM, says the repatriation of Afghans from Iran has increased dramatically over recent weeks, stating that over 12,000 undocumented Afghans have returned--willingly or by deportation‐just over the past week.
The organization cited the US’s sanctioning of Iran as a main reason for the increase of Afghans returning back across the border.
Figures by the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation, or MRR, show that 440,000 undocumented Afghans returned to the country from Iran, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... , and Pakistain over the past 11 months.
According to the ministry, 220,000 of the undocumented Afghans were deported from Iran while 170,000 others returned voluntarily from Iran in the same time period.
But, according to IOM, the total number for 2019 is less than 2018, when one million undocumented Afghans returned to Afghanistan from Iran and Pakistain.
Goodness. Somebody tell the governments of Europe.
"When Afghans leave their country without any papers and go to Iran and other countries, they are deported because they do not have any documents and any act by them is a violation in the host country," said MRR spokesperson Abdul Basit Ansari.
"At least 450,000 people have returned from Iran and Pakistain between the beginning of the year and late November--and most of them have returned from Iran," MOI front man Haris Pardis said.
There is only one migration information center in Kabul, and it provides online help as well as face-to-face consultation.
Officials at the center said those who contact them are mostly asking about illegal rather than legal migration.
"We have received calls from people who have asked us ’How much will you charge us for going to Turkey?’ But we have advised them that it is not a good option, ’You can apply for a visa,’" said Shir Husain Hunaryar, a coordinator of Improving Migration Management.
According to the figures, the return of Afghans from Pakistain is many times less than the returnees from Iran, but both countries host millions of undocumented Afghans.
MRR figures show that so far this year, 22,000 Afghan refugees voluntarily returned or have been deported from Pakistain and 27,000 Afghan refugees have been forcibly returned from Turkey during this period.
[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait announced new guidelines for campaign coverage in a note to staff on Sunday
The note came shortly after the former NYC mayor announced his candidacy
Micklethwait said that the organization will continue its tradition of not investigating Bloomberg, or his family and foundation
It will extend that policy to his rivals in the Democratic primary out of fairness
Investigative coverage of President Trump's administration will proceed as usual
That coverage will be reassessed should Bloomberg be chosen as the Democratic presidential candidate
Bloomberg Opinion will also no longer run unsigned editorials as they typically reflected views of the founder
Posted by: Fred ||
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...And Bloomberg Media head toward bankruptcy...
[DW] Omar Shakir, the local director for Human Rights Watch, left Israel for Germany on Monday after being expelled from the Middle Eastern country.
Given that he was ordered to leave in May, Mr. Shakir has nothing to complain about.
The Israeli government has accused Shakir, a 35-year-old American citizen and the rights group's director for Israel and Palestinian territories since October 2016, of a boycott of the Jewish state. He has denied the claim.
But then he sued the Israeli government for applying to him the same anti-BDS standard as those entering the country, when he was already there... and lost. It was a rather unclever way of admitting his guilt.
Before departing the Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, Shakir said his deportation is "an attack on the human rights movement" and an Israeli attempt to "muzzle Human Rights Watch."
"We will not stop until the day comes in which all people, Israelis and Palestinians, will be treated equally and have their whole human rights protected," he said.
Shakir was accused in April of supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel for its military occupation of the West Bank and its building of illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.
Israel has formally banned entry of BDS supporters and has pressured Western countries to stunt the movement's influence.
The case against Shakir was based on comments he made before he joined Human Rights Watch, some going back to his student days nearly a decade ago. Shakir appealed his deportation, but Israel's supreme court backed his expulsion earlier this month.
More than 600,000 Israelis live in settlements on Palestinian land, communities considered illegal under international law — a ruling which Israel disputes.
As does the U.S. under President Trump — much to the annoyance of all the lock-step boys and girls, who considered it settled science.
Last week, the United States announced it no longer considered the settlements illegal, breaking with decades of international consensus.
[Libya Observer] 20 illegal immigrants colonists died drowning as their boat - laden with more than 150 ones - had capsized after taking off from Libya toward Italia.
The Guardian reported Monday the Italian Coast Guard as saying that 149 immigrants colonists, including 13 women and three children, were rescued and scores were missing.
The newspaper added that the immigrants colonists wanted to take advantage of lack of surveillance operations in the bad weather conditions but strong winds drowned their boat.
Over the last two days, the Libyan coastguards have rescued 490 illegal immigrants colonists from different African countries in separate operations.
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The United States has recalled its ambassador from South Sudan after the leaders of formerly warring factions failed to agree on a unity government, the US State Department said on Monday.
Ambassador Thomas Hushek will return for consultations “as part of the re-evaluation of the US relationship with the Government of South Sudan given the latest developments,” the department said in a statement.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted that Washington would “work with the region to support efforts to achieve peace and a successful political transition in South Sudan.”
After a devastating five-year civil war, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar signed a peace deal in September 2018, under pressure from the United Nations, United States, and regional governments.
On November 7, they agreed to give themselves another 100 days beyond a November 12 deadline to form the unity government, and Washington said it was “gravely disappointed.”
The conflict began after Kiir sacked Machar as vice president. It killed an estimated 400,000 people, triggered a famine, and created Africa’s biggest refugee crisis since the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Police in Iraq's southern province of Dhi Qar were instructed to withdraw and follow up on the situation on Friday, following protests in the province, a security source told Al Arabiya.
Dhi Qar province, particularly its capital Nasiriyah, has witnessed some of the most intense festivities between protesters and Iraqi security forces during the ongoing demonstrations which have gripped the country since early October.
The order comes the night after thirteen people were killed in in one of the "worst" days of festivities in the country’s south, according to officials.
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[Libya Observer] A decomposed body was found in a desert area south of Ajdabiya city, security services confirmed Sunday.
Some local residents passing by called the police after finding the body in a desert area, about 18 kilometers south of Ajdabiya, the security directorate of Ajdabiya explained.
Police was dispatched to the site after notifying the Public Prosecution and the Red Islamic Thingy branch of Ajdabiya to recover the body.
The body has not been officially identified and is currently maintained in Ajdabiya hospital, pending the completion of legal procedures.
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#1
Dog bites corpse. Corpse bites dog...
Incorruptible found in the desert
Attired in unsoiled, intact hairshirt.
A fragrance invested
The saint, unmolested
By vagrant Mohammedan pervert.
[BREITBART] Student activists at the University of Notre Dame are calling for the removal of white authors from the university curriculum to "decolonize" the university. According to the students, "diversifying the canon helps eliminate the violence of only privileging white scholarship."
According to a report by The College Fix, a student activist group at the University of Notre Dame called "End Hate at ND" is demanding that the university drastically rewrite course curriculum because they believe it currently features too many works by white authors.
The student activist group published a list of demands to their Instagram page. The students demanded that the curriculum be revised so that the works of minority authors account for at least 50 percent of required readings.
Cultural competence is key in building empathy for marginalized folks. No course or program of study should have a view limited to white, western, and/or male voices. We demand that people who are of Color, Indigenous, Black, queer, or not male are represented in the authorship of at least half course and major required readings. Diversifying the canon helps eliminate the violence of only privileging white scholarship. Everyone should see themselves represented in coursework.
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I'm starting to wonder what kind of education those "students" received prior to college.
#2
I'm pretty sure that the ancient Greek and Roman authors of many classic works would be baffled by the idea that they were "white." White people were the illiterate barbarians to the north who painted themselves blue.
So the whole Dead White Men meme doesn't work when it comes to authors like Cicero or Aristophanes. Dead? Absolutely. Male? Certainly. White? Not so much.
#3
Up = Down
Night = Day
Overgrown children's hurt feelings/rage = evidence of "violence"
Actual violence against innocent citizens = "speech," "protest"
#4
#2 exactly. Someone needs to tell these morons to go back and learn a bit about the history of the faith and the saints.
Augustine was African.
Paul was from Asia Minor, as was the dude whats-his-name from Galilee.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
11/26/2019 9:36
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#17
Universities charge the students money because they are going to prepare them for the future and caving into everything and giving them a substandard education isn't preparing them for anything.
#18
Profesor's high salaries are derived from income from students loans these low iq chillins will never be able to payoff but this will get them a few more class credits.
#26
Isn't that good though ? That the vatican or its cousins employ and sequester away young gays and make them perform a kind of community service for life. They are kept out of politics and woke activism and let's say 2 in 10 maybe end up molesting children. Or is that more ?
#27
Who says these 'protestor's are, in fact, students? How do we know they're not paid Soros drones?
Posted by: Bobby on the road ||
11/26/2019 13:31
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Dron,
We have a lot of data now to indicate that ped0phi!ia is indeed extraordinarily prevalent in the Church-- orders of magnitude more so than in the general population.
The minimal estimates are 5-6% and probably about 10% based on the Church's own data and exhaustive analyses of same that have been done in the US and Australia.
in Australia 7% of priests have been accused of ped0phi!ia; the government estimated that not fewer than 4% are guilty of same.
In the US there were 4,352 documented cases between 1960 and 2002 per the John Jay Report. Today iirc there are about 40,000 active priests today, so we can estimate that perhaps 2x that number or ~80,000 priests were active in the period studied by the John Jay Report.
That would yield an estimate of close to 6% incidence of ped0phi!e priests.
And then we have very detailed, diocese-by-diocese data from data from the state of Pennsylvania. In 7 of 8 Pennsylvania dioceses (excluding the Archdiocese of Philadelphia with perhaps 1/4 of the state's total # of priests), the Church admitted to 311 individual cases of ped0phi!ia by priests over a 70-year period.
There are about 1,400 active priests currently in those 7 dioceses,so perhaps 2.5x or 3,500 priests total were active over this 70 year period in those dioceses. That would yield a rare of about 9% of PA priests were, by the Church's admission, ped0phi!es.
The actual number is of course higher but that 9% figure from PA suggests a good floor estimate.
Call them whatever polite term you wish: this organization is an international crime syndicate. It's no wonder that the left-leaning clergy at Notre Dame and elsewhere drape themselves in all manner of virtue-signaling rhetoric, "liberation theology" and other left-wing political nonsense.
It's a massive redirect from their gay mafia organization and its horrific crimes committed on a worldwide scale.
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... is fully abiding by the agreements it reached with Russia and the United States regarding northeast Syria and is not resuming its military offensive, a security source said on Monday.
Ankara reached separate agreements with Moscow and Washington last month to remove the Kurdish YPG militia from a swathe of land in northeast Syria bordering Turkey, which in return stopped its military offensive against the militia.
But Ankara has previously said neither Russia nor the United States had kept up their side of the deal, and threatened to launch a new operation. The security source said on Monday that Turkey was responding to attacks by the YPG in the region within the scope of self defense.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2019
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Haftar’s forces shot down a U.S. military drone over Tripoli by mistake last week, AP reported Mon, citing a senior official in Haftar’s self-styled army. The official said they apologized for shooting down the drone and have agreed to coordinate with the Americans in the future pic.twitter.com/xHAjqMLCTd
[DAWN] The high treason case against former military ruler Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... took a new turn on Monday as the interior ministry filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), requesting it to set aside a special court's decision to reserve its judgement in the case.
The special court had on November 19 concluded the trial proceedings in the high treason case against Musharraf for declaring a state of emergency on November 3, 2007, and had ruled that a verdict would be announced on November 28 (Thursday) on the basis of the available record.
In the petition filed through its secretary today, the interior ministry has stated that the special court's decision to reserve its verdict in the case is in violation of the Constitution because it was issued without giving the ministry the opportunity to notify a new prosecution team in the case and because the judgement is set to be passed without hearing the prosecution during the trial.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2019
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[JohnSolomonReports] As House Democrats mull whether to pursue impeachment articles and the GOP-led Senate braces for a possible trial, here are 12 tranches of government documents that could benefit the public if President Trump ordered them released, and the questions these memos might answer.
Each bullet item briefly discussed at link.
1) Daily intelligence reports from March through August 2019 on Ukraine’s new president Volodymyr Zelensky and his relationship with oligarchs and other key figures.
2) State Department memos detailing conversations between former U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch and former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Swedish prosecutors said Monday they were investigating an Iraqi government minister for "crimes against humanity," as media reports suggested he was related to the shooting dead of hundreds of protesters.
Swedish media identified the subject of their inquiry as Defense Minister Najah al-Shammari,
...he’s the one with dual Swedish and Iraqi citizenship, as I recall..
but the statement from the Swedish Prosecution Authority did not name anyone.
The prosecutors’ body said in a statement that it had received complaints about "an Iraqi minister suspected of crimes against humanity". The investigation was "in a very early stage," it added.
Several Swedish media outlets, including the country’s main dailies, identified him as al-Shammari, reporting that he was also a Swedish citizen, though he goes by a different name in Sweden.
An unnamed Swedish-Iraqi lawyer told Svenska Dagbladet newspaper that he had reported al-Shammari to police in October for his role in the shooting of hundreds of protesters during weeks of unrest.
Since October 1, Iraq’s capital and majority-Shia south have been swept by mass rallies protesting corruption, a lack of jobs and poor services. Those demonstrations have escalated into calls for a complete overhaul of the ruling elite.
An estimated 350 protesters have been killed and thousands maimed in festivities with the security forces, according to a tally compiled by AFP. The authorities in Iraq no longer update their figures.
The defense minister is also under investigation for benefits fraud for claiming housing and child benefits from Sweden despite living in Iraq, according to online news site Nyheter Idag and Swedish newspaper Expressen.
Swedish social insurance agency Forsakringskassan told AFP that they were unable to confirm whether they were investigating al-Shammari as all their cases are classified.
Al-Shammari arrived in Sweden in 2009 and was granted a permanent residency in 2011 before getting his citizenship in 2015, according to Expressen.
There it is. But it’s so recent that it will be easy to strip him of both citizenship and residency, so that’s ok.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2019
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#1
...And the Swedes think this will deter others? There's two words for this, and they rhyme with 'full pit'.
In that culture in that part of the world, those in power kill to keep that power and enforce their authority. They're gonna have to do a whole lot better than that, and they won't.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/26/2019 5:09
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#2
Importing islam is a crime against the people of Sweden.
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has scored a new advance in the southeastern region of Idlib after launching an overnight attack on the jihadist rebel defenses.
Led by the 25th Special Mission Forces (formerly Tiger Forces), the Syrian Arab Army began their attack last night by storming the town of Umm Khalakhil from recently captured Musharifah al-Shmaliyah.
Following a fierce exchange of hostilities, the Syrian Arab Army was able to overrun the jihadist defenses at Umm Khalakhil, resulting in the town’s capture by their forces.
With Umm Khalakhil’s capture, the Syrian Arab Army has now secured the southern flank of Musharifah al-Shmaliyah, which was seized by the military on Sunday morning.
The Syrian Arab Army resumed their offensive in southeastern Idlib on Sunday after taking a brief break to regroup following an unsuccessful push last week.
In the coming days, the Syrian Arab Army will look to expand their control over several other towns and villages in southeastern Idlib, as they look to reach the southeastern flank of Ma’arat al-Nu’man.
[WASHINGTONEXAMINER] The House impeachment proceedings against President Trump are soon heading back to the Judiciary Committee, where partisan bickering and theatrics during public hearings last summer prompted House Speaker Nancy San Fran Nan Pelosi Congresswoman-for-Life from the San Francisco Bay Area, born into a family of professional politicians. On-again-off-again Speaker of the House. It's not her fault when they lose, but it's her accomplishment when they win. Noted for her heavily botoxed grimace and occasional senior... uhhh... moments... to shift the investigation to the House Intelligence Committee.
The intelligence panel appears to have wrapped up a series of public hearings. No new hearings or depositions have been scheduled.
Under an Oct. 31 resolution passed by Democrats, the matter is supposed to fall back to the Judiciary Committee, which will hold its own hearings and draft articles of impeachment against Trump.
Judiciary Committee hearings, an aide told the Washington Examiner, "could begin in early December," when politicians return from the Thanksgiving recess.
The next step in the impeachment process will be to return the spotlight to Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, who had fallen out of favor with Pelosi after he conducted a series of raucous public hearings, including several he labeled "impeachment proceedings."
#2
They know this is a huge backfire. Kick back to committee... vote there isn't enough evidence to impeach... vote to censure the president. Move on to 2020.
#5
If you think bug-eyed, if-Charles-Manson-had-a-son Adam Shiff made for bad television, wait until obese, greasy, 4'x4' Jerry Nadler takes over America's airwaves for 8 hours a day, every day.
#7
#4 "infer" - what a complete and utter Shitshow.
This is spot-on: Well, there’s a slightly less than strong impeachment position: Impeachment by “inference”.. he says. Previously Mueller and Weissmann attempted to prosecute President Trump, the fictitious horse-thief, for attempting to obstruct his hanging; now Schiff is inferring guilt because President Trump didn’t present alibis for his whereabouts when the fictitious horse wasn’t stolen…. Yup, it’s looking like a fail.
[Forecast.weather.gov] Nasty storm coming ashore in North CA. Winds will be nasty.
Lots of snow in Utah and CO on Wed and Thanksgiving 27-28 Nov will mess up travel.
Posted by: lord garth ||
11/26/2019
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#1
Got to shut down power you know. Don't want to be sparking more fires. Wind, snow and cold. Someday, maybe, science and technology will get around to providing basic human needs like light and heat.
#2
We're even looking at a couple inches of rain in San Diego
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/26/2019 7:05
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#3
The only thing to do is also shut down the highways, then send Estimate Use Bills to all residents in affected area. This money would be earmarked to provide certain services during the shutdowns, such as pamphlets promoting the invaluable service of trans-genders in restoring power and transportation after emergencies, as well as giant bill-boards praising the various apparatchiks in Sacramento.
[NYPOST] Two boys in Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, were killed early Saturday while sitting inside a van in the parking lot of an elementary school when an unknown number of button men opened fire into the vehicle, authorities said.
The boys, ages 11 and 14, were shot outside Searles Elementary School in Union City, located about 30 miles southeast of the Socialist paradise of San Francisco ...where God struck dead Anton LaVey, home of the Sydney Ducks, ruled by Vigilance Committee from 1859 through 1867, reliably and volubly Democrat since 1964... , Union City police said in a news release.
Multiple residents called 911 and reported hearing gunshots around 1:30 a.m., the East Bay Times reported. Police arrived at the school and found the boys with gunshot wounds.
The older boy died at the scene and the younger boy died while being rushed to a hospital, police said. Their names were being withheld because of their age.
"How do you just kill kids?" a mother, whose son was a schoolmate of one of the dear departed boys, told KGO-TV. "I don’t think he has quite grasped this yet," she said of her son. "He is afraid to go outside."
While it was unclear which schools the boys attended, New Haven Unified School District Superintendent John Thompson confirmed they attended schools in the district.
Family and friends set up a makeshift memorial at the school as police collected shell casings and other evidence for their investigation, KGO reported.
No arrests have been made in connection to the killings. Police said they were still investigating a motive for the shooting.
The possibilities that the shooting was gang-related or related to a previous shooting on Wednesday that left two men maimed have not been ruled out, police said.
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] An Iranian man who ran an opposition social media site was gunned down earlier this month in Istanbul, local media reported on Monday.
Massoud Molavi, said to be in his mid-30s, was murdered on the street while walking with a friend in the Sisli district of Istanbul on November 14, according to the DHA news agency.
Bullet casings were found at the scene. CCTV footage, released by another agency, IHA, appeared to show the moment of the killing.
Molavi helped run a channel on Telegram called “Black Box,” which published corruption allegations against members of the government, judiciary and intelligence services, and claimed to have contacts within the Revolutionary Guards.
Turkish police told DHA that investigations were ongoing, and that they had no information at present on Molavi’s background.
Iran’s intelligence services are known to have a sizeable presence in neighboring Turkey, where many exiled Iranians live, and many more come on vacation.
In April 2017, the owner of a leading Persian-language satellite entertainment channel, GEM TV, was shot dead in his car by unknown individuals in Istanbul.
Said Karimian was a British citizen of Iranian origin, and ran GEM TV from Dubai, offering Western programs to Persian-speaking audiences, including US game shows and Turkish soaps.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2019
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[NYPOST] A Florida man was arrested after he tried to claim that the wind blew a coke baggie into his car, according to a report.
Joseph Zak, 37, was busted trying to throw something away when he was pulled over in Fort Pierce last month for failing to pause at a stop sign, the Smoking Gun reported.
Police searched his car and found a crack pipe in the center console as well as a clear baggie with white residue, which later tested positive for crack cocaine.
When questioned about the baggie, Zack said that it didn’t belong to him and the "wind must have placed it there," according to an affidavit obtained by the outlet.
Zack was arrested on drug paraphernalia charges and brought to St. Lucie County Jail, where he was released on bond.
He’s set to appear in court Dec. 3 for his arraignment, the outlet reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2019
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[TheNews.com.pk] Alarm bell number 1: Never in our history have our net international reserves stood at negative $11 billion. Are we facing an economic crisis? An economy facing an “economic crisis will most likely experience a drying up of liquidity, a falling GDP and rising prices due to inflation”.
Question number 1: is our liquidity drying up? Question number 2: is our GDP rising or falling? Question number 3: are our prices rising due to inflation?
For the record, our net international reserves are now at negative $11 billion. What that means is that our liquidity has already dried up (read: no dollars left). As of November 30, international reserves with the SBP were $7,265 million; short-term drains (12 months or less) amounted to roughly $11 billion; and forward swaps stood at roughly $7 billion.
An emergency is “a serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situation requiring immediate action”. In 2013, we ran to the IMF when our net international reserves had fallen to negative $7 billion. In 2008, we ran to the IMF when our net international reserves had fallen to negative $2 billion. Imagine: our net international reserves now stand at negative $11 billion.
Alarmingly, we are gulping down around $2 billion a month. China’s loan of $1 billion that came in July is long gone. The $1 billion received from Saudi Arabia in November is gone. Saudi Arabia’s billion that came in December is also gone. Do we have a policy other than the so-called ‘packages from friendly countries’?
How terribly sad that America under President Trump is not one of those friendly countries willing to gift Pakistan with a few spare billion dollars provided by the hardworking American taxpayers... and most of the Pakistanis who used to live here illegally in order to send much of their paycheck back home fled after 9/11.
Alarm bell number 2: The devaluation of the rupee is not working. The rupee has fallen by 30 percent and our exports have also fallen from $1.968 billion in November 2017 to $1.843 billion in November 2018 (exports are down by an alarming six percent). Once again, the rupee has fallen by 30 percent and our imports have only gone down from $4.758 billion in November 2017 to $4.626 billion in November 2018 – a fall of less than three percent. Clearly, the policy of devaluation is not working. Do we have any contingency?
Alarm bell number 3: As of August 2018, we “booked the highest-ever budget deficit of Rs2.26 trillion or 6.6 percent of GDP”. Conveniently, we don’t include losses from public-sector enterprises, the electricity sector and the government’s commodity operations because if we do then our budget deficit would be around 10 percent of GDP. This year, as has been the case in previous years, expenditures are out of control and revenue collection is below target.
Alarm bell number 4: Circular debt has gone up from Rs1.14 trillion in August 2018 to a current figure of Rs1.4 trillion. Alarmingly, we are adding an average of Rs1.8 billion a day every day of the year.
Our biggest enemy on the economic front is uncertainty. Uncertainty is defined as a “situation which involves imperfect or unknown information”. To be certain, economic activity and uncertainty are correlated. What is our deficit-funding strategy? Do we even have one? Are we going to the IMF or not? Do we have an alternative strategy to tackle our external vulnerabilities? What are we doing on the FATF front? Do we have a strategy to tackle internal financial turbulence? What’s the future of the rupee? Uncertainty is bad for business – really bad.
The writer is a columnist based in Islamabad.
Posted by: John Frum ||
11/26/2019
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#1
They'll get their funding as soon as a compromise with FATF bigwigs is reached. A lot of indirect feeds to accounts in European and Panamanian banks.
Gawd knows they're practically trying to let them off the grey list. They've had to make categories different shades of grey on the blacklist to accommodate 'the difficult situation' of poor Pakistain.
Bahrain is the “first trench” in the region facing Iran, National Security Adviser Maj. Gen. Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa tells Al Arabiya English, following a US official’s remarks that Bahrain is “an island of stability.”https://t.co/HBjx2t5O19pic.twitter.com/caLQ2lP3I0
[NYPOST] Adam Schiff ...Showboating U.S. Representative for California's 28th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Schiff has served in Congress since 2001. He currently serves as the chairman of the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. In a manner reminiscent of Joe McCarthy, on March 22, 2017, in a interview with Chuck Todd on MSNBC Schiff claimed there was “more than circumstantial evidence now” that Donald Trump's campaign colluded with Russia." Todd followed up by asking if he had seen direct evidence of collusion and Schiff responded that there was "evidence that is not circumstantial and is very much worthy of investigation... and Nancy San Fran Nan Pelosi Congresswoman-for-Life from the San Francisco Bay Area, born into a family of professional politicians. On-again-off-again Speaker of the House. It's not her fault when they lose, but it's her accomplishment when they win. Noted for her heavily botoxed grimace and occasional senior... uhhh... moments... have managed to pull off a miracle with their impeachment gambit.
They’ve united Republicans around Donald Trump, a feat once thought impossible, and for which the president owes a great deal to Schiff’s dogged Republican counterpart Devin Nunes.
"There has never been so much unity and spirit in the Republican Party, as there is right now!" trumpeted Trump on Twitter Friday.
As support for the president edges up nationally and, notably, in the battleground state of Wisconsin, where 94 percent of Republicans oppose impeachment, he has been gifted a remarkable campaign advantage by his opponents.
He ran as an outsider in 2016, and now he gets to run again as an outsider, despite three years in the White House.
The Beltway Brahmin class of babus bureaucrats and resistance journalists have provided him a new campaign pitch: "New hoax. Same swamp."
After two weeks of public impeachment hearings, we are no closer to evidence that Trump committed an impeachable offense over Ukraine. Inappropriate, perhaps, but that’s his middle name.
The partisan audience ‐ and media ‐ sitting in the hearings each day, cheering along Schiff’s cunning narrative, has misled the Democrats into thinking it has popular backing.
Like the boy who cried wolf, if you spend long enough shrieking that Trump is the devil incarnate, eventually people switch off.
You only had to hear the laughter at the end of proceedings Thursday, when Schiff let down his guard and mocked Nunes, to recognize the anti-Trump mood infecting the public gallery in Room 1100.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2019
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#1
Why do you think he tweeted basically 'make it happen'?
"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle." ― Sun Tzu, The Art of War
[BREITBART] On Sunday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s "AM Joy," Rep. Mugshots/maxine-waters.jpg U.S. Representative for California's 43rd congressional district, serving since 1991, a total of 27.98503309636981 years. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the most senior of the 12 black women currently serving in the United States Congress, is a member and former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. Before becoming a member of Congress she served in the California Assembly, to which she was first elected back when Disco was in flower, in 1976, which would make it 42.982979708279466 years. She has been a politician for virtually all her adult life. If she was brighter she'd be a Communist... Comrade Maxine Waters (D-CA) said former neurosurgeon Ben Carson ... a neurosurgeon who was under the delusion that being brilliant qualifies him to be president.... did not have the "intelligence" for his current position as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Bless your heart, my dear, the man is literally a brain surgeon. The only field debatably smarter is rocket science. And you qualify for neither.
Carson had said Waters lacks basic manners after she had written President Donald Trump ...His ancestors didn't own any slaves... a letter demanding answers on reports that the administration was considering moving homeless people off the streets in Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,Waters said, "I sent him a letter, and he sent me a letter claiming that I had no manners, etc. I basically said to my staff, I really don’t have time to be bonded by somebody who does not know the difference between REO and OEO. This guy just doesn’t have the background, the capability, the intelligence to do the job. He does not know what he’s doing. He doesn’t care about this issue."
#9
This idiot is a do nothing Dim whose district has the highest murder rate in third world California. G-funk rapp is the main export whose gang related rappers have a short life span. A west coast replica of Elijah's east coast Baltimore.
#10
The decadent fact that this deadbeat Dim is bashing the one black man who can provide housing and hope to her favela infested district is a sign that he is a threat to her power.
[BREITBART] Lawmaker Luis Pardo Sáinz told Breitbart News in an interview Thursday that authorities in his native Chile have "well-founded suspicions" that communists tied to the Castro regime in Cuba and allies of the rogue socialist regime in Venezuela ...a country in Central America that sits on an enormous pool of oil. Formerly the most prospereous country in the region, it became infested with Commies sniffing almost unlimited wealth. It turned out the wealth wasn't unlimited, the economy collapsed under the clownish Hugo Chavez, the murder rate exceeds places like Honduras and El Salvador, and a significant proportion of the populace as refugeed to Colombia and points south... are playing a role in ongoing violent protests.
Chileans began taking to the streets of Santiago in October, nominally in response to a proposed hike in subway prices in the nation’s capital. As Sáinz explains, demands for social change amid growing economic concerns have led to a significant reform process ‐ which has sent many of the peaceful protesters home satisfied, leaving violent rioters in the streets.
While peaceful protesters marched and chanted, violent rioters have engaged in mass acts of arson, including burning down subway stations, major office buildings, and churches.
The protests erupted almost simultaneously with major political upheaval throughout the country. Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, and Brazil have seen similar riots. The governments of Ecuador and Bolivia have revealed the arrests of dozens of Cuban and Venezuelan citizens participating in violent street activities such as looting, bombing, and blockading major streets.
Have they indeed. How very interesting.
Last week, Chile announced it would deport 30 Cuban nationals, some caught participating in riots. The arrests indicate foreign influence in some sectors of what many in the international left insist is an organic social change movement.
Sáinz, a member of the center-right National Rejuvenation Party working on legislation to ensure justice in cases of street violence, told Breitbart News that there are legitimate protesters among those demonstrating and they have conveyed real concerns about the state of the country.
"There have been very massive peaceful protests that have to do with social unrest," he explained. "Our country in the past 30 years has had very important economic development [that] has translated into a very, very significant reduction in poverty rates, from 50 percent rates to less than 10 percent and has created the emergence of a new middle class that has access to education, to consumer goods in a very important way.
That middle class, he noted, "today also suffers the effects of debt, effects of insecurity in facing life contingencies like diseases and such, so there is there civil unrest, that has to do with social conditions, that has expressed itself these days."
"But parallel to that, and taking advantage of that circumstance, there has been very well organized, systematic, very violent activity," he continued, "including significant acts like the burning of Santiago metro stations, the burning of important buildings, and also very active street actions, building barricades to block traffic, organizing looting to supermarkets, many of which were later burned."
Sáinz noted that the government has begun responding to legitimate concerns. Among the projects in the works is a complete overhaul of the Chilean constitution, put into place in 1989.
"As a result ... those that are remaining in the streets are the violent sector," he said. "We suspect that, behind that organizing and planning there is a foreign hand. For now, we have detained many Cuban and Venezuelan citizens, but we also know that the true heads of this, the ones leading and organizing this, are not committing the acts themselves, so we are waiting to untangle what is behind this wave of violence."
Posted by: Fred ||
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[ALMASDARNEWS] Minutes ago, the spokesperson for the Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... i Armed Forces announced that the Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...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 legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. 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 They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... -led attack on the Mocha District of western Yemen resulted in massive losses for the Saudi-led forces two-days-ago."Operation ’If You Go Back’ was carried out by nine ballistic missiles and more than 20 drones; they targeted enemy camps in Mocha," the spokesperson began.
"More than 350 hostile elements were killed and maimed, including Saudi, Emirati and Sudanese nationals, during the operation, they continued, pointing out that they also "destroyed five weapons stores and a number of vehicles and armored vehicles in the targeted camps in Mocha."
The spokesperson said this massive attack by the Houthi forces was carried out in retaliation for the Saudi Coalition strikes on northern Yemen.
"We affirm that we will not stand idly by and will respond strongly to the aggression and violations in Hodeidah and the western coast," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
They need too remember that the saudis are not American and do not care about the losses of their mercenaries.
Posted by: chris ||
11/26/2019 22:04
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[DAWN] Little progress has been made in investigations into the activities of habitual child abuser Sohail Ayaz because the cybercrime wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has not yet been made a part of the process.
Ayaz was recently arrested in Rawalpindi by Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... police upon a complaint filed by the mother of one of his victims; the first case against him was registered on Nov 12, while two more were registered on Nov 14 after more complainants approached police.
During police investigations, Ayaz admitted that he had targeted eight- to 15-year-old children and abused and filmed 30, uploading the footage online.
The matter was discussed by the Senate Standing Committee on IT & Telecommunications during a meeting here on Monday, with the chairperson saying that money and mafia are also involved.
"The most serious issue is that bigwigs of both the FIA and the Pakistain Telecommunications Authority informed the committee in July that there was no child pornography ring operating in or originating from Pakistain," said Senator Rubina Khalid, chairperson of the committee, while presenting the minutes of the previous meeting.
However, a lie repeated often enough remains a lie... the committee was informed that the case has yet not been transferred to the FIA cybercrime wing, while the police investigation officer (IO) was not clearly aware of cybercrime.
Rawalpindi SSP Mohammad Faisal said that the accused, aged 46, had a history of abusing boys; he had previously worked and travelled in nine countries.
"During investigations, Sohail Ayaz told the IO that he used the dark net to purchase drugs and share footage with like-minded people, but our IO asked him what the dark net was," the SSP said.
Members of the committee asked FIA officials about progress in tracing details such as possible accomplices and a monetary aspect.
However, a lie repeated often enough remains a lie... to the astonishment of the committee, the director of the FIA cybercrime wing, Mirwaiz Niaz, said that the agency was not yet involved and was cooperating with Punjab police on a voluntary basis; Punjab police would transfer the case after completing their investigation.
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"I'm afraid there is no proof of these crimes you say you have committed. These things just don't happen in the Land of the Pure. No. Please leave. Just leave."
[BREITBART] Freshman swing-district Democrat Rep. Cindy Axne (D-IA) said Saturday that she "did not run" to "impeach" President Donald Trump ...Oh, noze! Not him!... despite her backing of the impeachment inquiry.
Swing-district Democrat Rep. Axne traveled to Mount Ayr, Iowa, to meet with roughly twenty constituents to discuss the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) as well as her support for the impeachment inquiry against President Trump.
One Iowa constituent asked whether Rep. Axne had voted for impeachment in a recent vote to formalize the rules and procedures surrounding the impeachment inquiry. Rep. Axne was one of 230 Democrats that voted for that resolution that would advance the impeachment inquiry against President Trump.
Rep. Axne said, “No, no.”
One Iowa constituent asked whether Rep. Axne had voted for impeachment in a recent vote to formalize the rules and procedures surrounding the impeachment inquiry. Rep. Axne was one of 230 Democrats that voted for that resolution that would advance the impeachment inquiry against President Trump.
Rep. Axne said, "No, no." Then her lips fell off.
Another constituent asked the Democrat representative whether she backs the impeachment inquiry against President Trump.
Rep. Axne replied, "What I’m for is doing the hard work for the people of this district. I didn’t run for this seat to impeach the president. Go back and check my 18 months of running for this office; there is nothing in there about that."
Congresswoman Axne represents one of the 31 congressional districts that President Trump won during the 2016 presidential election and that Democrats flipped during the 2018 midterm elections.
Rep. Axne’s comments follow as a recent Emerson College poll found that only six percent of Iowa voters say that impeachment is the most important issue.
The freshman Democrat also explained that House Democrats "are very close to" passing the USMCA through Congress’ lower chamber.
"I’m out here working hard to make sure rural America has what it needs and that we are serving its farmers," she explained.
In October, Axne reiterated her supported for impeachment by suggesting that she swore an oath to protect the Constitution.
"First and foremost, as much as my job is dedicated to helping the people here in Iowa ‐ and that’s my priority ‐ I took an oath and swore that I would protect the Constitution," she said.
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‘I Didn’t Run’ to ‘Impeach the President’
I run because my ego demanded recognition for my superior personal qualities?
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.
[Combating Terrorism Center] Abstract: Now is an opportune time to revisit the question of succession to the leadership of al-Qa`ida, for a number of reasons: the organization’s current emir, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is 68 years old and reported to have a potentially serious heart complaint; bin Ladin’s heir apparent, his son Hamza, is reported by the United States to have been killed in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region; and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of al-Qa`ida’s principal rival, the Islamic State, is also dead. An analysis of al-Qa`ida’s history and current decision-making structure points to one man in particular: the longtime jihadi commander known as Abu Muhammad al-Masri. Abu Muhammad has long played a critical role in al-Qa`ida, both as an operational commander and as a member of the governing shura council. Yet despite his importance to the organization, Abu Muhammad remains a shadowy figure. Little is known about his early life or his current activities. Unlike most al-Qa`ida Central figures, he is based not in northern Pakistan but in Iran, where he was previously imprisoned and now resides under a murky arrangement by which he is apparently allowed a great deal of freedom while still being barred from leaving the country.
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
[Mil.com] Second Lt. Willie Evelyn Webster served as an Army nurse during World War II, and she's turning 100 years old on Dec. 14. Let's all send her a birthday card in honor of her service and for reaching birthday triple digits!
[NY Post] A mid-air collision between two helicopters has killed 13 French soldiers fighting against Islamic extremists in Mali, French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday.
[cigar afficiando] For the first time ever, Brazil joins the U.S. in voting no
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
...
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
...
...Arabic for 
...
[PJ] Over the weekend, Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas) shared an inspiring video ‐ a man in a wheelchair scaling a rock-climbing wall, with his wheelchair hanging below him! The video has personal meaning for Abbott, who was paralyzed from the waist down at age 26. Twitter users said they would rather die than lose the use of their legs, and one even told Abbott that God put him in a wheelchair. Abbott's responses were perhaps even more inspiring than the original video.
[LI] Killed in the Battle of Qala-i-Jangi (11-25-2001). John Walker Lindh, the American Taliban interrogated by Spann just before Spann was killed, was released from prison last May.
...
[THEGUARDIAN] The former 
...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....
[CBSNews] For the first time since beginning his sentence at a maximum-security prison near Philadelphia, Bill Cosby has gone on the record about his trial and life in prison. In an interview with the National Newspaper Publishers Association's BlackPressUSA.com, the disgraced comedian said he won't tell the parole board that he feels any remorse for his crimes. 
"I have eight years and nine months left," the 82-year-old said in a phone interview. "When I come up for parole, they're not going to hear me say that I have remorse. I was there. I don't care what group of people come along and talk about this when they weren't there. They don't know."
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the 
...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons......
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
...Argentine liberation theologist, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio. He was elected pope in 2013. Rather than setting up shop in Avignon, where he belongs, the first Jesuit Pope chose to reside in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse instead of the papal apartments. He is big on climate change, against consumerism, and in favor of throwing a blanket over homosexual activity within the clergy. He's not real sure about the Resurrection, about Christ's divinity, and a few other things that would have gotten him burned at the stake a few hundred years ago, but he's hot for a certain South American Earth Mother Goddess...
...the testicleless mayor of South Bend, Indiana, since 2012. Buttigieg graduated from Harvard College and, on a Rhodes Scholarship, from Pembroke College, Oxford. From 2007 to 2010, he worked at McKinsey and Company, a consulting firm. From 2009 to 2017 Buttigieg served as an intelligence officer in the United States Navy Reserve, attaining the rank of lieutenant and deploying to Afghanistan in 2014. Buttigieg was first elected mayor of South Bend in 2011 and was reelected in 2015. During his second term, he announced he was gay. Buttigieg also campaigned for Indiana state treasurer in 2010 and for chair of the Democratic National Committee in 2017, losing both elections. He is running for the Dem nomination in 2020 on the theory that being mayor of a nondescript medium sized city is qualification to run the country...
[Jpost] Ilhan Omar was recruited by a foreign government, received funding from a foreign government, and passed sensitive information through intermediates to Iran, a Florida court has been told.
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Police in Iraq's southern province of Dhi Qar were instructed to withdraw and follow up on the situation on Friday, following protests in the province, a security source told Al Arabiya.
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
Pervez 
Congresswoman-for-Life from the San Francisco Bay Area, born into a family of professional politicians. On-again-off-again Speaker of the House. It's not her fault when they lose, but it's her accomplishment when they win. Noted for her heavily botoxed grimace and occasional senior... uhhh... moments...
[NYPOST] A Florida man was arrested after he tried to claim that the wind blew a coke baggie into his car, according to a report.
[BREITBART] On Sunday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s "AM Joy," Rep. 
...a country in Central America that sits on an enormous pool of oil. Formerly the most prospereous country in the region, it became infested with Commies sniffing almost unlimited wealth. It turned out the wealth wasn't unlimited, the economy collapsed under the clownish Hugo Chavez, the murder rate exceeds places like Honduras and El Salvador, and a significant proportion of the populace as refugeed to Colombia and points south...
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the 
[DAWN] Little progress has been made in investigations into the activities of habitual child abuser Sohail Ayaz because the cybercrime wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has not yet been made a part of the process.
