[Liberal Society] In a farewell interview, Barack Obama the president slammed Fox News and conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh. The president also pointed out how they manipulated the American people into thinking that President Obama was a bad president.
Barack Obama told Ta-Nehisi Coates: ‘In 2008 I was never subjected to the kind of concentrated vilification of Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, the whole conservative-media ecosystem, and so as a consequence, even for my first two years as a senator [of Illinois] I was polling at 70 percent.’
‘[T]hey weren’t seeing some image of me as trying to take away their stuff and give it to black people, and coddle criminals, and all the stereotypes of not just African American politicians but liberal politicians. You started to see that kind of prism being established towards the end of the 2008 race, particularly once Sarah Palin was the nominee. And obviously almost immediately after I was elected, it was deployed in full force. And it had an impact in terms of how a large portion of white voters would see me.’
‘And what that speaks to—and this is something I still strongly believe—is that the suspicion between races, the way it can manifest itself in politics, in part comes out of people’s daily interactions and the fact that we’re segregated by communities, and by schools, and our churches, and people’s memories passed down through generations.’
Link to Liberal Society
#1
He has a very pedestrian view of conservatives (i.e., normal Americans) if all he can keep saying is 'Rush Limbaugh / Fox News' whenever he tries to explain away his failures.
#2
In 2008 he says he wasn't vilified by Fox & Limbaugh - because they had not yet seen his policies and actions. He didn't change color from 2008 to 2016, so one must assume the 'vilification' in 2016 is not about race.
#3
because they had not yet seen his policies and actions
Some of us had, Glenmore. Some of us already knew what would be in store for Americans. It's actually been much worse than what I figured he could get away with.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
12/24/2016 15:10
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#4
Good bye.
Yes you'll be rich,
But you'll still be you, asshole.
h/t Instapundit
"The New Little Ice Age Has Started." This is the unambiguous title of a new study from one of the world’s most prestigious scientific institutions, the Russian Academy of Science’s Pulkovo Observatory in St. Petersburg. "The average temperature around the globe will fall by about 1.5 C when we enter the deep cooling phase of the Little Ice Age, expected in the year 2060," the study states. "The cooling phase will last for about 45-65 years, for four to six 11-year cycles of the Sun, after which on the Earth, at the beginning of the 22nd century, will begin the new, next quasi-bicentennial cycle of warming." Lets not cut carbon emissions?
#1
We should be focusing our attentions and research on any climate swings and what it would take to mitigate the effects. Like what food grows better where? What strains are resistant to drought, heat and cold? How could populations be moved if necessary?
Carbon reduction fights... sorry... capitalist reduction fights and socialist movements are not the answer.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/24/2016 13:31
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#5
We can't control the climate, despite what the libtards say. We can only adjust. Studies into how we can adjust the best would be much better serving to humanity than carbon credits.
#8
Carbon credits are, and always were, a huge moneymaking scam, Darth.
If we were to scrape that basement to find out who was behind them, we'd find some pretty big rats. Most of the early 'advocates' got in and cashed out fairly quickly before the Ponzi Scheme became apparent to the masses.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
12/24/2016 15:18
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#9
The paleo reconstructions (ice cores etc) show large and rapid climate changes over time periods as short as 10 to 20 years. And no one knows why.
It might be solar activity as these Russians think, but that would mean solar variability is much larger than we currently understand.
Climate change created the Bahamas - they were once coral reefs. There are ancient beaches in California, 300 feet above sea level. Climate changes; get used to it!
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/24/2016 18:40
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[Reuters] U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's transition team has asked two Cabinet departments for the names of government officials working on programs to counter violent extremism, according to a document seen by Reuters and U.S. officials.
The requests to the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security involve a set of programs that seek to prevent violence by extremists of any stripe, including recruitment by militant Islamist groups within the United States and abroad.
Reuters could not determine why the Trump team asked for these names. The Trump team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump has frequently criticized President Barack Obama for not doing enough to battle Islamic militants and for his refusal to use the term "radical Islam" to describe Islamic State and other militant groups.
Some career officials said they feared the incoming administration may be looking to undo the work that the Obama administration has done on countering violent extremism.
#1
How open will the bureaucrats be to explaining to Trump's transition team that the last 8 years of violent extremism focus has been on the tea party and white Christian Americans and not toward Islamic fascism?
#4
Remember that this is 'Rooters'. The request most likely was part of a much larger 'duty listing' questionnaire that would be very typical when new management takes over a company in the private world. Not as common in Government.
They're only gleaning one aspect for their hysteria.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
12/24/2016 8:38
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#5
transition team has asked two Cabinet departments for the names of government officials working on programs to counter violent extremism
Remember to include contractors and outside consultants (which in this administration included members of the Muslim Brotherhood).
#12
Some career officials said they feared the incoming administration may be looking to undo the work that the Obama administration has done on countering violent extremism.
Eh - not to be a spelling Nazi but: You misspelled covering up.
[Breitbart] Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged the description of Facebook as a media outlet, but added that it does not operate like a "traditional" media company.
In a Facebook video interview with company COO Sheryl Sandberg, Zuckerberg said that Facebook was a "new kind of platform" and therefore "not a traditional media company."
"It’s not a traditional technology company. It’s not a traditional media company," he said. "You know, we build technology and we feel responsible for how it’s used. We don’t write the news that people read on the platform, but at the same time we also know that we do a lot more than just distribute the news, and we’re an important part of the public discourse."
It is the first time Zuckerberg has described Facebook as a "media company," having previously rejected the label. When asked by a young man whether he planned on becoming a news editor, the CEO said that Facebook was a "tech company, not a media company."
Zuckerberg’s comments come amid rising concern of politically biased moderation of Facebook’s content, after the company last week announced plans to start marking "fake news" with warning labels, with the help of partisan fact checkers such as Snopes and Politifact.
#1
Well, suckerpurge's operation is going to censor the news as it sees fit and the consuming cohort is self selecting. I don't think it's as big a problem as it's made out to be, but that doesn't mean it isn't a problem.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/24/2016 6:48
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#2
Were he alive, George Orwell's head would be exploding.
#3
This isn't all that different than what he was doing a few months ago; he's just getting outsiders to make the decision for him, thus he gets to pretend his hands are clean.
#4
Declare it a utility, nationalize it (paying $1.00 in compensation), re-privatize shortly before the end of Trump's term(s) by selling to someone decent.
Do the same with the rest of SocMed.
Dirty pool?
Sure.
After the last eight years, I no longer give a shit about Marquess of Queensberry rules.
#4
co-founder David Mikkelson started taking all sorts of trips around the world to bang whores after that sweet liberal shill money started rolling in
Ah, helping the working class. Doing for them literally what his fellow travelers just do metaphorically.
[Times of India] MIRPUR KHAS: The girl called Jeevti was just 14 when she taken from her family in the night to be married off to a man who says her family owed him $1,000.
Her mother, Ameri Kashi Kohli, is sure that her daughter paid the price for a never-ending debt.
Ameri says she and her husband borrowed roughly $500 when they first began to work on the land, but she throws up her hands and says the debt was repaid.
It's a familiar story here in southern Pakistan: Small loans balloon into impossible debts, bills multiply, payments are never deducted.
In this world, women like Ameri and her young daughter are treated as property: taken as payment for a debt, to settle disputes, or as revenge if a landowner wants to punish his worker. Sometimes parents, burdened by an unforgiving debt, even offer their daughters as payment.
The women are like trophies to the men. They choose the prettiest, the young and pliable. Sometimes they take them as second wives to look after their homes. Sometimes they use them as prostitutes to earn money. Sometimes they take them simply because they can.
"I went to the police and to the court. But no one is listening to us," says Ameri, who is Hindu. She says the land manager made her daughter convert to Islam and took the girl as his second wife. "They told us, 'Your daughter has committed to Islam and you can't get her back."'
[Daily Caller] Pressure is mounting on the famed Mormon Tabernacle Choir to not perform at president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony in January, but the choir is not backing down.
In a Friday statement to The Daily Caller, the choir responded to an online petition that wants to the choir not to sing at Trump’s inauguration. The statement said while the group has received "mixed reactions," it will still perform for the 58th Inauguration in Washington, D.C. just as it has done in the past.
[Breitbart] Britain’s Prince of Wales has spoken out on national radio in an appeal for persecuted Christians and minorities across the world, but the Royal also moved to criticise "populist groups".
Speaking on Thought for the Day, a short early morning slot on BBC Radio 4 dedicated to faith issues, the son of Britain’s reigning Monarch urged listeners to think of persecuted religious figures -- singling out Jesus Christ and Muhammad -- this Christmas. He said:
Normally at Christmas we think of the Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. I wonder though if this year we might remember how the story of the nativity unfolds, with the fleeing of the holy family to escape violent persecution. And we might also remember that when the prophet Muhammad migrated from Mecca to Medina he was seeking the freedom for himself and his followers to worship.
#2
With all the mohammedans now in Londonistan, tis your typical butt kissing liberal politician at the expense of Christianity. You won't hear trash like him say positives about Christians on a muslim holiday.
#3
One day the stout heart of Queen Elizabeth II will cease to beat. At that precise moment, her firstborn son will become head of state, head of the armed forces, and head of the Church of England.
a morose, muslim-fancying bat-eared and chinless man, prematurely aged, and with the most abysmal taste in royal consorts
who evidently thinks that the sovereignty so many of his subjects gave their lives to defend in World War II is no longer worth a fig.
Let's not forget that together with the Saudi royal family, Prince Charles supported the mosque in North London that acted as host and incubator to Richard "Shoe Bomber" Reid, the hook-handed Abu Hamza al-Masri, and several other unsavory customers.
So his judgement in these matters is a little off.
It was only Christopher Hitchens who had the words to properly make fun of this idiot. Long live Queen Elizabeth.
#7
Oh, I'll think about them all right. Every time I see another bomb go off and hear the explosion accompanied by the deafening silence of the rest of Islam.
#13
I think of Mohammed all the time. That copy of the Quran that CAIR gave me a few months after 9/11 sits on my office floor. Every time I need to get a current year file or adjust the window blinds, I have to step on it, sometimes with both feet.
Housekeeping note: California's firearms market has been destroyed by state level legislation, all with the stroke of a pen and with the full assent of state and federal courts, all without the minimum standard for passing laws: consent of the governed.
Because of that this column will no longer monitor firearms prices in California. At the start of the year, I will shift to monitoring Arizona, since the left has taken over the firearms markets of all three west coast states.
There is good news. A trip to the rifle range in 36F weather was successful, relatively speaking. 360 rounds of 5.45x39 fired. One jam. In case you didn't read about the last time, I had four jams, all of which I attributed to marginal ammunition.. It could be better, but I'll take the improvement any day.
This time I practiced for the first time using a chest rig to switch magazines, at least for the first 6 magazines fired. I understand its utility in allowing the shooter to carry extra rounds and to allow the rifleman the time to reload. This new gear will take to getting used to. Instead of sitting at a bench rest to fire, changing firing positions from standing to crouched.
Firearms trainer James Yaeger has come under fire for his training practices. This video which has been distributed on Facebook shows one element of his fighting pistol class.
Yaeger has a different style in his training practices. His explanation for the activity shown in the video is that in a shooting situation, you will be forced to deal with others around you when you draw to fire. One individual in one of the Facebook gun groups I follow said (paraphrasing): This may work for the high testosterone crowd Yaeger trains, but it won't work for everyone else.
Prices for pistol ammunition were mostly steady. Prices for rifle ammunition were mostly steady.
Prices for used pistols were mixed. Prices for used rifles were mostly higher.
New Lows:
None. It should be noted here that last week I missed a new low in Virginia for AR-15 rifles.
Pistol Ammunition
.45 Caliber, 230 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (4Q, 2016) Cheapest, 50 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .24 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .24 per round (From Last week: Unchanged (8 Weeks))
.40 Caliber Smith & Wesson, 180 Grain, From Last Week: -.01 Each Cheapest, 50 rounds: Ammo Mart, Legendary, FSFP, Brass Casing, Reloads, .21 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Ammo Mart, Legendary, FSFP, Brass Casing, reloads, .21 per round (From Last Week: +.02 Each
9mm Parabellum, 115 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (4 Weeks) Cheapest, 50 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .15 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: Ammo Mart, Legendary, FSFP, Brass Casing, Reloads, .15 per round (From Last Week: -.01 Each After Unchanged (2 Weeks))
.357 Magnum, 158 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (6 Weeks) Cheapest, 50 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .25 per round
Cheapest Bulk: 1,000 rounds: J&G Sales, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel casing, .25 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (8 Weeks))
Rifle Ammunition
.223 Caliber/5.56mm 55 Grain, From Last Week: -.01 Each After Unchanged (5 Weeks) Cheapest, 20 rounds: Ammo King, Wolf, FMJ, Steel Casing, .22 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: Ammo King, Wolf, FMJ, Steel Casing, .21 per round (From Last Week: -.01 Each After Unchanged (6 Weeks))
.308 NATO 150 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (4 Weeks) Cheapest, 20 rounds: Outdoor Unlimited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .34 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Outdoor Unlimited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .34 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (3 Weeks)
7.62x39mm AK 123 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (3 Weeks) Cheapest, 20 rounds: Ammo King, Wolf WPA, Steel Case, FMJ, .25 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: SG Ammo, Wolf WPA, Steel Case, FMJ, .22 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks))
.22 LR 40 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (4 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds (10 Box Limit): Ammomen, Federal, RNL, .06 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 325 rounds: Ammomen Federal, RNL, .06 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (3 Weeks))
[THEGUARDIAN] Two men have been found guilty of trying to join Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... fighters in Iraq, while a third has been convicted of attempting to keep their plan a secret. Just chop their heads off.
Aras Hamid, 26, and Shivan Azeez Zangana, 21, who goes by Azeez, were both convicted of preparing acts of terrorism, while Hamid was also found guilty of assisting another in commission of terrorist acts. Ahmed Ismail, 19, was convicted of failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism.
At the start of their trial at Kingston crown court on Monday, the prosecutor Robin Sellers told the jury the three men were involved in a "concerted attempt" to leave the country and further terrorist activities either themselves or by aligning themselves under Islamic State.
He said Hamid played the leading role and was the common link between the other two and, while all three were "Kurdish in origin", Ismail had been naturalised and was a British citizen.
The offences took place over a relatively short period of time in mid-2016 and included a meeting between Ismail and Hamid in Coventry on 10 May.
Three days later, a number of people called 999 to express fears that Azeez was planning to leave the UK, prompting the authorities to try to locate him.
Azeez left his brother’s home in Sheffield the same day and met Hamid in Birmingham, with the pair later visiting a travel agent to buy a plane ticket for Azeez to travel to an airport in Iraq from Gatwick.
On 17 May, officers from the West Midlands counter-terrorism unit (WMCTU) found the pair sleeping as they executed a warrant at the Al Noor mosque in Birmingham in the early hours of the morning. The police placed in durance vile Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! Azeez and seized items from Hamid.
Hamid was detained two days later when he was discovered hiding in the back of a lorry travelling on the A2 at about 2am.
"The crown says he was trying to leave the UK covertly [by] in effect being smuggled out," Sellers said.
The court heard that Ahmed Ismail’s brother, Mohammed Ismail, travelled to Syria to fight with Isis in 2014 and Ahmed is believed to have originally intended to travel with Hamid and Azeez, but changed his mind after concerns over his brother’s status with his superiors within the bad boy group, who suspected his brother of being a spy. Ahmed Ismail was arrested on 22 May.
Hamid, of no fixed address, was also convicted of having a false Bulgarian passport after pleading guilty to the offence at an earlier hearing. He, Azeez, who is from Sheffield, and Ismail, from Coventry, will be sentenced on 3 January.
The head of WMCTU, Ch Supt Sue Southern, said: "As a result of enquiries, counter-terrorism Sherlocks discovered Hamid’s instrumental role in organising travel plans for himself and Azeez for preparation for acts of terrorism. We also uncovered examples of Hamid’s extreme ideology and radicalisation and the pivotal role he played in orchestrating the travel plans for himself and Azeez.
"
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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[Hurriyet Daily News] The capture of Syria’s al-Bab from the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) is almost complete, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... said on Dec. 23.
The president initially slammed the opposition’s criticism on the military operation in Syria, dubbed Euphrates Shield, saying that the Ankara-backed Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... (FSA) fighters were close to retaking the ISIS-held town.
"When bombs drop on Kilis, you say ’Where are you government?’ When we advance on those who drop bombs on Kilis, this time you say ’Are we the ones who will save the world?’ How naive those people are. Of course we will advance on. Did we make a ’terror-free safe-zone’ statement from the very beginning? We said be patient but they did not understand. So, we said ’We will advance on terror not just in our country but also in there [Syria]. Right now, [capture of] al-Bab is about to be completed by our armed forces and the FSA," Erdogan said at the opening ceremony of the LNG Terminal project in the Aliaga district of the Aegean province of Izmir.
Erdogan also refuted claims that there was no diplomatic process during the operation.
"The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... does not need any diplomacy lessons," he said.
The battle in al-Bab has recently intensified as FSA fighters continue to battle to take the town from ISIS myrmidons.
Defense Minister Fikri Isik announced on Dec. 22 that a total of 16 soldiers were killed in al-Bab a day earlier, marking the highest casualty for Turkey in a single day since the launch of the operation in August.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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[NYPOST] The last few years, we’ve seen the creation of safe spaces, though they’re usually for protecting fragile leftists from disagreeable thoughts and arguments. Lunatic men badgering women on planes in front of their kids apparently is fair play -- if that mother is related to a Republican you don’t like.
The irony, of course, is that Ivanka Trump is someone liberals should be thankful to have in the incoming president’s inner circle. She’s certainly no partisan right-winger, and in fact has thus far during the transition been taking point on issues like climate change (she even met with Former Vice President, Nobel Prize winner, and crazed sex poodle Al Gore) and paid family leave. Why the rage at her?
The Trump hate has gone around the bend when the family of the president-elect is gleefully harassed.
The buzzword following Trump’s victory has been "normalization" -- as if simply by pretending he isn’t president, then he won’t be. Katy Waldman had a piece in Slate on Wednesday noting that media, charged with covering the incoming administration, is doing its best on that front: "Wary of ’normalizing’ the president-elect, yet condemned to document the perturbingly normal processes by which he is coming into power, journalists seem to have gone into full dissociative mode."
This disassociation isn’t convincing the millions of Americans who voted for Trump that he’s any less legitimate. It hasn’t taken away any of the president’s power, or changed one of his policies. It’s just made liberals look more rude and out of touch.
The left is trying to turn the whole country into a liberal safe space -- safe for them, dangerous for anyone who disagrees with them. They’ve lost their minds.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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#1
The last few years, we’ve seen the creation of safe spaces, though they’re usually for protecting fragile leftists from disagreeable thoughts and arguments
. . . before that insidious force called logic has a chance to take hold.
#3
"A house divided against itself cannot stand." I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other". - Abraham Lincoln
Socialism is slavery as the plantation system writ large. We're about to enter the Bleeding Kansas period.
[INDEPENDENT.MT] Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the hijackers on the Libyan plane which was hijacked on its way to Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... and diverted to Malta "surrendered, (were) searched, and (were) taken into custody."
Four hours after the Afriqiyah Airways A320 landed in Malta, the two hijackers gave themselves up to the Maltese authorities after they had first released the other 109 passengers and seven members of the crew.
The plane landed in Malta this morning at 11.32am, with sources initially saying that two hijackers on board the flight were threatening to blow up the aircraft. It had left Sebha at 10.10am on its way to Tripoli, but it was hijacked and diverted to Malta. TVM is reporting that the hijackers are armed with hand grenades and are Qadaffy supporters. One of them sported Libya's national flag at the time Muammar Qadaffy ...a reminder that a single man with an idea can change an entire nation, usually for the worse... was in power.
Ali Milad, the pilot, told Libya Channel TV network that initially the hijackers had asked him to head to Rome. He identified the two hijackers as Moussa Shaha and Ahmed Ali, Libyans who other officials said were in their twenties.
The pilot said the men were seeking political asylum in Europe and wanted to set up a political party called "the New Fateh." Fateh is a reference to former Libyan dictator Muammar Qadaffy, who led Fateh revolution after his coup in 1969.
Sources told The Malta Independent that the two hijackers are Libyans from the south of the country. The sources said the two hijackers demanded asylum in Malta, but other reports say that they seek the setting up of a pro-Qadaffy political party in Libya.
The two hijackers are from the south of Libya, and are believed to be in their 20s.
It took more than two hours since the plane's landing for the hijackers to agree to the opening of the aircraft door and release the first passengers.
The plane's door was opened at 1.44pm and women and kiddies were seen disembarking. This was followed by men, and by 2.37pm, a total of 109 passengers had disembarked. The passengers left the aircraft without carrying any hand luggage.
One man, believed to be one of the hijackers, was briefly seen at the top of the stairs leading to the aircraft with the old Libya flag, the all-green flag used by former leader Muamma Qadaffy. He and the second hijacker later disembarked from the plane, a few moments after the crew including the pilot left the aircraft.
They were both taken into custody and are being interrogated. They are expected to be arraigned in court in the coming hours.
The government later said initial forensic investigations about the hijack of the Air Afriqiyah flight shows that the weapons used were identical "replica" weapons. "Replica" weapons are imitation weapons. Some replica weapons could be used to fire like real weapons, while others do not have this capability. To the layman's eye it is hard to distinguish between a replica weapon that can fire and one which doesn't.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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Top|| File under: Arab Spring
#1
To the layman's eye it is hard to distinguish between a replica weapon that can fire and one which doesn't.
Apparently the folks in airport security in Sebha knew the difference and they weren't concerned.
A highly effective vaccine that guards against the deadly Ebola virus could be available by 2018, says the World Health Organization. Trials conducted in Guinea, one of the West African countries most affected by an outbreak of Ebola that ended this year, show it offers 100% protection.
The vaccine is now being fast-tracked for regulatory approval.
Manufacturer Merck has made 300,000 doses of the rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine available for use should Ebola strike. GAVI, the global vaccine alliance, provided $5m for the stockpile.
Results, published in The Lancet medical journal, show of nearly 6,000 people receiving the vaccine, all were free of the virus 10 days later. In a group of the same size not vaccinated, 23 later developed Ebola.
Only one person who was vaccinated had a serious side effect that the researchers think was caused by the jab. This was a very high temperature and the patient recovered fully. It is not known how well the vaccine might work in children since this was not tested in the trial.
The director of British-based medical research institute the Wellcome Trust described the findings as "remarkable".
"Had a vaccine been available earlier in the Ebola epidemic, thousands of lives might have been saved," Jeremy Farrar said. "We have to get ahead of the curve and make promising diagnostics, drugs and vaccines for diseases we know could be a threat in the future."
The trial was led by the World Health Organization (WHO), working with Guinea's health ministry and international groups. The WHO's Marie-Paule Kieny said the results could help combat future outbreaks.
"While these compelling results come too late for those who lost their lives during West Africa's Ebola epidemic, they show that when the next Ebola outbreak hits, we will not be defenceless," said Dr Kieny, the lead author of the study.
Other drug companies are developing different Ebola vaccines that could be used in the future too.
#6
Of course, if it turns out in 50 years that 2 people of the millions who had the vaccine develop cancer, the manufacturer will be sued out of business.
Ignore the millions who lived because of the vaccine.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/24/2016 15:11
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Brought to you by the Umbrella corporation. "It's perfectly safe. Nobody turns into zombies."
[DAWN] KHUZDAR: A police constable was killed and another injured late on Thursday when a checkpost came under a grenade attack in Mastung, some 50km off Quetta, police said.
Two faceless myrmidons on a cycle of violence hurled the grenade into the police checkpost near the Bakra Mandi area of Mastung and fled. The grenade went off, hitting the personnel.
"As result of the kaboom one constable was killed and another sustained serious injuries," they said.
Law enforcement agencies personnel shifted the dear departed and the injured to Mastung Civil Hospital.
"Constable Abdul Mutlib was struck down in his prime while Shahnwaz was maimed. He is being treated in the hospital," doctors at the facility said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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[Al Jazeera] The headless body of a Moslem villager has been found days after he spoke to news hounds on a rare government-guided media tour of restive northern Rakhine state, Myanmar police said on Friday.
Police did not give a motive for the killing of the 41-year-old man, whose body was found floating in a river, but said he spoke to Burmese journalists on Wednesday in Ngakhura village.
"On Thursday his family said he had disappeared after giving interviews to journalists," Police Colonel Thet Naing in Maungdaw town told AFP news agency.
"This afternoon [Friday] I got the report his headless body was found... We have confirmed from villagers that it is him," he said.
Myanmar soldiers have taken control of the dangerous and remote region bordering Bangladesh since October 9 when gunnies raided police posts, killing nine officers.
Troops have killed more than 80 people in Rakhine since the start of crackdown, according to official figures.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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[Tolo News] The NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... ’s Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan has said the U.S forces will focus on conducting ’unilateral operations’ next year in order to defeat al-Qaeda and other Lion of Islam outfits in the country.
In an interview with an American TV channel, C-SPAN on Thursday, Charles Cleveland, kept in touch with the world by Obamaphone, ...was ruled by a Democrat machine from 1942 through 1971. After the river caught fire during the administration of Carl Stokes they tried a Republican, then went back to being Democrats when the party hacked up Dennis Kucinich ... , a front man for the Resolute Support mission, said the groups are operative in Afghanistan and Pakistain.
"U.S. forces in Afghanistan have two missions ‐ the first mission is a unilateral U.S. counterterrorism mission specifically focused on al-Qaeda and Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... [ISIS]... We do have the authority to conduct unilateral operations with defeating al-Qaeda as well as other groups," the front man said.
He said the reason which they will focus on the mission is to protect their Afghan allies and Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, ...back at the comedy club, Boogie ducked another tomato... military commentator Mirza Mohammad Yarmand commented on NATO front man’s remarks and said: "To defeat terrorists, Afghanistan needs regional and international cooperation. I don’t think Pakistain will be honest in its commitments towards the anti-terror mission. Pakistain should close the illegal madrassas on its soil, if it actually wants to combat against terrorism."
According to Afghan security officials, a large number of Afghan and Pak Taliban entered Afghanistan ‐ from Pakistain ‐ this year and tried to transfer the Taliban’s main council to Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... , but they were failed.
"Taliban has been divided into many factions; therefore, it is a good opportunity for the Afghan government to invite the moderate Taliban groups to the peace table," university lecturer Qasim Wahidi said.
NATO has said that the Taliban made lots of efforts this year to take control of central cities of some provinces including Helmand, Kunduz, Uruzgan, Farah and few other provinces; however, the Lion of Islam group failed in this bid.
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12/24/2016
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[Al Ahram] Syrian state TV says army experts are dismantling explosives and booby-traps left behind by rebels before they left the last neighborhoods they held in the northern city of Aleppo.
The TV's correspondent in Aleppo says mining experts entered the neighborhoods of Ansari, Sukkari and Amiriyeh early Friday, beginning their work in main streets in order to open them.
The Syrian government took full control of Aleppo on Thursday for the first time in four years after the last opposition fighters and civilians were bused out of war-ravaged eastern districts, sealing the end of the rebellion's most important stronghold.
The evacuations ended a brutal chapter in Syria's nearly six-year civil war, allowing Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... to regain full authority over the country's largest city and former commercial hub.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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[AA.TR] Gambia ... The Gambia is actually surrounded by Senegal on all sides but its west coast. It has a population of about 1.7 million. The difference between the two is that in colonial days Senegal was ruled by La Belle France and The Gambia (so-called because there's only one of it, unlike Guinea, of which there are the Republic of Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, New Guinea, the English coin in circulation between 1663 and 1813, and Guyana, which sounds like it should be another one) was ruled by Britain... 's president-elect Adama Barrow has assured the 1.9 million inhabitants of the small West African nation that he will be sworn in on Jan. 19 when President Yahya Jammeh's term expires despite latter’s announcement that he will not step down.
"The incoming president wants it to be known without any shadow of a doubt that he has the constitutional mandate to prepare to assume Office in January 2017," Halifa Sallah, the front man of the president-elect, told journalists.
"Outgoing President Jammeh took office on Jan. 19, 2012. His five-year term expires in January 2017. Anybody could do the arithmetic for one’s self."
The statement came in the wake of another threat issued by President Jammeh during a meeting with delegates from the African Bar Association on Dec. 20 that he will not step down when his term expires.
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12/24/2016
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[DAWN] Seven convicted bully boyz affiliated with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) and sentenced to death by military courts were shifted to a high security prison in Sahiwal from the Central Jail Adiala on Thursday.
Of the seven prisoners, Siraj Khan was placed in durance vile Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! by the Rawalpindi Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on Oct 29, 2015 for his involvement in terrorist activity.
Tariq Ismail, who was linked to the TPP, was arrested by the Attock CTD on Feb 15, 2010, for his involvement in case related to terrorism.
The five other prisoners were identified as Tayyab Mirzada, Hussain Shah, Shahid Omer, Shamasul Qamar and Fazal-a-Haq.
According to police sources, Elite Force commandos led by a deputy superintendent of police guarded the seven prisoners while they were being transported to Sahiwal.
In addition, two individuals convicted of involvement in terrorist activity and sentenced to death by the military courts on Thursday were shifted to the high security prison in Adiala jail.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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[AA.TR] Police in the Belgian capital Brussels destroyed a bomb in front of a Turkish community center on Friday.
Omer Zararsiz, the head of Turkish Federation of Belgium said that a suspicious package was found in front of the building in the afternoon.
He said a federation member noticed the package and police was alerted.
According to Belgium media, Denis Goeman, front man for Brussels prosecution office, confirmed that there was an explosive -- a gas tube and an ignition system -- in the package.
Belgium is on alert since suicide kabooms were carried out in March at Zaventem Airport and the Maelbeek subway station in Brussels, killing 32 people.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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#1
Lol that picture! Look at the cat, first laugh of Christmas Eve.
Another Children's Crusade, only these are physically adult.
[DeutscheWelle] Wanting to show their solidarity with the people of Syria, a group of Europeans are to walk to Aleppo from Berlin after Christmas. The 'Civil March for Aleppo' is the initiative of a Pole living in the German capital.
What is known, which is of less urgency now that the nice Italian policemen sent him to Hell.
[DeutscheWelle] Anis Amri showed many signs of radicalization before carrying out the terror attack in Berlin. A debate is raging over whether the violent tragedy was preventable and what could be done in the future.
[DeutscheWelle] Police said they have arrested two Kosovo-born brothers in western Germany suspected of planning an attack on a mall.
Thursday night police made two arrests near Duisburg in NRW after uniformed and plain-clothed officers scoured the giant Centro mall in Oberhausen.
The Kosovo-born brothers, aged 28 and 31, were suspected of planning an attack at Centro, including its Christmas stalls, according to a police statement.
NRW was the region where Amri arrived as an asylum seeker in Germany in mid-2015, but authorities said they did not believe the attack on the Christmas market in Berlin and the planned Centro mall attack were directly related.
"We're urgently investigating how far the preparations had got and whether more people were involved," police said in the early hours of Friday.
Berlin's public broadcaster RBB said images a few hours after the attack showed Amri at a mosque in Berlin's district of Moabit, where the truck was hijacked and its Polish driver killed inside the cab.
#2
The children of the Children's Crusade were supposed to have ended up either dead or enslaved, Shipman. The knightly crusades were the ones who sacked Constantinople.
A man living in the heart of Virginia's military powerhouse area, who the FBI said purchased an AK-47 after the San Bernardino terrorist attack and was close to committing his own attack, has been charged with attempting to support ISIS. Lionel Nelson Williams, 26, of Suffolk, Va., a Virginia-born U.S. citizen who also went by the name Harun Ash-Shababi, was arrested there Wednesday.
According to the affidavit, the FBI was tipped off in March that Williams was posting ISIS content and lectures from late al-Qaeda recruiter Anwar al-Awlaki on his Facebook page -- with Williams' own commentary including "The Jihad (the struggle) doesn't end just because it stops feeling good" -- and had recently "acquired" an assault rifle.
"It's time for me to take a stand. I stand with #Dawlah'. If that means you want nothing to do with me, then fine," Williams publicly posted on his page in mid-March, leading the FBI to interpret this as a pledge of allegiance to ISIS. Four days later, he shared a video with the comment, "I love the Mujahideen the world over. Youtube/Facebook had the gall to delete it sometime ago, but somehow it's been remade/reuploaded. Allahu Akhbar!"
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/24/2016
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[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] The Radio City Rockettes are confirmed to perform at Trump's inauguration
One of the group's dancers took to Instagram to voice her disapproval of Trump
The women have been told they do not have to participate in the show
A-Listers like Judd Apatow had urged people to call the producers of the show
Donald Trump claims 'A-list celebrities' are desperate to attend his inauguration
Celine Dion, Kiss, Elton John, and Garth Brooks have already turned Trump down
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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#1
OK he is an A-Lister, sez the article, but....this is the first time in my life I have seen the name Judd Apatow - who tf is he? not even worth googling.
Posted by: Bov Flimbers ||
12/24/2016 2:43
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#2
ok sorry browser acting all janked up
Fixed. These things happen.
Posted by: Bov Flimbers ||
12/24/2016 2:43
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#7
What will be interesting is whether there is a quiet change in her employment status after the event. The Rockettes want to be an apolitical organization so that they don't drive away half their potential audience; I can see not fighting with dancers now so as not to give the story legs, but making it clear later that being a Rockette is a privilege many would willing keep their mouths shut to have, and those who aren't will be replaced. There are a great many tall, leggy, underemployed dancers out there, after all.
[THEHILL] President-elect Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... slammed the B.O. regime for its decision not to veto a U.N. resolution critical of Israel's settlements, promising that it would be "different" under his presidency.
"As to the U.N., things will be different after Jan. 20th," Trump tweeted Friday.
Trump’s tweet came about an hour after The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlement building in occupied territories.
The U.S. had the ability to veto the resolution but abstained from doing so despite pressure from Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. politicians.
The B.O. regime’s decision to let it pass represents a break from the longstanding U.S. policy of shielding Israel from U.N. reproaches.
Israel’s settlements are seen as human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... violations, and some say they are an obstacle to achieving peace between Israel and the Paleostinians.
Trump pressured Obama before the U.N. vote to veto the resolution.
"As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Paleostinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations ...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly... ," the president-elect said in a statement Thursday.
"This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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#1
Trump understands that you block the flow of money, people get compliant pretty quickly.
#3
And hold them accountable. All terrorist nations should have their seats removed from everything. Oh and move the UN to someplace nice, like Thule Air Force base. Then the representatives won't have any distractions.
Posted by: Barbara ||
12/24/2016 17:07
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Hey, if they can survive getting from the AFB to the nearest town on foot, they can annoy the Greenlanders. In Zimbobwe, it's too easy to survive and too comfortable. There's people nearby to abuse.
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Russia has sent a battalion of military police to keep order in Aleppo, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Friday, after the Syrian army and allies retook full control of the city.
"We sent in a battalion of military police yesterday evening to maintain order in the liberated territories," Shoigu told Russian President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... A Russian battalion normally numbers between 300 and 400 soldiers.
The Russian military police is a subdivision of the military that is meant to ensure order and discipline in the army.
Putin hailed the recapture of Aleppo as a "very important part of the normalization in Syria" and said that "everything needs to be done for fighting to stop on all Syrian territory."
Russian media earlier this month reported that scores of Chechens have been sent in as military police to Syria, with one video showing them chatting in the Chechen language while getting ready for their sendoff and wearing military police uniforms.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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[BREITBART] In the time-honored tradition of naming clogged urban thoroughfares after politicians, a group of Democrats in Los Angeles is proposing to rename a freeway after President Barack Obama If you like your coverage you can keep it... The proposal would rename Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, route 134, from Glendale to Eagle Rock, north-northeast of downtown Los Angeles, between CA-2 and US-210, near Occidental College and south of the Rose Bowl (lower left, above).
Obama studied at Occidental for two years before transferring to Columbia University, where he eventually graduated in 1983. Earlier this month, Pasadena unveiled a sidewalk plaque outside Obama’s former apartment from his Occidental days.
The freeway re-naming was officially filed earlier this week by State Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge).
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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#1
Why don't they rename the human trafficking superhighway along the US-Mexican border after him instead?
#3
Is it the one that has no direction as long as it goes to all the golf courses? Is it also the one that takes your money and you get nothing in return? Oh, I know, it's the one whose last exit is in Hawaii!
#5
It seems that every MLK freeway runs through the worst part of Anytown USA before ending up at the dump. Will this one deadend at the ocean and be used by smugglers for a boatramp?
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Mac Reports announced, on Thursday, that Turkish police found the IPhone of the killer of the Russian Ambassador who was bumped off, and that the security authorities are seeking to unlock it and know the recordings it contains.
Turkish police and Russian agencies want to crack the PIN code on the device to access its content. Without the 4-digit code, the content of the phone remains unknown. So far, attempts to unlock the IPhone 4s have been unsuccessful.
According to the same site, an important Turkish official said that Russia offered to help the Turkish authorities to try to decode the phone, through a team of technical experts in the field. He pointed out that some officials in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , has had contacts with the international company "Apple". The latter did not issue any statement so far; he stated that "Apple" will probably not provide any assistance in this regard.
The Russian ambassador to Ankara, Andrei Karlov, was killed last Monday, after being shot by a Turkish citizen working in the police force.
Arab and international media outlets reported the slogans roared by the killer of the ambassador, after being shot, that expressed sympathy with the tragedy of the people of Aleppo in Syria, as it appeared in a video aired by all media worldwide.
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[REUTERS] The United States on Friday allowed the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlements, defying pressure from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... , Israel and some U.S. politicians who urged Washington to wield its veto.
An abstention by the United States paved the way for the 15-member council to approve the resolution, with 14 votes in favor, to a round of applause.
The B.O. regime's action broke with the long-standing American approach of shielding Israel, Washington's long-time ally that receives more than $3 billion in annual U.S. military aid, from such action. The United States, along with Russia, La Belle France, Britannia and China, has veto power on the council.
The resolution, put forward by New Zealand, Malaysia, Venezuela and Senegal ... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees... a day after Egypt withdrew it under pressure from the Israel and Trump, was the first adopted by the council on Israel and the Paleostinians in nearly eight years.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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#1
Way past time to close it down, move the entire sordid mess to Zimbabwe.
#4
I guess the personnel at State think their resumes are good enough for the Foundation, Trust, and DNC jobs come this year. This is what they've worked towards for many generations. One last great act of defiance. Gut it. No apologies. See - Sun Tzu and the concubines.
#5
Why can't the UN be moved to Zimbabwe ? Would it be harder to order Eggs Benedict for breakfast there and a shortage of Champagne Lunches and Lobster for Dinner and the Red tape and the long halls lined with rubber stamps ?
Or perhaps the hotel accommodations don't measure up in ( what is the capitol of ZimBOB by the WAY? )
#6
Wretchard T. Cat on FB: The most instructive thing about Obama's Security Council abstention is he didn't have the guts to do it earlier, when he stood to lose something by doing it. Only after he calculated there was nothing more to squeeze from that particular quarter did he run up the Jolly Roger. Had it cost him it would have meant something, even as a gesture.
But even more interesting was his willingness to damage the Democratic party who he's leaving with political bill, not to mention the fact that the policy his abstention represents makes little sense.
Israel is likely to emerge as a linchpin in the region, after Obama's power vacuum bomb reduces the nearby countries to waste. If Turkey and Iran fall apart, which is not inconceivable, then Obama will have antagonized the last man standing.
It was bad timing and pointless, like a punch thrown by a fighter lying on the canvas -- at the referee. That would leave his legacy a consistently dysfunctional whole: conceived in delusion, executed in incompetence.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/24/2016 10:47
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The resolution, put forward by New Zealand, Malaysia, Venezuela and Senegal
#8
An abstention by the United States paved the way for the 15-member council to approve the resolution, with 14 votes in favor, to a round of applause, and provided Baraq Obama one last chance to vote present.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/24/2016 15:33
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A dick move for sure Tennessee, but I suspect Senegal is the only one receiving funds.$140 million as of 2012, not enough to buy a U.S. Soccer team.
#10
Also to blame: Shanty-Irish Willem Dafoe lookalike Samantha Powers who has been ineffective when she's not being just Anti-American
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/24/2016 16:49
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#11
Add any nation who voted for it to the list of terrorist nations. Declare all treaties with them null and void, deny any and all travel to and from them, call in any loans they have and expel their embassies from the United States. Sink any vessel flying their flag, I'm sure we can use the target practice.
[Tolo News] A Taliban’s local commander was killed in a clash between the fighters and security forces in Baghlan-e-Markazi district in Baghlan province, local officials said on Friday.
The shootout occurred on Thursday night after the Taliban fighters faced an ambush by police force members in the district, Baghlan-e-Markazi Police Chief Colonel Mohebullah Kohdamani said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the hanging, Butch continued with his last words, trying not to repeat himself too often...... according to a blurb by Parwan governor’s office, police force members in the central province have foiled a roadside kaboom by defusing 16 kilograms of explosives which was planted by forces of Evil on Koh-e-Safi district’s main road to target security forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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[AA.TR] Iraqi forces on Friday recaptured a cop shoppe in the northern city of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... from the ISIS terrorist group, according to a military source.
The cop shoppe’s recapture was the army’s first major move in the area since military operations were temporarily suspended last week in preparation for a broader attack -- along multiple fronts -- on parts of the city still held by the terrorist group.
"Forces from the 16th Division of the 76th Army Brigade and the Nineveh Guards Force began the operation on Friday at 8:00 a.m. [local time]," Staff Brigadier-General Nazim al-Kubaisi, who commands the 16th Division, told Anadolu Agency.
"Following two hours of festivities, they managed to entirely liberate Police Academy headquarters in Mosul’s northern al-Qahira district," he said.
Al-Kubaisi went on to point out that U.S.-led coalition warplanes did not take part in Friday’s operation.
"Our forces will continue to advance on predetermined targets... and will join up with anti-terrorism forces and the army’s Ninth Division on the banks of the Tigris River on the left [i.e., northwest] side of Mosul," the army officer said.
In mid-October, the Iraqi army launched a wide-ranging offensive aimed at retaking Mosul, ISIS’s last major stronghold in northern Iraq.
Officials in Baghdad have vowed to recapture the city, which fell to the terrorist group in mid-2014, by year’s end.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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[RUDAW.NET] Eighty-eight civilians have been killed in Turkish Arclight airstrikes on al-Bab in the past 24 hours, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
"SOHR was informed that the Arclight airstrikes led to the death of 16 civilians today, including 3 children," the conflict monitor stated on Friday, bringing the total number of civilians "killed by Turkish Arclight airstrikes in al-Bab city to 88 in the past 24 hours, including 24 children and 13 women."
The monitor reported that The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... carried out a "massacre" in al-Bab on Thursday, killing 72 civilians. Some died because of lack of medical supplies and health care professionals, the Observatory added.
The al-Bab Military Council, a local body formed to oversee the liberation of the city, released a statement on Twitter on Friday stating that more than 84 people were killed and more than 45 injured in Arclight airstrikes on Thursday.
The Turkish armed forces announced on Friday that they had "neutralized" 40 ISIS faceless myrmidons in the al-Bab area since Thursday night, state-run Anadolu Agency reported. The Turkish General Staff claimed to have hit 51 ISIS targets in the city, including destroying ISIS’ military headquarters.
The Arclight airstrikes come after 16 Turkish soldiers were killed and over 30 maimed by ISIS this week as Turkish forces and their allied Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... (FSA) pushed deeper into the myrmidon-held city.
Turkey has been supporting hundreds of Free Syrian Army fighters in northwestern Syria with tanks, artillery, Arclight airstrikes and a small number of ground troops since they launched the Euphrates Shield operation on August 24. The goal of the military operation is to clear the border area of all "terrorists," Turkish officials have said, naming both ISIS and Kurdish forces.
Turkey’s Defense Minister Fikri Isik said on Thursday that more than 1,000 ISIS faceless myrmidons had been killed since the military operation Euphrates Shield began, Anadolu Agency reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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[Al Ahram] A top U.S. senator who oversees the United States' UN funding threatened on Friday to pull financial support for the international body if it moves forward with a vote on a resolution over Israeli settlements, and for any nation that backs the measure.
Lindsey Graham ... the endangered South Carolina RINO... , a South Carolina Republican who oversees the Senate subcommittee that controls such assistance, said in a statement: "If the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... moves forward with the ill-conceived resolution, I will work to form a bipartisan coalition to suspend or significantly reduce United States assistance to the United Nations."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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#1
No more ignoring New York City parking tickets forr yuuuuu!!!!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/24/2016 11:22
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[Al Ahram] The Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (IS) bully boy group killed 27 Syrian soldiers and allied bully boyz in a series of attacks near Palmyra in the past 24 hours, a monitor said on Friday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said IS began launching attacks on Syrian regime forces and their allies on Thursday night and that festivities were ongoing.
IS targeted several villages with a majority population from Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators... 's Alawite clan, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.
The Islamist faceless myrmidons were trying to "totally surround" the Tayfur military airport and "cut its supply route," said Abdel Rahman.
The Britannia-based Observatory said the base is located between the cities of Palmyra and Homs in central Syria.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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[Al Jazeera] A recently formed rebel group in the Central African Republic (CAR) is wreaking havoc in the western half of the country, displacing thousands and emptying towns and villages in a country already hit hard by instability.
The Return, Reclamation, Rehabilitation group, or 3R, was formed in late 2015 and has displaced at least 30,000 people in the Ouham Pende region in CAR, debilitating relief efforts in the region, the United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... told Al Jazeera on Thursday.
"Approximately 15,000 fled [from Koui in Ouham Pende] to the neighbouring town of Bocaranga and another 15,000 have not been identified yet ... they sought refuge in the bush and along the axis leading to Bocaranga," Yaye Nabo Sene, spokesperson at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the capital, Bangui, said.
Sene said that overall, some 70,000 people have been displaced across CAR since September, due to ongoing festivities between gangs vying for regional control.
The UN's comments come two days after Human Rights Watch (HRW) described the emergence of a new rebel group operating in the western parts of the country.
The watchdog accused the group of killing at least 50 people and displacing another 17,000 in a series of campaigns launched across the region between November 21 and 27. Two months earlier, the group allegedly raided the town of De Gaulle, killing 17 people and raping up to 43 women and girls.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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[DAWN] GHALANAI: Unknown miscreants blew up a community primary school for boys in Michnai Mosal Kor area of Ekkaghund tehsil in the wee hours of Thursday.
Official sources in Mohmand Agency ... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar... said that some unknown miscreants had planted an bomb at the building of community model primary school for boys of Malik Nasir Khan in Mosal Kor area at night which went kaboom! with a bang early on Thursday. They said that one room of the school was completely destroyed.
In the same area, unknown miscreants planted an bomb at the main gate of house of a local transporter, identified as Kala Khan. They said that one room of his house was extensively damaged in the blast. However, some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go... no loss of life was reported in the incident.
Naib tehsildar, Ekkaghund, Amir Nawaz confirmed the incident, saying that the school was closed and there was no loss of life in the blast.
In Tank, a watchman was injured when unknown miscreants targeted the basic health unit in Gomal area with an bomb while a hand-grenade was hurled at a house in Garah Shehbaz on Thursday.
According to police, unknown miscreants planted a remote-controlled bomb on the roof of a washroom of BHU in Kot Hakeem, Gomal area, which went kaboom! at 7:00am. As a result, the watchmen suffered injuries. He was taken to the DHQ hospital, Tank. The police said that the washroom was destroyed in the incident.
Meanwhile, ...back at the barn, Bossy was furiously chewing her cud and thinking... unknown miscreants hurled a hand grenade at the house of one Mohammad Ramazan. However, some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go... no loss of life or property was reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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Russian President Vladimir Putin asked to “restore the framework of bilateral cooperation” with the U.S. in a letter to President-elect Donald Trump earlier this month — which the transition team released Friday. The letter offers Christmas and New Year’s wishes, then Mr. Putin suggests the two nations find a way to get beyond the loggerheads of the last few years.
“I hope that after you assume the position of the President of the United States of America we will be able — by acting in a constructive and pragmatic manner — to take real steps to restore the framework of bilateral cooperation in different areas as well as bring our level of collaboration on the international scene to a qualitatively new level,” Mr. Putin said.
Mr. Trump, in a statement, called it “a very nice letter” and said “his thoughts are so correct.”
“I hope both sides are able to live up to these thoughts, and we do not have to travel an alternate path,” he said.
Democrats and the Obama administration have accused Mr. Putin of meddling in the U.S. election to try to sink Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee and former secretary of state who had tried but failed to earn better relations with Russia.
The release of the letter comes a day after both Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump suggested they might push to expand their countries’ nuclear capabilities — a move that arms control groups said could presage a new arms race.
During the campaign, Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump each had positive things to say about the other’s leadership style.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/24/2016
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Current law prohibits individuals from buying a gun if, because of a mental health issue, they are either a danger to themselves or others or are unable to manage their own affairs.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has indicated that it will begin the rulemaking process to ensure that appropriate information in its records is reported to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). The reporting that SSA, in consultation with the Department of Justice, is expected to require will cover appropriate records of the approximately 75,000 people each year who have a documented mental health issue, receive disability benefits, and are unable to manage those benefits because of their mental impairment, or who have been found by a state or federal court to be legally incompetent.
The rulemaking will also provide a mechanism for people to seek relief from the federal prohibition on possessing a firearm for reasons related to mental health. Unconstitutional. Period. Shoot it down.
#8
I think the rule as written is fine. We're only talking about people on full disability for mental illness AND who have a legal gaurdian because they are incompetent. If they can't sign their own checks or manage their own affairs, maybe they shouldn't possess firearms. The worry is, of course, this is just one small step toward the ultimate goal of banning firearms completely. But we should consider reasonable acts like this.
#9
Sorry JC but that is just the camels nose, or a hair of the camels nose. It's called precedence. Once they establish precedent of denying the 2nd for one group for a subjective medical reason they will start expanding it to include other subjective conditions. Each widening the breach just a little bit.
It's how we ended up with something like Roe vs Wade. Or any number of Federal incursions into states rights
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Lebanese Ministry of Finance announced that Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport Customs seized bag containing 20 kilograms of heroin on Friday.
The bag belonged to a traveler holding a Venezuelan passport who entered the country two days ago, the statement said.
Authorities have initiated legal proceedings against the suspect, it added.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Damascus water authority has been forced to cut supplies coming into the Syrian capital for a few days and use reserves instead after rebels polluted the water with diesel, it said on Friday.
The al-Fija spring which supplies Damascus with water is in the rebel-held Wadi Barada valley northwest of the capital in a mountainous area near the Lebanese border.
The government controls much of the surrounding territory and on Friday carried out aerial attacks and shelled the rebel-held area, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
A military news outlet run by Syrian government ally Hezbollah said the rebels in the Wadi Barada valley had refused to leave the area and as a result the Syrian Arab Army began an offensive against them on Friday morning.
Through a series of so-called settlement agreements and army offensives, the Syrian government, backed by Russian air power and Iran-backed militias, has been steadily suppressing armed opposition around the capital.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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#1
Is that chemical warfare or sabotage, or both?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/24/2016 6:12
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#2
Is this a new template for Islamic Terrorists here in the US? I remember the cops at reservoirs in the wake of 9/11.
A coordinated dumping of something like diesel at several of the water sources at the same time, or even a "lone wolf" could cause much consternation.
#3
This is something the infrastructure folks here have been worried about for years. Lots of steps taken to mitigate potential breaches, but 'there's always a way'.
Doesn't take a 'crew' to pull something like this off, either.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
12/24/2016 8:32
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#4
Couldn't happen. We have signs everywhere saying to stay away from the water reservoirs.
#6
The perps would need many tanker trucks if using diesel. However a a gallon of alar Would suffice to contaminate a gillion gallons of water as well as cause the acidic rein.
#2
Well good. Carter was and is many things. He certainly was not a media darling. DC hated the man. He was not part of the partying that DC so loves. Doing things himself left him an easy target. I am inclined to think of Bush saying that based on the Intel your options were limited.
#3
Poppa Bush is too told to commit at this point. Younger Bush apparently became thin skinned all of a sudden after 8 years of being blamed for everything by Obama. Clinton is posturing and virtue signaling.
When the dust settles I suspect they will all be there (except maybe Clinton who might go to the anti-inauguration concert to score some babes).
[LEGALINSURRECTION] Well, look at this! Politico has revealed that those in the electoral college who wanted to cause a ruckus on Monday kept in close contact with Hillary Clinton ... former first lady, former secretary of state, former presidential candidate, sometimes described by her supporters as the smartest woman in the world, usually described by the rest of us as a crook... ’s top aides Jake Sullivan and Jennifer Palmieri. Politico reported:
The first conversation appears to have occurred on Nov. 29, when Sullivan and other aides joined a conference call that included Colorado elector Micheal Baca, a member of a group working to persuade Republicans in the Electoral College to abandon Trump. Baca relayed the group’s long-shot strategy: to persuade Democratic and Republican electors to unite behind an alternative candidate to Trump.
In an email after the call, Baca apologized to Sullivan for his urgent tone.
"Not at all! We all share a sense of urgency," Sullivan replied. "Look forward to being in touch."
The next day, after Baca updated Sullivan on the group’s progress, Sullivan wrote that he personally believed the Clinton campaign should not be involved because it might send "mixed messages." "But I’m consulting with our leadership," he added.
Logs do not show further communication between Baca and Sullivan. But Baca did attempt to persuade Hillary campaign chair John Podesta to back his group’s efforts. Podesta never answered back.
But Palmieri showed plenty of interest in staying in touch with Baca:
The two spoke by phone for 15 minutes on Thursday, according to a log of the call, four days before the Electoral College vote. Two days later, while Baca was in Washington trying to drum up support, he and Palmieri had a short text message exchange in which Baca made what he described as his "final plea" to the Clinton team for assistance.
"I know I will have done everything I could to stop Trump but I am just a guy at the end of the day," he wrote. "Thank you so very much and I’ll trust whatever happens was the right decision."
Palmieri replied, "I hear you. Are you doing a presser today?"
Baca described an event he was planning at D.C.’s Sylvan Theater and asked whether she’d suggest any messaging. "What are you planning to say?" she asked. After Baca provided a short summary of his remarks, there was no further response from Palmieri.
Baca also reached out to electors in Washington state. He messaged Washington state elector Bret Chiafalo on Facebook, which led to the "Hamilton Electors, a group intent on preventing Trump from winning the Electoral College vote." The group wanted to "persuade Democratic and Republican electors wary of Trump to unite behind a mainstream Republican alternative such as Ohio Gov. John Kasich or 2012 GOP nominee Willard Mitt Romney ...former governor of Massachussetts, the Publican nominee for president in 2012. He is the son of the former governor of Michigan, George Romney, who himself ran for president after saving American Motors from failure, though not permanently. Romney has a record as a successful businessman, heading Bain Capital, and he rescued the 2002 Winter Olympics from the midst of bribery and mismanagement scandals.... ." They only needed 37 of the 306 Republicans within the college to defect.
Their efforts died, though, and in fact did the exact opposite. Hillary lost more electors on Monday than Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... Baca kept his word to Palmieri, but not to the state of Colorado. Baca voted for Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich moments after he took an oath to vote for Hillary Clinton. Electors at the Colorado capitol booed and shouted at him for defecting. Baca now faces prosecution.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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#1
Absolutely shocking! Who could have suspected such a connection.
[ABCNEWS.GO] Four men have been charged in what authorities allege was a plot to launch a Christmas Day terrorist attack in Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city.
Authorities detained five suspects, all men, in raids on Thursday night and Friday. Initially, three of the suspects were charged on Friday with preparing or planning a terrorist attack, The News Agency that Dare Not be Named reported. Authorities announced later in the day that a fourth man had been charged.
Hamza Abbas, 21, Ahmed Mohammed, 24, and Abdullah Chaarani, 26, did not enter pleas or apply for bail. They will appear in court next on April 28. Each faces a life sentence if convicted. The fourth man, a 22-year-old that authorities did not name, was also charged with preparing or planning a terrorist attack.
Four of the five suspects were born in Australia while the fifth was born in Egypt but holds dual citizenship.
Authorities say the men took inspiration from the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... and planned to use explosives, knives and a gun to attack well-known landmarks in Melbourne, including the Flinders Street train station, Federation Square and St. Paul's Cathedral.
The alleged plotters were under police surveillance prior to the raids and had moved quickly from the planning stages to being able to strike, authorities said.
"Islamist terrorism is a global challenge that affects us all. But we must not be cowed by the terrorists," Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told news hounds.
Law enforcement officials said the suspects posed a serious threat, adding that it was one of the most substantial terrorist plots seen in the country in recent years.
"In terms of events that we have seen over the past few years in Australia, this certainly concerns me more than any other event that I've seen," Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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[DAWN] The Foreign Office dismissed on Thursday Pentagon’s latest assessment that the Taliban and Haqqani network were freely operating from Pakistain and instead accused Afghanistan of being an epicentre of terrorism in the region.
"This is more of a rhetoric than anything else. Afghanistan is infested with most terrorist organizations due to the instability there, which has created space for these terrorist elements," Foreign Office Spokesman Nafees Zakaria said. Then his lips fell off.
He was reacting to the recent biannual report of the US Department of Defence on security and stability situation in Afghanistan, which had said: "Afghan-oriented bully boy groups, including Taliban and Haqqani network’s big shotship, retain freedom of action from safe havens inside Pak territory. The United States continues to be clear with Pakistain about steps it should take to improve the security environment and deny safe havens to terrorist and myrmidon groups."
Mr Zakaria recalled the counterterrorism operations undertaken by Pak security forces in the tribal areas, which had restored peace there. But he also acknowledged that a large number of holy warriors had moved to Afghanistan after the start of the operations.
The number of "senior commanders of Haqqani network, Taliban, Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups killed in Afghanistan this year," he stressed, by itself told where the leadership of these organizations was currently based.
A senior FO official, in a testimony at the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee earlier in the week, had said that the Haqqani network and Taliban had been told to end violence in Afghanistan.
The front man in his briefing avoided commenting on the reported statement and said "we remain committed and extend all cooperation to the efforts towards bringing peace and stability in Afghanistan".
It should be further recalled that Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry had in a rare admission told a TV interviewer that some of Haqqani network/Talibs were in Pakistain, but had been instructed not to indulge in any terrorist activity or violence in Afghanistan.
Mr Zakaria renewed Pakistain’s offer to facilitate the Afghan grinding of the peace processor.
Senior officials from Pakistain, Russia and China would meet in Russia on Dec 27 to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, besides the overall regional security situation.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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[DAWN] Mystery surrounds a reported missile attack on a merchant ship manned by Pak crew off the coast of Yemen, near the war-torn country’s Hodeidah port.
Syed Mohammad Ahmed, an official of Arabian Marine Services, the manning agent of the Iranian vessel MV-Jouya-8, claimed that eight Pak sailors, seven of whom had been provided by his company, were on the ship when it was hit by a missile four days ago.
The ship was reportedly on its way to Dubai after delivering cargo in Egypt.
Talking to Dawn over the phone, Mr Ahmed said, his information was based on a telephone call received from Mr Kabir, the chief officer of the ship, who reportedly jumped off and swam to the coast.
"The fate of other seven Pak crew members is still unknown," he said, adding the vessel probably sank after the strike.
He said Mr Kabir had called him from Yemen.
The Red Sea port of Hodeidah is controlled by Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... militia.
"It was a minute and a half call and the quality of voice was very bad so I don’t have more details," said Mr Ahmed, adding that he had shared the available information with the Pakistain Navy.
There was no claim about the source of the attack.
Earlier this month at least six Pak sailors were killed when their ship was bombed by Saudi jets off Mokha coast in the Yemeni province of Ta’izz. It remains unclear what happened to the other six on board that ill-fated ship.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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[Al Ahram] Turks reacted angrily Friday on social media to a video released by the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group purportedly showing two captured Turkish soldiers being burned alive, while awaiting an official reaction from the government.
The 19-minute video, showing two uniformed men being hauled from a cage before being bound and torched, was posted on jihadist websites and supposedly shot in the IS-declared "Aleppo Province" in northern Syria.
The video, which sparked outrage in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , came as the Turkish military was suffering its worst losses in its fight against jihadists in northern Syria, where nearly 90 civilians have been killed since Thursday in Turkish raids, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Speaking in Turkish, the killer of the two men criticises Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... and calls for "destruction to be sowed" in Turkey.
By mid-Friday, the Turkish authorities had not yet reacted but Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim were due to speak later in the day in Izmir in western Turkey.
Despite reported difficulty in accessing some sites, especially Twitter and Facebook, internet users were widely discussing the brutal video, with one saying "it's a nightmare".
Twitter, Facebook and YouTube were difficult to access in Turkey on Friday, according to Turkey Blocks, a website specialising in tracking internet censorship.
The traumatic images added to the pain suffered by Turks, who have had to deal with several attacks -- including several claimed by IS jihadists -- a bloody but failed coup and, this week, the liquidation of Russia's ambassador in Ankara.
According to pro-government news agency Anadolu, Turkish police tossed in the slammer Book 'im, Mahmoud! 31 people suspected of links with IS on Friday and were hunting for 10 more. It was not clear if the arrests were linked to the video.
The shocking images recall the killing of Maaz al-Kassasbeh, a Jordanian fighter pilot, who was captured by the jihadists when his plane went down in Syria in December 2014, and was later burned alive in a cage.
Before being burned, the two victims gave their names in Turkish as Fethi Sahin, born in Konya in central Turkey and Sefter Tas, a 21-year-old serving in Kilis in the southeast.
According to Turkish media, a soldier by the name of Sefter Tas was kidnapped by IS on September 1, 2015, but Ankara never confirmed the capture.
The Turkish army however did confirm last month it had lost contact with two of its troops in Syria and the IS-linked propaganda agency Amaq had claimed their capture by the jihadists. Again, Turkish authorities did not confirm the alleged kidnapping.
The video came shortly after 16 Turkish soldiers were killed by IS fighters in Ankara's biggest loss so far in its unprecedented incursion into Syria.
They were killed in a succession of attacks around the Syrian town of al-Bab on Wednesday that included three suicide boom-mobileings.
The video was also published just hours after Erdogan vowed no let-up in the ongoing campaign.
"Yes, maybe we will have to lay deaders to rest," he said in a speech in Ankara.
"But we are determined to preserve their memory and protect what they left us and continue this struggle."
With Turkish involvement in the battle intensifying, the Syrian Observatory said at least 88 civilians had been killed in 24 hours of Turkish air strikes on an Islamic State group bastion in northern Syria.
At least 35 Turkish soldiers have been killed since the August 24 start of Turkey's campaign in Syria codenamed Operation Euphrates Shield.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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[DAWN] COLD-blooded mass murder -- even by the standards of violence to which Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... has been subjected over the last few decades, it is a chilling confession, provided, of course, it was not made under duress. What makes it even more horrific is that the man who has admitted to the crime belongs to a major political party that has been a coalition partner on both national and provincial levels. Abdul Rehman, alias Bhola, a former MQM sector in-charge, confessed on Thursday before a judicial magistrate to his involvement in the Baldia factory fire case, claiming he acted on instructions from his political masters. According to the suspect, he, along with an accomplice, set the multistorey garment factory ablaze on Sept 11, 2012, at the behest of the then MQM Tanzeemi Committee chief Hammad Siddiqui because the factory owners had refused to pay the protection money demanded. Over 250 factory workers were burned alive in the inferno, the deadliest industrial disaster in Pakistain’s history.
Abdul Rehman’s confession blows the lid off the workings of the MQM, down to the very sector and unit level upon which the party was organised in its areas of influence. The MQM used fear and intimidation to enforce its vice-like grip over Pakistain’s largest city; that much was well known. But the latest revelation illustrates the ruthlessness with which it pursued its objectives, and the impunity that it believed it enjoyed to achieve them. If party leaders could go so far as to order arson at a place where it was obvious that hundreds would die an agonising death trapped behind locked doors, one may well ask: what else were they capable of? The venality of the MQM’s krazed killer element is no longer in any doubt. They must be brought to book, and every allegation against them and their partners in crime investigated.
However, there's more than one way to stuff a chicken... the truth is that the political machinations of the establishment -- not to mention the competing agendas of the different groups that comprise it -- and its penchant for playing off one ’asset’ against another, have much to do with the MQM’s rise, its dominance and subsequent factionalisation. Now that the ghastly details of the party’s criminal acts are coming to light, impartiality and due process are all the more critical: without them, even compelling evidence can be presented by the perpetrators as political victimisation. Finally, this is also an hour of reckoning for those who have been affiliated with the MQM for decades and who still aspire to represent the people of this country. Certainly, they have distanced themselves from party supremo the increasingly corpulentAltaf Hussain ..The head of MQM in Pakistain, who has lived in London and hasn't laid eyes on Pakistain since Caesar made corporal. Judging from the size of him,he may be a Hutt... -- whether tacitly or otherwise, but undeniably for opportunistic reasons -- since the crackdown against the MQM began. However, there's more than one way to stuff a chicken... that does not absolve them of responsibility for the crimes committed by the MQM. Instead of more lies and prevarication, the people of Karachi, in particular, deserve an apology.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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[RUDAW.NET] Rudaw spoke with Ibrahim Idlibi, a Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... (FSA) spokesperson on Friday about the state of affairs in Aleppo before their retreat from the city and the assistance or lack thereof from their foreign backers during the siege.
Below is the text of Idlibi's conversation with Rudaw TV.
Yesterday the last fighters of FSA left Aleppo for the countryside. Now Aleppo is empty of FSA fighters. More than 30,000 civilians and 7,000 fighters left the eastern neighborhoods in seven days after a Turkish-Syrian deal. Some of them have gone to the northern countryside. The city has no FSA. There are now Hezbollah militia, Iranian militia and regime forces.
We have not given up on the city, but the war compelled us to do that. FSA managed to resist inside the city under 113 days of siege. But regime and Iranian forces alongside Russian jets exhausted the fighters in the eastern neighborhoods. They killed civilians and devastated the city. This led FSA to retreat temporarily and reorganize our forces for if there is a new battle.
Had there been food supplies and medicine to treat the maimed civilians the FSA would not have retreated. Regime and Iranian militia brought food and medical supplies into the eastern neighborhoods and filmed it and said they belonged to FSA and FSA had kept it away. But that is not true. If the FSA had such supplies the FSA would have stayed longer. We had plans to resist six months or longer but the heavy bombing and destruction compelled us to withdraw.
Not only The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , but all friends of Syria abandoned the FSA and in fact they bear responsibility for the demographic changes taking place in this city. The friends of the Syrian people should have dropped assistance to us through the air. The UN convoys were all around the city and the regime forces couldn't enter the city. They could have airdropped assistance to us but they were not honest with their friends inside Aleppo.
The FSA did not give up on Aleppo, and it is still fighting on many fronts. We have only lost 13 percent of the area and the rest of the countryside is still under FSA. There is Idlib and Hama and we get help from the friends of Syria not only Turkey. And there is the Euphrates Shield still going. I can only say that people abandoned us in Aleppo. Everywhere else, on the east and western fronts battles still continue and they are helped by our allies. For sure the loss of Aleppo was a big loss for the revolution but it was for the safety of the people and our fighters.
Yes there were big losses in lives and material. There were more than 30 FSA deaders throughout the 113 days of siege. We lost tanks and our heavy weapons were not useful for the street fight. The FSA killed more than 1,300 regime forces and its militias. But the main victims were the civilians because Russian jets and Iranian forces destroyed their resources. All of this is considered loss for the revolution. But our losses cannot be compared to the high level of regime, Iranian and Iraqi militias.
3,000 non-combatants were killed during the 113 days of siege. 13 medical centers were destroyed. Regime forces destroyed Sulaimani Halabi plant that supplied the eastern part of the city with water and electricity. All electricity lines were destroyed with jets and artillery fire.
Yes, 1,300 regime and militia forces were killed. Seven tanks destroyed inside the city with armor-piercing missiles and we handed over 14 Iranian militia prisoners based on the deal. And we handed over maimed personnel of the regime. In the outskirts of the city of Aleppo many regime army machinery have been destroyed.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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[DAWN] In an intelligence-based operation, Rangers on Friday claimed to have jugged You have the right to remain silent... five individuals in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... suspected for involvement in terror financing.
The paramilitary troops raided two different offices on I.I Chundrigar Road and Hockey Stadium.
According to unconfirmed media reports, both offices belong to a close aide of a political leader.
The cache of arms and ammunition recovered includes 17 Kalashnikov rifles, four pistols, nine ball bombs, and a variety of different types of ammunition.
In a separate raid, personnel from the paramilitary force raided an empty plot situated in the Baldia Town area of the metropolis.
A large quantity of arms and ammunition were recovered from the spot, claimed the Rangers spokesperson.
Following the raids, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... called on Interior Minister Chaudhary Nisar for updates regarding the matter.
The premier is said to have also asked about the motive behind these raids.
The raid came hours ahead of the arrival of the PPP co-chairman, who returned to Pakistain after 18 months in self-imposed 'exile'.
Adviser to the Sindh Chief Minister on Information Maula Bukhsh Chandio, reacting to the raids, said the provincial government was not taken into confidence before carrying out these raids.
He criticised Chaudhary Nisar for trying to portray these raids as having some kind of relevance to the political situation in the country.
"The timing of these raids will give rise to the perception that they were politically motivated and had little to do with the [Karachi] operation," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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[RUDAW.NET] The United States does not support the Kurdish groups in northern Syria linking together the three cantons of Afrin, Kobane and Cizre along the Syrian-Turkish border, the US ambassador to Ankara said in an interview broadcast on Friday.
John Bass said that his country has two goals in its support for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The first goal is to ensure the defeat of ISIS in Syria, especially along the Syrian-Turkish border, therefore eliminating the threat of the bully boy group to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... . Secondly, this outcome should not come at the expense of creating other problems for Turkey, a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... ally.
"[T]he other goal we have had is to approach this problem set in Syria and to ensure we conduct military operations in ways that do not create a long-term strategic problem for Turkey, our NATO ally," Bass told Turkish NTV.
"That is an important reason why we do not support, have never supported, connection of the so-called Kurdish cantons in Syria."
Kurds have three self-administered cantons located along Syria’s northwestern border with Turkey, collectively known as Rojava. Afrin canton in the west is separated from the eastern cantons of Kobane and Cizre by a 100 kilometre-long stretch that is now under control of Turkey and its allied militias. The lands between Afrin and Kobane cantons are demographically mixed.
Turkey opposes the Syrian Kurds advancing westward from Kobane to link up with Afrin. Ankara does not want to see the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) ‐ the foremost gang in the SDF ‐ dominate the border region as Turkey considers the YPG to be an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
"We do not support anyone on the ground changing demography or changing political governance structures unilaterally based solely on their military success against ISIS," Bass said, using another name for ISIS.
Fawzi Sleman, spokesperson for the defence committee of Afrin canton, told Rudaw in late June that uniting the three Rojava cantons is decisive for the Kurdish administration.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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#10
um.. we are talking about the box she's holding aren't we? :)
Damnit!!!
I will be good, I will be good, I will be good, I will be good, I will be good, I will be good, I will be good, I will be good, I will be good, I will be good, I will be good, I will be good, I will be good, I will be good, I will be good, I will be good, I will be good...
[NBCNEWS] Kellyanne Conway, the Republican pollster who managed Donald Trump's campaign in its final months, will be appointed counselor to the president, the transition team announced Thursday.
"She is a tireless and tenacious advocate of my agenda and has amazing insights on how to effectively communicate our message. I am pleased that she will be part of my senior team in the West Wing," the president-elect said in a statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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[DAWN] Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar on Friday called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... , in the first such visit since his appointment as chief of Inter-Services Intelligence ...the Pak military intelligence agency that controls the military -- heads of ISI typically get promoted into the Chief of Army Staff position. It serves as a general command center for favored turban groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, tries to influence the politix of neighboring countries, and carries out a (usually) low-level war against India in Kashmir... (ISI) earlier this month, a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said. During the meeting, the DG ISI and the prime minister discussed policy guidelines and internal security, sources in the PM House told DawnNews.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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[IsraelTimes] Documents issued by EU foreign policy chief reduce the amount of material currently held by Iran that is counted as enriched uranium
Iran and world powers have agreed on clarifications to the 2015 nuclear deal that will effectively allow Iran to enrich more uranium than previously thought, Rooters reported Friday.
The technical documents released by the office of European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini state that some of the enriched material held by Iran is not counted under the limits set by the accord -- for instance unrecoverable uranium left in pipes.
"All current low-level solid waste contaminated with low-enriched uranium (LEU)...which is deemed unrecoverable, is not part of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile as specified in the [accord] provided that Iran does not build or operate any facility or part of a facility capable of recovering LEU from solid waste for 15 years," one clause quoted by Rooters said.
The new documents would apparently allow Tehran more leeway in its activities, after diplomats warned earlier this week that Tehran could soon pass the agreed-upon limit on the material.
The deal originally stipulated that Iran can possess only low-enriched uranium -- which is not suitable for weapons -- and no more than 300 kilograms (660 pounds) at any time. That’s far less than would be needed to make a nuclear weapon, even if it were further enriched to weapons-grade levels.
Even a slight violation of Iran’s enrichment commitments would be politically volatile at a time when the deal is on shaky ground. The incoming US administration wants the agreement renegotiated, and many American politicians oppose it. Iran says it won’t renegotiate the deal, and accuses the United States of reneging on commitments to lift sanctions.
Iran insists it is not interested in nuclear arms. Its president, Hassan Rouhani, said after talks with IAEA chief Yukiya Amano last weekend that his country would abide by the deal if other nations do as well.
An IAEA statement said Amano "stressed the vital importance of full implementation by Iran of its nuclear-related commitments." Asked whether he had concerns about Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, he told news hounds that Tehran is within the limits -- "for now."
While Iran has generally kept its obligations since the deal was implemented in January, it has twice exceeded the limit on stockpiles of heavy water, which cools reactors that produce large amounts of plutonium.
On Tuesday Iran’s nuclear energy agency indicated that Tehran would soon begin injecting gas into the latest generation of advanced centrifuges, IR-8, in a move that marks the next step to make them operational and that Iran says is permitted under the terms of the nuclear deal.
Iran has said that its IR-8 centrifuges enrich uranium 20 times faster than the IR-1 centrifuges, which the country used prior to the deal.
Under the terms of the agreement as issued in a fact sheet released by the US State Department last year, Iran "will not use its IR-2, IR-4, IR-5, IR-6, or IR-8 models to produce enriched uranium for at least ten years. For ten years, enrichment and enrichment research and development will be limited to ensure a breakout timeline of at least 1 year. Beyond 10 years, Iran will abide by its enrichment and enrichment R&D plan submitted to the IAEA, and pursuant to the JCPOA, under the Additional Protocol resulting in certain limitations on enrichment capacity."
Iran has maintained that, under the accord, it was allowed to conduct R&D on its more advanced centrifuges.
[WASHINGTONPOST] Before lunchtime Thursday, President-elect Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... said he would expand the U.S. nuclear arsenal, upending a reduction course set by presidents of both parties over the past four decades, and called for the United States to veto a pending U.N. resolution that criticized Israel’s settlements policy.
The policy prescriptions, communicated in morning tweets, followed calls since last month’s election to reconsider the arms-length U.S. relationship with Taiwan and to let China keep an underwater U.S. vessel seized by its navy. Trump declared within hours of this week’s Berlin terrorist attack that it was part of a global Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... campaign to "slaughter Christians" and later said it reaffirmed the wisdom of his plans to bar Moslem immigrants colonists.
Late Thursday, Trump suggested in another tweet that the U.S. military’s years-in-the-making plans for a new stealth fighter, Lockheed Martin’s F-35, might be reconsidered, saying he had "asked Boeing to price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet!"
With weeks to go before he becomes president, Trump has not hesitated to voice his opinions on national security issues of the day and to publicly advise the current president on what to do about them.
[IsraelTimes] Speaking during a marathon end-of-year news conference that was televised live, Putin said he sees "nothing unusual" in Trump’s pledge to strengthen the US nuclear forces, calling the statement in line with the president-elect’s campaign promises.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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#1
27 days until President Trump then we get to unshackle ourselves from our Saudi overlords and jettison the waste into space
#2
Lots more Putin Quotes pertaining to the Donald and stealing the elections, touched on yesterday.
"Trump understood the mood of the people and kept going until the end, when nobody believed in him," he said of Trump's election performance. "Except for you and me."
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/24/2016 18:47
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[Al Ahram] Militant group Islamic State has acknowledged the death of the Berlin Christmas market attacker, according to a posting by its Amaq news agency. "The executor of the Berlin attacks carries out another attack on Italian police in Milan and is killed in a shoot-out," the statement said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2016
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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.
[Liberal Society] In a farewell interview, Barack Obama the president slammed Fox News and conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh. The president also pointed out how they manipulated the American people into thinking that President Obama was a bad president.
[Breitbart] Britain’s Prince of Wales has spoken out on national radio in an appeal for persecuted Christians and minorities across the world, but the Royal also moved to criticise "populist groups".
[THEGUARDIAN] Two men have been found guilty of trying to join 
[Hurriyet Daily News] The capture of Syria’s al-Bab from the 
[INDEPENDENT.MT] Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the hijackers on the Libyan plane which was hijacked on its way to 
A highly effective vaccine that guards against the deadly Ebola virus could be available by 2018, says the World Health Organization. Trials conducted in Guinea, one of the West African countries most affected by an outbreak of Ebola that ended this year, show it offers 100% protection.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[AA.TR] 
[DAWN] Seven convicted 
[AA.TR] Police in the Belgian capital Brussels destroyed a bomb in front of a Turkish community center on Friday.
A man living in the heart of Virginia's military powerhouse area, who the FBI said purchased an AK-47 after the San Bernardino terrorist attack and was close to committing his own attack, has been charged with attempting to support ISIS. Lionel Nelson Williams, 26, of Suffolk, Va., a Virginia-born U.S. citizen who also went by the name Harun Ash-Shababi, was arrested there Wednesday.
[THEHILL] President-elect 
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
[BREITBART] In the time-honored tradition of naming clogged urban thoroughfares after politicians, a group of Democrats in Los Angeles is proposing to rename a freeway after President 
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Mac Reports announced, on Thursday, that Turkish police found the IPhone of the killer of the Russian Ambassador who was 
[REUTERS] The United States on Friday allowed the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlements, defying pressure from U.S. President-elect 
[Tolo News] A Taliban’s local commander was killed in a clash between the fighters and security forces in Baghlan-e-Markazi district in Baghlan province, local officials said on Friday.
[AA.TR] Iraqi forces on Friday recaptured a 
Lindsey Graham
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Mohmand Agency
Russian President Vladimir Putin asked to “restore the framework of bilateral cooperation” with the U.S. in a letter to President-elect Donald Trump earlier this month — which the transition team released Friday. The letter offers Christmas and New Year’s wishes, then Mr. Putin suggests the two nations find a way to get beyond the loggerheads of the last few years.
Current law prohibits individuals from buying a gun if, because of a mental health issue, they are either a danger to themselves or others or are unable to manage their own affairs. 
[DAILYCALLER] Jimmy Carter is the only former president who has confirmed that he will be at Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Hillary Clinton
[ABCNEWS.GO] Four men have been charged in what authorities allege was a plot to launch a Christmas Day terrorist attack in Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city.
[DAWN] In an intelligence-based operation, Rangers on Friday claimed to have 
[Al Ahram] Militant group Islamic State has acknowledged the death of the Berlin Christmas market attacker, according to a posting by its Amaq news agency. "The executor of the Berlin attacks carries out another attack on Italian police in Milan and is killed in a shoot-out," the statement said.
