Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto tweeted today that the infamous drug lord known as "El Chapo" has been captured.
"Mission accomplished: We have him. I want to inform the Mexicans that Joaquin Guzman Loera has been detained," the tweet states, written in Spanish.
A U.S. law enforcement official also confirmed his capture to ABC News.
An official from the Mexico Marines confirms to ABC News that Guzman was captured after a shootout with Mexican Marines in the city of Los Mochis, in the state of Sinaloa, this morning.
Earlier today, The Associated Press reported that five people had been killed and six people were arrested when the Mexican Marines raided a house in Sinaloa. The government has not confirmed a connection between the two.
There have been other raids in Sinaloa in recent months as part of the then-ongoing search for Guzman, the AP said.
Guzman, 57, escaped from the Altiplano prison near Mexico City July 11 and there has been an active manhunt for him ever since.
When guards realized that he was missing from his cell, they found that a ventilated tunnel had been constructed and had an exit via the bathtub inside Guzman's cell. The tunnel extended for about a mile underground and featured an adapted motorcycle on rails that officials believe was used to transport the tools used to create the tunnel, Monte Alejandro Rubido, the head of the Mexican national security commission, said in July after Guzman's escape.
Guzman had been arrested five months prior to the July escape.
He had escaped before from a prior prison stint, also using a tunnel.
#2
Actually, the drug war is a WOT for our neighbors to the south. The only way this miscreant won't be able to buy his way out again is to ship his ass to the US. It would also be a warning to his brothers sitting in Mexican jails to be happy and stay put.
#6
Wonder if he had anything to do with the assassination of the recently elected Mayor of Mexico City. Hasn't been a week since that and suddenly Chapo is captured.
Posted by: Charles ||
01/08/2016 21:25
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Authorities say a Philadelphia police officer is recovering after he was shot several times during an ambush late Thursday night in West Philadelphia.
Philadelphia police commissioner Richard Ross says the officer was sitting in his patrol car around 11:30 p.m. at 60th and Spruce Streets when a gunman fired 11 shots through the driver's side of the car.
Police are calling it an "attempted assassination." IOW: Terrorism
In a press conference, Commissioner Ross said the gun used in the attack was a stolen police firearm. So 0bean's new rules wouldn't have helped. Again.
"It was stolen back in October of 2013. It was reported and that is one of the things you regret the most when an officer's gun is stolen, when it is used against one of your own."
The officer, 33-year-old Jesse Hartnett, was struck three times in his arm, authorities say.
"Shots fired! I'm shot! I'm bleeding heavily!" Hartnett can be heard yelling on police radio.
Commissioner Ross says the suspect has given a full confession, saying he did it in the name of Islam. I wonder if 0bean is going to question the guy's motives now.
Ross says, "According to him police bend laws that are contrary to the teachings of the Quran." So in response, he tries to kill.
Sources say the suspect's full confession of the alleged attack was written down and recorded on video. He'll end up pleading not guilty.
Police sources identify the suspect as Edward Archer, of Yeadon.
"When you look at the video, this is one of the scariest things I've ever seen," Commissioner Ross said. "This guy tried to execute the police officer. The police officer had no idea he was coming. It's amazing he's alive."
Commissioner Ross said later, "We're thankful to God he's here today because it easily could've been a police funeral."
Hartnett was taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center where he underwent surgery for a broken arm. Ross says the officer's arm suffered significant damage and that he has a long road to recovery, but he is expected to be okay.
His father, Robert Hartnett says, "It's going to be a tough road, but he's a tough guy... I told him I love him, and I'm proud of him and he is an excellent person."
Hartnett returned fire and struck the 30-year-old suspect at least three times. The suspect tried to escape on foot, authorities say, but was quickly caught and taken to the hospital.
Sources say the wounded officer told investigators that Archer walked up to the car, appeared to be about to ask for directions when he pulled a 9 mm and opened up with 13 shots. The officer was hit then fired back and the suspect was also wounded, but he does not have life-threatening injuries.
DA Seth Williams says "I'm very thankful the officer is alive. This shows us the need for smarter laws when it relates to guns on the street. My office is going to do all that we can to ensure the defendant is held accountable to the fullest extent of the law." You can't defeat criminals with "smarter" laws, whatever that means. "Smart" would be to deport him and his family.
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf released the following statement: 'We are thankful that Officer Hartnett is alive and not facing life-threatening injuries after being ambushed. We wish him and his family the best during his recovery. This alleged intentional act of violence against an officer seeking to help a fellow citizen is horrifying and has no place in Pennsylvania.' Our enemies think otherwise.
Hartnett is an 18th district officer with five years on the force.
The FBI is now assisting in the investigation. I wonder if they are operating under 0bean's enlightened guidance, or if he has learned to step out of these kinds of things.
Where is that tiny violin? it's around here somewhere...
A sheriff says a "woman with means" whose fugitive teenage son used an "affluenza" defense to avoid prison after killing four people in a drunken-driving wreck has complained about the conditions in her Texas jail cell.
Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said at a news conference Friday that he responded to Tonya Couch's complaints by saying it "is a jail, not a resort."
Couch made an initial appearance at court Friday on a charge of hindering the apprehension of a felon.
Authorities believe Couch and her 18-year-old son, Ethan Couch, fled Texas in November as prosecutors investigated whether the teenager had violated his probation.
The mother and son were arrested in the Mexican resort city of Puerto Vallarta late last month.
Finnish police reported Thursday an unusually high level of sexual harassment in Helsinki on New Year's Eve and said they had been tipped off about plans by groups of asylum seekers to sexually harass women.
Helsinki deputy police chief Ilkka Koskimaki told AFP: "There hasn't been this kind of harassment on previous New Year's Eves or other occasions for that matter... This is a completely new phenomenon in Helsinki."
Security guards hired to patrol the city on New Year's Eve told police there had been "widespread sexual harassment" at a central square where around 20,000 people had gathered for celebrations. Three sexual assaults allegedly took place at Helsinki's central railway station on New Year's Eve, where around 1,000 mostly Iraqi asylum seekers had converged.
"Police have... received information about three cases of sexual assault, of which two have been filed as complaints," Helsinki police said in a statement.
"The suspects were asylum seekers. The three were caught and taken into custody on the spot," Koskimaki told AFP.
Police said they had increased their preparedness "to an exceptional level" in Helsinki for New Year's Eve after being tipped off about possible problems.
"Ahead of New Year's Eve, the police caught wind of information that asylum seekers in the capital region possibly had similar plans to what the men gathered in Cologne's railway station have been reported to have had," police said in a statement.
Koskimaki said police did not see a link between the Cologne and Helsinki incidents.
No, no, certainly not. There wasn't explicit communication between the harassers in the two cities. Then again, there didn't need to be...
Shortly before New Year's Eve, Finnish police also arrested six Iraqis at an asylum residency centre in Kirkkonummi, around 30 kilometres (19 miles) west of Helsinki, suspected of "publicly inciting criminal behaviour". They were released on January 2.
Why?
According to Koskimaki, the arrests were linked to the information police received in the run-up to New Year's Eve.
In November, Finnish authorities said around 10 asylum seekers were suspected of rapes, among the more than 1,000 rapes reported to police in 2015.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/08/2016
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Cologne's head of police has been suspended after allegations he withheld information on the New Year's Eve sexual assaults. The state's interior minister said to expect more details from the investigation next week.
The city's police chief, Wolfgang Albers, was provisionally relieved of his duties, North Rhine Westphalia's Interior Minister Ralf Jäger told journalists in the state capital of Düsseldorf on Friday. "This step is important so that public trust and the Cologne police's ability to act can be restored," Jäger said, justifying his decision.
The interior minister said that he personally spoke to Albers and that the police chief showed "a great deal of understanding." The official decision came shortly after police were criticized for their inability to prevent around 1,000 men from robbing and sexually harassing women at Cologne's central station on December 31.
Police officials would now investigate the incidents of December 31 and "draw necessary conclusions," Jäger said. "People want to know, and rightly so, what happened on New Year's Eve, who the offenders were and how these incidents can be prevented," he told reporters.
Cologne's police force was severely criticized after officers failed to prevent dozens of women from being robbed and molested by groups of men gathered at the city's central station. Chief of Police Wolfgang Albers was specifically accused of not informing the public about the attacks and withholding the countries of origin of the assaulters.
Somebody sure did a lot of withholding. But I'm guessing that certain higher up political types didn't care to know and wouldn't care today except for the heat that has been generated...
City mayor Henriette Reker also distanced herself from the police head, saying she was not given a complete picture of the security situation that night.
Reker now commences the necessary scramble to try and save her political career. That it requires to sacrifice underlings is to be expected...
"I cannot accept the fact that as the mayor of this city, I get this information from the media, especially regarding the origin of the suspects who were investigated," Reker said in an official statement. Her "trust in the police leadership" had been "severely shaken" following the revelations, she added.
Authorities released two suspects a couple of hours after they were arrested in connection with sexual assaults in Cologne's central station on December 31, when groups of men robbed and harassed hundreds of women. One of the alleged conmen was a 16-year-old from Morocco while the other was 23 years old and from Tunisia. Officers let them go owing to a lack of evidence, Cologne's prosecutor Benedikt Kortz told the dpa news agency.
And, apparently, because they didn't want the backlash they'd suffer from the elites that would come from arresting a poor, dear refugees in a favored status group...
Cologne police also registered an increase in criminal complaints by women assaulted on New Year's Eve. Nearly two-thirds of the 170 complaints filed until Friday had to do with sexual assault, dpa quoted police officials as saying.
Officials were also evaluating over 350 hours of video footage. Around 1,000 men are reported to have gathered at Cologne's central station New Year's Eve. They divided themselves into smaller groups and robbed and sexually harassed dozens of women. Similar incidents at a smaller scale occurred in Hamburg and Stuttgart.
And elsewhere, we'll learn in the coming days...
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/08/2016
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#1
I guess the mayor is incapable of turning on her TV and getting her information like everyone else?
The State Department is failing to respond in a timely and accurate manner to requests for public records filed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), an internal watchdog investigation released today concludes.
The report, issued by the State Department's Office of Inspector General, recommends the State Department hire and dedicate more staff for the purpose of producing records, to which the State Department says it agrees.
"While the volume of State Freedom of Information Act requests has tripled since 2008, our resources to respond have not kept pace," State Department John Kirby said in a statement to ABC News. "That said, we know we must continue to improve our FOIA responsiveness and are taking additional steps to do so."
To keep on pace, the State Department says it will comply with all the recommendations for improvement and has already hired a "transparency coordinator," which the report noted as a positive step.
Delays in document production have been both highlighted and exacerbated by recent FOIA litigation in which a federal judge ordered the State Department to release 55,000 pages of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's private email correspondence accumulated during her time in office.
The State Department has noted that this requirement alone has heavily taxed its personnel resources. At the end of last month, the State Department fell short of a court-ordered requirement to release 82 percent of the documents. Coincidentally, the department plans to release more emails today in order to reach that goal.
The report said plainly that searches conducted by the State Department "do not consistently meet statutory and regulatory requirements for completeness and rarely meet requirements for timeliness."
Government agencies are required by law to respond to FOIA requests within 20 days, simply to inform them about whether or not they intend to comply. The report found that in some cases responses lagged for 500 days.
The report also examined historical trends of FOIA requests. That data shows that of the past five secretaries of state, Hillary Clinton has the most FOIA requests that are still pending -- 177 of them. But she also had by far the most requests to respond to -- 240. Colin Powell had the second most requests at 99, with 23 of them still pending.
In addition to requests from the public, the State Department is also required to respond to constant barrage of requests for information from Congress.
At a congressional hearing today in front of the House Oversight Committee, the State Department's Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs, Julia Frifield, argued essentially that her department is overwhelmed by requests from Congress. She pointed out that in 2015 alone, the State Department arranged 536 congressional and staff trips abroad, 2,500 briefings, handled more than 5,000 constituent cases for members of Congress, testified at 168 hearings, answered 1,700 congressional letters and provided hundreds of thousands of pages of documents. She said the dozens of investigations from nine separate committees has doubled the workload from 2014.
#2
The top person should be put in jail until the records are put over. Then two weeks later put the next person in jail. Pass a law that says anyone that has served time in prison. Before long we'll have the info or will have cleaned out the state department.
#1
Over $200,000 on body armor spent by the Environmental Protection Agency during the Obama administration years, versus just $30,000 in the three previous fiscal years.
Watch out Ranchers. They are arming to come get you.
“When agencies like the Bureau of Public Debt and Small Business Administration are spending money on body armor and bulletproof vests, it is an indicator of bloat in those agencies’ budgets and the wasteful incentive to spend every dime before the fiscal year-end,” Mr. Edwards said.
It is more than that. They are getting ready to wage war on the American people Mr. Edwards. Why do you think there is such a push for surveillance and disarmament of the public?
#3
Question for you ex-military types: The other day a local full time national guard member showed up at a local retail gun shop saying that for reasons he didn't care to discuss they needed to carry sidearms at all times while on duty. He wrote a personal check for a couple dozen identical handguns and left without saying much else. Does this seem a bit off?
#4
...depends on the community you're in. Given the Jihad attack on the recruiting station, it might be a good idea (side note - my local base is still on Threatcon status Bravo). Given the NG is both state and federal, maybe the state Adjutant General decided to authorize his people to be armed even if DoD is still bureaucratically obstructing a similar policy.
#5
$200K for body armor? If they're paying DoD rates that's what, 3 kits?
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/08/2016 16:56
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Question for you ex-military types: The other day a local full time national guard member showed up at a local retail gun shop saying that for reasons he didn't care to discuss they needed to carry sidearms at all times while on duty. He wrote a personal check for a couple dozen identical handguns and left without saying much else. Does this seem a bit off?
Posted by Neville Spolutle9774 2016-01-08 15:25
This is classified a 'multiple handgun sale' by the BATF and would have had to have been reported as such [to the BATF/FBI] via e-mail within 24 hours.
More at link. Too much work to repack everything here, including image of the email.
Has the State Department released a smoking gun in the Hillary Clinton e-mail scandal? In a thread from June 2011, Hillary exchanges e-mails with Jake Sullivan, then her deputy chief of staff and now her campaign foreign-policy adviser, in which she impatiently waits for a set of talking points. When Sullivan tells her that the source is having trouble with the secure fax, Hillary then orders Sullivan to have the data stripped of its markings and sent through a non-secure channel.
That should be game, set, and match, yes?
"If they can't, turn into nonpaper w no identifying heading and send nonsecure." That's an order to violate the laws handling classified material. There is no other way to read that demand. Regardless of whether or not Sullivan complied, this demolishes Hillary's claim to be ignorant of marking issues, as well as strongly suggests that the other thousand-plus instances where this did occur likely came under her direction.
Did those talking points get illegally transmitted on Hillary's order? If so, then Sullivan may find himself in legal trouble, too. Paragraph (g) makes it clear that "each of the parties to such conspiracy shall be subject to the punishment provided for the offense which is the object of such conspiracy."
This explains why more than a thousand pieces of classified information have found their way into Hillary's unauthorized and unsecured e-mail system -- and why the markings have been stripped from them. Hillary herself apparently ordered the Code Red, so to speak.
#2
If they don't prosecute her they'll never be able to prosecute anyone else. Precedent
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/08/2016 12:32
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#3
Can't tell if there was just problems sending the fax of if the data was indeed "clasified". If it's the latter one might assume offers of immunity have already been dispatched.
#4
The technicality is material that is non-State origin. The SoS is the classification authority for State material. So technically she could declassify the material, but doing so means it all becomes declassified for anyone accessing the same documents. If it remained classified for anyone else, then yes, a violation did occur.
#6
The originator derives his/her authority from higher up by position. If a superior deems the need or desire to declassify something a subordinate originated, that's his/her call. It's by the office not the individual per se. Thus when you have personnel turn over in offices, the occupier of the position may be different but is empowered by the office held to act upon the previous determination.
Lobbyists in Missouri who have sex with state lawmakers or their aides would have to disclose that activity to the state ethics commission, under a bill introduced this week by a Republican state representative.
The measure, pushed by Rep. Bart Korman, defines sexual relations between lawmakers and lobbyists as a "gift" to be reported on the disclosure forms that lobbyists file on a monthly basis. The bill does not assign a "dollar valuation" to the gift of sex. I guess that would depend on how good it was.
Korman's proposal, reported early Thursday by The Kansas City Star, quickly gained attention on social media, and Korman told USA TODAY that he was fielding calls from reporters around the country, demanding to know more about his unorthodox proposal. "I guess this has gone viral or something," he said.
He views his plan, part of a renewed state focus on ethics after several scandals, as the simplest way to "add some transparency and accountability to our governmental process."
Two Missouri lawmakers left office last year, following allegations of inappropriate conduct with interns.
Does he think lobbyists actually would report details of their sex lives on a government form? "I hope it deters the activity," Korman said. If it was good enough and you don't report it, the IRS could suspend their passport, I suppose.
(By the way, the bill excludes the gift-reporting requirement for lobbyists and lawmakers who are married or already were dating before they held their respective jobs.)
[DeutscheWelle] Police identified some suspects who harassed women in Cologne on New Year's Eve as asylum seekers, media reports say. City police reportedly did not want to publicize this because of its "politically awkward" nature.
City authorities identified some suspects in the Cologne New Year's Eve attacks as asylum seekers from Syria, detaining or questioning some of them, according to reports by local newspaper "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger" and national daily "Die Welt," which published an online preview of investigations by its "Welt am Sonntag" Sunday paper.
According to the newspapers' reports, citing officers on duty on New Year's Eve, officials checked the IDs of at least 100 people present at Cologne's central station on December 31 after their behavior became conspicuous. Seventy-one people were identified, 11 people were remanded into custody and 32 criminal complaints were registered, according to the Welt am Sonntag (WamS) report.
"There were, quite to the contrary of what was said publicly, identity checks on numerous people," the WamS quoted an unnamed officer as saying. "Most of them were recently-arrived asylum seekers."
The first internal police report on the event - a so-called "wichtige Ereignis Meldung" ("important event announcement") - spoke of a crowd mainly of "North African and Arab" origin. According to the Kölner Stadt-anzeiger, the officer leading the team at the station wanted the report to include mention of the Syrians and asylum seekers, but the senior officer writing the "WE-Meldung" decided not to, saying it would be "politically awkward."
It is still unclear whether the same persons were involved in the assaults.
Offenders were after 'sexual amusement'
WamS also received information contradicting another official statement by the city police, which said the main intention of the men in Cologne was to steal from passengers and that assault was secondary. However, "what actually happened was the exact opposite," a police officer said on condition of anonymity.
"For the mostly Arabic offenders, sexual assault was the priority, or, to express it from their point of view, their sexual amusement was thepriority. A group of men would encircle a female victim, close the loop, and then start groping the woman," WamS quoted the officer as saying.
The deputy chief of the trade union for police employees (the GdP), Ernst Walter, suggested that the Cologne police's mishandling of the case could cost city police chief Wolfgang Albers his job: "I'm asking myself this," Walter said. "How could the police publish a message on January 1, saying that New Year's celebrations had been peaceful?"
"All these shocking incidents" had become known the same night, he said, adding that officers from the federal police were trying to help women and were worried that "people could have even died."
The media reports still largely contradict Cologne police's official account of events, which say that 16 possible suspects have so far been identified, with that group "to the largest extent" hailing from North Africa.
The state's interior minister, Ralf Jäger, has already ordered a first full formal report on the incident, which is due for submission on Monday. When asked for a comment by the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger local paper, police referred the reporters to the impending formal report, saying they would neither confirm nor deny the report.
Nearly 1,000 men are reported to have divided themselves into smaller groups and robbed and sexually harassed women at Cologne's central station on New Year's Eve. Similar incidents occurred on a far smaller scale in Hamburg and Stuttgart.
CARACAS, Venezuela -- With triple-digit inflation showing no signs of retreating and the new National Assembly vowing to remove the president, Venezuela over the last few days careered toward crises both economic and political.
Yet the great debate of the week had less to do with the economy than it did with former President Hugo Chávez — or rather whether several pictures of Mr. Chávez, who died in 2013 of cancer, should still hang in the Capitol.
First things first. All good socialists know how important symbols are, and that's why they're so unhappy about this...
The portraits, of a triumphal Mr. Chávez in military attire and addressing the United Nations, were carted away this week as rivals of his United Socialist Party, who were swept into the Assembly in a Dec. 6 vote, moved into the chamber.
Henry Ramos, the Assembly’s incoming leader, stood on the Capitol steps and waved as the images of Mr. Chávez were taken away. He told reporters that only the country’s flag and shield should be displayed.
President Nicolás Maduro, Mr. Chávez’s handpicked successor, wasted no time in trying to turn his opponents’ symbolic gesture to his advantage. In a nationally televised speech on Wednesday evening, he called the removals outrageous, and said that portraits of Simon Bolívar, the country’s independence hero, had also been taken down.
“I can’t fail to express my anger, my repudiation,” Mr. Maduro said. “I call on the people to rebel against these neo-fascists, anti-Bolivarians, anti-patriots.”
On Thursday, a number of demonstrators assembled at a downtown plaza, heeding the president’s call. The Chávez portraits were brought there and guarded by soldiers.
The opposition, which won a majority last year in the Assembly for the first time in 16 years, won on promises to solve the country’s economic problems. Next week, however, it will focus on something else: freeing about 80 prisoners who it says were arrested by the Socialist authorities for political reasons.
Gaby Arellano, a new deputy from Popular Will, a political party whose leader has been jailed under Mr. Maduro, said legislators would soon address economic issues but warned that change would come slowly.
“We left it clear that we would not arrive on Jan. 6 and all the problems would be solved on Jan. 7,” she said. “If the government has spent all this time taking apart the country, it’s not going to be a question of months, but a question of years, in fixing this.”
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/08/2016
10:32 ||
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"So long, and thanks for all the fish"
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/08/2016 12:35
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#2
They carried the Chavez portraits to the Plaza? They run out of landfills in Venezuela?
Posted by: john frum ||
01/08/2016 12:43
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Lawmakers on Wednesday swore in three legislators who were blocked from taking their seats by the Supreme Court last month, setting up a showdown with the president’s Socialist party.
The opposition won a supermajority in the National Assembly on Dec. 6, ending the United Socialist Party’s 16-year-long grip on power. But before the new legislature could take charge, the Socialists approved 13 new Supreme Court justices, and days later, the court blocked four opposition lawmakers from taking their seats. That decision has created uncertainty about the supermajority, which the president’s rivals need to gain added powers, including the ability to remove Supreme Court justices and change the Constitution.
On Wednesday, three of the four politicians were sworn in over objections of the Socialists.
“What’s happening today is a flagrant violation of the Venezuelan Constitution,” said Diosdado Cabello, a Socialist lawmaker and the former leader of the Assembly.
And who would know more about violating a constitution than a socialist?
He said that the Socialists would ask the Supreme Court to find the Assembly leadership in contempt of the court order that blocked the politicians from taking their seats.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/08/2016
10:31 ||
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An Islamic State militant executed his mother in public in the Syrian city of Raqqa because she had encouraged him to leave the group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Friday.
The woman in her 40s had warned her son that a U.S.-backed alliance would wipe out Islamic State and had encouraged him to leave the city with her.
She was detained after he informed the group of her comments, according to the British-based Observatory, which monitors the war through a network of sources on the ground.
Citing local sources, the Observatory said the 20-year-old man executed his mother on Wednesday near the post office building where she worked in front of hundreds of people in Raqqa, a main base of operations for the group in Syria.
The Islamic State group, which controls wide areas of Syria and Iraq, has executed hundreds of people it has accused of working with its enemies or breaching of its ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam.
Posted by: Grunter ||
01/08/2016
10:05 ||
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#1
"Execute" implies a legally-sanctioned killing. Just call this murder.
Posted by: Herb Dark Lord of the Chinese9977 ||
01/08/2016 12:18
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"The missile was packaged in Rota, Spain, a U.S. official said, where it was put into the truck belonging to another freight-shipping firm, known by officials who track such cargo as a "freight forwarder." That trucking company released the missile to yet another shipping firm that was supposed to put the missile on a flight originating in Madrid. That flight was headed to Frankfurt, Germany, before it was to be placed on another flight bound for Florida.
At some point, officials loading the first flight realized the missile it expected to be loading onto the aircraft wasn't among the cargo, the government official said. After tracing the cargo, officials realized that the missile had been loaded onto a truck operated by Air France, which took the missile to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. There, it was loaded onto a "mixed pallet" of cargo and placed on an Air France flight. By the time the freight-forwarding firm in Madrid tracked down the missile, it was on the Air France flight, headed to Havana." Using C-17's for sensitive base-to-base military transfers is now, apparently, passĂŠ.
Federal agents have arrested an Iraqi refugee in Sacramento on a charge that he lied to immigration authorities over his ties to terror groups and travel to Syria, where he allegedly fought before returning to the United States in 2014.
Thank goodness he was thoroughly vetted prior to allowing him in the country...
Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab, 23, an Iraqi-born Palestinian, is named in a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in federal court in Sacramento and unsealed late Thursday as word of his arrest began to spread. He is to appear in federal court on Friday at 2 p.m.
“Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab allegedly traveled overseas to fight alongside terrorist organizations and lied to U.S. authorities about his activities,” U.S. Assistant Attorney General John Carlin said in a statement. “The National Security Division’s highest priority is protecting the nation from terrorism, and we will continue to hold accountable those who seek to join or aid the cause of terrorism, whether at home or abroad.”
The arrest of Al-Jayab, who is being held in the Sacramento County jail without bail, was confirmed by U.S. Attorney Ben Wagner’s office in Sacramento.
“According to the allegations in the complaint, the defendant traveled to Syria to take up arms with terrorist organizations and concealed that conduct from immigration authorities,” Wagner said. “While he represented a potential safety threat, there is no indication that he planned any acts of terrorism in this country.”
The criminal complaint and 18-page supporting FBI affidavit say Al-Jayab emigrated from Syria to the United States in October 2012, where he initially lived in Tucson, Ariz., and then moved to Milwaukee before traveling overseas.
Nobody picked up on the coming and going, and no one figured out what he was doing for three years...
While he was living in Milwaukee, Al-Jayab allegedly began communicating with individuals in Syria about traveling there and about his past experience fighting overseas, the complaint says.
“America will not isolate me from my Islamic duty,” Al-Jayab allegedly wrote on April 8, 2013, to one acquaintance. “Only death will do us part. My only wish is to see you and start the action.”
At one point, Al-Jayab wrote to another person that “I am at the shooting club. I want to learn long-range shooting,” and sent photos from a gun range in Wisconsin as well as photos of himself with various weapons, the complaint states.
Investigators say Al-Jayab received about $4,500 from an auto insurance claim in November 2013 and bought an airline ticket from Chicago to Istanbul, Turkey, from which he crossed the border into Syria. While he was overseas, he allegedly communicated with associates and relatives about traveling to Syria to join up with terror groups to fight with them.
In January 2014, Al-Jayab returned to the United States on a flight from London to Los Angeles and, later, Sacramento, the criminal complaint states. Upon entering the country in California, the complaint states, Al-Jayab listed only Jordan and the United Kingdom on a customs form listing where he had traveled.
He was interviewed by immigration authorities in July 2014 and said he had traveled to Turkey about six months earlier, the complaint states. Al-Jayab was interviewed again in October 2014 and told authorities he had gone to Turkey to visit his grandmother but said he had not provided any assistance to terror groups, the complaint states.
In June 2015, Al-Jayab was interviewed again by FBI agents and told them “voluntarily and without solicitation from the FBI” about travel problems he was having at an airport, the complaint says.
“During that interview, Al-Jayab stated he had traveled to Turkey for a vacation,” the complaint states. “He denied traveling to Syria.”
Based upon Al-Jayab’s statements and evidence gathered by federal agents, there is “probable cause to believe” he went to Syria and was a member of a rebel group and provided material support to a terror group, the complaint states.
Al-Jayab, who has relatives in Sacramento, faces up to eight years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/08/2016
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#1
Listen it don't really matter to me baby
You believe what you want to believe
You see you don't have to live like a refugee.
Ay-Pee.At some point, Darwin wins.
Authorities in northern Mali say a Swiss woman who was once kidnapped by armed militants in 2012 has been abducted a second time. "Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence.."
Witnesses say her door was found open Friday morning in the northern town of Timbuktu. Footprints in the sand showed where the attackers had apparently scaled the walls of her home.
A Malian intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to journalists , said it is not known which group is responsible. "I can say no more"
Switzerland's Foreign Ministry says it is aware of a "suspected kidnapping of a female Swiss national in Mali."
Before, she wound up in the hands of extremist group Ansar Dine, who said when she was released that if she came back to Timbuktu they would kill her. Well, then, there you go
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/08/2016
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#1
Who in their right mind would leave Switzerland to live in Mali?
Posted by: chris ||
01/08/2016 9:37
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...God forgive me, but right now all I can think of is the joke about the hunter and the bear, which ends in the bear saying "You're not in this for the sport, are you?"
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/08/2016 10:28
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#3
You lost the same tourist again Dimitri?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/08/2016 13:11
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#4
Reuters says she is a missionary. She has her orders.
Posted by: james ||
01/08/2016 18:13
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[War on the Rocks] According to a recent poll, Americans are more pessimistic about terrorism than at any time since 9/11. The CNN/ORC survey (full results in .pdf format) asked, "Who do you think is currently winning the war on terrorism -- the U.S. and its allies, neither side, or the terrorists?" Forty percent of respondents said that the terrorists were winning, while a mere 18 percent believed that the United States and its allies were winning. After the killing of Osama Bin Laden in May 2011, just 9 percent believed the terrorists had the upper hand.
This recent poll, conducted in mid-December after the San Bernardino attacks, is hardly a fluke. Others have found U.S. fears of terrorism to be at or near all-time highs. "Although other issues -- particularly economic ones -- often crowded out terrorism as a topic of daily concern," explain my Cato colleague John Mueller and co-author Mark Stewart, "terrorism has won an apparently permanent space in the American mind."
The fact that Americans remain fearful of terrorism is surprising in several respects. Judged in purely probabilistic terms, terrorism poses a far less significant threat to human life than a host of hazards, from lightning strikes, to collisions with animals, to falling household furniture. "An American's chance of being killed by a terrorist," note Mueller and Stewart, "has been, and remains, one in four million per year with 9/11 included in the calculation, or one in 110 million for the period since 2001." More Americans have been killed by weather incidents in the last two weeks than have been killed by attacks by Islamist extremists on U.S. soil in the last 14 years.
#1
Something, something, about expectations of a competent government providing security. Maybe what they're saying is that while they understand no one can do anything short of early warning on weather, terrorists are something competent government should effectively deal with. Just maybe they're saying that they don't believe the 'people in charge' are doing their job and exposing everyone to unnecessary threats to life and liberty while they, the 'people in charge' virtue signal how marvelous they are for not doing those things that actually enhance security.
[Boston Herald] OSLO, Norway -- The latest on the stream of refugees and other migrants crossing Europe.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico says his government will not allow Muslims to create "a compact community," and says that integrating refugees is impossible.
Slovakia has a tiny Muslim community of several thousand. Fico's government filed a legal challenge last month to a mandatory plan by the European Union to distribute migrants among members of the bloc.
Fico said Thursday his government sees what he calls a "clear link" between the waves of refugees and the Paris attacks and the sexual assaults and robberies during the New Year's Eve festivities in Germany. He says: "We don't want what happened in Germany to happen here."
Fico says "the idea of multicultural Europe has failed" and that "the migrants cannot be integrated, it's simply impossible."
#1
Muslims are an immigrant community that defines the assimilation of a member of their community into the host country's culture as a death penalty offense.
Even if individuals among the immigrants wish to assimilate they don't have a path to assimilation.
Accepting immigrants who hate the host country and see themselves as conquerors is a recipe for internal war.
That is the reason for Islam's bloody, bloody borders.
[Daily Caller] An AC-130 gunship was allegedly prevented from providing air support to a group of U.S. special forces under heavy fire from the Taliban due to fears that it could cause collateral damage, according to a report from SOFRep.com and a congressman's recent inquiry to the Department of Defense.
The soldiers from the U.S. Army's 19th Special Forces Group came under heavy fire from Taliban forces as they accompanied Afghan Forces on a mission in the town of Marjah in Helmand province as part of Operation Resolute Support Jan. 5. Interesting. Members of the same unit as LTC Gibson, the SF officer who was ordered not to go to Benghazi.
According to one report, close air support for the 12-hour firefight that ensued was delayed and limited despite the availability of the gunship operating in the area, according to Jack Murphy, writing for SOFRep.com.
"Eventually, the command allowed AC-130 to fire a whopping two 40mm rounds into an open field," wrote Murphy, a former special forces soldier, "a weak show of force to the Taliban."
Army Col. Michael Lawhorn, spokesman for Operation Resolute Support, flatly denied these claims in emails to The Daily Caller News Foundation. "We conducted 12 airstrikes against various threats to the force ... [with] a combination of platforms," says Lawhorn. Included in the strikes were F-16 fighters and an AC-130, according to a report by Stars and Stripes.
By the time U.S. forces were reinforced, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Matthew McClintock of the 19th Special Forces Group was dead, while two other U.S service members and an unnamed number of Afghans were wounded. In addition, a helicopter sent to evacuate the wounded took small-arms and mortar fire and ended up grounded, though it's unclear if the grounding was due to an in-air mishap, as some reports have indicated. Related: Navy SEAL Congressman Leads Inquiry into Obama’s Policies Leaving Troops In Harms Way in Marjah, Afghanistan
#7
This is so fucked up. Ever time a terrorist act is carried out, I don't think they worry about collateral damage.
Posted by: chris ||
01/08/2016 21:54
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Methinks I've discovered why the strange Artic this AM > "US PENTAGON INSISTS AC-130 FIRED ITS GUNS AT MARJAH.
I'm a'guessin Mighty HAVE-RED-LINE-WON'T TRAVEL = "Red Line" Defender Bammer attempted a SOUTH-CHINA-SEA-SOON-TO-BE-EAST-CHINA-SEA-ETC. in the skies over Marjah???
[PJ Media] The leftist mayor of Cologne has come under fire for apparently blaming German women for being molested by Arab and North-African men during the New Year's Eve party in her city. Instead of calling for an end to mass immigration and more tools to force migrants to assimilate to German society, Mayor Henriette Reker said in a speech yesterday that women just have to be better "prepared" when they go out in public:
This means, they should go out and have fun, but they need to be better prepared, especially with the Cologne carnival coming up. For this, we will publish online guidelines that these young women can read through to prepare themselves.
Is this woman braindead or what? Be better prepared? How?
Let me guess: by dressing themselves "more modestly," meaning no more short skirts or high heels. Because we all know that women who dress attractively are asking for it. Right?
Here's an idea: Instead of telling women to "prepare" themselves when they go out, Reker should tell immigrants with barbarian views on women to get the hell out of her city. They are the problem, not German women who dress beautifully for the occasion and who want to attend a party in their own country.
#1
I know it's Germany but the correct way for a woman to prepare herself is to pocket the weapon after running a box or two through it to get the feel back.
#10
If we haven't hit the tipping point of peak Liberalism Leftism yet we are doomed as a civilization
FIFY. Yes, its a technicality. The Lefties appropriated the term, just like they use the term Nazi as just another 'N' word to express their hatred of anyone who disagrees with them, totally disengaged from the fact that it refers to the National Socialist Workers Party.
#11
Now the typical German may have an appreciation for our American Cowboy mentality and our understanding that firearms are a necessary tool to protect innocents from random violence.
#12
I'd say they get it. Read on Breitbart and DailyMail articles they've run out or pepper spray. As in Germany has run out because it was all bought in the wake of the Cologne Assaults.
So yes they get it. I'd be interested to see Knife sale figures in Germany. If you can't get a gun, a knife is a good substitute.
Posted by: Charles ||
01/08/2016 21:22
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Machetes. Drywall saws. Screwdrivers. The list goes on.
[Kansas City Star] The seizure of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon by armed anti-government extremists has attracted national attention and raised questions about whether the takeover is a powder keg about to blow.
But experts who monitor the anti-government movement say an even greater concern is lurking behind the confrontation that erupted Saturday at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in the high desert of eastern Oregon.
The militia movement, they say, is in the midst of a massive growth spurt at levels even greater than in the early 1990s after the Waco, Texas, standoff and the siege at Ruby Ridge, Idaho. It peaked after the Oklahoma City bombing.
"It's bigger than anything we've seen before," said Leonard Zeskind, president of the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. "And it's not simply a resurgence of the '90s militia movement; it's different in many ways. Now it's much broader."
The growth of an "insurgent militia movement," Zeskind said, is the result of a combination of events, including a renewed effort to strengthen gun control laws and the revival of the white nationalist movement over the Confederate flag issue.
#1
Leonard Zeskindis an American human rights activist, and president of the Institute for Research & Education of Human Rights (IREHR).
He worked in industry for thirteen years. Since 1982, he has been a community activist and human rights advocate. He is known for his research into extreme right, racist, and anti-Semitic organizations in the United States.
He is a lifetime member of the NAACP, and has served on the board of directors of the Petra Foundation, and the Kansas City Jewish Community Relations Bureau. Wiki Link
#3
Hall makes some excellent points at #2. Unfortunately at this point, gov't overreach may be irreversible. The 'beltway party' has been in power far too long.
At least ten Somali National Army soldiers were killed and scores wounded when Al shabaab raided an army base near the strategic town of Baidoa, the regional capital of Baay, residents said. Al-Shabaab fighters riding pick-up trucks and using rocket-propelled grenades have attacked a military outpost at Gof-Gadud village, just 30 kilometers east of Baidoa town early on Thursday morning.
“Al shabaab militants attacked troops stationed at Gof-Gadud area near Baidoa city and killed SNA soldiers while many fighters from Al shabaab were also killed in the attack,” said a local resident.
South west state spokesman Mohamed Mohamud Aser, confirmed to Radio Shabelle that the national army killed at least seven Al shabaab fighters in the repelled attack.
“Seven assailants and a member of government forces died as the attack was repelled,” he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/08/2016
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[THEHILL] Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump could "feel the Bern" on Thursday night.
Trump, who is making an appearance in Vermont, the home state of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders ...The only openly Socialist member of the U.S. Senate. Sanders was Representative-for-Life from Vermont until moving to the Senate for the rest of his life in 2006, assuming the seat vacated by Jim Jeffords... , could have some empty seats in the house, thanks to the senator's supporters. They have taken to Facebook to urge other Sanders backers to sell out the venue in Burlington on Thursday night by reserving tickets and not showing up.
"No, I have not converted to a racist bigot," one Sanders supporter wrote. "I am just assuring that there are going to be two empty seats."
The supporter then directed hundreds of other Facebook users to an Eventbrite URL to reserve tickets.
"Please share and spread the word so Trump gets the message that here in Vermont, we only #feel the bern."
Burlington police officials have raised concerns of overcrowding at the rally because Trump's campaign has offered up 20,000 free tickets to the event, according to The Burlington Free Press. But officials say the theater where the event will be held has a 1,400-person capacity.
Trump took to Twitter to alert supporters that they should get there early since admittance is first come, first served.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2016
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#1
Trump'scampaign has offered up 20,000 free tickets to the event, according to The Burlington Free Press. But officials say the theater where the event will be held has a 1,400-person capacity.
heh heh.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/08/2016 8:53
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#2
Didn't work. Trump crushed it, with overflow crowds, and the commies were too busy packing fudge to turn out.
Posted by: regular joe ||
01/08/2016 12:43
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Trump wants a 45% tax on Chinese imports. I'm sure Sanders would agree. I think they probably line up on a lot of policies that neither would readily admit to.
#4
The Chinese were permitted to intentionally undervalue their currency for a decade to keep the trade going. In other words, they exported unemployment to the US besides the trinkets. They were allowed to get away with it by the Beltway party who's patrons profited by it while we were and are taxed to provide the social services to the unemployed here.
You're going to hear a lot about Smoot–Hawley Tariff and its (alleged) contribution to the Great Depression no doubt soon. However, if you use the metrics of the 30s to contemporary stats and not the cooked numbers and cover up used to describe today's economy, we're pretty much in a depression now without the SM Tariffs in place. So, you got to ask yourself if it was or wasn't the factor its going to be the bogyman it's going to be portrayed as.
[DAWN] India on Thursday said it is awaiting Pakistan’s response on the information provided related to the Pathankot incident, following which it will decide on the resumption of bilateral peace talks scheduled for later this month.
India's foreign ministry said Islamabad has been given actionable intelligence that those who planned the assault came from Pakistan.
"As far as we are concerned the ball is now in Pakistan's court," spokesman Vikas Swarup told reporters when asked if the talks were on. "The immediate issue in front of us is Pakistan's response to the terrorist attack."
A meeting between the foreign secretaries of both nations had been tentatively scheduled for January 15.
A senior Pakistani official said India provided intelligence that included telephone numbers, call intercepts, and locations where they believe the attackers or their handlers were.
Pakistan is following up the leads, the official said, and hopes that the talks would not be canceled while it explores them. "Sorry. Nobody there. We asked around and everything."
Posted by: Fred ||
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[DAWN] Pakistain is mulling to elevate the constitutional status of northern Gilgit-Baltistan region in a bid to provide legal cover to the multi-billion-dollar Chinese investment plan, officials said on Thursday.
The move could signal a historic shift in the country's position on the future of the wider Kashmire region, observers have said.
The proposal would see the mountainous region mentioned by name for the first time in the country's Constitution, bringing it one step closer to being fully absorbed as an additional province.
Islamabad has historically insisted the parts of Kashmire it controls are semi-autonomous and has not formally integrated them into the country, in line with its position that a referendum should be carried out across the whole of the region.
Sajjad-ul-Haq, front man for the chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan Hafiz Hafeez ur Rehman, told AFP: "A high level committee formed by the prime minister is working on the issue, you will hear good news soon."
Rehman, who arrived in Islamabad on Thursday, was working on the finishing touches to the agreement, a bigwig said, adding the document could be unveiled "in a few days".
In addition to being named in the Constitution, Gilgit-Baltistan would also send two politicians to sit in the federal parliament -- though they would be given observer status only.
A third top government official from Gilgit-Baltistan said the move was in response to concerns raised by Beijing about the China Pakistain Economic Corridor, the $46 billion infrastructure plan set to link China's western city of Kashgar to the Pak port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea.
"China cannot afford to invest billions of dollars on a road that passes through a disputed territory claimed both by India and Pakistain," the official, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... , said.
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least 23 people have been incarcerated Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! over celebratory gunfire in Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... which left at least three people maimed, the security officials announced Thursday.
Kabul city once again witnessed heavy gun sex after the Afghanistan cricket team defeated Zim-bob-we in the fifth and final match of a five-match One Day International Series late on Wednesday night.
Sediq Sediqi, front man for the Ministry of Interior (MoI), confirmed that 3 civilians were maimed in the aerial celebratory firing.
He said at least 23 people were arrested by police over celebratory firing which injured 3 civilians, however it is believed that a civilian was also killed in the firing.
The aerial celebratory firing was widely condemned by the citizens of Kabul city with majority of them wishing the defeat of the Afghan team, instead of witnessing chaos in the city.
This comes as Ministry of Interior (MoI) had earlier warned against celebratory gunfire following the likely victory of the Afghanistan football team in South Asia Football Federation (SAFF) championship.
MoI warned regarding the negative impacts of such gun sexs and urged the weapon carriers not to disrupt the comfort of the Afghan citizens, warning that the offenders would face legal actions.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Attack on the Indian consulate in Mazar-e-Shari, capital of Afghanistan's Balkh province, was planned by a foreign terrorist group which left a policeman martyred. It also left five coppers and four civilians maimed.
Deputy Police Chief of Balkh province told Azadi Radio that cell phones and other evidences obtained following the attack show who planned the attack but it is not the time to share further details with media.
Abdul Raza Qaderi said further information would be released to media upon conclusion of the investigation.
After the attack when security forces were conducting combing operation when they came across Urdu-language messages on walls of the building used by bully boyz during the attack.
The messages believed to be written with blood stated that 'Ek Shaheed 1,000 fedaye, Afzal Guru Ka entiqam' which means 'one martyr is replaced with 1,000 suicide kaboomers and that attack was Dire Revenge of Afzal Guru'.
Afzal Guru was hanged in 2013 in one of the Indian jails for his alleged role in attack on the Indian Parliament.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Let me guess...Iceland?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/08/2016 10:04
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#2
In other news.. Fire Hot, Ice Cold
Posted by: john frum ||
01/08/2016 12:39
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[AlAhram] The United States and its allies staged 36 strikes against 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 (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria on Wednesday in its latest round of daily attacks on the turban group, the coalition leading the operations said in a statement.
In Iraq, 22 strikes near nine cities hit several ISIS buildings, an improvised bomb factory and a staging facility, among other targets. Fourteen strikes near Manbij in Syria also hit multiple targets, the statement released on Thursday said.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
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[DAWN] A court in Kenya has found a teacher at an Islamic school guilty of radicalising his students by teaching them extremism and sentenced him to 20 years in prison.
Magistrate Diana Mochache said on Thursday that Samwel Wanjala Wabwile, also known as Salim Mohammed, was found guilty of radicalising the Gotani primary school pupils.
Mochache says Wabwile, who also taught at a mosque in Gotani village in Kilifi county, had been hiding behind religion to promote extremism.
Kenya is battling recruitment of the country's youth by al-Qaeda's East African affiliate, Somalia-based al-Shabaab ... the personification of Somali state failure... , and lately 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.... To prevent an escalation of Islamic radicalisation in Kenya, it is important that parents inform authorities if their children go missing or show tendencies of following violent extremism, Interior Ministry front man Mwenda Njokahad had earlier said.
Kenyan youth make up the largest contingent of imported muscle in al-Shabaab.
Al-Shabaab has carried out a wave of attacks in Kenya since it sent its troops to Somalia to fight the Death Eaters.
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#1
A court in Kenya has found a teacher at an Islamic school guilty of radicalising his students by teaching them extremism and sentenced him to 20 years in prison.
made em read the Koran and Hadiths, did he?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/08/2016 9:21
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[AnNahar] The United States named an alleged financier of the Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... to its sanctions blacklist Thursday in a mounting effort to crack down on the group's financial resources.
The U.S. Treasury said Ali Youssef Charara and his Beirut-based telecommunications company Spectrum Investment Group Holding have received millions of dollars from Hizbullah to invest in commercial projects.
The sanctions freeze any assets of Charara and Spectrum under U.S. jurisdiction and forbid Americans from doing business with them.
It was the first such move since President Barack Obama Ready to Rule from Day One... signed a new law in December making it easier to target Hizbullah's finances.
The United States has officially labeled Hizbullah a terrorist group and has already taken actions against its business network, which spans to West Africa, where Charara has interests in the telecommunications sector, the Treasury said.
[TELEGRAPH.CO.UK] Government experts dismiss supposed health benefits of wine and are set to rewrite the rule book on alcohol consumption So are fatty foods... No. Wait. Sorry.
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#6
How many times has the government opined on eggs? Good for you one year, bad for you five years later, good for you (again) five years after that, etc. ad nauseum.
I remember them saying good things about red wine... about five or so years ago. I'm with gorb on this one - fuck them.
[DAWN] Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif ..Pak chief of army staff, meaning he pulls the strings on the Nawaz Sharif puppet to make it dance and sing and not do much at all.... has praised security forces and intelligence agencies for their achievements in operations against terrorist groups in urban areas and stressed "zero tolerance" for such outfits.
"Lauding recent phenomenal successes of security/intelligence agencies in intelligence-based operations for breaking the terror nexus across the country, COAS reiterated zero tolerance for terrorist organizations and directed all concerned to continue focused efforts till sustainable peace and security was achieved," an ISPR statement issued on Wednesday after a corps commanders conference said.
The meeting focused on the developments in Afghanistan and the reconciliation process there; and counter-terrorism efforts at home, according to a source.
The evolving situation in the Middle East also came under discussion, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Progress... COAS reiterated zero tolerance survivors for terrorist organizations
[DAWN] GUJRAT: The administration of a girls high school in Dinga town have found some leaflets carrying a school closure warning from the krazed killerIslamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group.
However, the hip bone's connected to the leg bone... personnel of Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) say the hand-written pamphlets might be a move of some naughty students to create panic. But the matter is being thoroughly probed.
Reports said when the school was opened on Jan 5, the management found some pamphlets bearing a hand-written warning, "We are the followers of the late Osama bin Laden ... who doesn't live anywhere anymore... , so close the school otherwise you will be responsible for any loss to 1,000 students."
The school management informed the local police about the matter and a contingent of Elite Force commandos cordoned of the area. The LEAs thoroughly examined the school building.
Dinga police have lodged a case No. 11 against some unidentified people under section 506 of the PPC and started investigation.
A senior LEAs official told Dawn that it looked like a naughty move by some students of the school because the warning was written by hand on some answer sheets of the examinations "but it would never be taken lightly and the issue would be probed."
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
When the Persian armies demanded that the Greeks surrender their weapons at the Battle of Thermopylae, King Leonidas I responded with "Molon labe" meaning "come and take (it)", -- a classical expression of defiance. Also featured prominently at the battle of The Alamo, with the "it" referring to a small cannon.
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/08/2016 8:08
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#2
No, the flag with the motto "Come and Take It" was associated with the first outbreak of hostilities at Gonzalez between the Texians and the Mexican government, some six months before the Alamo siege. The cannon was a little one, which has been issued to the settlers at Gonzalez for protection early in the 1830s ... and late in 1835, when feelings were running high, the Mexican military commander in Texas asked for the canon to be returned to his armory at the Alamo. The settlers in Gonzalez said "No". Complete story here at my book blog.
#3
I'm told the literal translation is "Having come, take." Meaning "since you came all this way, please oh please do something stupid so we can kill you." Spartans got a lot of meaning in a few words; that's where the term "laconic" comes from. Thus endth today's pontification.\
Posted by: Herb Dark Lord of the Chinese9977 ||
01/08/2016 12:23
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#4
Thx Dark Lord - haven't heard the 'true' version before. It truly is very laconic! As they say, sometimes 'less is more'.
[Dhaka Tribune] ood Minister Advocate Qamrul Islam has said Jamaat-e-Islami will be banned in 2016 through legal means.
The minister made the statement while addressing an anti-hartal rally in front of the National Press Club in the city on Thursday afternoon.
"The topic of banning Jamaat has come under discussion. I would like to tell clearly that it is only a matter of time to ban this party. There is no doubt that it will be banned within this year," BSS quoted Qamrul as saying.
"We believe their financing source would be plugged. Those who taunted and slighted the War of Liberation, will also be brought to book," he added.
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(IraqiNews.com) The US Department of Defense (Pentagon) announced on Thursday the approval on the sale of five thousand “Hellfire” rockets worth 800 million dollars to Iraq, while pointed out that the deal will enhance the ability of Iraqi forces in fighting ISIS.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees the sale of foreign arms deals, said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs approved the sale of five thousand Hellfire missiles worth 800 million dollars to Iraq,” pointing out that “The Iraqi government requested the purchase of five thousand Hellfire missiles, in addition to requesting ten training missiles.”
The statement added, “The missiles will contribute to the protection of national security of the United States in addition to improving the ability of Iraqi security forces in the ongoing combat operations,” noting that, “The deal will enhance the ability of Iraqi security forces in fighting ISIS.”
Somalia has officially cut on Thursday all the diplomatic ties with the Islamic republic of Iran and gave Iranian diplomats to leave Mogadishu within 72 hours, statement said.
"We're being expelled from Somalia?"
"Yes! Free! Free at last!!"
Following their weekly session in Mogadishu, the federal cabinet ministers have agreed to expel Iranian ambassador to Somalia, in response to the recent attack on Saudi embassy in Tehran that sparked a diplomatic fallout between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
“This step has been taken after careful consideration and in response to the Iran’s continuous interference in Somalia’s internal affairs,” said Somali foreign minster in a twitter post.
According to the statement, Somalia accused Iran of spreading Shiite indoctrination in Mogadishu, an accusation that Iran has strongly denied in the past. Somalia joins Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Djibouti , UAE and Bahrain in cutting ties to Iran amid the crisis. Other countries have lowered their connections to Iran.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/08/2016
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KARACHI: The customs intelligence claimed on Thursday to have seized a container imported from China, carrying more than 20,000 kilograms of explosives.
In a statement, the department’s spokesman said that customs officials on a tip-off examined one of the containers at the godown of Karachi port and found it carrying explosives.
“The total weight of explosive stands at 22,000 kilograms,” said a statement issued by the directorate customs and investigation (enforcement). “The container is part of the consignment which was imported a few months ago from China and then two containers were seized in Peshawar. After seizure of those containers, the importer left the third one abandoned at the port and did not attempt to clear the consignment,” it said.
#2
If you're going to call it "metric-tons" then it's 10,000 kilograms.
If you're going on the basis of a ton being 2000 lbs and the entire load is equal to 44.000 lbs, then it's no longer metric, but imperial measurement, in which case the proper term is "tons".
You can either use metric or imperial (including US measures) terms. There is officially no such thing as "metric tons". It's one or the other, not both.
Posted by: Seeking a cure for ignorance ||
01/08/2016 12:43
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The British ton is the long ton, which is 2240 pounds, and the U.S. ton is the short ton which is 2000 pounds.
Both tons are actually defined in the same way. 1 ton is equal to 20 hundredweight. It is just the definition of the hundredweight that differs between countries. In the U.S. there are 100 pounds in the hundredweight, and in Britain there are 112 pounds in the hundredweight. This causes the actual weight of the ton to differ between countries.
To distinguish between the two tons, the smaller U.S. ton is called short, while the larger British ton is called long.
There is also an third type of ton called the metric ton, equal to 1000 kilograms, or approximately 2204 pounds. The metric ton is officially called tonne. The SI standard calls it tonne, but the U.S. Government recommends calling it metric ton.
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – The Joint Operations Command announced on Thursday killing and wounding more than 45 ISIS elements during a number of military operations in different Iraqi provinces.
The command said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “The Iraqi Air Force carried out air strikes that targeted a gathering of ISIS elements in Samarra Island, resulting in the death of tens of terrorists and wounding others, in addition to destroying 12 vehicles,” noting that, “The coalition aircraft carried out an air strike to target a gathering of ISIS elements in the area of Tula Pasha in the district of Tal-Afar, resulting in the destruction of a number of vehicles in addition to killing 15 terrorists and destroying a store of improvised explosive devices at the entrance of the district.”
The statement added, “The coalition warplanes targeted a number of car bombs in the village of Tamarat and the Haranh resulting in the killing of nine terrorists and injuring seven others, in addition to destroy all the vehicles and three truck bombs, while killed 18 terrorists and injured nine others in the area of al-Qairoan-Blige south of Sinjar,” pointing out that, “The security forces in Baghdad advanced in the liberation of southern Fallujah areas and managed to kill 12 terrorists and injured others.”
(IraqiNews.com) Salahaddin – On Thursday, a security source in Salahuddin Province announced, that 30 ISIS elements including Arabs and foreigners were killed in an aerial bombardment on their hideout in Sharqat District north of Tikrit (170 km north of Baghdad).
The source said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “The Iraqi Air Force has shelled, at noon today, a hideout for the ISIS organization inside the building of Sharqat Courthouse (120 km north of Tikrit), killing 30 elements of the organization including Arabs and foreigners and destructing the entire building.”
The source added, “The bombardment was carried out based on accurate intelligence information on the presence of some ISIS leaders inside the court’s headquarters.
[Dhaka Tribune] Police in Dhaka have claimed that the elder brother of Saiful Haque Sujan, a UK-based businessman who later became a computer hacker for 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 killed in an air strike in Syria on December 10, is also involved in terror financing in Bangladesh.
At least five family members and relatives of Saiful including his wife Saima Akhter Mukta and elder brother Ataul Haque Sabuj are currently working for the IS either in Syria or in Spain, several police officials confirmed to the Dhaka Tribune.
Saiful was killed near Raqqah in a US-led air strike.
Investigators claimed that they had foiled attempts of murderous Moslem activities in early December by arresting Saiful's father Abul Hasanat, 67, and four others with Tk39 lakh in their possessions.
Saiful owned iBacs Technologies, an IT firm established in 2005 in the UK. His brother Sabuj, who lives in Spain, is the managing director of the firm. Sabuj moved to Spain around six months ago and wed a converted Muslim woman.
The company operates business in the UK, the USA, Denmark, Jordan and Australia, according to the website.
Investigators said that they had launched probe against iBacs and its accounts after the arrest of the five persons in Dhaka. They found that iBacs is used as a platform for financing terror outfits in at least 10 countries.
Detectives said that the accused were collecting funds and recruiting members for a terrorist organization, but did not want to disclose the name of the outfit.
Police say Saiful's widow Saima, her youngest sister Rabeya Akhter Tumpa along with Saiful's friend Shariful Islam Emon, another UK-based IT entrepreneur, with three toddlers are currently working for the IS. Emon and his wife travelled to London with Saiful.
DB Inspector Kabir Hossain lodged a First Information Report with Tejgaon police in connection with the arrest on December 9.
The case was filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act accusing seven people -- Saiful and his two brothers Sabuj and Hasanul Haque Galib, 15; Saiful's father Hasanat; his brother-in-law Tajul Islam Shakil, 25; iBacs's Dhaka office Accountant Nahiduddozza Miah, 30, and a so-called house tutor Nahidul Islam Nahid, 19.
"We jugged I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! them in Dhaka when they were handing over Tk38.86 lakh to terrorists," DB Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam said.
According to the FIR, Hasanul and his father Hasanat, and Nahiduddozza, Nahidul and Tajul were active operatives of a murderous Moslem organization.
They gathered in front of TCB Bhaban in the capital's Karwan Bazar area on December 8 to carry out subversive activities in the capital. However, those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things... the case did not mention the name of the outfit they were working for. The money was seized from the possession of Hasanat.
Investigators said they were examining all the financial details of iBacs.
According to the FIR, Ataul and Saiful had sent the money to Nahiduzzaman recently through one Anwar of "Binimoy Money Exchange" in Motijheel to carry out murderous Moslem activities.
The police also interrogated Saiful's step mother Momtaz Begum, who had identified Saiful from his photograph, and her 12-year-old son Ehsanul Haque Sakib recently. Later they were released.
The family said Saiful had gone to the UK for studies in 2003. In late 2014, he took his pregnant wife and their son, and nephew Aman to London.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2016
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Authorities have made a "national-security related" arrest in Houston today, a U.S. Department of Justice spokeswoman confirmed to Eyewitness News.
According to the local California newspaper, a second suspect was arrested in Sacramento and a third suspect was arrested in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All three suspects have ties to ISIS, according the Sacramento Bee.
"There is no current threat to public safety associated with this arrest. More information will be released when the defendant makes his initial appearance tomorrow," Angela Dodge with the U.S. justice department said.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick issued a statement referring to the situation as "the arrest of a terror suspect in Houston."
"I applaud the thorough law enforcement investigation that resulted in this arrest," Patrick said. "Based on the facts, as we know them, today's action may have prevented a catastrophic terror related event in the making and saved countless lives.
"This is exactly what we have repeatedly told the Obama administration could happen and why we do not want refugees coming to Texas. There are serious questions about who these people really are, as evidenced by today's events."
Omar Faraj Saeed Al Hardan, was indicted Wednesday in Texas for providing material support to the IS group. He is due to make an initial court appearance on Friday.
Hardan, 24, was charged with one count each of attempting to provide material support to ISIL (Islamic State), procurement of citizenship or naturalization unlawfully and making false statements.
Hardan, who lives in Houston, was granted legal permanent resident status in 2011, two years after entering the United States.
According to the indictment, he provided training, expert advice and assistance to IS.
He also lied on his formal application to become a naturalized U.S. citizen, saying he was not association with a terror group despite having been associated with IS members and sympathizers throughout 2014.
During an October 2015 interview, Hardan is also said to have falsely claimed he had never received weapons training of any kind when he had in fact learned to use machine guns.
He faces up to 53 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted on all charges.
Federal officials say a separate arrest in Milwaukee that grew out of the Sacramento investigation is not related to national security.
The suspects in Wisconsin are relatives of the man arrested in Sacramento, said Lauren Horwood, a spokeswoman for the US Attorney’s Office in Sacramento. The investigation in California led to the arrests in Wisconsin as part of a separate case not related to national security, she said.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/08/2016
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#1
The investigation in California led to the arrests in Wisconsin as part of a separate
case not related to national security
[DAWN] Five suspected gunnies were killed in a shootout with police in a deserted area off the Superhighway, while four others were incarcerated Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! by the law enforcers after an exchange of fire with them in Defence on Wednesday, officials said.
The suspects belonging to some banned holy warrior groups were planning a "major terror activity in the city", the officials said, adding that the police seized kaboom and a huge cache of arms and ammunition from their possession.
SSP Rao Anwar -- the officer known for deadly encounters with suspected gunnies -- said he along with his team raided a hideout near Indus Plaza, off the Superhighway, while acting on a tip-off about the presence of some gunnies in the area.
"We had credible information about their presence and then we came to know that the gunnies had a hideout in one of the graveyards," he told the media at the encounter site after the shootout. "Nearly half a dozen gunnies in the hideout attacked our personnel when they were busy taking positions. The exchange of fire left all the five gunnies dead."
The officer said two of them were later identified as Naeem and Hafeezullah. Efforts were under way to determine the identity of the other holy warriors. "We have also found 2.5 kilograms of kaboom and a huge cache of arms and ammunition in the hideout," the officer said.
"They all belonged to a banned ...the word banned seems to have a different meaning in Pakistain than it does in most other places. Or maybe it simply lacks any meaning at all...
organization and had gathered here to plan a terror activity in the city," added SSP Anwar. Earlier, the police claimed to have arrested four suspects associated with banned holy warrior organizations after an exchange of fire with them in the area of the Defence Housing Authority.
DIG-South Dr Jamil Ahmed said the encounter took place in the DHA area which led to the arrest of Ashraf, Rehmat Shah, Hanif alias Nadeem Kala and Zahid. "All the four suspects are members of the banned outfit," he said.
"The police also seized around four kilograms of explosive substance with a detonator and ball bearings and four TT pistols from their possession.
"During an initial investigation, it has emerged that they were involved in a grenade attack on a Lea Market gambling den that had left 16 people dead. They were also involved in a kaboom on a wine shop in Lea Market and Nargis Cinema. Police have also traced said some murder cases against them which they had carried out on sectarian grounds."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2016
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[BBC] French police have shot dead a man who was apparently trying to attack a police station on the anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo attacks.
The suspect was carrying a meat cleaver and wearing a dummy suicide vest. A piece of paper found on his body "pledged allegiance" to so-called Islamic State and vowed revenge for French "attacks in Syria", AFP reported.
Officials have named him as a convicted thief, Sallah Ali, born in Morocco.
Minutes before he was shot, President Francois Hollande had praised police in a speech on last year's killings. Gunmen murdered 17 people in attacks, including at Charlie Hebdo magazine and a Jewish supermarket. In his address, Mr Hollande said 5,000 extra police and gendarmes would be added to existing forces by 2017 in an "unprecedented" strengthening of French security.
The Paris prosecutor's office says it is opening a terrorism investigation into the incident on Thursday, which took place in the 18th district in northern Paris.
French officials say the suspect, who was wielding the butcher's knife, shouted "Allahu Akbar!" (God is Great) outside a police station in Goutte d'Or, near Montmartre, before police shot and killed him.
Bomb disposal experts were brought in after wires were seen extending from his body, but officials later said a belt he was wearing did not contain any explosives.
His fingerprints were found to match fingerprints on police files after an arrest for theft in the south of France in 2013.
Anti-terror police and French intelligence services are treating the incident as a case of attempted murder.
Following the attack, a cordon was been set up around the area, and security was boosted at schools and on public transport networks in the city.
According to the prosecutor, it was at 11:30 that the man approached the police station in the Goutte d'Or before being shot. According to police accounts, it was also at 11:30 - exactly a year ago - that the Kouachi brothers began their attack on Charlie Hebdo. The presumption of a link must be very strong, especially after the authorities confirmed that this was for them a terrorist incident.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 ||
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The President of the United States of America who cast off his Christian name for a Muslim name is now moving HIS people into the very fortresses to destroy the Christian Heratige for once and for all as this generation lays barr its throat via ignorance and cowardley inaction. Posted by Unelet Protector of the Sith
Yemen's Popular Resistance forces have handed over the responsibility of protecting Aden International Airport, liberated last year from the rebel Houthi militia and forces loyal to now-ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, to a government security force.
A hand-over ceremony was held today at the airport in the presence of Yemeni cabinet ministers and senior officials who honored the personnel of the Popular Resistance force.
In statements at the airport, Yemeni of Minister of Transport, Murad Al Halemi, said he will have intense contacts to speed up the renovation of the airport in a record period of time.
(IraqiNews.com) An official in the Abducted Yazidis Bureau, Hussein Qaiada, announced on Thursday, that more than 800 children held by ISIS are training in camps belonging to the ISIS organization, noting that the total number of Yazidi detainees held by ISIS amounts to three thousand detainees.
Qaiada said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “More than three thousand Yazidis are still being held by the ISIS,” noting that, “During last year, 2331 people were freed from the grip of ISIS with the help of the Kurdistan Regional Government, including 316 men, 867 women and 1148 children.”
Qaiada added, “More than 800 Yazidi children did not exceed the age of 15 years are training in ISIS camps,” pointing out that, “These children in the grip of ISIS would be a major threat to the future.”
He continued, “The Iraqi government did not provide assistance so far to save the Yazidi detainees,” urging the international community to “intervene to save what remains of the Yazidis.”
#3
With resting bitch face and graffiti,
Miss Liberty makes her entreaty:
"Please don't be like Boko!
I know they're not cocoa,
But won't you #BringBackOurYazidi?"
[AnNahar] At least 20 rebel commanders, most of them hardline Islamists, have died in Syria since early December in a string of mysterious assassination'>assassinations, a monitor said on Wednesday.
The commanders have been killed in roadside kabooms or shootouts, but no faction has grabbed credit for their deaths.
Analysts say they could be part of an liquidation campaign carried out by either the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... or 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.
On Tuesday, Abu Rateb al-Homsi, a provincial "emir" in the Ahrar al-Sham ...a Syria jihadi group made up of Islamists and salafists, not that there's that much difference, formed into a brigade. They make up the main element of the Islamic Front but they don't profess adoration of al-Qaeda and they've been fighting (mainly for survival) against the Islamic State. Their leadership was wiped out at a single blow by a suicide kaboom at a crowded basement meeting in September, 2014... hardline opposition group, was killed when unknown attackers fired on his car in the central province of Homs, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Homsi is the most high-profile of those killed, most of whom come from the ranks of al-Qaeda's Syria affiliate al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli sh-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... Front and hardline groups like Ahrar al-Sham.
"The liquidations have intensified since the beginning of December, but it's unknown who carried them out," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.
Among the dead, seven were leading officers in al-Nusra, which has a strong presence in northern and southern Syria, as well as outside the capital, Abdel Rahman told AFP.
Hussam Ammura, al-Nusra's emir in the besieged Paleostinian camp of Yarmuk in southern Damascus, was killed on December 22.
Abu Julaybib, a Jordanian national and al-Nusra's emir in the southern Daraa province was killed on December 4.
Ahrar al-Sham has had two senior members killed this month: Homsi, and Abdel Qader Dabaan, a commander in the northwest province of Idlib.
Another six leading hardline figures with close ties to Ahrar al-Sham and five non-Islamist commanders have also been assassinated since early December, Abdel Rahman said.
Ahrar al-Sham and al-Nusra have formed a strong alliance in northwest Syria, where they have fought both regime forces and IS.
According to Thomas Pierret, a Syria specialist at the University of Edinburgh, "the regime and its allies are by far the main suspects" in the killings.
"One of the components of the counter-insurgency strategy implemented by Russia since September is the decapitation of the bad boy leadership," he added.
With help from their Russian ally, intelligence services in Damascus have been able to gather better information on senior rebel figures, Pierret said.
But another possibility, he said, is that IS "sleeper cells" carried out the killings.
"Real or suspected supporters of IS are regularly targeted by rebels in the northernmost parts of Homs province, where Abu Rateb (al-Homsi) was assassinated," according to Pierret.
[IsraelTimes] Security forces arrrest 3 Jerusalem residents, three from Hebron in 'advanced stages' of preparing terror attacks
Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, terror cell that planned to kidnap and kill Israeli citizens was discovered by Israeli law enforcement in December, the Shin Bet security service announced on Thursday.
Members of the group, from Jerusalem and Hebron,
...known as "the fortress of Hamas" in the West Bank...
had planned to use the corpses of their victim or victims in order to negotiate the release of Paleostinian prisoners from Israeli jails, similar to the motive behind the abduction and killing of three Israeli teenage boys in June 2014.
From the Shin Bet's investigation of the Hamas operatives, the cell was in the "advanced planning stages" and had begun preparing the place where they would store the bodies of the kidnapped person or people.
"This case reconfirms that Hamas still aspires to carry out serious terror attacks, even now, in order to further egg on the recent wave of terror into a violent intifada," the Shin Bet said in a statement.
Eyal Yifrach, 19, Naftali Fraenkel, 16, and Gil-ad Shaar, 16, were kidnapped last summer by a Hamas cell from a bus stop near the West Bank settlement of Alon Shvut, just south of Jerusalem, and killed. Defense officials believed that the terror cell which carried out the killings had planned to use the abductees as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the Israeli government, but Israeli forces discovered the teenagers' bodies before such negotiations took place.
The cell announced Thursday included six people -- three Israeli citizens living in Jerusalem, and three others from Hebron. They were led by Maher Qawasmeh, a 36-year-old from Hebron, who was previously imprisoned for two years for helping plan terror attacks for Hamas, the Shin Bet said.
Ziad Abu Hadwan, a 20-year-old resident of Jerusalem's Old City, was another leader in the cell. Hadwan was released from prison in October, having been locked up for taking part in violent protests on the Temple Mount. Upon his release, he immediately joined the cell, the Shin Bet said.
Over the course of the past year, the group met multiple times in Hebron to plan various attacks against Israelis, Sherlocks said.
The group first planned to carry out an attack with an improvised bomb, but then moved on to plans for a shooting attack and sought out guns, before finally settling on a kidnapping and murder attack against an Israeli or Israelis, the Shin Bet said in a statement.
Once the group decided to carry out the kidnapping operation, they began searching for a cave or hole where they could hide the body of their victim and dug up a number of plots of dirt in the Hebron area to use, according to the Shin Bet.
With the body of an Israeli, the group believed it could negotiate the release of Paleostinian prisoners in Israeli jails, the agency said.
The terror cell allegedly planned to use two cars to carry out the kidnapping, as they wouldn't all fit in one vehicle. One of the cars -- the one that would be used to transport the kidnapped Israeli or Israelis -- would be driven by another Israeli member of the cell, 22-year-old Ammar Rajabe of Jerusalem's Old City.
The thought behind the decision was that Rajabe's superior Hebrew would assist in their getaway, the Shin Bet said the suspects revealed.
The case demonstrates the threat posed by Hamas terror cells in the West Bank seeking out the assistance of Jerusalem's Arab residents, for both their knowledge of Hebrew and the free movement granted to them as citizens of Israel, the Shin Bet said.
When the Israeli members of the cell were picked up by Israeli security forces, the head of the cell, Qawasmeh, shifted gears and instructed the remaining members to try to get hold of the chemicals and fertilizer necessary to construct a bomb, the Shin Bet said. But the group was unsuccessful.
Last month, the Shin Bet, IDF and Israel Police broke up another Hamas terror cell that was allegedly planning to carry out suicide and boom-mobileings against Israelis.
In that case as well, many of the members of the group were Israeli citizens, residents of Jerusalem, who were given tasks that made use of their greater freedom of movement, as compared to Paleostinians who live in the West Bank.
[IsraelTimes] Troops at junction of Etzion settlement bloc thwart attack by trio from nearby village; another Paleostinian tries stabbing near Hebron, is killed
Israeli reservist soldiers on Thursday rubbed out three Paleostinians as they tried to carry out a stabbing attack near the junction of the Etzion settlement bloc in the West Bank.
"Three attackers, armed with knives, attempted to stab soldiers guarding the Gush Etzion junction," the IDF said in a statement, and confirmed that all three attackers had been killed. No one else was maimed in the incident.
Less than two hours later, further south, a fourth Paleostinian attempted another stabbing attack. He approached a group of soldiers at the Beit Anoun Junction outside of Hebron
...known as "the fortress of Hamas" in the West Bank...
and attempted to stab one of them, the IDF said. As he was trying to attack the soldier, the other forces on the scene shot and killed him, the IDF said.
The Walla news website said that the soldiers in the Etzion Bloc junction incident had received a tip-off about an imminent attack shortly before the trio approached. Other Hebrew media reports said the three were all members of the Kawasbeh family, and that they had sought to "avenge" the death of a relative who was buried on Wednesday, having been killed in the course of a terror attack in Israel.
Initial reports suggested that the forces of Evil arrived by foot, wearing black jackets, from the nearby Paleostinian village of Beit Fajjar. They were spotted from an observation post and the information was relayed to the reservists near the junction.
The soldiers called on the three to undergo a security check; one drew a knife, and was immediately shot. The two others then pulled out knives, and were also shot. Paleostinians named the assailants as Ala Ayid Kawasbeh, Mahand Kawasbeh and Ahmad Shakar Kawasbeh.
The Etzion Bloc junction has been a focal point in the ongoing three-month wave of Paleostinian attacks targeting Israeli security forces and civilians.
At least 22 Israelis, an American and an Eritrea ...is run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), with about the amounts of democracy and justice you'd expect from a party with that name. National elections have been periodically scheduled and cancelled; none have ever been held in the country. The president, Isaias Afewerki, has been in office since independence in 1993 and will probably die there of old age... n have been killed in Paleostinian terror attacks including stabbings, car rammings and gunfire targeting security forces and civilians since October 1.
At the same time, 142 Paleostinians have been killed by Israeli forces, most while carrying out or attempting to carry out attacks.
[IsraelTimes] Police say suspect admitted planning an attack; officer praises troops' vigilance
A Paleostinian youth from a Jerusalem-area refugee camp was placed in durance vile Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! at a checkpoint Thursday after police discovered a knife under his clothing. The youth, aged around 16, from the Shuafat refugee camp on the north-eastern outskirts of Jerusalem, attempted to enter the city via the check-point near the camp. Suspicious border police and soldiers checked him out and discovered a knife tucked against his back.
In an initial investigation, the youth admitted he had planned to attack someone from the security services, a Jerusalem police spokesperson said.
The commander of the Border Police battalion responsible for the area around northern Jerusalem said the vigilance of the police and soldiers and their "operational preparedness" enabled them to identify unusual behavior at the checkpoint, something which prevented injury to innocent people.
This happens up to several times a day across the country. Often such things are mentioned only in a sentence or two under breaking news, rather than a full report like this.
[AnNahar] The U.S.-led coalition that has been carrying out air strikes against the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group in Iraq and Syria killed about 2,500 jihadists last month, a military front man said Wednesday.
The Pentagon has previously been wary of giving body counts, but Wednesday's figures come as officials hope to portray the IS group as being on the defensive after the jihadists suffered a series of setbacks -- including last week's loss of the Iraqi city of Ramadi.
"In December, we estimate approximately 2,500 Lion of Islam were killed in coalition air strikes across Iraq and Syria," Baghdad-based military front man Colonel Steve Warren told Pentagon news hounds.
He said that since coalition air strikes began in August 2014, the IS group had lost as much as 22,000 square kilometers (8,500 square miles) -- or about 40 percent -- of the territory it once held in Iraq, and about 10 percent, or 2,000 square kilometers, of the land it claimed in Syria.
"We believe that ISIL is now in a defensive crouch," Warren said, using an alternative acronym for the jihadists.
"Probably in May was really when they reached their culminating point of offensive operations. Since then all they have really managed to do is lose ground."
When the size of the so-called caliphate the IS group proclaimed 18 months ago was at its largest, Iraq accounted for a slightly bigger part of it than Syria.
A variety of Iraqi forces have reclaimed major urban centers, including Ramadi.
Warren said several, squad-sized groups of IS fighters remained in uncleared Ramadi neighborhoods. He claimed Iraqi troops had killed 60 IS fighters in the city in just the past 24 hours.
Though the number of slain IS members is significant, the jihadists have been able to fill their ranks almost as fast, especially with disaffected young men from economically and politically crippled Muslim countries in the region.
The United States last year estimated there were between 20,000 to 30,000 IS members operating in Iraq and Syria, and Warren repeated that assessment Wednesday.
Despite suffering defeats, the IS group has pushed for new gains elsewhere, including in strife-torn Libya where the jihadists are trying to seize coastal export terminals.
An ongoing strategy for the anti-IS coalition has been to strike the oil infrastructure the group uses to fund its operation. Warren said the jihadists' oil production has been cut by nearly 30 percent, down from 45,000 barrels per day to 34,000.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/08/2016
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#1
I call bullsjit
Posted by: chris ||
01/08/2016 22:42
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[BREITBART] Dusseldorf, the neighbouring city to migrant sex attack capital Cologne is the first German city to see a new citizen protection league since the new year's attacks, with thousands signing up to do their part.
As David Frum tweeted (via Instapundit), "If the Cologne attackers had belonged to a fraternity, their coordinated sexual assaults would be the biggest story on earth right now."
Declaring "one for all, and all for one", the motto of Sweden and a saying commonly associated with the Three Musketeers the new 'Dusseldorf is Watching' group already had 2,300 members after it was launched on Facebook last night. The group intends to provide protection at major events and in city centres at weekends to ensure the safety of their fellow Germans, reports the Rheinische Post.
While the desire to "protect our ladies future" appears sincere the group has already come under attack not only by police who maintain law enforcement should remain firmly their own responsibility,
...because they did such a bang up job on New Years Eve?
but also by the press who have labelled the group "absurd" and criticised it for including members of biker gangs.
A front man for Dusseldorf police told local media of the emergence of the vigilante group: "for public security in Germany the police are responsible... deliberately searching for offenders is not a job for the citizen". He added the police had no problem with individuals acting courageously when confronted with crime, but they were against "self proclaimed vigilantes".
Yet the group founder insists vigilante justice or any kind of violence are not what the group is about. All they intend to do is be "present and attentive" at major public events and on weekend evenings.
There has not yet been any comparable group established in Cologne itself, which has been described to Breitbart as being one of Germany's most 'progressive' cities. The city elected an independent mayor last year who stood on a platform of pro-migrant policies as she lay in a coma, having been stabbed in the neck the day before the vote by an anti-migrant campaigner.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2016
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The first responsibility of government is to provide security in one's person, one's family, and one's property. If government is unwilling or unable to do so, the people will seek others who will.
The Saudi-led coalition intensified airstrikes on the Yemeni capital of Sanaa on Wednesday, targeting the presidential palace and the airport, officials said.
The Saudi-US aggression strikes killed 20 people since Tuesday.
On Monday evening, a Saudi killing machine hit a center for blind people in Sanaa in an air raid by the Saudi-led coalition.
According to local reports, the Noor Centre for the Blind in the Safiah district of Sanaa was struck on Tuesday morning, along with an empty wedding hall.
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – The Commander of the 3rd brigade of the Anti-Terrorism forces announced the liberation of Ramadi General Hospital and the advance toward the Great Mosque of the City, while confirmed that the security forces have killed seven suicide bombers.
Major-General Samy Kadim al-Aaredi said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “A joint force from the Anti-Terrorism forces and Anbar police has managed to liberate Ramadi General Hospital, while reached Ramadi Great Mosque.”
Aaredi added, “The joint force has killed seven suicide bombers who were hiding inside the hospital and tried to attach the security forces,” pointing out that, “The ISIS elements have detonated one of the hospital’s floors.”
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Special Police Unit (SPU) on Thursday claimed to have arrested three individuals suspected of campaigning for proscribed militant organisations.
"The militant campaigners were found in Peshawar's Dir Colony," said SPU officials.
The arrested men— Raheemullah, Sibghatullah and Sajjad Hussain— were found distributing pamphlets in support of proscribed military outfits.
Special Police Unit officials did not specify the name of the proscribed outfit the men were campaigning for.
Cases have been registered against the three men.
A few months ago, CTD arrested two campaigners belonging to the militant Islamic State (IS) group from Nothia Bazaar, Peshawar.
After the implementation of the National Action Plan for counter-terrorism in December 2014 in the wake of the Army Public School attack in Peshawar, authorities have stepped up efforts to combat terrorism.
[DAWN] THE condemnation by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference of the Pathankot air force base attack is a welcome addition to the chorus of criticism that all right-thinking and sensible people in India, Pakistain and the disputed Kashmire region have added their voice too. Dialogue alone can resolve the Kashmire dispute and the other outstanding issues between India and Pakistain. That is a reality that the krazed killer groups are in denial of. So for peaceful means to prevail over militancy, it is important that all political forces come together to marginalise those seeking to change reality through violence. The Pathankot attack could have been a disaster, but the fallout has been manageable so far precisely because the politicianship in the region has not given in to fear. The Indian government could have tried to deflect serious domestic criticism of its response to the attack by trying to shift the blame on Pakistain. It has not. Similarly, Pakistain could have bristled at the clearly unsubstantiated allegations that were bandied about in India in the early stages of the attack; instead, at the highest levels, cooperation has been pledged.
The Hurriyat's condemnation could be seen as a response to the claim by the United Jihad Council that some of its members carried out the Pathankot attack. In the complex world of intra-Kashmire politics, the fortunes of both the Hurriyat and the krazed killer groups have waxed and waned over the years. For a while, it appeared that the APHC may be in terminal decline: divided by internal rivalries and lacking charismatic leaders who could energise and mobilise the Kashmiri people. But for all its internal problems, the APHC's insistence that dialogue, especially between India and Pakistain, is the only way to find a solution to Kashmire has helped it retain its relevance, and even influence. With dialogue taking centre stage once again -- something the Pathankot attack presumably intended to change -- the Hurriyat is rightly trying to enhance the space for all pro-dialogue forces. The days of militancy in Kashmire must end -- and soon.
Yet, it is India too that must consider whether its policies in Kashmire are creating more room for groups with a violent agenda -- and thereby reducing the space for elements favouring dialogue. The unrest in India-held Kashmire is not a figment of the Pak imagination nor is it a fiction created in Kashmire to justify violent agendas. In fact, the repressive military presence in India-held Kashmire and the policies of the centre that accentuate communal tensions there have created dangerous tensions that are never far from the surface. The APHC itself has been treated by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an enemy, even though Mr Modi's partner in Srinagar, the now-deceased Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, was in favour of giving the APHC more space. When pro-dialogue forces are treated as the enemy, it is usually krazed killer forces that benefit.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2016
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[Dhaka Tribune] Some factions within the Afghan Taliban are considering taking part in a grinding of the peace processor that officials from Afghanistan and Pakistain aim to revive next week, several senior members said, in a softening of the krazed killers' recent stance against talks.
Next week's meeting in Islamabad between officials from Afghanistan, Pakistain, the US and China is intended as the first step towards resuming stalled negotiations aimed at ending the 14-year-old war that kills hundreds each month and has intensified in the past year.
Whether the Taliban, increasingly dominant on the battlefield since the withdrawal of most international troops by the end of 2014 yet riven by factional infighting, eventually joins the talks is far from clear.
Even if it did, those present would only represent part of the Islamist krazed killer movement fighting to topple the government in Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... and restore strict Islamic rule in place before it was ousted in 2001.
But important elements of the Taliban have signalled they may be willing to send negotiators at some point.
Afghan officials say the meeting schedule does not include any Taliban representation, but they do not rule out the possibility of the group joining at some stage.
With security worsening, Kabul is trying to limit expectations of a breakthrough, and says the aim of next week's talks is to work out a road map for peace negotiations and a way of assessing whether they remain on track.
Is there a Taliban at all?
After six months of worsening fighting, with the province of Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... slipping out of control and frequent suicide kabooms in the capital, Afghanistan and its neighbours are trying to return to peace talks, albeit without the Taliban for now.
Leadership divisions may impede progress, with some krazed killer factions saying they will not take part.
The announcement last July, shortly after inaugural talks between Kabul and the Afghan Taliban were staged, that its founder Mullah Mohammad Omar had been dead for more than two years, threw the krazed killer group into disarray, stopping the fledgling grinding of the peace processor in its tracks.
Mullah Akhtar Mansour, Mullah Omar ... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality... 's longtime deputy, took over the leadership, but was rejected by parts of the movement which accuse him of covering up Omar's death for his own gains and of being Pakistain's puppet.
But Mansour's faction has shown signs of warming to the idea of joining peace talks at some stage.
A senior Taliban capo said Sirajuddin Haqqani, Mansour's deputy and the head of the feared Haqqani network blamed for a series of suicide kabooms in Kabul, may take part.
The Taliban's main front man, Zabihullah Mujahid, said no formal negotiating team had been appointed, but he stopped short of a full denial of involvement.
By contrast, Mansour's rivals, led by Mullah Mohammad Rasoul, are holding out.
For its part, the Taliban may look for signs of concessions in areas including 2011 UN sanctions that impose asset freezes and travel bans on its leaders.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2016
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#1
And hilarity ensues
Posted by: Seeking a cure for ignorance ||
01/08/2016 12:53
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#2
"Armed Wing" and "Political Wing" fiction
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/08/2016 14:23
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ARe we missing pro-isolationist Mullah Omar yet?
Like Uncles Muammar, Mubarak, + even Saddam yet???
* See WORLD NEWS > [Indepedent.UK] WORLD POWERS REACH UNLIKELY [Un-Holy?] ALLIANCE WID TALIBAN AS INTERESTS COINCIDE AGZ COMMON ENEMY ISIS.
[REALCLEARPOLITICS] On Thursday, CNN will host a town hall with President B.O. as part of his "final-year push to make gun control part of his legacy." In addition to sitting down with liberal anchor Anderson Cooper, the network says Obama will "take questions from the audience."
Uh-oh. Get out your best pruning shears and trowels. In an age of micromanaged partisan stagecraft and left-wing media enablers, there is no such thing as a spontaneous question.
CNN has a long history of allowing political plants to flourish in its public forums.
At the cable station's Democratic debate in Las Vegas in 2007, moderator Wolf Blitzer introduced several citizen questioners as "ordinary people, undecided voters." But they later turned out to include a former Arkansas Democratic director of political affairs, the president of the Islamic Society of Nevada, and a far left anti-war activist who'd been quoted in newspapers lambasting Harry Reid ... the charismatic senator-for-life from Nevada, currently majority leader ... for his failure to pull out of Iraq.
At a CNN/YouTube GOP debate two weeks later, the everyday, "undecided voters" whose questions were chosen included:
--A member of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transexual Americans For Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as For a good time at 3 a.m. call Hillary and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Abel P. Upshur ... Steering Committee.
--A young woman named "Journey" who questioned the candidates on abortion and whom CNN failed to properly identify as an outspoken John Edwards ...Former senator from North Carolina, former vice presidential candidate, former Democratic presidential contender. Edwards was noted for his Two Americas stump speech and for his pretty hair. People started to notice which of the two Americas he belonged to when he got a $400 haircut in his private plane. While his wife, Elizabeth, was dying of cancer Breck Boy was porking a hussy named Riehl Hunter, with whom he fathered a child, then paid one of his aides to claim that the baby was his. He is currently trying to explain to the friendliest judge he can find how he happened to use campaign funds to do all that, rather than dipping into his own considerable fortune... supporter.
--A supposed "Log Cabin Republican" who had declared his support for Obama on an Obama '08 campaign blog.
--A supposedly unaffiliated "concerned mother" who was actually a staffer and prominent Pittsburgh union activist for the United Steelworkers -- which had endorsed Edwards for president.
--A supposed "undecided" voter who urged Ron Paul to run as an independent, but who had already publicly declared his support for former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's Democratic presidential bid.
--A staffer for Sen. Dick Durbin ...Senator-for-Life from Illinois and Democratic Party Whip. In April 2006, Time magazine identified Durbin as one of America's 10 Best Senators, so what's that tell you? He was the first United States Senator to support the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama, then the junior senator from Illinois.... , D-Ill.; a former intern for Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., and a former intern for the Council on American-Islamic Relations ... the Moslem Brüderbund's American arm ... Once a manipulative gardener, always a manipulative gardener. During the push for Obamacare ... aka the Affordable Care Act, an ineptly designed and worse executed piece of legislation designed to bring 17 percent of the U.S. economy under the direct control of the government. The previous iteration, known as Hillarycare, was laughed out of Washington. This stinker was passed on a party-line vote without being read... , Democrat plants spread like kudzu across town hall propaganda events. At White House "citizen town halls" in 2009, Team Obama hand-picked not-so-random "random" questioners who included:
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2016
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#1
As expected, no questions actually answered and many lies repeated. It was basically a letter ture on how right Obama is.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/08/2016 8:46
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All the appearance of a public appearance without the risk of uncomfortable questions.
"Madam Secretary, when that 3 AM call came from Benghazi, were you too drunk and asleep to answer?"
"Preznit Obama, is setting fire to a field of straw men considered arson? Is it better or worse than the Oregon ranchers convicted of terrorism?"
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/08/2016 8:51
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[ARA] KOBANE – At least 50 militant fighters of the Islamic State (ISIS) were killed and dozens more wounded in renewed clashes with the Kurdish-Arab alliance of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) northeast of Aleppo, military sources reported on Thursday.
Fierce clashes took place in the vicinity of Tishreen town on the western bank of Euphrates River in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo after a group of ISIS militants tried to infiltrate into the town –which was liberated by the western-backed SDF units end of December.
“A large group of ISIS terrorists tried to infiltrate into Tishreen town on Thursday, but our units foiled the operation and clashed with the terrorists,” an SDF spokesman told ARA News on Thursday.
“Subsequent to fierce clashes, the group withdrew from the vicinity of the town. More than 50 dead bodies of the terrorists were found in the clashes area, while dozens others were wounded and captured by our units,” the spokesman reported.
He added that three SDF fighters lost their lives and seven others were wounded in Thursday’s clashes.
This comes less than two week after the Kurdish-Arab joint forces of SDF regained control of the towns of Tishreen and Sakaniya in the suburbs of Manbij city north of Aleppo.
The SDF units had earlier expelled ISIS militants from the Tishreen Dam on the Euphrates River, which has for long served as a supply line for the extremist group between its de facto capital of Raqqa and the northern countryside of Aleppo.
“After liberating Tishreen Dam, our forces were able to regain the towns of Tishreen and Sakaniya on the western bank of the Euphrates River,” Kurdish member of the SDF Sarhad Abbas told ARA News.
“ISIS is unable to support its operations near Manbij after we cut off its main supply route,” Abbas said.
The SDF member added that their units, supported by the U.S.-led coalition’s air cover, are currently combating ISIS in Hasakah, northern Raqqa and northern Aleppo.
The Syrian Democratic Forces include Kurdish units of the YPG and YPJ, Arab rebels of the al-Sanadeed battalions and Burkan al-Furat brigades, Christian fighters of the Syriac Military Council and other allied rebel factions.
(IraqiNews.com) al-Anbar – A security force in Anbar province said on Thursday, that the Iraqi security forces backed by tribal fighters managed to repel an attack by ISIS on the area of Bruwana in the district of Haditha west of the province.
The source said in a brief statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “In the late hours of yesterday, ISIS attacked the area of Bruwana in the district of Haditha (160 km west of Ramadi), resulting in the outbreak of clashes between the security forces and tribal fighters on the one hand and ISIS elements on the other hand.”
The source also added, “The security forces and tribal fighters killed 18 elements of the organization and forced the rest of them to withdraw.”
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. hailed the Afghan Intelligence -- National Directorate of Security ...the Afghan national intel agency... (NDS) officials and operatives for their sacrifices and bravery in defending Afghanistan and the Afghan people against the foreign conspiracies.
During a meeting with the provincial NDS chiefs and officials in ARG Palace on Thursday, President Ghani said the NDS personnel are the defenders of the Afghan soil whose identities usually remain undisclosed due to the sensitivity of their duty.
However, if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well... President Ghani said the Afghan government and people will always remember and hail the sacrifices, devotion and services of the NDS personnel.
President Ghani further added that the NDS personnel are not only operating to discover and thwart threats and destructive activities against the Afghan soil and people but present their chest as shield to execute military operations.
Ghani also added the government remains committed to support the intelligence officials and personnel in repulsing conspiracies by the foreign intelligence agencies.
He also urged to further intensify their activities to defend the Afghan soil and people against the conspiracies and destructive activities.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2016
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(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – The German government announced, that it will send 50 German soldiers to train the Peshmerga forces in the Kurdistan region.
The German government said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “The Cabinet of Germany approved to increase the number of troops that were sent to Iraq to train the Peshmerga forces in the Kurdistan region from 100 to 150 soldiers.”
The German Defense Ministry said in a statement, “The troops that were sent to Iraq have a wide experience in the field of military training.”
Last year, Germany has sent 40 paratroopers to Iraq to train the Kurdish Peshmerga forces on using German weapons in their war against ISIS.
Noteworthy, Germany was merely supplying Iraq with non-lethal equipment such as helmets and body armors, while promised to increase its military support due to the increased risk of the extremist organization.
[DAWN] At the end of 2015, there were about 3.3 million Muslims living in the United States, making up about 1 per cent of the total US population. This figure is expected to double by 2050.
According to an analysis by the Pew Research Center released on Wednesday, the American Muslim population is projected to cross eight million in the next 35 years.
Aside from Pew's estimates, there is no official estimate of the American Muslim population over the years.
The problem partially lies with the US Census Bureau's methodology, which does not account for questions about religious identity. There is in fact no official government count of the US Muslim population.
According to Pew's estimate, the Muslim population in America outnumbers the Hindu (estimated at 2.1 million) and Sikh populations, although it is fewer than the country's Jewish population (estimated at 5.7 million).
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2016
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[THESMOKINGGUN] Minutes after proposing to his girlfriend over the loudspeaker at Walmart, a Michigan man allegedly shoplifted a vibrator, an edible thong, and other sex toys from a nearby Spencer's gift store, according to police.
In advance of popping the question last Wednesday night, William Cornelius, 25, purchased a $29.62 engagement ring at the Walmart in Bay City, police report. Then, after securing the permission of a store employee, Cornelius proposed to girlfriend Sheri Moore, 20, over the store's public address system.
As seen on store surveillance footage, Moore said yes, prompting applause from fellow shoppers. Cornelius--who had dropped to one knee--and Moore, police report, can be seen hugging and kissing following the proposal.
But the couple's engagement quickly became rocky.
According to Sherlocks, Cornelius and Moore (seen above) went from Walmart to a Spencer's store at the Bay City Mall. There, Cornelius allegedly swiped items with a combined value of $80.93. Included in the haul was a "Bride-To-Be" thong, a $14.99 vibrator, "BJ Blast" oral sex candy, and a $5.99 edible thong, Undersheriff Troy Cunningham told TSG.
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(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – On Thursday, some witnesses in Nineveh Provinces stated, that the ISIS organization has evacuated its main headquarters in Mosul to avoid the aerial bombardments of the international coalition and Iraqi aviation, while pointed out that the organization has taken the residential neighborhoods in the city as alternative headquarters.
The witnesses said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “During the last two days, ISIS elements have evacuated their main headquarters and check points in order to secure themselves from the international coalition aviation’s air strikes,” adding that, “The organization has taken the residential neighborhoods in Mosul as alternative headquarters.”
Noteworthy, ISIS has imposed its control over the city of Mosul in Nineveh Province in the 10th of June 2014, while extended its activities to several provinces and regions.
A man who authorities say was wearing a homemade tactical-style vest, carrying a BB gun and taking photographs of schools was shot and killed by police in a far suburb of reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown ... home of Al Capone, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel,... Wednesday.
Lake County Sheriff's Detective Christopher Covelli said the man was shot after he led officers on a foot chase and a struggle ensued. Investigators did not release any identifying information about the man, except to say that he was a white 38-year-old.
Police in the town of Zion responded to a 911 call that reported the man was taking pictures of an elementary school and a high school at approximately 8 a.m. local time.
"The suspicious person was located by officers, and a foot pursuit ensued. It appeared the offender was wearing body armor. After the foot pursuit, a struggle with the offender and officers ensued, which resulted in the offender being shot," read a statment from the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force.
Covelli later said the body armor was found to be a homemade tactical-style vest with metal inserts. It was not immediately clear how many times the man was shot.
Covelli also said officers had tried to use a Taser to subdue the suspect, but it didn't work because the man was wearing winter clothing.
#8
So now it's a crime to take pictures of schools?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/08/2016 12:33
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#9
So now it's a crime to take pictures of schools?
Definitely suspicious, especially while carrying a gun. They couldn't tell it was just a BB gun when he was running away from them. If you don't wanna get shot, don't run and don't resist arrest. Works for white folks the same as blacks except for the rioting.
[AlAhram] Unknown turbans bombed a main natural gas pipeline in Egypt's Sinai Penninsula on Thursday, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.
According to security sources, the blast took place in the Al-Midan area, west of the coastal city of Al-Arish. The assailants placed bombs under the pipeline and detonated them remotely.
The kaboom lead to an interruption in natural gas supplying houses in the area.
No group has yet grabbed credit for the attack.
Gas pipelines in Sinai have been bombed dozens of times since the revolution in 2011, with the most recent attack in May 2015.
Egypt's most active bully boy group, the ISIS-affiliated Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, grabbed credit for the bombing of a pipeline that carries gas to Jordan and Egypt's North Sinai region.
Security sources said unknown assailants on Thursday detonated bombs under the pipeline near the El-Midan village in North Sinai -- a stronghold of the group's bully boys, who swore allegiance to the ISIS group in 2014.
The group said it bombed the pipeline in a statement posted on Twitter Thursday and signed by 'Sinai Province', the name by which group refers to itself.
"God willing, not a drop of gas will reach Jordan until the caliphate permits," the statement said.
An explosion late this afternoon at a checkpoint in the oil terminal town of Ras Lanuf, 350 kilometres south west of Benghazi has killed at least four people. One of them was said to be a 16-year old youth whose family vehicle was caught in the blast.
Initial reports indicated there had been a car bomb at the town’s eastern checkpoint, however, it is now reported that a suicide bomber targeted the Daem checkpoint manned by Ibrahim Jadhran’s Petroleum Facilities’ Guards (PFG).
Nine people are said to have been injured. Some are in critical condition.
As with today’s suicide bombing in Zliten, 500 kilometres away, the so-called Islamic State is the prime suspect.
On Monday, it launched an attack on the oil terminal town of Sidra, just 25 kilometres further west, using four suicide bombers in two vehicles. As a result of the fighting and rocket attacks over two days, five oil storage tanks were set ablaze.
Yesterday, a PFG source in Ajdabiya told the Libya Herald that although IS forces had withdrawn from Sidra westwards to Ben Jawad, further IS attacks were expected imminently.
There are reports that Jadhran and PFG units have pursued IS and was involved in fighting today just east of Ben Jawad.
Meanwhile it is also reported that a Libyana mobile telecommunications relay station near Ajdabiya has been blown up by IS.
8 militants belonging to Daesh group have been killed and a number of others wounded in a clash with Taliban in eastern Nangarhar province.
Spokesperson for the police headquarters of Nangarhar told Khaama Press that the clash erupted in Farm-e-Chahar area of Bati Kot District on Wednesday.
According to Colonel Hazrat Hussain Mashriqiwal, those killed include the group’s so-called military commander and judge for Bati Kot District.
Col. Mashriqiwal identified the judge as Mawlawi Atiullah.
He said Taliban also lost one fighter in the same clash.
“Before police arrived they made their way out of the area leaving eight dead bodies behind,’ Col. Mashriqiwal added.
A photo of the dead bodies provided by Col. Mashriqiwal shows at least of them has been severely burnet.
However, it is unknown whether the person was burnt alive or after he died.
The clash erupts a day after they killed 31 of each other’s fighters in two clashes in Bati Kot and Achin districts.
Nangarhar has turned into a hotspot of fanatics of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) which also goes by its Arabic name Daesh. The group is trying to establish a regional command in Nangarhar.
[REUTERS] The diplomatic rupture with Iran triggered by the execution of a Shi'ite holy man was probably a side effect of a decision taken by Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... for domestic reasons, rather than the outcome of a deliberate ploy to enrage its regional opponent.
But whether or not they intended to raise the heat in a tense rivalry that already underpins wars across the Middle East, Saudi Arabia's new rulers have shown no sign of regret.
Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also defense minister, reassured the world on Thursday the crisis would stop short of an all-out war between the Gulf region's main powers.
"A war between Saudi Arabia and Iran is the beginning of a major catastrophe in the region, and it will reflect very strongly on the rest of the world. For sure we will not allow any such thing," he told the Economist.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Amid growing concerns regarding the expansion of terrorist activities by the loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defense of Afghanistan has announced that a new special force has been formed to counter the insurgency and threats posed by the terror group.
The acting Afghan Defense Minister, Masoom Stanikzai, has said the special force will mainly focus to counter the insurgency activities of ISIS loyalists in eastern parts of the country.
The loyalists of the terror group have recently increased their insurgency activities and anti-government propaganda besides terrorizing the residents of eastern parts of the country as they aim to establish a regional base in eastern Nangarhar province.
Stanikzai told the Afghan service of Voice of America (VOA) “The IS issue is the most important [issue], which should be hard hit. People are fed up with this group.”
He said the battalion consisting of 750 personnel of the Afghan army will continue to suppress the insurgency activities of the ISIS loyalists besides the ongoing airstrikes on ISIS targets.
The remarks by Stanikzai comes as the commander of the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan Gen. John Campbell said last year that the loyalists of the terror group are attempting to establish a regional base in Jalalabad, the capital city of eastern Nangarhar province.
Gen. Campbell further added that foreign militants from Syria and Iraq had joined the loyalists of the terror group in eastern Nangarhar province and are trying to consolidate links with the leadership of the terror group based in Syria and Iraq.
Meanwhile, the US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter later said that the threat posed by the terror group is being tracked very closely as they have started creating ‘little nests’ in Afghanistan.
IS has this evening claimed responsibility for today’s massacre at the Zliten security training school.
One internet site among a number used by the terrorists said that the suicide bomber who drove the explosive-filled water truck onto the parade ground was a Tunisian, whose nom de guerre was Abu Yakin Tunisi.
Although IS has already published a picture of Abu’l Abbas Al-Muhajar the suicide bomber responsible for the death of eight people at Ras Lanuf today, no picture of Tunisi has yet emerged.
The use of a Tunisian to carry out today’s carnage at Zliten may well have been calculated. A backlash against Tunisia has already begun with some calls for action against Tunisia. Meanwhile the Tunisian government has gone out of its way to condemn the massacre.
Misrata joined other Libyan voices clambasting IS. However its Council of Elders also demanded that the Khalifa Ghwell administration in Tripoli “shoulder its responsibilities” for securing the lives of citizens and prosecuting criminals and terrorists, thus cleaning the infected roots of the nation.
Ghwell had been in Sebha yesterday with a number of his ministers. A spokesman told the Libya Herald that Ghwell had cancelled a foreign trip today to stay in Tripoli. However, he declined to say where Ghwell had been planning to travel.
Posted by: badanov ||
01/08/2016
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#1
That was a real fine clambaste
Posted by: Bov Flimbers ||
01/08/2016 5:27
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[ARA] ALEPPO – Syrian rebel fighters of the Levant Front bombed regime-held towns of Nubul and Zahra in the northern countryside of Aleppo on Thursday, causing civilian casualties.
Local sources reported the death of at least six civilians and the injury of several others after a number of mortar shells fired by the rebels hit the towns of Nubul and Zahra, where the pro-Assad Shia population reside.
Speaking to ARA News in Aleppo, spokesman of the Levant Front Saleh Zein said: “We try to avoid civilian casualties. Our rebels only target positions of the pro-Assad troops, but unfortunately those have taken residential neighborhoods in Nubul and Zahra towns as bases.”
The rebel spokesman confirmed the reports about a number of civilian casualties in the shelling, blaming that on the pro-Assad forces “who are using civilians as human-shields”.
Also on Thursday, the Syrian regime’s troops responded to the rebels’s shelling on Nubul and Zahra by bombing rebel-held villages in northern Aleppo.
“Nine civilians were killed under the heavy artillery shelling by the pro-Assad troops in the villages of Hayan and Mayar,” a local media activist told ARA News.
WANA: Four tribesmen were shot dead when gunmen opened fire at participants of a peace jirga in the Shektoi area of South Waziristan on Thursday, officials said.
No group immediately took responsibility for the attack, but residents claimed that commander Said Khan alias Sajna, who is affiliated with the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), might have carried out the attack.
The residents said the Sajna Group had warned internally displaced persons (IDPs) a few days ago not to return to their homes, otherwise they themselves would be responsible for consequences.
Officials said that a jirga of Mehsud tribe was convened at Shektoi to work out a security plan and monitor movement of miscreants. The IDPs have recently returned to the area under a government-sponsored repatriation programme.
According to the officials, people were heading home after attending the jirga when armed men on hilltops opened fire at them. Four people were killed as a result of the firing.
The deceased have been identified as Malik Khan Wali, Jawad, Abdullah Khan and Akbar Khan. Elders of the area and several residents attended the jirga to discuss the security plan after receiving threat from militants.
People were evacuated from the area dominated by the Mehsud tribe in South Waziristan in 2009 when security forces launched an operation against the TTP. So far more than 13,000 families have returned home, out of a total of over 70,000.
[DAWN] A US judge has ruled that a macaque monkey who snapped grinning selfies that went viral last year online does not own the copyright to the photographs.
Activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals brought the case in the Socialist paradise of San Francisco ...where God struck dead Anton LaVey, home of the Sydney Ducks, ruled by Vigilance Committee from 1859 through 1867, reliably and volubly Democrat since 1964... on behalf of Indonesian simian Naruto, who shot to fame last year after a photographer published pictures taken by the monkey with his camera.
PETA petitioned the court to have the macaque "declared the author and owner of his photograph".
But in a preliminary ruling Wednesday, Judge William Orrick said that "while Congress and the President can extend the protection of law to animals as well as humans, there is no indication that they did so in the Copyright Act."
The photos were taken in 2011 on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi by British nature photographer David Slater. He later published a book of his photographs, which included two selfies taken by six-year-old Naruto. As a six-year-old the monkey would also be a minor, which would preclude ownership of the copyright. But the suit was accepted by the court, and it did cost the author money and time to defend, so it did help keep the court system clogged and the nuisance was inflicted.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2016
00:00 ||
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#1
If the macaque brought the case on his own, I'd say "maybe".
The fact PETA had to do it for him would indicate "no" and they should be beaten and left in an alley for wasting everyone's time and money
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/08/2016 10:14
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#2
So who owns the copyright?
For some strange reasons, the media never answered this question.
Posted by: Seeking a cure for ignorance ||
01/08/2016 13:00
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#3
1. PETA should be ashamed of itself. Did the monkey consent to participate in this case? No. Those PETA thugs were just using the poor animal for their own selfish purposes.
2. In the US copyright inures when a work of authorship is fixed in a tangible medium of expression. The "work of authorship" portion is the key here. There needs to be some creative input -- i.e. human input. This is why there is no copyright in a work created by a computer (at least not yet), in a photo taken by accident or in a monkey selfie.
Leadership council of Taliban, which is also known as Quetta Shura, was reportedly comprised of Pashtoons only but the group has now included members of Tajik, Uzbek and Turkmen tribes into it.
According to Pakistan’s The Express Tribune news agency, a news source of Taliban, the new leader of Taliban Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour has almost completed re-organisation of the Taliban movement after the death of Mullah Mohammad Omar and at least three non-Pashtoons have been inducted into the leadership council to quash the impression that the Taliban only represent ethnic Pashtoons.
The report which is published today states that Maulvi Abdul Rehman, an ethnic Uzbek, and Sheikh Sharif, an ethnic Tajik, have been inducted into the council. A Turkmen has also been given a berth in the new council, it adds.
It cites unnamed Taliban as saying that this is the first time non-Pahstoon have been given a place in the council.
The report further states that Mullah Omar’s son Mullah Yaqoob is also inducted into the new leadership council and Mullah Omar’s brother, Mullah Abdul Manan into the political commission. The two had previously opposed Mullah Akhtar but later pledged allegiance to him.
The media outlet citing a top Taliban official as saying that two members of the leadership council ‘Quetta Shura’ have been expelled from the council for refusing to accept Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour as their leader.
It states that Mullah Abdul Razzaq and Mullah Hasan Rehmani who were also involved in peace talks are no more members of Taliban leadership council.
They were among the Taliban leaders who had arrived in Islamabad for a second round of talks with Afghan government officials in July which was, however, cancelled over Mullah Omar’s death, the report states.
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.
Cologne's head of police has been suspended after allegations he withheld information on the New Year's Eve sexual assaults. The state's interior minister said to expect more details from the investigation next week.
Lobbyists in Missouri who have sex with state lawmakers or their aides would have to disclose that activity to the state ethics commission, under a bill introduced this week by a Republican state representative. 
CARACAS, Venezuela -- With triple-digit inflation showing no signs of retreating and the new National Assembly vowing to remove the president, Venezuela over the last few days careered toward crises both economic and political.
An Islamic State militant executed his mother in public in the Syrian city of Raqqa because she had encouraged him to leave the group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Friday.
[Boston Herald] OSLO, Norway -- The latest on the stream of refugees and other migrants crossing Europe. 
[THEHILL] Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump could "feel the Bern" on Thursday night.
[TELEGRAPH.CO.UK] Government experts dismiss supposed health benefits of wine and are set to rewrite the rule book on alcohol consumption
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[Dhaka Tribune] Some factions within the Afghan Taliban are considering taking part in a 
Harry Reid
Hillary Clinton
A man who authorities say was wearing a homemade tactical-style vest, carrying a BB gun and taking photographs of schools was shot and killed by police in a far suburb of 
