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U.S. designates ISIS in Afghanistan as foreign terrorist organization
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
17:11 2 19:34 DarthVader [9]
12:29 14 20:38 Bangkok Billy [3]
10:13 7 14:29 Steve White [6]
10:01 22 22:16 trailing wife [11]
08:31 2 13:33 Shipman []
06:14 1 17:48 Lampedusa Creretch3679 [2]
05:17 3 08:55 Bright Pebbles [5]
05:10 6 14:56 NoMoreBS [6]
04:35 5 19:55 Halliburton - Foreign Affairs Division [11]
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Economy
9,000 words worth of Obama's legacy By Donald Sensing
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/15/2016 17:11 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Talk about a hockey stick.
Posted by: Matt || 01/15/2016 19:22 Comments || Top||

#2  He met his goal. He fundamentally changed America. Changed it right into the ground.
Posted by: DarthVader || 01/15/2016 19:34 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Reuters/Ipsos Poll: Quarter of Republicans think Cruz's birthplace disqualifies him for president
Please put all election articles on Page 6, even if it's not about seedy politicians. Except for op-eds, of course.

-- trailing wife for the moderators at 3:30 p.m. ET
Believe it or not, Donald is just trying to make sure the Republicans don't step on their dic& here. One thing is for sure, if Donald wins the nomination, he certainly won't take Cruz along with him unless this is settled.
A quarter of Republicans think White House hopeful Ted Cruz is disqualified to serve as U.S. president because he was born in Canada to an American mother, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
And I'm pretty sure 80% of Dems are going to think the same thing if Ted ends up getting nominated for POTUS or VPOTUS.
Republican voters nearly mirror independents and the broader electorate in their belief that Cruz cannot hold the White House, with 27 percent of all voters and 28 percent of independents responding he should be disqualified.
Looks like the birther argument that the MSM claims Cruz "won" wasn't such a win after all.
Cruz, a U.S. Senator from Texas who was born to a U.S. citizen mother and Cuban father in Calgary, Alberta, has brushed aside the attacks about his eligibility as pure politics. But the questions could hamper his ability to rally the broad Republican support he would need to win the party's nomination to run for the presidency in November's election.

Only 47 percent of all voters surveyed responded that they thought Cruz is qualified to be president with regard to his citizenship, with 26 percent saying they were not sure.

The poll was taken from Jan. 7 to Jan. 14, before questions about Cruz's eligibility became one of the most heated moments of Thursday night's Republican primary debate.

New York businessman and reality TV star Donald Trump has made questions about Cruz's eligibility a regular attack line on the campaign trail and the debate stage.

"I already know the Democrats are going to be bringing a suit. You have a big lawsuit over your head while you're running, and if you become the nominee, who the hell knows if you can even serve in office?" Trump said during Thursday night's debate. "So you should go out, get a declaratory judgment, let the courts decide."

But Cruz tried to use Trump's own previous words against him in response.

"Back in September, my friend Donald said that he had his lawyers look at this from every which way and there was nothing to do this," Cruz said. "Since September, the Constitution hasn't changed, but the poll numbers have."

Trump became a conservative darling in 2011 when he repeatedly questioned President Barack Obama's eligibility to be president, insisting that the president may have been born in another country and demanding to see his birth certificate.

Obama was born in Hawaii. It made Trump one of the most well-known "birthers," a term used to describe those who insisted Obama had been born elsewhere.

The constitutional issue at question is the requirement that a president be a "natural born" citizen.

Cruz, 45, has argued that because he became a citizen at the time he was born, that makes him qualify as natural born. But his opponents argue that at the time of the writing of the Constitution, natural born would have required being born on American soil.

U.S. Senator John McCain, who ran as the Republican nominee in 2008, was born in Panama, but argued he met the requirement because his birth took place on a U.S. military installation, which is the same as American soil.

The poll, which has a confidence interval of 5 percentage points, posed two questions to two separate polls of voters. One group was asked about Cruz's eligibility. The other half was asked a generic question about the eligibility of anyone born in Canada with an American parent.
Personally, I think the office of POTUS should only go to a natural-born citizen of two natural born citizens. Where natural-born means born and raised fully on American soil. Vacations, etc. allowed of course.

I have seen what happens when someone suddenly finds out that they have (insert nationality/race/religion/whatever here) in their past. Suddenly they become overly curious/loyal to it. I'm tired of those complications. Of course, Arnold Schwarzenegger gets a waiver here. And Mark Steyn.

I don't like the current pansy who worries too much about how other countries think.
Posted by: gorb || 01/15/2016 12:29 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So poll is really about how much Americans know about the Constitution.

An intelligent poll would've asked ... No, never mind. I can't finish that question.
Posted by: Bobby || 01/15/2016 13:02 Comments || Top||

#2  So poll is really about how much Americans know about the Constitution.

Yep. And what happens if this 25% of the voters change their vote based on an incorrect idea? Better get this ironed out in their minds before we get there.
Posted by: gorb || 01/15/2016 13:09 Comments || Top||

#3  So, Cruz definitely is NOT a naturalized citizen that would be part of the public record. So, If he's not a native born citizen a) what is he? b) how can he be a senator if he's not a citizen?

These people are insane.
Posted by: AlanC || 01/15/2016 13:14 Comments || Top||

#4  Citizenship is not a requirement of any elected federal office other than President.

Cut them some slack. They've been repeated told that anyone born in the borders of the US, regardless of origin is a anchor baby American citizen. Now they're being told someone born in Canada is not a Canadian citizen.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/15/2016 13:43 Comments || Top||

#5  Cruz, a U.S. Senator from Texas who was born to a U.S. citizen mother and Cuban father in Calgary, Alberta.

I think the spread of origin pretty much makes him a 'NorteAmericano'.

Unlike Mitt Romney.
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/15/2016 13:54 Comments || Top||

#6  Procopius2k, Vice President and Speaker of the House or whomever is next in line for the Presidency have the same requirements as the President.

I think Gorb nailed it (#2). Doesn't really matter what the constitution says if enough people believe the wrong thing. Cruz should have run this all the way through the Supreme before the primaries because its obvious the Democrats would use it against him.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/15/2016 14:44 Comments || Top||

#7  I don't believe the courts will accept a case before an alleged violation has occurred. Cruz would have to be elected before someone can contest his election as invalid. Am I wrong?
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/15/2016 15:59 Comments || Top||

#8  "Cruz would have to be elected before someone can contest his election as invalid. Am I wrong?"
I think you're right. Leaving an issue this important unsettled is a steaming pile of BS, and should have been clarified / corrected 200 or more years ago. This is far more important than the shadow of a penumbra.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 01/15/2016 16:16 Comments || Top||

#9  And beyond the three positions that are directly in line for the President there is nothing else with that same demand? Meaning your f-d if you status is at all in question and the electorate is opinionated and semi-ignorant.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/15/2016 17:36 Comments || Top||

#10  Consider a military dependent born in a hospital in Germany. The family is there because they are stationed there. Is that kid barred from being a US President?

Please.

The US law defines a child born to a US citizen overseas as a natural US citizen. This is smoke and mirrors.

One of the things I stressed to my kids growing up is just because you can do something doesn't mean that you should. Trump shouldn't have set off this stink bomb.
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 01/15/2016 18:12 Comments || Top||

#11  Consider a military dependent born in a hospital in Germany. The family is there because they are stationed there. Is that kid barred from being a US President?

When we were civilian expats in Germany, I was told that if my child was born in a hospital on an American military base, there was no issue -- that counts as US soil. But if my child was born in a German hospital, while she (it was trailing daughter #2) was automatically an American citizen because she had at least one American parent who was born on American soil, if she did not marry an American-born American citizen, then if her children were not born on American soil they would not inherit her American citizenship.

This is the same rule that held for John McCain (born on a US military base in Panama) and Barack Hussein Obama (had he been born in Kenya as he claimed for years before he claimed otherwise).
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/15/2016 18:28 Comments || Top||

#12  Cruz would have to be elected before someone can contest his election as invalid.

I think that you are correct. The U.S. Supreme Court is an appellant court. A lower court would have to rule and that ruling appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Someone would need standing to sue. Until the "crime" is committed nobody could prove harm which is required for standing to sue. I am not a lawyer and that one constitutional law class that I took was a long time ago.

I believe that the law is on Cruz's side and if it came before the courts they would quickly rule in his favor.
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 01/15/2016 18:42 Comments || Top||

#13  If you are born to an American anywhere, You are a Naturalized Citizen. It is as easy as that. This stupid conversation ends right at the Constitution, right now.

Shut Up Trump.
Posted by: newc || 01/15/2016 20:21 Comments || Top||

#14  This whole thing is a fart in windstorm. TC is a natural born US cit. The law on this is pretty clear and has been for decades. He was born abroad in wedlock to an American citizen mother who met the requirements for transmission of citizenship to her son (TC). End of flippin story. I'm embarrassed that 47% of the survey population is brain dead and cannot spend 10 minutes researching this. Does not bode well for our future.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy || 01/15/2016 20:38 Comments || Top||


Government
Senator Lindsey Graham endorses Dynasty
[USA Today] South Carolina senator and former presidential candidate Lindsey Graham will endorse Jeb Bush for the Republican nomination on Friday, aides said.

The Bush campaign scheduled a news conference with Graham for 9:45 a.m. ET Friday.

Graham made national security and the fight against the Islamic State his major campaign themes, but could never gain traction in the crowded Republican field. He dropped out of the race last month, and he and Bush have spoken fondly of each other in the weeks since.

"Lindsey Graham is probably the most knowledgeable person on the Hill as it relates to national security, military affairs, foreign policy, and his endorsement is very meaningful," Bush told Fox News.

A former House member first elected to the Senate in 2002, Graham is well-connected and well-organized in South Carolina, and his support could help Bush mobilize Palmetto State voters ahead of a Feb. 20 primary.

Others questioned the value of Graham's support in the long run.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/15/2016 10:13 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This bromance is going on right now for, it seems like 25 minutes.

Losers coalescing.
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 01/15/2016 10:34 Comments || Top||

#2  Yes, beltway pity party.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/15/2016 10:38 Comments || Top||

#3  Oh man is this a case where the Unified Republicrat Beltway Party is totally oblivious.

Does anyone still believe that one Rino endorsing another Rino matters at all? These guys are so far into the bubble that it's turned into a Klein bottle.
Posted by: AlanC || 01/15/2016 11:08 Comments || Top||

#4  Klein bottle? Nice imagery.
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 01/15/2016 11:21 Comments || Top||

#5  Knowing full well poor Jeb is history, the spiteful klein piel's not so hidden message is...'go ahead and elect Trump, he'll get nothing from the 'Beltway Party' Senate.'
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/15/2016 11:41 Comments || Top||

#6  ..as though the Beltway Senate has done anything seriously to constrain our current Nero.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/15/2016 12:03 Comments || Top||

#7  So Jeb is getting both of Lindsey's voters...
Posted by: Steve White || 01/15/2016 14:29 Comments || Top||


Economy
Just after the SOTU - Walmart announce closure of 154 stores, 10k out of work
Timing is everything for the Gov't and the company store. DOW down over 300.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/15/2016 10:01 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Anxiously awaiting outrage and strong diplomatic protestations from Beijing.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/15/2016 10:10 Comments || Top||

#2  95% of them are in Brazil where the chain has been really struggling.

The others are in the US that are closer than 10 miles to another WallieWorld.
Posted by: DarthVader || 01/15/2016 10:47 Comments || Top||

#3  10,000 in the U.S. out of work is not a 'good news' story.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/15/2016 10:53 Comments || Top||

#4  The Walmart/Sam's CEO is a member of bam-bam's "tribe," and something of a piece of work.

She knew this was coming, but delayed the announcement so as to not tarnish the SOTU message of "America now has the strongest most durable economy in the world." (Cleanest dirty shirt?).

Surprised the announcement was not delayed until after midnight tonight.
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 01/15/2016 10:55 Comments || Top||

#5  Darth, WTF? According to what I've read more than half are in the US, 154 of 269.

Where did you get Brazil?
Posted by: AlanC || 01/15/2016 11:23 Comments || Top||

#6  Correction - She is the Sam's Club CEO only.

Never mind...
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 01/15/2016 11:25 Comments || Top||

#7  Unemployment is down and the markets are growing...for unpaid student visa interns and H1b holders.
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/15/2016 11:34 Comments || Top||

#8  ZeroHedge has an interesting analysis.
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 01/15/2016 13:04 Comments || Top||

#9  The article I read said most are in Brazil. Funny, I can't find it now.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 01/15/2016 14:16 Comments || Top||

#10  [T]he company is closing 115 stores outside the United States. This includes 60 recently-closed, loss-making stores in Brazil, which represents only 5 percent of sales in that market. The remaining 55 stores are primarily small, loss-making stores in other Latin American markets.
Posted by: Pappy || 01/15/2016 14:47 Comments || Top||

#11  WalMart also plans to open more branches this year than this announcement states it will be closing. Net result will be that one year from now there will more MORE Walmarts & Sams Clubs open than are now open at the moment. Effect on net employment has not been stated. This is crappy news reporting.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 01/15/2016 16:09 Comments || Top||

#12  IMNSHO there are far more retail establishments open than the economy can reasonably be expected to support. The gubmint's ZIRP policy and propping up the banking system are to blame for that. I expect many more retail outlets to close permanently over the next 10 years, regardless of who's in the Oval Office and sits in Congress.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 01/15/2016 16:12 Comments || Top||

#13  The DOW is still ridiculously over-priced. I got out of the stock market altogether in 2007, and haven't regretted it one bit.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 01/15/2016 16:13 Comments || Top||

#14  This is crappy news reporting

Well... ZeroHedge...
Posted by: Pappy || 01/15/2016 16:15 Comments || Top||

#15  WSJ.com did have the decency to include
The retailer will open more than 300 stores globally next year, he said, though Wal-Mart is slowing its new-stores growth in the U.S. where it operates about 4,600 stores.

However WSJ did not give the numbers on new-stores growth, nor did it deign to mention the grand total of Walmart stores the company has closed in its entire history: I see a lot of vacant store fronts scattered all over the USA which once were run as Walmarts.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 01/15/2016 16:25 Comments || Top||

#16  ZeroHedge has an interesting analysis.

Zero Hedge pointed out the direct correlation between WalMart's voluntary and celebrated increase of their basic wage to above the minimum, and the subsequent layoff of the 10,000... exactly as predicted by conservatives and mocked by liberals. I'd say a Q.E.D. is in order.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/15/2016 17:23 Comments || Top||

#17  I looked up the ones closing near me, and they were in places like Mamou and Lake Arthur; small towns with declining population bases.

I doubt it's because the Mamou Police Jury went all Bernie Sanders and raised the minimum wage to $ 15.00/hr.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 01/15/2016 18:09 Comments || Top||

#18  Also from the SF Gate:

In Oakland, employees and city officials expressed shock, and some speculated that the city’s minimum wage law played a part in the decision to shutter the store there.

Yeah... don't make a profit store goes bye bye. Welcome to economics 101.
Posted by: DarthVader || 01/15/2016 19:44 Comments || Top||

#19  I doubt that the Oakland employees and city officials could get through Econ 001, Darth.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 01/15/2016 20:40 Comments || Top||

#20  Thanks TW. You got it...
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 01/15/2016 20:57 Comments || Top||

#21  You're welcome, dear Blossom Unains5562. It's a topic I've discussed a number of times with people who ought to understand the principle.

But this evening I discussed WalMart with Mr. Wife, my in-house businessman/engineer, who recalled that the company will be opening stores this year as well as closing stores. In fact, they'll be opening a bunch. So I found the same corporate news release in which the closings was announced, wherein I read the following:

Walmart will continue to invest in its future, with plans to open stores worldwide in the coming fiscal year. Domestically, Walmart intends to open 50 to 60 Supercenters and 85 to 95 Neighborhood Markets in Fiscal 2017, which begins Feb. 1. In the same period, Sam’s Club plans to open in seven to 10 new locations. Internationally, Walmart intends to open between 200 and 240 stores during the coming year.

So it looks like the picture is more complicated than originally appeared.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/15/2016 22:07 Comments || Top||

#22  As, indeed, Anguper Hupomosing9418 pointed out with his WSJ quote in #15.

The WalMart news release can be found here.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/15/2016 22:16 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Big Pharma Border Patrol nabs Bourgault-Morin, sled, and Xanax
[Guardian] Authorities say a Canadian man was arrested while pulling a sled carrying more than 180 pounds of prescription pills across the border into the US.

The US attorney's office says 21-year-old Cedrik Bourgault-Morin was apprehended early on Wednesday after he crossed the border from Quebec along a railroad line into North Troy, Vermont.

Prosecutors say Bourgault-Morin was wearing white camouflage and border patrol agents were alerted to his presence when he triggered a sensor.
Ground sensors. What will they think of next ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/15/2016 08:31 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  along a railroad line
He may have activated a rail-tampering circuit.
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/15/2016 9:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Ricky or Julius?
Posted by: Shipman || 01/15/2016 13:33 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Mercer: Trump's Invisible, Poor White Army
[WND] Donald Trump's mortal enemies in mainstream politics and media have shifted strategy. In the ramp-up to the Iowa Caucuses, Feb. 1, the culprits have been pushing presidential hopefuls Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio onto a defiant Republican base. The Cartel has taken to discussing Trump as a nightmare from which they'll soon awaken. Candidate Trump's energetic, politically pertinent speeches and near daily rallies -- packed to the rafters with supporters -- are covered by media only to condemn this or the other colorful altercation. Ted Cruz, we're being lectured, is poised to topple Trump in Iowa.

But what do you know? On the eve of Jan. 12, as if in recoil to the concentrated toxicity of Barack Obama's last State of Disunion address, featuring the divisive Nikki Haley in the GOP's corner, Trump punched through the lattice of lies. The media-political-complex was caught trousers down again. National polls have Trump at 36 percent, Reuters at 39 percent. A CBS/NYT poll placed him 17 points ahead of Ted Cruz, his closest rival. In Iowa, Trump leads Cruz 28 to 26 percent.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/15/2016 06:14 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: Lampedusa Creretch3679 || 01/15/2016 17:48 Comments || Top||


Economy
What would Warren do? Buy more Phillips 66
[Rooters] Warren Buffett is expanding his bet on the oil industry, slowly adding to his already large stake in oil refiner Phillips 66 (PSX.N) even as crude oil prices have sunk to a 12-year low.

From Jan. 4 to Jan. 11, Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N), which Buffett has run since 1965, paid about $390 million for an additional 5.1 million shares of Phillips 66, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The purchases boosted Berkshire's investment in Phillips 66 to 65.68 million shares, or about 12.3 percent of those outstanding, worth $5.21 billion as of Thursday's market close.

Phillips 66 shares closed up $4.03, or 5.4 percent, at $79.28 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/15/2016 05:17 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Last dividend was what, 2.4% ? Refiners make about a penny per gallon. I don't think that it depends on the feedstock price. Exxon pays a dividend also.
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 01/15/2016 7:10 Comments || Top||

#2  WB has always been a "buy in when they're down" kinda guy. BNSF, Dairy Queen, etc.
That's how you aquire equity.
Posted by: ed in texas || 01/15/2016 8:16 Comments || Top||

#3  Buffet at his best was a yield chasing investor in straightforward sectors.
Lower prices tend to mean higher yields.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 01/15/2016 8:55 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Chart shows support for the Hildebeest tanking fast
In 2008, Hillary Clinton saddled up for the Kentucky Derby on a thoroughbred that was a sure thing. Her campaign was the finest colt in Kentucky, at odds that barely made it worth betting on her. The race began, and she was up by a quarter mile. Then, as another jockey started to gain, she slipped out of her saddle. She was barely hanging on, bumping along against the dirt, bruised and struggling and still hanging in there a half-a-length back. And then she lost and grudgingly wished the victor luck in winning the Triple Crown.

So you have to figure that, when 2016 rolled around and everyone was saying, "No, this horse is a sure thing," she was a bit wary. But she got on. She ran strong. She did well. And now, in the final turn, there might be something wrong with the saddle.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/15/2016 05:10 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Tanking or not, there's certaining something to be said for the Kentucky Derby metaphor.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/15/2016 5:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Sending Chelsea out to attack The Bern is a sign of desperation. 2008 all over again?
Posted by: Frank G || 01/15/2016 7:38 Comments || Top||

#3  I'd say worse. The number of old people dying off who watch MSM or actually read dead tree media has been accelerating while more and more of the newer group are linked to internet one way or another. The Permanent Party Propaganda machine is losing its one solid grip. And the Alinsky principle of making them live up to their own message has come home to roost with Bill's personal war on women.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/15/2016 8:21 Comments || Top||

#4  The only question left is who we will be running against this year. Some say Sanders, but there is a case to be made for Biden, Fauxcahontas and even Jerry Brown.

It would not surprise me to see one of these candidates simple step in and take over Hillary's existing organization. She has been placeholding for a reason after all.
Posted by: Iblis || 01/15/2016 12:02 Comments || Top||

#5  Blue Collar Males like Trump. Millennials like Sanders. Blacks don't seem to care this time. Women are starting to believe Bill's sex history (and Hillary's attacks) are not some vast right wing conspiracy after all.

I think a tipping point is very near and the Clintons know it.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/15/2016 14:50 Comments || Top||

#6  ValJar will manage the drip of FBI information in a slow moving crescendo until the Hidabeest sees the certainty of an indictment, and they decide to duck and cover in exchange for a "medical" exit. Then Uncle Joe, now ValJar and Iran's new friend, with fauxcahontis as the VP nominee, rescue the party and ride to victory against the Trump, collecting the independent voters that cannot stomach that egomaniacal modern PT Barnum.
Iran and the Shia dominance of the ME begins, and we slide further into massive debt and civil unrest. I pray I'm wrong!
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 01/15/2016 14:56 Comments || Top||


Arabia
War Between Saudi Arabia And Iran Could Send Oil Prices To $250
[Huffpoo] The rift between Saudi Arabia and Iran has quickly ballooned into the worst conflict in decades between the two countries.

The back-and-forth escalation quickly turned the simmering tension into an overt struggle for power in the Middle East. First, the execution of a prominent Shiite cleric prompted protestors to set fire to the Saudi embassy in Tehran. Saudi Arabia cut off diplomatic relations and kicked out Iranian diplomatic personnel. Tehran banned Saudi goods from entering Iran. Worst of all, Iran blames Saudi Arabia for an airstrike that landed near its embassy in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia's Sunni allies in the Arabian Peninsula largely followed suit by downgrading diplomatic ties with Iran. However, recognizing the dire implications of a major conflict in the region, most of Saudi Arabia's Gulf State allies did not go as far as to entirely sever diplomatic relations, as Saudi Arabia did. Bahrain, the one nation most closely allied with Riyadh, was the only one to take such a step.

Many of them are concerned about a descent to further instability. Nations like Kuwait and Qatar have trade links with Iran, plus Shiite populations of their own. Crucially, Qatar also shares a maritime border with Iran as well as access to massive natural gas reserves in the Persian Gulf. These countries are trying to split the difference between the two belligerent nations in the Middle East. "The Saudis are on the phone lobbying countries very hard to break off ties with Iran but most Gulf states are trying to find some common ground," a diplomat from an Arab country told Reuters. "The problem is, common ground between everyone in this region is shrinking."

The effect from the brewing conflict on oil is murky, but for now it is not having a bullish impact. In the past, geopolitical tension in the Middle East, especially involving large oil producers, would add a few dollars to the price of oil. This risk premium captured the possibility of a supply disruption into the price of a barrel of crude. However, recent events barely registered in oil trading. That is because the global glut in oil supplies loom larger than any potential for a supply disruption. Oil dropped to nearly $30 per barrel on January 12 and oil speculators are not paying any attention to the tension in the Middle East.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/15/2016 04:35 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Lifting the ban on exporting oil could mean a complete shift in the balance of trade calcs.

Oil dropped to nearly $30 per barrel on January 12 and oil speculators are not paying any attention to the tension in the Middle East.

Cause they're sitting around with their fracking rigs just waiting for an opportunity to present itself.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/15/2016 8:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Cause they're sitting around with their fracking rigs just waiting for an opportunity to present itself.

What Procopius2k said. America still imports 40-60% of the oil we use. If we increase domestic supply, even without exporting, that much is freed up to supply the rest of the world, putting a significant damper on prices.

Is Russian production constrained by European sanctions? That would change quickly if Middle Eastern supplies are blocked.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/15/2016 10:34 Comments || Top||

#3 
Posted by: Lampedusa Creretch3679 || 01/15/2016 17:42 Comments || Top||

#4  So what is the problem with that? It will be a price spike. The world gets off Saudi and Iranian oil. Russia gets back into the game. US oil production climbs, especially fracking, Nigeria does ok. Venezuela can't get it together whatever the price.

Saudi and Iran destroy each other. The world becomes a better place. What is the downside?
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 01/15/2016 18:25 Comments || Top||

#5  You mean other than the entire global economy screeching to a halt then quickly keeling over dead with its little feet in the air when oil is sustained for long north of ~$150/bbl or so? Aside from that I suppose the downside would probably be limited.
Posted by: Halliburton - Foreign Affairs Division || 01/15/2016 19:55 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
US Air Force shelves Warthog plane retirement amid IS fight
Gee. Why don't they just use the $100M paper mache prima donna hanger queen they call the F-35 to do this?
The US Air Force will delay retiring the A-10 -- a stalwart attack aircraft beloved by ground troops -- because of the ongoing fight against the Islamic State group, a military news site reported Wednesday.

Plans to postpone the mothballing will be outlined when the Pentagon submits its 2017 budget request to Congress next month, Pentagon officials speaking on condition of anonymity told Defense One.

Developed in the 1970s, A-10s can fly low and slow, and are famed for their tank-destroying capabilities and their heavy armor that makes them difficult to shoot down from the ground.

US ground forces delight at the distinctive sound of the highly maneuverable plane's massive cannon, which can drench a target with high-caliber firepower at a rate of about 70 rounds per second.

According to Defense One, Air Force officials have postponed immediate plans to retire the Warthog, as the plane is known, because of its utility in Iraq and Syria, where the United States is leading a coalition against IS jihadists.

The Air Force did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Senator John McCain, who heads the Senate Armed Services Committee, welcomed the report.

"The A-10 fleet is playing an indispensable role in the fight against ISIL in Iraq and assisting NATO's efforts to deter Russian aggression in Eastern Europe," he said, using an alternative name for the IS group.

"With growing global chaos and turmoil on the rise, we simply cannot afford to prematurely retire the best close air-support weapon in our arsenal without fielding a proper replacement."

The A-10's retirement, proposed two years ago, was intended to free up cash to pay for newer planes, including the costly F-35 fighter jet.

In October, the Pentagon announced the deployment of 12 A-10s to the air base in Incirlik in southern Turkey to support anti-IS operations in Iraq and Syria.
Posted by: gorb || 01/15/2016 02:46 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  After trying everything else first, the USAF finally does the right thing.
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 01/15/2016 7:20 Comments || Top||

#2  Correction: When forced to, the USAF brass do the correct thing, at least while everybody's looking. Give 'em time, the whole deal will come back around.
Honestly, I think the Big Guys would rather deliver bombs by FedEx if they could get away with it.
Posted by: ed in texas || 01/15/2016 8:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Active pilot Hogs are less susceptible to UAV command channel and data egress jamming. I expect 'high tech' can go to a 'No Tech' kinetic strike device pretty quick.
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/15/2016 9:15 Comments || Top||

#4  Active pilot Hogs are less susceptible to UAV command channel and data egress jamming. I expect 'high tech' can go to a 'No Tech' kinetic strike device pretty quick.

Sound airspace management is obviously the key. A 'two way' is fun to watch, especially when squirters (kinetic survivors) are involved.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/15/2016 9:21 Comments || Top||

#5  Obviously, given my nom de plume- I'm delighted. I still see them fly around Gowen field here in Boise. Like a vintage Boss 302 Mustang ...looks great..sounds great and the grunts love 'em.
Posted by: Warthog || 01/15/2016 9:36 Comments || Top||

#6  We go through this same shit bout twice a year now.
Posted by: chris || 01/15/2016 9:39 Comments || Top||

#7  "...delight at the distinctive sound of the highly maneuverable plane's massive cannon, which can drench a target with high-caliber firepower..."

Such a turn of a phrase. Paints a lovely picture....
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 01/15/2016 10:28 Comments || Top||

#8  I guess the piles of bodies from allies and the US were less popular than cancelling the warthog.

Yeah guys... we still kinda need it to keep our guys alive. And an A-11 program would be super helpful too. mkay?
Posted by: DarthVader || 01/15/2016 10:43 Comments || Top||

#9  If wartime realities didn't force military bureaucrats to do the right thing they'd be as messed up as the rest of the government.
Posted by: Woozle Angese5482 || 01/15/2016 12:54 Comments || Top||

#10 
Posted by: Lampedusa Creretch3679 || 01/15/2016 17:28 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
LUMS denies arrest of student in connection to Indian airbase attack
[DAWN] The Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) on Thursday categorically denied reports that a student from the educational institution has been enjugged
Into the paddy wagon wit' yez!
on terrorism charges.

LUMS Dean of Student Affairs Yasser Hashmi confirmed that the student has not been arrested and was "present in the university's library when he was contacted."

The Director General (DG) Administration Amir Khan also stated that "no arrest was made."

The statement from LUMS also appeared on the Facebook page of LUMS Students and Alumni Action Committee (LSAAC).

Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies

#1  The Lahore University of Management Sciences
"When MBAs go bad"
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/15/2016 9:16 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Netanyahu slams Swedish FM remarks as 'stupid'
[Iran Press TV] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decried latest remarks by Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, who has called for a probe into Tel Aviv regime's "extrajudicial executions" of Paleostinians.

"I think what the Swedish foreign minister said is outrageous,... it's immoral and it's stupid," Netanyahu, who also functions as foreign minister, said on Thursday.

The remarks came only a day after the Israeli Foreign Ministry announced in a statement that it had called in Swedish Ambassador Carl Magnus Nesser to condemn in the strongest terms what it described as Wallstrom's "biased and even hostile attitude to Israel."

During a speech on Tuesday, Wallstrom called for a probe into the Israeli regime's killing of a large number of Paleostinians on a daily basis, saying, "It is vital that there are thorough, credible investigations into these deaths in order to clarify and bring about possible accountability."
Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If Wallstrom feels so strongly maybe he should allow several million paleos into his country to better protect them.

Didn't think so.
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 01/15/2016 9:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Swedish FM Walstrom reportedly linked to corruption scandall
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/15/2016 12:36 Comments || Top||

#3  So Palestinian leaders who encourage their people to random acts of violence, namely stabbing or purposefully running over people including children, at random, and Wallstrom says nothing. When Israeli's defend themselves against these attacks she is outraged and demands investigation.
Well, when people in authority like Wallstrom condone random stabbing, and purposefully driving cars into people waiting at bus stops, the message that gets across to the Arab world is that they will tolerate such things in Sweden as well.
In November apparently mobs of North African or other immigrants attacked a large number of Swedish women in Stockholm. And indeed, neither the government nor the press bothered to notice it, though the police were aware of the complaints. The fools condone such behavior even in Stockholm.
The hope of the Palestinians is that the Jews would be scared, and pack up and leave the country of Israel to them. I don't think that will happen..
I wonder what the Swedes will do when their Arabs decide to scare the Swedes out of their country so they can run it? Who knows, the Arabs might even prefer Sweden to Israel.
Posted by: Grins Snese4215 || 01/15/2016 12:53 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
UN Humanitarian Official Calls Lift Of Sieges In Syria
"There, that's fixed. Who's up for tea?"
[NRTTV] The U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Syria on Thursday (Jan. 14) called for the siege to be lifted in towns such as Madaya where residents are reportedly dying of starvation.

"Ultimately the solution, the real solution to this predicament, to the plight of the people besieged in these towns, the real solution is for the siege to be lifted," said U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria Yacoub El Hillo.

Hillo was speaking from Tukiyah, 12km (7.5 miles) away from Madaya where aid is expected after 44 trucks left Damascus for the besieged town on Thursday morning.

Nearby Shi'ite villages Foua and Kefraya, surrounded by rebels, will also receive aid.

"For us, that is the United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
, the International Committee of the Red Thingy and the Syrian Arab Red Islamic Thingy, to be able to reach these people is encouraging and we are determined to continue this humanitarian mission today, but also in the coming days, bringing in more aid, medical supplies, food, other humanitarian supplies including winter support supplies, and that is something that should not be time-bound. This is something that should be continuous," Hillo added.

Around 40,000 civilians are trapped in Madaya and living in hard conditions, especially as the weather gets colder.
Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Broken Clock: ISIS frees new batch of Christian hostages in Syria
[ARA News] HASAKAH – The Islamic State group (ISIS) released on Thursday a new batch of Assyrian Christian hostages who have been captured by the group in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah in February.

The Assyrian Network for Human Rights (ANHR) reported the release of 16 Christian hostages after nearly eleven months of being kept by ISIS militants.

The released hostages included eight children, three women and five men. They arrived in Tel Temir town of Hasakah province on Thursday afternoon.

The hostages were released after intensive negotiations between Assyrian figures, including archbishop Afram Ithnael, and ISIS leadership in northeastern Syria. The negotiations were reportedly facilitated by Arab tribal mediators.

This is the fourth batch of Assyrian hostages to be released by ISIS in two months.

“ISIS has so far freed 164 hostages out of 230 Christian civilians who have been taken during the group’s invasion into the Assyrian villages in Tel Temir area of Hasakah province last February,” the Assyrian Network for Human Rights said.

In February, militants of the Islamic State stormed a number of Christian villages in the area. Subsequent to fierce clashes with Kurdish forces and allied Assyrian fighters, the radical group took some 230 civilians as hostages before its withdrawal.

ISIS has earlier released several batches of Christian hostages after negotiations with Assyrian figures, supported by Arab tribal mediators in Hasakah province.
Posted by: badanov || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Did the bad guys get tired of feeding them, or were they ransomed?
Posted by: Bobby || 01/15/2016 7:26 Comments || Top||

#2  I'd bet on ransoms, Bobby. ISIS makes an awful lot of money on the sale of captives, whether as slaves or ransoms.

I'd equally bet the men and women were old, while the children were below the age of nine.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/15/2016 10:50 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Over 700 Shias missing after Nigeria army raids: Shia group
[Iran Press TV] A Nigerian Shia group says more than 700 of its members are still unaccounted for a month after the deadly attacks by Nigerian forces against Shia Muslims in the northern city of Zaria.

In a statement released on Thursday, Ibrahim Musa, the front man for the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), whose leader Sheikh Ibrahim al-Zakzaky is in police custody, said about 730 people have gone missing since December 12, 2015.

"These missing people were either killed by the army or are in detention" but their "whereabouts are still unknown and undisclosed," Musa said.

He further noted that some 220 IMN members were in a prison, located in the city of Kaduna, the capital of the state with the same name, while others were in military custody elsewhere across the African state.

On December 12 last year, Nigerian soldiers attacked Shia Muslims attending a ceremony at a religious center in the northern city of Zaria, accusing them of blocking the convoy of the army's chief of staff and attempting to assassinate him. The Shias have categorically denied the allegations.
No, no! Certainly not!
You try to take down the king army chief, you'd best succeed...
The following day, Nigerian forces also raided Zakzaky's home and tossed in the clink
Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!
him after reportedly killing those attempting to protect him, including one of the IMN's big shots and its front man.
Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Hindu extremists attack PIA office in Delhi
NEW DELHI: Members of a right-wing Hindu extremist group vandalised the office of Pakistan Intern­ational Airlines (PIA) near Barakhamba Road in New Delhi on Thursday, following which one person was arrested.

The Indian Express said four activists of the Hindu Sena went to all the three rooms in the office, vandalising furniture and computers. They also scattered some pamphlets while they dismantled a miniature replica of an aeroplane installed near the reception desk.

The outfit blamed Pakistan in connection with the attacks at Pathankot and the Indian consulate in Afghanistan.

“There should be no talks with Pakistan unless they take stern action against people who have caused damage to India and hand over people like Dawood Ibrahim and Hafiz Saeed to India,” it said.

“The arrested person has been identified as Lalit Singh, who is a member of Hindu Sena. Efforts are on to nab his associates,” DCP (New Delhi) Jatin Narwal told reporters.

According to the police, the incident took place around 3.15pm when four Hindu Sena members entered the premises of PIA’s city office on the fifth floor of Narayan Manzil in the outer fringes of Connaught Palace.

By the time police teams reached the spot, three of them had fled and Singh was nabbed. Security was stepped up near the PIA office after the incident. A central security force team was also rushed there later, police said.

Owning responsibility for the incident, Hindu Sena chief Vishnu Gupta said, “Through this act, the members of our Delhi unit have expressed their anger and sent a message to Pakistan that they should respect our sentiments and keep in mind that we are not weak.”

Gupta himself was arrested last October, days after he called up the police alleging that beef was being served at Kerala house canteen here.

Police intervention in the case, which Delhi top cop B.S. Bassi refrained from calling a raid, attracted severe criticism from several quarters, including the office of Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.

The PIA office here was vandalised in August 2013 too allegedly by a right wing group in the wake of the death of an Indian soldier in a ceasefire violation by Pakistan forces along the LoC.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2016
Posted by: badanov || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:


Three suspected militants killed in Balochistan's Kech district
QUETTA: Security forces claim to have killed at least three suspected militants in Balochistan's Kech district on Thursday.

"Security forces launched a search operation against terrorists in the district's Sami and Tabjan areas to apprehend the suspects involved in attacks at the Frontier Works Organization (FWO)," said Khan Wasey, a spokesman for the Frontier Corps (FC).

"Three terrorists were killed during an exchange of fire with security forces," Wasey stated.

Weapons and ammunition were also seized by the security forces.

The FC spokesman added that the dead miscreants were involved in attacks on FWO personnel and other government functionaries in the area.

Unidentified militants had opened fire at a FWO vehicle carrying officials on Tuesday, injuring at least five personnel in Balochistan's Turbat area.

Levies sources had said that the FWO personnel were going from Hoshap to Panjgoor area when their vehicle was attacked.

The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital for medical treatment, while the assailants escaped unhurt from the spot.

In another incident on the same day, a labourer was killed when militants opened fire at an FWO Camp in Hoshap area of Turbat.

Explosives recovered
FC personnel also foiled major terror bid by defusing three improvised explosive devices in Solani area of Kech district.

The FC Spokesman said unknown miscreants had planted the IEDs to target security forces and FWO workers in the area. He said FC personnel timely acted and defused all three IEDs planted on road side.
Posted by: badanov || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Former UK soldier convicted for trying to smuggle refugee child
[Iran Press TV] A former British soldier accused of trying to smuggle a four-year-old Afghan girl has been handed a 1,000 euro suspended fine by a French court.

49-year-old Rob Lawrie admitted his crime but pleaded leniency during a court appearance in Boulogne-sur-Mer on Thursday.

Lawrie from the Leeds had been helping migrants as a volunteer when he was caught in October by French border police with Bahar Ahmadi in his van. Lawrie reportedly tried to get the girl from the Calais migrant camp in order to deliver her to family members in Britannia.

The suspended fine, which was handed to Lawrie because he failed to transport the girl in a child seat with a belt, means he will only have to pay it if he commits another offence in La Belle France.

He could face up to five years in jail over the smuggling charge which was thrown out by a judge. The conviction of endangering child's life was a symbolic for Lawrie who apologized for what he called an irrational move.
Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Could he be tried in the UK on return?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 01/15/2016 8:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Lawrie reportedly tried to get the girl from the Calais migrant camp in order to deliver her to family members in Britannia.

So he provided information on the other members of his child abuse network in exchange for a seatbelt violation?
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/15/2016 13:37 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Anbar Antics: 10+ die
Dozens of ISIS fighters killed in coalition strikes west of Ramadi

(IraqiNews.com) al-Anbar – A security source in Anbar province said on Wednesday, that dozens of ISIS elements had been killed in an aerial bombardment by the international coalition west of Ramadi.

The source said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “The international coalition aviation, in coordination with the Seventh Brigade, bombed headquarters and vital sites belonging to the ISIS in the district of Kabisa in the city of Heet west of Ramadi.”

“The bombing resulted in killing dozens of ISIS elements, in addition to destroying a number of weaponry and vehicles for the organization,” the source added.

Security forces fully liberate Sura area east of Ramadi

(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – On Thursday, Commander of the army’s 8th brigade Major-General Majid al-Fatlawi announced, that the security forces fully liberate al-Sura area east of Ramadi, while indicated to the death of five elements of ISIS and the destruction of a booby-trapped vehicle during the liberation operation.

Fatlawi said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “Today, the fighters of the army’s 8th brigade were able to liberate al-Sura area east of Ramadi and raise the Iraqi flag above one of its buildings,” adding that, “Five elements of the ISIS organization were killed during the operation, in addition to the destruction of a booby-trapped vehicle driven by a suicide bomber.”

Noteworthy, military operations backed by the Iraqi Air Force and the international coalition aviation continue in Anbar, in order to chase the ISIS elements and liberate the whole province.

Security forces liberate Albu Sodah, kill 10 ISIS elements east of Ramadi

(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – On Thursday, Commander of the army’s 8th brigade Major-General Majid al-Fatlawi announced the liberation of Albu Sodah area east of Ramadi, while emphasized that ten elements of the ISIS organization were killed and a vehicle was destructed during the operation.

Fatlawi said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “The forces of the army’s 8th brigade have carried out a military operation in Albu Sodah area east of Ramadi,” pointing out that, “The security forces managed to liberate the area and raised the Iraqi flag above one of its buildings, after killing 10 elements of the ISIS organization and destructing an armed vehicle.”

Earlier today, Fatlawi announced the liberation of al-Sura area east of Ramadi, while indicated to the death of five elements of the ISIS organization and the destruction of a booby-trapped vehicle during the liberation operation.

Security forces evacuate 800 civilians from Sufiyah and Sajariyah in eastern Ramadi

(IraqiNews.com) al-Anbar – A security source in Anbar province said on Thursday, that the security forces evacuated more than 800 civilians from the areas of al-Sufiyah and al-Sajariyah in eastern Ramadi.

The source said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “The security forces had managed to evacuate more than 800 civilians from the areas of al-Sufiyah and al-Sajariyah, most of whom were women and children,” noting that, “The forces provided food and treatment services for them, while transferred them to special camps for the displaced in Habaniyah and Ameriyat Fallujah.”
Posted by: badanov || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Government
Obama pledges nearly $4 billion for self-driving cars
[THEHILL] President B.O. is calling for politicians to spend $4 billion on the development of self-driving cars.
It's probably a dumb question, but how's that a federal govt responsibility?
The B.O. regime said Thursday the money would be used "to accelerate the development and adoption of safe vehicle automation through real-world pilot projects."
Just like we did electric cars...
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a speech at the North American International Auto Show in bankrupt, increasingly impoverished, reliably Democrat, Detroit
... ruled by Democrats since 1962. A city whose Golden Age included the Purple Gang...
that automated cars on U.S. roads more quickly would pay dividends in safety improvements.

"We know that 80 percent of car accidents are due to human error. So we ask ourselves, what happens if human error was eliminated?" Foxx said.

"If the technology meets its promise, my back of the envelope math tells me that more than 25,000 lives would have been saved in 2015 alone," he continued. "That is powerful possibility, and that is not only worth pursuing, it is worth working aggressively to determine whether or not it is true."
Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "We know that 80 percent of car accidents are due to human error. So we ask ourselves, what happens if human error was eliminated?" Foxx said.

According to the people who make up the narrative on unemployment figures, we would reduce human error to 0%, and therefore the problem would be solved.
Posted by: gorb || 01/15/2016 1:17 Comments || Top||

#2  The prez can ask. Congress decides if money is appropriated, or not.
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 01/15/2016 6:56 Comments || Top||

#3  Two points:
1) They just put out a study about over-reliance on automation in flying a plane and the loss of ability of pilots when the SHTF.
2) Where's the graft in that? Oh yeah that's where.
Posted by: AlanC || 01/15/2016 7:56 Comments || Top||

#4  Pushing the envelope in the development of self delivering car bombs...
Posted by: ed in texas || 01/15/2016 8:25 Comments || Top||

#5  If I remember right there was a pilot program for this,...it was called 'The Bus' with a slogan: "Leave the driving to Us".
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/15/2016 8:58 Comments || Top||

#6  That's four billion (with a "B") dollars worth of 100 percent pure pork lard. No wonder our government has a $20 trillion dollar debt. And with Republicans like Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan running Congress Obummer won't have any trouble getting it.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 01/15/2016 12:07 Comments || Top||

#7  Meh. It's only 0.1% of the federal budget. Almost a rounding error. /sarcasm
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 01/15/2016 12:46 Comments || Top||

#8  I wish the 0.1% was almost rounding error. If the Republicans get into office and actually dig into what our current debt is, our "rounding error" is going to be more like 50% I have a feeling.
Posted by: gorb || 01/15/2016 13:07 Comments || Top||

#9  No thanks. I've seen "I Robot".
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 01/15/2016 14:20 Comments || Top||

#10  Bet a self-driving car will eventually be networked for traffic info and can download location information and report folks going into certain neighborhoods when the POlice ask.

Folks pushed back at the idea of a black box in cars but they'll slip that in through the self-driving back door.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/15/2016 14:32 Comments || Top||

#11  Can a self-driving Uber tell if their is a passenger in the car vs a box of drugs being delivered?
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/15/2016 14:33 Comments || Top||

#12  Its a payoff to Google for all of the free data mining they did for the One during the last presidential election and all of that free data on computer use they give to the Feds.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 01/15/2016 16:27 Comments || Top||

#13  Govmint Motors recently announced research into self driving vehicles. Another payoff to the unions.
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 01/15/2016 17:19 Comments || Top||

#14 
Posted by: Lampedusa Creretch3679 || 01/15/2016 17:57 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Bangladesh Police Shoot Dead 2 Suspected Militants
[ALMANAR.LB] Bangladesh police on Thursday shot and killed two suspected commanders from a banned terrorist Death Eater group blamed for a deadly kaboom on a Shiite shrine in Dhaka, officers said.

Detectives raided a Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) hideout in the capital around midnight following a tip-off, triggering a shootout with police.

"Two hard boyz were maimed as police fired back after the hard boyz hurled a grenade and started shooting indiscriminately. They were declared dead after they were brought to Dhaka Medical College Hospital," a police statement said.

One of the commanders named as Kamal, alias Hiron, was a suspect in the attack on Dhaka's packed shrine in October that left two dead and dozens injured.

Deputy commissioner Sanwar Hossain said commanders Abdullah al Noman and Kamal, who used one name, were both prime suspects in the murder of a police constable at a check-post in November.

Three JMB hard boyz were also jugged
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
during the overnight raid, police said.

Police have stepped up a crackdown on local terrorist hard boyz after the Muslim-majority country was left reeling from an upsurge in deadly violence last year blamed on religious Death Eaters.
Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh


Africa Horn
Kenya steps up security along border with Somalia
Kenyan authorities said Wednesday they have managed to restore security along its porous border with Somalia in Mandera by deploying more police officers to enhance security.
Better late than never...
Mandera County Commissioner Fredrick Shisia said more security patrol teams have been deployed in Elwak and Lafey sub counties following December attacks that claimed five people.

“We have 100 security officers on the ground made up of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), paramilitary police and Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU) who have managed to push the Al-Shabaab inside Somalia,” Shisia told journalists in Mandera town.

The enhanced security follows the recent killing of three security officers and two passengers last month when a commuter bus they were traveling in was ambushed by the insurgents from Somalia.

Shisia said the multi-security team which was deployed since Jan. 1 has been able to thwart off cross border incursions by the Islamist militants along the common border with Somalia. He said several suspects have been arrested, with the latest being on two operatives who have been providing food to the Al-Shabaab militia operating in Lafey and Elwak.

The government administrator disclosed that the two are giving crucial leads to KDF and CID intelligence teams which will help in apprehending more culprits.
Wring them out like a tube of toothpaste. If they cooperate sufficiently they go to Mauritania. If they don't it's back to the Shaboobs with a note attached to their chests...
Kenyan authorities have blamed the militants for being behind spates of kidnapping of expatriates working in the sprawling refugee camps in the incursion-prone northern region and tourists in the coastal archipelago towns of Mombasa and Lamu.

Officials link these attacks to the fact that Mandera (a border town in Kenya’s northeast) and Bula Hawa (an adjoining town in Somalia) are barely two kilometres apart thus making it easy for terrorists to cross the border and attack.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab

#1  restore security along its porous border
Doing a better job than US?
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/15/2016 9:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Trouble with Somalis? We talkin' the Wisconsin border?
Posted by: AlanC || 01/15/2016 9:56 Comments || Top||

#3  Get them the hell out of Dodge
Posted by: bman || 01/15/2016 16:23 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Madaya: Second aid convoy enters besieged Syrian town
[BBC] A second aid convoy in a week has arrived at the besieged rebel-held Syrian town of Madaya, where people have been dying of starvation.

The first six of 40 lorries carrying wheat flour and medical supplies entered Madaya on Thursday evening.

The UN says 40,000 people are living in appalling conditions in Madaya, which is surrounded by government forces.

A smaller aid convoy also reached two towns under siege by rebels in the country's north-west on Thursday.

The situation in Foah and Kefraya in Idlib province, where 20,000 people are trapped, is said to be similarly dire.
Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Europe
Islamisation: Germany's Tele5 TV Channel Puts Muslim Star And Crescent On Logo
Excerpt: "Tele5 justified the move on Twitter this afternoon, saying that it was a symbol "expressing our sympathy to the victims of yesterday's attack," on German tourists in Istanbul. The attack in Istanbul took the lives of 10 tourists, mostly Germans, in Sultanahmet square, a tourist location near the Blue mosque and Hagia Sophia."
Liberal Reasoning: The Mobius Strip of logic.

Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'd like to draw your attention to this sophisticated bit of outreach to the Muslim world.

The star and crescent, coming together with some help.
Posted by: KBK || 01/15/2016 0:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Merkel et al celebrated commemorated the Charlie Hebdo/Hypercacher massacre by attending an Islamic religious ceremony organized by the Erdogan regime and a Muslim Brotherhood front organization.

Nothing new here!
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 01/15/2016 3:15 Comments || Top||

#3  So these Tele5 TV cretins rewards the aggressors.
Typical media.

Posted by: Lionel Thoth9784 || 01/15/2016 14:56 Comments || Top||

#4  And so it begins ...
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/15/2016 22:30 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Several Shaboobs killed in firefight near Elbur airport
A district official says several Al shabaab combatants were killed in a firefight with national army soldiers near Elbur airport in central Somalia on Wednesday.

Confirming the incident, Elbur administrator Nur Hassan Gutale said unspecified number of Al-Shabaab fighters have been killed during a gun battle outside a military camp at the city’s airport. He said SNA soldiers repelled Al shabaab after armed militants attacked twice the military base.

“SNA killed several Al shabaab fighters in the botched attack. The militants suffered losses during the clashes. The area is under our full control,” said Elbur district commissioner.

Al shabaab did not comment of the attack and the official’s claim.
"Lies! All lies!"
Posted by: Steve White || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Southeast Asia
ISIS Cited in Deadly Indonesian Terrorist Attack
[ABCNEWS.GO] The White House has slammed the deadly attack in Jakarta that left seven people dead, five of whom were believed to be the suspected perpetrators.

Both the Indonesian government and the White House are calling it a terrorist attack, which involved a string of kabooms that also left 23 people injured, five of whom were police personnel.

Other suspects are being pursued by Indonesian authorities, the U.S. Embassy said in a statement.

The ISIS-linked 'Amaq News Agency claims the group was behind the attacks. Quoting a source, 'Amaq said "fighters from the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
carried out the attack targeting foreign nationals and security forces tasked with protecting them." There has been no official claim by ISIS.

Of the injured civilians, four are Indonesian citizens and 14 other civilians, officials said.

The U.S. Embassy said there are no Americans among the victims. U.S. citizens are advised to defer all non-essential travel in the city of Jakarta and areas such as malls, restaurants, cinemas and large gatherings should be avoided.
Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Both the Indonesian government and the White House are calling it a terrorist attack

So is it a "terrorist attack" to the White House because it happened outside the US, or because it happened in an Islamic state, or because it was so bloody obvious that even they couldn't explain it away?
Posted by: Pappy || 01/15/2016 14:24 Comments || Top||

#2  So like when they get cited it's like getting a ticket by police for having high grass what the fuck do they have meter maids driving through war zones like the chick from dead like me handing out tickets wtf?!!!! Hey Fazil pull the technical over you got a loud muffler what the fuck?
Posted by: Lampedusa Creretch3679 || 01/15/2016 17:11 Comments || Top||

#3  Looks like a COORDINATED THREE-FER amongst the ISIS, AQIM, + Al-Shabaab's deadly attack on military barracks]???

* JAPAN TIMES > PARIS-INSPIRED JAKARTA CARNAGE SIGNALS ISLAMIC STATE [IS/ISIS/ISIL] INDONESIA FOOTHOLD, THREAT OF MORE "CONCERTS".

* SAME > AT LEAST 20 FEARED DEAD IN AL-QAIDA AFFILIATE [AQIM aka AQ North Africa] ATTACK ON BURKINA FASO HOTEL.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/15/2016 22:36 Comments || Top||


Economy
Oil Expert Expects The Barrel Price To Fall Below $20
[NRTTV] Economic consultant in the field of energy, Majid al-Nashi, expected that the price of oil will fall below $20 US dollars a barrel.

Nashi, a former expert at the United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
, said in a statement today that "the price of Brent crude will go to into the twenties," signaling a significant drop.

Nashi added, "The global institutions and banks, which are interested in energy and the prices of oil and metals affairs changed their expectations today [Jan. 13] through market research that expected the price of a barrel of Brent to $10, while Morgan Stanley Bank expected [Jan. 13] that the price of a barrel of Brent to $15."

He cautioned that "if these expectations come true, the oil price will be between $10 to $15, then all oil-producing countries will stop producing and selling, because the sale would be a great loss."

Oil prices fell on Wednesday (Jan. 13) to $25.76 US dollars per barrel, compared with $27.70 in the previous day, according to the Secretariat of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

According to a Rooters report, Brent crude has fallen 15 percent since the beginning of 2016 and numerous international banks have lowered their price forecasts in recent days. The fall is attributed to the depreciation of the Chinese yuan and new crude coming from Iran.
Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/15/2016 12:33 Comments || Top||

#2  He cautioned that "if these expectations come true, the oil price will be between $10 to $15, then all oil-producing countries will stop producing and selling, because the sale would be a great loss."

A knowledge of economics obviously not a requirement for a Economic consultant in the arab world.
Posted by: phil_b || 01/15/2016 19:47 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Officer injured in stabbing attack near Nablus
[IsraelTimes] Attacker shot and killed while stabbing soldier following assault on military vehicle

An IDF officer was lightly injured Thursday in a stabbing attack near Mount Ebal outside the West Bank city of Nablus, the military said.

Initial reports indicated that the victim, a company commander in the army's officers' training school, was injured in the hand during the attack.

The army said the assailant initially attacked a military vehicle patrolling the area, north of Nablus.

"When the forces exited the vehicle, in order to assess the situation, an assailant drew a knife and stabbed and maimed an IDF officer," a statement from the military said.

The attacker was shot and killed, the army said.

The officer was treated at the scene by army medics.

Initial reports indicated that a Molotov cocktail had been hurled at the army vehicle, but an IDF spokesperson said that was false, without elaborating.

Earlier Thursday a Paleostinian man attempting to stab a soldier was shot and killed by Israeli forces, the army said. The incident took place at Beit Anun junction, north of Hebron in the southern West Bank.

"A Paleostinian assailant, armed with a knife, attempted to stab an IDF soldier. Forces on site responded and fired toward the attacker, resulting in his death," the army said in a statement regarding the Thursday morning attack. There were no Israeli injuries.

On Tuesday, another Paleostinian man was shot and killed as he attempted to stab a soldier at the junction.

"A Paleostinian attacker, armed with a knife, attempted to stab a soldier securing the Beit [Anun] junction near Hebron," a statement said. "Responding to the imminent threat, forces at the scene fired towards the assailant, resulting in his death."

A second man, who the army said had driven the attacker to the scene, was shot and injured as he fled. Paleostinian security sources said he later died, with the health ministry identifying the two as 23-year-old Mohammed Kowazba and 17-year-old Adnan al-Mashti.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan
Ten Daesh Insurgents Killed in Nangarhar Air Strike
[Tolo News] At least ten Daesh [Islamic State] snuffies were killed in an Afghan air strike in eastern Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
province on Wednesday evening, local officials said.

The air strike took place in Kot district of the province after an Afghan air force helicopter targeted the group of holy warriors, Provincial Police Chief Fazil Ahmad Shirzad said.

There were no civilian casualties during the air strike, he said.

In recent months the Afghan cops have increased their military operations in eastern parts of Afghanistan especially in Nangarhar to clear all holy warriors.
Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Iraq
Baghdad Bomb and Bullet Bulletin: 8 die
5 women, 1 man killed by militant attack in southern Baghdad

(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source within the police force announced on Thursday, that five women and a man had been killed in a militant attack by unidentified gunmen in southern Baghdad.

The source said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “In the late hours of yesterday, unidentified gunmen raided a house in the neighborhood of al-Nasr and Salam in the district of Abu Gharib in western Baghdad, resulting in the immediate death of five women and one man.”

The source added, “The security forces found the dead inside the house, while opened an investigation into the incident.”


7 people killed, wounded in bomb blast north of Baghdad


(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – On Thursday, a source in the Iraqi Ministry of Interior said, that seven people had been either killed or wounded in a bomb blast north of Baghdad.

The source said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “This morning, a bomb exploded near a popular market in Taji area north of Baghdad, killing two people and wounding five others.”

The source added: “A security force rushed to the area and evacuated the wounded to a nearby hospital for treatment and the dead bodies to the forensic medicine department, while a raid was carried out to search for the perpetrators of the bombing.”
Posted by: badanov || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
N.Korea Disinvited from World Economic Forum
Organizers of the World Economic Forum in Davos have revoked an invitation to a delegation from North Korea.

Spokesman Yann Zopf on Wednesday said the WEF invited North Korea in the autumn but decided to revoke now the reclusive state is subject to further sanctions after its fourth nuclear test this month.

But he added that North Koreans will still be welcome in the future if the regime "acts as a responsible and responsive member of the international community."
Which will be when?
North Korea had purportedly planned to send Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong to the forum next week.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Right - like they have a whole lot to contribute to the 'world economy' to begin with...
Posted by: Raj || 01/15/2016 0:55 Comments || Top||

#2  Sometimes, it is okay to invite the hermit out of it's hibernation, if only to check it's pulse.

Posted by: newc || 01/15/2016 2:20 Comments || Top||

#3  This is the admins. idea of a tough foreign policy. Next thing you know they'll unveil a dreaded hashtag.
Posted by: AlanC || 01/15/2016 7:39 Comments || Top||

#4  Not the "Strongly Worded Letter!"
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 01/15/2016 8:37 Comments || Top||


Arabia
10 Yemeni ex-Guantanamo inmates arrive in Oman
Ten Yemeni former inmates at the US detention centre in Guantanamo Bay arrived in Oman on Thursday for a "temporary stay" as Washington moves to close the notorious prison, Muscat's foreign ministry said.
"Hey! This ain't Aden!"
Mohammed Abd Al Rahman Al Shamrani was among the first prisoners taken to the US base in Cuba.

Oman has received the men "in response to a request by the US administration for help to resolve the issue of detainees at Guantanamo Bay," the ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency ONA.

More than 40 of the remaining inmates have been approved for transfer, and the Pentagon is trying to find countries to take them. Many are from Yemen and cannot go back given the country's collapse into civil war.
I think it's the perfect place for them...
Four of the detainees were captured by Pakistani forces after fleeing from Afghanistan in late 2001. Inmates were called "enemy combatants" and denied standard US legal rights,
Since they were 'enemy combatants', they weren't entitled to standard US legal rights, but the progs work their lies in wherever they can...
meaning many were held for years without charge or trial.

Some figures have estimated that up to 30 per cent of released detainees return to militant groups with the aim of carrying out attacks on Western targets.
Not that that fact bothers Champ...
Posted by: Steve White || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  god i love "notorious" prison - free korans with velvet gloved attendants to handle em, halal scran, fuktifano i dont think its Andersonville
Posted by: Bov Flimbers || 01/15/2016 23:27 Comments || Top||


Europe
Rheinberg, Germany Cancels Carnival Parade - Fear of Tahrir Style Riots
The article is in German. Here's a summary:
Rheinberg is the first municipality in Germany to cancel its annual carnival parade citing concerns about refugees.

A spokesman said that it cannot be ruled out that refugees might visit the parade and cause incidents similar to those in Cologne.
There are several hundreds of refugees in the city, among them numerous North Africans.

The president of the carnival association organizing the parade stated that there wasn't enough time to comply with the city government's security mandates. "With a heavy heart, we've decided to cancel the event," he said.

The Rheinberg shelter is one of the central refugee facilities of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. Another reason for tougher security mandates is the fear that "Problematic Groups" from other places might visit the parade.
No idea who these "Problematic Groups" might be. Probably just a PC fig leaf to avoid pinning the blame solely of 'refugees.'
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  FYI as per DAILY STAR.LB, GERMANY is repor also on the hunt for an estimated 400 Islamist Militants somewhere in the country.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/15/2016 22:29 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Azerbaijan police detain 55 in price hike protest
[Iran Press TV] Azeri police have detained at least 55 people following a series of mass protests by supporters of opposition parties over price hikes and the collapse of national currency.

Azerbaijan's Interior Ministry confirmed in a statement on Thursday that the protesters were detained during anti-government marches in Siyazan, in eastern Azerbaijan, and several other regions.

The statement added that the detainees have been charged with disobeying police and "committing antisocial acts."

"Protesters on Wednesday used force against representatives of the law enforcement agencies during an unsanctioned march in Siazan district" the statement said, adding, "Police forces have restored public order."

"Similar events took place in [the] Lenkaran, Fizuli, Agdjabedi and Agsu districts of Azerbaijan during protests organized by the [opposition] Popular Front and Musavat parties," the ministry noted.

Security sources say riot police used tear gas to disperse anti-government rallies across the country hit hard by falling oil prices.

Meanwhile,
...back at the desert island, Bert was realizing to his horror that he'd had only one bottle for one message, and he'd forgotten to include a return address...
Azerbaijan Prosecutor General's office said several coppers were maimed and some police vehicles damaged in the violence during mass protests in Siazan district, located about 100 kilometers (about 60 miles) north of the capital, Baku.
Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Three militants killed in Turbat gunbattle
GWADAR: Three suspected militants were killed in a gunbattle with security forces in Turbat area of Kech district on Thursday.

Official sources said that the personnel of Frontier Corps and an intelligence agency were searching Tabjan and Semi areas near Turbat on information about the presence of militants involved in a recent attack on the employees of Frontier Works Organisation.

During the search, a gunfight with suspects erupted which continued for hours resulting in the death of three suspected members of a banned militant organisation.

“Three militants have been killed and a large quantity of arms and ammunition was recovered from their hideout,” an FC spokesman said.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2016
Posted by: badanov || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
al-Nusra Top Dawg dies in Daraa
[ARA News] DARAA – Top commander of al-Qaeda branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, was found dead after gunmen raided his office in Syria’s southern city of Daraa on Thursday.

Anas Abu Nabbut, aka Abu Abdullah, was killed by gunmen in the Balad district in central Daraa.

Nusra Front confirmed in a statement the death of its commander in Daraa, without providing further details on the incident.

“An anonymous group of gunmen shot Abu Abdullah dead and escaped Daraa after committing their crime,” leadership of the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front said on Thursday.

Abu Abdullah, a prominent Jordanian member of al-Qaeda, was known for his opposition to the Islamic State group (ISIS).

He led several battles against ISIS in southern Syria over the past few months.

Pro-Nusra activists accused ISIS of ‘assassinating Abu Abdullah’ in a bid to impede Nusra’s progress in Syria’s southern province of Daraa.

However, none of the armed groups in Syria has claimed responsibility for the killing of Abu Abdullah so far.
Posted by: badanov || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


ISIS Bad Guys attack Kobane
[ARA News] KOBANE – Militants of the extremist group of Islamic State (ISIS) bombed residential neighborhoods in the Kurdish city of Kobane and its suburbs, northern Syria, causing a state of panic among civilians, local sources reported on Thursday.

The western part of Kobane city and several nearby villages were exposed to heavy shelling by ISIS militants based in Jarablus on the border with Turkey.

“Dozens of mortar shells fired by ISIS terrorists hit civilian’s houses in Kobane and its western countryside on Thursday,” local media activist Sleman Hosho told ARA News.

“The bombardment caused dozens of civilian casualties and mass displacement among the residents towards the eastern countryside of Kobane,” the source reported.

The ISIS-led attack also caused mass destruction in civilians’ houses in the area.

Hosho added that hundreds of families remained in their neighborhoods and villages despite the shelling.

“The horrific memories of ISIS atrocities against the Kurdish civilians in Kobane in the past are still remembered, and people are still afraid of similar scenarios to take place in case ISIS returns to the area. But the majority of Kobane residents insist to not leave their hometown again,” he said.

Speaking to ARA News in Kobane, one of the residents said: “The terrorist group is trying to send a massage to the people of Kobane that the war is not over yet and they will return to the area soon.”

“However, after the liberation of Kobane at the hands of the Kurdish forces, people are determined to stay in their homes despite the mounting risks. We won’t submit our land to those barbarians,” he said.

Over the past few months, dozens of civilians were reportedly killed in ISIS mortar attacks in Kobane.

Kurdish forces of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Peshmerga, backed by allied Syrian rebels and the U.S.-led coalition’s air cover, liberated the city of Kobane and large parts of its countryside in January 2015, after nearly four months of battles against ISIS militants. Later on, the radical group tried to infiltrate into the area. Hit-and-run clashes continued between ISIS and the Kurdish forces until the formation of the western-backed alliance of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that has recently pushed ISIS back in the southern and western countryside of Kobane.
Posted by: badanov || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Southeast Asia
Police arrest 3 men on suspicion of links to Jakarta attack
[IsraelTimes] Police on Friday told an Indonesian TV channel they nabbed
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
three men on suspicion of links to the attack that killed seven people including five attackers.

Depok area police chief Col. Dwiyono told MetroTV that the three men were arrested at dawn at their homes in Depok on the outskirts of Jakarta.

Dwiyono, who goes by one name, says the men are suspected turbans and are being questioned over possible links to the attack Thursday.

MetroTV broadcast footage of the handcuffed men being escorted by police.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:


The Grand Turk
Turkey Attacks IS Targets In Syria, Iraq After Istanbul Bombing
[NRTTV] Turkish land forces have fired nearly 500 times on Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(IS) targets in Syria and Iraq, killing almost 200 Death Eaters in response to a suicide kaboom in Istanbul which killed 10 German tourists, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Thursday (Jan. 14).

"After it was understood that this heinous attack was carried out by Daesh [Islamic State], Turkish armed forces fired close to 500 artillery and tank shells on Daesh [Islamic State] positions in Syria and Iraq," Davutoglu told a conference of Turkish ambassadors in the capital Ankara, using an Arabic name for Islamic State (IS).

"Shelters of Daesh [Islamic State] in Bashiqa, Iraq as well as Syria, along our border, were hit with all our efforts. Close to 200 Daesh [Islamic State] members including so-called regional leaders were neutralized in the last 48 hours," he added.

The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
will also carry out air strikes against the radical Sunni group if necessary and will maintain its "determined stance" until IS fighters leave its border areas, Davutoglu said.

"From now on, every hand raised to harm Turkey, every threat against our guests will be retaliated in kind. Our struggle will continue until the terrorist organization Daesh [Islamic State] is completely wiped out from our borders in the short term, as long as they continue to defame the dignity of Islam in the region and in the world," he said.

"If they attempt to carry out terrorist attacks against our people and our guests, they should know that we will take every measure and we will retaliate against it. Even now, we continue to punish them with land strikes. Our air forces will also strike if deemed necessary," Davutoglu continued to say.
Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Southeast Asia
Vietnam's Plan to Deter China With Western Jets
Vietnam is negotiating with American and European manufacturers to purchase new warplanes—including fighters, maritime patrol aircraft and unmanned aircraft. The move comes as part of Hanoi’s strategy to lessen its dependence on Russian hardware and to counter China’s growing power.

Vietnam has been in talks with contractors who build the Saab JAS-39E/F Gripen NG, Eurofighter Typhoon, Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon and the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. It’s also taken a hard look at Korea’s F/A-50 lightweight fighter—which was developed in cooperation with Lockheed.

Assuming Hanoi can reach a deal, Vietnam could buy up to a hundred combat aircraft to replace its antiquated fleet of 144 Mikoyan MiG-21 Fishbeds and thirty-eight Sukhoi Su-22 Fitter strike aircraft. The new aircraft would supplement Vietnam’s existing fleet of Russian-made Flanker air superiority fighters. Hanoi operates about a dozen original model Sukhoi Su-27 Flankers and thirty-two more modern Su-30MK2 Flankers with four more on order.

While Washington and Hanoi have been on better terms in recent years, with the U.S. defense secretary visiting the nation as recently as last June, buying an American combat aircraft might still be a bridge too far for Vietnam. The memories of the Vietnam War—which was much more devastating for Vietnam than for the United States—might mean that Hanoi will have reservations about dealing with American contractors. As such, a European warplane might have an edge. Indeed, Vietnam is known to have held fairly advanced discussions to buy the Typhoon, according to Reuters.

But Hanoi needs more than just fighters. Given its maritime disputes with Beijing, Vietnam needs maritime patrol aircraft and surveillance capabilities. The country has been talking to the Swedes about maritime patrol and airborne early warning variants of the Saab 340 or 2000 twin-engine turboprops, according to Reuters.

Vietnam has also discussed purchasing a maritime patrol version of the Airbus C-295, Lockheed’s Sea Hercules variant of the C-130 transport and a Boeing offering of a business jet fitted with much of the surveillance suite from the P-8 Poseidon. The Boeing offering would not include anti-submarine warfare capabilities however.

Hanoi is also looking for unmanned surveillance aircraft to help patrol its vast shoreline. However, no details are available on exactly what aircraft the country wants to buy. But as tensions with China look to continue unabated, Hanoi is almost certain to explore is options and, in doing so, start moving closer to Washington.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  VN could also use Nuke-capable SLCMS for its fleet of KILO-subs.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/15/2016 22:38 Comments || Top||


Bomb blast injures three in southern Thailand
[Bangkok Post] Three members of a village security team were injured, one seriously, by a bomb blast in Pattani province on Wednesday. The security team was patrolling a road passing a village in Mae Lan district, providing security for teachers and students. A home-made bomb planted under a coconut tree was set off as they passed.
Posted by: ryuge || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
GOP turning into the old white man's party, warns Rand Paul
[Iran Press TV] Thank you for that slap in the face, Senator Paul, and might I invite you to bite my ass?
Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  You mad, bro?
Posted by: Raj || 01/15/2016 0:58 Comments || Top||

#2  I see no 'turning' or need for apology. Does Rand believe the son of Senzangakhona could have done better, and we'd be living in more enlightened, genteel times today ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/15/2016 5:35 Comments || Top||

#3  I don't think that Dr. Ben Carson would agree with him.
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 01/15/2016 7:14 Comments || Top||

#4  I don't think that Dr. Ben Carson would agree with him or Carly or Marco or Bobby or Ted or Nikki or...........( need I go on?).

Rand sounds like a Democrat projecting.
Posted by: AlanC || 01/15/2016 7:53 Comments || Top||

#5  If it looks like a Rhino, smells like a Rhino, and acts like a Rhino he's a Rhino. Seeing metal health issues more and more.
I have long felt O was in need of being tucked away in a padded cell myself.
Posted by: Dale || 01/15/2016 8:19 Comments || Top||

#6  Like father, like son.
Acorn does not fall far from the tree.
Etc. etc.
Posted by: Nguard || 01/15/2016 10:54 Comments || Top||

#7  Not so much who's running, it's who's voting.
Posted by: KBK || 01/15/2016 11:39 Comments || Top||

#8  I guess it just always has to be about race no matter how much logic you try to apply.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 01/15/2016 14:14 Comments || Top||

#9  Two Cubans, an Indian-American, an African-American, and a woman are running for President along with 5 or so white guys. Seems Rand needs to open his eyes.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/15/2016 14:48 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Philippines to Offer the Use of Eight Bases to US Forces
The Philippines is set to offer the US military use of eight bases, a military spokesman said Wednesday, after the country's supreme court upheld a security agreement with Washington forged in the face of rising tensions with China. The facilities include the former US Clark airbase and air and naval facilities on the southwestern island of Palawan, which faces the South China Sea, the focus of territorial disputes with China.

Military spokesman Colonel Restituto Padilla said the facilities would be used to store equipment and supplies. He added that the offer had still to be finalized after the Philippine Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a 10-year security accord.

The decision allows for the full implementation of the Enhanced Defense Co-operation Agreement (EDCA), signed in 2014 but not implemented due to legal challenges from groups opposed to US military involvement in the Philippines, a US colony from 1898 to 1946.
If a significant proportion of the Philippine population doesn't want us I'd pass on the opportunity and wait for them to come around. We have a complicated history in that sad country and don't need to be seen as "re-colonizing" the place...
It will see more US troops rotate through the Philippines for war games and help Manila build military facilities.

"We have resumed talks now that there is a go-signal that EDCA is constitutional," Padilla said.

"We are continuing talks and we will finalize the agreement on the locations," he said without giving a timetable when the decision would be reached.

The Philippines hosted two of the largest overseas US military bases until 1992, when the senate voted to end their leases, a decision influenced by anti-US sentiment.

The new pact does not authorize a return of US bases.

China and the Philippines — as well as Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan — have conflicting claims to the South China Sea, which is a major shipping lane, rich fishing ground and potential source of mineral resources. In April 2012, after a tense stand-off with Philippine ships, Chinese vessels took control of a shoal just 220 kilometers (135 miles) off the main Philippine island of Luzon.

The Philippines has been seeking closer defense ties with the United States, accusing China of increased aggressiveness in the South China Sea. Philippine President Benigno Aquino negotiated the EDCA to help the Philippines improve its military capabilities and draw the United States closer, partly to counter China's increasing presence.
So what's in this for us? The Philippines get a measure of security (maybe). What do we get?
Posted by: Steve White || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Left out is the fact the the Philippines was a Japanese colony from 1942-1945.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 01/15/2016 0:06 Comments || Top||

#2  They do not want to end up as total cannon fodder like South Korea in a war with China.

Everyone wants the security We promised them. No one wants to pay for it until too late. Even now here.
Posted by: newc || 01/15/2016 2:15 Comments || Top||

#3  ...Keep in mind too that the PI, for all their apparent generosity in offering the use of those bases, hasn't yet presented us with the bill for what they think is fair use. It'll be a doozy.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 01/15/2016 5:15 Comments || Top||

#4  Philippines - if you thought our Beltway or Mexico was corrupt, you haven't seen anything yet.

Best us terrible imperialists stay home this time.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/15/2016 8:12 Comments || Top||

#5  So what's in this for us?
An un-sinkable aircraft carrier, and a platform for making faces at the chicoms?

You are right about the long, sad, and complicated history. Don't forget the other 3 factors: Location, location and location.

I just hope no one gets too sentimental about Subic, Clark, or Po City. Their time has passed. They have changed, and WE have changed.
Posted by: Nguard || 01/15/2016 9:02 Comments || Top||

#6  What comes with the PI is the upcoming confrontation about the Spratleys and whats under them. Not a huge issue immediately as the world is awash in oil, but not that far off, it again becomes a critical asset for the PI and its future. Are we prepared for what a commitment brings, and if so, those who benefit also must bear the risk and cost. So if the PI sees this as a cash cow, pass.
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 01/15/2016 12:20 Comments || Top||

#7  a huge boon to the hard workers of Angeles City
Posted by: 746 || 01/15/2016 14:54 Comments || Top||

#8  By most accounts Beijing isn't happy at all about the US =retenchment from the South China Sea to East China Sea to Guam-WESTPAC, e.g. Japan's warning or threat to counter the China CG's use of heavier-armed patrol vessels in waters near the Senkakus = Diaoyus wid JMSDF Naval + other armed military assets. China has voed to continue its patrols and match Japan's response tit-for-tat [iff not higher].

AS PER LUCIANNE + TOPIX ARTICS, POTUS OBAMA'S LAST FULL YEAR IN OFFICE COULD BE A DANGEROUS TIME FOR HIS ADMIN + ENTIRE US, VIA MILPOL CONFORNTAIONS AGZ AMERIKA'S OWG CO-SUPERPOWER SIBLINGS CHINA, IRAN, + RUSSIA WHOM ARE OUT TO EXPAND THEIR "SOLE" SPHERE(S) OF INTEREST AS BEFITTING THIER "US-STYLE/PAR", "CO-SUPERPOWER" STATUS.

Lest we fergit, MILPOL OR GEOPOL "PARITY" AGZ THE [EX?] "SOLE" SUPERPOWER = CO-SUPERPOWER US, NOT "INFERIORTY" TO SAME.

Ala US-LED ANTI-LED OWG-NWO + GLOBALISM WHERE THE US DIRECTLY ANDOR INDIRECTLY HELPS ITS RIVALS AND WANNABES BECOME MILPOL OR GEOPOL STRONGER RELATIVE TO THE US ITSELF.

* ANTI-US US OWG GLOBALIST POTUS OBAMA + GLOBIES, ETAL. ALIGNED = "ITS POLITICS, NOT TREASON", ERGO UNDER US LAW POTUS OBAMA CANNOT + WILL NOT BE IMPEACHED + REMOVED FROM OFFICE JUST FOR "POLITICS".

Pragmatically, IMO its highly doubtful or unlikely that beijing + PLA are going to wait to accomplish its agenda while JAPAN + OTHER US EAST ASIA ALLIES become Militarily stronger or Nukulaar relative to Mainland China - IT BEHOOVES BEIJING [Iran? Russia? Other?] TO MAKE THEIR MOVES WHILE A DEDICATED ANTI-US US POTUS, I.E. THE "WORST/WEAKEST" POTUS IN US HISTORY OR SINCE POTUS JIMMY CARTER, STILL OCCUPIES THE OVAL OFFICE AND HEADS THE US NATIONAL COMMAND AUTHORITY.

Pray hard + keep your fingers crossed, because Not-Amerika America + Nippon AMb. Sweet Caroline Kennedy is going to need it.

To paraph the late FRED THOMPSON in "Hunt for Red October", A US-CHINA WAR IN EAST ASIA-PACIFIC CAN EASILY "GET OUT OF CONTROL AND WE'LL ALL JUST BE LUCKY TO JUST LIVE THROUGH IT"!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/15/2016 20:56 Comments || Top||

#9  More Net News from thia Saturday AM + Thursday ...

* GLOBALTIMES@TWITTER > CHINA THREATENS TO DEPLOY WARSHIPS WIDIN 12-NMS OF SENKAKUS; JAPAN THREATENS EAST CHINA SEA STABILITY, TOKYO TO USE MILITARY VESSELS TO DRIVE AWAY CINESE VESSELS - GLOBAL TIMES.

* Also from GLOBAL TIMES = ...
> SHIPS DISPATCHED TO PATROL DIAOYU ISLANDS AMID JAPAN'S WARNINGS - AGENCY.
> CHINA DETERMINED TO SAFEGUARD SOVEREIGNTY OVER DAOYU ISLANDS.

* DEFENSE NEWS > PH SEEKS JOINT PATROLS WID US IN SOUTH CHINA SEA.

Sorry, PH = Manila, I hope I'm wrong but I don't see Anti-US US OWG POTUS Obama doing that.

* GLOBALNATION.PH > US WON'T ALLOW CHINA TO CONTROL VITAL SEA [SCS].

* SAME > PHILIPPINE OFFICIALS THANK US SENATORS FOR ATTENTION TO ASIA-PACIFIC.

Ya mean the same US Senate that backs up Obama + gives him everyting he wants???

* THE-JAPAN-NEWS@TWITTER [Yomiuri Shimbun] > MSDF SEABORNE PATROLLING ACTION PLANNED TO GUARD SENKAKUS [China = Diaoyus].

Japan Foreign Minstry = "...If China claims 'Innocent Passage', it will seem as iff China is recognizing Japan's sovereignty over the Senkakus [China = Diaoyu Islands]".

SO IOW, JAPAN CAN'T OR WON'T DO WHAT POTUS OBAMA + USS "LASSEN" DID IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA???

* SAME > MSDF TO COVER MORE OF SOUTH CHINA SEA.

* WORLD NEWS > [Khaleej Press] AMERICA'S FOREIGN RIVALS WAGE "HYBRID WARFARE".

* JAPANTIMES@TWITTER > US MUST DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO REGAIN ["Sole" Superpower?]GLOBAL LEADERSHIP.

* SASAKAWA PEACE FOUNDATION USA [Twitter] REPORT ROLL OUT: US BASES IN OKINAWA - WHAT CAN BE DONE?

US, JAPAN HAVE COMMITMENT TO PREVENT CHINA FROM FORCIBLY TAKING OVER TAIWAN AND SENKAKUS FROM JAPAN - USN ADM. DENNIS J. BLAIR.

Yokay, but in 2016 + until Jan 2017 its still Anti-US US OWG Globalist POTUS Obama, NOT JAPAN = TOKYO, that is charge of the USDOD + US National Command Authority, hence in charge of any each + all Direct US Mil Response(s) to any World Crisis or Crises, OR IN ALTERNATE THE LACK OF SAME.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/15/2016 23:05 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Badghis Taliban execute man in public on adultery charges
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Taliban have publically executed a man on adultery charges in northwestern Badghis province.

The incident took place in Nakhjiristan area of Qadis District earlier this week after reportedly a Taliban desert-court announced the punishment to Abdul Ahad, the man killed.

Mirza Ali, Governor of Qadis while confirming the incident said that Abdul Ahad was rubbed out by Taliban two days before.

He added that security agencies have launched an investigation into the incident.

This is not a one-time incident where a man is being executed by the order of a Taliban desert court but the group kills dozens of people on similar charges every year.

Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Somebody spent time with somebody else's girlfriend?
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/15/2016 9:22 Comments || Top||

#2  I thought that only women could commit adultery in Islam.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 01/15/2016 11:11 Comments || Top||

#3  It's an attempt to prove to the international community that they can be even-handed
Posted by: Pappy || 01/15/2016 14:14 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
10 convicted terrorists shifted to Sahiwal prison
[DAWN] As many as 10 high profile, convicted gunnies were shifted to the new high security prison in Sahiwal from Adiala Jail on Wednesday.

Among the convincted prisoners transported to Sahiwal was Rana Naveed, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for his involvement in the Jhanda Chi Chi attack on former president Gen Pervez Perv Musharraf
... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ...
An official source in the prison department told Dawn that about 925 convicted prisoners being housed in various jails across Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....

were scheduled to be shifted to the newly constructed prison facility that can hold 1,044 inmates.

Among those transported to Sahiwal were Hameed Ullah - who was convicted in the POF Wah factory attack and awarded a death sentence, Saqib Ali Shah -- convicted in a 2012 terrorism case in the Wah Cantonment, Naseem Khan -- convicted in a kaboom in Jhand Attock, and Syed Zaman Khan -- convicted in an attack on military personnel in Swabi.

Omer Adeel, who was convicted in the 2007 R.A. Bazaar bombing, Hafiz Akram Saeed, Mohammad Aslam, Ameer Sohail and Intikhab Ahmed were also among the prisoners taken to Sahiwal.

"All the prisoners involved in terrorism and sectarian terrorism cases will be shifted to the high security prison," a senior prison department official said. The official said that over 50pc of these prisoners have already been transported.

According to official sources, 26 prisoners involved in terrorism cases and six prisoners involved in sectarian terrorism cases have been held at the Central Jail, Adiala.

Of the 26, seven have been awarded the death penalty, and their appeals are underway. Of the six involved in sectarian terrorism, three have been awarded the death penalty.

Mumtaz Qadri -- the former police commando convicted in the murder of former Punjab government Salman Taseer -- is currently being held at Adiala Jail, and will likely be shifted to Sahiwal during the second phase of the plan, the source said.
Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


'Revive him or else': Plight of the Pakistani doctor
[DAWN]
Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:


Rangers operation in Punjab on the cards
[DAWN] The ruling party is still considering whether it should deploy Rangers in Punjab, as in Sindh, to carry out an operation against hardcore criminals and banned outfits based in the southern districts of the province.

The military establishment, in its assessment, sources in the quiet provincial capital Lahore as well as the federal capital say, has recommended a Rangers-led operation in Punjab.

The issue came up for discussion first at the provincial apex committee meeting and has now landed before the Prime Minister's Office. The security establishment thinks that Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....

police lack the training and the equipment to face terrorists, sources say, which was why the assignment must be handed over to Rangers.

However,
corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds...
the Shahbaz Sharif
...Pak dynastic politician, brother of PM Nawaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab...
-led provincial government is of the view that it can handle the task through its Counter-Terrorism Department and the Elite Force, but this would require special weaponry and support from the military.

The provincial authorities are of the view that if provided with the proper equipment, the Elite Force could deliver the required results.

At the high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
on Wednesday, which was also attended by the Punjab CM and the Lahore corps commander, it was suggested by the army leadership that Rangers could be used for an operation in the province if the government wanted.

Talking to Dawn, a PML-N office-bearer close to the prime minister said that the districts where an operation could be planned include Rahim Yar Khan, Rajanpur and D.G. Khan. These districts are known for being home to and breeding grounds for snuffies and 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
s.

Sources in the ruling party said the Punjab government would try its best to make do with its own Elite Force instead of calling in the Rangers. This, he said, would reflect poorly on the provincial government. Of course, he said, if Rangers come to Punjab, they will have the same powers they were exercising in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
.
Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1 
Posted by: Lampedusa Creretch3679 || 01/15/2016 17:30 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Police: JMB leaders involved in Shia procession bombing
[Dhaka Tribune] The second-in-command of the central military unit of banned bully boy outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh
The JMB is said to be the youth front of Al Mujahideen, the parent organization that began working toward establishing Bangladesh as an Islamic state in the mid 1990s which remains obscure even today. Other organizations, such as Jama'atul Jihad, JMB, Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI), Hizbut Tawhid, Tawhidi Janata, Islami Jubo Shangha, Islami Shangha, Al Falah A'am Unnayan Shanstha and Shahadat-e al Hiqma are believed to be part of the Al Mujahideen network. The JMB at its peak was reported to contain at least 100,000 members, and an alleged 2,000-man suicide brigade, few of whom actually exploded. JMB allegedly received financial assistance from individual donors in Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Libya. Reports have claimed that funding of JMB by international NGOs like Kuwait based Society of the Revival of Islamic Heritage (RIHS) and Doulatul Kuwait, Saudi Arabia based Al Haramaine Islamic Institute and Rabita Al Alam Al Islami, Qatar Charitable Society and UAE-based Al Fuzaira and Khairul Ansar Al Khairia. The top leadership of JMB was captured in 2005 and hung in 2007, which pretty much shot their bolt.
(JMB) Kamal alias Hiron was directly involved in last year's bombing on a Shia procession in Old Dhaka, police claimed.

JMB's Dhaka north military wing commander Abdullah Al Noman alias Abdullah planned and executed the attack, Detective Branch (DB) Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam told news hounds in Dhaka yesterday.

The duo was killed in an alleged shootout with DB at Hazaribagh on Wednesday night. Before that, police had tossed in the clink
Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
three suspects - Md Arman, Jahid Hasan Rana alias Mushab, and Nur Mohammad alias Lengra Master - in Kamrangirchor. They raided Hazaribagh to arrest Abdullah and Hiron based on information provided by the detainees.

Monirul said three suspected bully boys, arrested in Mirpur, told them that Hiron, Shakeel alias Mushtaq, Abdullah alias Noman, Ripon, Fardeen alias Sajal frequented their hideout at Shah Ali area and taught them how to make improvised bombs. Police said they conducted a raid at Kamrangirchor based on the information.

Joint Commissioner Monirul claimed those detained in Kamrangirchor were JMB members, who had been trained for about two months. He claimed Nur Mohammad's house in Savar was used by the JMB as a hideout where they held regular meetings and planned subversive activities.

The unprecedented attack on Shias on October 23, as they were preparing to take out their traditional Tajia procession, left two persons dead and dozens maimed.

DB officer Monirul said Hiron, a close aide of JMB leader Al Bani alias Hojja, was involved in the killing of two coppers in Gabtoli and Ashulia. Police sources said, Hiron planned attack on police after his mentor Hojja was killed in an alleged shootout with security forces on November 25 last year.

Police said they were looking for suspected JMB bandidos bandidos bully boys Sajib and Tarek who were involved in the killing of two coppers and the Hossaini Dalan kaboom.

According to DB officer Monirul, there was a rift between Hiron and Shakil after police recovered grenades and explosives from JMB's Shah Ali hideout and that Hiron had planned to kill Shakil.

He said the JMB members were not that active in Dhaka and were focused on the northern parts of Bangladesh. Asked who were financing bully boy activities in the country, he said: "Those who are trying to thwart trials of suspected war criminals and put the government in a tight spot are funding these bully boy outfits."
Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Turkmen Recapture Two Syrian Villages In Clash With IS
[NRTTV] Turkmen fighters who have been in a clash with the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(IS) on Thursday (Jan. 14) retook control of two villages in Syria near the Turkish border.

According to local sources, Turkmen groups were engaged in a clash with the IS Lions of Islam after they captured Karaköpru, Karamezere and Haraba villages in the city of Aleppo.

The tensions had not ended between the two groups in the villages of Miridin and Halfeti that were taken by the Turkmen fighters.

Meanwhile,
...back at the abandoned silver mine, there was another kaboom...
Syrian pro-government troops retook a front-line town in Latakia province from snuffies on Tuesday (Jan. 12), a monitoring group and state media said, in a push by Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Light of the Alawites...
's forces to recover lost territory in the west.

The Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government troops and fighters from Leb's allied Hezbollah movement have entered Salma, located northeast of Latakia - the region's coastal capital - along frontlines between rebels and Assad's forces. Syria's statenews agency SANA said its troops had taken control of Salma and nearby hills.

Pro-government forces were supported by dozens of air strikes, the Observatory said, adding that Russian officers were overseeing the assault.

Assad's forces have been focusing offensives in the western provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama and Homs in a campaign to recapture territory and cut rebel supply lines.

The army and its allies have gained ground in Aleppo and Latakia provinces, but rebels have managed to advance in other regions including Hama province.

Pro-government forces, including Iranian troops and Hezbollah fighters, are backed by Russian air support in Syria. Russian warplanes have bombed rebels in Latakia province, including in the Jabal Akrad and Jabal Turkman areas.
Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


The Grand Turk
Six Killed, 39 Wounded in PKK Car Bombing in Turkish City
[BLOOMBERG] The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, detonated a boom-mobile outside a cop shoppe in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
's largest southeastern city, killing six people including three children, and deepening insecurity that has gripped the country.

The blast in Cinar on Wednesday night, just a day after a suicide kaboom blamed on 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....
killed 10 tourists in Istanbul, brought down part of a house next to the cop shoppe and ripped off the facade of a police apartment building. A policeman and three children, including a 5-month-old infant, were among the dead, state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Thirty-nine others were maimed, the governor's office in Diyarbakir said in a statement.

The kaboom turned the police apartment building into a blackened skeleton and shattered many windows in the town, according to NTV television footage. The murderous Moslems simultaneously sprayed the paramilitary headquarters with automatic weapons; no injuries were reported. Police detained two suspects in connection with the bombing, Hurriyet newspaper reported.

Wednesday's attack is the latest amid an eruption of violence in the Kurdish-dominated southeast. The area is in the throes of a spiraling war between the autonomy-seeking PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S. and European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
, and Turkish forces. Several neighborhoods in towns and cities have been turned into war zones, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes and abandon businesses, according to the governor's office in Diyarbakir.

Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US Navy sailors made 'navigational error' into Iranian waters: Carter
[Iran Press TV] US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter says the US Marines who trespassed into Iranian waters had made a "navigational error."

"The information that they have given us, and through their commanders is that they did stray accidentally into Iranian waters due to a navigation error," the Pentagon chief said in an interview with Univision on Thursday. "So that seems to be the original cause of this, according to the interviews that we have done."

Real Admiral Ali Fadavi, the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy, said Wednesday that 10 sailors aboard two CB-90 patrol boats, who were reportedly moving between Kuwait and Bahrain for a training mission, were taken into custody.

The Marines, comprised of nine men and one woman, had reached three miles into the waters surrounding the Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf, according to the senior IRGC commander.

The sailors were released on Wednesday. An unidentified US official confirmed to the CNN that the Marines boarded US missile cruiser USS Anzio.

US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry
Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State...
issued a statement shortly after, thanking Iran for allowing the servicemen to return.

"I want to express my gratitude to Iranian authorities for their cooperation ‎in swiftly resolving this matter," Kerry said.

"That this issue was resolved peacefully and efficiently is a testament to the critical role diplomacy plays in keeping our country safe, secure, and strong," he added.
Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Liar
Posted by: newc || 01/15/2016 2:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Navigational error and a mechanical malfunction? Or is the mechanical part of the story gone away? Or was the mechanical failure that of the GPS leading to a navigational error?

Wasn't the whole idea behind the 26 GPS satellites that the military would know the absolute position of anything at all times?
Posted by: Bobby || 01/15/2016 7:32 Comments || Top||

#3  AIS is one such system. Are we to believe absolutely no one was watching ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/15/2016 8:15 Comments || Top||

#4  And where are the boats? Returned yet?
Posted by: KBK || 01/15/2016 11:45 Comments || Top||

#5  Yes, the small boats were allegedly returned without the faulty GPS and navigation systems. How thoughtful of the Iranians to dispose of the useless hardware.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/15/2016 11:57 Comments || Top||

#6  Arab papers On U.S. Sailors Incident: "Tehran to Washington: I Control The Gulf."
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 01/15/2016 11:58 Comments || Top||

#7  So now Ass Carter is calling the Navy personnel Marines?
Posted by: Mugsy Glink || 01/15/2016 13:21 Comments || Top||

#8  Of the 10, there were a couple of hard cases that might have been Marine in origin, Mugsy.
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/15/2016 13:41 Comments || Top||

#9  If it was a navigational error someone should be publicly dressed down for embarrassing the nation. If it wasn't a navigational error and they just want to blame the crew, such a move is also likely to break the truth free.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/15/2016 14:36 Comments || Top||

#10  The sailors in the picture seem more physically fit than average. Maybe there's more to the story...
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 01/15/2016 14:58 Comments || Top||

#11  Once the 150 billion flows to the Iranian Mullahs, THEY will release the truth about stopping the vessel transit at gunpoint. Strong Horse display for all to see...
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 01/15/2016 14:59 Comments || Top||

#12  Maybe for local consumption?
Posted by: gorb || 01/15/2016 15:29 Comments || Top||

#13  OTOH see FREEDON DAILY > TREASON: US DEFENSE SECRETARY [Ashton Carter] REVEALS OBAMA REGIME LEAD IRAN STRAIGHT TO OUR SAILORS.

Be it playing golf, or fear by the Bammer + Admin of starting a major incident wid OWG Co-Superpower Iran, the Bammer + Admin failed to even try to dev andor attempt a unilateral rescue or recovery of the sailors, PREFERRING SEEMINGLY TO FIRST GIVE BFF IRAN A CALL FOR HELP???

US-LED ANTI-US GLOBALISM PCOORECTLY RELABELLED AS BILATERAL "HUMANITARIANISM"???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/15/2016 22:27 Comments || Top||


US bombings underscore Washington's addiction to war: Geopolitical analyst
[Iran Press TV] A new study that shows the US has dropped over 23,000 bombs on six Muslim-majority countries in 2015 underscores Washington's extent of hypocrisy and its "addiction to war," an American geopolitical analyst says.

"It is in many ways quite indicative of the very nature of how the US projects its power all over the world, in particular in Muslim countries and even more in particular in the Middle East," said Eric Draitser, the founder of Stopimperialism.com.

The Council of Foreign Relations (CRF), a New York-based think tank, has estimated that 23,144 bombs were dropped last year by the US on Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistain, Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
and Somalia.

About 77 percent of the US Arclight airstrikes purportedly targeted the Daesh [Islamic State] (ISIL) terrorist group in Iraq and Syria, CRF said, citing several sources, including US Airpower Statistics and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

"The Council of Foreign Relations report only confirms what we already know to be true; that the US is addicted to war, that the US is the quintessential hypocritical imperial state," Draitser said during an interview with Press TV on Thursday.

CFR's report indicates that US bombardments in Iraq and Syria failed to weaken Daesh [Islamic State] faceless myrmidons or decrease the number of their members.

Pentagon officials claim that at least 25,000 ISIL fighters have been killed since US Arclight airstrikes began in Iraq and Syria in 2014. At the same time, the CIA admits that the size of the group has remained wholly unchanged.

The report also indicates that despite the bombings in Afghanistan, the Talibs took control of more ground in the country.

The US and its allies invaded Afghanistan on October 7, 2001 as part of Washington's so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but after more than 14 years, the foreign troops have still not been able to establish security in the country.
Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Where does Iran Press TV keep dredging up these folks addicted to stoopid?
Posted by: Bobby || 01/15/2016 7:34 Comments || Top||

#2  War, there's always been war. Peace is that brief period of time when everyone is just reloading.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/15/2016 8:23 Comments || Top||

#3  So the headline is "Democratic President Drops 23,000 Bombs on Muslim World"?
Posted by: Matt || 01/15/2016 10:02 Comments || Top||

#4  Objective, unbiased report - seems legit!
Posted by: Raj || 01/15/2016 13:52 Comments || Top||

#5  stopimperialism.com eh? Sounds as if he's pro genocide as long as it's people of color killing each other.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/15/2016 14:38 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Five terrorist suspects arrested in Sargodha
SARGODHA: The law enforcement agencies (LEAs) personnel arrested five suspected terrorists during a search operation on Thursday.

The police and agencies personnel responding to an actionable intelligence tip-off regarding presence of anti-state elements conducted a joint search operation in Istaqlal Colony Chungi no 12 Tariqabad and Chak 78 Northern of Sargodha.

During the operation that continued for more than three hours, the law enforcers searched more than 100 houses and arrested five suspected terrorists who were shifted to undisclosed location for interrogation.
Posted by: badanov || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Salahuddin Combat Courier
URGENT: ISIS captures road connecting Tikrit and Kirkuk
(IraqiNews.com) Erbil – On Thursday, ISIS militants carried out an offensive attack on Tikrit District and were able to control the road connecting Tikrit and Kirkuk, while seized two regions east of the district.

ISIS militants carried out the attack from several axes including Hamrin Mountains, al-Fatha, and Tel Ksaiba area and were able to control Tel Ksaiba area (30 km east of Tikrit), while captured the road connecting Tikrit and Kirkuk.

The Governor of Salahuddin Province Raed al-Jubouri said in a statements followed by IraqiNews.com, “The ISIS militants had carried out an attack, at dawn today, on Tel Ksaiba area using seven car bombs,” adding that, “A large number of the security forces were either killed or wounded during the attack.”

“The Iraqi Air Force warplanes are shelling the area that was captured by ISIS and the clashes are still ongoing,” Jubouri added.

Preliminary information indicates to the death of 12 elements of ISIS and seven members of the Iraqi security forces in the attack.

Tel Ksaiba Liberated

(IraqiNews.com) Salahaddin – On Thursday, Governor of Salahaddin Raed al-Jubouri announced, that the security forces backed by al-Hashd al-Shaabi managed to liberate Tel Ksaiba area east of Tikrit.

Jubouri said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “The security forces backed by al-Hashed al-Shaabi fighters have inflicted heavy human and material losses on the ISIS organization, after the liberation of Tel Ksaiba area east of Tikrit,” pointing out that, “Dozens of the ISIS organization including Arabs and foreigners were killed during the operation.”

The statement added, “Jubouri praised the role of the security forces including Salahuddin Operations, the local police and al-Hashed al-Shaabi fighters in repulsing the terrorist gangs and defeating them completely.”


PMF foils ISIS attack in northern Salahuddin


(IraqiNews.com) Salahuddin – On Thursday, Leader in al-Hashd al-Shaabi Jabbar al-Maamouri announced, that the security forces backed by al-Hashd al-Shaabi forces foiled a massive attack carried out by the ISIS organization in Tal Kasiba area in northern Salahuddin, while inflicted heavy losses on the organization.

Maamouri said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “The ISIS organization has carried out a massive attack on Tal Kasiba and Albu Ogail areas north of Salahuddin,” pointing out that, “ISIS carried out the attack on the first defense lines using 17 vehicles carrying militants, in addition to three booby-trapped vehicles.”

He added, “The joint security forces backed by al-Hashd al-Shaabi and Shamr tribe fighters, in addition to the Iraqi Air Force managed to foil the attack and inflicted heavy losses on ISIS.”

Salahuddin Operations Commander escapes suicide bomb

(IraqiNews.com) Salahaddin – On Thursday, a source in Salahuddin Operations Command announced, that the Commander of Salahuddin operations Lt. Gen. Juma Anad survived a suicide car bomb attack east of Tikrit (170 km north of Baghdad), while emphasized that a senior officer was wounded in the attack, along with one of the army’s members.

The source said in an a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “A car bomb driven by a suicide bomber exploded, at noon today, on the parade of the Commander of Salahuddin Operations Lt. Gen. Juma Anad during his presence in Tel Kasibah area east of Tikrit, wounding a senior officer and one of the army’s members,” pointing out that, “Anad was not harmed.”

The source added: “Armed clashes between the elements of the ISIS organization and the joint security forces are ongoing in this region.”

Noteworthy, joint forces managed to free the city of Tikrit in the 31st of March 2015, while continued its progress to expel ISIS from the province, after the liberation of Baiji.
Posted by: badanov || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Africa North
4 army personnel, 30 militants killed in North Sinai: Egypt's army spokesperson
[AlAhram] An attack on a security checkpoint in North Sinai resulted in the death of 4 army personnel and the destruction of three army vehicles by IEDs

The Egyptian Armed Forces killed 30 holy warriors and injured 10 on Thursday in North Sinai, said Egypt's army spokesperson Bridger General Mohammed Samir.

Samir announced on Thursday that a bad boy attack on a security checkpoint near the North Sinai city of Sheikh Zuweid resulted in the death of four army personnel. Eight more army personnel were maimed in the attack and three armed forces vehicles were destroyed by IEDs.

It is unclear whether the 30 holy warriors were all killed during the assault on the checkpoint or in retaliatory attacks by the army.

Samir added that military forces destroyed eight bad boy hideouts.

Amid fighting in Sinai, Israel evacuates Gaza crossing

[IsraelTimes] IDF closes Kerem Shalom gateway as Egyptian army conducts operations against terrorists, reportedly killing 13

Israel closed the Kerem Shalom border crossing into the Gazoo Strip and pulled out operating crews on Thursday as the Egyptian Army engaged terrorist forces in the adjacent Sinai Peninsula.

Egyptian soldiers, backed with Arclight airstrikes, were reportedly operating in the area of Rafah, Sheikh Zuweid, and el-Arish which lie just seven kilometers (4.2 miles) from the Kerem Shalom gateway.

Thirteen jihadis were killed in the fighting, reports said.

The IDF said it closed the crossing, through which goods are transported into the Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,-run Gazoo Strip, as a precautionary measure, and that there was no imminent security threat in the area.

The measure was due to ongoing violence in the Sinai between 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....
Death Eaters and Egyptian forces, the military said.

The Kerem Shalom crossing is located on the southern tip of the Strip, next to the Egyptian border.

Hundreds of trucks delivering food, aid and other goods pass through the Kerem Shalom Crossing into Gazoo every day.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (IS)


India-Pakistan
The threat within
[DAWN] THE complexity of the challenge confronting the Muslim world where dealing with religiously inspired militancy is concerned has been aptly demonstrated by a series of recent events. The latest crisis emerged in Jakarta, where elements linked to the Lion of Islam 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 went on the rampage on Thursday. A news outlet connected to the group grabbed credit for the carnage, while Indonesian police also said they believed IS was behind the attacks. Meanwhile,
...back at the chili cook-off, Chuck reached for the green sauce...
on Wednesday, IS grabbed credit for the attack on the Pak consulate in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, while Turkish authorities said the individual responsible for the Istanbul bombing on Tuesday was an operative of the Lion of Islam group. These events show that nearly all Muslim states -- despite geographic, cultural and political differences -- are vulnerable to violent religious extremism.

It would be incorrect to assume that a monolithic IS is planning attacks in Muslim countries -- and elsewhere -- based in Syria. However,
a clean conscience makes a soft pillow...
what is entirely possible is that the so-called caliphate is inspiring fringe groups and individuals across the globe to act in its name, or in support of its cause. For example, in Indonesia IS doesn't actually need a physical presence; Lion of Islam groups such as Abu Sayyaf
...also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, an Islamist terror group based in Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, murders, head choppings, and extortion in their uniquely Islamic attempt to set up an independent Moslem province in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf forces probably number less than 300 cadres. The group is closely allied with remnants of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya and has loose ties with MILF and MNLF who sometimes provide cannon fodder...
and Jemaah Islamiyah are ideologically on the same wavelength. Pakistain faces the same predicament: Al Baghdadi and his men do not need to be physically present to forward their agenda. There is a plethora of Lion of Islam and sectarian groups that are arguably still active and more than willing to carry the IS banner in Pakistain. The same can be said of nearly any Muslim country, where a variety of factors have led to the growth of home-grown radical movements.

Unfortunately, some Muslim states have either looked away as bully boy groups grew in size and strength in their backyards, while others have even used these as proxies in geopolitical conflicts. It is also true that most Muslim states -- both authoritarian set-ups and democracies -- have failed to deliver social, economic and political justice to their citizens, helping fuel the rise of radical movements, which want to destroy the 'system' and build it anew in their own image. In the immediate term, the Muslim bloc should realise that the war against extremism and terrorism is 'our' war. Firstly, there must be realisation within Muslim states that the Lion of Islam tide has to be confronted, without differentiation between 'good' and 'bad' Lion of Islams. Secondly, a pan-Islamic effort is needed to clamp down on militancy, which can be achieved through joint counterterrorism efforts. However,
a clean conscience makes a soft pillow...
any alliance built along sectarian or geopolitical lines is doomed to fail. Moreover, Western involvement in such an endeavour should be avoided for two reasons: to prevent turbans from portraying it as a 'war against Islam', and the fact that much of contemporary Islamist militancy has been fuelled by Western intervention and regime change in Muslim states.
Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies

#1  It is a nice comforting thought, like good rich coffee, to witness the filial love and respect that Moslems bestow upon one another, isn't it?

Islam MUST be the true religion due to its mastery of common decency, especially toward other Moslems. ( have you ever noticed the rather bloated and ( some say ) "turgid" style of writing exhibited by {DAWN} as a source?)

At any rate, Islam has a bright future if they derive such lasting affection among themselves by maximizing their cuts and slashes among one another.

Has it ever occurred to anyone that what we are witnessing in this portion of the 21st Cent. Is Islam splattering itself on the walls, and that Islam is DYING?

Islam is bleeding to death from cancerous interior ulcers. Someone should do a computer model to predict precisely WHEN the internal suppurating rot of Islam will break through its backward mangey pelt and vomit its bloody guts out on the sidewalk.
In the meantime let's just watch.
Posted by: Andy Fleans1749 || 01/15/2016 4:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Watching is a luxury afforded to those not under threat.

We are not in that position owing to both internal and external enemies.

Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 01/15/2016 11:06 Comments || Top||

#3  It's Hemingway, our purple-prose artiste. He just sits in the corner with his picture of Hannibal Lecter and watches (and drools on himself... and giggles...)
Posted by: Pappy || 01/15/2016 16:22 Comments || Top||

#4 
Posted by: Lampedusa Creretch3679 || 01/15/2016 17:52 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Saudi prisoner at Guantanamo released by US after 14 years
A Saudi prisoner at the US base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who authorities said was a recruiter and fighter for Al Qaeda has been sent back to his homeland, the Pentagon said on Monday amid a wave of releases from the detention centre.

Mohammed Abd Al Rahman Al Shamrani was among the first prisoners taken to the US base in Cuba when it opened in January 2002 to hold suspected enemy combatants. He had long been deemed too dangerous to release even as most of the prisoners from Saudi Arabia were sent home.

A profile of Al Shamrani first released by the Pentagon in 2014 said he "almost certainly remains committed to supporting extremist causes, and has continued to incite other detainees against the detention staff at Guantanamo." His attorney, Martha Rayner, had said that the allegations against him were no more serious than prisoners who had already been released.

His case was reviewed again last year by a government board amid an effort by President Barack Obama to reduce the Guantanamo prison population and move the remainder to the US. The board concluded that the Saudi security measures and rehabilitation programme for militants are adequate to minimise the risk of him taking part in extremist activities.
I'm not sure what's worse: did the board actually believe that, or did they know better and release Shamrani anyway?
"Mr. Al Shamrani looks forward to participating in the Saudi reintegration programme, reuniting with his family and establishing a peaceful and productive life in his home country," said Rayner, professor at Fordham University School of Law in New York.

Al Shamrani is the fourth of 17 prisoners expected to be released this month from Guantanamo. The prison now holds 103 men, including more than 40 cleared for release.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  Mr. Obama must accept that the men held at Guantanamo are his prisoners, not George W. Bush's.

Martha Rayner
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/15/2016 9:27 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Nangarhar Police Chief Claims Pakistan's ISI Supporting Daesh
[Tolo News] Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
police chief Fazel Ahmad Sherzad on Thursday raised concerns over the activities of Daesh [Islamic State] in the province and said some elements in the region, including Pakistain's Inter-Services Intelligence
...the Pak military intelligence agency that controls the military -- heads of ISI typically get promoted into the Chief of Army Staff position. It serves as a general command center for favored turban groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, tries to influence the politix of neighboring countries, and carries out a (usually) low-level war against India in Kashmir...
(ISI), support the Death Eater group.

His statement comes a day after the group grabbed credit for the attack on the Pak consulate in Jalalabad, which resulted in the death of at least seven members of the Afghan cops.

Referring to attack on the Pak mission, Sherzad said the incident was worrying and accused ISI of helping the Death Eater group.

He said the security forces have launched a probe into the incident.

"Daesh [Islamic State] gunnies are supported by regional countries especially Pakistain but government forces are investigating attack on the Pak consulate," said Sherzad.

Meanwhile,
...back at the pond, the radioactive tadpoles grown into frogs. Really big frogs, in fact...
officials from Nangarhar provincial council have questioned the infiltration of the attackers into a highly guarded zone where the Pak mission is located, adding that it is surprising how the gunnies managed to enter a so-called safe area.

The Nangarhar mission attack was the first murderous Moslem-style attack on a Pak diplomatic mission in Afghanistan.

"I don't know how the attackers entered the consulate despite there being many checkpoints near the consulate," said Sohrab Qadiri a provincial council member.

Amid a surge in activities by Daesh [Islamic State] in Nangarhar, residents on Thursday blasted government and security of forces for not tackling the group, who have staged several attacks in Afghanistan since their emergence in the country last year.

Afghanistan has long accused the Pak spy agency of backing and funding Death Eater groups in Afghanistan in its quest to destabilize the country and pursue its own strategic objectives.

But one political analyst, Jawed Kohistan
...a backwoods district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa distinguished by being even more rustic than is the norm among the local Pashtuns....
i, said: "There are groups in Afghanistan and Pakistain that do not see peace and security in their interest and they want to achieve their interests through insecurity."

A former Pak military official Mohammad Asif said: "In my opinion there are groups in Afghanistan and Pakistain who do not want relations between the two countries to improve and therefore they want to conduct terrorist acts in both countries."
Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies


Iraq
Military operations northeast of Fallujah continue
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – On Thursday, Iraqi Ministry of Defense announced the continuation of its military operations in the northeast Fallujah in order to liberate it from ISIS, while emphasized that the security forces have made a significant progress in achieving its goals.

The ministry said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “The 17th Infantry brigade has made a significant progress regarding the liberalization of the near areas of Euphrates River in the north-eastern side of Fallujah.”
Posted by: badanov || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Terror Networks
Daesh says it builds own secure messaging app
Yes, yes -- utterly secure. The NSA most definitely hasn't found it yet, nor penetrated it.
[Iran Press TV] The Daesh [Islamic State] Takfiri
...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed...
terrorist group claims to have built its own secure messaging application, making their conversations more difficult to monitor, a hacking group says.

According to a counterterrorism network called the Ghost Security Group, moving on from messaging apps like Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Twitter, the Daesh [Islamic State] Takfiri terrorist group has now built an Android-based, encrypted-messaging app called Alrawi.apk, or just the Alrawi app, that circumvents conventional messaging apps regarded easier for the FBI to monitor.

"The application's primary purpose is for propaganda distribution. Using the app you are able to follow the most recent news and video clips." Ghost Security representatives told Defense One on Wednesday.
The representatives added that these messaging features are not quite as secure or sophisticated as those of Telegram or WhatsApp, but they share the distinct advantage of being independent of any third-party company or organization that might help anti-ISIL governments or law enforcement agencies.

The move by the the Daesh [Islamic State] Takfiri terrorist group comes at a time when the terrorist group is now believed to be stepping up terror plots and attacks in many parts of the world. The group was behind the kaboom on the Indonesian capital of Jakarta on 14 January, with at least seven people dead and there are concerns that Daesh [Islamic State] influence is spreading in the Philippines.

US President Barack Obama
It’s very rare that I come to an event where I’m like the fifth- or sixth-most interesting person....
and presidential contenders, like Hillary Clinton
... sometimes described as America's Blond Eminence and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Edward Livingstone ...
, have in recent weeks urged tech leaders to voluntarily join the fight against Daesh [Islamic State].
Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Iraq
Iraqi forces liberate al-Sofiya in Anbar
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – On Thursday, Security Committee’s member in Anbar Provincial Council Ragee Barakat announced the liberation of the majority of al-Sofiya area, while indicated to the advance of the security forces toward al-Sijariya and Albu Ghanem areas.

Barakat said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “The security forces from the Anti-Terrorism Bureau and Anbar police managed to liberate the majority of al-Sofiya area east of Ramadi,” pointing out that, “The security forces advanced toward al-Sijariya and Albu Ghanem areas.”

He added, “The advance of the security forces in east of Ramadi has been hindered by the explosive devices, in addition to the detained families by the ISIS organization.”
Posted by: badanov || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Afghanistan
U.S. designates ISIS in Afghanistan as foreign terrorist organization
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The United States government has designated the Khorasan branch of the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as a terrorist organization.

The Khorasan branch dubbed as 'Khorasan province -- Wilayah Khorasan' is the territorial scope of the terror group covering parts of Afghanistan and Pakistain but the loyalists of the terror group is mainly operational in some remote regions of Afghanistan bordering the Durand Line located between Afghanistan and Pakistain.

"The Department of State has announced the designation of ISIL-K as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act," a statement by the Department of State said.

The statement further added that the consequences of the FTO designation include a prohibition against knowingly providing, or attempting or conspiring to provide, material support or resources to this organization. The Department of State took this action in consultation with the Departments of Justice and the Treasury.

ISIL-K announced its formation on January 10, 2015, the State Department said, adding that the group is based in the Afghanistan/Pakistain region and is composed primarily of former members of Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistain and the Afghan Taliban. The big shotship of ISIL-K has pledged allegiance to His Supreme Immensity, Caliph of the Faithful and Galactic Overlord, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
...formerly merely the head of ISIL and a veteran of the Bagram jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us...
, the leader of ISIL.

This pledge was accepted in late January 2015 and since then ISIL-K has carried out suicide kabooms, small arms attacks and kidnappings in eastern Afghanistan against civilians and Afghan National Security and Defense Forces, and grabbed credit for May 2015 attacks on civilians in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, Pakistain, according to State Department.

The step by the State Department comes as there have been growing concerns that the terror group is gaining foothold in Afghanistan with the loyalists of the group attempting to consolidate their activities with the leadership of the group based in Syria and Iraq.

The officials have voiced concerns that the loyalists of the terror group is also attempting to create a regional base in Jalalabad city, the bustling provincial capital of eastern Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
province of Afghanistan.

Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  the FTO designation include a prohibition against knowingly providing, or attempting or conspiring to provide, material support or resources

Does that include shipping money offshore?
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/15/2016 13:32 Comments || Top||

#2 
Posted by: Lampedusa Creretch3679 || 01/15/2016 17:19 Comments || Top||

#3 
Posted by: Lampedusa Creretch3679 || 01/15/2016 17:23 Comments || Top||

#4  We are actually fighting a feudal "army" - hommage and all that - its 10th century vs 21st century and so far, coz of the simplicity, 10th century has us by the nuts - guys think outside the box it is not Westphalia any more, all these fragments - just lump them under the whole , you kneel to ISIS - well, you fly with the crows....you get shot with them
Posted by: Bov Flimbers || 01/15/2016 23:22 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Lahore rape victim records statement before magistrate
[DAWN] The alleged teenage gangrape victim girl told a female judicial magistrate on Wednesday that she had friendship with the prime suspect and had gone out with him to receive a birthday gift on the day of incident.

Recording her first statement under section 164 of CrPC before magistrate Tabinda Batool, the alleged victim (name withheld) said that she was not raped but sodomised. She was accompanied with her counsel, mother and other family members in the magistrate's chamber.

She stated that she left her house on the pretext of visiting her tailor but went to a hotel on The Mall with the suspect in a car. She said while traveling to the hotel the suspect stopped at a point to buy a birthday gift for her. Another suspect received them at the hotel, she said, adding that in the room, she was offered drink that made her unconscious.

The victim said she felt during the unconsciousness that the suspects had undressed her and forced her to dance. The girl said she believed that the suspects subjected her to sodomy.

Defending delay in recording the statement, she said she had been unable to talk and understand things for many days after consuming the drink spiked with intoxicants and mistreatment at the hotel.

After the proceeding, the girl talked to news hounds and denied having any knowledge about relation of the prime suspect with Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....

Education Minister Rana Mashhood Khan.

Her mother told news hounds that her daughter had suffered an act of brutality and needed justice. She said they would knock every door of justice till the perpetrators were brought to justice.

The brother in-law of the alleged victim said the family had been facing immense pressure from different quarters since the gruesome incident occurred. He appealed to the Punjab chief minister to ensure their protection.

Racecourse police had tossed in the clink
Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
the prime suspect, a former office-bearer of the PML-N Youth Wing, and seven others for allegedly gang-raping the teenage girl.

They allegedly kidnapped the girl from Multan Road and took her to a guest house on The Mall. They left the girl unconscious in a room of the hotel and informed her family through a text message.

Also, a sessions' court admonished the station house officer of the Racecourse police for not producing the record of the case on bail petitions by the suspects. The court directed the SHO to produce the record on next hearing.
Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Jaish's Masood Azhar under 'protective custody', confirms Punjab Law Minister
[DAWN] Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....

Law Minister Rana Sanaullah on Thursday confirmed that Jaish-e-Mohammad
...literally Army of Mohammad, a Pak-based Deobandi terror group founded by Maulana Masood Azhar in 2000, after he split with the Harkat-ul-Mujaheddin. In 2002 the government of Pervez Musharraf banned the group, which changed its name to Khaddam ul-Islam and continued doing what it had been doing before without missing a beat...
chief Maulana Masood Azhar
...One of the major players in Pak terrorism. In early 1994, India incarcerated him for his terrorist activities. In 1995, foreign tourists were kidnapped in Jammu and Kashmir. The kidnappers included the release of Masood Azhar among their demands. One of the hostages managed to escape but the rest were eventually killed. In 1999, he was freed by the Indian government in exchange for passengers on hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814 that had been diverted to Kandahar. The hijackers were led by Masood Azhar's brother, Ibrahim Athar. Once he was handed over to the hijackers, they fled to Pak territory despite the fact that Islamabad had earlier stated that any of the hijackers would be jugged at the border. The Pak government had also previously indicated that Azhar would be allowed to return home since he did not face any charges there. Shortly after his release, he made a public address to an estimated 10,000 people in Karachi, firing up the rubes against America and India...
is under 'protective custody'.
It's just a pretend arrest, and he'll be quietly released at some point in the fairly near future. They always do this.
Speaking on DawnNews talk show 'News Eye', Sanaullah while responding to a question confirmed that Masood Azhar was taken into protective custody by the counter-terrorism department.

When asked if his custody can be termed an 'arrest', the provincial law minister explained that Azhar will only face arrest and legal action if his involvement in the Pathankot attack is proved beyond doubt.

As Pakistain on Wednesday announced the arrest of Jaish members and started sealing the organization's offices, some media reports had suggested the arrest of Azhar, who has been named by New Delhi as the criminal mastermind of the Pathankot airbase attack.

However,
nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits...
the Foreign Office had said in the morning that it is not aware of the arrest of Jaish-e-Mohammad chief while Bahawalpur DPO Sarfaraz Ahmad Falki had also expressed ignorance about house arrest of Maulana Azhar or any other arrests in his district.
Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Jaish-e-Mohammad


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Naked woman goes on rampage through Waffle House
[MYFOX8] A woman is facing several charges after going on a rampage at a Waffle House restaurant in Kennesaw, Ga., all while completely naked.

The incident happened Jan. 8 around 10:30 p.m. at the location on George Busbee Parkway.

According to police, the woman, identified as Jennifer Nicholson, stripped off her clothes, punched a woman in the face and then threw a plate at a window. She also threw several platters at patrons of the restaurant.

When police tried to subdue Nicholson, she fought back, scratching an officer.

The woman who was punched sustained a broken nose in the attack, according to police.

Nicholson is facing several assault and public indecency charges.

She's currently being held in the Cobb County Jail.
Posted by: Fred || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I clicked through & saw what appears to be her mug shot. Her face resembles a waffle.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 01/15/2016 0:04 Comments || Top||

#2  Was this the one who was washing her hair in the Waffle House kitchen?

Man, whoever beat her with the ugly stick should have stopped a little sooner. She's all lumpy now.
Posted by: KBK || 01/15/2016 0:16 Comments || Top||

#3  Why is it always Georgia ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/15/2016 4:31 Comments || Top||

#4  ...cause they didn't have enough for the bus ticket to Florida?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/15/2016 8:13 Comments || Top||

#5  I am sticking to IHOP.
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 01/15/2016 11:29 Comments || Top||

#6  I tend to get a little upset myself when they tell me I can't get real butter.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 01/15/2016 12:31 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Iraqi forces repel ISIS attack on Makhoul Mountains, 20 militants killed
(IraqiNews.com) The Nujaba Movement announced on Thursday, that the security forces had managed to kill 20 ISIS elements during violent clashes in Makhoul Mountains.

The movement said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “The security forces repelled an attack in Makhoul Mountains and killed 15 ISIS elements, in addition to destroying their equipment,” pointing out that, “The snipers force was able to kill five elements of them.”

The statement added, “The rockets force was able to target a house in which ISIS elements were hiding in it,” indicating also that, “Tikrit-Kirkuk road has been opened.”
Posted by: badanov || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


2 ISIS Top Dawgs die in Salahaddin
(IraqiNews.com) Salahaddin – On Thursday, a source in Salahuddin police announced, that the joint forces managed to kill the so-called ISIS Wali of Awja District and another leader in the organization while trying to sneak into areas south of Tikrit (170 north of Baghdad).

The source said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “Today, a security force was able to kill two senior leaders in the ISIS organization while trying to sneak into al-Sharif area west of Samarra south of Tikrit,” adding that, “One of the dead leaders was Marwan al-Tikriti the new Wali of Awja, while the second was the Amir of Salahuddin Western Front in the ISIS organization.”

Noteworthy, joint forces managed to free the city of Tikrit in the 31st of March 2015, and continued its progress to expel ISIS from the rest of the areas of the province, after the liberation of Baiji (40 km north of Tikrit) in November 2015.
Posted by: badanov || 01/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State



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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2016-01-15
  U.S. designates ISIS in Afghanistan as foreign terrorist organization
Thu 2016-01-14
  Terror attacks in Jakarta -- 7 die so far
Wed 2016-01-13
  Suicide bomber kills 10 people, mainly Germans, in Istanbul
Tue 2016-01-12
  Bombings at Iraq cafe kill 20: Officers
Mon 2016-01-11
  It begins: Cologne gangs attack foreigners
Sun 2016-01-10
  US drone strikes kills 25 suspected militants in Pakistan, Afghanistan
Sat 2016-01-09
  Philadelphia police officer ambushed 'in the name of Islam'
Fri 2016-01-08
  ISIS Man Executes His Mom
Thu 2016-01-07
  Iran says Saudi-led airstrike hit Iranian Embassy in Yemen, but no damage seen
Wed 2016-01-06
  1 US soldier killed, 2 wounded in Taliban attack in Helmand
Tue 2016-01-05
  44 ISIS Bad Guys die in battles near Fallujah
Mon 2016-01-04
  38 die in Kurd, ISIS battles in Raqqa
Sun 2016-01-03
  Fierce Fighting Erupts Between Afghan Forces, Taliban In Marjah
Sat 2016-01-02
  Death sentences for nine 'hardcore terrorists' in Pakistan
Fri 2016-01-01
  New Year's Eve terror attack thwarted in NY

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