[Daily Caller] Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates says President Barack Obama "has centralized power and operational activities of the government in the White House to a degree that I think is unparalleled."
Tuesday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Gates, who served under both George W. Bush and Barack Obama, affirmed host Joe Scarborough's claim that Obama has to think that he is the smartest guy in the room.
Scarborough asked Gates, "President Obama has actually been criticized for always thinking he's the smartest guy in the room... Did Barack Obama always think he was the smartest guy in the room?"
"You know, the president is quoted as having said at one point to his staff, 'I can do every one of your jobs better than you can,'" Gates claimed.
#5
Yet I cannot think of a single job that Obama has performed exceptional. Can you?
He performed exceptionally well as a focusing agent for those the media convinced were disenfranchised or should be apologist. He won two(2)TWO national elections.
[Rooters] "Unbelievable", "embarrassing" even "dangerous" are some of the words the financial elite gathered at the World Economic Forum conference in the Swiss resort of Davos have been using to describe U.S. Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump.
Although some said they still expected his campaign to founder before his party picks its nominee for the November election many said it was no longer unthinkable that he could be the Republican candidate.
Some noted that whatever the outcome, a heated campaign, which has also seen self-proclaimed Socialist Bernie Sanders provide a tough challenge to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, could alter the U.S. political environment, giving vent to new populist anger on both sides of the political divide.
Trump's nationalist rhetoric, particularly proposals to ban Muslims from entering the United States, tax goods made abroad and build a wall on the Mexican border, were never the sort of thing to appeal to the free trade crowd that typically gathers at events like the annual Davos economic forum.
#4
The New World Order crowd. They also have another event of the year to look forward to, The Bilderberg conference; both are places where the elites play with themselves.
#10
A free press is supposed to counter the elites. Instead we get MSM which is owned, you guessed it, by the elites. Thank God for Rantburg (hat tip to Fred and the mods).
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/23/2016 16:03
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#2
'Quid Pro Quo', the Sanctissimo iureiurando confirmari [sacred oath] of any politician, Swiss or otherwise. Oftentimes a coin toss, but thievery and betrayal are close seconds.
#3
Beck did not make an individual comaparison as the headline suggests. He dovetailed one his longstanding historical observations with Rush's analysis regarding Trump's politcal success. One can agree or disagree with either one of their opinions but both certainly offer more insight then the political chum that's been constantly troweled out. One thing is for sure...Breitbart is click bait for simpletons.
#5
The problem is that the Publicans have been routinely trouncing the Dems in congressional elections. We've been voting for fiscal conservatives. We've been getting John Boner and Mitch McConnell, mutually scratching backs and revolving dooring.
That's why the top of the Publican heap this time is non-politicians with the exception of Cruz, who's a Tea Party product and intentionally pisses on the establishment leg. The debates have
a.) emptied the field of also rans like Lindsey Graham and Rick Santorum. I think I saw somewhere that Gary Johnson had announced his candidacy. He didn't even make the kids' table with Graham.
b.) gave everybody a close look at the major contenders. Bush isn't going anywhere because even his Mom doesn't want him to run. John Kasich is wedded to his talking point and answers questions with them. Rand Paul ha lots that people like, but nobody likes him.
c.) The winnowing process left us with pick of the litter. Carson's not top of the heap, but most Publicans would vote for him and it would be neither because of nor in spite of his race. Likewise Fiorina would be a good candidate, neither because of nor in spite of the fact that she's a woman. Rubio is smart and scrappy and wears funny shoes. I'd vote for him. My personal favorite is Cruz.
d.) The People's Choice looks like Trump. I don't see any ideology in him, which can be a bad thing or it can be a lack of blinders. He's not trying to be Ronald Reagan (like the late Fred! Thompson) but he reminds me of Reagan because he's pushing his ideas, which in this case involve good management and belief in self and country. If he can hang that on a framework of respect for the Constitution then I'm all for him.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2016 17:35
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#6
I'll go with what Fred said for a fair ways. I'm not sure sure who I want yet, but I do know that I'm a "molten lava"* voter: I'll swim through molten lava to vote against Hilarity.
What angers me: in both 2010 and 2014 I voted straight Pub because the GOPe told me, do that and we'll confront Obama. We won't win them all because he's got the veto, but we'll take him to task. I did in both elections, and the GOPe since has wrung its hands and carried on business as usual. They just jammed through an Omnibus bill that Nancy and Harry loved.
So remind me: why vote Pub in the next election?
* It's like being a "broken glass" voter, but a tad more committed...
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/23/2016 18:06
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#7
From Western Rifle Shooters Association:
If there were a generic one-word expression for ‘one whose fear of the uncertainties of success moves him to surrender at the very moment of victory’, it would be ‘Republican’.
#9
#5 - Fred, nicely said. I have FB Friends and groups that are already starting to destroy longterm friendships. I don't trust Trump, but he's likely to win IF things continue. I DO LIKE his tweaking of issues (note that vetting Syrian Refugees BEFORE bringing them in is no longer off the table or polite discussion - Fuck yeah), he also points out the hazard of ILLEGAL Immigration, which I like...
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/23/2016 20:09
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For the foreign defense contractor, stealing U.S. Navy secrets turned out to be a breeze. All it took was a little cash, a few cheap gifts‐and a willing sailor.
Daniel Layug, an enlisted sailor with a weakness for electronic bling, was an easy mark. Over a three-year period, he repeatedly downloaded classified documents and other sensitive information about Navy operations in Asia, and handed it over for a low, low price, according to federal court records.
On Thursday, in U.S. District Court in San Diego, Layug became the first person to be sentenced in an epic corruption investigation
#1
On Thursday, in U.S. District Court in San Diego, Layug became the first person to be sentenced in an epic corruption investigation
So he'll go to the Fed on Metropolitan Ave in Leavenworth rather than the USDB on Fort Leavenworth. (BTW, there's a states men's and women's prison in the town as well. Don't have to worry about downturns in 'business'.)
#2
Likely U.S.D.C. due to that system's experience with this sort of thing, his legal talent figuring he'd get a better deal than going through a court-martial, and possibly because he agreed to 'cooperate' to get some bigger fish.
[AnNahar] Syrian government forces edged closer to a key rebel town in the coastal province of Latakia on Friday, backed by Russian air strikes and military advisers, a monitor said.
Soldiers and pro-regime fighters advanced to around five kilometers (three miles) from the town of Rabia, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Rabia is a major stronghold for rebel forces in the north of Latakia, which is otherwise largely regime-held and a bastion of support for Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now... "If the regime retakes Rabia, it will be able to secure the northern part of Latakia province," said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman.
The advance towards Rabia comes after government troops seized the strategic town of Salma on January 12, after months of operations to capture it from rebels who had held it since 2012.
Salma's fall was one of the first major victories for regime troops since staunch ally Russia began an aerial campaign in support of the government on September 30.
Abdel Rahman said senior Russian military officials were directing the battle for Rabia, and that the town was the last major rebel stronghold in the province.
The monitor reported heavy air strikes and festivities, but had no immediate casualty toll for the fighting.
Rabia has been held by the opposition since 2012 and is controlled by a range of rebel groups including some made up of Syrian Turkmen,
...the other reason the Russians are so keen...
as well as al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli sh-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... Front.
[AnNahar] A man who tried to attack a cop shoppe in Gay Paree this month had no links to Islamist networks, German authorities said Friday after carrying out new raids in a refugee shelter where he lived.
In other words, Europeans need to worry not just about those formally affiliated with a jihadi group, but anyone who might succumb to Sudden Jihad Syndrome and run murderously amok... just as they need to worry about crowds of young Muslim men sticking their fingers where they weren't invited* of any female who finds herself in their midst.
Investigations "over the past two weeks have brought no indications of any Islamist network" connected to the man, said Uwe Jacob, police chief of North Rhine-Westphalia state.
Tarek Belgacem
A man of many names and little sense
The attacker, identified as Tarek Belgacem by Tunisian authorities, was rubbed out by French police as he attempted his assault on January 7 -- the one-year anniversary of the jihadist attack on satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo ...A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe... Continued on Page 49
#2
I'm willing to concede that not all of Islam is theocratic and totalitarian.
Can you cite some evidence in support of this statement (note: examples of genuinely peaceful Muslims are not a counterargument---every religion has apostates).
#3
does not matter if he is connected to a network or not
anyone that thinks that just does not get the very first thing about the war we are in
it isnt a crime situation, these are not criminal networks
this is an ideological war. The ideology is the problem. Theocratic islamist fascism.
the solution is secularism
theocracy has to be crushed.
otherwise any random Islamist can pop out at any time with no links to anyone as long as they drank the Kool aid of Islamist doctrine
if they think they skip judgement and go straight to janaa in return for killing kaffirs for allah then every man woman and child is a potential risk
and no amount of spy and police work will prevent the inevitable attacks.
the only way to fight it is by removing the hobble on free speech - make it easy to criticise and laugh at and ridicule religion. all religion. and to target Islamism with ridicule.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/23/2016 9:48
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#6
Anon1's comment was easy for me to read. My eyes don't work as well as they used too.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/23/2016 11:05
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#7
I've seen *much* longer comments.
And he's right about the fact that there being no obvious links doesn't mean they aren't there.
And given how the media and governments have been bending backwards to give the Islamic Terrorists & Rapefugees cover (as far back, if not further, than Beslan) one has to wonder how hard they looked.
But you would expect a good look in Paris after what happened there.
[AnNahar] Indian counter-terror police enjugged Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! a group of suspected Islamist faceless myrmidons and seized bomb-making material in a series of nationwide raids ahead of next week's Republic Day celebrations, officials said Friday.
A home ministry official said the National Investigation Agency (NIA), a federal police unit that probes terror offenses, formally arrested five suspects, while nine more men are being interrogated over their links to a local holy warrior leader after the overnight raids in four different states.
"We have recovered material used to make IEDs (improvised bombs) from two locations but no explosives have been seized," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told news hounds.
"They were part of the online radicalized group who were in touch with a holy warrior leader for some time and were planning to procure arms," the official said, identifying the leader as an Indian Mujahideen A locally recruited auxilliary of Pakistain's Lashkar-e-Taiba, designed to give a domestic patina to Pakistain's terror war against its bigger neighbor... (IM) holy warrior, a home-grown myrmidon group blamed for multiple kabooms.
The exact whereabouts of the IM leader, whose name was only given as Yusuf, are unknown to Sherlocks, the official said in New Delhi.
He refuted media reports that the suspects were part of a cell operated by the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... organization but said some of the suspects were trying to organize arms training within India.
The suspects, who are from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh states, will be brought to the capital for further questioning.
"We have been told that six terror suspects... have been arrested after raids since Thursday night," G. Parameshwara, home minister in the Karnataka state government, told news hounds in the southern city of Bangalore.
Security has been increased in large parts of India ahead of the Republic Day celebrations on Tuesday, when it marks the anniversary of its democratic constitution taking force in 1950.
Thousands of armed coppers have been deployed across the capital New Delhi where French President Francois Hollande ...the Socialist president of La Belle France, an economic bad joke for la Belle France but seemingly a foreign policy realist... will be the guest of honor at a military parade on Tuesday as part of a three-day visit.
La Belle France has said security will be high on the agenda after deadly Islamist attacks in Gay Paree in November that evoked memories of the 2008 Mumbai attacks which left 166 people dead.
[AnNahar] A Syrian suspected of being among jihadists who kidnapped a U.N. peacekeeper in Damascus in 2013 has been jugged You have the right to remain silent... over the "war crime", Germany's federal prosecutor said Friday.
The 24-year-old man named as Suliman A.-S. is believed to be a member of a branch of the Al-Nusra Front jihadist group, the prosecutor said.
Investigations found that he had participated in the kidnapping on February 17, 2013 and was "involved in guarding the kidnapped victim between March and June 2013".
He is "suspected of an attack during Syria's civil war against a person, who was involved in a peacekeeping mission under the United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... Charter, and was therefore entitled to protection," said the prosecutor.
"The arrest warrant against him is on suspicion of a war crime against a humanitarian operation," the prosecutor added.
The peacekeeper with the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights managed to free himself in October 2013. It was unclear why he had been in Damascus.
The peacekeeper's identity was not revealed by German prosecutors, but the U.N. had said in 2013 that Carl Campeau, a Canadian legal advisor, was kidnapped on February 17 as he drove through a Damascus suburb.
He was freed in October, without a ransom being paid.
Two groups of UNDOF peacekeepers were also kidnapped in the same year in the Golan Heights ceasefire zone, the first comprising of 21 soldiers, and the second four. All were Filipinos and subsequently freed.
UNDOF, which has been in the Golan Heights since 1974, had about 1,000 troops and civilian staff in 2013. The 917 troops from Austria, India, the Philippines, Morocco and Moldova carried only very light arms.
In the wake of the spate of kidnappings, Austria withdrew its force over security reasons.
[AnNahar] At least 30 civilians, including 13 children, were killed in air strikes in eastern Syria on Friday, a monitoring group said.
It was unclear if the raids in Deir Ezzor province, which is mostly controlled by the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group, were carried out by Russian or regime warplanes, the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
ISIS does like its human shields... which makes their deaths its responsibility according to international law.
The monitor said eight women were among those killed in the strikes on Tabiyyah Jazeera, around 20 kilometers (12 miles) east of Deir Ezzor city, the historic provincial capital.
It added that dozens of people were maimed and the toll was expected to rise.
The Lions of ISIS get such medicine and competent doctoring as is available, while the rest get whatever outcome Allah (or Darwin) wills.
The monitor relies on a network of activists on the ground and distinguishes between Syrian, Russian and U.S.-led coalition aircraft based on flight patterns, as well as the type of planes and ordnance used.
The strikes come as the regime battles IS jihadists who launched a major assault on Deir Ezzor city over the weekend.
The fighting there has killed at least 439 people since Saturday, according to the Observatory, including combatants who died in strikes or festivities, and civilians executed by IS.
While IS holds most of Deir Ezzor province, the regime has clung onto parts of the historic provincial capital, as well as the nearby military airport.
But with its multi-front assault, IS now controls 60 percent of the city, and has tightened a siege of the roughly 200,000 people still inside it.
Russia, a staunch ally of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... 's government, began an air campaign in support of Damascus last September.
[AnNahar] Five children were maimed on Friday when suspected gunnies hurled a hand-made bomb into a schoolyard in majority-Kurdish southeast The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , security sources said, blaming the attack on the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
The blast destroyed the yard of a secondary school in the Baglar district of Diyarbakir province where students had gathered during a classroom break, a security source told AFP.
The pupils were about to enter their classrooms to pick up their school report cards on the last day of the semester when the blast occurred, the source added.
Five were hospitalized after suffering cuts from shattered glass, but none of them was at death's door.
Meanwhile two Turkish soldiers were maimed in a rocket attack blamed on the PKK, Dogan news agency said.
The confusing follow-up to this story from yesterday, wherein the authorities claimed it was a Muslim Brotherhood hideout in a Muslim Brotherhood neighbourhood that blew up when they raided it.
[AlAhram] Thursday's attack killed 10 people - including 7 coppers - in Giza governorate's Haram district
Both an ISIS-affiliated group and another holy warrior group in Egypt have grabbed credit for the bombing that took place in Giza governorate's Haram district on Thursday, killing at least 10 people.
In a statement issued on Friday and published on its alleged Twitter accounts, Sinai-based Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis "ABM" claims that 10 Egyptian police personnel were killed when they entered a "booby-trapped" house in Marioutiya Thursday night.
An hour after the announcement by ABM another holy warrior group called "Revolutionary Punishment" grabbed credit for the attack in a statement released on Facebook.
The group claimed that it lured police to the apartment at which point two of its members carried out a suicide kaboom which killed a former state security police officer, among others.
According to the official statement of Egypt's prosecution, ten people, including seven coppers and three civilians, were killed in the kaboom.
The ministry of interior also stated that coppers and other victims were killed or injured as officers attempted to defuse a time-bomb during the raid on an apartment in Marioutiya where suspected Islamist turbans were believed to be staying.
The kaboom left 13 injured, two of whom are at death's door.
According to the ministry's statement, a civilian who lived in the building was killed in the kaboom, and two charred bodies were found inside the apartment.
"Revolutionary Punishment" apologised in its statement that non-combatants were killed in the attack, vowing to compensate them as well as vowing for more operations against security forces in the future.
The holy warrior group emerged earlier this year, claiming responsibility for attacks on mobile phone shops and banks across the country, as well as attacks against coppers.
Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, a Sinai-based holy warrior group has already grabbed credit for most of the attacks against security forces in North Sinai. It also grabbed credit for the bombings of security directorates in Cairo and Dakahlia
[Ynet] The United States and its allies conducted 19 strikes against Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... on Thursday, including two in Syria and 17 in Iraq, the coalition leading the operations said.
Air strikes in Syria hit an Islamic State gas plant and a tactical unit, the Combined Joint Task Force said in a statement released on Friday.
In Iraq, six strikes in djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... hit a bridge and two tactical units and destroyed three fighting positions, the statement said. Six additional strikes in Ramadi destroyed vehicles, explosives and a weapons cache, among other targets, while five strikes in four other cities struck tactical units and damaged buildings.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/23/2016
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[Ynet] A third of the bandidosmurderous Moslems of the last few months have been under the age of 20. The Paleostinian Authority says that most of them suffer from personal difficulties and prefer to die 'heroically.'
One of the most striking aspects of the current wave of terror has been the significant number of youngsters among the many lone attackers who have emerged over the last few months.
The most recent of them were Othman Shaalan, 19, who carried out the stabbing attack in Tekoa that maimed Michal Froman, and Morad Adais, 16, who murdered Dafna Meir in Otniel. The statistics show that a third of the bandidosmurderous Moslems who have carried out attacks in the current round have been under the age of 20.
[IsraelTimes] The head of the Paleostinian domestic intelligence body says the Paleostinian Authority has prevented 200 attacks against Israelis in the latest wave of terror attacks since October 2015.
Majed Faraj, director of the PA's General Intelligence Service, told Defense News in an interview published Wednesday that Paleostinian security services have also confiscated weapons and incarcerated Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! some 100 Paleostinians in the effort to prevent the attacks.
#2
"Well, of course they're infantile, entitled, inept, mentally ill, and social poison. They're Paleos"
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/23/2016 11:41
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#3
Well, judging by experience, asking "international community" to stop funding terrorist manufacturing, aka Palestinian Education system, is useless. So, how about a Syrian passport + transportation to Europe for any willing "Palestinian"?
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least 16 anti-government armed murderous Moslems were killed and 14 others were maimed in counter-terrorism operations conducted by the Afghan armed forces in the past 24 hours.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said at least four commanders of the murderous Moslems were also among those killed and four others were enjugged Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! A statement by MoD said the operations were conducted in Kunar, Pashtun-infested Logar, Uruzgan, Kunduz, and Zabul provinces.
The Afghan armed forces also confiscated various types of weapons during the operations, MoD said, adding that scores of Improvised Explosive Device (IED) were also discovered and defused.
According to MoD, at least three members of the Afghan National Army (ANA) forces were also martyred during the operations.
The anti-government armed holy warrior groups have not commented regarding the reports so far.
The Afghan cops have increased counter-terrorism operations amid deteriorating security situation across the country with the rampant Taliban-led insurgency.
The Taliban group has increased insurgency activities in various provinces of the country including capital Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... despite efforts have been put in place to end the ongoing violence through reconciliation process.
The Taliban group targeted a vehicle of the media workers in Kabul city in the latest wave of their insurgency activities in the capital on Wednesday, leaving at least seven people dead and over 20 others maimed.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2016
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[WASHINGTONEXAMINER] Lawmakers blasted the Internal Revenue Service this week for deleting records that a federal judge had ordered the agency to produce.
First, Sens. Orrin Hatch ...Republican Senator-for-Life from Utah. The state does have two senators but nobody can remember who the other guy is... and Ron Wyden demanded to know why a hard drive had been "sanitized" after a court ordered the IRS ...the Internal Revenue Service; that office of the United States government that collects taxes and persecutes the regime's political enemies... to hand over records from that computer.
In a letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen Wednesday, the pair of Republicans questioned the tax agency's record-keeping policies, which have come under fire for years thanks to a series of lengthy congressional investigations that were stymied by the IRS' failure to turn over key documents.
"For unknown reasons, the hard drive in question was not recycled, and in December of [2014] a FOIA request was issued that may have pertained to documents on the hard drive," Hatch and Wyden wrote of the wiped hardware. "In April 2015, the IRS subsequently 'sanitized' the hard drive, in potential violation of IRS procedure and the relevant litigation hold."
Impeach Koskinen and dare the Democrats to defend, in public, the head of the IRS. Time the impeachment for early April.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2016
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#1
I'd start firing top down with the proviso that the next layer might get spared criminal indictments and loss of pension if they turned
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/23/2016 0:11
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#2
Middle management is often the problem. Top management asks middle management for data. Middle management lies. Top management ends up being poweless. The answer? Reduction in force.
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/23/2016 0:31
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#3
Impeach Koskinen
That fella needs a bit more than impeachment. I guess that's about all I will say here.
#6
Meanwhile we little people still have to obey the law while our so called leaders flaunt the law. The peasants are revolting! The leaders say, "Why, yes they are."
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/23/2016 11:26
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#8
That happened last year in Denmark, Darth. Since a lot of the Progressives want us to be like Denmark, I'm for it.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/23/2016 14:44
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#9
My post #2 is a warning to the next president. You will appoint new leaders. These leaders will ask to be briefed by the crooks in place. They new leaders will be lied to. What is plan B?
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/23/2016 14:44
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#10
they need to take lessons from the va: records vanish all the time and no fire (acountability): ask macdonald for a tutorial
[DAWN] The interior ministry came under immense pressure to take action against Lal Masjid ...literally the Red Mosque, located in Islamabad and frequented by all sorts of high govt officials. The proprietors, Ghazi Abdul Rasheed and Maulana Abdul Aziz Ghazi, unleashed their Islamic storm troopers on the city, shutting down whorehouses and beating people up who weren't devout enough. The Musharraf govt put an end to the nonsense by besieging the place. Abdul Aziz Ghazi was nabbed while he was trying to escape dressed up like a girl. BBC reported that the corpse count at 173, but other claims, usually hysterical, say there were up to 1000 titzup. Among their number was Abdul Rashid Ghazi. Everyone then said tut-tut and what a nice guy he had been... holy man Abdul Aziz after four key legal documents, asserting that the holy man was an absconder, were presented before the upper house by Senator Farhatullah Babar.
Babar, who also sought the chair's permission to move a privilege motion against Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2016
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#1
OMG! I'm sorry, but my first impression of the above image was "are those the Japanese version of Larry, Curly and Moe?"
The resemblance is uncanny!
Posted by: Seeking a cure for ignorance ||
01/23/2016 21:02
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#2
Only if the Stooges did Kabuki.
Which, come to think of it, would've been... interesting.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Following a deadly attack on Bacha Khan University in Charsadda area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... province of Pakistain, a faction of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) has vowed to carry out more similar attacks in the future.
The faction led by Omar Mansoor grabbed credit behind the attack on Bacha Khan University which claimed lives of at least 21 people while scores of others were maimed.
In a videotaped message posted on Facebook social media website, Mansoor warned to target more universities and schools, claiming that such institutions promote democratic governance instead of Muslim theocracy.
He appeared in the video along with the four assailants of Bacha Khan University attack, insisting that the Pak people must 'repent of polytheism and democracy."
Mansoor vowed to disrupt the system and its foundation that has come from Britannia and America and is human made, emphasizing on the establishment of Allah's system and rule.
The Taliban faction led by Mansoor had also grabbed credit behind a deadly attack on a school in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. city of Pakistain late in 2014, which left at least 130 children dead.
There are fears that the latest declaration by Mansoor faction of the Taliban group could begin a new wave of jihadist violence in Pakistain where the country's military has fought to suppress the Death Eaters.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2016
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#1
What genius wanted to negotiate with these guys?
Wet/dry/freeze-dry work them.
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/23/2016 11:30
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[NEWS.VICE] A government attorney will file a motion in federal court on behalf of the State Department Friday seeking an additional month to complete its release of emails from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as For a good time at 3 a.m. call Hillary and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Dean Rusk ... State was supposed to release the final batch of emails next week in response to VICE News' Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, filed in January 2015, which sought all of Clinton's emails. The State Department now expects to complete its production by February 29. The government attorney, Robert Prince, asked VICE News whether we would consent to the extension. We said that we opposed it.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2016
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#1
Go ahead, give them another 30 days. Make the top leadership [pick any 15 or 20 Senior Grades] at Foggy Bottom sign an affidavit of compliance. Hold them responsible! If they are tardy for as much as 5 minutes, immediately jail them all in Atlanta Federal Penitentiary one year for every day their pink bow tied DoS minions are late.
Fully integrate the newbees. No two of the bastids in the same cell. No rights of re-employment upon release and no free airline ticket back to the beltway.
#2
Make them work overtime. Heck, I would settle for a full forty hour week. Deny the request and hold the lot of them in contempt of court for trying to run out the clock.
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/23/2016 11:36
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A group of eight turbans of the Haqqani Network have been detained in connection to the deadly attack on Tolo TV workers in capital Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... The Afghan Intelligence -- National Directorate of Security ...the Afghan national intel agency... (NDS) said the turbans were nabbed Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! during a special operation from Hussain Khel village of Bagrami district in Kabul province.
A statement by NDS said the attack on Tolo TV workers on Wednesday was plotted and carried out by the Haqqani terrorist network.
This comes as the Taliban group grabbed credit behind the attack on Tolo TV workers which left at least seven people dead.
The Taliban group had earlier issued a statement condemning the media agencies for covering incidents and war crimes committed during the fall of Kunduz city, which they claim were false.
Found in the late 1970s by Jalaluddin Haqqani ...founder and still titular head of the Haqqani Network. Jalaluddin is old and tough and very crafty, one of the few Pashtun warlords who was worth spit... , the terrorist network is accused of staging numerous cross-border attacks from their base in North Wazoo, including the 19-hour siege at the US Embassy in Kabul in September 2011.
The network is allied with al-Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban and cooperates with other terrorist organizations in the region and was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization on September 7, 2012 by the US Department of State.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2016
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[Bangkok Post] Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said authorities are investigating a report that three people with suspected links to Daesh met religious leaders in Narathiwat late last year. According to intelligence sources, the three suspects were Indonesian, Malaysian and Singapore nationals. They gave donations to Muslim leaders at a mosque in Narathiwat's Sungai Kolok district and asked that local students be taught about Daesh.
Prayut said, "We have to watch out for things that have an impact on other countries or the world community. Sometimes, talking about some issues will yield no benefit. It will help perpetrators escape. There is no need to know everything. Some things have to be kept secret. Some things need managerial skills to make sure the country is not troubled and the people do not panic."
Residents in Sungai Kolok admitted late last year suspects from Indonesia and Malaysia visited the mosque, but the residents did not know whether the suspects were linked to Daesh. According to reports, the religious leaders and the religious schools agreed to receive the donations because they were given with no strings attached.
A security source said Muslim leaders and Islamic schools in the area which have received donations from abroad have been asked to cooperate with investigations.
Posted by: ryuge ||
01/23/2016
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
[MEDIAITE] If the object now is to keep score of how many people of color are in an ad, Sanders' ad is no whiter than Hillary's closing argument, so maybe someone should give David Brock a sedative and wake him up when we get to South Carolina. It's Iowa, for crying out loud. This is another example of a Hillary surrogate pressing a point that they ought to leave alone. Bernie already has a problem with non-white voters, he doesn't need "help" from David Brock, especially when that "help" involves turning an issue that so many people care deeply about into so much political wordplay.
As for the ad itself, it's a great general election ad, and a stark contrast to the hollow warm fuzzies of the Sanders ad, but it shortchanges Hillary and the viewer by completely nullifying the ambition that her campaign has shown thus far. The "rainbows and unicorns" attack on Sanders, which the Hillary campaign has been ramping up, really needs some modulation for Democratic voters. We like a little bit of rainbow, a little bit of unicorn, in our policy tapas plate.
Hillary...
“helped get health care for eight million kids”
“helped a city rise again”
“stared down hostile leaders around the world.”
“The one candidate for president who has everything it takes to do every part of the job.”
“stop the Republicans from ripping all our progress away.”
“I’m listening to you, I’m fighting for you, and with your support, I’m going to deliver."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2016
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#1
David Brock. The albino Troll Doll
Snark of the day.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/23/2016 9:12
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[THEATLANTIC] Review publishes the movement-conservative case against the Republican frontrunner. If he gets the nomination they'll grumble he's not good enough. If he wins the election they'll say they supported him from the start. Once he's in office they'll oppose him every way they can. Once he leaves office they'll name airports in his honor. RNC cuts debate ties with National Review over anti-Trump issue
[FOXNEWS] The Republican National Committee announced late Thursday that the venerable conservative magazine National Review had been dropped as a debate sponsor after it published an issue devoted to why voters should reject Donald Trump's presidential campaign.
RNC front man Sean Spicer confirmed to Buzzfeed News that the magazine had been dropped as a sponsor of the Feb. 25 debate in Houston, saying "a debate moderator can't have a predisposition."
"We expected this was coming," National Review publisher Jack Fowler wrote in a blog post early Friday, calling the RNC move a "small price to pay for speaking the truth about The Donald."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2016
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#1
Like him or not, Pubs better get behind the Donald and as quickly as possible.
that is because the unelected bureaucracy runs america now just like it does in the UK and Australia
that is why the 2-party system is all there is - no real choice. That is why Ron Paul never got a look in
because the NSA/security agencies have omniscient spy powers, the only candidate to get in will be who they want. Anybody they dont want will have dirt from the past leaked or fabricated at a crucial electoral moment
#3
I love how furriners (even Aussies) think they're expert in our politics. Even our "political experts" have been stumped by Trump's campaign
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/23/2016 9:11
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#4
As someone else posted -
Did the GOP secure the border with control of the White House and Congress? NO.
Did the GOP balance the budget with control of the White House and Congress? NO.
Who gave us the TSA? The GOP
Who gave us the Patriot Act? The GOP
Who expanded Medicare to include prescription drug coverage? The GOP
Who created the precursor of Common Core in Race To the Top? The GOP
Who played the race card in Mississippi to re-elect Thad Cochran? The GOP
Who paid Democrats to vote in the Mississippi primary? The GOP
Who refused to support Ken Cuccinnelli in Virginia? The GOP
Who supported Charlie Crist? The GOP
Who supported Arlen Spector? The GOP
Who supported Bob Bennett? The GOP
Who worked against Marco Rubio? The GOP
The Left believes the fantasy that socialism is economically viable.
The Right believes the fantasy that its still a constitutional republic
Both lie to themselves that if only they got the right man in power, it'll all work
It's an oligarchy. As long as the power and money remain concentrated as they are you're not getting back to the old system. Those in power will not give it up politely or peacefully. You get rid of Pompey and his henchmen by backing Caesar.
#5
The RNC, not the GOP, is beginning to realize Trump is not going away. The GOPO will either embrace or die a slow death. Just ask the Blue dogs how resisting change went. The fact is pretty simple, even for those so call experts that all him a clown and gone in 30 days. This is a democracy, when we have had enough we will have a change in leadership, be it through voting, or if the government decides to become a tyranny through violence. We have a choice, Trump, who runs billion dollar business. He understands second order effects. Of Hillary, the elite of the elite, not a socialist or communist, but would become a dictator. Or Sanders, a devout communist/socialist. Don't like his hair, don't like his arrogance? America needs to toss out the current leadership and bring in new leaders. Starting at the top.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
01/23/2016 12:00
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#6
And, I need to proof read and spell check...
Posted by: 49 pan ||
01/23/2016 12:02
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#7
you're not getting back to the old system
Does history records any cases of successful "getting back to the old system"?
#8
Its happening and no one even notices. There IS a third party alternative to the Dems and the Republican party and it is rowing at an EXTREMELY rapid rate.
It will grow by at least 300,000 more voters this year alone. THAT growth will be the foot hold the third party needs to continue to accelerate its power rapidly.
MAS.
Mualim Anerican Society openly supported by Barak Obama who will be revered by MAS as an American party founder and supporter especially during the year2016 of his presidency. What else would history expect from a president with a muslim name who fooled an entire generation of Ammerixan non-muslims so easily.
Barak Hussein Obama. History will consider him one the greatest Muslim leaders of Islamic Expansionism in Islams 1400 year history.
Local. State. National.
Posted by: Unelet Protector of the Sith2424 ||
01/23/2016 12:22
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#9
AND the U.S. political landscape will be too fractured to counter MAS effectively.
Posted by: Unelet Protector of the Sith2424 ||
01/23/2016 12:27
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#10
Does history records any cases of successful "getting back to the old system"?
Yes, that's what the American revolution was about. Getting back to the benign neglect of the central government prior to the French and Indian/Seven Years War. London tried to establish its 'authority' over the colonies it hadn't prior. Thus the reaction. The Articles of Confederation were found to be too benign in face of reality and the Constitutional convention gave America a set of laws that worked for about two hundred years till once again centralized power got out of control.
#13
Trump is a train wreck. He talks a good game, but that's it. No track record - unless you count changing his mind on every imaginable issue multiple times a track record. Think Bill Clinton with a border wall ... maybe.
You guys are welcome to throw a Trump party. I will not attend.
[SALON] After vowing to support the country's revolutionaries, the U.S. is now aiding and abetting their violent oppression The view from the trendé left.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2016
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[Gulf Today] A member of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) disclosed that Christians on the island province of Sulu have organized and armed themselves into a vigilante group to defend themselves against militants.
Bishop Angelito Lampon of the vicariate of Jolo confirmed the existence of a group called Red Guard Soldiers (RGS) with about 300 armed members in an article published on the CBCP website.
He said, "In Jolo, Christians are a minority and RGS members are arming themselves against extremists in Southern Philippines because they are getting increasingly desperate. This is a kind of desperate attempt by these Christians who are being attacked now and then by these armed groups."
Lampon didn't elaborate but was apparently referring to the Abu Sayyaf militants who have gained notoriety through a series of kidnaps-for-ransom as well as attacks on civilians in Sulu and Basilan.
"If only there’s enough security for them. I think they will not take up arms. But if they feel helpless, I guess it’s their form of self-defense," Lampon added.
According to Lampon, the RGS members have vowed to drive away the Abu Sayyaf, as well as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
Meanwhile, a report from senior military officer that the Abu Sayyaf has been recruiting new members in Sulu by offering $60 to each applicant especially in the towns of Kalinggalang, Kaluang, Luuk and Panamao. Reports claim the militants have so far recruited 15 members.
#2
If you check the map, the Muslim population is down south far away from the looting and corruption in Manila which renders the government rather impotent in dealing with real problems.
I blame the Spanish who 'claimed' both the north and south of the archipelago when in fact they only had a tenuous presence in the south. The gullible yanks bought the claim when the took it over as part of the treaty ending the Spanish-American War. The 'troubles' with the Christian nationalists in the north were eventually resolved, but it would take a decade or more (to include a very nasty low intensity war) in dealing with the Moros (Muslims), who's primary economy was slaving and piracy. 50 years after the ACW, people weren't too tolerant of slaving even if the practitioners were Muslims. So the whole mess got bundled together to give the Filipinos this find opportunity to carry on after our departure.
[HUFFINGTONPOST] Somalia's security forces ended a deadly siege of a beachfront restaurant in the capital, with more than 20 people killed in the attack, a police official said Friday.
The security forces took control of the restaurant just before dawn, said Capt. Mohammed Hussein, speaking from the scene of the attack in Mogadishu.
It was not clear whether Hussein's report of more than 20 killed included the assailants. Islamic holy warrior group al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... grabbed credit for the attack, in a broadcast on its online radio late Thursday.
Volunteers carried bodies from the scene of the attack early Friday.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2016
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Top|| File under: al-Shabaab
Istanbul -- Turkey security forces are subjecting residents of Kurdish-dominated southeastern Turkey to "collective punishment" with military operations backed by curfews, Amnesty International said on Thursday, accusing the army of "recklessly" using excessive force.
Turkey has imposed successive curfews over the last months in towns in the southeast to back military operations aiming to crush militants of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Curfews remain in place in Cizre in Sirnak province and the Sur district of Diyarbakir city, which were imposed on December 14 and December 2 respectively. A curfew in place since December 14 in Silopi, also in Sirnak, was partially lifted on Tuesday.
The army says hundreds of militants have been killed in an "anti-terror" operation but Kurdish groups have long raised alarm over the civilian toll.
"The operations currently being conducted under round-the-clock curfews are putting the lives of tens of thousands of people at risk and are beginning to resemble collective punishment," said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International's Europe and Central Asia Programme Director.
Amnesty International called on the Turkish government to end the indefinite curfews, saying residents had been left without access to emergency health care, food, water and electricity for extended periods.
"Operations by police and the military in these areas have been characterised by abusive use of force, including firing heavy weaponry in residential neighbourhoods," the group said in a report.
"There is little doubt that the Turkish authorities are putting lives at risk by using lethal force excessively and recklessly," it added.
The military operations are particularly aimed at the PKK's youth branch the Patriotic Revolutionist Youth Movement (YDG-H) which the government says has dug trenches and erected barricades in urban areas.
"Security measures, including those aimed at arresting suspected members of YDG-H, must adhere to Turkey's obligations under international human rights law," said Amnesty.
It quoted data from the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TIHV) saying that 162 people have been killed during the curfews since operations were launched in August 2015, including 29 women, 32 children and 24 people over 60.
With Turkey part of the US-led coalition against jihadists in Syria and a key player in the EU refugee crisis, Dalhuisen said the Turkish authorities had faced "very little" criticism from the international community.
"Strategic considerations... must not overshadow allegations of gross human rights violations. The international community must not look the other way," he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/23/2016
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Then there are however many the Russians and Syrians dropped bombs on, and however many ran into the bullets of the Kurds and their allies, not to mention the other Syrian rebel groups and Hizb'allah. N=lots, a lovely equation testifying to the improvement of the shallow end of the gene pool.
[AnNahar] Around 22,000 jihadists have been killed by the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group since mid-2014, La Belle France's defense minister said on Thursday.
"The figure given by the coalition... is about 22,000 dead since the start of operations in Iraq and Syria," Jean-Yves Le Drian told the La Belle France24 news channel, adding that the figure was "approximate."
...whatever that means.
And for a shorter-term perspective from Rudaw:
The United States-led coalition has killed over 6,400 members of the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group according to its own statistics.
The intensified air strikes coupled with ground offensives against ISIS by other rebel groups have lead US commanders to argue that the group is gradually being weakened decisively.
"We are noticing that they are not quite the same skill level that they once were," a top coalition commander, Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, told USA Today. "Maybe they're having trouble replacing quality with quality."
Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland explained that more ISIS members are defecting and the group has failed to mount any offensives to make-up for its recent losses on the battlefield. "We take that as a positive indicator that we're starting to hit them where it hurts," he remarked.
Coalition statistics indicate that on average 500 ISIS members have been killed a week over the course of the last three months. Since the campaign started a year-and-a-half ago about 25,000 members of ISIS are believed to have been killed by coalition air strikes.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/23/2016
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#1
I've heard something like this before---now, where was it?
KASSERINE, Tunisia -- Tunisia imposed a nationwide overnight curfew Friday in response to growing unrest as protests over unemployment across the country descended into violence in some cities.
The week of increasingly violent demonstrations was triggered Sunday when a young man who lost out on a government job climbed a transmission tower in protest and was electrocuted. The suicide more than five years ago of another unemployed youth set off a popular uprising that overthrew Tunisia's longtime ruler and eventually gave rise to the "Arab Spring" uprisings across North Africa.
Tunisia built the only democracy to survive that movement, which spawned chaos elsewhere in the region. But the country's economy is foundering, and about one in three young people remains without work.
"Are we not Tunisians too? It's been four years I've been struggling. We're not asking for much, but we're fighting for our youth. We've struggled so much for them," said Leila Omri, the mother of an unemployed graduate in Kasserine.
A curfew from 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. was declared because the attacks on public and private property "represent a danger to the country and its citizens," the Interior Ministry said.
Overnight into Friday, police stations came under attack and security officers used tear gas to repel protesters armed with stones and Molotov cocktails. In housing projects on the outskirts of the capital, Tunis, roving groups of young people pillaged a bank and looted stores and warehouses.
The previous night, a police officer died after protesters flipped his car, the government said.
Tunisia's prime minister, Habib Essid, cut short a visit to France to deal with the protests. Tunisia's unemployment stands around 15 percent, but is 30 percent among young people.
Tunisia has been under a state of emergency since a suicide bombing in November killed 12 members of the presidential guard in the heart of Tunis - an attack that capped an unusually violent year for Tunisia. That bombing, as well as deadly attacks earlier in the year against the Bardo museum in Tunis and the tourist beach town of Sousse, were claimed by the Islamic State group.
In Paris just before leaving for home, Essid said the problem was not with democracy, but with the economy.
"We have a set of policies to try to solve this issue, which is one of this government's main challenges," he said after his meeting with the French president. "We don't have a magic wand. We can't solve the problem of unemployment in one go."
France promised aid worth 1 billion euros, much of it dedicated to inland regions far from the relatively glamorous coastal areas that include the resort of Sousse. But tourism, the main driver of Tunisia's economy, plummeted after last year's attacks, leaving even the coasts struggling.
"You want a solution? It's easy: give the people jobs, instead of pouring millions into Sousse," said Abid Khadhraoui, another unemployed graduate. "You had five years and nothing happened. All we want are jobs!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/23/2016
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#1
Promote capitalism. Start lending to small business. Don't look to government for jobs.
A reminder I would pass on to Sanders supporters.
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/23/2016 16:18
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[Ynet] Iran's Revolutionary Guards did well under international sanctions, and the elite military force is destined to become still richer now they've been lifted.
[NEWSWEEK] The Al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... troop that carried out the El Adde attack was reportedly named after Saleh Ali Nabhan: a Kenyan thought to be a founding member of Al-Qaeda's cell in East Africa, who was killed by U.S. forces in Somalia in September 2009. The attack was proof of Al-Shabaab's enduring loyalty to Al-Qaeda, according to Roland Marchal, an expert on the Somali group at the Gay Paree Institute of Political Studies (known as Sciences Po). "The very people who carried out the attack against El Adde are people who are extremely controlled and under the order of Shabaab leadership, which is absolutely aligned with Al-Qaeda," says Marchal.
Marchal suggests that authorities in Kenya may be keen to overplay the ISIS element in Al-Shabaab as a means of attracting greater foreign assistance. He points to the countries of the Lake Chad region--including Nigeria, Cameroon ...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there... and Chad--that have been plagued by Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... 's ongoing insurgency. Boko Haram, which originated as a radical movement in northeastern Nigeria, pledged allegiance to ISIS in March 2015 and has since expanded its operations, attacking Nigeria's neighboring countries. The international community has been keen to stop the spread of ISIS ideology: U.S. President Barack Obama If you have a small business, you didn't build that... pledged in October 2015 to send 300 military personnel to assist with operations in Cameroon, and the U.S. recently donated $11 million worth of armored vehicles to aid the Nigerian military's operations against Boko Haram. Colonel David Obonyo, spokesperson for the Kenya Defense Forces, was not immediately available to comment on the El Adde attacks.
Al-Shabaab declared its allegiance to Al-Qaeda in 2009 under former leader Ahmed Abdi Godane, who reportedly received training from and fought for the global bully boy organization in Afghanistan. In spite of its local links, however, it remains a fundamentally Somali organization: the majority of Al-Shabaab's attacks are carried out within Somalia, such as the shooting of 20 people at a Mogadishu beach on Thursday. Attacks beyond Somalia's borders--such as the April 2015 attack on Garissa University College in Kenya and the 2013 attack on Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi--were ostensibly executed in response to the presence of Kenyan and other foreign troops on Somali soil as part of the AU's mission in Somalia.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2016
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#1
it does not matter two jots whether al shabaab join al qaeda or IS
they are all Islamist theocratic fascists, so they are all an equal threat
Iran is also an Islamist theocracy and just as equal a threat - doesnt even matter that it is shia not sunni
[NEWS.INVESTORS] Declining business and rising expenses are not exactly a recipe for long-term business success, but that is exactly what's going on at the U.S. Postal Service right now, the Government Accountability Office told a congressional panel on Thursday. We used to get maybe a letter a week from the postman while I was growing up, back when Caesar was a PFC. The postman wore a sun helmet in the summer, and he walked his route with a big leather bag on his shoulder. He worked for the government, though I believe they were on a separate pay scale. Delivering mail was a service provided by the government. Ben Franklin was the first Postmaster General, so if it was good enough for them way back then it would have been good enough for me now. You don't run a government service for a profit, though I suppose the Navy could capture quite a few container ships before they started an actual war.
The GAO found that the volume of mail, particularly First Class, continues to drop as people increasingly migrate to texts and email, paying bills online and going paper-free for bank statements and the like. What we get as mail now would mostly be classified as "spam" if it came electronically. First class mail rates are high, and the last time I looked they were so unstable that they don't put the actual price on the stamp. Bulk rates are supposed to be supported by the first class rates, but nobody writes letters anymore. I don't think they even teach Palmer handwriting anymore, so letters are a lost art.
But it also noted, "Key USPS expenses continue to grow." The expenses include raises for unionized workers that will add almost $1.1 billion in costs this year. I have an opinion about government unions. This is a family publication, so I'll bite my lip instead.
As a result, the USPS won't be able to fund its retiree and pension programs as it's required to do. Last year, for example, it paid only $6.7 billion toward those programs instead of the $12.6 billion required. But they're not paying out at half rate. So where's the difference come from?
Lori Rectanus, a GAO director, put the USPS's actions in context, telling politicians, "Many private-sector companies took far-reaching measures to cut costs when the demand of their central product and services declined." UPS and Fedex are somehow ticking along. I dunno about DHS and Purolator. You could cut residential mail delivery from six days a week to every other day, three days a week, and no one would notice the difference. Most of us do our finances electronically, no one writes letters as you said, and I can wait a day to get my spam junk mail. You'd save a few shekels right there in delivery and sorting costs.
But the USPS, incredibly, has "no new major cost savings initiatives planned." Postal executives say that "statutory, contractual, regulatory and political restrictions" hem the USPS in. So it's a corporation with no freedom of action because they're micromanaged by the government...
There's no question that there's blame all around. Still, the situation is obviously unsustainable, and the risk is that taxpayers will end up bailing out the Postal Service without getting needed reforms in place. That cannot be allowed to happen. Expect it to happen.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2016
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#1
Unions in government jobs is essentially treason. They hold the government hostage to their demands which in turn provide more and more fat on the government pig. Disband all unions for government employees and hold any attempt to unionize them as treason.
#2
Yes, I too remember the sun helmets, well kept uniforms, leather bags, and friendly faces. Their names were Ben, Gene, and Donnie. They were was the same guys who coached the Little League team, marched in the color guard on Decoration Day, and flipped pancakes at the Legion. Affirmative Action has changed much of that, and attitudes as well. Ben, Gene, and Donnie are long gone now, but if it's all the same to you I'll gladly remember them and their service to their nation and a small community.
#4
The SCOTUS mandatory union dues case is due late Spring. If they overturn mandatory dues, gubbamint unions are dead - it seems likely.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/23/2016 9:29
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#5
Article I, Section 8
The Congress shall have Power...
To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
It's one of the few functions actually specified in the constitution (not to be confused with DoE, EPA, NPR, et al - NB none of which are self supporting). If you want to get lot of Americans off of do nothing welfare, dump the unions, and get back to hand delivery. They can walk in the summer sun with the helmets and the winter muck in heavy cover but they'll understand where that money comes from for all that "Free Stuff, Free Stuff, Free Stuff".
#7
I haven't had mail delivery since Tuesday. They claim their 4-wheel drive vehicles won't make it through the same snow my Smart car does.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/23/2016 14:35
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#8
Well, technically the "neither rain, nor sleet,.." motto was not originally the PO's, rather lifted by an architect from the description of royal Persian messengers who tacked it on to a PO building (in NY IIRC) sometime about a hundred years ago. Guilt by association?
#9
Eliminate Franking priv.
Raise bulk rate to letter rate.
Both of these should massively reduce sorting and delivery time.
I currently glance at my mail and throw %75 before looking closely. These are tax write offs for advertisers, and excuses for dodgy non-profits to be non-profit and in final analysis paid for by us taxpayers who don't want them. Make Work!
Killing it would save trees, landfills and home owners time. I say do it.
[Jpost] Since last September when the Paleostinians began their current terrorist onslaught, killers like Adais have been characterized as lone wolves.
'I'm proud of him." That's what the father of Dafna Meir's murderer said when the Paleostinian media asked him what he thinks of his cold-blooded son Murad Adais. On Sunday afternoon, Adais butchered Meir in her home, in front of her children. Whether Adais Sr. is really happy that his son will rot in prison is less important than the fact that he said what he said to his home crowd.
Continued on Page 49
[Independent] A video has been shared allegedly showing Turkish forces firing on Kurdish civilians in the town of Cizre.
In the video, several civilians are shown waving white flags as they walk with a cart which appears to hold two covered bodies. As they move through the streets, shots ring out, the crowd panics and runs to cover while the journalist continues to film. Our brave NATO partners.
[REUTERS] At least two people were killed in a school shooting in a remote area of Saskatchewan, Canada, on Friday and a suspect is in jug, the Star Phoenix newspaper reported, citing local aboriginal chief Teddy Clark.
Canadian police declined to confirm to Rooters that there was a shooting at the La Loche school, but said they were on scene for a serious incident in the district, which is about 600 km (375 miles) from the central city of Saskatoon in Saskatchewan province.
La Loche Acting Mayor Kevin Janvier said that police confirmed to him that one person was in jug, the Canadian Press reported.
"I'm not 100 percent sure what's actually happened but it started at home and ended at the school," Janvier said.
Mass shootings are relatively rare in Canada, which has stricter gun laws than the United States. In the country's worst school shooting, 14 college students were killed at Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique in 1989.
A hospital nurse said a number of people were being treated for gunshot wounds, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported. The La Loche Health Centre and Hospital declined to comment when contacted by Rooters.
La Loche Grade 10 student Noel Desjarlais told the CBC that he heard multiple shots fired at the school.
"I ran outside the school," Desjarlais said. "There was lots of screaming, there was about six, seven shots before I got outside. I believe there was more shots by the time I did get out."
A cellphone video taken by one resident and broadcast by the CBC showed students walking away from the school through the snow-covered ground and emergency personal moving in.
La Loche Community School is a pre-kindergarten to Grade 12 school, which houses about 900 students in two buildings.
There was an emergency at the building that houses grades 7 to 12, the school district's Facebook page said. Both that building and the elementary school were put on lockdown.
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall issued a statement on the shooting but it did not contain details.
"Words cannot express my shock and sorrow at the horrific events today in La Loche. My thoughts and prayers are with all the victims, their families and friends and all the people of the community," the statement said.
The Times of Israel adds:
Five people were killed and two others seriously maimed Friday in a shooting at a high school in Canada's western plains province of Saskatchewan, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
A young man shot up around 1:00 pm (1900 GMT) at the school in La Loche, a mainly aboriginal community in the northern part of the province. The suspect was in jug, Trudeau said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2016
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#1
Latest reports say 4 dead, including the mayor's daughter and 2 brothers of the suspect. nationalpost.com: "The annual suicide rate in the surrounding Keewatin Yatthe Regional Health Authority averages 43.4 suicide deaths per 100,000 people—more than triple the provincial average."
#2
Al Ahram adds that the killer murdered his two younger brothers at home, then walked to school and shot it up, killing a teacher and a student or an assistant, and sending others to the hospital. Plus this background:
Among Canada's provinces, Saskatchewan had the highest rate of police-reported family violence in 2014, double the national rate of 243 incidents per 100,000 people, according to a Statistics Canada report on Thursday.
Unemployment runs above 20 percent in the area but three-quarters of working-age people are classified as retired or not looking for work, according to 2011 government figures. Residents say the real unemployment rate is above 50 percent.
In 2014, a teacher expressed concern about violence at the La Loche school, noting that a student who had tried to stab her was put back in her classroom after serving his sentence, and another attacked her at her home.
"That student got 10 months," Janice Wilson told the CBC of the student who tried to stab her in class. "And when he was released he was returned to the school and was put in my classroom."
[Rudaw] Following reports that Russian engineers and soldiers had moved to the international Kamishly airport in Qamishli to possibly transform it into a base, similar reports indicate that the Americans may be seeking to do the very same thing in the region.
In the nearby Hasakah Province the Americans have reportedly taken control of the former Syrian military Rmeilan airfield. They are apparently seeking to use it as a hub to give closer support to Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) fighters in Syria engaged against the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS).
Like Kamishly airport it is very close to Syria's northeastern border with The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... "Under a deal with the YPG, the US was given control of the airport. The purpose of this deal is to back up the SDF [Syrian Democratic Forces], by providing weapons and an airbase for US warplanes," an activist for the SDF told the Al Jazeera network on Tuesday.
"This airport was previously controlled by the YPG for over two years now. This strategic airport is close to several oil bases - one of the biggest in this area. Rmeilan airport was previously used for agricultural purposes by the Syrian government," he went on to explain.
While Rmeilan sits in territory controlled by the Kurds Qamishli airport remains in the few enclaves controlled by the regime in that part of Syria.
Russia and US setting up shop in that part of Syria is a highly notable development in the Syrian conflict.
To this date the US and Russians have been operating in mostly separate parts of the country. US air power has been focused solely on bombing ISIS in the east and northeast while Russian air power has been bombing various forces fighting the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... across Syria.
Syrian military source said nearly 100 "American experts" and Syrian Kurdish militia were nearly done outfitting Rmeilan airfield in Hasakeh province.
"The airbase will be used for helicopters and cargo planes. Its strip is now 2,700 meters (yards) long and is ready to be used by planes that will transport equipment and ammunition," the source added.
A security source in northeast Syria said "American special forces and advisers are using the Rmeilan airport as a base, from where helicopters are taking off towards the fronts".
The Pentagon said the U.S. had "not taken control" of any airfield in Syria.
"There has been no change to the size of mission of the US presence in Syria," said U.S. Central Command spokesman Colonel Pat Ryder.
"That being said, U.S. forces in Syria are consistently looking at ways to increase efficiency for logistics and personnel recovery support," he said.
In October, Washington authorized the deployment to Syria of up to 50 special operations troops to advise local forces battling IS.
[Jewish Press] Many spiritually inclined people write daily gratitude lists, giving thanks for the seemingly most mundane things.
There's an old Jewish custom to put out seeds or popcorn for the birds on the morning of Shabbat B'shalach, in a show of gratitude for the way they rescued Moses' reputation more than 3,000 years ago. Needless to say, one must heed the laws of Shabbat when keeping this custom, and if your neighborhood does not have an eruv [technical boundary that allows Jews to carry in public areas on Shabbat], you shouldn't do it.
[DAWN] THE latest terrorist attack at Bacha Khan University in Charsadda is one more bloody event in a seemingly unending campaign against innocent young Paks. I've reached the point where I'm convinced that no one in Pakistain really cares about a few corpses anymore, if they ever did. If they gave a crap they'd start hanging all the holy men within twenty miles of every stupid outrage like Charsadda, regardless of sect.
I imagine that after a million or so died during the Hindu-Moslem population exchange when Pakistan broke off from India in 1947, a few, or a few dozen, or even a few hundred bodies just don't make an impact.
But we have seen so many of these horrifying assaults by crazed holy warriors that they now merge into a single blur of pure evil. However, it's easy to be generous with someone else's money... every once in a while, a particular incident remains stuck in the memory, not necessarily for the numbers slaughtered, but for the sheer horror it provokes.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2016
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The latest at the standoff in Oregon is that the occupiers are not budging, refusing to leave until specific conditions are met, namely the return of federal lands to their private owners/users.
Left unaddressed or even as a beef against the government is the fate of the two jailed ranchers, who now serve a draconian sentence for arson. The protest now centers around the part of the Constitution that restricts land use by the government to a very small parcel. Land fees grazing fees and the Bureau of Land management are all unconstitutional manifestations.
My main beef is with the occupiers. Their problems with the government are settled and now they can venture forth in an area that has 40 percent of families with some kind of income from either working for the federal government or from pensions? Harney County is a government town, for all intents and purposes, and the protesters had nothing better to do than to challenge an area where the gravy train is run by the planet's largest single entity?
If you can come away with any lesson in "common sense gun laws", you should know that whatever gets passed is just part of what is wanted, and the fascists who passed those laws will be back for more.
Loads.
Rantburg's summary for arms and ammunition:
Prices for pistol ammunition were mostly steady, while prices for rifle ammunition were mixed.
After three straight weeks of consistent price increases, prices for .223 Remington 55 Grain cartridges collapsed to .23 per round. The same pattern was present last year when prices spiked, apparently due to fear of banning of certain types of 5.56x45mm ammunition.
It is so hard to quantify the reasons. If the current president shoots his mouth off again (pun intended) about violating 2nd Amendment right, and prices do spike again, we can consider the price spikes due to fear of future sportiness by the government.
Then again, all this took place directly after Christmas, so maybe millions more considered ammunition as the gift that keeps on giving, and now they're out, and not wiling to buy again.
Prices for used pistols were mostly higher, while prices for used rifles were mixed.
New Lows:
None
Pistol Ammunition
.45 Caliber, 230 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (7 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Quality Made Cartridges, Store Brand, FMJ, Brass, Reloads, .25 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Quality Made Cartridges, Store Brand, FMJ, Brass, Reloads, .25 per round (From Last week: Unchanged (4 Weeks))
.40 Caliber Smith & Wesson, 180 Grain, From Last Week: -.01 Each After Unchanged (2 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Bud's Gun Shop, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel cased, .23 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: Freedom Ammunition, Store brand, FMJFP, Brass, Reloads, .22 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks))
9mm Parabellum, 115 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (4 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Natchez Shooters Supplies, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Cased, .18 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: Ammunition to Go, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Cased, .17 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks))
.357 Magnum, 158 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (3 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: LAX Ammunition, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel cased, .28 per round
Cheapest Bulk: 1,000 rounds: J&G Sales, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel cased, .25 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (9 Weeks))
Rifle Ammunition
.223 Caliber/5.56mm 55 Grain, From Last Week: -.07 Each (!!)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Goose Island Sales, Tulammo, steel cased, FMJ, .23 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: LAX Ammunition, Tulammo, steel cased, FMJ, .24 per round (From Last Week: -.03 Each)
.308 NATO 150 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (7 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Ammunition Supply Company, Tulammo, steel cased, FMJ, .37 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Vizards Guns and Ammo, Tulammo, steel cased, FMJ, .40 per round (From Last Week: +.06 Each (!!) After Unchanged (6 Weeks))
7.62x39 AK 123 Grain, From Last Week: +.02 After Unchanged (5 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Munire USA, Wolf WPA, steel case, FMJ, .25 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: TrueCaliber.com, Wolf WPA, steel case, .23 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (8 Weeks))
.22 LR 40 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (10 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds (10 Box Limit): Ammo2U, CCI, RNL .08 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 5,000 rounds: Ammo2U, CCI, RNL, .07 per round (From Last Week: -.01 Each After Unchanged (8 Weeks))
#1
Thank you for keeping us up to date on these stories, badanov. I found myself in a discussion about the occupiers the other day, and the conversation segued from there to the reasons for owning a multiplicity of guns -- and I neither own any guns nor have any intention of doing so (the broad sides of barns are provably safe from my efforts to hit them with projectiles).
As for the occupiers, I don't see how they can win this thing. It's going to have to be fought in the state legislatures and the federal courts.
#2
The occupiers are already winning. The government, for all the upgunned SWAT teams, no fly zones and drones they have in the area, is being watched like a hawk, hopefully mindful of what could happen elsewhere if it is decided to turn this into another bloodbath. One of the most severest critics of the occupiers, Oathkeepers have issued a warning to the government not to do anything violent.
As I have said before, and it bears repeating, there is a lot to criticize Oathkeepers about, but this ain't one of them.
All the occupiers have to do is to stay to keep pressure on the legislatures and courts. They are a hopelessly ugly reminder of how wrong the government is in this.
Unfortunately, given the background of some of the occupiers, they are wrong, and I think they should go home, but for the power of their presence.
#5
Perhaps someday we'll have a Rantapalooza (we haven't had one in a few years) which will include an afternoon of shooting. TW can be introduced to the joy and merits of the .410-gauge shotgun, and I'll see if there's any reason for me as an old man to be handling a 9mm pistol.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/23/2016 18:13
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#6
Thank you for the synopsis badanov.
Daughter had some BB gun time before winter; was making nice groups at 10 yards. Project Appleseed is on our list.
[REUTERS] At least 43 people, including 17 children, drowned when their boats capsized off two Greek islands near the Turkish coast on Friday, coastguards said, marking one of the deadliest days for migrants risking the perilous route to Europe from The Sick Man of Europe Turkey. ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... According to survivors' testimonies, dozens were on board a wooden sailboat which went down off Kalolimnos, a small island in the Aegean Sea close to Turkey's coast, one coastguard official said.
Twenty six people were rescued and at least 35 migrants drowned in one of the worst incidents in months, the official said. It was not clear why the vessel capsized, but witnesses said strong winds were blowing at the time.
Fishing vessels assisted the search and rescue operation which lasted hours.
"They weren't wearing life jackets, I don't understand. They couldn't swim," Michalis, a local fisherman, told Rooters.
He rescued three migrants but one of them, a 50-year old man, later died in his small fishing boat. "The hospital is now full of dead people."
[AnNahar] Turkish police have seized more than 2,500 unsafe life jackets destined for migrants wanting to cross the Aegean Sea to Greece, in the latest crackdown on businesses exploiting refugees in western The Sick Man of Europe Turkey, reports said Friday. "Boss, we've used up all that bubble wrap stuff and we still got four hundred left on the order!"
"Here! Use this!"
"What is it?"
"Flour."
Police raided 120 underground workshops and companies in eight cities in western and southern Turkey, including Istanbul, and seized the substandard life vests as well as wet suits, diving masks and helmets, Anatolia news agency said. The products were destroyed by the police, it added. "Here. Use it to make biscuits."
Earlier this month, police have confiscated over 1,200 unsafe life jackets destined for use by migrants trying to reach Greece by sea, in a raid on an underground workshop that used Syrian underage labor in Izmir, a city on the Aegean coast.
AFP correspondents who reported on the wave of migrants heading from Turkey to Greece have seen a booming trade in life jackets in Turkish resorts for sale at suspiciously low prices.
The life jackets, many of which are simply stuffed with synthetic materials with no buoyancy, have proved of little use to refugees whose bodies have washed up on Turkish beaches after their boats sank while on their way to Greece.
Then, ignoring the fact that entirely too many have descended on Europe despite the dangers of the trip, we get this:
[DAWN] HIPPY beggars asking for LSD or food; punks and drunks tumbling here and there; Roma girls offering flowers to men for 50 cents; cops questioning an almond-eyed youth with dark black hair as a trio plays an oriental tune in front of the Dom; a handful of Iranians and Chinese protesting against their governments in a city that flaunts its Gay Pride and vibrant Karneval parades.
As if oblivious to the 'rape culture shock' that shook Cologne ...a lovely city in Germany. They invented perfume there... on New Year's Eve, paupers and shoppers swarm the square at the city's central station as usual. Hardly anyone in the market is aware that Paks were attacked by far-right hooligans recently.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
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Muslim migrants and asylum seekers hope nothing untoward will happen.
[Inquirer] Seven Abu Sayyaf militants surrendered to the Philippine military here early this week. Colonel Rolando Joselito Bautista said the surrender took place on Monday and Tuesday in Ungkaya Pukan town.
He said, "The ASG members realized that fighting the government and enduring [a] hard life in the mountains is a lost cause."
He identified the seven militants – all surnamed Kasaran – as Sulaiman, alias Abu Jaid; Marwin Asan, alias Hadjie; Derwin Asan, alias Dikki; Halid Asan, alias Nasirin Awwalin; Hadzmin Kuluman, alias Ammin; Faisal Laudmin, alias Issa-Ballie; and Salman Najallon, alias Sat-Mhanz.
Major General Gerardo Barrientos Jr., commander of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, said it was the first time that an Abu Sayyaf rebel had surrendered to the government.
Posted by: ryuge ||
01/23/2016
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[REUTERS] The Mexican government is speeding up efforts to extradite notorious drug boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to the United States after his recapture earlier this month, President Enrique Pena Nieto said on Friday.
Guzman was caught in early January after six months on the run following a spectacular prison break through a tunnel in his cell floor, embarrassing Pena Nieto and his government.
"The order the Attorney General's office has is to speed up its work to ensure this highly dangerous criminal is extradited as soon as possible," Pena Nieto told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... Guzman's lawyers are working to block his extradition.
While on the run, Guzman met secretly with Hollywood A-list actor Sean Penn at a jungle hideout - a move the Mexican government says was "essential" to his capture. Good idea. You keep an eye on a rich lowlife like Sean Penn, eventually you'll run into a caudillo or a drug lord or both.
Penn has rejected the Mexican government's claim, accusing officials of deliberately trying to put him in the crosshairs of Guzman's feared Sinaloa cartel.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2016
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#1
Poor Sean Penn - just trying to set up a regular delivery schedule with his dealer and the narcs track him & bust the guy; now no drugs & he's a revenge target.
#2
It's a reboot of "Fast Times At Ridegemont High":
When he interviews a notorious Mexican drug lord for the school paper, Spicoli inadvertently leads the federales to El Queso Grande's hideout. Hilarity and bloodshed ensue as ruthless narco-hitmen, intent on revenge, hunt the hapless stoner and his hot Mexican actress sidekick.
[REUTERS] The leading edge of a monster snowstorm arrived on Friday afternoon in Washington, D.C., threatening to dump as many as 30 inches (76 cm) of powder on parts of the Middle Atlantic region and bring record accumulations to the U.S. capital.
After days of planning by emergency officials and a scramble by residents to stock up on supplies, the blizzard got underway in the nation's capital at about 1 p.m. The storm, expected to end late on Saturday afternoon, could leave 2 to 2.5 feet (61 to 76 cm) on the ground and bring winds of 30 to 50 mph (48 to 80 kph), according to the National Weather Service.
The western suburbs of the capital were expecting up to 3 feet of snow. In Virginia, the National Guard planned to bring in up to 300 troops to deal with emergencies.
"I want to be very clear with everybody. This is a major storm," Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said as the nation's capital braced for what could turn out to be one of the worst storms in its history.
"This has life-and-death implications and all the residents of the District of Columbia should treat it that way."
The Weather Channel said more than 85 million people in at least 20 states were covered by either a blizzard warning, winter storm watch, winter storm warning, winter weather advisory, or freezing rain advisory.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2016
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"blizzard threatens to bury U.S. capital"
Promises, promises.
Posted by: Barbara ||
01/23/2016 0:49
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#2
WaPo has let down its paywall for public safety reasons, so I'm doing a bit of reading online there.
3-ft of snow is rare, but not 'Life & Death'. 50-mph winds along with that are not fun, however. Drifting does create temporary issues.
Of course we do know how to dress, what to pack in our vehicles if we get stranded and have pretty good removal equipment. The farther north ones goes, the size and quantity of the equipment increases. Some county and municipal removal operators from remote areas in the Lake Superior snow belt are allowed to keep their plows at home so that there is no delay for them 'getting to work'.
On the other hand, I was in DC once during what we'd call a 'dusting' and the whole place shut down.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
01/23/2016 9:22
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#4
DC gets a bad rep. Remember that DC gets folks from all 50 states and from around the world. It just takes a few idiots to abandon cars to snarl a road. That being said, there is some humor in the snow gods painting a big "X" on Washington.
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/23/2016 9:36
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#6
Prolonged power failures in urban areas during winter are a "life & death" issue.
Areas of US where winter usually hits hard do have an "adapt & gitter done" attitude. A friend's elderly father-in-law developed some heart problem out in the middle of nowhere & needed to go to a hospital with more advance tech than the local place could provide. That whole part of the state had temporarily become a no-fly zone, all the highways were "closed" although not formally blocked. The local authorities organized an expedition just for him, 2 snow plows side by side, going ahead of the ambulance, plowing a path through a nighttime snow storm 70 miles along county, state & ultimately interstate to get him to a tertiary care facility. He made it. That sort of thing would have been unthinkable in most parts of the USA.
#8
I forgot to mention this other aspect of "life & death" from big snowstorms: Building may and have in the past collapsed and killed their occupants, due to extreme snow loads on roofs. 28 Jan 1922, 98 killed, 133 injured in the collapse of the Knickerbocker Theater in DC, due to extreme recent snowfall. Rescue efforts were severely impeded since nearby streets were almost impassable.
This just in at WaPo:
Roof collapse displaces 750 people in Gaithersburg
Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) said 750 people are being evacuated from Potomac Oaks Condominium in Gaithersburg after the roof collapsed on a building that stored the housing units’ heating equipment.
Leggett said the residents were being moved to Bohrer Park, a recreation center in Gaithersburg.
Trainers taking advantage of teachable moments:
"Ok class, as we stand in this here doorway, what should we notice?"
"Oooh, oooh, call on meeeee!"
"Yes, Rafiq, what do you see?"
"A trip wire in the doorway, and another over here, and another over there, and another..."
"Very good, Rafiq. Anyone else?"
[Rudaw] With help from US Special Forces Iraqi troops have surrounded Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) bully boyz in the area of Hussaibiyah in eastern Ramadi, said an Anbar provincial official on Friday.
"A special US force has arrived at the Ayn al-Asad Airbase in western Anbar to do their part in retaking areas still held by ISIS," Ibrahim Fahdawi, head of Khalidiya district security committee told Rudaw.
The force's main duty is to protect Iraq's borders with Syria and Jordan from ISIS krazed killer infiltration, Fahdawi explained.
Iraqi troops retook Ramadi from ISIS in late December but have been since held down by bully boyz in Hussaibiyah and other districts.
Fahdawi believes that the US force will support the Iraqi soldiers and prevent ISIS from sending reinforcements to retake Rawa, Qaim and Ana in western Anbar.
Days after Iraqi army declared Ramadi free from ISIS control, US Army Captain Chance McCrew told news hounds in Baghdad there were still several hundred bully boyz inside the city in the direction of Fallujah.
A Shiite militia official told Rudaw that booby traps and bombs together with the area's population density are the reason for the army's slow progress against the remaining bully boyz in the area.
"Military operation in Ramadi are ongoing... This front is complex due to population density," said Brig. Ahmed Al Bailawi, an official from the Shiite militia group of Hashd al-Shaabi, adding that ISIS has "booby trapped all houses and alleys of the area."
"Bomb disposal teams have begun defusing bombs in 85 percent of the region," Al Bailawi said. "Over the past three days, our forces have arrived at a main road close to the southern Hussaibiyah center."
Russian has paraded it naval might in the Mediterranean, inviting reporters aboard a destroyer cruising off Syria’s coast in scenes reminiscent of the Soviet era. The military demonstrated its global presence on Thursday by bringing Moscow-based journalists aboard the Vice Admiral Kulakov destroyer, which sailed alongside the flagship of the Russian naval group, the Varyag missile cruiser.
By establishing a long-term presence in the eastern Mediterranean, the Russian military has revived a Soviet-era capability to project naval power far from its borders.
The display of Russia’s military operations came before planned peace talks between the Syrian government and opposition next week in Geneva, which are meant to pave the way for a political settlement for Syria. Since Russia launched its bombing campaign in Syria on 30 September, its warplanes have flown more than 5,700 missions in support of Syrian government troops.
The warships, accompanied by support vessels, have rotated on duty off Syria’s shores, reviving a Soviet-era practice when warships maintained a permanent vigil in the Mediterranean.
The Varyag has sailed from its Pacific port, while the Vice Admiral Kulakov has come from the Russian base of Severomorsk on the Kola Peninsula.
The bigger cruiser Varyag carries long-range anti-ship missiles and powerful air defence systems used to help protect the Russian air base and the warplanes operating from it.
The destroyer is armed with an array of anti-ship cruise missiles, torpedoes and anti-aircraft weapons, but its main mission is hunting enemy submarines.
“My ship is in eastern Mediterranean to protect and defend other ships and cargo vessels and to provide search and rescue at sea if necessary,” said Captain 1st Grade Stanislav Varik, the commander of the destroyer.
He emphasised that his ship was optimised for engaging submarines, and added that his crew had successfully tracked several foreign submarines during its stint in the eastern Mediterranean.
“There are submarines belonging to several nations here, and we have spotted, identified their class and tracked some of them,” he said without offering further details.
Idle boasting, but I'd expect no less...
The Russian naval facility in the Syrian port of Tartus has served as the key supply and support point since Soviet times. It is now the only such facility outside the former Soviet Union. Russian warships come here for refuelling and get other supplies, and some get minor maintenance there.
The Varyag, the flagship of the navy’s Pacific Fleet, has replaced its sister ship, the missile cruiser Moskva on a stint near Syria. The cruisers are equipped with long-range Fort air defence missiles, the navy equivalent of the famous S-300 Russian air defence systems. Like the Moskva earlier, the Varyag has kept close to the shore to help protect Russian warplanes after Turkey downed a Russian jet in November.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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[DAWN] What can you say to the loved ones of those who dedicated their lives to educating and bringing enlightenment to others but were asked to place their own frail bodies between their students and the brainwashed terrorists' bullets? What can you say to anyone at all for all that it counts?
Neither the students nor the teachers were soldiers and neither had opted to live by the sword. Pens and books in hand they embarked on a knowledge quest but in under an hour were forced to become 'deaders'; hailed as heroes and heroines. They had no choice in the matter.
As in the APS tragedy, the heroes of Charsadda didn't have a choice either. The state failed them too and miserably so. One heard on TV of the chemistry teacher who tried to defend his students and fired at the bandidosbully boyz with a small handgun but was felled by a hail of bullets.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2016
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies
He's demanding that terrs be tried in Pak civilian courts. This, despite the fact that judges, prosecutors, even defense lawyers are vulnerable to intimidation and revenge attacks. All of them have families, which are levers to move them. Witnesses, to include police officials, have "recanted" their testimony, "forgotten" facts, or similarly shown evidence of intimidation. Tossing the bad guys into the "closed" military courts system is a logical step. So's the death penalty. Even if you're against it (and I'm not, despite having seen someone railroaded by the U.S. federal court system), Pakistain's got the same record of "jailbreaks" as most other heavily Moslem countries. Except on TV, I've never seen anybody broken out of the boneyard.
[DAWN] THE list of shocking and grotesque acts of violence by Lions of Islam in Pakistain is a desperately long one, but few acts stand out like the Safoora Goth carnage last May.
Similarly, among the many attempts to silence civil society and those working for a progressive, tolerant Pakistain, the murder of Sabeen Mahmud was a particularly disturbing act.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Rooters] "Unbelievable", "embarrassing" even "dangerous" are some of the words the financial elite gathered at the World Economic Forum conference in the Swiss resort of Davos have been using to describe U.S. Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[DAWN] The interior ministry came under immense pressure to take action against 
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Following a deadly attack on Bacha Khan University in Charsadda area of 
Hillary Clinton
Wazoo
[Bangkok Post] Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said authorities are investigating a report that three people with suspected links to Daesh met religious leaders in Narathiwat late last year. According to intelligence sources, the three suspects were Indonesian, Malaysian and Singapore nationals. They gave donations to Muslim leaders at a mosque in Narathiwat's Sungai Kolok district and asked that local students be taught about Daesh. 
[MEDIAITE] If the object now is to keep score of how many people of color are in an ad, Sanders' ad is no whiter than Hillary's closing argument, so maybe someone should give David Brock a sedative and wake him up when we get to South Carolina. It's Iowa, for crying out loud. This is another example of a Hillary surrogate pressing a point that they ought to leave alone. Bernie already has a problem with non-white voters, he doesn't need "help" from David Brock, especially when that "help" involves turning an issue that so many people care deeply about into so much political wordplay.
Istanbul -- Turkey security forces are subjecting residents of Kurdish-dominated southeastern Turkey to "collective punishment" with military operations backed by curfews, Amnesty International said on Thursday, accusing the army of "recklessly" using excessive force.
Al-Shabaab declared its allegiance to Al-Qaeda in 2009 under former leader Ahmed Abdi Godane, who reportedly received training from and fought for the global
[NEWS.INVESTORS] Declining business and rising expenses are not exactly a recipe for long-term business success, but that is exactly what's going on at the U.S. Postal Service right now, the Government Accountability Office told a congressional panel on Thursday.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[Inquirer] Seven Abu Sayyaf militants surrendered to the Philippine military here early this week. Colonel Rolando Joselito Bautista said the surrender took place on Monday and Tuesday in Ungkaya Pukan town.
Russian has paraded it naval might in the Mediterranean, inviting reporters aboard a destroyer cruising off Syria’s coast in scenes reminiscent of the Soviet era. The military demonstrated its global presence on Thursday by bringing Moscow-based journalists aboard the Vice Admiral Kulakov destroyer, which sailed alongside the flagship of the Russian naval group, the Varyag missile cruiser.
[DAWN] What can you say to the loved ones of those who dedicated their lives to educating and bringing enlightenment to others but were asked to place their own frail bodies between their students and the brainwashed terrorists' bullets? What can you say to anyone at all for all that it counts?
