Google's leading futurist, Ray Kurzweil, thinks his diet can help him live forever, a goal he recently told Playboy we could be close to achieving by as early as 2029.
Kurzweil says he spends "a few thousand dollars per day" on diet pills and eating right, or roughly $1 million a year. A fool and his money . . . .
According to Caroline Daniel of The Financial Times, Kurzweil's breakfast includes:
â˘Berries (85 calories for a cup)
â˘Dark chocolate infused with espresso (170 calories for an ounce)
â˘Smoked salmon and mackerel (100 calories for a 3-ounce serving)
â˘Vanilla soy milk (100 calories for a cup)
â˘Stevia (zero calories)
â˘Porridge (150 to 350 calories for half a cup, depending on ingredients and cooking method)
â˘Green tea (zero calories)
Kurzweil takes 100 pills a day (down from 250 a few years ago, reportedly thanks to advances in technology) for everything from "heart health" to "eye health, sexual health, and brain health." At the expense of your wallet health.
As for the part of his breakfast that actually contains food, Kurzweil told Daniel it emphasizes "healthy carbs" and "fills you up with fewer calories."
That's true -- mostly.
"Healthy carbs" (as opposed to "unhealthy carbs," which include sugar and refined, heavily processed carbs like white bread) are typically from whole grains, meaning they include a hefty portion of fiber, which helps keep your digestive system running smoothly.
As for "filling you up with fewer calories," foods higher in protein and fiber are key to making sure this happens.
So back to Kurzweil's breakfast. The berries and porridge both have lots of fiber, while the smoked fish and the soy milk are good sources of protein. Thumbs-up here, Kurzweil.
The breakfast isn't without its added sugar, though.
The vanilla soy milk has 7 grams of sugar; the chocolate has another 7 grams. And even though the sugar in the berries is all-natural, they still have 15 grams. Add in a couple grams from the porridge, and Kurzweil's first meal of the day already includes over 30 grams of sugar. So when he dies, he can blame it on the sugar.
That gets pretty close to the 37.5-gram maximum that the American Heart Association recommends men should eat each day. (The AHA recommends women limit their sugar intake to about 25 grams a day).
It sounds like Kurzweil is using the stevia, which has no calories, as a replacement for more sugar.
While it's sugar- and calorie-free, we still don't have enough research to say whether stevia (or calorie-free sugar replacements, like Splenda or Sweet-and-Low), is completely safe to eat. It probably isn't.
He once predicted that we would have a voice activated typewriter by 1985. His other predictions, where achieved, have come5 to 15 years later than he estimated them.
Posted by: lord garth ||
04/20/2016 18:04
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FUD in the article: "While it's sugar- and calorie-free, we still don't have enough research to say whether stevia (or calorie-free sugar replacements, like Splenda or Sweet-and-Low), is completely safe to eat."
Perfect shill for the big chemical companies' artificial sweeteners. And completely false.
It has been in use as a sweetener for decades in Japan. And the FDA has done studies and approves it as GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe).
Then there's this: The plant Stevia rebaudiana has been used for more than 1,500 years by the Guaraní peoples of South America, who called it ka'a he'ê ("sweet herb").[10] The leaves have been used traditionally for hundreds of years in both Brazil and Paraguay to sweeten local teas and medicines, and as a "sweet treat"
(citations on Wikipedia, inclduing mutiple studies debunking the statement in the article)
#5
I'll stick to cereal and bacon, eggs and potatoes on the weekends.
I'm 43 and can still out hump (hike with a 120 lbs kit for you civies) a 24 year old that is with the water rescue division over 15 miles of mountain terrain.
Posted by: james ||
04/20/2016 22:07
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Drop the soy milk and stevia, put half a bagel under the salmon, add some cream cheese and a few capers, and it sounds good to me. I'd put a dash of maple syrup on the porridge oatmeal, though.
Another good way to eat oatmeal - the scottish way - is to have a small cup of cream. Dip a spoonful of porridge in the cream.
Kruzweil's a big eater compared to me. Two eggs with cheese, bacon, coffee, no toast. On Sunday, I eat like he does. Still, he's pretty skinny. Must worry a lot.
"His other predictions, where achieved, have come 5 to 15 years later than he estimated them."
One prediction he's making is likely to go the other way in compensation.
#2
Nothing gets attention like telling the truth to Congress about government misbehavior....its like you expect government to actually believe in that oath and constitution stuff!
[Free Beacon] Planned Parenthood abortion clinics profit from the sale of aborted baby organs, according to new documents released by a congressional committee investigating the organization’s practices.
The U.S. House Select Panel on Infant Lives released a preview of its findings after a months-long review of internal documents obtained from the nation’s top abortionist, as well as organ procurement companies and buyers. The panel concluded that abortion clinics incur no additional costs in harvesting organs obtained from an already-aborted baby and that the sale or transfer of those organs represented "pure profit" for the clinic.
"The [abortion clinic] has no costs so the payments from the [procurement business] to the [abortion clinic] are pure profit," the report concludes. "All costs are born by the [procurement business] or the customer. The payments from the customer to the PB exceed its cost by a factor of 300 to 400 percent."
Pro-life activists said those practices run counter to federal law, which bars clinics from profiting off of the sale of baby body parts.
"The abortion industry sells baby hearts, livers, brains, hands and other organs procured by a middleman company inside their facilities at no cost or effort to the facilities themselves. The facility receives upfront fees that can amount to five-figure sums every month and then the procurement companies resell organs for tens of thousands more--depending on the child’s characteristics," Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, said in a release. "The documents make clear there is absolutely no cost to the abortion clinic so that all monies received go to their bottom line."
The scandal began after investigators with the pro-life Center for Medical Progress released a series of videos capturing top Planned Parenthood officials discussing the group’s fetal organ sales in the summer of 2015. One top official was caught on camera saying that clinics generate a "fair amount of income" from the sales.
The committee’s conclusions stand in contrast to Planned Parenthood’s repeated denials that it made any money from the sale of organs. The group claimed that all payments were to recoup costs. The abortionist announced last year it would no longer accept any payments from researchers or procurement companies for baby body parts.
Planned Parenthood did not return a request for comment.
The congressional panel will hold a hearing Wednesday morning to discuss the report.
#1
The nation’s largest abortion provider gave Clinton its Margaret Sanger Award in 2014, a symbolic cap to the $67,000 in campaign donations that Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have received from Planned Parenthood employees throughout their political careers.
#2
Wait till the snowflakes who can't deal with the racism of Woodrow Wilson find out about Margaret Sanger (and throw in some real xenophobia for spice).
[Free Beacon] Obama administration officials disclosed Tuesday that Iran has been granted access to about $3 billion in unfrozen assets in the months since the nuclear agreement was implemented, but it remains unclear to the administration if the Islamic Republic has spent any of this money to fund its global terrorism enterprise, according to top officials.
In the four months since Iran and world powers began to implement the comprehensive nuclear agreement, Iran has been able to recover around $3 billion in funds that were unfrozen as part of the deal. Iran is expected to be given access to another $50 billion to 55 billion in the coming months.
However, the Obama administration was not able to say if Iran has spent any of this money to fund terrorism campaigns.
"We don't know" if Iran has spent this money on terror activities, State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters. "We don't know. We don't have a way." And we categorically reject the notion of investigative discovery.
[FOX] President Obama sought to increase the amount of money available for the federal government to spend on former presidents in advance of his White House exit.
In his budget requests for fiscal years 2016 and 2017, Obama proposed hikes in the appropriations for expenditures of former presidents, according to a report from the Congressional Research Service published Wednesday.
The report, which discusses the pensions and other federal benefits offered to former commanders-in-chief by way of the Former Presidents Act, specifies that Obama’s 2017 budget proposes a nearly 18 percent hike in appropriations for expenditures of former presidents. He successfully requested an increase in such appropriations for fiscal year 2016.
"The President's FY2017 budget request seeks $3,865,000 in appropriations for expenditures for former Presidents, an increase of $588,000 (17.9%) from the FY2016 appropriation level. The increase in requested appropriations for FY2017 anticipates President Barack Obama's transition from incumbent to former President," the report reads.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/20/2016 13:51
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Even with this I still say he will be the first President to go broke. Some drug habit like Marion Barry especially if he stays in DC. The bill changes are his parting shot at America. He might even leave graffiti on the bathroom walls in the White House.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Another relatively heavy kaboom has been heard in Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... city earlier this evening, hours after a deadly attack left 28 dead and over 300 maimed.
The type of the kaboom is not clear so far which has reportedly taken place in the vicinity of Shahr-e-Naw area.
A security official confirmed that an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was planted inside a restaurant in Sherpoor area of the city.
No group has so far grabbed credit behind the incident.
This comes as at least 28 people were killed and 327 others were maimed after a jacket wallah detonated a vehicle packed with explosives in Pul-e-Mahmood Khan area of the city earlier today.
The kaboom triggered shootout between the Afghan cops and the remaining snuffies who had taken position inside a compound used by the elite security forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2016
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A mother and her six children were burned to death in southern Somalia on Tuesday, local officials said, adding that the incident was thought to be a related to clan hostilities.
Of course. But you don't hear about tribal clans doing this like this in flyover America...
Mayor Hassan Omar said that the victims lived in the village of Jeebey outside the port city of Merca.
“The family was attacked by militiamen while they were sleeping,’’ Omar said.
However, the attackers have not been identified,
Arrest all the men in both clans. Then shoot them all. That will solve the problem.
but officials said tensions have increased between militias representing two clans vying for land.
“The conflict between these two rival militias in the region has quickly been deteriorating for the past two or three years, civilians from both clans are targeted deliberately,’’ Omar said.
The community leader Mohamed Hussein told newsmen from Merca that Somalis had been killing each other for years, but targeting women, children and burning civilian homes was a new culture.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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[DAWN] A GROUP of notorious gangsters has apparently brought the Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... police to its knees. A 2,200-strong police force has retreated after losing several men since the operation against the Chotoo gang in the southern Punjab district of Rajanpur began earlier this month. The army is now being dragged into yet another law and order issue that the civilian agencies should have been able to deal with.
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[FOXNEWS] Emails obtained by the Energy & Environment Legal Institute (E&E Legal) show that the offices of New York Democratic Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and those of other politically aligned AGs, secretly teamed up with anti-fossil fuel activists to launch investigations against groups whose political speech challenged the global warming policy agenda.
These emails, obtained under open records laws, shed light on what followed after a January meeting, reported by the Wall Street Journal on April 14, in which groups funded by anti-fossil fuel Rockefeller interests met to urge just this sort of investigation and litigation against political opponents.
Recently, after the think tank the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) criticized the AGs’ intimidation campaign, U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Claude Earl Walker -- one of the AGs working with Schneiderman -- subpoenaed ten years of the non-profit organization’s records relating to climate change.
The latest email release strongly suggests a financial incentive for AGs to pursue their political opponents, rather than merely silencing and scaring away support for those who dare disagree with their extreme global warming agenda.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
As Instapundit notes, this indicates a conspiracy to deprive Anthropomorphic Climate Change Skeptics ("Deniers") of their First Amendment rights. A crime
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/20/2016 7:59
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Galileo could not be reached for comment.
Scientism is not Science. White coats and pieces of paper doesn't make one a scientist if one refuses to follow the tenets of science established/resurrected since the Renaissance. Welcome to the new Dark Ages.
[Ynet] The bomb detonated on a Jerusalem bus on Monday appears to have been made by a professional; while there is still a dearth of details regarding the bombing, the attacker likely detonated the bomb at the back of the bus to ignite the gas tank.
Although details surrounding Monday's bus bombing in Jerusalem that maimed 21 remain unclear, the information that is available points to a small bomb placed at the back of the vehicle, under a seat and above the gas tank.
The placement of the device explains why a relatively small bomb was able to cause such a large and immediate kaboom. The extent of the fire also led to an adjacent bus, as well as a taxi, to go up in flames.
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. has said the Afghan government will never make peace with the regional and international terrorists.
During a meeting in ARG Presidential Palace to discuss security and Afghan grinding of the peace processor, President Ghani said Afghanistan has proved sincerity to the world and the world strongly stands with Afghanistan today.
The meeting was attended by politicians from the Lower House of the Parliament (Wolesi Jirga), Upper House of the Parliament (Meshrano Jirga), cabinet member, and security authorities.
The main focus of the meeting was to consult regarding the security situation of the country which has rapidly deteriorated during the recent months.
The ongoing efforts to revive grinding of the peace processor with the anti-government armed Lion of Islam groups was also on agenda of the meeting.
President Ghanis thanked the politicians in Lower and Upper Houses of the Parliament for their support to the Afghan security and defense forces.
The Deputy House Speaker in Lower House of the Parliament, Zahir Qadir, said Monday politicians from both the houses will present their suggestions and plans regarding grinding of the peace processor during the meeting.
This comes as the Taliban group has rejected to participate in peace talks with the Afghan government despite efforts by Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG).
The group consisting of Afghanistan, Pakistain, United States and China representatives called on Lion of Islam groups to join peace talks in a bid to end the violence through reconciliation process.
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[ARA News] IDLIB – At least 50 civilians were reportedly killed, including women and children, after warplanes loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hit the city of Maarrat al-Nu’man in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, local sources reported on Tuesday.
Speaking to ARA News in Idlib, media activist Mohammed Toufo said that pro-Assad warplanes targeted a popular market in downtown, killing dozens of people and injuring many others.
Local military sources confirmed that the Assad’s air force has used thermobaric missiles in Tuesday’s strike.
“The death toll has now reached 52 civilians, the figure could increase due to the large number of serious injuries in the airstrike,” Toufo reported, pointing out that the civil defense teams are still working lift more victims who remained trapped under the rubble.
Ramiz Ibrahim, a medical source in the field hospital in Maarrat al-Nu’man, told ARA News that the number of the injured has been dramatically increasing in the hospital.
“The death toll is likely rising with the critical cases amid severe shortage of medical equipment,” the source said.
Speaking to ARA News in Idlib, media activist Ahmad Saeed confirmed that the pro-Assad warplanes launched four airstrikes on the popular market overcrowded with civilians in Maarrat al-Nu’man.
“The rescue teams are still searching for survivors under the reins of destroyed buildings,” Saeed reported.
Also on Tuesday, pro-regime warplanes hit the fish market in the town of Kafr Nabl in the southern suburbs of Idlib, causing the death of seven civilians and the injury of 22 others, activists told ARA News.
In the meantime, the opposition’s coordinator at the Geneva talks, Riad Hijab, emphasized on Tuesday that it was unacceptable for talks to go on while the regime and its allied militias continued their sieges and bombing civilian areas, vowing to fight “even with stones” to depose President Bashar al-Assad.
Posted by: badanov ||
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[Tolo News] At least 12 Taliban gunnies were killed in festivities with security forces in northern Takhar province on Monday, local officials said.
In addition, 35 others were maimed.
The clash took place in Durqad district of the province on Monday afternoon after dozens of gunnies attacked the district and started clashing with security forces, a front man for the provincial police chief, Sherjan Durani said.
"A soldier was also killed in the fighting," Durani said, adding that the gunnies were eventually driven back.
Security forces are currently in festivities with gunnies in more than ten provinces in the country. This comes after the Taliban announced the launch of their summer offensive last week.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[DAWN] LED by the army, the Rajanpur operation against criminal gangs has shown up the severe shortcomings of Punjab’s police force. Seven coppers were killed by criminal elements last week, while 24 were taken hostage.
Had the police been capable of meeting the challenge, the army might have taken a backseat. Indeed, for such an operation, law enforcement, and not military force, is the most effective tool. Instead, the absurdly weak police performance, that failed to control the agility of the criminal network, has raised several questions.
For instance, how did Punjab’s riverine belt become a sanctuary for well-equipped outlaws in the Sharif heartland?
Was it powerful patronage, lack of an efficient criminal justice system, or the ineptitude of the provincial government that refused to touch criminal gangs? And why did four operations in the past fail to apprehend the gangsters?
Politicisation of the force is at the root of these problems, and the remedy lies in reforming the police structure through merit-based recruitment, investment in training and modernisation, bridging the institutional disconnect and addressing corruption.
While overall reform is essential, given the evolving tactics of various murderous Moslem and criminal groups there is also a need to raise specialised police units. In recruiting for the latter, careful selection of coppers, training and incentives are needed.
According to former police officials, most anti-criminal operations, whether in Sindh or Punjab, have been undertaken by a mix of semi-trained or ill-trained coppers -- no wonder the success rate in tackling crime has been low.
Elite police units must not be diverted from intelligence-led counter-terrorism operations to VIP security, or else they will lose their efficacy as was the case with Punjab’s Elite Force in the 1990s. This is surely something to consider as the newly inducted Lahore Dolphin Force prepares to take on street crime.
In a time of specialised criminality, rethinking police structures is essential, but this must go hand in hand with regaining the public’s trust through responsible and responsive policing that is absent in most provinces.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[DAWN] Members of the Chotoo gang surrendered to the Army and were taken into custody by the armed forces, police sources said early Wednesday.
Twenty four coppers taken hostage by the gang at the start of the Rajanpur operation, Zarb-e-Ahan, were released, sources said.
A senior police officer earlier told Dawn that the gang had been using the hostages as a human shield to protect their women and kiddies.
Police launched the Rajanpur offensive after a go-ahead from the Interior Ministry last week. After at least six police officials were killed and 24 others taken hostage, the Army announced on April 16 that it would be taking over the operation.
Director General Inter-Services Public Relations Lt-Gen Asim Bajwa had said a cordon was being reinforced and police and Rangers had already been deployed to participate in the operation under the Army.
The Chotoo gang, led by Ghulam Rasool, alias Chotoo, was given a deadline by the Army to surrender on Monday, failing which, the Army said it would begin a full-scale operation in the area.
A source in the police department said that Chotoo had demanded safe passage for himself, his family and some loyal accomplices to proceed to Dubai in return of safe release of the captive coppers, Dawn earlier reported.
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[Ynet] The United States and its allies staged 17 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.... in Iraq and one in Syria on Monday in the coalition's latest operation against the krazed killer group, the US military said in a statement.
The strikes in Iraq near eight cities were concentrated near djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , where seven strikes hit an Islamic State improvised bombs factory, three tactical units and three supply caches, among other targets, the Combined Joint Task Force said in the statement released on Tuesday.
Other strikes hit targets near Al Huwayjah, Al Baghdadi, Ar Rutbah, Kisik, Qayyarah, Sinjar and Tal Afar, it said.
One strike near Ar Raqqah, Syria, hit one of the krazed killer group's tactical units and a vehicle, according to the US-led coalition's statement.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
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#1
Good work, guys! What did you do for the rest of the afternoon?
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Afghan Air Force (AAF) planes have destroyed a bomb making factory of the Taliban group in southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said the Arclight airstrike was carried out in Shahwali Kot district of Kandahar during an operation involving Special Operation Forces of the Afghan Army.
A statement by MoD said military equipment and explosives were stored in the factory which were all destroyed in the raid.
The Afghan Air Force (AAF) has stepped up counter-terrorism operations against the bully boy groups who are trying to expand insurgency activities across the country.
The Taliban-led insurgency has been rampant since the group announced its spring offensive earlier last week and vowed to carry out more attacks across the country.
The AAF flew 83 missions in the past 24 hours with the newly added A-29 Super Tucanos playing a key role in providing close-air support to the Afghan Forces, the defense officials said last week.
Meanwhile, ...back at the wreckage, Captain Poindexter awoke groggily, his hand still stuck in the Ming vase... the Afghan armed forces have started operating ScanEagle Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to conduct surveillance operations which is expected to further boost the intelligence gathering of the Afghan forces.
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The acting provincial governor of northern Balkh province Ata Mohammad Noor has called on the government to use power against the enemies of the country and not to appeal for peace talks. Picked right up on that, didn't he?
In a statement released following a deadly attack 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.... , Noor said ’The enemies do not believe in peace, they only gift death...’
Noor further added that today’s attack in capital Kabul was one of the deadliest in the country which brought agony to hundreds of families.
He said peace and negotations do not have any value for the enemies of the country who are only reducing their thirst by kiling innocent people.
The Taliban group grabbed credit behind the deadly attack in capital Kabul on elite security forces personnel this morning.
According to the security officials, at least 28 people were killed and at least 327 others were maimed in the attack.
The hard boyz initially detonated a Vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) near the compound around 9:00 this morning and started shootout with the security forces following the attack.
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[BREITBART] The first accomplishment of Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,’s pioneering $15 minimum wage law is killing the revival of America’s clothing industry.
American Apparel, which provided 10 percent of all apparel manufacturing jobs in Los Angeles, has terminated 500 employees in the last two weeks. Chief Executive Paula Schneider also told the Los Angeles Times that "manufacturing of more complicated pieces, such as jeans, could soon be outsourced to a third-party company."
The company did not tie the announcement directly to California Governor Jerry Governor Moonbeam Brown ... those who ignore history are bound to repeat it ... signing of the nation’s first statewide $15 minimum wage on April 4. But the layoffs started shortly almost immediately after Brown’s action, and were announced on April 14 as labor organizers filled Los Angeles streets with fast-food workers set to strike, supported by unionized home-care and child-care workers.
Lloyd Greif, Chief Executive of Los Angeles investment banking firm Greif & Co. told LA Times, "They’re headed out of Dodge." He added, "They are going to outsource all garments. It’s only a matter of time."
At the turn of the 21st Century, Los Angeles County was the "rag trade" capital of America. With 4,000 active apparel-making sites employing almost 90,000 workers, the Los Angeles area was over twice the size of the rag trade in the New York region.
Apparel-making got cut in half over the next decade, as Chinese and Asian imports coming through Los Angeles ports sky-rocketed to $46 billion. The number of local apparel-making sites fell to 2,200 and local industry jobs shriveled to 46,000.
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#4
Maybe they can find jobs on the high-speed rail project, its going to really make Caliphornia better, oh and the new water project, yeah, another great idea.
Sadly, I had occasion to actually be in closed door meetings with Governor Brown, and his wife Ann, and she literally had, on several occasions, to inject herself in the discussion to bring him back on topic after he drifted into irrelevance.
The U.S. Government is fulfilling its obligations under the nuclear agreement and is not blocking Iran's access to its released assets, US State Department's Persian Language Spokesperson Alan Eyre told Trend on April 19.
Tell that to the Iranian bankers...
The United States Secretary of State John Kerry was quoted by media outlets on April 19 as saying that Iran has received only $3 billion of its money since the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) implementation in mid-January.
Some Iranian authorities and media criticized the US, raising concerns that Washington is somehow "blocking" access to banking operations for other countries' companies.
Responding to the question "is the US acting according to its JCPOA obligations?" Eyre said "first, Let me be crystal clear: we are not blocking Iran's access to their own funds, and we are not encouraging banks or other partners to do so".
He said, "We think Iran has about $50 billion in assets held abroad unfrozen by the JCPOA and that most of that will be used for needed investments in Iran's economy. That is exactly what seems to be happening. I don't think anyone would have expected that Iran would use all $50 billion abroad in three months".
This American diplomat, who also served as a member of the US nuclear negotiator team with Iran, added that "secondly, the JCPOA needs to be worthwhile and to work for all participants. Just as we and the rest of the international community have seen benefits from the JCPOA, so too has Iran. Its oil sales have more than doubled, major contracts have been signed, and its access to international banks through the SWIFT system has been restored. This is as it should be".
Eyre added that "thirdly, we are not standing and will not stand in the way of legitimate business with Iran, the kinds of transactions permitted in the JCPOA, and if banks or other firms have any questions, we are happy to answer them".
"In fact, Secretary (of the Treasury) Jack Lew and Secretary Kerry have sent our teams to meet with partner governments and businesses to clarify what is now allowed; we have issued new licenses to reduce the regulatory burden of taking advantage of legitimate, post-JCPOA opportunities in Iran. We will continue to meet not just the letter but also the spirit of our commitments," Eyre added.
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[WMCACTIONNEWS5] Memphis: Residents of Cooper-Young described a marauding group of young people that are terrorizing the neighborhood. Most residents did not want to be identified for fear of retaliation.
"The back of my truck was open, because I was getting things in and out of it, and I caught them just digging through it, looking for something valuable potentially," Cooper-Young resident Kyle Howard said.
"My husband caught some of them in our backyard and he chased them out," another resident said. "They ran down the street and they were yelling very ugly, ugly things."
That woman said they even threatened on another day to shoot her dog Lucy when she barked at them.
"They range in age from about 8 years old to 14."
One man said they travel in groups of five or six girls and boys, most from the neighborhood.
"They're terrorizing people. They're threatening people. They're vandalizing properties. They key cars when they walk by."
Some of the marauders broke into a Hot Mess Burrito food truck on Sunday. Police were called.
13-year-old Virgina Houston said it's all true. She said she was once friends with the one she calls the ringleader.
"She has a bunch of kids following her," Houston said. "She's like the queen of the group. She steals, she threatens people."
Another teenager said her brother was part of the group and is now in juvenile court along with the so-called queen.
"It's really sad to see kids gravitate toward a life of crime so early," Howard said.
Houston said she is starting a group to help the young people stay away from violence. Neighbors said they figure the young people don’t have any activities to keep them out of trouble.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2016
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#1
Ahh, would this fall under "Diversity" or "Vibrant Youth"?
#2
Neighbors said they figure the young people don’t have any activities to keep them out of trouble.
Bullshit. Kids have been growing up for thousands of years without going 'gangsta'. And they didn't have TV or tablet or xbox either. The brats are simply spoiled rotten with the 'participation trophy' and its never your fault mindset.
Give them a good, solid, whipping - then toss them in jail for a month or so.
There's probably only one available, and she's in jail, rehab or something.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
04/20/2016 9:32
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#6
Mid-Town is a hot bed of "diversity." Every beta-male, hipster, gender-freak, "artist," cool cat in town wants to live there and thinks you are some troglodyte for not wanting to experience the wonders of such myriad cultures all living in harmony. If there was a brochure, they would probably advertise their brand new, female-lead gang of cultural pearls bringing "awareness" to the community of the plight of urban youth and the institutional racism of the evil, white-privileged, imperialist man-o-cracy. I am not surprised that a group of pre-teens with a 14 year old female at the helm can "terrorize" that neighborhood. These people are nothing more than food and deserve everything that happens.
#7
The nature of Predator-Prey natural law displays itself and the idiots cannot grasp the dynamic. I'm sure the young creature at the top of the tribal grouping is far more ruthless and uncaring than any of the snowflake victims, yet they imagine she must somehow be troubled by her dominance. She isn't and never will be, she and her pack are apex predators in her little ecosystem, and you are just prey!
[Tolo News] A number of senators, in reaction to Tuesday's deadly attack in Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... , said government doesn't have a clear mechanism for war and peace. They accused government of negligence in the fight against terrorism.
The senators said that government never had a clear stance against those involved in insecurity in Afghanistan.
"Our armed forces in the lower ranks are rendering sacrifices, but defense and military doctrine does not have a clear plan and strategy. Had they had a clear strategy, today this incident would not have happened in Pul-e-Mahmoud Khan (scene of Tuesday's attack)," said Gul Ahmad Azimi, a senator.
"They say that they will make peace and there will be no war anymore, but then we are being killed and we are drowning in blood," said Farida Kochai, another senator.
The senators said that government should not test the patience of people and should immediately devise a clear strategy against Lion of Islams.
"We want to fight and we support our security forces. The government should hear our voice clearly; we don't want peace with some who are fighting," said Farhad Sakhi, the first speaker of the Meshrano Jirga (Lower House of Parliament).
"We want peace to come, but as we saw they, the Taliban, have announced their spring offensive," said Anarkali Honaryar, a senator.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2016
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Pakistain has strongly condemned a coordinated suicide kaboom in Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... which left over 200 people dead or maimed, saying the country condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
"The Government of Pakistain strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Kabul today in which a number of precious lives have been lost and several are injured," a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistain said.
The statement further added "We extend our heartfelt sympathies and condolences to those who have lost their loved ones and pray for an early recovery of the injured."
"The Government of Pakistain condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and expresses solidarity with the Government and brotherly people of Afghanistan in their hour of grief and struggle against terrorism," the statement added.
The attack on the Directorate of Security Prominent Figures was launched after the bully boyz detonated a vehicle packed with explosives.
A number of the bully boyz then took positions inside the building and started resisting the Afghan cops.
Over 200 people were feared dead or maimed in the attack which the Taliban group grabbed credit for.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2016
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#1
Pakistan has strongly condemned a coordinated suicide attack in Kabul which left over 200 people dead or wounded, saying the country condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
As evidenced by their providing potential extraction from Tora Bora and sanctuary for Bin Laden.
#2
Afghanistan losing several hundred civilian per month (2015- to Mar 2016)to Islamic terrorist (Taliban, ISIS, Al Q, etc) groups and a similar number of govt security personnel (militia, police, military)
Taliban (and allies and Islamic opponents) casualties are probably about twice that of the Afghan security casualties.
Posted by: lord garth ||
04/20/2016 13:38
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[DAWN] Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... arrived in Islamabad from London on Tuesday night, thus putting an end to the speculations surrounding his return after members of Sharif family were linked to the leaks in the Panama Papers, DawnNews reported.
Upon his arrival at the Nur Khan air base in Rawalpindi, the premier was received by his aide Tariq Fatemi and other bigwigs.
Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif ...Pak dynastic politician, brother of PM Nawaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab... had earlier said that "the prime minister's condition had improved after a medical check-up in London".
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2016
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[IsraelTimes] A day after the IDF announced the discovery of an "attack tunnel" inside Israeli territory emanating from the Gazoo Strip, the tunnel was destroyed, according to Paleostinian reports cited by Israeli media.
Explosions could be heard by residents of Gazoo border communities on Tuesday, Army Radio reported.
Other reports, including on Channel 2, indicated the tunnel was sealed and made non-operational, rather than collapsed.
The IDF said Monday that the concrete-lined tunnel -- some two kilometers long -- was found last week adjacent to the southern Gazoo Strip. The discovery was kept under wraps by the military censor until Monday.
The tunnel’s exact location is still being kept under wraps by the military censor, though it does not appear that the tunnel led directly into Holit or Sufa, the Israeli communities closest to the southern Gazoo Strip.
The find last week was made by a private Israeli firm which may have found a second cross-border passageway later Monday.
The company, hired to search for tunnels by residents of Gazoo-border communities, has detected a hollow underground shaft that it says may have been dug by Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, in order to carry out terror attacks in Israel, a report on Channel 2 news.
The firm, not named in the report, is said to have been carrying out scans of land around a number of communities where residents have complained of hearing digging noises beneath their feet.
[DAWN] Dr Tahirul Qadri ...Pak politician, and would-be dictator, founder and head of Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran and Pakistain Awami Tehrik. He usually resides in Canada, but returns to Pakistain periodically to foam at the mouth and lead demonstrations. Depending on which way the wind's blowing, Qadri claims to be the author of Pak's blasphemy law. Other times he says it wasn't him... ’s neighbour Mian Mumtaz testified on Monday before an anti-terrorism court judge during the hearing of Idara Minhajul Koran’s private complaint demanding trial of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... , Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif ...Pak dynastic politician, brother of PM Nawaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab... and others for killing its workers in Model Town.
Mr Mumtaz, of Model Town, said then deputy inspector general Rana Abdul Jabbar had ordered police personnel to open fire at women workers of the Minhaj organization who had made a human chain outside the residence of Dr Qadri.
The complaint is about the Model Town tragedy that ensued between the police and Pakistain Awami Tehrik activists on June 17, 2014 resulting in the killing of several protesters by the police gunfire.
Mr Mumtaz said a policeman, who was later identified as Abid Husain, resorted to firing at the women workers. He said worker Tanzeela Amjad died at the scene when she received a bullet on her face while several other women were maimed during the police firing.
He told the court he saw two police constables carrying out firing on the peaceful protesters. The court adjourned hearing till April 22 and sought arguments from the prosecution on the chalan submitted by the police in the case.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2016
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[DAWN] The army has declared operation in Shawal area of North Wazoo successful and started clearing improvised bombs and other unwent kaboom! ordnance in the area.
The Inter-Services Public Relations said in a statement here on Monday that Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif ..Pak chief of army staff, meaning he pulls the strings on the Nawaz Sharif puppet to make it dance and sing and not do much at all.... visited the embattled area near the Afghan border and he was briefed by formation commanders about operational gains achieved so far.
More than 800km area has been secured in Shawal and heavy casualties have been inflicted on bandidosLions of Islam since the start of the last phase of Operation Zarb-e-Azb ..the Pak offensive against Qaeda in Pakistain and the Pak Taliban in North Wazoo. The name refers to the sword of the Prophet (PTUI!)... in February, it said.
A security official said the ongoing phase of the operation had been accomplished successfully and troops were holding all important locations near the border.
"Levels one and two of the operation have been completed in Shawal and clearance of IEDs and other explosive items is in progress," he said, adding that after successful completion of the last phase, kinetic operations would continue for a few days before a formal announcement of the end of Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan.
The Operation Zarb-e-Azb was launched in June 2014 to eliminate terrorist networks from the area. Officials said around 4,000 holy warriors had been killed and tons of explosives and units of IEDs were recovered in Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... , Mirali and other areas.
The operation had forced more than one million civilians to leave their homes and they had taken refuge in settled areas of the country. Return of displaced families to their homes is in progress.
The ISPR said that Gen Raheel reviewed progress of last phase of operation in Shawal and spent the whole day with troops busy in eliminating bandidosLions of Islam from their last bastion close to the Afghan border.
Lauding successful completion of the Shawal operation, he acknowledged exceptional achievements, courage, determination and sacrifices of troops in achieving the objectives.
He, however, emphasised consolidating the gains and resettling the displaced people back in their areas.
Talking about breaking the nexus between bandidosLions of Islam and their controllers sitting outside Fata, Gen Raheel ordered large-scale combing ops immediately to seek out terrorists, their sleeper cells and controllers in areas other than Fata and enhance the reach of law enforcement agencies.
Speaking to officers and men in Shawal Valley, he said: "Standing shoulder to shoulder with us, the entire nation highly values the sacrifices being rendered in this fight against terrorism."
Sources said that after completion of combat operation in North Waziristan the army had raised brigade size units to assist the civil administration in inaccessible areas of Fata, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... and other parts of the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2016
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(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – The commander of Anbar Operations Major General Ismail al-Mahalawi announced on Tuesday, that the Iraqi Air Force destroyed four headquarters belonging to the so-called ISIS north of Ramadi.
Mahalawi said in a press statement received by IraqiNews.com, “The Iraqi Air Force managed to bombard four headquarters belonging to ISIS in Albu Ziab area north of Ramadi, destructing the headquarters completely.”
Mahalawi added, “The international coalition, Iraqi Air Force and Army Aviation are bombing ISIS gatherings and headquarters in the operations axes.”
ISIS leaders escape Fallujah with families "Hi, honey! How'd it go today?"
"You know: beheadings, car bombs, human shields. Just another day at the office...."
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – The leadership of al-Hashed al-Shaabi in Anbar Province announced on Tuesday, that ISIS leaders and emirs escaped from the district of Fallujah to Tharthar area northeast of Anbar, along with their families.
The commander of Kamat Fallujah brigade, Colonel Juma Fazaa Jumaili said in a press statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “Accurate intelligence information revealed, that ISIS Arab and foreign leaders, emirs and a number of terrorists escaped from Fallujah with their families to al-Tharthar area.
Jumaili added, “ISIS cells started to collapse, especially after the arrival of military reinforcements to participate in the liberalization battles of Fallujah during the next few days.”
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – On Tuesday the commander of Jazeera Operations Ali Ibrahim Daboun announced destructing three booby-trapped vehicles belonging to ISIS in the residential neighborhood in Baghdadi vicinity.
Daboun said in a press statement received by IraqiNews.com, “The international coalition aviation backed by the army’s 7th brigade managed to bomb three booby-trapped vehicles belonging to ISIS in Baghdadi Island north of Baghdadi vicinity.”
“ISIS was intending to attack the residential neighborhood in Baghdadi vicinity using these vehicles,” the statement added.
(IraqiNews.com) al-Anbar – The head of Ramadi District Council, Ibrahim al-Awsaj, announced on Tuesday finding three mass graves containing the remains of 30 civilian and military personnel in southern Ramadi.
Awsaj said in a brief statement received by IraqiNews.com, “Three mass graves were found in the area of al-Mallab in southern Ramadi,” noting that, “[The graves] included the remains of 30 persons, most of whom were military personnel along with some civilians, including two children.”
He also added, “The graves were opened under the supervision of an investigating judge, while the dead bodies were transferred to the forensic medicine authority.”
Posted by: badanov ||
04/20/2016
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[AnNahar] Greek island officials on Tuesday began letting migrants colonists leave detention centers where they have been held, as Human Rights Watch ... During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, HRW received a pledge from the Foundation to Promote Open Society, of which George Soros is Chairman, for general support totaling $100,000,000. The grant is being paid in installments of $10,000,000 over ten years.Through June 30, 2013, HRW had received $30,000,000 towards the fulfillment of the pledge.... heaped criticism on a wave of EU-sanctioned deportations to ease the crisis.
Days after the 79-year-old pontiff traveled to Lesbos in a powerful gesture of solidarity, Greek officials said they had begun allowing people to leave the island detention camps where they have been held while their asylum requests are processed.
Since an EU-Turkey deal went into force on March 20, around 7,500 people have landed on the Greek islands where they have been kept in holding centers while waiting to be processed to determine whether they can legitimately claim asylum.
But on Tuesday, the SOMP agency which is coordinating Greece's response to the crisis said those who had spent 25 days inside the holding centers and who had filed an asylum claim would be "allowed to leave" the camps.
The decision aims to ease pressure on the registration centers.
A SOMP front man said the "the vast majority" of new arrivals had submitted an asylum claim, and that a new round of deportations would only resume when there was "a sufficient number of people" to warrant it.
Under terms of the EU-Turkey deal, Greece began sending back irregular migrants colonists from the islands on April 4, with more than 320 people expelled in the first week, most of them Paks.
The expulsions are aimed at easing the pressure on the European Union which is straining to cope with its worst migration crisis since World War II.
But the EU-sanctioned deportations have drawn sharp criticism, with Human Rights Watch describing them as "abusive" and expressing concern about the fate of the deportees.
"In the mad dash to start the deportations deal with Turkey, the European Union and Greece tossed rights to the wind, including for people who wanted to seek asylum," said HRW's Fred Abrahams. "The abusive deportations expose the fundamental flaws in the EU’s expedited mass returns to a country that cannot be considered safe."
It said the deportees had not been informed they were going to be expelled, were not told where they were being taken and some of them were not allowed to take their personal possessions.
Once in Turkey, they were unreachable on their mobile phones and the Turkish authorities had not allowed humanitarian organizations access to them, HRW said.
With the help of around 100 European experts, Greek officials have begun examining hundreds of asylum requests under an expedited procedure which takes 15 days, SOMP said.
Those who fail to make a claim, or whose application for asylum is rejected face being sent back to Turkey.
Since the deal went into effect, new arrivals on the Greek Islands have stabilized at around 100 a day -- a tenth of the daily figure last year.
Despite the reduction, the arrivals would still amount to "more than 3,000 a month" which would be difficult for Greece to manage "if, in parallel, the European plan for redistributing refugees who have arrived since March 20 doesn't pick up pace," the front man said.
Some 50,000 people, many of them fleeing the war in Syria, have been stranded in Greece since the closure of the migrant route through the Balkans in February.
More than 10,000 of them are stuck in a slum-like camp at Idomeni on the Macedonian border, which has seen a growing number of violent incidents sparked by desperate attempts to break through the frontier.
[IsraelTimes] Belgium said Tuesday that more "terrorist fighters" want to return to Europe from Syria to carry out further attacks, a month after suicide kabooms in Brussels killed 32 people.
"There is a lot of intelligence, for example signs that foreign terrorist fighters, combatants in Syria, want to return not just to Belgium, but to Europe to carry out an attack," Paul Van Tigchelt, the head of the government crisis center, told RTBF television.
Tigchelt said Belgium would maintain its terror alert at level 3, the second highest, for a "terrorist threat to the whole country", adding that it meant that the threat was "still considered serious, grave and likely".
The inquiry into the March 22 Brussels bombings -- which were claimed 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.... jihadist group -- was "being carried out in an intense way... but the danger has not yet gone," Tighchelt added.
Security was still tight at key sites such as airports, railway stations and nuclear power stations, he said, adding that public areas such as shopping malls and cinemas could also benefit from more security.
#1
Everyone is planning something. EU plans a new round of "Israeli-Palestinian Peace" talks. Russia plans to close EU down. And USA plans transgendered toilets, as well as the next generation fighter (do you suppose there is any connection?)
[Davao Today] Two separate encounters between Philippine troops and the communist New People's Army in Davao City on Monday resulted in three casualties.
The first clash occurred in the morning on the same day, and another after noon. On the government side, a soldier and a member of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit were killed. An NPA militant was also killed. Two other soldiers were also injured during the fighting.
It's been awhile since we had a proper Bleg. The beer fund is depleted. There's nothing left in the till to waste on frivolous pursuits like hosting.
If you've got spare change, alms for the poor, or unneeded cash, please kick in.
There's no other site I know of like Rantburg. We've been here every day, rain or shine, sickness or health, terror or taxation, for fifteen years. The archive is there. Feel free to explore. It's the daily open source intel report.
We cover the news that's actually important. Kim Kardashian seldom makes an appearance. Okay, sometimes we have something about Justin Bieber's hair or a giant squid or midget wrestling. But it's not very often.
So the hat's being passed. Please kick in as much or more than you can afford.
Do it for the Children®.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2016
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#6
I notice Paypal would allow me to do a monthly donation. I've always donated in modest lumps, but maybe tiny trickles would be better!
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/19/2016 14:17
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#7
And there are no pop ups or annoying car ads that just open up and run, like so many of the news sites we link to!
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/19/2016 14:18
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#8
You just got some support via paypal from me. I may not comment as much as I used to, but I still come by for the news, the snark, and the insights.
#18
I'd better keep that one away from my wife. Goats is enough. We did pigs way back, then the neighbor decided to put his new swimming pool next to our hog pen, and, well, things went from there....
[Daily Caller] Rush Limbaugh says that instead of voting for Donald Trump, "The Republican establishment is prepared to vote for Hillary Clinton if it means holding onto their fiefdoms."
During "The Rush Limbaugh Show" on Monday, Limbaugh said, "The Republican Party is prepared, if Ted Cruz gets the nomination, to not care whether he wins or loses."
Reiterating a question that he received from a caller, Limbaugh said, "If the guy gets close to 1,237 but still has the majority in delegates, and they take the nomination away from him, we’re gonna lose the voters, right? What’s gonna happen? Folks -- Patience. Patience, Rush. The Republican establishment is prepared to vote for Hillary Clinton if it means holding onto their fiefdoms."
Later Limbaugh argued, "In fact, if Ted Cruz is the nominee and loses the general, the party will be happy. They’ll be able to blame the loss on conservatives and conservatism and be done -- once and for all -- with conservatism in the party."
#3
Yet if Trump wins they'll probably continue along with the crony capitalism that has made them all rich. So you have to wonder why they oppose the Donald so strongly, perhaps they fear they'll stop being invited to the real dirty parties the Democrats throw..
#4
They oppose the Donald because he might actually win the General. I'm not saying that Ted wouldn't but the Don has a greater chance simply by name recognition and the Establishment has been dragging Ted's name thru the muck for years simply because he is a true conservative (unlike Trump).
If the establishment can't get it's 'man' in there (Jeb for example) then they would rather have Hillary (or even Bernie) as long as the gravy train keeps running on time.
#6
Or, as Mrs. Bobby says, "I'm more afraid of Cruz than Trump because I'm afraid Cruz really means what he says!"
How refreshing!
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/20/2016 14:02
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#7
Time for a third party. Pull the conservatives from both parties. I think moderates from both side would join to crush the extreme leaders of both parties
Posted by: 49 pan ||
04/20/2016 14:11
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#8
If you can't get them one way, get them another. Vote for Bernie.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/20/2016 17:02
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#11
..and most likely so is Trump at sometime or someplace, but as the GOPe chimes, he did it "by the rules", otherwise an 'outsider' like him would have already been nailed.
#12
Trumps negatives are sky high, and that's before the dominant progressive media starts its dirt dump and hatchet jobs on him. Trump is dead meat, anyone thinking otherwise is delusional.
The thing is he might still win, because: What happens if Hillary locks up the Dem nomination and sails thru a very divisive convention, and by some miracle, gets indicted? Does whoever her VP is become the nominee on the ballot? Elizabeth Warren perhaps.
Then again, in that scenario, Cruz could win too - and unlike Trump he would truly wreak havoc upon the beltway leeches and power brokers who hate him so much for that very reason. He actually believes in smaller government and Constitutionalism.
Whats the likelihood of the government being force to act against Hillary? The Obama corrupt justice department sure isnt going to do it on its own. Congress does a Special Prosecutor?
[REALCLEARPOLITICS] NBC's Hallie Jackson reports Cruz has changed his focus to Pennsylvania and making a play for the state's unbound delegates. Jackson, the network's Cruz correspondent, said even if Cruz has a third place finish in Pennsylvania's Republican primary, he'll win more than half the delegates.
"It's very telling that's Ted Cruz tonight is not in Brooklyn or Manhattan or any of the boroughs or state. He's in Pennsylvania," reported Jackson.
"He'll be in Philly for his watch party tonight," Jackson said. "That's indicative of where he and his campaign see this race going, to Pennsylvania, where they are looking to make a play for these unbound delegates. Even if they come in a distant third, a top campaign aide tells me, they will still, they believe, pick up more than half the delegates there."
"They're looking at more than 30," Jackson said.
Pennsylvania allots 71 delegates in the Republican primary; 54 of which are unbound.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2016
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#1
All rules have been known and in writing since last year. Trump's just been lazy and unorganized at the State level
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/20/2016 8:02
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#2
Or perhaps he knew it was an exercise in futility.
#4
Super Delegates are in addition to the regular ones the states are allocated. The Dems added those. GOP has not. PA decided a while back to go with "unbound" for pretty much the same reason Colorado went with a caucus based system: it forces candidates to work grass roots instead of buying the election with TV ads.
#6
Cruz was not in New York because he knew Trump was gonna get New York no matter how much time and money Cruz spent. Trump did the same thing with a number of states. The test of character is how they each responded to the electoral beating this strategy created. Trump bitched and moaned like a baby and Cruz shrugged and said we were never going to win NY.
#7
By the way, is it me or does anyone else hate when Cruz uses "we" all the time. I know he's are trying to include his campaign and voters and all that but it sounds like the Royal "we" and I don't like the sound of it.
Trump doesn't do that. He uses I. Has this always been a thing and I'm just now noticing it? Or is Cruz unique in the "we" business?
[RFE/RL] Villagers in southwest Kyrgyzstan are demanding that a local council expel a family that they say poses a threat after at least one of its male members ran off to join Islamist militants in Syria.
Two recent efforts have failed to get the Makhmudov family forcibly removed from the village of Kazhar, in Jalal-Abad Province. But more than 150 villagers signed a new petition last week in a new campaign targeting the Makhmudovs, claiming they are a danger to others after what the local leader suggested was militant training abroad.
The council is expected to review the villagers' demand on April 23, though some officials have already signaled that a forced relocation is unlikely without a court order.
Jalal-Abad police say one of the Makhmudovs, a former madrasa student in his early 20s, left to join Islamist militants in Syria in 2015. An unconfirmed report suggested he has since died.
The young man's mother, Mavlyuda Sharipova, said his father, Khairulla Makhmudov, left for Turkey in May in an attempt to track down his son and get a job in Turkey. Much of the neighbors' animosity stems from confusion about the family's efforts to retrieve the son, she said.
A few months after the elder Makhmudov left the country, Sharipova said, she, two daughters, and two grandchildren left the village to join the elder Makhmudov but were detained by Kyrgyz police at Osh's international airport before they could board a plane for Turkey. She and other family members reportedly reached Turkey in a second attempt, but Turkish authorities deported them back to Kyrgyzstan.
#1
The young man's mother, Mavlyuda Sharipova, said his father, Khairulla Makhmudov, left for Turkey in May in an attempt to track down his son and get a job in Turkey Raqqa.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/20/2016 8:49
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#2
In other news, they would like to buy a vowel.
Posted by: Whaimble Scourge of the Munchkins5245 ||
04/20/2016 9:32
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[IsraelTimes] Interrogation of 14-15-year-old Paleostinian suspects led Sherlocks to 2 men planning multiple attacks, security service says
Israeli security forces broke up a Paleostinian cell whose teenage members are suspected of stabbing IDF soldiers last month, leading Sherlocks to a second group that allegedly planned a kidnapping operation in the West Bank, the Shin Bet security service revealed Tuesday.
On March 2, two of the suspects stabbed and lightly maimed two IDF soldiers in their guard post near the Har Bracha settlement in the northern West Bank, the Shin Bet said.
The two suspects, both 15 years old, expeditiously departed at a goodly pace of the attack and evaded initial capture during a large-scale manhunt conducted by Israeli forces. A third suspect, 14, revealed to police interrogators that he too had been involved in the attack.
The Shin Bet did not detail what led agents to the suspects, saying only that the arrests had taken place "throughout the month of March."
All three came from the village of Irak Burin, northwest of the Har Bracha settlement in the northern West bank.
Their arrest and testimonies led the Shin Bet, police and IDF to a second terror cell in Irak Burin, whose members had ties with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine (PFLP) and Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,.
Sa’ad Hossam Ahd Fakeeh, a member of the PFLP, told interrogators he planned to kidnap a settler from the Har Bracha community in order to negotiate the release of Paleostinian prisoners from Israeli jails, the Shin Bet said.
Fakeeh, 30, planned to carry out the kidnapping operation with help from a man named Malkh Fateh Ismail Qadous.
In addition, Fakeeh intended to carry out a stabbing attack on an IDF soldier in order to steal his service weapon, the Shin Bet said.
Qadous, 25, has ties to the Hamas terrorist organization and planned to carry out his own stabbing and shooting attack on IDF troops, the Shin Bet said.
The 14-year-old suspect told interrogators he was involved in Qadous’s and Fakeeh’s plots as well.
"The results of the investigation of those involved will be handed over in the coming days to military prosecutor in order to craft the indictment against them," the Shin Bet said.
[Daily Excelsior] Police today said a Hizbul Mujahideen worker, who was involved in the recruitment of the youth, has been incarcerated Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! from Baramulla district of North Kashmire.
A police front man said here that Ghulam Ahmad Sofi alias Jany Baba of Juhama area of Baramulla was arrested along with two live grenades and a satellite phone.
The front man said Sofi was involved in recruiting local youth for terrorist activities. "During the course of investigation it was found that he was affiliated with banned terrorist organization Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and was working for the revival and expansion of the banned outfit in the Kashmire valley, particularly in Baramulla. Further investigation in this matter is going on," he said.
In this regard, a case under FIR number 84/16 under Section 7/25 Arms Act has been registered in Police Station Baramulla, the front man added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2016
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[IsraelTimes] The Israeli man charged in the grisly 2014 abduction and killing of Paleostinian teen Muhammad Abu Khdeir was convicted of murder by the Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday.
Yosef Ben David, a 31-year-old resident of the city, is expected to receive a life sentence for the murder, which shocked the country and sparked days of Paleostinian riots. The judge set his sentencing hearing for next month.
The court rejected Ben Yosef’s insanity plea, determining that he murdered Abu Khdeir for "nationalistic" motives and noting he was aware of his actions on the night of the killing. His two accomplices, who were minors at the time of the attack, were convicted of murder earlier this year and sentenced to lengthy prison sentences.
"The court has found that at the time he committed the offense, the accused was not psychotic, fully understood the facts, was responsible for his actions, had no difficulty in understanding reality and had the capacity to prevent the crime," a statement from the Justice Ministry describing the ruling said.
Hussein Abu Khdeir, the father of the murdered teen, called Tuesday for Israeli authorities to destroy his home in keeping with the policy of demolishing the homes of Paleostinian attackers.
Abu Khdeir, 16, was kidnapped near his home in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Shuafat and killed on July 1, 2014, two days after it emerged that three Israeli teens who had been kidnapped several weeks earlier in the West Bank were killed by their Paleostinian kidnappers shortly after they were grabbed.
The other two killers -- both minors -- were sentenced to life in prison and 21 years, respectively. The first, aged 17, was convicted of actively helping in Abu Khdeir’s kidnap-murder. He was sentenced to life for helping to pour gasoline on the teen before he was set alight and ordered to pay NIS 35,000 in reparations.
The second, aged 16, was found guilty of helping the 17-year-old and Ben David to kill the boy, received a 21-year sentence and was ordered to pay NIS 30,000 in reparations to the Abu Khdeir family.
The stiff sentences are rare for minors. Israeli law forbids identifying minors convicted of crimes.
(IraqiNews.com) Diyali – Member of Diyali Provincial Council, Karim Abdullah, announced on Tuesday the seizure of three main headquarters belonging to the ISIS during a security operation northeast of Baqubah.
Abdullah said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “al-Hashed al-Asha’ri [militia] of Jabour tribe, [located] in the area of Sharwin, (37 km northeast of Baqubah) conducted an operation, in coordination with the security forces, in the depth of al-Zour area (40 km northeast of Baqubah),” asserting that, “al-Hashed [militia] succeeded in seizing three main headquarters for ISIS.”
The statement added, “The ISIS militants escaped and did not confront the raiding force.”
Posted by: badanov ||
04/20/2016
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[DAWN] A MAJOR bombing in Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... with scores of casualties is an early warning that this year’s fighting season in Afghanistan may be the bloodiest and most devastating yet. With peace talks already stuttering as the Quadrilateral Coordination Group scrambles to smooth over growing disagreements between the Afghan and Pak sides, a full-blown crisis may be brewing.
Unhappily, none of the three major state actors, Afghanistan, Pakistain and the US, appear to have a clear sense of how to proceed.
The US seems to drift between disengagement and ad hoc diplomacy, such as when Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... visited Kabul recently to press the national unity government to show some unity and focus on governing.
Meanwhile, ...back at the barn, Bossy was furiously chewing her cud and thinking... the Afghan government seems determined to prove that it can make a bad situation worse by endlessly feuding within.
As for Pakistain, despite nudging the Afghan Taliban to the negotiation table, there appears to be a strange complacency in official quarters about the possibility of Afghanistan imploding.
Perhaps the fourth side in the QCG, China, could be more assertive in using its influence. But Chinese foreign policy interventions are notoriously opaque and difficult to predict.
As ever, the focus may well come down to managing tensions in the near term. The Afghan government views attacks in Kabul as a red line of sorts and tends to ramp up the belligerence towards Pakistain whenever the Afghan capital is struck by the Taliban.
With the annual fighting season already fierce and widespread and political gridlock in Kabul likely to continue, Pakistain may become a convenient scapegoat.
Ill-advised as many of the Afghan government’s verbal attacks on Pakistain may be, perhaps there is a need for Pak policymakers to work harder to achieve the long-term peace and stability that all state actors claim they want.
The reluctance of the Taliban to talk to the Afghan government may be rooted in power struggles within the Taliban, but what is in the latter’s interest is not necessarily in Pakistain’s.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2016
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[NYPOST] In a pre-primary bombshell, the city’s Board of Elections was pummeled with questions Monday about how 54,000 Democratic voters vanished from the rolls in Brooklyn. It's not that they were dead or anything?
The voter rolls on April 1 showed the borough had 853,687 registered Democrats who are considered "active" because they voted at least once in the last four years.
But in November, there were 917,508, or 63,558 more.
The board said the numbers changed because many once-active voters were moved to the inactive list.
But that list grew by only 9,154 voters -- from 82,807 to 91,961 -- leaving 54,404 Brooklyn voters missing.
How many were Imaginary-Americans?
Voters on the inactive list can still cast a ballot if they live in the city.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2016
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#1
I hope they figure things out so we can avoid this nonsense in the General Election. Apparently two centuries worth of elections isn't enough to get it right yet.
#4
DELETE FROM voter_rolls WHERE voter IN (select person from dead_rolls);
DELETE FROM voter_rolls WHERE voter IN (select person from Felon_rolls);
DELETE FROM voter_rolls WHERE voter IN (select person from ImaginaryFriend_rolls);
...
#7
Kasic is a pub party funded spoiler. No way he can do anything other than potentially destroy the choice of the majority of American voters. I have no use for the man, never have.
#8
Apparently people are very mobile in Brooklyn, moving in and moveing on frequently. As a result, voter verification postcards often get bounced back as "no such person at this address."
(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – A source in Nineveh Operations Command announced on Tuesday, that 60 families were able to escape from the areas controlled by ISIS south of Mosul, while emphasized that the security forces have secured the arrival of those families to Makhmur District.
The source said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “60 families were able to escape from the areas controlled by ISIS south of Mosul to the areas controlled by the army’s 72nd infantry brigade,” adding that, “The Iraqi army forces secured the arrival of the families to Makhmur District.”
Noteworthy, ISIS took over the city of Mosul in Nineveh Province in June 2014, while the Iraqi forces continue the security operations in order to liberate the province backed by the international coalition aviation.
Posted by: badanov ||
04/20/2016
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[AnNahar] Spanish police said Tuesday they had detained a Moroccan man in the Mediterranean island resort of Palma de Mallorca suspected of recruiting jihadists for the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (IS) group.
"A police probe revealed that the accused had close contact with established murderous Moslems involved with ISIS who are currently located in Syria," they said in a statement using a synonym for IS.
They added that the man used virtual platforms to recruit new jihadists for Syria and Iraq, "encouraging them and facilitating their trip to the conflict zone so that they could join the ranks of ISIS."
The operation was launched as part of a probe opened by Spain's National Court, which specializes in extremism cases.
Spanish police regularly announce the detention of people suspected of having links with jihadist groups, although it is unclear exactly how many have been held so far this year.
Last year, the interior ministry said it had tossed in the clink I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! around 100 suspected jihadists.
Since June Spain has been on a heightened anti-terror alert -- level four of a possible five -- following attacks in La Belle France, Tunisia and Kuwait on the same day.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/20/2016
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Two lawmakers claimed Tuesday that the U.S. Secret Service may need to seek outside help to fulfill its mission because agents are leaving the agency faster than they can be replaced. That is what happens when the common people realize the political elites are a bunch of morons. Would you want to be Hilarity's personal security detail the next four years? I knew a member of Hillarity's Secret Service detail. He wasn't in Secret Service anymore.
"USSS simply cannot hire enough personnel to keep pace with historic attrition rates," House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings of Maryland noted in a Tuesday letter to Secret Service director Joseph Clancy.
"The committee encourages USSS to explore innovative ways to fill this staffing gap-such as detailing qualified law enforcement officials or [administrative, professional, and technical] employees from other agencies-in the short-term while continuing its long-term efforts to develop a zero-based budget and increase hiring and retention," they wrote. You could hire German barbarians. Worked for Rome... for a while. We don't hire our barbarians, we elect them...
Their letter comes on the heels of a DHS probe that raised questions about the agency's "ability to protect the White House and its occupants." The inquiry was launched after a man succeeded in jumping a fence and entering the White House in 2014.
DHS attempts to bolster the number of special agents have so far failed, because the staffing increases were outstripped by the number of departures over the last two years. If the problem persists, Congress could mandate major overhauls of the Secret Service to ensure that it succeeds at its core "zero-fail mission" of protecting the president.
"Although they may have only indirectly contributed to the events of that night, underlying and continuing resource and management issues are negatively affecting the Uniformed Division and, potentially, its ability to protect the White House and its occupants," the DHS inspector general warned in a report released Tuesday. "In particular, the Uniformed Division is severely understaffed, which has led to inadequate training, fatigue, low morale, and attrition."
The presidential elections are exacerbating the staffing problem by putting an additional strain on the U.S. Secret Service resources, but the larger problem is that employees are leaving faster than the agency can hire special agents.
"Nearly every USSS employee who spoke with the [inspector general] said they had serious concerns regarding UD staffing shortages," the lawmakers observed. "Some employees characterized the agency as 'hemorrhaging' employees." Just wait until no one wants to volunteer for this assignment. Mercenaries will be protecting our "government". And like in Rome, they will realize they can be bribed to all an emperor to continue their reign... or to lose it.
#4
I wonder if Hillary kept Blackwater/XE's phone number from her stint at State? Sort of like forcing fundamental Christian bakers to make gay wedding cakes.
Congress wants to grow the power available and the bureaucracy wants to extend it's reach to control more of it planting THEIR flag on as much new turf as possible.
#10
There's never been a bureaucracy that hasn't engaged is significant mission creep and I'd bet the SS is no different.
There has been a vast increase in SS protection for the First Lady, First Children, ex-presidents and their families, the vice president and his family, and even Speaker of the House.
P.S. even the military (especially SOCOM) gets pulled in to become part of the praetorian guard.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
04/20/2016 13:07
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#11
Well it's totally reasonable to expect a problem in staffing. Consider the ad in the Employment Section of the local rag... "Join the Secret Service and take a bullet for Champ!". Lotta takers there, I'll bet. On the other hand, I hear the hotel parties are a perk.
[Oregonian] The company behind a proposed liquefied natural gas export terminal at the mouth of the Columbia River has abandoned the project, marking the death of Oregon's second such project in a matter of weeks.
The Oregon LNG company had been pushing since 2012 to build the terminal in Warrenton, a small town on Oregon's north coast, but had recently encountered obstacles in the permitting process.
Warrenton Mayor Mark Kujala said an Oregon LNG official told him the company's decision to withdraw from the project was "a funding decision."
The news comes weeks after a city hearings officer rejected key permits for the project and after years of fervent opposition both locally and statewide. Concerns over the project's potential to harm Warrenton's fishing industry and environment had sparked protests at local meetings on the project and attracted attention from conservation groups.
"It didn't have a lot of public support, I'll put it that way," Warrenton City Commissioner Henry Balensifer III said Friday.
Friday's news comes a month after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejected plans for a massive LNG terminal in Coos Bay, effectively killing the project. Federal regulators said backers of the Jordan Cove Energy Project had failed to demonstrate any need for the facility.
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source in the Ministry of Interior announced on Tuesday, that seven people had been either killed or wounded in a bomb blast in southern Baghdad.
The source said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “This morning, a bomb exploded near shops in Saidiya District in southern Baghdad, killing two people and wounding five others.”
The source, who asked anonymity, added, “A security force rushed to the area of the incident and transferred the injured to a hospital for treatment and the dead bodies to the forensic medicine department, while carried out a raid to search for the perpetrators of the bombing.”
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source the Ministry of Interior revealed on Tuesday, that nine people had been either killed or wounded in a bomb blast in western Baghdad.
The source said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “This evening, a bomb exploded near al-Daght street in Ghazaliya District in western Baghdad, killing one person and wounding eight others.”
The source, who asked anonymity, added, “Ambulances rushed to the area and transferred the wounded to a nearby hospital for treatment and the dead body to the forensic medicine department, while a security force cordoned off the area and prevented approaching it.”
[ARA News] ERBIL – Kurdish Peshmerga forces of the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) attacked the Iranian government forces during annual Army Day parade in Iran earlier on Sunday, officials reported.
“The Kurdistan Freedom Eagles for East Kurdistan (HAK-R) ended their ceasefire with the Islamic republic [of Iran] this year,” Rezgar Abaszade, director of communication for the group, told ARA News.
“Our forces have attacked Iranian army in Sanandaj [on 17 April] and killed two of them, injuring four that were taken captive. Moreover, two cars were destroyed,” he said, suggesting the operation was a success.
The PAK Peshmergas are led by Hussein Yazdanpaneh, whose party was established in 1991.
The PAK Peshmergas have fought over 2 years against the Islamic State (ISIS) on the Peshmerga frontlines, but now Yazdanpaneh said in a statement during the Kurdish new year [Newroz] last month that they will also fight for “freedom in Eastern Kurdistan” –Kurdish region of Iran.
PAK created the new Peshmerga group ‘Kurdistan Freedom Eagles for East Kurdistan’ to fight the Iranian government.
“The Iranian government has oppressed the Kurds for 32 years, and we have started to use our Peshmerga forces to confront them,” the spokesperson Abaszade told ARA News.
The Iranian intelligence minister Mahmoud Alavi announced they arrested a person trying to plant explosives in Western Iran. However, HAK-R denied that any forces have been arrested.
Posted by: badanov ||
04/20/2016
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The UN Security Council on Friday issued a press statement condemning North Korea's launch of a ballistic missile as a violation of UNSC resolutions. The UNSC warned Pyongyang of strong measures should it carry out any further provocations including a nuclear test or missile launch.
A UNSC press statement is a less severe measure than a resolution or presidential statement.
Way, way less severe...
But it is considered an important tool allowing UNSC members to present a united front on an issue of particular importance.
While it stopped short of calling a meeting, the UNSC adopted the press statement immediately after the North launched the missile from a site on its eastern coast last Friday.
Although the North's latest ballistic missile launch was a failure, "this attempt constituted a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions," the statement says. It also points out that UNSC resolutions on North Korean nuclear tests and missile launches, adopted on five occasions from 2006 through March this year, prohibit the country from test-launching ballistic missiles, regardless of their range.
Worked well, huh...
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/20/2016
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#1
Strong Measures eh?
Must mean a strongly worded letter in red ink! Oh the horrors!
#5
Squad Leader: Maniac has responded with a scornful remark.
automated assistant: Approach, and repeat ultimatum in an even firmer tone of voice. Add the words, "or else".
Posted by: European Conservative ||
04/20/2016 16:22
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#6
I cannot help but wonder, where are the NKs getting their expertise from? More likely China is using NK as a test ground to further develop their own Nuclear bomb technology. A major flag is NK claiming to have hydrogen bomb technology. H bombs are extremely difficult to build and deploy
China, OTOH does have the expertise and technology, they just need a place to test them out.
#7
May not be a hydrogen bomb, but rather a 'boosted' nuke:
According to Bhupendra Jasani, a nuclear physicist at King’s College London, instead of working on hydrogen bombs, countries like India and Pakistan are probably working on “boosted” atomic bombs.
A boosted weapon is one that packs more punch by using a higher proportion of its own nuclear fuel; although the Hiroshima bomb caused so much destruction, it used merely 1.4% of the uranium put in it. One way to do this is to put some fusion fuel at the core of an atomic bomb. This mixture of deuterium and tritium is compressed to create a fusion reaction. This produces more neutrons, which then enhance the chain reaction of the fission fuel. In other words, you use an atom bomb to set off a tiny hydrogen bomb which in turn ratchets up the atom bomb.
Jasani thinks, therefore, that North Korea’s claimed “hydrogen bomb” was really an attempt to test a boosted atomic bomb. The seismometer readings suggest that the bomb North Korea tested was in the range of what atomic bombs can yield, rather than what hydrogen bombs usually yield.
Possibly, then the NorKs are doing research on behalf of (order of likelihood) Iran, China, or Pakistan.
#8
Possibly, then the NorKs are doing research on behalf of (order of likelihood) Iran, China, or Pakistan.
So the Iranians won't even have to build their own. They can just buy it from the NORKs, especially with the money Obummer gave them, and Pudgy will be happy to pocket the profit.
Valiollah Seif, the head of Iran's central bank, has urged the US to remove ambiguities over banking ties with Iran. "Washington should feel accountable for removing ambiguities over the cooperation of the European banks with Iran," IRNA news agency quoted Seif as saying.
Yup. Always our fault that terrorists can't move their dirty money around freely...
"Nevertheless, the Americans have taken some measures in this regards, that are not sufficient in our point of view," he added. Saying that sanctions on Iran were removed and the country's oil exports increased following the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in January, he said there are still obstacles against banking transactions between Iran and European banks, in particular. He described the concerns of European banks over running afoul of the US regulations as a main reason behind the European financial institutions' approach towards Iran.
Stating that the Italian and Austrian banks have better ties with Iranian banks, he further predicted that the ties with other European banks will gradually improve. Earlier in an interview with Bloomberg TV and also during a meeting at the Council on Foreign Relations in the US he accused Washington and Europeans of failing to honor the JCPOA.
"In general, we are not able to use our frozen funds abroad," Seif said Apr. 15.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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[ARA News] HASAKAH – Subsequent to fierce battles with the radical group of Islamic State (ISIS), the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) captured an ISIS injured militant in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah, Kurdish security sources reported.
The source confirmed that the jihadi captive was taken immediately to the National Hospital of Hasakah for treatment after his arrest.
Speaking to ARA News in Hasakah, J.K. member of the Kurdish security forces of the Asayish said that the SDF units have captured a terrorist from the radical group during battles between the two sides near Abu Khashab area south of the city of Shaddadi in Hasakah’s south.
“His health condition has been improving since his arrest on Sunday; the jihadi captive had been subjected to several surgeries in his stomach,” according to the Kurdish Asayish member.
The SDF units include Kurdish, Arab and Christian fighters –mainly supported by the United States in the war on ISIS.
The SDF military campaign in northeastern Syria aims to control the entire countryside of Hasakah province, especially after recapturing key areas from ISIS, including Shaddadi and the town of al-Hawl on the Syrian-Iraqi border.
Last February, the SDF took control of Shaddadi, while sporadic clashes continued between their fighters and ISIS sleeper cells.
The SDF military efforts to control the entire countryside of Hasakah have been suspended near the ISIS-held township of Margada–the last stronghold of the group in southern Hasakah province.
More than 275 ISIS militants were killed and 33 ISIS vehicles were destroyed at the hands of the SDF fighters in the battle for Shaddadi, according to the SDF leadership.
Also Monday, US-led coalition forces conducted a number of airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Hasakah which led to the death of an ISIS senior leader, local sources reported.
Speaking to ARA News in Hasakah, media activist Jamal Haskawi confirmed the death of the so-called Awad Ad-Dahl, a leading security member in the area of Khasham of Deir ez-Zor, in an airstrike, while in his car on the way to the southern suburbs of the province.
Over the past few months, the US-led coalition forces have intensified their airstrikes on vital locations for ISIS, killing dozens of the group’s top leaders and wounding more others. ISIS’s power has recently declined, especially after the dissidence of hundreds of its own militants.
Posted by: badanov ||
04/20/2016
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[LI] Even before the smoke could settle over the site of yesterday’s bus blast in Jerusalem that left 21 people wounded -- two of them seriously -- the Palestinian leadership is praising and celebrating the terror attack.
The armed-wing of PLO-Fatah, active in the territory under Palestinian Authority control, applauded the Jerusalem bus blast, calling it the beginning of a new phase in Intifada, the renewed campaign of terror against Israel. Hamas, the Islamist outfit controlling Gaza said it "welcomed" the Monday’s terrorist attack, calling it "natural reaction" to supposed Israeli crimes.
In the eyes of these terrorist groups, the mere presence of Jews in their historic homeland amounts to a provocation and the Jewish sovereignty over the land of Israel constitutes a crime -- severe enough to justify a deadly campaign of terror and incitement that started much before the State of Israel was even proclaimed. Candy yes. Thousands dancing and merrymaking, no, no, no!
[Chicago Tribune] Damond Dawson was "goofing around" with his brother and other relatives and friends, rapping and shooting video in Foster Park when two gunnies opened fire early Tuesday, killing Dawson and wounding four others, according to police and relatives.
"Basically like an ambush," said Dawson's aunt, Angela Mathis-Tate, 44. "One coming west of the park and one coming south. "I be tough,
I be bad,
Mess wid me,
You be sad..."
The shooting happened around 2:20 a.m. as Dawson, 23, and a small group were "rapping around (taking) selfies with their phones" at Foster Park at 1440 W. 84th St., according to relatives. What was the lad doing out at 2:30 a.m.? Didn't he have to go to work in the morning?
Dawson was shot once in the back of the head and collapsed in the middle of the park, between a building and a playground. He was pronounced dead on the scene. "I be shot,
In my head,
I lay down,
I be dead...!"
A 19-year-old woman was shot twice in the groin area and was taken in serious condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center. Three other men took themselves to the same hospital: a 20-year-old man shot nine times in the leg and shoulder, a 25-year-old man grazed in the leg and an 18-year-old man grazed in the back. Their conditions were stabilized. "I be shot,
In my groin,
My, dat hurt!
Blood be showin'!"
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2016
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Top|| File under:
#1
It's Freddie "Trisyllable" Dawson;
His parody rappin' is awesome.
He's bustin' dese triggaz
Cuz narrative, niggaz,
So fast it'd trip Srinavasan!
[USATODAY] In 2002, Norman Shy was settling into his new, custom-built mansion in Farmington Hills, Mich. -- complete with an indoor lap pool, massive marble foyer, paneled library, movie theater and nine bathrooms.
Life was good for the school supply vendor.
But behind the glamour was a scammer, prosecutors allege in a federal criminal case, and he would go undetected for years.
Farmington Hills: 10,978 square foot Cape Cod, five bedrooms, nine bathrooms, five car garage, movie theater, lap pool. Good schools, low taxes, priced to sell.
Call Katie at ReBAR 855-555-1234
Here, in this 11,000-square-foot estate, public records show, is where the central figure in a bankrupt, increasingly impoverished, reliably Democrat, Detroit ... ruled by Democrats since 1962. A city whose Golden Age included the Purple Gang... school corruption case lived for years while allegedly cheating the Detroit Public Schools out of millions of dollars with the help of 12 principals and one administrator. Shy's home was featured in a Michigan House Envy article in the Detroit Free Press in 2013. He sold the home in November 2014.
According to court documents, principals used Shy as their school supply vendor for items such as chairs, workbooks and paper, but the supplies rarely made it to the classrooms. In return for their help, the principals allegedly received $1 million in kickbacks that came in all forms: payments made to sham companies that the principals had created, cash, gift cards and house repairs, including a new roof and gutter work for one administrator.
Detroit Public Schools unknowingly paid for it all, prosecutors allege, claiming Shy was the biggest benefactor of all. Over 13 years, he billed the district $5 million, of which $2.7 million was ill-gotten, they say.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2016
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#1
That level of corruption would indicate a deep corrupt network including accountants, auditors, administration committee members...
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. has vowed Dire Revenge™ for ’every drop of blood’ of Afghan people spilled by the forces of Evil as 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.... was hit by a deadly attack today which left at least 28 dead and 327 maimed. So why not send some murderous agents to cut the throats of all the members of the Quetta Shura?
During a visit to Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan hospital where the injured civilians are treated following the deadly attack, President Ghani said the attack represents a culture of ignorance which is not having any justification in the religion of Islam.
Ghani fu9rther added that such acts do not have any links with the humanity and is considered a shameful act in Afghanistan.
He recalled government’s pleas for peace talks and said the forces of Evil have been defeated in the battlefield and a large number of them have been killed, insisting the Death Eater groups forced the Afghan forces to take such actions against them.
Vowing Dire Revenge for each drop of blood spilled by the Death Eaters, President Ghani said no there is not distinction among the Afghan people, warning Death Eater groups that they will fail to divide the Afghan nation.
President Ghani also added that the victims of today’s attack are fathers, sons and brothers of someone, emphasizing that such attacks will further strengthen the will and determination of the Afghan people to bring peace and stability in the country.
Calling the members of the Afghan cops as true sons of the country, President Ghani said the Afghan forces are ready to go to the frontline against the Death Eater groups.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2016
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Somalia is asking Russia to help equip its armed forces to fight terrorism in the Horn of Africa nation, where Islamic militant group al-Shabab is waging a deadly insurgency against the Western-backed government, according to Sputnik news agency, which is owned and operated by the Russian government.
Give the Rooshuns basing rights in Mogadishu and you'll get a deal...
Mogadishu is also seeking Moscow’s support in strengthening its flagging economy, Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke reportedly said Tuesday at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
“Support in peacekeeping operations is one of the possible aspects of strengthening our armed forces. It is highly important for us to strengthen our law enforcement agencies to fight terrorism. Therefore, we would like to request such support from you,” Sharmarke apparently said at the meeting in Moscow. “We expect closer Somalia-Russia cooperation.”
During Tuesday’s meeting, Lavrov said Russia is ready to consider military cooperation to help Somalia battle terrorism in the hostile region.
I thought the UN and ANISOM had all this under control...
“I know that during your visit to Russia, you would like to talk in particular about equipping the Somali security forces with all that is necessary to fight terrorists,” he reportedly told Sharmarke in Moscow. “Such an approach is fully consistent with the interests of the international community, in line with the U.N. Security Council decisions and Russia will be ready to consider a request on the matter.”
Al-Shabab, whose name means “the youth,” emerged in 2006 from the now-defunct Islamic Courts Union, which once commanded Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu. The Sunni extremist group launched its own insurgency on major Somali cities in 2009, taking control of Mogadishu and southern Somalia until it was pushed out by domestic and international forces around 2012.
Al-Shabab regularly targets officials in its efforts to topple Somalia’s Western-backed government as well as civilians and non-Muslims. Although it’s based in Somalia, al-Shabab also has launched deadly attacks in neighboring countries. Many areas of south-central Somalia are still under al-Shabab’s control, and the militants have increased efforts in recent months to recapture lost territories.
Decades of civil war has also ravaged much of Somalia’s economic infrastructure, institutions and government structure, according to the World Bank. Clan warlords have battled for power in the East African country since the collapse of a quasi communist military dictator’s regime in the early 1990s. After years of interim authority, a federal government headed by the president and parliament was established in 2012. But Somalia’s internationally recognized government has failed to assert central authority over the nation which, coupled with high unemployment, has created a nice for piracy and armed groups.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/20/2016
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Top|| File under: al-Shabaab
#1
Not USA? I guess Somalis are prejudiced against transgendered people---or, maybe, they are just racists.
Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin said ISIS used the AT-13 "Kornet" ATGM, one of Russia's best. The tank was an M-60. Really proud of that, they are.
[ARA News] ERBIL – Militant fighters of the Islamic State (ISIS) on Tuesday targeted an alleged Turkish tank in Iraq’s northwestern city of Mosul with an anti-tank guided missile, pro-ISIS media sources reported.
The group’s news agency Amaq published a videotape showing an ISIS jihadi adjusting an advanced missile to target a Turkish tank near Mount Bashiqa in the vicinity of Mosul city in Iraq’s Nineveh province.
The group showed the date of April 19, 2016, at the beginning of the footage.
The footage shows the missile ejects from the launcher and hitting the alleged Turkish tank stationed on the top of a hill, destroying it at once.
“Allah is the Greatest… Allah is the Greatest,” ISIS jihadis shouted after destroying the tank.
ARA News could not verify the death toll in the ranks of the tank’s crew as the clip ends suddenly.
Speaking to ARA News in Mosul, journalist J.L. stressed that there are Turkish tanks at Mount Bashiqa north-east of Mosul, but there are doubts about the authenticity of the clip. “Also, the ISIS-led attack, if it was true, is likely in favor of the Turkish government at least in the current conditions.”
Turkey has been accused of backing Islamists against army forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, facilitating the influx of foreign militants into Syria to join ISIS in a bid to create strategic balance in the war in Syria, according to the source.
“There are serious doubts about the group’s attacks against Turkish targets in northern Iraq,” he argued, pointing out “Erdogan wants to convince the public opinion that his country and army forces are under ISIS’s threats due to his steadfastness against the terror group side by side with the US-coalition forces.”
On the other hand, the Turkish army released a statement saying that ISIS has bombed one of its tanks in northern Iraq on Tuesday, adding that nobody was inside the tank when it exploded. It also pointed out that its forces responded to the attack by bombing ISIS positions in Mosul, killing 32 militants.
In March 2015, Turkey deployed hundreds of soldiers reaching to 25 tanks at Beshiqa military camp in the vicinity of Iraq’s ISIS-held Mosul city in order to train local Iraqi forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga to fight the hardline group, according media sources.
Update from Al Ahram at 11:15 a.m. ET, the Turkish response:
Turkish armed forces on Tuesday killed 32 suspected Islamic State militants in the Bashiqa area of northern Iraq in response to an attack on a Turkish tank at a military camp there, broadcaster CNN Turk reported.
CNN Turk said Turkish soldiers had killed 10 Islamic State militants during an operation that destroyed a building, and had killed another 22 militants as they fled. The report could not immediately be verified.
NATO member Turkey has soldiers stationed at the Bashiqa camp near the city of Mosul, which it says are training local forces to fight Islamic State.
Posted by: badanov ||
04/20/2016
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
in order to train local Iraqi forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga
Jeez. It's getting harder and harder to figure out whose siding with whom.
#4
a good tactic would be to deploy a fake tank, let the ISIS command hit it with their best stuff then use artillery to take out the ISIS missile site
do it a couple of times and ISIS will have no more missile techs
off course this only works if you can use your artillery without having to write a memo in triplicate to the JAG to get permission
Posted by: lord garth ||
04/20/2016 11:14
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#5
#3 They're Arabs - it's always Calvin Ball with bullets and bombs.
And there you have it - The Arab Mind condensed into a single sentence. Worthy of Snark of the Day.
#6
Easy to figure, The Daesh/ISIS are creature of Erdogan, just like Norks are creatures of the Chi-coms...Plausible deniability...that only suckers and ignorants believe in...
That puts paid to any effort by the old oil cartel to increase oil prices. Soon the Saudis and the Mad Mullahs will have to rconsider previous grand visions of conquering the world for their version of Allah. Perhaps this could be considered a sign that he does not approve of jihad after all.
A new oil find in Great Britain could add up to $74 billion to the nation’s economy, according to a study published Monday by the oil company UK Oil & Gas Investments (UKOG).
The find has the potential to generate from $10 billion to $74.6 billion for the British economy, according to the study, including up to $26 billion in new tax revenue for the British government. The oil could also provide 27 percent of the U.K.’s daily oil demand over the life of the project, and create 5,600 steady jobs that pay a starting salary of more than $43,000 annually.
“It is therefore possible that the overall economic impact of Kimmeridge Limestone oil could be significantly higher than this initial report describes,” Stephen Sanderson, the executive chairman of U.K. Oil & Gas, said in a statement.
The find is located in the Kimmeridge Limestone, which is just south of London. An experimental test well in the area, called the Gatwick Gusher, struck more oil than it could pump last month. The single well can likely access 20 million barrels of oil.
Estimates made last year state that the reserve could store as much as 100 billion barrels of oil. According to government data, the rest of Britain only has 2.98 billion barrels of proven oil reserves. Britain’s current oil production has continued to decline, and experts estimate the country will be forced to import 50 percent of its daily oil demand by 2020.
Environmentalists, who worried the well could create an incentive for hydraulic fracturing in the U.K., began protesting against the Gatwick Gusher in February. Drilling in the area won’t require hydraulic fracturing, or fracking according to the company which operates the well, but it could help the U.K. get more oil out of the formation.
These people are wasting many thousands of pounds of tax payers money. They haven't a clue what they are talking about. They listen to scare stories and seem to be able to absorb the utter rubbish spouted but fail to understand any science based evidence. How is it that this country is being held to ransom by a motley crew of people who are so against fossil fuels and yet no doubt arrived by car, use plastic, take medicines and live a very luxurious life because of hydrocarbons. The hypocrisy is staggering. The media pander to them and give them far more publicity than they deserve. Stop using fossil fuels first and let us see just how well you cope, then we might listen.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/20/2016
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#1
"The stone age came to an end, not for lack of stones, and the oil age will end, but not for lack of oil."
~ Sheik Ahmed Zahi Yamani
#5
No, they'll be the ones collecting welfare from the taxes it raises. They're already getting jizya, so why do work?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
04/20/2016 11:39
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#6
Ha! Ha! "Things" will "improve"...meaning they will bomb something every day, behead soldiers in the middle of street until people will finally get fed up and islam will be interdicted and eradicated like bestiality, inbreeding, pedophilia and cannibalism...and it will be the day that suddenly, inexplicably, peace will reign...
[CBSNEWS] "I have a sense of what's in there. I haven't read it. Somebody brought it up over breakfast but I wasn't paying attention."
But this has been a process which we generally deal with through the intelligence community and Jim Clapper, our director of national intelligence, has been going through to make sure that whatever it is that is released is not gonna compromise some major national security interest of the United States. My understanding is that he's about to complete that process," Mr. Obama told Rose. "I have no fnorkin' idea what's in it."
CBS' "60 Minutes" recently aired a story highlighting the 28 pages and it also featured interviews with current and former members of Congress, U.S. officials, members of the 9/11 Commission and families of the terrorist attacks. "Maybe you should ask them? I haven't seen it. I was watching something Michelle got from Netflix."
Former Sen. Bob Graham helped author the report that the 28 pages appears in and while he declined to detail that section, he told "60 Minutes" that that portion could highlight possible Saudi support for the 9/11 hijackers. He also suggested that it sheds light on a network of people he believes supported the hijackers in the U.S. "There's a reason we call that sort of thing 'SECRET,' you know."
House Minority Leader Nancy San Fran Nan Pelosi Congresswoman-for-Life from the San Francisco Bay Area, born into a family of professional politicians. Formerly Speaker of the House, but it's not her fault they lost. Really. Noted for her heavily botoxed grimace... , D-Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, is among a number of politicians who wants the 28 pages declassified. She's sure it would hurt George W. Bush's image.
The president on Monday also weighed in on bipartisan legislation that is pending in the Senate that would allow victims of terror attacks on U.S. soil to sue foreign countries that might have provided support. It's a stupid idea whose time has come.
Mr. Obama warned that it could have consequences that would, for instance, allow people in other countries to continually sue the U.S. Even B.O. can see the consequences.
"This is a matter of how generally the United States approaches our interactions with other countries. If we open up the possibility that individuals and the United States can routinely start suing other governments, then we are also opening up the United States to being continually sued by individuals in other countries." Thereby costing the taxpayers mountains of money. Bernie Sanders ...The only openly Socialist member of the U.S. Senate. Sanders was Representative-for-Life from Vermont until moving to the Senate for the rest of his life in 2006, assuming the seat vacated by Jim Jeffords... , a presidential candidate and senator, told "CBS This Morning" on Monday that he supports the legislation and Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Abel P. Upshur ... also expressed support for it. It's not their money, is it?
Sanders also revealed that even though he has access to viewing the 28 pages, he hasn't read them. But he does have an opinion.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2016
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#1
Have not read the 28 pages? No problem, have a look at some 9/11 jumper photos.
The fact that the KSA is now threatening us with economic reprisals over this should be proof enough of their complicity and guilt. Send them to hell.
#3
According to Drudge, the Saudis are now borrowing money to make ends meet. Soon the threat to sell assets (if the 9/11 report is released) will be a financial necessity...
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/20/2016 11:59
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#4
Borrowing money? So glad to hear it. It warms my heart.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
04/20/2016 18:34
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(IraqiNews.com) Dohuk – On Tuesday, eyewitnesses revealed, that Turkish warplanes attacked the headquarters of Kurdistan workers Party north of Dohuk Province.
One of the witnesses called Ismail Khawaga reported for IraqiNews.com, “Turkish warplanes launched an attack on the headquarters of Kurdistan Workers Party in Amadiya District,” pointing out that, “The attack lasted for more than an hour.”
[FRANCE24] A Taliban suicide kaboom followed by a firefight on a key security agency compound in the heart of 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.... Tuesday killed at least 28 people and maimed more than 300, according to Afghan officials.
A minibus packed with explosives destroyed Kabul’s Puli Mahmood Khan neighbourhood -- a densely packed area that is home to several Afghan security compounds -- during the morning rush hour.
The bombing was followed by a firefight, marking the first major Taliban offensive since the myrmidon Islamist group announced the start of the spring fighting season a week ago.
Police sources told news hounds the blast occurred near the NDS (National Directorate of Security ...the Afghan national intel agency... ) compound in central Kabul, which is near the Ministry of Interior headquarters.
At least 28 people were killed, according to Afghan police officials, and more than 300 people were maimed, including women and kiddies, said health officials.
Afghanistan's Caped PresidentAshraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. condemned the attack "in the strongest possible terms" in a statement from the presidential palace.
"Today's terrorist attack near Puli Mahmood Khan area of Kabul city demonstrates the clear defeat of the enemy in the face-to-face fight against Afghan cops," the Afghan presidential palace said in a statement on Twitter.
Reporting from Kabul for FRANCE 24, Bilal Sarwary said the scale and sophistication of the attack in one of Kabul’s most heavily secured neighbourhood raises serious security questions.
"President Ghani said the Taliban can’t face the Afghan cops in face-to-face battles, that’s why they are conducting attacks like this. But the president’s word will do little to restore the confidence of the Afghan people in what is clearly a huge security and intelligence failure once more."
The kaboom rattled windows several miles away and sent a plume of thick smoke rising in the sky. Ambulances were seen rushing to the blast site and medical officials said a number of maimed had been rushed to a nearby hospital. The area around the kaboom was immediately cordoned off by security sources, according to witnesses and news hounds in the Afghan capital.
Counter-terrorism experts in the Afghan Interior Ministry said initial findings showed very potent explosives were used in the minibus bombing to cause maximum casualties, according to Sarwary.
Warning sirens blared out from the embassy compound, which is also close to the headquarters of the main NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... -led mission in Afghanistan.
The US embassy said they were not affected by the blast. The NATO military coalition also said they were unaffected.
Taliban claims attack
The Taliban grabbed credit for the attack in a Twitter posting shortly after the blast destroyed central Kabul.
Taliban front man Zabihullah Mujahid claimed their fighters had managed to enter the offices of the NDS, the main Afghan spy agency.
The Afghan Taliban last Tuesday announced the start of their "spring offensive" even as the government in Kabul seeks to bring the holy warriors back to the negotiating table to end their drawn-out conflict.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2016
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[AlAhram] All the victims of the attack were members of central security forces
Unknown assailants fired a rocket at a police vehicle on Tuesday in the North Sinai city of Sheikh Zuweid, leaving three conscripts dead and eight others injured from the central security forces, Egypt's interior ministry announced.
So the tunnels to Gazoo work both ways...
"Security forces combed the area where the incident took place and are still searching for the perpetrators of the attack," the statement read.
No group has yet grabbed credit for the incident.
But it will, as usual, turn out to be Ansar Bayt al Maqdis or their friends and relations.
Breitbart's national security editor Sebastian Gorka received a one-time payment of $8,000 from Donald Trump's presidential campaign last October, Federal Election Commission records show.
According to an FEC filing first reported by Buzzfeed News, the Trump campaign paid Gorka for "policy consulting" on Oct. 1, 2015. As recently as Monday, Gorka was identified as Breitbart's "national security editor" by the news outlet itself.
Gorka, a well-respected security and intelligence expert who teaches military theory at the Marine Corps University, has not written for Breitbart since Dec. 2 — two months after he received a payment from Trump's campaign.
He did not respond to the Washington Examiner's request for comment. More at the link
Don't make the mistake of assuming the "pro-democracy" cleric is a good man, however.
[Mindanao Examiner] Filipino supporters of the Daesh in Lanao del Sur province denounced an influential cleric and branded him as murtad, or apostate, after he endorsed popular Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte who is running for president and Binladen Agakhan Sharief who is gunning for vice governor in the restive Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
They condemned Sheikh Jamil Yahya, also known as Mutawwa, after he appeared in a political propaganda video uploaded April 14 on Binladen's Facebook page. In the clip, it was said that it is obligatory for all Muslims to vote for Binladen and Duterte in the May general elections.
In the video, Yahya said, "Because we have to choose leaders in this election forcibly to Muslims, it is our obligatory as elder scholars to guide you the candidates that are obligatory to be helped and voted. If we don’t do this, you will blame us in the day of judgment."
He said Muslims should vote for Binladen because he and his fellow clerics have witnessed the politician's "good deeds in line with the prosperity of the Muslims, its land and the religion of Islam."
Yahya said that it is necessary for Muslims to vote for Duterte as well, because he had helped a lot of Muslims in Mindanao.
In an Internet forum, the jihadis said they were shocked and saddened over Yahya's political endorsements. They quoted a Koran verse that says, "Until you did not fully cut ties with taghut (tyrants), you are not fully a Muslim, but kafir (infidel). You are obliged to be killed."
One of the jihadis, named al-Ghareeb, said Yahya – like other prominent clerics branded by the Daesh as murtad deserved to be killed. He also quoted Islamic scholar Ibn Taymiyyah who said that "a Muslim who made apostasy regarding few rules of the religion is worse than a kafir who has yet to even embrace those rules."
"We denounce his (Yahya) wrongdoings. His revelation shows his true intention and what he did was totally not permissible in Islam. It is a shame to Allah," said al-Ghareed.
Another of the group said that pious Muslims should "totally disregard" the practices of democracy as it is not divinely created by God, but by humans.
Yahya's pronouncement came after members of the Khilafah Islamiyah Movement (KIM) in Lanao del Sur, now called "Dawlah Islamiyah" or Islamic State, declared Abdullah Maute - alias Abu Hasan - as their leader.
In September 19, 2014, Yahya along with some members of the KIM led more than 100 civilians, including women and children, in pledging their loyalty to Daesh and even hoisted their black flag in Marawi City. Last February, a senior leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Abdullah Macapaar, alias Commander Bravo, said that Yahya also had tried to convince him and other MILF leaders to support Daesh.
Yahya also issued a fatwa against several Liberal party candidates for their alleged anti- Muslim stances on various issues.
In May 2011, Yahya led a small rally outside the Golden Mosque in Manila and denounced the killing of Osama bin Laden. During the rally, he called the United States the number one terrorist in the world and the number one enemy of Islam.
Posted by: ryuge ||
04/20/2016
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The army is closing in on the last key enemy position at the small dock at Ganfouda into which it is reported Islamists militants have crowded, some of them with their wives and children.
This afternoon it was said that a flotilla of small boats was heading to Ganfouda to evacuate the fighters penned in there. The air force is understood to have launched several airstrikes, which may have sunk at least one of the vessels.
The presence of family members with the militants, if true, will complicate the seeming end of a bitter two-year battle. A diplomatic source said tonight that if women and children perished in a final assault, the army’s victory would be tarnished. The diplomat speculated that it might be decided to let the last fighters get away with their families.
The official army blackout on information means that today’s events can only be pieced together from a range of sources, including soldiers in the front line. But there is no doubt that the collapse of resistance by IS, Ansar Al-Sharia and Benghazi Revolutionaries’ Shoura Council force has continued.
Presumably in anticipation of the victory, which he has promised so many times before was imminent, Armed Forces commander-in-chief Khalifa Hafter is reported to have arrived in Benghazi this evening. In photographs posted on social media, the normally dour general was beaming and giving a thumbs-up sign for photographers.
Heavy fighting resumed this morning with the army pushing into Gwarsha from Huwari. By late this afternoon, a local commander was claiming that nearly all of the district had been taken. It was also said that some Libyan militants have been surrendering while figures for their casualties vary with the highest death toll being 42.
One claimed death is that of BSRC commander Fawzi Al-Rabea, (above) who was suspected of involvement in the 2013 Benghazi assassination wave of serving and retired police and army officers, which finally triggered Hafter’s Operation Dignity. It is not clear where Rabea died.
The fighting has also claimed dead and wounded on the army side. Again figures vary but as many as 30 soldiers may have perished in the last 48 hours, including the military engineers’ spokesman Siraj Al-Tira who was killed by a booby trap on the outskirts of Garayounis.
Libya Alakhbar photojournalist Ayub Al-Joli (above) also died today in Gwarsha in circumstances that have not yet been explained. There are also reports that IS fighters in Gwarsha captured two medical workers from the Benghazi Medical Centre who were working at the front. Once again it is unclear how this happened but it suggests that IS fighters are still capable of mounting counterattacks. The fate of the two men is not known.
[IN.REUTERS] Growing euroscepticism in the EU is partly due to too much interference from Brussels in ordinary people's lives, which needs to be toned down, the head of the European Commission said on Tuesday.
Toned down. Regulated better. Managed. Smoothed. Massaged. Directed. More subtle. All this in place of 'abolished'...
In comments likely to resonate in Britannia as it gears up for a June referendum on whether to stay in the bloc, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said more powers should rest with the capitals rather than central EU institutions.
Asked by British conservative politician Nigel Evans what he planned to do about growing euroscepticism, Juncker said: "I think that one of the reasons why European citizens are stepping away from the European project is due to the fact that we are interfering in too many domains of their private lives.
If only the nomenklatura could better placate the rubes...
In many of those areas, individual states were "better placed to take action and to pass through legislation."
For that reason, Brussels was passing far fewer new pieces of legislation than under previous presidents, Juncker said.
He was speaking after Dutch voters, in a swipe at their government as well as the EU, rejected closer ties with Ukraine earlier this month, having also voted against a proposed EU constitution in 2005.
"I made it clear back in 2006 that the European project was running out of steam, there was disappointment. I don't think the situation has fundamentally changed, on the contrary," Juncker told the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe.
"Yes it's right we are not very popular when we plead the case for Europe. You are no longer respected in your country if you insist that in the necessity of supra-national bodies."
So why the swipe against the Dutch, Juncky?
Voters in EU's newer eastern member states including Poland and Hungary have also in recent years elected governments that are more critical of the EU.
But Juncker also said more close cooperation was needed between the 28 states to tackle joint challenges, including the migration crisis and security threats, and he has strongly advocated for Britannia to stay in the EU.
"We were wrong in overregulating and interfering too much in the daily lives of our fellow citizens... But we would also be wrong if we insufficiently respected the principle of solidarity."
So you should all do it Frau Merkel's way...
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2016
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#1
"When Adam delved and Eve span, Who was then the gentleman?", eh herr Juncker?
[FRANCE24] The leaders of Syria's opposition delegation were leaving Geneva on Tuesday after the group suspended its formal participation in troubled peace negotiations, the opposition chief said.
The coordinator of the main opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC), Riyad Hijab, told journalists he was leaving a day after the group put its participation at the talks on hold to protest escalating violence and restrictions on humanitarian access in Syria.
"I will be travelling today along with some of my colleagues from the HNC. Some people left yesterday and today and they will keep leaving gradually until Friday," Hijab said, speaking in Arabic.
Some delegation members will meanwhile remain in Geneva for technical discussions at their hotel with UN staff and for workshops on humanitarian issues and detainees, Hijab said.
UN peace envoy Staffan de Mistura said Monday he had been informed of HNC's intention to suspend its "formal participation" in the talks.
But he insisted the latest round of indirect discussions, which began on April 13, would continue through the week.
The UN envoy stressed that the indirect talks format ‐ which has seen the HNC and Assad's representatives meet separately with UN mediators ‐ created flexibility to continue the discussions.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2016
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Google's leading futurist, Ray Kurzweil, thinks his diet can help him live forever, a goal he recently told Playboy we could be close to achieving by as early as 2029.
[Ynet] The 
[DAWN] An 
[Ynet] The United States and its allies staged 17 strikes against 
[BREITBART] The first accomplishment of 
Jerry 
[DAWN] Dr 
Wazoo
[Davao Today] Two separate encounters between Philippine troops and the communist New People's Army in Davao City on Monday resulted in three casualties.
It's been awhile since we had a proper Bleg. The beer fund is depleted. There's nothing left in the till to waste on frivolous pursuits like hosting.
[REALCLEARPOLITICS] NBC's Hallie Jackson reports Cruz has changed his focus to Pennsylvania and making a play for the state's unbound delegates. Jackson, the network's Cruz correspondent, said even if Cruz has a third place finish in Pennsylvania's Republican primary, he'll win more than half the delegates.
[IsraelTimes] Interrogation of 14-15-year-old Paleostinian suspects led 
[IsraelTimes] The Israeli man charged in the grisly 2014 abduction and killing of Paleostinian teen Muhammad Abu Khdeir was convicted of murder by the Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday.
[NYPOST] In a pre-primary bombshell, the city’s Board of Elections was pummeled with questions Monday about how 54,000 Democratic voters vanished from the rolls in Brooklyn.
Two lawmakers claimed Tuesday that the U.S. Secret Service may need to seek outside help to fulfill its mission because agents are leaving the agency faster than they can be replaced.
[Oregonian] The company behind a proposed liquefied natural gas export terminal at the mouth of the Columbia River has abandoned the project, marking the death of Oregon's second such project in a matter of weeks.
The UN Security Council on Friday issued a press statement condemning North Korea's launch of a ballistic missile as a violation of UNSC resolutions. The UNSC warned Pyongyang of strong measures should it carry out any further provocations including a nuclear test or missile launch.
Valiollah Seif, the head of Iran's central bank, has urged the US to remove ambiguities over banking ties with Iran. "Washington should feel accountable for removing ambiguities over the cooperation of the European banks with Iran," IRNA news agency quoted Seif as saying.
The autocracy seldom uses public transportation unless a photo opportunity is presented. 
[Chicago Tribune] Damond Dawson was "goofing around" with his brother and other relatives and friends, rapping and shooting video in Foster Park when two 
Nancy 
Hillary Clinton
[IN.REUTERS] Growing euroscepticism in the EU is partly due to too much interference from Brussels in ordinary people's lives, which needs to be toned down, the head of the European Commission said on Tuesday.
