[CDR Salamader] Subject: Thunderbird Applicants
Importance: High
Wing Commanders,
I am writing to request your assistance. For some, you are familiar with the request, for others it may be the first time, so please bear with me. I am asking for your help in finding the right pilots for next year's Thunderbird team. Maj Gen Silveria, USAFWC/CC will also write your NAF/CCs asking similar.
The announcement is out and the suspense has passed for the applications for next year’s team, but we have only received 15 applications for the three demonstration pilot positions (#3,#6, and #8 narrator/advance pilot). While we have several qualified candidates that many of you submitted, I am lacking the depth in talent we've seen in previous years and I am lacking in diversity of gender, ethnicity and MDS background. Currently 14 white males have applied and zero applicants from the F-15C or F-22. I understand the Raptors are finally in the fight so many are taking their first chance at combat (ok couldn't resist) and choosing not to apply. And on, and on it goes.
Somehow I can't imagine anyone in their right mind flying in those formations with someone or two that were chosen for affirmative action qualifications rather than real physical skills. You wanna bet your life, fine but you sure as hell ain't betting mine.
#5
What's the word?
Thunderbird!
-- Initiation of basic mental status exam and satisfactory response, to be used whenever a minimally responsive street inebriate arrives at the ER.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/22/2016 21:29
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#7
Affirmative Action does not work well when you need a top skills to fill the position. You take the best, regardless of color and gender etc. Otherwise you kill people by saddling them with incompetents.
California regulators’ attempts to compel a conservative nonprofit group to turn over a list of its major donors is unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled on Thursday.
District court judge Manuel Real ruled that attorney general Kamala Harris' office did not demonstrate a sufficient need for that information when it sought to bar the conservative Americans for Prosperity Foundation from raising money in the state unless it turned over that list. The fascist left's need to shame and expose anti-state thought is good enough!!
If upheld, the case could have broad implications for efforts by Democratic politicians to more heavily scrutinize--and, critics say, censor or stifle--nonprofit groups that engage in political speech without advocating for or against specific candidates.
The AFP Foundation "has proven that disclosing its Schedule B to the Attorney General would create a burden on its First Amendment rights," Real wrote in his decision. Schedule B refers to the portion of nonprofits' annual filings with the Internal Revenue Service that disclose their major donors. Though 501(c)(3) nonprofit groups are required to provide that information to the IRS, the agency is barred from publicly disclosing it. Yet somehow the DNC gets access to it...
Under regulations implemented by the California attorney general's office, nonprofit groups that want to raise money in the state have to turn over their unredacted schedule B to state regulators.
The AFP Foundation operated in California since 2001 without providing that schedule B. The state asked for it for the first time in 2013. The foundation said it would not provide it, and sued for the ability to continue operating in the state.
The dispute turned on the question of whether compulsory donor disclosure infringes on a nonprofit group's First Amendment rights. The foundation argued that the frequent threats and attempts at intimidation that it endures--in large measure a result of its affiliation with libertarian billionaire David Koch, who chairs the group's board--demonstrate that compulsory donor disclosure would chill support for the group. The court agreed.
"During the course of trial, the Court heard ample evidence establishing that AFP, its employees, supporters and donors face public threats, harassment, intimidation, and retaliation once their support for and affiliation with the organization becomes publicly known," Real wrote. Sounds like the CA DA and the staff need some jail time. Or at least tarred and feathered Funny how no one has called out Ms. Harris about her lack of interest into citizens facing public threats, harassment and intimidation. I always thought there were laws about that sort of thing, but what do I know...
The AFP Foundation invoked the Supreme Court's 1958 decision in NAACP v. Alabama, which upheld donor and membership privacy under the First Amendment. Harris downplayed threats against the foundation by noting that those leveled against the NAACP during the civil rights movement were far more severe.
Real agreed, but waved off the argument.
"Although the Attorney General correctly points out that such abuses are not as violent or pervasive as those encountered in NAACP v. Alabama or other cases from that era, this Court is not prepared to wait until an AFP opponent carries out one of the numerous death threats made against its members," the judge wrote. Wow. Common sense from a judge.
Still long past time to punch back twice as hard. Or even shoot back.
Al-Rooters
China's Defense Ministry on Friday denied reports that Chinese troops were massing on the North Korean border, ahead of a possible fifth North Korean nuclear test, saying its deployments there were normal. "No, no! They're tourists"
The Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said earlier this week that China had sent 2,000 troops to the border, a story picked up by Russian and Iranian news outlets, among others. The decision was made ahead of the expected testing of North Korea's fifth nuclear device, the report said, in violation of U.N. sanctions.
"The relevant report does not accord with the facts," the Defense Ministry said in a short statement. "The Chinese military maintains normal combat readiness and training on the China-North Korea border."
It did not elaborate. "I can say no more"
Reports periodically surface about unusual troops movements on the border, which are hard to verify independently and generally quickly denied by the Chinese government.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/22/2016
09:25 ||
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#1
They probably average more troops than that INSIDE North Korea over the last decade.
#4
I'm more inclined towards refugee interdiction, what with the relatively warmer weather coming on.
Spot on! The Chinese certainly understand national sovereignty and are building a wall with AK-47's. Something to be learned here, something to be learned.
#5
A wall of AK-47s. That's such a good line I'm going to borrow it.
I do wonder if refugee interdiction is the only interest here: the same gun-wall would also tend to cut smuggling into Nork-Land (or at least make the local military cadres wealthy).
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/22/2016 13:48
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#6
are building a wall with AK-47's. Something to be learned here, something to be learned.
The AK is no longer standard issue with PLA regulars, although their AK copies are issued to militia units.
[WND] Like or dislike her, there's no questioning Hillary's manly bona fides. Mrs. Clinton is as tough as she's philosophically misguided.
At the first Democratic debate, on Oct. 14, 2015, Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley and Lincoln Chafee shuffled meekly to their respective podiums. Only Jim Webb and Mrs. Clinton strode onto that stage like soldiers.
Unless her handlers coach her on acting femininely, you'll never catch Hillary blubbering about Bill and Chelsea coming first in her life. Yes, I can easily see her texting at a departed Bill Clinton eulogy.
She doesn't! They don’t (come first)! No, siree. For Hillary, it’s ambition before family.
Still, when Hillary expects it to pay political dividends, she fights like a girl, claws drawn.
Her April 19 victory in the New York primary could hardly be bettered. But it’s unlikely to soften Mrs. Clinton’s sharpshooting. She and rival Bernie Sanders have been locked in a cycle of sorts, where Sanders will try mightily to stand up to Hillary, and she’ll swat him down like a fly.
Incredibly, Sanders is too petrified to lay the ruination of Libya at Hillary’s sturdy feet. And he has only to recount the ambient horrors of Hillary’s foreign policy – the vote for “the disastrous war in Iraq,” for one – and Mrs. Clinton’s Amazon Warriors at CNN and elsewhere crow, “Is Bernie Sanders taking the low road?”\ Fast forward to closing para:
One thing seems certain: If nature is allowed to take its course, the showdown on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November 2016 will likely be between the two men in the race:
The Hildebeest and The Donald. The Hildebeest? Our readership appears to have expanded.
[USA Today] Ford is going to export its ultimate high-performance pickup truck to China -- showing how wealthy Chinese consumers' appetites for American vehicles extend to some of the most extreme models.
The new version of the Ford F-150 Raptor SuperCrew arrives in China in 2017. It'll be an off-road beast packing massive power combined with a special chassis and suspension meant to take on rocks or the toughest terrain. The automaker says the design will "enable it to travel fast over challenging desert landscapes" -- including, it adds, the Gobi Desert.
Raptor will arrive with little modification -- the most noticeable being some small lights added to the roof to comply with Chinese highways laws -- but off-road enthusiasts there already know it well. Ford has been watching reports out of China that consumers have been paying up to $160,000 for the precious few Raptors from the vehicle's past generation that were imported one by one.
"We're seeing demand for it," says Henry Ford III, a descendant of the automaker's founder and global marketing manager for Ford Performance. "Chinese customers love products that are fun."
[NYT] LONDON -- For Kevin Nakache, the breaking point came last year. First, one of his friends was gunned down in the attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris a few days after the Charlie Hebdo massacre. Then, in October, Mr. Nakache’s former Hebrew teacher barely escaped a knife attack in Marseille, his hometown in southern France, where violence against Jews is on the rise.
Fed up, Mr. Nakache decided last fall to follow many other French Jews and leave the country. But rather than going to Israel, an increasingly popular destination for those choosing to leave France after the Charlie Hebdo attacks, or the United States, Mr. Nakache chose to emigrate to London, joining a growing stream of French Jews who see the British capital as a convenient and less threatening option as France grapples with the radicalization of young Muslims and a rise in anti-Semitism.
"When people around you get attacked, it’s frightening," he said. "You start thinking you’re next."
Watching the terrorist attacks on Charlie Hebdo unfold, "I just knew that the next victims would be Jews," he said. He was right. Four Jews, including his friend, died in the kosher supermarket in Paris after being taken hostage with 25 other shoppers by a militant claiming allegiance to the Islamic State. More recently, after Mr. Nakache left, a rabbi in Marseille was nearly hacked to death by a supporter of the Islamic State.
"For goodness sake," he said, "why do they have to kill us just because we’re Jews?"
#2
yep. I'm pretty sure they're also not on the refugee asylum list at the White House this go around again. I seem to recall there was another 'D' occupant of that address the previous time too.
#4
London, the US, Francophone Canada -- probably in that order in terms of numbers of Frenchmen who've left France since Hollande became president, which includes French Jews. The Jews just add Israel to the list.
#5
"For goodness sake," he said, "why do they have to kill us just because we’re Jews?"
If snakes were more like bunnies or crows like songbirds,
I would kill fewer snakes and crows I suppose.
Social isolation and early indoctrination define behavior.
[Breitbart] Technology giant Intel announced April 19 it will fire 12,000 skilled U.S.-based professionals -- after already swelling its workforce with 14,523 requests in Washington D.C. since 2010 for visas to import foreign professionals through the controversial H-1B and Green Card programs.
The company said the layoffs were part of a restructuring plan to help shift its focus from desktop PCs to mobile devices. But the company is very profitable, and first-quarter 2016 profits were 14 percent above predictions.
Amid the layoffs, Intel is one of the nation’s largest users of the H-1B outsourcing program which allows companies such as Disney and Abbot Laboratories to replace white-collar American professionals with cheaper professionals from India, China, and other countries.
#1
Welcome to the oligarchy. Indentured workers slaves are more reliable workers and cost efficient to the owners than free men. Why do you think slavery lasted so long in human history?
#5
These are obviously not direct replacements. Hiring engineers and laying off telephone sanitizers.
Posted by: Thravimp Lover of the Antelope7006 ||
04/22/2016 13:21
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#6
Surprisingly enough, telephone sanitizers can be retrained to some engineering tasks, and some engineers would be happy to sanitize phones rather than beg for work on the streets.
Just another "offset cost" initiative to feed dependency generating social support programs. Add the 'per unit' unemployment cost borne by the state to the reduced salary paid by the company for the replacement unit and you will find the company has a reduced tax posture and the state has a increased social support obligation that is satisfied by blending 'employment opportunity' taxes.
A job for Rantburg's Poet Laureate or any potential usurpers. The Bat Signal is lit.
Well I'm a free-born British man, and we don't live under the blasphemy laws of such despots. So in honour of this fact I have spent the weekend writing rude limericks about Mr Erdogan. And I would hereby like to invite all readers to join me in a grand Erdogan limerick competition. That isn't to say that entries which come in the form of Iambic pentameters, or heroic couplets will be completely discounted. I think a work in the Homeric mode, for example, about the smallness of Erdogan's manhood could (if suitably disgusting) stand some chance of winning. But I recommend limericks because almost everything insulting that is worth saying can usually be included within the five lines of that beautiful and delicate form.
I would also like to stress that the aim of the competition is to be as filthy and insulting as possible about Recep Erdogan. Rhymes with some political point might be considered, but will inevitably take second-place to works which mull (for example) solely on President Erdogan's reputed fondness for goats or his notorious untrustworthiness in the vicinity of any public zoo.
#5
Jan Sobieski gives the finger from the grave
Because Merkal shit warbled as slave
"Go and arrest my peoples
and knock down the steeples
so we can pretend that Recep's not gay."
#7
A wanna-be Calife named Erdy,
Said to his camel, "Yer purdy!"
Let's go out by the tree,
It's shady and free,
And you, me and the goat can get flirty.
#8
Shit shit shit. Fantastic material lately, a clamoring public (!), and now this... as life events (ptui!) have more or less laid me low. Gut nuthin. FWIW, I've decided to actually work at this a bit as soon as I get some breathing room. That's not to say it'll get better -- I may well disappear up my own ass doing the ancestor's bio as a Pearl parody or something -- but at least it won't be forced, Frankenstein parts bucket junk like...
"My yataganscimitar gimlet,
Bright green with a scriptural inset,
Has certainly hurt you,
O goat of great virtue..."
At which the goat asked, "Is it in yet?"
[USA Today] CHICAGO-- Some citizens of America’s great cities probably wouldn't mind a visit from the Pied Piper right about now.
Several major U.S. cities--including Boston, Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C.-- have seen significant surges in rat complaints from their residents in recent months, according to city data reviewed by USA TODAY. I'll take American urban politics for $500.
#2
..now to reintroduce plague bearing fleas. If you thought Ebola was fun, just see how inadequate the powers to be are in dealing with the volume of casualties that would create. Idiocracy was suppose to be a satirical warning, not a how to manual on losing touch with the very basics of civilization.
#9
..only works if people are kept from feeding them. Feed a dog and he's with you forever. The cats only stay till someone else gives them better eats. Then they change 'owners'.
[IsraelTimes] Monday’s blast marks 1st suicide kaboom of current terror wave; cell members in Bethlehem tossed in the slammer Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! ; terrorist Abed al-Hamid Abu Srour, 19, died Wednesday of his wounds
The bus bombing in Jerusalem on Monday was a suicide terror attack orchestrated by Paleostinian terror group Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, and several members of the cell responsible have been arrested in the West Bank, security forces revealed on Thursday as a gag order on the case was partially lifted.
The bomber who placed the bomb on board the number 12 bus in the Talpiot neighborhood of Jerusalem was identified by the Shin Bet security agency as Abed al-Hamid Abu Srour, 19, from Beit Jala, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem.
The bomber was one of 21 people injured in the attack. He was severely maimed and died of his injuries on Wednesday.
The Shin Bet said several Hamas members from Bethlehem have been arrested in connection with the attack after an intensive manhunt by the security service, police and the IDF.
The attack marked the first suicide kaboom in the wave of Paleostinian terrorism that erupted last October. Hitherto, the attacks -- stabbings, shootings and car-rammings -- had been characterized as "lone wolf" incidents. Hamas has been encouraging attacks on Israelis, and several plots are said to have been thwarted by security forces.
The father of the bomber told Channel 2 on Thursday that he "knew nothing about his affiliation" with Hamas.
The bomber came from a well-known Bethlehem clan, some of whose members have a history of terrorism and violence against Israel.
[AlAhram] US Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation involving the leaked Panama Papers on offshore shell companies, according to an official letter to the group that brought the records to light.
The letter from the office of Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara, obtained by AFP Wednesday, asks to discuss the investigation with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which worked with media outlets to reveal the documents.
#1
....asks to discuss the investigation with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which worked with media outlets to reveal the documents.
Looking for sources and leaks are they? Please investigate the documents, not the fok'n messengers. You're bloody giving yourselves away !
[ARA News] QAMISHLI – A fragile truce seems to have broken down between the Kurdish forces of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) backed by the Asayish security forces on the one hand, and pro-regime forces and allied National Defense group on the other, as fierce clashes continued for the second day in the mainly Kurdish city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria, local sources reported on Thursday.
Local activists confirmed that the pro-regime army forces pounded Qamishli city with a number of mortar shells, causing casualties among civilians.
Speaking to ARA News in Qamishli, rights activist Ferhad Hisso said that the regime forces stationed in the 54th military Regiment [Tartab] hit the area around Allaya prison (YPG-held Central Prison of Qamishli) eastern the city with a number of mortar shells, causing casualties among civilians.
“Several shells hit the Zaytouniya and al-Gharbi neighborhoods amid continued clashes between the Kurdish Asayish security forces and the pro-regime forces in the vicinity of the security square near al-Wihda roundabout and al-Khalij street in al-Kornish neighborhood south of the city,” Hisso reported.
At least four civilians were killed in the Zaytouniya neighborhood in Thursday’s bombardment, one of them was identified as Helin Ahmed, 10, and more than 24 others wounded, according to a medical source who talked to ARA News on condition of anonymity.
The injured were transferred to as-Salam Hospital in the city.
“We gained control of the Allaya prison after pro-Assad troops have surrendered to the Asayish and YPG forcesــwho were surrounding the prison since Wednesday,” an Asayish official told ARA News.
“We are determined to liberate the city [Qamishli] from the pro-Assad thugs,” he said.
Local sources told ARA News that civilians have been trapped inside the city. “As violence escalates, there are no safe routes leading out of the city.”
In the meantime, militant fighters of the Islamic State (ISIS) on Thursday claimed responsibility for a suicide attack that killed a number of YPG fighters and injured several others in the al-Kornish neighborhood of Qamishli.
The Amaq news agency reported Thursday afternoon that ISIS militants carried out a “martyrdom operation” with an explosive belt among dozens of YPG forces in the Kornish Street in southern Qamishli.
“More than 15 Kurdish fighters fell between dead and wounded in the operation,” it reported.
On the other hand, the Kurdish forces in the city have neither confirmed nor denied the news published by pro-ISIS outlets.
Noteworthy, Syrian government has not released any statements regarding the conflict in Qamishli. Separate clashes have taken place between the two sides in different Kurdish areas in northern Syria, with political leaders calling for ceasefire to focus on the fight against ISIS.
Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, First Vice President, said Thursday during his visit to Jawzjan province that Aqcha, Khaniqa and Mingajik districts have been cleared of Taliban insurgents.
Dostum said that large-scale operations have been conducted in different parts of the province.
He said the operation will continue until the complete elimination of insurgents from the province.
"The situation was not good here hence I came to Jawzjan, then I will go to Faryab and Sar-e-Pul provinces and I will go to any place where necessary but of course I will first get the permission of the president," said Dostum.
Afghan forces in the area strengthened with the arrival of the First Vice as additional forces from Kabul joined them. They are now making good progress in Khaniq district.
"There is a village called Sabz Poshan where the enemy is located. They have seized the village," said Satar Khan a commander.
"It is many nights we have not seen Taliban but a few nights ago they [Taliban] were coming and taking men and then they left," said Noor Mohammad a resident.
"Taliban have not fired a single bullet, they [Taliban] are afraid and fled the area and the forces captured the area," said Rahmatullah Kohistani Jawzjan police chief.
After the failure of his first experimental explorations around Vicksburg, a committee of abolition war managers waited upon the President and demanded the General’s removal, on the false charge that he was a whiskey drinker, and little better than a common drunkard. “Ah!” exclaimed Honest Old Abe, “you surprise me, gentlemen. But can you tell me where he gets his whiskey?” “We cannot, Mr. President. But why do you desire to know?” “Because, if I can only find out, I will send a barrel of this wonderful whiskey to every general in the army.”
The last remnants of the Ansar Al-Sharia are blockaded in Gwarsha and Ganfouda and cannot escape, Libyan army chief of staff spokesman Colonel Ahmed Mismari has told the Libya Herald. “All roads in and out are blocked”, he said, adding that the way to the sea was now fully in army hands. They were a lot of snipers in Gwarsha, he said, and they were a problem, but predicted that the army would capture the two areas “in a few days”.
Al-Nabaa TV has claimed, however, that a number of fighters from the Benghazi Revolutionaries’ Shoura Council which is dominated by Ansar, have moved back into Garyounis, supposedly cleared of them by the army earlier this week. The TV station has until now supported the militants in Benghazi against the army.
One army commander, Colonel Abdullah Al-Shaafi, who headed the Hurriya Training Centre, was shot dead yesterday in Gwarsha by a sniper. Earlier reports that he had been killed by a mine were incorrect, Mismari said.
Mines “are the biggest problem”, he said. Four commanders alone had been killed in the past few days by mines, among them yesterday Serraj Eltera who a,cted as spokesman for the military engineers.
The army lacked sufficient both sufficient equipment and engineers to detect and disable mines, Mismari said.
Ansar Al-Sharia and its allies heavily mined and booby trapped places they occupied. The Hawari cement works, despite now being cleared of militants, is carpeted with mines which, the army says, has been the main reason why it has held back from fully entering it.
#2
carpeted with mines
Some long time ago I remember seeing some thermal imaging predictive analysis for mine placement. Older technology in a different landscape warmed up slower and retained a heat signature longer than the local soils. Placement protocol templates were also often used to optimize coverage.
Now the materials have changed and the landscape of interest is simply too hot for differential measurement. Pattern analysis fails because the mines are randomly placed or have migrated over the years due to surface conditions.
KARACHI: Three suspected militants were shot dead in an ‘encounter’ on the outskirts of Karachi on Thursday evening, according to police officials.
“A contingent of police conducted a targeted raid on a hideout near Superhighway, where they came under fire,” claimed Malir SSP Rao Anwar.
Anwar added that in retaliatory action the suspects were killed.
“The killed militants belonged to the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).”
The suspected militants were allegedly involved in targeted attacks on law enforcement personnel in Karachi and attacks on security forces in Waziristan, and were also involved in kidnapping for ransom and extortion.
Karachi, the largest metropolitan city of Pakistan, has witnessed targeted killings, gang wars, and kidnappings for ransom, extortion and terrorism. Targeted operations led by Rangers’ forces with the support of police are ongoing in the city under a directive issued by the federal government against criminals already identified by federal, military and civilian agencies.
[FRANCE24] US President Barack Obama I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money... arrived in Britannia on Thursday, where he is set to wade into the poisonous Brexit debate and have lunch with Queen Elizabeth II.
Air Force One touched down at London Stansted Airport, northeast of the British capital, at around 9:45 pm (2045 GMT), beginning what is Obama's fifth and likely final presidential visit to the kingdom.
The president, along with First Lady Michelle Obama, will pay tribute to the queen, who turned 90 on Thursday, when they meet at Windsor Castle, west of London.
"The president has very much enjoyed his engagements with the queen over the years," said top Obama foreign policy aide Ben Rhodes.
The queen has reigned since 1952, during which time she has met with a string of US presidents from Harry Truman to Obama, who leaves office in January.
The popular monarch has little influence on politics despite her role as head of state, but over the decades she has been a figurehead and ballast for Britons navigating imperial decline, the Cold War and political tumult.
During birthday celebrations Thursday, Prime Minister David Cameron ... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... hailed her as "a rock of strength for our nation".
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2016
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#1
"The president has very much enjoyed his engagements with the queen over the years," said top Obama foreign policy aide Ben Rhodes.
Rhodes has a brilliant future awaiting him at SNL.
#2
Remember, not long ago, when the Leftist mouths denounce American intervention in to other peoples countries. [Post pic subtitled - It's not Fascism when we do it]
He is that jackhole who invites himself over to your house, pours 4 fingers of your best scotch without asking, then proceeds to critique your home furnishings.
[Iran Press TV] Venezuela is to enforce power cuts in 10 of its 23 states amid economic doldrums that have brought about rampant power crisis across the country.
"Each user will have a temporary suspension of four hours a day. The plan will last approximately 40 days," Electricity Minister Luis Motta said on Thursday.
Caracas has been resorting to ad hoc measures to tame its deep recession, triple-digit inflation, and dire shortages of medicines and basic commodities, such as toilet paper and cooking oil.
Last week, the government said it was shifting the country’s time zone forward by 30 minutes to save power. The administration blames the power crisis on El Nino heatwaves, which lead to drought thus parching the country’s rivers and choking the output at its hydroelectric dams.
Falling oil prices have also taken their toll on the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2016
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#1
"Enforcing a blackout" = "Found the off switch"
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/22/2016 13:38
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The holy warriorHamas, always the voice of sweet reason, group deployed forces on Thursday along the Egypt-Gazoo border to counter Cairo’s concerns that it is aiding ISIS hard boyz in Egypt’s lawless Sinai Peninsula.
Egypt accuses Hamas, which rules the Gazoo Strip, of providing a safe haven for the ISIS affiliate in Sinai through a network of smuggling tunnels. Hamas denies the charge.
Hamas and a high-ranking Egyptian security official said the deployment is part of an agreement reached with Egyptian officials last month.
"This emphasizes the Paleostinian stand to tighten security on the border and nothing that harms Egypt will come out of Gazoo," said Hamas front manSami Abu Zuhri ...a senior spokesman for Hamas. Zuhri gained notoriety in 2006 when he dropped his money belt containing somewhere between 640,000 and 900,000 euros, which was confiscated by Paleostinian security and customs officials at a routine border crossing from Egypt to Gaza. The news brought competing Hamas and Fatah forces to the crossing checkpoint for an epic face-making and hollering contest... The Egyptian security official said the deployment is part of the new deal with Egypt that sees Hamas halt tunnel construction in return for opening the Rafah border crossing, Gazoo’ s main gateway to the outside world. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media.
On Thursday, armed Hamas men took up positions along the 13-kilometer (8-mile) border, with fighters in pick-up trucks patrolling back and forth.
Relations between Hamas and Egypt soured after the 2013 military ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. Hamas is an offshoot of Morsi's Moslem Brüderbund movement.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2016
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(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source in the Iraqi Ministry of Interior announced on Thursday, 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 morning, a bomb exploded near a popular market in al-Bakriya area in western Baghdad, killing one person and injuring eight others.”
The source, who requested anonymity, added, “A security force rushed to the area and transferred the wounded to a nearby hospital to receive treatment and the dead body to the forensic medicine department, while cordoned off the area of the incident and barred approaching it.”
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source in the Ministry of Interior announced on Thursday, that 10 people had been either killed or wounded in the explosion of an explosive device in Madain area in southern Baghdad.
The source said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “This evening, an explosive device exploded in a popular cafe in Madain area in southern Baghdad, killing two people and wounding eight others.”
The source, who asked anonymity, added, “A security force cordoned off the area and transferred the wounded to a hospital for treatment and the dead bodies to the forensic medicine department.”
[DAWN] DERA GHAZI KHAN: The anti-criminal Zarb-e-Aahan operation in the riverine area of Punjab's Rajanpur district continues on Thursday, even as notorious gangster Ghulam Rasool, alias Chotoo, and his 13 men surrendered before the Pakistain Army a day earlier.
Five gangs operating in Kacha Jamal, the riverine sanctuary between Rajanpur and Rahim Yar Khan, did not surrender and have been putting up resistance against the security forces, police sources said.
The gangs which did not surrender are named by sources as Pehwan gang, Attaullah Pat gang with at least 20 members, Bilal Jakha gang, Baga gang and Khuda Bukhsh Lound gang.
Over 50 outlaws belonging to different gangs are suspected to be holed up inside the dense forest of Kacha Jamal, which remained besieged by security forces for around 24 days when the operation was commenced.
District police officer Ghulam Mubashar Maken told Dawn that some gangs had not surrendered as yet and put up resistance against security forces, but maintained that forces would soon get success in clearing the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2016
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Al shabaab claimed it killed at least six Ethiopian soldiers, including senior military commander in a roadside bomb blast in Somalia’s southern Baay region on Thursday. The land-mine explosion which was planted at Awdinle town tore through a military vehicles carrying Ethiopian soldiers serving with the African Union mission in Somalia (AMISOM), according to Al shabaab.
The AU mission in Somalia did not comment on the attack and Al shabaab’s claim of killing six Ethiopian soldiers in Awdinle town improvised explosive device (IED) blast.
A local resident who declined to be identified said targeted the IED blast targeted army vehicles that were escorting a lorry carrying AMISOM supplies headed to a nearby military camp within the area.
The Al Qaeda-linked militants seem to have adopted the roadside landmine tactic beside the frequent car bombs which have also been witnessed in several towns, including Mogadishu in the past few months.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/22/2016
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] New reports have emerged new the deadly 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.... attack which left at least 64 people dead and 347 others maimed as the attack has sent shockwaves across the country and globally.
According to the new reports, the main attacker involved in the deadly attack was likely released from the prison when Karzai administration was in power.
The Presidential Palace officials have said they are aware regarding the report, promising that the government will thoroughly investigate regarding the release of the attacker and circumstances surrounding his release.
The release of prisoners had turned into a controversial issue as Afghanistan was preparing for the Presidential Elections early in 2014.
The government released almost 88 prisoners from Bagram prison despite growing concerns by the United States and coalition forces in Afghanistan.
The US Forces in Afghanistan in a statement said earlier in 2014 that "The release of these dangerous individuals poses a threat to U.S., coalition and Afghan National Security Forces, as well as the Afghan population. Insurgents in the group released today have killed coalition and Afghan forces."
The released detainees were also accused of killing Afghan men, women and kiddies. "More than two dozen of the individuals released were linked to the production or emplacement of improvised bombs, the number one killer of Afghan civilians," the statement added.
Earlier, a panel was formed to review the cases of the prisoners which reported that no evidences or documents were found to prove that the inmates were posing threats to the country or international community.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2016
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Security forces have launched a military operation in Warduj district of north-eastern Badakhshan to re-capture the district from Taliban insurgents, local officials said on Thursday.
The operation was launched four days ago and currently security forces are locked in clashes with insurgents near the district governor's compound, provincial police chief Ghulaam Sakhi Ghafoori said.
However, he assured the people that "the district will soon be cleared of insurgents."
Nematullah Ahmadi, TOLOnews reporter who visited the district said the insurgents have come in from different parts of the province and are trying to prevent troops from moving forward.
But security officials said they are able to advance and insurgents have been driven back from parts of the district although clashes are ongoing close to the governor's compound.
"We are slowly moving forward. It is war and sometimes we move forward and sometimes we retreat. However, you can see a military and defense commitment among all our security troops," Ghafoori said.
Meanwhile, Janat Gul Karokhil, a military commander in Badakhshan said that military forces are busy clearing Warduj of insurgents and are being supported by the air force.
"Those who are resisting against us are Tajik [militants] and suicide attackers. They don't care about their life and we are trying not to receive casualties," Karokhil said.
Warduj collapsed to the Taliban more than a year ago. It is one of 29 districts in Badakhshan and has about 17,000 residents.
[Iran Press TV] A Bahraini court has handed down jail terms between one and 15 years to four men allegedly convicted of using violence against police and possessing weapons, the state prosecutor's office says, in a latest case of Manama's crackdown on people.
In a statement carried on Thursday by the state-run Bahrain News Agency, BNA, the prosecutor's office said one defendant was enjugged I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! for 15 years and another for five years, while two others were sentenced to one year imprisonment each.
The four faced charges including "resisting police, possessing fire arms and ammunition for terrorist aims, attacking others and threatening to use fire arms," the statement said, adding that the case goes back to last March.
Only last month, some 20 people were given jail terms in cases involving attacks on police and a bus, as well as a terrorist plot.
Anti-regime protesters have been holding rallies across Bahrain since mid-February 2011, calling on the ruling family to relinquish power.
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04/22/2016
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[Iran Press TV] Iran’s foreign minister says the country refuses to recognize a recent ruling by the US Supreme Court, which authorizes the transfer of around USD two billion of frozen Iranian assets to the families of the victims of a 1983 bombing in Beirut.
Mohammad Javad Zarif made the remarks on Thursday in New York, where he has been staying since Monday to attend a UN debate on Sustainable Development Goals and the signing ceremony of the Gay Paree climate change agreement as well as to meet foreign officials.
"As we [already] said, we do not recognize the court’s ruling and the US government knows this well," he said, adding, "The US knows this well too that whatever action it takes with respect to Iran’s assets will make it accountable in the future and it should return these assets to Iran."
On Wednesday, the tribunal ordered the sum be paid to the families of the victims of the kaboom, which targeted a US Marine Corps barracks in the Lebanese capital, and other attacks blamed on Iran.
The assets belong to the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), which have been blocked under US sanctions.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2016
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#2
Do what he always does, USN. Defer to Iran. NOTHING is more important to him than his precious Iran deal - not US citizens, not justice, not Supreme Court rulings. Nothing.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
04/22/2016 14:30
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#3
Well, it was great until they started laughing at us.
#4
ValJar will make the call on this one, lots of bluster and thinking/meetings/analysis, but not followup - like Fast and Furious, IRS investigation, Benghazi, email scandal, Bergdahl...the slow roll to nobody cares
[Iran Press TV] Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says the country cannot accept any more austerity measures, demanding that international lenders write off a good deal of its debt.
"Greece... does not need extra measures. What Greece needs, is an essential debt relief," Tsipras said on Thursday.
Greece has been in a state of economic crisis since 2009. The country has received two bailouts worth a total of €240 billion ($272 billion) from its three international creditors ‐ the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Commission, and the European Central Bank (ECB).
The issues currently under discussion between the two sides comprise pension reforms, tax hikes, privatizations, and the management of delinquent loans.
EU institutions and the IMF are, meanwhile, bickering on whether the country can meet a primary surplus target equal to 3.5 percent of its gross domestic product in 2018, further slowing the approach towards an agreement that could unlock the direly-needed funds.
Despite the premier’s insistence that the country has implemented the austerity measures as required under the terms of its international bailout agreements, a Greek government official reportedly said that Athens and the lenders had most recently made progress in negotiations on further economic reforms.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2016
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#1
The financial oligarchy won't like that one bit.
#3
Actually it might have been cheaper and more productive for the US to pay off the world debt back in 2008. The economy certainly would have improved; however, like a freshman in college who has a bad experience with their first credit card the forgiveness comes with conditions. And in this case it would of been no more borrowing, no more Ponzi scheme retirement programs, no more public sector unions.....
#7
Three morals to this story (1) Beware of Greeks offering IOUs (2) Don't lend your dollars to deadbeats (3) Don't bail out those who did such a foolish thing.
#8
Greece should have a fire sale. They could sell off statues and the acropolis and make some good bank. If that's not enough they could sell a few islands.
The world should make a list of the political class in Greece and forbid any from emmigrating to avoid the mess they've made.
FBI Director James Comey says the forthcoming Democratic National Convention does not represent a deadline for finishing the investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails. Asked about the case today at a security conference in London, he said, "Somebody asked me if the Democratic National Convention is a hard stop or a key date for you? Are you doing this aimed at that? And I said, no.
"We aspire to do all our investigations in two ways -- well and promptly, especially investigations that are of great interest to the public. We want to do them promptly.
"I get that people care about this investigation, and so we're working very hard to ensure it's well and promptly. But as between the two, if we have to choose, we will do it well. But again we aspire to do it well and promptly."
Comey repeated what he has said before, that he is "personally close to this investigation, because I want to ensure that we have the resources, the people, the technology, and the space to do those things, and to do it in the way I hope we do all our work, which is competently, honestly, and independently. And I'm confident that it's being done that way."
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/22/2016
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#1
You will just have to vote for a Felon all on your own
#4
FBI Director James Comey says the forthcoming Democratic National Convention does not represent a deadline for finishing the investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails.
If one assumes this statement has the approval of the regime, then can one assume there are no schedules, deadlines, or goals for eventual prosecution period ?
Pardon me. I believe I may have answered my own question.
#5
Not saying the fix isn't in, but isn't this what he HAS to say?
Anything else and the "it's political!!11!!" chorus revs up
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/22/2016 9:36
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#6
again
my dream scenario is an indictment just before the acceptance speech and an arrest and perp walk on national TV live
Posted by: lord garth ||
04/22/2016 9:56
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#7
Lord Garth,
Then we get her VP which may be worse, and, I suspect, carefully chosen in the event of Clinton becoming ill or otherwise incapacitated.
The convention should be a deadline. Otherwise it's a nothingburger.
#8
A cynical person might wonder whether Comey being "personally close to this investigation" has more to do with ensuring its thoroughness or managing its pace.
#9
Don't forget: the FBI doesn't indict anyone. All they can do is investigate, and then (optionally) recommend that the Justice Department indict. So even if the FBI wraps up its investigation by the convention, Loretta Lynch has lots of time to review the report, slow walk the grand jury, and so on.
Ultimately, it will all come down to whether Obama decides to throw Hillary under the bus.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
04/22/2016 13:16
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[DAWN] As gangster Ghulam Rasool, alias Chotoo, and his men surrendered to the Pakistain Army after three days of deliberations with elders and influentials of Rajanpur district, the military said on Wednesday that it would remain in the riverine area till it was completely cleared of all outlaws.
"This area would not be vacated till all dacoits surrender or action against them is completed. They have to be captured alive or dead," chief military front man Lieutenant General Asim Bajwa said. "We will clear all no-go areas wherever they are existing."
Lt Gen Bajwa, the director general of Inter-Services Public Relations, was briefing the media on Operation Zarb-e-Ahan after the Chotoo gang leader and his 12 accomplices laid down their arms and surrendered to military troops.
All 24 coppers held hostage by the gang were also safely recovered.
He said that Chotoo and his men surrendered "unconditionally". They were taken into custody and would be investigated by intelligence agencies. The gangsters would remain with the agencies till the probe was completed, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2016
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[IsraelTimes] Improvised submachine gun and ammunition seized; 8 suspects detained across West Bank
Israeli forces uncovered a weapons workshop and an arms cache in Jerusalem and the West Bank during overnight raids, officials said Thursday morning.
In the Abu Dis neighborhood of East Jerusalem, police said they found a workshop with machines to produce pipe bombs and other "weaponry." In one mill, raw materials to produce explosives and ammunition was found.
Both machines would destroyed by the military, police said. They did not detail if any arrests were made.
In the West Bank city of Hebron, an Israeli soldier found a Carl Gustav-style submachine gun with a bullet magazine, ammunition, a Molotov cocktail, pipe bombs, tear gas grenades and a stock of commando knives.
Eight people were jugged Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! across the West Bank during the raids, including three in Hebron, which was a hotbed of anti-Israel attacks during a six month wave of violence that began in October.
One of the people arrested was suspected of involvement in terror activities and violent rioting against civilians and security forces, according to an IDF statement.
All of the suspects were taken for questioning by security forces.
[FRANCE24] Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in November’s Gay Paree attacks, has been charged with attempted murder in Belgium during a police shootout in Brussels three days before his arrest, prosecutors said.
Abdeslam, who is due to be extradited to La Belle France in the next few weeks over his part in the attacks in Gay Paree by 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.... gunnies that killed 130 people, appeared before a Belgian judge on Thursday.
Four coppers were maimed and an Islamist gunman was killed in the shootout at a suspected holy warrior safe house in the Brussels district of Forest on March 15.
Investigators found fingerprints of Abdeslam, who was born in Belgium to Moroccan-born parents, at the scene.
"He was charged with attempted murder over the shooting in Forest," a front man for Belgium’s federal prosecutors said, adding that he did not believe charging Abdeslam would delay his extradition to La Belle France.
Abdeslam has told a magistrate he had planned to blow himself up at a sports stadium in Gay Paree on Nov. 13 but backed out at the last minute.
He has also told Sherlocks he arranged logistics for the Gay Paree attacks.
Abdeslam’s elder brother Brahim, a Brussels barkeeper, went kaboom! outside a Gay Pareeian cafe on the night of the attacks.
Salah Abdeslam’s lawyer has said his client has admitted being in Gay Paree during the attacks but has given no further details.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2016
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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... on Thursday said no one will be allowed to create hurdles in the way of stability and development of the country.
Chairing a special meeting of federal ministers, advisers and special assistants at PM House, he said, "With God's grace our hands are clean. We have faced ruthless accountability in the past too, with success."
"The nation is focused on economic progress and prosperity, and we will not let anyone create any obstacle in the way," Nawaz said.
The prime minister said the development processes that were launched three years ago to steer the country out of darkness, improve economy, and remove flaws from the system will continue.
He said those who want to hamper development and welfare of people will not succeed in their designs.
"PML-N always prefers values over power and takes decisions on the national issues in consultation with other political parties," the premier added.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Govt won't allow anyone to destabilise country, asserts Nawaz
"We got a monopoly on dat!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/22/2016 11:21
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least 41 turbans were killed in the latest counter-terrorism operations conducted by the Afghan National Security Forces, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said.
The operations were conducted in the past 24 hours in Ghazni, Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... , and Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. provinces.
A statement by MoD said at least 19 of the turbans were killed in Andar district of southeastern Ghazni province where at least 9 turbans were also maimed.
The statement further added that 1 myrmidon was killed and 3 others were maimed during a separate operation in Chesht-e-Sharif district of Herat province.
At least 21 turbans operating under the name of Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group were killed in separate operations in eastern Nangarhar province, MoD said, adding that 11 turbans were also maimed in the same raids.
According to MoD, a commander of the terror group identified as Saadat Khan was also among those killed in the Arclight airstrikes conducted in Achin district.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2016
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An alleged member of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who was a suspect in the Ankara bombing that killed 103 people on Oct. 10, 2015, has been caught in the eastern province Elazığ. The suspect, Nihat Ürkmez, was detained in Elazığ before he was taken to Ankara, where he was arrested on April 21.
He's not gonna feel so good shortly...
Photos obtained from the computer of Yunus Durmaz, the so-called “emir” of the jihadist group who is on Turkey’s red list for “wanted terrorists” with a 4 million-Turkish-Lira reward offered for intelligence leading to his capture, was sent to a provincial security directorate.
The police in the eastern province of Bingöl then determined that Ürkmez, who was with the courier of the attack, Halil İbrahim Durgun, had moved to Elazığ from Bingöl.
The Ankara attack was the deadliest carried out in Turkey by ISIL, killing 103 people. The attack occurred when two suicide bombers linked to ISIL targeted a large group of people outside the capital’s main train station on Oct. 10, 2015.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/22/2016
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(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – A source in Nineveh Operations Command revealed on Thursday, that 200 people were able to escape from the areas controlled by ISIS south of Mosul, while emphasized that the security forces have secured their arrival to Makhmur District.
The source said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “Today, 200 people were able to escape from the villages of al-Haj Ali and al-Mahana south of Mosul, toward the areas secured by the Iraqi security forces.”
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added, “The army’s 15th brigade managed to evacuate the citizens to Makhmur District.”
(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – A security source in Nineveh province said on Thursday, that three ISIS leaders were killed in an aerial bombing by the international coalition aviation in central Nineveh.
The source said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “Today, a drone belonging to the international coalition conducted an aerial raid in the neighborhood of al-Wehda in central Nineveh, resulting in the destruction of a vehicle and the death of three ISIS leaders.”
“The [aerial] bombing was carried out in coordination with the intelligence agencies,” the source added.
Posted by: badanov ||
04/22/2016
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(IraqiNews.com) Diyala – The Head of Abbara Council in Diyala Province Adnan al-Tamimi revealed on Thursday, that three police elements were either killed or wounded in an armed attack launched by ISIS members east of the vicinity.
Tamimi said in a brief statement received by IraqiNews.com, “Today, ISIS members launched an armed attack on a police checkpoint in the vicinity of Zaghniya village (5 km east of Abbara vicinity and 15 km northeast of Baqubah), killing a policeman and wounding two others.”
Tamimi added, “The courageous police elements foiled ISIS attack on the village.”
(IraqiNews.com) Diyala – On Thursday, Diyala Police Chief Jassim al-Saadi announced arresting the terrorist who participated in the killing of 13 soldiers in Camp Speicher massacre.
Saadi said in a brief statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “A special security force from Diyala police carried out an operation in the western neighborhoods of Baqubah City, and was able to arrest a terrorist.”
Saadi added, “The arrested terrorist was involved in many crimes, including houses’ detonation in Beni Yazid village, assassinations in al-Mafreq area, in addition to killing 13 soldiers in Camp Speicher massacre.”
“The terrorist was arrested based on accurate intelligence information,” Saadi continued.
(IraqiNews.com) Diyali – A security source in Diyali province said on Thursday, that unidentified gunmen killed an element of al-Hashed al-Sha’bi militia near a village northeast of Baqubah.
The source, who requested anonymity, said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “Today, unidentified gunmen attacked an element of al-Hashed al-Sha’bi [militia] near the village of Bruwana al-Kabira (13 km northeast of Baqubah) and opened their fire against him, resulting in his immediate death,” pointing out that, “A security force cordoned off the area and transferred the dead body to the forensic medicine authority, while opened an investigation into the incident.”
Posted by: badanov ||
04/22/2016
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NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- ESPN has benched Curt Schilling permanently.
The sports network fired the former world champion pitcher following his anti-transgender post on Facebook. Schilling is a devoted family man and born-gain Christian.
"ESPN is an inclusive company. Curt Schilling has been advised that his conduct was unacceptable and his employment with ESPN has been terminated," the network said in a statement. Soon enough, our PC Government betters will find an additional use for the 8th Army shoulder patch.
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy ||
04/22/2016
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#1
'Furur Vikingorum' Think how racist and white privileged the old 47th Division (flying jockstrap) must be.
#7
Liberal free speech is a lie. It is a fascist agenda. Speak out all you want but it has to follow the narative. Otherwise we will destroy you.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
04/22/2016 11:25
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#8
ESPN needed Curt Shilling more than Curt Shilling needs ESPN.
Self promoting quippy fanbois who fawn over the highest bid sports agent client of the week. Not sure how many actual athletes are left at the TMZ of sports.
#9
...and it isn't anti-transgender, it is keep penises out of my daughter's restroom.
The quippy fanbois stuff is in this write up as well. Benched huh, benched is still on the team though not playing. It is like everyone in the media is playing on that lip sync contest game.
#10
"ESPN is essentially MSNBC with better video" Mark Levin
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
04/22/2016 12:55
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#11
He apologized for the picture, not the text, which mocked, actually, the PC police coming to the rescue of the "offended" transgenders.
The problem is not the transgenders, but their "defenders", leaping to "SAVE" them, imagining themselves HEROS, red bathroom towels tied like capes to their necks.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Military forces loyal to Libya's eastern government said on Thursday they had carried out air strikes overnight against Islamist fighters in Derna after ISIS turbans retreated from positions close to the city.
Derna has been the site of a three-way conflict between the forces loyal to the eastern government, an Islamist grouping known as the Derna Mujahideen Shura Council and ISIS bully boys.
Fighters from ISIS had controlled the city until the Shura Council forces pushed them out last June. The military has attacked both groups.
Military front man Abdulkarim Sabra said the overnight air strikes had targeted Shura Council fighters in Derna’s Sayeda Khadija neighborhood and at Bishr prison. He made no comment on possible casualties.
Shura Council front man Hafed Addabaa said the prison had held ISIS suspects and added that the strikes had not caused any casualties or damage.
The military and the Shura Council both claimed credit for Wednesday’s withdrawal of ISIS from positions in Derna’s ’district 400’ and al-Fatayeh to the south of the city.
"We attacked ISIS (ISIS) in al-Fatayeh to recapture the area ... The attack was from all sides except the south, which is where they fled," said Addabaa.
Five Shura Council fighters and six non-combatants were killed by mines and booby traps after they entered al-Fatayeh, he said.
Sabra, the military front man, said ISIS had retreated because of a year-long blockade by the army and shelling by troops of the bully boys’ positions.
Soldiers posted videos of themselves in al-Fatayeh on Thursday, saying they had control of the area.
ISIS has gained territory in Libya as two rival governments and a range of armed factions have battled to control the country since 2014. But it has faced resistance from other local gangs on the ground.
Derna, which has a history of Islamist militancy, was an early bastion for ISIS fighters returning from Iraq and Syria in 2014. Though they lost control of Derna last year, the group established a stronghold in the central coastal city of Sirte.
Last month, a UN-backed Libyan unity government arrived in the capital Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... and is trying to establish its authority over the large oil-producing nation.
But allies of eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar ... served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all... have prevented moves by Libya's eastern parliament towards recognizing the new unity government.
The military loyal to the eastern government has been making advances on the ground in Benghazi, Libya’s second largest city, which is on the coast about 250 km (155 miles) west of Derna.
On Thursday UN Libya envoy Martin Kobler appealed to warring parties in Benghazi to help the departure of civilians who are trapped in areas where there is fighting and who wish to leave.
The United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... says a large number of civilians including Libyans and migrant workers are trapped in several districts in Benghazi, where they face shortages of food and medical supplies.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2016
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(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – On Wednesday the leadership of al-Hashed al-Shaabi in Anbar Province announced killing 40 militants from the so-called ISIS during the cleaning battles of al-Karma District east of Fallujah, while indicated that the cleansing operations had been stopped until the arrival of military reinforcements.
The commander of Karmat Fallujah brigade, Colonel Khamis Bahr Halbusi, said in a press statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “The cleaning battles that were started today in al-Karma District resulted in the killing of 40 ISIS fighters and five security personnel, including a captain, in addition to wounding four others.”
Halbusi added, “The cleaning battles had been stopped until the redeployment of security forces and arrival of military reinforcements,” pointing out that, “The liberation operations will be resumed in the coming few hours.”
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – On Thursday the Council of Amiriyah Fallujah in Anbar Province announced, that the so-called ISIS Wali of south Fallujah was killed in an aerial bombing carried out by the international coalition aviation south of the city, along with six of his assistants, while emphasized that the cleansing battles of Fallujah will start soon.
The member of Amiriyah Fallujah council, Khudair Rashid, said in a press statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “The international coalition aviation conducted an air strike on ISIS gathering in the area of Ahsi in Ameriya vicinity (22 km south of Fallujah), killing the so-called ISIS Wali of south of Fallujah, along with six of his assistants.”
Rashed added, “The security forces continue the cleansing battles of Amiriyah areas south of Fallujah backed by the coalition aircraft,” indicating that, “The security forces from the army, police and tribal fighters will have an important role in the storming of the southern and western axes of Fallujah.”
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – A source in al-Jazeera and al-Badiya Operations Command in Anbar Province stated on Thursday, that ten members of the so-called ISIS were killed in an artillery shelling in al-Ratba District west of Ramadi, while pointed out that the security forces are ready to storm the district and cleanse it from ISIS members.
The source said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “The security forces from the army and al-Jazeera and al-Badiya Operations detected a convoy of seven vehicles belonging to ISIS while trying to leave al-Ratba District,” pointing out that, “The security forces’ artillery bombed the ISIS convoy, destructing it completely and killing ten ISIS fighters.”
The source, who asked anonymity, added, “ISIS is trying to deploy its members in the hubs and entrances of al-Ratba,” indicating that, “The security forces are ready to storm the city and cleanse it from ISIS cells.”
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – On Thursday the Mayor of Ramadi District in Anbar Province Ibrahim al-Awsaj revealed, that six civilians were killed in the explosion of booby-trapped houses in the city, while called the civilians to avoid entering the areas closed by the security forces.
Awsaj said in a press statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “Six civilians were killed in the explosion of six booby-trapped houses in the neighborhoods and areas of al-Aramel, al-Andalus, al-Thobat and al-Houz in Ramadi City,” pointing out that, “The civilians entered the houses after being warned and barred by the security forces.”
Posted by: badanov ||
04/22/2016
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[Dhaka Tribune] In an interim report, the probe body on the Bangladesh Bank reserve heist has found gross negligence and lack of knowledge at the central bank that led to the theft of $101 million.
The committee has recommended that the government undertake massive reform at the central bank, suggesting massive restructuring in terms of administrative, institutional, and technological upgrades.
Former Bangladesh Bank governor Mohammed Farashuddin, who led the probe body, handed over the report to Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Wednesday evening. Both the minister and the committee have refused to comment on the findings.
However, there's more than one way to stuff a chicken... sources said the probe team held bigwigs of the Forex Reserve and Treasury Management Department to be responsible for gross negligence in their duties, leading to the heist.
It suggested action against the central bank officials as they did nothing when abnormalities emerged in parts of the bank’s network linked to the SWIFT system.
The report said the probe had found that the bank’s staff were unaware for several months that the security software on the Real-Time Gross Settlement Systems (RTGS), which is linked with SWIFT system, had been missing. As a result, hackers injected their malware into the bank’s network and collected information from the RTGS without any barrier.
Before that, the security software had also failed three times this year but the issue was ignored, the report revealed.
Sources said the probe team had observed in the report that Bangladesh Bank’s Forex Reserve and Treasury Management Department officials did not realise the implications of the anomalies that had been noticed during the heist.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2016
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#1
BB officials guilty of gross negligence
Yes indeed. How can they let so many flat sided units past the quality checks?
[AnNahar] A U.S. Army captain in Iraq helped crack a plot to bomb a Danish school after gleaning crucial details from documents recovered from bully boys, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
Army Captain Bradley Grimm, who is based at Al-Asad airbase in Iraq's Anbar province, had "helped develop a system to speed the flow of intelligence from here on the ground to various national capitals," Baghdad-based front man Colonel Steve Warren said.
Grimm gleaned "actionable intelligence" from "captured documents" belonging to imported muscle with ties to Denmark, Warren said.
"Brad's work likely saved the lives of Danish citizens," Warren said, without providing additional details of the plot itself.
For his work, Denmark awarded Grimm the Danish Defense Medal for Special Meritorious Effort.
The intelligence-sharing system he helped develop contributed to the arrest of a suspect in the school plot and the confiscation of some homemade explosives.
Denmark is an active member of the approximately 65-nation coalition conducting operations 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.... fighters in Iraq and Syria.
Danish politicians on Tuesday approved a plan to commit several F-16 warplanes, a transport aircraft and 400 military personnel to expand the country's fight.
#1
It's called 'document exploitation' or DOCEX. Hat tip to the Captain. Too bad they had to release his name. Not as bad as Naylor's book Relentless Strike, but still too bad they mentioned his name.
#4
Army Captain Bradley Grimm, who is based at Al-Asad airbase in Iraq's Anbar province, had "helped develop a system to speed the flow of intelligence from here on the ground to various national capitals
Developed his own Foggy Bottom lite 'home brew server' did he? Thinking outside the box, he'll not go far.
[TakiMag] However the Trump War resolves itself, we’ve already seen at least one casualty—conservative media cohesion. Sides are being drawn, and blood feuds have been declared. As The New York Times recently pointed out, Trump-inspired divisions and conflicts among normally allied conservative media personalities are growing at an alarming rate, and staying neutral is practically impossible. A recent Guardian piece (for which I was interviewed) about the Hollywood conservative “oasis” Friends of Abe paints a portrait of a “slow-motion civil war” in which members are at each other’s throats over Trump. Friends of Abe used to be a place where everyone could hang out and get along: the Breitbart people, the National Review people, the RedState folks, the Horowitz clan. At any given past event, you might have seen Ben Shapiro doffing his yarmulke to Ann Coulter, Roger Simon clinking glasses with S.E. Cupp, and Bill Whittle and David Horowitz passed out together in a corner after forgetting to breathe while monologuing at each other.
Such unity! What the hell went wrong? Is it just Trump? Well, yes, in that the Trump candidacy put the hot needle to the zit. But the puss had been building up for some time, and there are many reasons why.
Look at the Lewandowski/Fields affair and the ensuing Breitbart.com crack-up. Everyone involved is unlikable. There are absolutely no heroes in that debacle. Michelle Fields is a whining millennial drama queen who claimed—with a straight face—that Lewandowski’s arm tug was the worst thing that happened to her since her father’s death. This is why the “old media,” corrupt and biased as it is, still commands respect. When old-school reporters like Sam Donaldson were arm-touched, they responded by simply telling the unwanted toucher, “Get your hands off me.” They understood that the occasional arm touch was a hazard that comes with the job. They didn’t respond to unwanted contact by calling a press conference and going on an “I’ve been victimized” media junket.
“Fragmentation, hostility, and side-taking will continue until the Trump coronation or the Trump Waterloo, and there’ll be no returning to normal afterward.”
And Ben Shapiro? Oh, what a self-righteous dog-and-pony show that sawed-off unibrow performed following Fields’ “bad touch.” I was surprised the little man didn’t finalize his Breitbart departure by performing kriah, the Hebrew garment-rending that signifies “You’re dead to me” (my guess is, he’s too cheap to waste a good shirt). If Shapiro was so troubled by Lewandowski’s tug, I’m curious why he was totally fine when Breitbart’s own Milo Yiannopoulos defended and championed the beating of Jezebel editor Erin Gloria Ryan, declaring, “I can’t imagine why anyone would want to punch her in the face. Well, actually, I can,” adding that the assailant did “the job every man in America wishes he could.”
Shapiro was editor at large of Breitbart.com at the time Yiannopoulos made that statement in a piece posted on the site, and he was totally cool with it. No angry pressers, no job-quitting hissy fit. Tugging a female reporter’s arm is an unpardonable sin, but cheering the ruthless beating of a female reporter is fine. That’s some nice Old Testament ethics there, Benny. How very Deuteronomous of you.
But if Fields and Shapiro are bad actors in this freak show, what can be said of Patrick Howley, the Breitbart.com reporter who initially doubted Fields’ story? Howley, it turns out, is also a master at faking events and making himself the center of a story. Frankly, his record puts Fields’ to shame. In October 2011, Howley “infiltrated” a Washington, D.C., Occupy group in order to provoke a clash with security guards by gate-crashing the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum while pretending to be one of the Occupy protesters.
I had the honor of witnessing firsthand Howley’s unethical behavior when he contacted me in late 2014 regarding a “scoop” he thought he had about Bill Clinton and me. Howley, then at the Daily Caller, had previously misattributed a quote in an earlier piece involving a Democrat congresswoman who’d written me a fan letter (such is the surreal nature of my life that fan letters I receive become headline news). After refusing to correct the quote, he got in touch with me about the Clinton story, which (purportedly) involved me, the former president, and country-rock singer Julia Garlington, who used to open for Blake Shelton before, shall we say, “falling on hard times.”
Even in the face of my warning that the Cole/Clinton story was bogus (which it was), Howley went ahead with it anyway. To be fair, I let it happen, because these days I have zero tolerance for two things: misattributed or fake quotes, and death threats. Howley, having perpetrated the former, was solidly on my “do not resuscitate” list when I saw him hanging himself with his own rope. The result was much hilarity in the form of a public pantsing of Howley (by sites like AlterNet, TPM, and Media Matters) that I hope hastened his departure from the DC (although, amazingly, the discredited Clinton/Cole story is still up, with no update or correction).
#1
Ah yes, the death of conservatism. Only slightly out of context, but what the hell. At least the author has it right in the closing para:
“Muzzies” are primitive, ignorant goat-buggerers worthy only of being on the other side of walls, the business end of guns, and the receiving end of bombs..... You earn your neocon bones by being uncompromising in attitude and language regarding the “Muslim problem.”
One type doesn't mind the giant bloated bureaucracy, just thinks they should run it because they can do a better job than Democrats. They don't care if leviathan exists. They've made the choice that rights are trumped by the appearance of compassion and civility - said appearance run slightly better than Democrats might do so.
The other type understands that half the agencies in government need to be swept away summarily because they either do nothing of authentic worth or actually damage the ability of the private sector to produce. And that if this isn't done - very, very soon - the point of no return will be upon us. And that this must be done without regard to the financial damage it will do to the fired hacks.
And that civility, while nice, will never be reciprocated by leviathan.
Choose wisely.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
04/22/2016 7:51
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#3
What is interesting is the depth of dislike or outright rejection of many on the right of democracy. Oh, they love the trappings and rituals, but actual democracy seems to either frighten them or disgusts them. In that they are no different than the authoritarians on the left. "It's all too important to leave to the 'mob'." We must have order here!
#4
Funny but it seems to me we are seeing the same thing on the dem side. Not so much in the press but more so with the voters in the party. The gop will rally around trump when he wins, however begrudgingly. Sort of like the eels and Obama. However divided the goo it, they are nothing compared to the dems. The dems are radicalized, in a near fascist state. They are inciting violence and hate over every topic. There is zero rational discourse with the people of that party. When Hillary wins the party will rally to her, the Bernie supporters-voters, will not. They will feel cheated and played by a broken system. They will not support her, some might cross over, some will take their radicalization to the next violent level. Understand the occupy socialist communist movement has legs, when suppressed the socialist movement becomes violent. This election will be interesting.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
04/22/2016 11:20
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#5
Damn spell check and me on this I phone do not get along. Sorry
Posted by: 49 pan ||
04/22/2016 11:21
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#6
Prediction: Trump defeats the Beest, urban riots.
#9
I've said it before: That word "conservative" seems to mean different things to different people. Guys like Jeb Bush calling himself conservative when he's willing to leave our borders undefended makes no sense to me.
Trump doesn't exactly fit into my concept of a true conservative, especially on the social issues, but nobody else seems to understand that American these days is in a serious state of decline.
As for Lewandowski, grabbing that girl's arm was perhaps not heroic but it was his job. What a novel concept it is for a guy to understand what his job is and then actually do it.
#10
A Republican split maybe, but no conservative supports Trump.
Posted by: Thravimp Lover of the Antelope7006 ||
04/22/2016 13:27
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#11
The Dems will try to paint Trump as racist against Blacks but I don't think it has really been sticking. They've got the Black Lives Matter but I'm not sure about the bulk of African Americans. A lot of blacks have been hit by the same economic issues the poor whites have been hit by. It will be an interesting campaign.
#12
The "conservative" Media are showing their true colours now. Not conservative at the core, but pandering to whatever gets them ratings. Just like the Progressives they used to hammer for being hypocritical. Coulter, Hannity, Falwell, and even Limbaugh fall into this bunch who want ratings over all else. The mask is off. And for the audiences, so are the blinders.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Talks aimed at ending Yemen’s civil war opened in Kuwait on Thursday, with Kuwait’s foreign minister appealing to both sides to "turn war into peace" after more than a year of conflict which has killed 6,200 people and caused a humanitarian crisis.
The talks, bringing together the Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... group and its General People’s Congress party allies with the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, were originally scheduled to start on Monday.
They were delayed over alleged truce violations and disagreements over the agenda for the negotiations.
Kuwait’s foreign minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid al-Sabah, in an opening speech, urged Yemenis to "turn war into peace and backwardness into development."
The talks are based on UN Security Council resolution 2216 which calls for the Houthis to withdraw from areas they seized since 2014 and hand heavy weapons back to the government, UN special envoy to Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said.
"The choice today is one of two options: a safe homeland that ensures security for all of its citizens... or remnants of a land whose sons die everyday," Ould Cheikh Ahmed said in an opening speech.
The talks are expected to focus on creating a more inclusive government and restoring state authority over the country, which is now divided between the Houthis and Hadi’s administration.
The crisis began in September 2014 when the Iran-allied Houthis seized the capital Sanaa. A Saudi-led Arab alliance intervened last year, launching a campaign of mostly air strikes against the Houthis in support of Hadi’s forces.
The Houthi group and the GPC had accused the Saudi-led coalition and Hadi supporters of failing to honor a truce that began on April 10, and refused to send their negotiators to Kuwait until the truce was consolidated.
They agreed to join the talks following intervention by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and UN Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2016
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[AA.TR] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... froze assets of Yemen’s ex-President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... and four former senior Yemeni officials Thursday in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions until Feb. 27, 2017, according to the country’s official gazette.
The decision entered into force after it was published in the gazette Thursday following approval of the Turkish Council of Ministers.
The ex-president’s son Ahmed Ali Saleh, Abdullah Yahya al-Hakim, Abd al-Khaliq al-Huthi, Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh and Abdulmalik al-Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... are among those affected by the freeze.
The UN Security Council on Feb. 24 renewed sanctions on the former Yemeni officials for allegedly threatening peace in the impoverished country.
Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... has remained in turmoil since September 2014, when the Houthis and their allies overran the Yemeni capital Sanaa and other parts of the country, forcing President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and his government to temporarily flee to Saudi capital Riyadh.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2016
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#1
Every time I see one of these intriguing new SW innovations, I think of how we're still 'stuck on stupid' with the odious, proprietary Distribution Common Ground System (DCGS-A). Hat tip to "Brown Moses."
#4
He has done excellent work with Bellingcat to map war damage, American Hostages- Mapping of video to lead US to the target before. He IS Radar and picks it up. Ignore him at your peril. He is the Man right now in my source map.
If anything, give him credit for the shit he gave the Russians about the MH 17 shootdown today.
Mapped vectors and everything. Sent it back in Russian.
[AnNahar] The U.S. Air Force for the first time deployed a B-52 bomber against the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... , the Pentagon said Wednesday as it ramps up a 20-month campaign to smash the jihadists.
The bombing mission, in which a hulking B-52 destroyed a weapons storage facility south of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , comes the same week that Defense Secretary Ash Carter visited Baghdad and announced extra U.S. troops, cash and equipment for the anti-IS campaign in Iraq.
In other signs of an increasing tempo, U.S. commandos working with Kurdish troops conducted a raid targeting a senior IS group figure and the Pentagon said it has changed how air strikes risking civilian deaths are approved.
Under the new rules, authority now comes from the commanding three-star U.S. general in Baghdad, instead of going through a four-star at the U.S. Central Command's headquarters in Florida.
Baghdad-based military front man Colonel Steve Warren insisted the changes do not lessen oversight standards in determining when civilian losses are an acceptable risk.
"This does not translate to more civilian casualties, this translates to a more rapid execution of strikes," Warren said.
The Pentagon has acknowledged 26 civilian deaths due to U.S.-led coalition strikes since the campaign began in August 2014 in Iraq, and credits the use of guided missiles in keeping the number relatively low -- though independent observers say the figure is far higher.
Monday's strike by a B-52 Stratofortress blew up an IS weapons storage facility in the town of Qayyarah, about 35 miles (60 kilometers) south of Mosul.
The enormous planes, originally designed in the 1950s, became a symbol of U.S. might during the Cold War and the aircraft was used to conduct carpet bombing in Vietnam.
Warren said the B-52s are only being armed with guided bombs.
"There are memories in the collective unconscious of B-52s, decades ago, doing... arguably indiscriminate bombing," Warren said.
"Those days are long gone. The B-52 is a precision-strike weapons platform and it will conduct the same type of precision strikes that we have seen for the last 20 months."
Several B-52s arrived in Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates... earlier this month to replace a contingent of newer B-1 bombers that had been working in Iraq and Syria for about a year.
Warren also announced that U.S. commandos in northern Iraq had targeted Suleiman Abd Shabib al-Jabouri, "one of ISIS's military emirs and an ISIS war council member."
The Kurdish regional security council said Jabouri was killed in the raid, conducted jointly with Kurdish fighters.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/22/2016
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#1
Yup, in our collective unconscious, we knowz the magic woids.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
04/22/2016 7:38
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#4
Drink UP!
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/22/2016 9:33
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#5
The bombing mission, in which a hulking B-52 destroyed a weapons storage facility south of djinn-infested Mosul
I suppose following the subtle logistics chain nuances to the common point-of-origin rather than the delivery destination(s) are a little too complex.
authority now comes from the commanding three-star U.S. general in Baghdad, instead of going through a four-star at the U.S. Central Command's headquarters in Florida.
Maybe a local focus will cut through CENTCOM's 'big picture' brain-fog.
#6
It's only taken 0bean almost eight years of being the president to figure out what he should have known from the get-go. Even then, I suspect this is half for show.
#8
authority now comes from the commanding three-star U.S. general in Baghdad, instead of going through a four-star at the U.S. Central Command's headquarters in Florida.
Been that way for years. Other than theater related intelligence inputs out of SOCCENT or the CENTCOM J2, I'd be surprised if the CENTCOM Combatant Commander even maintains daily situation al awareness of the fight. It's a Klington/JSOC economy of force, 'drone zapp' fight. Again, it has been for years. That's the way Champ
wants it.
#11
authority now comes from the commanding three-star U.S. general in Baghdad, instead of going through a four-star at the U.S. Central Command's headquarters in Florida.
However, air strikes still require the approval of 27 WH attorneys including Tom Hayden and Valerie Jarrett.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
04/22/2016 13:27
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Boeing B-52; doing the job the L-M F-35 can't.
#16
So there’s been a bunch of commotion this week because two F-22 Raptor pilots say they want to transfer to flying different jets. Now, the pilots will go on 60 Minutes this Sunday to discuss the matter. Naturally, everyone’s freaking out since the pilots are apparently going to blow the lid off the jets’ safety issues that we, and everyone else, have written about over the last year.
As you know, the Raptors where cleared to return to flight in September 2011 following a lengthy grounding so that service officials could figure out what was causing F-22 pilots to experience hypoxia-like symptoms in flight (the grounding came several months after an Alaska-based F-22 crashed in November 2010 when its pilot lost situational awareness while trying to activate his plane’s emergency oxygen system). The Air Force still hasn’t figured out what’s messing with the F-22’s pilots and in fact, Raptor jocks have reported 11 instances of hypoxia-like symptoms since the grounding was lifted.
This has apparently prompted at least two pilots to lose faith in the jet as a safe flying platform, with one, Maj. Jeremy Gordon saying he’s “not comfortable flying the F-22 right now.”
The other pilot, Capt. Josh Wilson described an instance last year where he sensed the onset of hypoxia and reached for the plane’s emergency oxygen system — just like the pilot involved in the Alaska crash — but couldn’t remember how to find the system’s poorly-designed activation ring.
From the Newport News Daily Press:
It was … kind of a surreal experience,” he says, because it took great concentration to do simple tasks. He attempted to pull an emergency oxygen ring and couldn’t find it in the cockpit.
Capt. Jeff Haney was headed back to base in his F-22 Raptor fighter jet, ripping through the frigid Alaskan night beyond the speed of sound at more than 1,000 mph, when things started going terribly wrong.
Packed tight in cold-weather gear to protect him from the bitter temperatures, the Air Force pilot pulled back on the control stick at about 38,400 feet to gain altitude. Then Haney saw his plane was beginning to fail him.
A caution light glowed green through his night vision goggles, alerting him that a section of the aircraft was overheating. Almost instantly, the F-22's onboard computers detected an air leak in the engine bay and began automatic shutdown of various systems — including the main oxygen supply.
Gasping for air, Haney set the throttles to idle and began lowering the plane to the snow-covered valley below. About 35 seconds later, Haney's plane began to roll upside down. He couldn't recover. There amid the Talkeetna Mountains north of Anchorage, Haney, 31, crashed and died.
When the U.S. sought to assure Asian allies that it would defend them against potential aggression by North Korea this spring, the Pentagon deployed its top-of-the-line jet fighter, the F-22 Raptor.
But only two of the jets were sent screaming through the skies south of Seoul.
That token show of American force was a stark reminder that the U.S. may have few F-22s to spare. Alarmed by soaring costs, the Defense Department shut down production last year after spending $67.3 billion on just 188 planes — leaving the Air Force to rely mainly on its fleet of 30-year-old conventional fighters.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-advanced-fighter-woes-20130616-dto-htmlstory.html
Sorry about the lack of easy links, but I am working from an iPad, which although expensive but not rare, lacks several important features for us keyboard warriors :)
#19
Had an uncle who flew B24s in the Pacific. A brother in C130 ditto, and a fraternity brother in KC135, same also again.
Somebody must have had a better idea. Maybe we ought to look at which senator is having the thing built in his state.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
04/22/2016 22:07
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#20
Just re-read Ambrose's The Wild Blue.
B-24 pilot didn't sound easy. Did he get Liberator Arm?
[AnNahar] Islamist group Ansar Dine said Thursday it was holding three Red Thingy workers captured in northeastern Mali last weekend and called for the release of a jihadist placed in durance vile ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... by French troops for their safe return.
"We have three people who work for the Red Thingy. We want Barkhane (French forces) to free Miyatene Ag Mayaris before we will release them," Nourredine Ag Mohammed, a senior turban in the group, told Agence La Belle France Presse.
An ICRC front man in Bamako had previously confirmed three of its staff were being held by an unknown group that had intercepted them on April 16, while a fourth had been released.
Ansar Dine is one of several active jihadist groups roaming Mali's north, and picked up the workers in the restive region of Kidal, where the Red Thingy said they were carrying out field work.
The ICRC said Thursday it had not received the claim of responsibility but was working with several key players in Mali to ascertain what had happened.
"We are in contact with all the relevant people in the area ... to get hold of more precise information," ICRC spokeswoman Claire Kaplun told AFP at its Geneva base, including local leaders, the Malian authorities and French troops.
The ICRC has not yet released their names or nationalities.
Four Red Thingy workers had camped in an area where French forces in the Barkhane anti-terror mission were carrying out operations, the ICRC has previously said.
The team were flagged down in their vehicle "by someone on a cycle of violence, who told them to follow him," Valery Mbaoh Nana, ICRC front man in the Malian capital Bamako, told AFP on Tuesday.
Mbaoh Nana said that according to information that had reached the ICRC, the three hostages "are being held in acceptable conditions. They are not being tortured, they have not been physically maltreated."
The ICRC spokeswoman in Geneva said the details of the conditions of detention "came from the staff member who has been released."
Since then, there had been no further contact, she said.
La Belle France's Operation Barkhane, launched in 2014, deploys 3,500 soldiers across five countries in the Sahel region ... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas... to maintain cross-border security following the ousting of jihadists from key towns in Mali's north.
It is the successor to a military intervention that freed Mali's vast, desolate north from the control of Tuareg-led rebels who allied with jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in 2012.
A protest against foreign forces including Barkhane left one demonstrator dead on Monday, underlining simmering tensions between the local population and UN and French troops based in the area.
Three Red Thingy workers captured in northeastern Mali last weekend by Islamist group Ansar Dine have been freed, the ICRC said Friday.
"The best news we could get: our three colleagues in Mali are free, safe and sound," ICRC head Peter Maurer said on his Twitter account, with the news confirmed by ICRC front man in Bamako Valery Mbaoh Nana.
"All three were freed this morning (Friday)," Mbaoh Nana said.
"They are in Kidal," he added, referring to the historic provincial capital of the restive region where they were kidnapped on April 16, 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) north of the capital.
The group said the hostages would be safely returned in exchange for the release of one of their members, who was placed in durance vile by French troops.
"We have three people who work for the Red Thingy. We want Barkhane (French forces) to free Miyatene Ag Mayaris before we will release them," Nourredine Ag Mohammed, a senior murderous Moslem in the group, told AFP Thursday.
It remained unclear Friday whether Ansar Dine's condition for the aid workers' release had been met.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/22/2016
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least 10 hard boyz were blown up by their own explosives as they were busy making an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in southeastern Ghazni province.
According to the security officials, the hard boyz were busy making the IED inside a mosque in Andar district.
The officials further added that the explosives went off prematurely, leaving all 10 hard boyz dead.
The anti-government armed krazed killer groups have not commented regarding the report so far.
The Taliban forces of Evil and hard boyz belonging to the other Death Eater groups are frequently using Improvised Explosive Device (IED) as the weapon of their choice to target the security forces.
The IEDs are the main contributors to the casualties of the Afghan cops but are also considered as a key factor in growing civilian casualties.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2016
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#1
In a mosque, you say? How...Islamic
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/22/2016 8:49
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Predictable issues have derailed ongoing negotiations over the Syrian conflict, with the opposition resuming fighting against the Syrian regime, which has repeatedly broken the cessation of hostilities agreement that was implemented in February.
In addition to the continued Assad regime bombardment of forces ostensibly included in the ceasefire agreement, the primary issue that continues to sabotage the latest efforts to bring some semblance of calm to the war-torn country and resolution to the never-ending conflict, remains unchanged: fierce disagreement over the future of Bashir al-Assad’s criminal regime.
Sincere efforts to bring the conflict to an end, or carve out a path that will lead to such a reality, will continue to fail so long as they involve negotiating with parties that demand Assad remain in power. Such a proposal dismisses the fact that the Assad regime’s failure to step down years ago remains the chief reason why Syria has spiralled into hell and allowed barbaric actors, including ISIS, to flourish.
Rooters reported that only three delegates from the opposition met UN special envoy Steffan de Mistura on 18 April, when typically 15 delegates do so. It is understandable that the opposition is considering completely pulling out of talks; the Syrian regime’s history of pretending to be interested in negotiations while stepping up their military campaign on the ground is well-documented.
There is no reason to assess the regime has moved away from that strategy at this stage. And with the Syrian military preparing a major offensive to attempt to seize all of Aleppo, a return to all out fighting appears inevitable in the near-term.
Assad’s latest signal that he has no immediate interest in stepping down was sent to Syrians and the international community when he held parliamentary elections in government-controlled areas this week. The latest election - as was the presidential vote held in 2014 ‐ was of course a total sham.
As thousands of Paleostinians face starvation in Yarmouk and the women of Daraya beg the government to lift the siege on their community, the AP reported that the government extended voting hours until midnight due to what Syrian state news indicated was "massive turnout."
Advancing military
The Syrian regime has repeatedly vowed that it will not cede an inch of land to the opposition nor relinquish a bit of political power; it is critical that negotiators start listening and planning accordingly. While the West appears to operate under the assumption Assad will ultimately prove willing to depart, his regime continues signaling the precise opposite.
Meanwhile, ...back at the dirigible, Jack stuck the cigar in his mouth, stepped onto the gantry, and asked Got a light, Mac?
Von Schtinken stopped short, lowering the dagger and trying to control his features.
If you light that thing, Herr Armschtröng, he pointed out, his voice tense, we all die!... Russia’s public and sudden announcement that its forces would withdraw from Syria has yet to be illustrated on the ground. The notion that Russia made such an announcement - in an effort to pressure the Assad regime into negotiations with the West ‐ is an assessment that appear weaker with the Syrian military’s every advance.
The US should fully back the opposition’s decision to pull away from talks with the Syrian regime until their basic demands are seriously addressed. The basis for a longer term agreement will not be built on fresh ruin and bloodshed amid attempts by the regime to award itself political legitimacy with sham elections.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2016
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] US President Barack Obama Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack, though.... on Wednesday defended the Iran nuclear deal his administration had long lobbied for, but also pledged vigilance against Tehran at a summit attended by Gulf leaders in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
"We will remain vigilant to make sure Iran fulfills its commitments, just as we fulfill ours," Obama said at the close of the meeting with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Obama’s administration lent its weight for the deal, signed in July last year with the Islamic republic and six world powers, to use diplomacy in order to block pathways for Iran to develop a nuclear arm, an allegation Tehran has long rejected.
Gulf states have long expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... s over Iran’s interference and meddling in the region, a worry Obama has tackled in his Riyadh visit when he said Iran must be held "accountable" and that the US is going to work to stop Iran from backing the Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... militia group in Yemen.
Need for talks However, the man who has no enemies isn't anybody and has never done anything... he said there is a need for a "dialogue" as well, highlighting his administration’s keenness for diplomacy.
Citing Iran’s "destabilizing activities" in the region, he said: "Even with the nuclear deal we recognize collectively that we continue to have serious concerns about Iranian behavior."
But he added: "None of our nations have an interest in conflict with Iran."
While concerns remain over Iran and economic issues, including the collapsed oil prices, he also described the GCC monarchies as united in their commitment to defeating ISIS and soothing other regional conflicts.
"We remain united in our fight to destroy ISIS," he said, using another acronym for ISIS, at the close of the summit.
Obama, finishing his brief trip to the kingdom, said he and the Gulf leaders had agreed about ways to move forward in campaign against ISIS, with members of the GCC states agreeing to "increase their contributions to the fight."
He also said "the United States and the GCC will launch a new high-level economic dialogue with a focus on adjusting to lower oil prices, increasing our economic ties and supporting GCC reforms as they work to provide jobs and opportunities to their young people and all of their citizens."
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04/22/2016
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[Daily Excelsior] Three Lions of Islam of Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... (LeT) were killed during a shootout at Lolab in North Kashmire’s Kupwara district today while a top LeT commander and his associates slipped out of cordon in South Kashmire’s Pulwama district.
Army’s 28 Rashtirya Rifles (RR) and Special Operations Group of Jammu and Kashmire Police cordoned off the forest area near Gujjarpati village in Putshahi area of Lolab in Kupwara district last night after specific information about the presence of 3-4 Lions of Islam in the area.
Security forces fired several probing shots and Lions of Islam immediately responded and opened a volley of gun fire at the troops leading to a fierce shootout.
Three Lions of Islam were killed in the shootout. However, if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well... their identity is yet to be ascertained. They are believed to be Paks. Three AK 47 rifles, three UBGLs, 387 AK 47 rounds, 10 AK 47 magazines, three pouches, three bags, three water proof Trousers and 40 biscuit packets were recovered from the encounter site.
Reports said that one of the Lions of Islam of the group was killed on April 6 and others had managed to escape and one of these Lions of Islam was injured in that operation. Security forces were tracking these Lions of Islam since then and today they were killed.
A defence front man said here that in a major blow to the myrmidon outfits, the security forces today eliminated three Lions of Islam in Lolab, Kupwara.
"On receiving specific information about the presence of some forces of Evil in Putsai Village, in Lolab, Kupwara, Army and police launched a joint operation. As the Security Forces closed in towards the suspect area, they drew a heavy volume of indiscriminate fire from the cornered terrorists", the front man said.
The front man said that conscious of the presence of innocent civilians who were being used as human shields by the myrmidons, the security forces gave a very calibrated response and in the ensuing firefight killed three heavily armed Lions of Islam without causing any collateral damage.
"A large quantity of arms and ammunition has been recovered from the forces of Evil which includes three AK 47 rifles and three UBGLs besides other war like stores", the front man said.
"In yet another operation launched in Zudur, Pulwama security forces recovered a cache of war like stores including ammunition and grenades", the front man added.
Police said that this morning on specific information Police Kupwara along with 28 RR cordoned Gujjar Pathi Pathushahi in the jurisdiction of Police Station Sogam.
"The Lions of Islam hiding in the area fired upon the security forces. The fire was retaliated and an encounter ensued. Three unidentified Lions of Islam were killed in the encounter. 3 AK 47 Rifles, 3 UBGLs, 387 AK 47 rounds, 10 AK 47 magzines, 3 Pouches, 3 gags, 3 trousers (water proof), and 40 biscuit packets were recovered from the encounter site", police front man said.
The front man said: "A case FIR number 21/16 under Section 307 RPC, 7/27 IA Act has been registered. After completion of legal formalites, the bodies were handed over to Local Auqaf of Village Pothushahi for burial."
In the meantime, a group of Lions of Islam including LeT divisional commander, Abu Dujana, this afternoon managed to flee from the security forces cordon in Pulwama district of South Kashmire.
A police officer said that acting on a tip off from the always reliable Mahmoud the Weasel, a joint team of Army’s 55 RR, SOG and CRPF launched cordon-and-search operation at Bulbul Bagh area of Malwar village of Zadur in South Kashmire.
"Soon after the joint team of forces reached near the suspected spot the Lions of Islam hiding in the area opened fire upon them and managed to break the forces cordon," the officer said.
As the security forces intensified the combing operation in Zadur and its adjacent areas to trace out the fleeing myrmidons, the locals in large numbers came out and clashed with the police and paramilitary forces to help the fleeing myrmidons.
The police and CRPF who were deployed in the area chased the youth and fired tear smoke shells to disperse them. However, if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well... they hurled stones on them leading to festivities.
Security forces recovered 4 UBGL grenades, 3 AK magazines, 90 AK rounds and one pouch.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2016
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Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba
#1
At some point, Fred's crazy skill set, is going to make every gunfight in the subcontinent sound like a RAB. I suspect pouch may enter the everyday vocabulary of good Rantburgers everywhere.
#2
Congress is required to act when the defense of this nation is in jeopardy. The president, as much as I despise him, is not the problem here. Congress is stealing money from American, filtering it from our defense budget and playing hide the monkey blaming it on the POS in the White House. The true rats are living in congress. They are supposed to be the balance to his power, but instead they are fleecing America.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
04/22/2016 11:10
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#3
instead they are fleecing America
to assure the continuance of their own power cults.
[ARA News] DAMASCUS – At least a dozen soldiers of the Syrian regime army were reportedly killed in clashes with rebel groups while trying to advance on several fighting fronts in the eastern Ghouta of Damascus in southern Syria, local sources reported on Thursday.
Speaking to ARA News in Damascus, media activist Ziad Hussein said that fierce clashes erupted between the pro-regime army forces and rebel fighters on the Bala fighting front, but the rebel groups were able to deter the advancement of the regime’s army and kill several soldiers in the ranks of the regime’s army forces.
“Syrian rebels were able to destroy a regime-led bulldozer as well as killing seven members of the Assad’s loyal forces, ” he reported.
Rebel fighters gave also destroyed an armored vehicle for the army and killed its entire crew, according to a rebel spokesman.
“Three other soldiers were killed on the fighting front of the Jisrain town amid mutual artillery and missile bombardment,” he reported.
Eyewitnesses told ARA News that similar clashes broke out between the two sides in the fighting front of al-Nashabiyah. Casualties were reported on both sides.
Also on Thursday, the pro-regime warplanes conducted over six raids on headquarters of the rebels in the districts of Bala and Marj in Damascus suburb, wounding six civilians, including a woman and two children who were taken immediately to a field hospital for treatment.
Additionally, helicopters loyal to president Bashar al-Assad dropped more than eight barrel bombs on the town of Khan al-Sheeh in the western Ghouta, claiming the lives of several people and injuring others, including an elderly man who suffered serious injuries.
The southern fronts of the Eastern Ghouta in Damascus has been witnessing daily clashes between the regime’s forces and opposition factions, including the Army of Islam, for several weeks amid mutual shelling between the two sides.
Posted by: badanov ||
04/22/2016
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(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – A source within the paramilitary Peshmerga force said on Thursday, that the Kurdish Peshmerga forces had managed to repel an attack by ISIS on the area of Domiz west of Sinjar.
The source said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “Today, Peshmerga forces repelled a suicide attack by ISIS militants on the area of Dumiz west of Sinjar,” noting that, “The ISIS used three suicide bombers during the attack.”
The source added, “The attack resulted in the injury of a number of Peshmerga elements.”
Posted by: badanov ||
04/22/2016
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[ARA News] PALMYRA – Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra, which was regained by Syrian army forces –supported by Russian air cover– from militants of the Islamic State (ISIS) last month, was declared free of land-mines and explosive devices on Thursday.
Yury Stavitsky, commander of Russia’s military engineers, addressed President Vladimir Putin in a televised video, saying: “As of today, the tasks to demine the ancient architectural part of Palmyra have been completed in their entirety.”
“Now the units of engineers have moved on to demining the residential area of the town of Palmyra and the airport,” Stavitsky said. “367 buildings, 40 hectares (99 acres) of land and 9.5 kilometers (5.9 miles) of roads were checked and 1,432 explosive devices destroyed.”
Putin had personally ordered the demining, and the Kremlin has been keen to publicize the operation. “Pass on my gratitude to all the personnel: officers, rank-and-file, those providing security,” Putin said.
In August 2015, satellite images confirmed the destruction of the Baal Shamin temple in Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra, according to the United Nations, which condemned ISIS claims of destroying the temple.
The U.N. has slammed the destruction of the temple as a “war crime,” and the act has raised concerns for the rest of the UNESCO World Heritage site.
Also, ISIS published images last August, showing militants placing explosives into the temple in order to destroy the ancient monuments arguing they are worshipped by people and must be smashed, according to ISIS ideology.
ISIS took over Palmyra after fierce battles with Syrian army forces in May 2015.
In March 2016, the pro-regime forces were able to impose full control over Palmyra downtown after ISIS extremists retreated towards the northern villages of Palmyra and its eastern outskirts. The group’s leadership ordered its militants to withdraw towards its main bastion of Raqqa, northeastern Syria.
In the meantime, the United States said it is concerned by reports that Moscow is moving more military material into Syria.
“We think it would be negative for Russia to move additional military equipment or personnel into Syria. We believe that our efforts are best focused on supporting the diplomatic process,” Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser to President Barack Obama, said on Thursday at a news briefing in Riyadh where President Obama was attending a summit with Gulf Arab leaders.
[FRANCE24] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... ’s appeals court has overturned coup plot convictions imposed in 2013 on a retired military chief and other senior figures in a case then regarded as clipping the wings of the secularist and military establishment, state media said on Thursday.
The ruling closes the final chapter in a nine-year legal drama whose twists and turns have tracked the shifting balance of power at the heart of the Turkish establishment.
In August 2013, ex-military chief General Ilker Basbug was sentenced to life in jail for his role in the "Ergenekon" plot to overthrow then-Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted government.
Politicians, lawyers and journalists were also among 275 defendants in the case, which emerged in 2007 when an arms cache was discovered in a house in an Istanbul suburb.
It was at the time championed by Erdogan and his supporters as a battle against anti-democratic forces and to tame a military that had seen itself as the guardian of secularism, carrying out three coups and forcing a fourth, Islamist-led government from power in the second half of the 20th century.
In Thursday’s ruling, the appeals court said there had been no "Ergenekon terror group", and that evidence had been collected illegally, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
Sledgehammer
After the 2013 convictions, the case became entwined in a power struggle between Erdogan and U.S.-based Muslim holy man Fethullah Gulen, whose influential followers in the judiciary had been seen as key to the Ergenekon convictions.
Erdogan accused Gulen of using his influence within state institutions to try to unseat him in a coup plot. As their feud deepened, the Ergenekon defendants were released in March 2014, with the government suggesting they too may have been unfairly treated and the victims of a Gulenist plot.
Another trial over an alleged 2003 plot against Erdogan, the "Sledgehammer" case, ended with acquittal for more than 200 military officers in March last year.
The prosecutor who led the Ergenekon investigation, viewed as close to Gulen, fled to Armenia in August as an arrest warrant was issued for him over his role in a separate investigation of alleged corruption in Erdogan’s inner circle.
That corruption inquiry was thrown out by the courts and the judiciary and police subjected to a systematic purge of suspected Gulen supporters.
Police operations have subsequently targeted thousands of supporters of Gulen, accused of leading what prosecutors described as a "Gulenist Terror Group" trying to overthrow Erdogan. Gulen denies the accusations.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2016
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[DAWN] THE chilly reception given to President B.O. on his arrival in Riyadh is a sign of the growing rift between the US and Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... The governor of Riyadh received the president while state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
showed footage of the king receiving other leaders from GCC countries on the tarmac of the airport at the same time.
At issue is a bill making its way through Congress that would allow American citizens to sue the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for losses suffered during 9/11, and growing pressure on the B.O. regime to authorise the release of 28 pages of the 9/11 commission report that have never been made public, purportedly because they contain details of possible links between the hijackers and the Saudi regime.
More dramatically, the kingdom has warned that if the bill is passed, it will consider withdrawing its investments in the United States, said to total $750 billion, with more funds parked in US treasury bills.
Global financial markets have shrugged off that threat so far, which could send a shockwave through the global economy, if carried out by the Saudis.
But the weak position of the Saudi regime’s fiscal health means it will suffer at least as much as the US economy -- that fact considerably dilutes the probability of the threat being carried out.
Likewise the legislation under consideration in the US Congress that would allow US citizens to sue the Saudi regime for the 9/11 attacks is audacious, to say the least, and could open a Pandora’s box if reciprocated by other countries.
The only reasonable step in this whole affair would be the one that calls for releasing the 28 classified pages of the 9/11 commission report. If it is true that these pages contain information that may implicate the Saudi government in the attacks, then this needs to be known by the rest of the world, which has suffered the consequences of 9/11 as well.
If not true, the matter needs to be laid to rest. The growing tensions between the two countries are unlikely to go away soon, especially since they are driven in large part by Saudi fears of a growing thaw in ties between Iran and America.
For Pakistain it would be a good idea to not wade too deep into the belligerence engulfing the Middle East, and to stay out of the rivalry evident between important players in the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2016
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#1
The governor of Riyadh received the president while state television showed footage of the king receiving other leaders from GCC countries on the tarmac of the airport at the same time.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least 21 holy warriors operating under the name of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group were killed and dozens of others were maimed in Arclight airstrikes carried out by the Afghan Air Force and coalition forces, local officials said Wednesday. (Photo 438th Air Expeditionary Wing)
The Arclight airstrike was carried out in Achin district earlier on Wednesday targeting the loyalists of the terror group in Mamand Dara area.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said a commander of the terror group was also among those killed.
Provincial governor’s front man, Ataullah Khogyani, earlier said 20 holy warriors of the ISIS terrorist group were killed and dozens of others were maimed in the raid.
He said several weapons, ammunition and explosives belonging to the terror group were also destroyed in the Arclight airstrike.
The anti-government armed Death Eater groups have not commented regarding the report so far.
Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. is among the relatively volatile provinces in eastern Afghanistan where anti-government armed Death Eater groups are actively operating and frequently carry out insurgency activities.
The loyalists of ISIS terrorist group and other snuffies are openly operating in a number of its remote districts with Achin district being the stronghold of ISIS terror group.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2016
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(IraqiNews.com) Dohuk – The armed wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced on Thursday killing three Turkish soldiers and wounding another during a militant attack near the Iraqi border.
The PKK said in a brief statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “Today, our forces launched an attack against a site for the Turkish Special Forces in the area of Jali, located on the Turkish-Iraqi border,” indicating that, “Heavy weapons were used during the attack.”
The statement added, “The attack resulted in killing three Turkish soldiers and wounding another soldier.”
[DAWN] ATTACKS on anti-polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... vaccinators and the security teams that now routinely accompany them are desperately wicked crimes.
Violent and immoral, such attacks leave no part of state or society unaffected: directly, through the casualties inflicted on anti-polio vaccine teams and security personnel and, indirectly, through jeopardising the health of the next generation, especially in neighbourhoods which are already chronically under-resourced and face significant health challenges.
What needs to be done -- not just in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... , but elsewhere in the country too where there is still some resistance to vaccines -- is to revisit standard operating procedure to reduce the risk of casualties when attacks do occur as well as dedicate more resources to intelligence-gathering on polio-specific threats.
From the repetitive nature of such attacks and the early evidence often pointing to a predictable set of security lapses and a familiar group of suspects, it appears that the war on polio can be waged with more precision and better security.
Yet, the sheer deadliness of the attack on Wednesday, the number of snuffies involved and the city in which it occurred raise a specific set of questions too.
Consider that the army has, via the Rangers, been leading a crackdown on militancy and crime in Karachi since September 2013.
The sheer scale of the security threats in Karachi and the vastness of the provincial metropolis ensured that quick solutions would not materialise.
But if action was necessary and inevitable, so was remaining focused on the original cause -- combating terrorism and organised crime in the city.
Instead, the Karachi operation has long drifted into other domains ie alleged political crimes and corruption.
As with all security decisions, there is an inherent trade-off involved: combating one problem leaves fewer resources to fight another. And as with all security decisions, a balance must be maintained.
Surely, if a group of snuffies -- eight in number, according to reports -- can attack and kill seven on-duty coppers in broad daylight in two different spots and then simply melt away, the threat from militancy is not receiving the kind of sustained attention it needs to be given in Karachi.
Are the Rangers and the military-led intelligence agencies operating in the placid provincial capital too stretched for the good of the city they are trying to stabilise and secure?
Of course, the problem is compounded on the civilian side.
The deployment of under-training coppers on guard duties during anti-polio vaccination drives only underscores the desperate lack of investment in the Sindh police.
The PPP, which has been in power in the province since 2008, seems utterly indifferent to even basic responsibilities, be it on the security side or governance.
With the PPP more interested in sparring with the military over the Karachi operation and the military seemingly unable to work with the civilians, the danger is that the space for militancy in Karachi may be expanding once again.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2016
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#1
Did they drain the pool or over chlorinate this time?
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Amnesia Amnesty International on Thursday condemned Russia for sending migrants colonists and asylum seekers back to its highly repressive ex-Soviet ally Uzbekistan where they face "pervasive" use of torture.
The rights group accused Russia in a new report of being "partners in crime" with Uzbekistan, a Central Asian country ruled by dour former Communist strongman Islam Karimov since 1991.
Amnesty urged Moscow to stop extraditing or facilitating the forcible removal of Uzbeks who face the "real risk of torture" and "manifestly unfair trials."
"The Russian authorities are not simply turning a blind eye to torture and injustice in Uzbekistan, they are lending a helping hand," said John Dalhuisen, Amnesia Amnesty International’s director for Europe and Central Asia.
Hundreds of asylum seekers, refugees and labor migrants colonists have been kidnapped or forcibly returned from Russia to Uzbekistan since 2014, said the report, based on interviews with lawyers, activists and survivors of torture.
Despite "overwhelming evidence that torture continues unabated in Uzbekistan," Russia continues to return alleged opponents of Karimov’s regime, it said.
Those sent back undergo "incommunicado detention, torture and other ill treatment to force them to confess," Amnesty said.
"They face unfair trials that result in long prison sentences served in cruel, inhuman and degrading conditions."
Uzbekistan, which hosted United States 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... last year, denies the use of torture.
A relative of an asylum seeker forcibly returned to Uzbekistan in 2014 told Amnesty that his torturers "kicked in almost all of his teeth... He has only tiny splinters sticking out from his gums."
"They are killing him slowly," the unnamed relative said.
Amnesty accused Russia of prioritizing "good relations and mutual interests" over international human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... obligations.
It claimed Russia has colluded in "abductions and forced returns" and circumvented emergency orders by the European Court of Human Rights to halt extradition.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Putin's reply.
"I've consulted colonel (ret) Sergei Ivanovitch Potunkin---who was in charge of founding your organization. Sergei Ivanovitch told me 'Yea, they're dolboyobs. Otherwise we couldn't have used them.'".
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] There has been a significant rise in Afghan army casualties amid rampant crackdown by the Afghan armed forces to suppress the insurgency activities of the bad boy groups.
At least 10 Afghan soldiers bit the dust during the counter-terrorism operations being conducted across the country amid surging violence.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said the soldiers were martyred in the past 24 hours as they were suppressing the anti-government armed bad boys.
"The Afghan National Army (ANA) forces are prepared for all kinds of devotion and with all force to maintain security and comfort for the people of Afghanistan," a statement by MoD said, adding that 10 Afghan soldiers were martyred during counter-terrorism operations against the internal and foreign terrorists.
According to a statement by MoD at least 141 gunnies were killed and 23 others were maimed as a result of the clearance operations in the past 24 hours.
The statement further added that the operations were conducted in Ghazni in the southeast, Heart in the west and Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. in the east.
There has been a sharp rise in the casualties of the Afghan national security forces since they took full control of the security responsibilities from the coalition forces at the start of last year.
According to the earlier estimates by security officials, the Afghan army deaths stood at 4 service members daily on average which is mainly caused due to improvised bomb (IED) attacks.
The Afghan forces have increased counter-terrorism operations to suppress the anti-government armed bad boy groups who are preparing to step up attacks as they announced their spring offensive earlier last week.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2016
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Ministry of Interior (MoI) has suspended a number of senior police officials following the deadly suicide kaboom 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.... on Tuesday.
Sediq Sediqi, front man for the Ministry of Interior (MoI), the police chief of 1st Police District has been suspended and has been introduced for investigation.
He said a number of other officials including the Head of the Criminal Investigation Department for PD1, and Head of Counter-terrorism were also suspended.
At least 64 people were killed and 347 others were maimed in the attack on the Directorate of Security for Elite Government officials.
The Taliban group grabbed credit behind the attack which comes amid rampant insurgency led by the group since they announced their spring offensive.
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04/22/2016
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[DAWN] RAWALPINDI: In an unprecedented move, Chief of Army Staff General 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.... dismissed six army officers, including two generals, from service over alleged corruption, an authoritative source confirmed on Thursday.
Earlier media reports said 12 officers, including some JCOs, were dismissed, but the source said that this was mere speculation.
However, a hangover is the wrath of grapes... no one from the military's media wing was willing to confirm any of these figures on record.
A lieutenant general, major general and three brigadiers are said to be among those dismissed from service, said an intelligence official speaking to DawnNews on condition of anonymity.
The dismissed officers have reportedly served with the Frontier Corps ...a provincial paramilitary force. Total manpower is about 80,000. They are tasked to help local law enforcement in the maintenance of law and order, and to carry out border patrol and anti-smuggling operations.... (FC) Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... and were charged for corruption during their service with the paramilitary force.
The others dismissed were junior commission officers who worked with those named above, said the intelligence official.
Following the investigation conducted by then Adjutant Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat on the orders of the army chief, the charged officers were asked to return all earnings accumulated through corruption, the official said, adding that all perks and privileges had been withdrawn from the officers except their pensions.
Lt Gen Obaidullah also served as IG FC from 2010-2013, after which Maj Gen Ejaz Shahid was appointed IG FC, intelligence sources said.
There has been no official confirmation regarding the move.
The development comes two days after the COAS said "across the board accountability is necessary for the solidarity, integrity and prosperity of Pakistain", adding that the war against terror cannot be won unless "the menace of corruption is uprooted".
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2016
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#1
Kinda funny, considering the ISI has long used the Frontier Constabulary as a money laundering agent for its insurgency projects in Afghanistan and "Kashmire".
[DAWN] LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency has unearthed a Rs2 billion ’online’ scam in which more than 5,000 people have been defrauded.
"We have placed in durance vile Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! the prime suspect, Liaquat Ali, from Sialkot. He and nine others are involved in Rs2 billion fraud which they committed by setting up a website - e2click.com - through which they asked people to get registered with them against certain amount and earn profits (by posting and clicking advertisement)," FIA Cyber Crime 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.... Deputy Director Sajjad Bajwa told Dawn on Wednesday.
Mr Bajwa said the owners of e2click.com won confidence of their ’clients’ by giving away a few thousands rupees in ’profit’. "Once they start believing that the website is genuine they invest more," he added.
Fraudsters operated website from June to November 2015
He said more than 5,000 people were affected by the scam.
"We have detected Rs200 million in a couple of accounts of the prime suspect. We are conducting raids to arrest his accomplices and will recover the looted money," he claimed.
Giving details, he said Liaquat Ali and Ahsan Raza, along with their family members had launched the website business in Faisalabad ...formerly known as Lyallpur, the third largest metropolis in Pakistain, the second largest in Punjab after Lahore. It is named after some Arab because the Paks didn't have anybody notable of their own to name it after... in June 2015 and closed it in November the same year. They allegedly had backing of some ’influential politicians’ of the district, he added.
"The suspects have also laundered huge sums abroad. A case under money laundering will also be registered against them after getting evidence," Mr Bajwa said.
The FIA has received dozens of complaints against the website owners. "Initially we had no idea of the scale of the fraud. During investigation it turned out to be a scam of billions. Some of the affected people invested up to over Rs10 million to make easy money online," he said.
The FIA has sent the laptops and mobile phones recovered from the suspect for forensic examination.
According to another official, still there are a number of such websites which are fleecing people.
"As it is not easy for the victims to trace such websites on their own, we ask them to approach FIA if they are defrauded online," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2016
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Turkish warplanes conducted two air operations against outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) targets in the southeastern provinces of Hakkari and Şırnak on April 21, the Turkish General Staff has announced.
“On April 21, 2016, between 6:35 a.m. and 7 a.m., four F-16 fighter jets carried out an air operation on separatist terror organization [PKK] targets in the Dağlıca region [of Hakkari] as a result of evaluating intelligence and six F-16 jets carried out an air operation against PKK targets spotted in the rural area south of [the] Uludere [region of Şırnak] as a result of evaluating intelligence. All spotted targets were destroyed. Our warplanes have returned to their bases after successfully carrying out their duties,” the General Staff said in a statement.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/22/2016
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] European laws that are meant to help ordinary people find refuge contain loopholes that are exploited by criminals who are wanted in their countries, and who want to kill. However, a hangover is the wrath of grapes... laws will not remain as they are.
For example, La Belle France’s state of alert has resulted in it taking certain measures at a quicker pace than other countries such as Britannia. The Gay Paree attacks in Nov. 2015, and the Brussels attacks in March 2016, awakened Europe’s sense of security.
Some European organizations ridiculed Arab and Gulf countries, and alleged that our war on terrorism was actually against freedom of expression.
It later turned out that a number of bombers in mosques found their way in under the cover of campaigns with slogans such as "aid the sufferer," and under the cover of provocative Twitter hashtags.
Europe is now talking about stripping citizenship, and is implementing deportation measures. Yes, it finally realized the threat!
"We’ve expelled about 80 preachers of hate, and we’ll confront the phenomenon of French youths embracing bully boy ideology and joining the ranks of ISIS in Syria and Iraq," French President Francois Hollande ...the Socialist president of La Belle France, an economic bad joke for la Belle France but seemingly a foreign policy realist... said last Thursday. About 600 French people are fighting alongside ISIS.
The free environment in Europe has been exploited by evil men. Nations will not be blamed if they want to maintain their security. Europe will say this louder with time: "There’s no place for hate here!"
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2016
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Top|| File under:
#1
European laws, which are based on theory of human nature that is total wishful thinking,...
[AnNahar] Suspected Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... gunnies on horseback killed at least 11 people in northeast Nigeria ... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border... this week, two civilian vigilantes assisting the military told AFP on Thursday.
The attack on Zango village, in the Gulani district some 150 kilometers (94 miles) south of the Yobo state capital, Damaturu, happened overnight on Tuesday to Wednesday, said Aisami Mamman.
It came two weeks after a similar attack on two nearby villages left at least 20 dead, he added.
"They (Boko Haram) came around midnight (2300 GMT Tuesday) and started firing gunshots in the village. This prompted residents to flee into the bush," said Mamman.
"They pursued them, shooting at them while others set fire to the whole village. The whole village was burnt. Eleven people were killed and several others were maimed, six of them critically.
"They were brought here to Damaturu where they are receiving treatment for gunshot wounds."
The motive for the attack was not immediately clear but previous strikes have seen Boko Haram steal cattle or foodstuffs.
The hit-and-run attack has been a trademark of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group affiliate but such incidents have become rarer because of a concerted military counter-offensive in the northeast.
Troops have over the last year wrested back territory lost to the Lions of Islam in 2014, scattering fighters and cutting off their supply lines.
Boko Haram fighters have conducted a number of attacks on remote villages after arriving on horseback and even bicycles because of a shortage of fuel for vehicles or cycle of violences.
Mamman suggested the attackers in Zango came from the Sambisa Forest area of neighboring Borno, where Boko Haram has long had camps.
"Exactly two weeks ago there was a similar attack on two villages nearby. They attacked Gurum and Dokshi villages," he said in an account of both incidents supported by another militia member.
"They burnt them completely and killed more than 20 residents."
Boko Haram has killed nearly 1,900 people since President Muhammadu Buhari took office in May last year, according to AFP reporting.
Overall, an estimated 20,000 people have been killed since the start of the insurgency in 2009.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/22/2016
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Top|| File under: Boko Haram
ISIS fighters drew back from long-held positions around the port city of Derna on Wednesday, military forces in eastern Libya said, as forces loyal to the government in the region pushed forward with an offensive in Benghazi.
The retreat around Derna, if confirmed, could mark a momentous shift in the alignment of forces in the area.
ISIS took hold of territory in Libya as two conflicting governments and a number of armed factions came to blows to control the country in the past two years. But it has also faced resistance from other local armed groups on the ground.
Derna was an early stronghold for the terrorist group, as it had witnessed a history of jihad. The militant group lost control of the city last June to rival armed jihadist grouped under the Derna Mujahideen Shura Council, but retained positions around the outskirts.
Derna and its suburbs had been “completely liberated from the apostates”, the council said in a statement.
Military forces loyal to Libya’s eastern government said on Thursday they had carried out air strikes overnight against jihadists in Derna after ISIS militants retreated from positions close to the city.
Fighters from ISIS had controlled the city until the Shura Council forces pushed them out last June. The military has attacked both groups.
Military spokesman Abdulkarim Sabra said the overnight air strikes had targeted Shura Council fighters in Derna’s Sayeda Khadija neighborhood and at Bishr prison. He made no comment on possible casualties.
Shura Council spokesman Hafed Addabaa said the prison had held ISIS suspects and added that the strikes had not caused any casualties or damage.
Eastern security forces, which are allied to a government based in the east, have carried out occasional strikes against jihadist rivals around Derna in recent months.
Sabra said ISIS had retreated from Derna’s 400 neighborhood and al-Fatayeh, 20 km (12 miles) south of the city, and its forces were attempting to head towards the militant group’s Libyan stronghold of Sirte when they were cut off.
The military was providing air support for troops, he said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Some Derna residents rejoiced, waving Libyan flags on the streets, according to pictures circulating on social media.
Eastern military forces have also been involved in heavy fighting around 250 km (155 miles) to the west in Benghazi, where they have captured several neighborhoods from fighters loyal to ISIS and other groups.
Clashes continued there on Wednesday, and the military said it had nearly full control of the southern district of Guwarsha. The fighting resulted in the death of one commander and the injury of four soldiers, the army said.
The eastern government was set up after armed opponents took control of the capital, Tripoli, in 2014, and established a contending administration. Both are backed by alliances of former rebels who once fought together to oust Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Last month, a U.N.-backed unity government arrived in Tripoli, where it has been trying to establish its authority. The West regards the new government as the best chance of terminating Libya’s political divisions and uniting its armed factions to take on ISIS.
But the government has yet to win approval from Libya’s eastern parliament, which received international recognition and has repeatedly failed to hold a vote on the issue.
Lawmakers in the east who support the new government say they have been threatened and physically impeded from holding a vote, including when they tried to convene on Monday.
They have been opposed by allies of eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar, who are concerned about losing control of military appointments if the unity government takes full power.
In an apparent attempt to break the ice with the eastern military, the unity government’s leadership released a statement on Wednesday congratulating it on its advances in Benghazi.
The Presidential Council said it would “provide all necessary support to Benghazi and other affected cities for reconstruction,” and that it was committed to “supporting the institution of the army”.
It also congratulated the “people of Derna and all Libyans” on the “liberation” of the areas around where ISIS pulled out.
Posted by: badanov ||
04/22/2016
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
(IraqiNews.com) Babel – A source in the Iraqi police in Babel province said on Thursday, that the security forces had managed to detain 37 wanted individuals during raid operations in different areas of the province.
The source, who asked to remain anonymous, said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “Police forces conducted during the past few hours raid and inspection operations in different areas of the province,” noting that, “[The operations] resulted in the arrest of 37 wanted individuals on criminal charges and various legal violations.”
The source also added, “The detainees were transferred to a security center for interrogation.”
(IraqiNews.com) Kirkuk – A source in Kirkuk Police Command said on Thursday, that 8 ISIS elements, including a prominent leader, had been arrested south of the province.
The head of Kirkuk Police, Sarhad Qader, said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “Today, a force belonging to the police conducted a raid operation in different areas in southern Kirkuk,” pointing out that, “The operation resulted in the arrest of eight ISIS elements who were working as a group.”
Qader also added, “A leader within the ISIS called Yaser Muhammed was among the detained group,” noting that, “He carried out a number of terrorist operations in the province.”
Posted by: badanov ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... chief Nabil al-Arabi called Thursday for a special criminal court to be set up for Israel, at a meeting to condemn an announcement that it will never return the Golan Heights.
Delegates to the 22-member Arab bloc based in Cairo are expected to pass a resolution denouncing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge Sunday that the occupied Golan Heights would remain Israeli "forever."
Israel occupied the Golan during the 1967 Middle East war with Syria, Egypt and Jordan, and annexed it in 1981, in a move never recognized by the international community.
Israeli media have reported that Netanyahu organized a cabinet meeting in the Golan -- where he made the pledge -- amid fears Israel could come under pressure to return the area as part of a future peace deal for its war-torn neighbor.
Israel was acting like "a country that is above the law and accountability," Arabi told delegates at the start of the vaporous Arab League meeting.
He demanded "a special criminal court for the Paleostinian cause," along the lines of international tribunals set up to try ex-officials of "the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Cambodia and Sierra Leone."
Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... ’s ambassador in Cairo and delegate to the Arab League, Ahmed Qattan, accused Israel of trying to profit from the conflict in Syria.
"The Zionist entity is exploiting the years of crisis in Syria," he said.
With Syria suspended from the League, its 21 other members on Thursday unanimously approved a resolution condemning Israel and asking the UN Security Council to force Israel to submit to international law and UN resolutions.
The text of the resolution referred to Netanyahu’s "aggressive statements" on Sunday and "Israel’s repeated attempts to impose the status quo in order to annex" the Golan.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2016
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Top|| File under:
#1
Having given up on the Five Triumphant Arab Armies thingy after losing all those wars, and seeing that the nations of the world find Israel's products for the most part too useful to shun, they are now trying for a trial over the Golan? Oh dear.
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.
California regulators’ attempts to compel a conservative nonprofit group to turn over a list of its major donors is unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled on Thursday.
[WND] Like or dislike her, there's no questioning Hillary's manly bona fides. Mrs. Clinton is as tough as she's philosophically misguided.
In other news: Late Cuban rights activist nominated for new hundred dollar bill. 
Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, First Vice President, said Thursday during his visit to Jawzjan province that Aqcha, Khaniqa and Mingajik districts have been cleared of Taliban insurgents.
KARACHI: Three suspected militants were shot dead in an ‘encounter’ on the outskirts of Karachi on Thursday evening, according to police officials.
David Cameron
Security forces have launched a military operation in Warduj district of north-eastern Badakhshan to re-capture the district from Taliban insurgents, local officials said on Thursday.
[Iran Press TV] Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says the country cannot accept any more austerity measures, demanding that international lenders write off a good deal of its debt.
[DAWN] Prime Minister 
'Furur Vikingorum' Think how racist and white privileged the old 47th Division (flying jockstrap) must be. 
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
[AnNahar] The U.S. Air Force for the first time deployed a B-52 bomber against the 
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least 10 
[ARA News] PALMYRA – Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra, which was regained by Syrian army forces –supported by Russian air cover– from militants of the Islamic State (ISIS) last month, was declared free of land-mines and explosive devices on Thursday. 
[DAWN] THE chilly reception given to 
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least 21 
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Ministry of Interior (MoI) has suspended a number of senior police officials following the deadly 
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] European laws that are meant to help ordinary people find refuge contain loopholes that are exploited by criminals who are wanted in their countries, and who want to kill. 
