Following in the footsteps of Ghostbusters...
With an estimated production cost that’s in the vicinity of $100M, MGM and Paramount certainly didn’t build Ben-Hur to fail this weekend.
But if there’s one Come-to-Jesus from this remake’s estimated disastrous $11M opening: It’s still a challenge for Hollywood to cross over a faith-based film to the masses 12 years after the $370M ($612M global) success of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ.
Ben-Hur is the third big-budget faith-based movie from a major studio to fall from box office grace in the wake of Noah ($101.2M domestic B.O., $125M production cost) and the mighty Moses misfire Exodus: Gods and Kings ($65M domestic B.O., $140M cost).
#1
Butjust like the faith-based measured Paramount’s Noah against the Bible two years ago, leading to its ultimate alienation of that audience and short legs at the box office, Ben-Hur is being compared by reviewers (31% Rotten Tomatoes score) and moviegoers to the 1959 multi-Oscar winning movie.
Remakes are a touchy prospect. Remakes done by an industry that has a decades-long track record of alienating its target audience doesn't help either.
#3
I suspect that the audience for Passion wasn't treating it as entertainment, but as a religious exercise. Kind of hard to morph that into an entertainment trend.
I'm trying to think of times when a remake has been better than the original, or even as good, and drawing a blank. Maybe I don't watch enough movies. (Maybe I find less reason to part with $10 and 2 hours these days...)
Posted by: james ||
08/20/2016 19:51
Comments ||
Top||
#4
So, whose idea was it, to take on Charlton Heston on a real horse?
I swear, I think they are doing re-boots for the sole purpose of peeing on the rug.
Tears of the Sun was alright, but was a re-tread of the superior The Wild Geese.
Rio Bravo and El Dorado.
Avatar was a re-make of Fern Gulley, both equally terrible.
Magnificent 7 and Seven Samurai.
George Lucus clams A New Hope was based on The Hidden Fortress, but I don't see it.
I thought Clash of the CGI Titans sucked. Red Dawn: a love story was barfable. Tron stunk like a road kill skunk. Don't get me started on the Kung Fu Karate Kid. Then there is Conan the Bed Pan.
Do a search of recent movie remakes, and weep for the future.
[Jane Mann] is a retired Northampton science teacher and is concerned that photosynthesis, which depends upon sunlight, would not happen and would keep the vegetation from growing. She said she has observed areas near solar panels where vegetation is brown and dead because it did not receive enough sunlight.
She also questioned the high number of cancer deaths in the area, saying no one could tell her that solar panels didn't cause cancer.
Mann's husband warned that the entire town would be devastated by the panels stealing all the sun's energy. There were other concerns that the farms would drive down property values, depress the economy of the town, and that people would sell off their land to solar developers and leave the area.
In the end, even with some supporters coming forward, the solar farm's permit was denied by a vote of 3 to 1. A later vote placed a moratorium on any future solar farms in the area.
[Reuters] The leader of the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has spoken out in favor of people arming themselves with guns and self-defense devices following a series of violent attacks last month. Helga hunting in the nearby Czech Rep. video
The anti-immigrant AfD has won growing popular support in Germany due in part to Europe's migrant crisis, which has seen more than 1 million refugees arrive over the past year, and it now has seats in eight of Germany's 16 state assemblies.
After two Islamist attacks and a shooting rampage by a mentally unstable teenager last month, Germans are on edge and the AfD is expected to make a strong showing in votes next month in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
"Many people are increasingly feeling unsafe. Every law-abiding citizen should be in a position to defend themselves, their family and their friends," Frauke Petry told the Funke Media Group in an interview published on Saturday.
"We all know how long it takes until the police can get to the scene, especially in sparsely populated places," she said.
Known for her fiery speeches to AfD supporters, Petry sparked an uproar earlier this year when she called for German police to be allowed to use firearms against illegal migrants.
h/t Donald Sensing
It's great to read books and articles about what the great leaders do so that we can model ourselves on the best, and I highly recommend that.
However, it's also worthwhile taking the time to understand what bad leaders do so that we can learn what to avoid which can be just as helpful.
#1
1, 2, 3, 4, 5...check, check...and check! (ran out of steam at five). Obean has to be the most unsuccessful leader we have ever had. Remember, he also coined the phrase "Leading from behind." Ding, ding, ding. We got an all time greatest loser.
#9
How many times did he pass (vote 'present') before ValJar let him do it?
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/20/2016 17:46
Comments ||
Top||
#10
Which President got Bin Laden?
Bill Clinton. No wait.
Actually none of them did. Dedicated professionals found them and then, when the politicians felt they could do so, for whatever reason, the dedicated professionals went and got him.
It was Obama who decided to throw his body into the ocean. It was Biden who gave away who did the op.
It was Seal Team Six who got the shit blown out of the sky a couple weeks later.
Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State, which would have involved diplomatic relations with Pakistan, on her insecure network.
Afghanistan operations against VIPs would also fall underneath the diplomatic umbrella.
#11
When Bin Laden rode to town, the camelfolk would hide, they'd hide
When Bin Laden walked around, the goats would run outside
'Cause the Sharia was the only law that Bin understood
When it came to running serpentine and fast, he was mighty good
From out of the west a numbnuts came, a crayon in his hand, a man
The kind of a man the West would need to shatter the promised land
'Cause the Sharia was the only law that Sorrento understood
When it came to lying with a straight face he was mighty good
[Wash Times] Hillary Clinton will have to give testimony about her secret email server and account, but it will be in writing rather than in person, a federal judge ruled Friday, delivering a partial victory to the Democratic presidential candidate.
Mrs. Clinton will have until the middle of November -- after the election -- to answer those questions, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ruled.
But the State Department must quickly process and release any of the emails the FBI recovered from Mrs. Clinton’s accounts that are being sought in the open-records lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch. Judge Sullivan said those must be released by Sept. 30.
The judge said Mrs. Clinton has "unique first-hand knowledge" of why she refused to use the department’s normal email and instead set up a system that shielded her communications from public view for years. But the judge said putting a former Cabinet secretary under oath in person was too burdensome, when written questions would suffice -- and he insisted Judicial Watch be careful about how far it goes. A warning to Judicial Watch from the bench? Please explain.
#7
After Trump supporters were violently beat down last night by supporters of this lawless government who also attacked the car Trump was in and who also verbally abused police officers there, I have this to say.
The Feds are allowing Hillary to get away with murder with a Tyrants approval (Obama) and their attacks on lawmen.
If you enforce PC and moderate people on social media now who call for justice by any means necessary after all of these crimes YOU support tyranny and lawlessness.
If nothing is done between now and November this election WILL be stolen. GET OFF YOUR ASS. WIN A WAR STATESIDE FOR ONCE..
Posted by: Unelet Protector of the Sith2424 ||
08/20/2016 17:34
Comments ||
Top||
#8
Ghost writing testimony for Hilarity?
I can hear the future comedy routines...if they are allowed.
[LI] CNN reported: FBI and Justice Department prosecutors are conducting an investigation into possible US ties to alleged corruption of the former pro-Russian president of Ukraine, including the work of Paul Manafort’s firm, according to multiple US law enforcement officials. Sen. Chaffetz To FBI Director Comey: "Do you need a referral from Congress to investigate her statements under oath?"
The investigation is broad and is looking into whether US companies and the financial system were used to aid alleged corruption by the party of former president Viktor Yanukovych. Appears DoJ and the Bureau show plenty of investigatory initiative when it comes to senior Trump Campaign employees. I reckon one must start somewhere.
Manafort, who resigned as chairman of Donald Trump’s campaign Friday, has not been the focus of the probe, according to the law enforcement officials. The investigation is ongoing and prosecutors haven’t ruled anything out, the officials said.
The probe is also examining the work of other firms linked to the former Ukrainian government, including that of the Podesta Group, the lobbying and public relations company run by Tony Podesta, brother of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.
Anti-corruption investigators in Ukraine have alleged Yanukovych and members of his party ran a corrupt regime. He fled to Russia following a public uprising in 2014.
The FBI, Justice Department and Manafort declined to comment. A Washington attorney who represents Manafort and Yanukovych didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The Podesta group issued a statement saying it hired lawyers to examine its relationship with a not-for-profit organization linked to the ousted Ukrainian regime.
#2
DOJ investigate Manafort? Meanwhile the Clintons are running a criminal organization where the world has seldom seen theft/corruption on this grand a scale. And then they promise to shut it down if Hillary gets elected; So then, it was O.K. when Hillary was SOS? Their hubris is truly astounding.
#3
I think we have identified the summer sabbatical studies location for all the Womens Studied Departments on our university and college campuses. Remember 'ladies', Muslim is higher on the victim ladder than you these days.
#6
Merkle is another third world Tyarant wanna be. She and the lefts alliance with Muslims is the only means they have of nringing the right into submission by force.
Posted by: Unelet Protector of the Sith2424 ||
08/20/2016 18:37
Comments ||
Top||
Breitbart is doing the reporting here that the MSM and the Guardian will never do.
[Breitbart] Integration into the job market for migrants has become a major ongoing task for the German government but in one town migrants are refusing to work entirely.
One of the major issues of the migrant crisis is Germany and elsewhere has been the economic impact the massive wave of migrants will have in Europe. While some experts initially were optimistic about a potential vast new source of skilled labour, most economists have come to the conclusion that the migrants who have arrived are for the most part unskilled and poorly educated.
Yet in own Saxon town, they have moved past the usual barriers but the migrants have declared they don’t want to work anyway, reports OE24.
Bernd Pohlers, mayor of the town of Waldenburg told of how he thought creating jobs for the migrants who resided at the asylum home in his town would help alleviate their boredom in waiting for their claims to be processed. The mayor expressed his disappointment that having gone to the trouble of creating seven job opportunities they had been rejected outright by the migrants.
The migrants had claimed that they did not have to work at all because they were "guests" of German Chancellor Angela Merkel who many say invited them to Germany last year.
"It was subsequently argued by these people that they are guests of Mrs. Merkel and guests do not have to work," Pohlers said. The town had created the seven jobs to be 20 hours per week and were part of the controversial one-euro an hour job programs for migrants that have been pushed by the Federal government.
#1
Working for 'The Man' is demeaning and can lead to cultural assimilation, education, and expectations of responsibility and civility. Remaining a Township statistic will ensure the continued favour and gratuity of liberals.
Jobs? It's not about jobs. It seldom is. Employment is a western concept. No visual required.
#7
Gee, you'd think that they could at least ask a few basic questions before taking them in. Do you support terrorism? How do you feel about the Jews? Is raping women okay if the deserve it? Are you willing to work for a living?
[Ynet] Sufian Bakri Abdu, the terrorist who was released three days ago from prison after a 14 year sentence, was jugged Please don't kill me! Friday morning by Jerusalem Police on suspicion of incitement and supporting a terrorist organization.
According to police, he was arrested in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber following a celebration for his release in which he was waving Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, flags and calling for violence against Israel. Abdu was brought to HaShalom Court in Jerusalem, where he was remanded into custody until Monday.
Herewith the original fiendish plot:
Abdu was arrested in August 2002 after he planned the poisoning attack and colluded with Utman Said Kianyah from Silwan, a chef in Jerusalem’s downtown Cafe Rimon. The two agreed that Abdu would provide Utman with the poison who would then put it in the cafe customers’ food and drinks.
The poison was supposed to go into effect 15 hours after being consumed making it more difficult for authorities to identify traces of deliberate poisoning, making cardiac arrest a more plausible cause of death.
During the investigation, police showed that Abdu had made contact by email with various Hamas activists and expressed his willingness to assist the organization, where he was appointed to be in charge of the forum on Hamas's website. Abdu also recruited Mussa Nasser, who in turn raised money and recruited another friend, an Egyptian engineer, to assist in building rockets.
[Ynet] Two Singaporeans who the government says intended to travel to Syria to fight for ISIS have been detained under a colonial-era law that allows suspects to be held without trial.
Singapore has been on heightened vigilance since Indonesian police incarcerated Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! a group of men they believed were plotting a rocket attack on the wealthy city-state with the help of a Syrian-based ISIS Death Eater.
A major financial centre and the most westernised society in Southeast Asia, multi-ethnic Singapore is increasingly seen as a target for radicalised religious Death Eaters, authorities say.
Rosli bin Hamzah, a 50-year-old car washer, and Mohammed Omar bin Mahadi, a 33-year-old waste truck driver, received two-year detention orders this month, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.
Both had been radicalised, the ministry said, adding they were prepared to die as deaders in Syria.
Singapore, which has not suffered a Death Eater attack in decades, deploys extensive surveillance and is largely seen as one of the safest countries in the world. But some critics say security comes with a cost to civil liberties.
The Internal Security Act, under which the two were held, has been criticised by rights groups for allowing detention without trial.
Authorities have detained or repatriated dozens of people in the past year, most of them migrant Bangladeshi workers, for suspected links to Death Eater fund-raising or other "terrorism-related activities".
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/20/2016
00:24 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[AnNahar] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... on Friday detained dozens of academics suspected of backing Fethullah Gulen ... a Turkish preacher living in Pennsylvania whom the current govt of Turkey considers responsible for all the ills afflicting Turkey and possibly the entire world... , the alleged criminal mastermind of last month's failed coup, while pressing ahead with raids on businesses linked to the U.S.-based Moslem preacher.
Turkish prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for 84 academics nationwide, the private Dogan news agency reported, while the state-run Anadolu agency said Istanbul authorities were separately hunting 62 academics from the city's main university.
A total of 74 scholars were tossed into the calaboose so far in both operations, media said.
A large majority of the suspects in the nationwide raids were from Selcuk University in Konya, central Anatolia -- a conservative bastion of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) -- including the university's former rector, Professor Hakki Gokbel.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said this week that more than 40,000 state employees were tossed into the calaboose in the purge, with more than 20,000 remanded in jug.
More than 5,000 civil servants have been dismissed and almost 80,000 others suspended, he added.
- Crackdown on businesses -
Police on Friday widened their probe into alleged Gulen-linked businesses, issuing arrest warrants for 18 more suspects, bringing the total number of those being searched to 205, Dogan reported.
Police launched mass raids Thursday in the commercial hub Istanbul and 18 other provinces into companies with suspected ties to Gulen -- the biggest crackdown on business since the failed putsch, with prosecutors ordering their assets to be seized.
Dogan reported that Friday's fresh raids targeted the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (Tuskon), which has 55,000 members. Prosecutors were already seeking its president, Rizanur Meral.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
#1
Is there anyone else left to blame/arrest/imprison?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/20/2016 11:21
Comments ||
Top||
[Libya Herald] A group of law students at the university in Gharyan who did badly in their exams set fire to the faculty registrar’s office yesterday, according to the Libyan news agency LANA. The flames spread to adjacent offices, destroying them and their contents, and threatened to spread to other buildings before being extinguished by the local fire brigade.
The head of the faculty’s administration has launched an investigation to identify the culprits.
There has been an expectation of automatic success in exams in Libya as a result of the former regime allowing students to pass regardless of their abilities or performance. University authorities are no longer willing to accept this since the revolution, although there continues to be allegations of teachers passing students either in return for bribes or because they have been theatened.
There remains, nonetheless, a view that if a student does not do well in exams, it is the fault of the teachers, not the student.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[UPI] The Abu Sayyaf released an elementary school teacher it had taken hostage in the Philippines. Adrina Bongil, a local school teacher, was released unharmed Thursday in the village of Dunag in Sulu province, and returned to relatives,
Bongil was debriefed by Philippine troops of Joint Task Force Sulu at the home of Kabir Elias Hayuduni, mayor of neighboring Patikul. She had been taken captive by five Abu Sayyaf gunmen on Tuesday while riding in a vehicle on her way to work at an elementary school.
Military spokesman Filemon Tan did not mention if a ransom, the usual motivation for Abu Sayyaf abductions, was paid.
Posted by: ryuge ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf
[Dhaka Tribune] A bottle has been recovered from the stomach of a patient at a clinic in Barisal city. Being a highly trained medical professional and all (I once wrote a web page for a nurse) I can tell that ain't his stomach. I can also tell that musta really hurt. Terrible, when you fall off a bridge and land on a bottle like that, ain't it?
Dr Jahangir Hossain Selim, surgeon of Health Care Clinic in the city, said the patient, of Farashganj under Lalmohon upazila of Bhola district, came to the clinic on the night of August 17 with severe stomach pain. "Wholly crap that hurts!"
The patient and his attendants at first claimed that a ’Djinn' had put the bottle inside the stomach. Later they said the bottle entered through his rectum after he fell off a bamboo-bridge into a canal.
The patient and his attendants at first claimed that a ’Ginn’ (a supernatural spirit or demon) had put the bottle inside the stomach. "That's right, Doc! He falls of this bridge and the genie pops right outta the bottle and then he shoves the bottle right up his--"
"Ow, Doc! Get it out!"
Later they said the bottle entered through his rectum after he fell off a bamboo-bridge into a canal. "That's right, Doc! Right off the bridge! I seen it! I think the genie pushed him!"
After diagnosed by X-ray the doctors confirmed the existence of the bottle in the stomach of the patient and referred him for surgery at Barisal Sher-E-Bangla Medical College. "Doctor, I don't think that's the patient's stomach..."
"Button yer lip, nurse! There's laws against that sortta thing! This is a Moslem country!"
"Sorry, doctor. Yer right. He does seem to have a jug in his lung... I mean stomach!" However, some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... the patient requested the doctors that they perform the surgery at that clinic. "Doc! Y'gotta get it out! It ain't empty yet, Doc!"
A team of surgeons of the clinic led by Dr. Jahangir Hossain Selim then removed the bottle from inside the patient after two hours’ of surgery early Thursday. "Nurse, you may start the timer!"
"The patient is now stable and improving. "Yeesh! Where am I? Gosh my... ummm... liver hurts!"
We are not yet sure how the bottle went inside his stomach. It was an event unprecedented in my whole career," Dr. Jahangir told. "Hey! Youse guys drank it all!"
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Terrible, when you fall off a bridge and land on a bottle like that, ain't it?
You're telling me? I can't even count the number...umm...nevermind
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/20/2016 8:57
Comments ||
Top||
[DAWN] MORE and more Paks have come to believe that they live in a hostile and conspiratorial world with shadowy enemies all around bent on the country’s destruction. The suicide kaboom which shredded almost a full generation of Baloch lawyers in a Quetta hospital was instantly declared the work of India’s spy agency RAW ... India's Research and Analysis Wing, Pakistain's equivalent of the Boogie Man... by 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... ’s Chief Minister, Sanaullah Zehri. No proof was offered that a foreign hand was responsible for this grisly act of terror. Nor did the ISPR spokesperson present evidence of what he alleged -- that the attack had actually targeted the China-Pakistain Economic Corridor project.
Sadly, it is not just the government and military which presents conclusions without evidence, and which allows personal or institutional interests to override good judgment. A paranoid style has come to dominate politics in Pakistain. All you have to do is turn on the TV and watch political talk shows where anchors and guests compete for the highest levels of heated exaggeration, suspiciousness, and conspiratorial fantasy.
Even Pakistain’s intelligentsia has sometimes used paranoia to further its self-interest. I can bear personal witness to one such situation involving almost the entire faculty of Quaid-e-Azam University.
Twenty years ago, I discovered that I was simultaneously an agent of RAW, CIA, Mossad, and the Ahmadiyya Jamaat (they missed out MI-6). From various pamphlets and posters (that I still have with me), I learned that I had several meetings with the top leadership of these organizations -- on April 6, 1995 I had met with the Indian consul general at the Royal Hotel in Singapore; with the head of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat in London on Jan 23, 1993; and with senator Larry Pressler on June 18, 1994. None of these meetings ever took place, of course.
My colleague, Dr A.H. Nayyar, learned that some mysterious Indian woman, Sushila Ramayan, had often flown to Islamabad from Nagpur for discussions with him, and that a nod from him sufficed for the Indian High Commission to issue a visa to anyone. No such person ever came to visit him, and, no, he cannot get you an Indian visa.
Now here’s the actual story: in early 1996, Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... conceived a land-grab scheme apparently to enrich her cronies in parliament by offering them plots of prime land on the Quaid-e-Azam University campus. With 1,700 acres located barely a mile away from the seat of government, there could not be a more ideal location for a housing society. To sweeten the deal she offered QAU faculty and employees smaller-sized plots -- all at a fraction of the market value. The campus went wild with joy; the deal would rake in mountains of cash for everyone.
Two faculty members resisted -- Nayyar and me. We took the matter to court, arguing that QAU’s land was a public trust meant solely for future generations of Pak students and should never be converted to anyone’s private property. It must be reserved for new hostels, departments, playing fields, etc.
The gates of hell opened. Colleagues we had known for a quarter century now refused to speak to us. We were daily vilified as acting on behest of India and Israel, threatened by mobs of teachers, and my house was attacked. On instructions of Dr A.Q. Khan -- also a plot beneficiary by virtue of being a QAU Syndicate member -- I was put on the Exit Control List for several months.
After BB’s dismissal in late 1996, the court issued an order staying the construction. Thereupon QAU went on strike and remained closed for one full semester with daily demonstrations against us. It took another year for Nayyar and me to win the war. QAU’s land was finally secured, notwithstanding the efforts of all who sought to sully our names.
The paranoid streak in Pak society had been exploited by our opponents by labelling Nayyar and me as agents of foreign powers. Their real goal had been to grab QAU’s public land for their private use and profit. Unfortunately for them, their nonsensical claims were too far-fetched to be believed by the general public -- why on earth would the secret agencies of India and Israel be interested in the matter of a teachers housing colony?
Truth had prevailed then, and truth must prevail now. I have no proof that RAW is responsible for the Quetta blast, and no proof that it is not. But what I do know from reading the newspapers is that a splinter group of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain, and ISIS have both claimed credit. At the very least, these claims should have muddied the waters and caused our authorities to qualify or correct their earlier statements. Indeed, the TTP had butchered Army Public School students two years ago -- to which the army responded by accelerating Zarb-e-Azb ..the Pak offensive against Qaeda in Pakistain and the Pak Taliban in North Wazoo. The name refers to the sword of the Prophet (PTUI!)... . Then, earlier this year, a TTP faction had murdered 22 students of the Bacha Khan University in Charsadda.
For the paranoid, when it is not India, it is Israel. Following the 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... violence of July 2011, the then interior minister, Rehman Malik Pak politician, Interior Minister under the Gilani government. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Nawaz Sharif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. He had to give up the interior ministry job because he held dual Brit citizenship. , dramatically announced a cache of Israeli-made guns had been discovered and spoke of a sinister plot to destabilise Karachi. But years later, and after countless Ranger-led operations in this troubled city, Israel is off the radar. Rather than confront the ethnic and political complexities behind Karachi’s violence, the government chose a cost-free solution -- blame it on others.
True, Pakistain has adversaries who do not wish us well. There is no shortage of examples. It is right and proper that Pakistain should protest such external meddling. If foreign countries are involved in fomenting violence in Pakistain, expose them -- with proof. However, there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened... government officials and media pundits should not loosely wag their tongues unless they actually know.
Imagined conspiracies serve only to distract us from the enemy within, the religious forces of Evil who have repeatedly declared they will wage unending war upon the country and its people until the establishment of an Islamic state in Pakistain. We need facts not finger-pointing if we are fighting those who murder Pakistain’s schoolchildren, lawyers, coppers, and soldiers.
[ALMASDARNEWS] 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 Al-Sham (ISIS) recaptured the key northern Aleppo town of Al-Rai on Friday morning after losing it just 24 hours prior to the Salafist tough guys.
ISIS was able to recapture the rural town of Al-Rai after launching a rapid counter-offensive on Friday, leaving the Salafist tough guys of Jaish Al-Tahrir and Jabhat Al-Shamiyah very little time to fortify the area.
In addition to recapturing Al-Rai, the terrorist group was also able to reclaim the Al-Rai Grain Silos and nearby hilltops that were seized by the Salafist tough guys on Thursday.
[ALMASDARNEWS] Aleppo, Syria (10:15 A.M.) ‐ Minutes ago, the Syrian Armed Forces, backed by Hezbollah, launched a new assault at the strategic Artillery Academy in southern Aleppo after sending a large number of reinforcements to this front yesterday.
Led by the Syrian Arab Army’s Republican Guard and Hezbollah, the pro-government forces stormed the eastern perimeter of the Artillery Academy, where they were confronted by a large contingent of Jaish Al-Fateh (Army of Conquest) holy warriors.
No gains have been reported at the Artillery Academy thus far; however, the Syrian Armed Forces and Hezbollah are still in the first phase of their assault on this imperative military installation.
Meanwhile, ...back at the hanging, Butch continued with his last words, trying not to repeat himself too often...... south of Aleppo City, the Syrian Armed Forces, alongside the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Harakat Al-Nujaba (Iraqi paramilitary), launched a new assault on the village of Al-Qarassi.
Al-Qarassi is considered the gateway to the strategic town of Khan Touman; and if captured by the Syrian Armed Forces, it will give them fire control over the Aleppo-Damascus Highway (M-5 Highway).
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[15 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[Libya Herald] The head of the Libyan National Army, General Khalifa Hafter, has replaced the head and several members of the Omar Mukhtar Operations Room, set up last year to oversee the recapture of Derna. It follows two successful attacks in the area by the mujahideen a fortnight ago in which 12 LNA soldiers died.
In addition to removing Brigadier Kamal Al-Jabali and replacing him with Brigadier Yusef Al-Mabrouk Al Mansuri, three other top brass commanders have been appointed to the Operations Room.
The LNA finally managed to replace 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.... forces south east of Derna last April, but this was more down to an IS withdrawal than an LNA victory. It has, however, made little headway against the local mujahideen forces who ejected IS in June last year, despite repeated air strikes and a blockade of the town.
Confirming that the specific reason from Jabali’s dismissal had been the two mujahideen attacks on 5 August, a member of the operations room said that the former commander had not been popular with his men, nor effective as a leader. He had been too willing to accept ceasefires rather than pursing military action, the source told the Libya Herald.
Mansuri, he also explained, had been one of Qadaffy’s political prisoners but when released in 1986 had not been allowed to return to the army and had to take a civilian job. From Ain Mara, he then worked in Derna until the revolution when he rejoined the military. His most recent post was military adviser to the president of the House of Representatives, Ageela Saleh.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
LAHORE - Two hardcore terrorists caught from the provincial capital on the night of August 13 were identified as members of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a deadly splinter of outlawed TTP, security officials told The Nation yesterday.
However, other identification details and profiles of the two have not been disclosed by the security officials to blow other sleeper cells of this group.
The two key terrorists of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) were caught in an intelligence-led operation on the night of August 13 by a counter-terror section of the main security agency of the military from Lahore’s Barkat Town in the limits of Shahdara Town after an extensive surveillance and tail operation.
According to the security officials, the terrorist pair was a ‘master sleeper unit’ which was running other sleeper cells in Punjab to launch terror operations.
They were planning to strike high-profile targets in major towns of the province, including the provincial metropolis, on Independence Day on the pattern of Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park terror activity. Members of the same gang carried out a deadly terror act in April this year in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, killing many people, including children and women.
The JuA master sleeper unit had planned to target key sensitive government buildings and high-profile figures, said the security officials, divulging more details concerning initial investigations of the busted terrorists.
Following leads of the two hardcore terrorists, the key security agency of the military has caught more suspected sleeper units from parts of Punjab, which could be used to launch a major terror operation in the province.
However, extensive interrogation sessions of new busted cells would unveil more details with regard to the nature of assistance and facilitation to be provided by these cells, they added.
Security officials declined to share any piece of information about the towns and cities from where the new sleeper cells were caught because of the upcoming follow-up operations to be launched in the light of the information divulged by these cells.
An ISPR spokesman said on the night of Independence Day, 11 suspects, including two hardcore terrorists, were caught by security forces in a three-hour-long combing operation in Barkat Town near Shahdara. Cache of arms and ammunition was also recovered from the possession of the arrested.
A threat alert of Nacta was issued on August 9 that TTP head Mullah Fazlullah had planned to attack border parade at Wagah near Lahore and Ganda Singh Border in Kasur district on August 13, 14 and 15. The TTP which is operating from Afghan soil had dispatched two suicide bombers to the two border points.
Security officials, when asked about intelligence inputs, pointing towards Fazlullah gang terrorists targeting sensitive high-profile targets, said the command and control system of the terrorists has been destroyed as a result of the operation Zarb-e-Azb and Khyber 1 and 2. They added the terrorists operating from the Afghan soil were launching joint terror operations.
Common needs and targets can bring the foes at one platform to carry on their business, said the security officials when asked Omer Khalid Khorasani leading JuA was an arch rival of TTP head Fazlullah.
In September 2014, non-Mehusd chief of TTP, Mullah Fazlullah, expelled Mohmand Agency chief of TTP, Omar Khalid Khorasani, a member of defunct Ahrar-ul-Hind.
Ahrar-ul-Hind, headed by Maulana Umar Qasmi (former leader in Lashkar-e-Jhangvi), was formed after TTP opened peace talks with the government. It later merged with Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a second splinter group that broke away from TTP in September 2014 and named Omar Khalid Khorasani as its commander.
Both Qasmi and Khorasani were against the peace talks and believed the new TTP leadership under Mullah Fazlullah was not a true representative of Hakim Ullah Mehsud who was killed in a US drone strike in February 2014.
Ahrar had announced they would no longer recognise or obey Mullah Fazlullah as their ameer.
[DAWN] The Foreign Office on Friday invited the Indian Foreign Secretary to visit Islamabad for discussion on the Kashmire dispute and to find a fair and just solution as per United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... Security Council resolutions.
The message from Pakistain has been conveyed through a letter, which was received by the Indian High Commissioner, said a statement released by the FO.
The letter also mentioned finding a solution to the decades-old issue according to the "aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmire".
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[WASHINGTONEXAMINER] Members of the House Judiciary Committee are set to question FBI officials next month about allegations of perjury involving Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as For a good time at 3 a.m. call Hillary and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Chateaubriand ... 's conflicting statements to Congress last year. Clintons do not perjure themselves. It's the way they talk normally.
Witnesses at the hearing could include FBI Director James Comey, according to USA Today, which first reported the panel's plans.
A Judiciary Committee spokeswoman confirmed the hearing to the Washington Examiner and said politicians plan to approach the issue at an FBI oversight hearing the panel holds each year.
Rep. Bob Goodlatte, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, joined Rep. Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the Oversight Committee, in a push to outline the case against Clinton earlier this week.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
No wonder the Clinton Foundation isn't going to be shut down until after the election. They'll need the money to bribe the RINOs.
Yeah, they bob, weave, parse words, pay others off, make them disappear if they become problematic, bribe, and argue about the meaning of simple words such as "is." The truth is they are a couple of high-rolling grifters who swindled their way into the WH and will do it again if the American people fall for their con game again or the Clintons steal the election.
#4
The truth is they are a couple of high-rolling grifters who swindled their way into the WH and will do it again if the American people fall for their con game again or the Clintons steal the election.
If? That's some funny stuff there.
Posted by: Andy Elmoluter4168 ||
08/20/2016 13:29
Comments ||
Top||
[WASHINGTONTIMES] Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said Friday that GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump is more than welcome in the state if he plans on helping flood victims, but not if it’s just for a photo-op to gain voters.
"Donald Trump hasn’t called the governor to inform him of his visit," the Democrat’s office said in a statement. "We welcome him to LA, but not for a photo-op."
Sounds like the Donald came to roll up his sleeves, distribute supplies, see the damage, and oh yeah, have a number of photo ops. It's what politicians do, GOVERNOR...
Mr. Trump and his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, are expected to head to Baton Rouge on Friday, but the campaign has said little about their plans in the flood-stricken state capital.
"Instead we hope he’ll consider volunteering or making a sizable donation to the LA Flood Relief Fund to help the victims of this storm," the governor’s statement added.
The Advocate, the state’s largest daily newspaper, issued an editorial Thursday calling on President B.O. to cut his vacation in Martha’s Vineyard short so he could assess the damage in person, but the governor said a presidential visit would divert emergency resources that are already spread thin. The Donald donated an 18-wheeler full of supplies.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[15 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I'm sure given 0bean's character that the governor won't need to issue the same warning to him.
#6
Edwards (D) can say what he wants. However, Trump has created businesses in Louisiana that will be there long after Edwards is gone. On the plus side for Edwards, he has managed to stay out of jail but then the Billary's have also managed to stay out of jail.
#9
The series is narrated in first person perspective by Sookie Stackhouse, a waitress and a telepath in the fictional town of Bon Temps in northwestern Louisiana.
We'll be in the area sometime late next spring and may have half a day to spare getting lost in Acadia Parish looking for it.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
08/20/2016 17:37
Comments ||
Top||
#15
Coat and tie not required. Seriously not required. Also try Prejean's off I-49 if you haven't already. And if you get to NO with a big appetite, Shipman is right about Mother's.
Posted by: Matt ||
08/20/2016 18:10
Comments ||
Top||
#16
Sean Penn show up yet?
"And if he would like to make a donation, my nephew has a NGO for flood victims."
Besides, with Obama's fear of water hazards and Hillary!s incontinence, can't expect them to go to the flood.
[NEWSBUSTERS.ORG] During an exclusive interview aired on Wednesday’s NBC Today, Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine struggled to respond to Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as The Heroine of Tuzla and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Frederick T. Frelinghuysen ... ’s ongoing e-mail scandal as co-host Savannah Guthrie actually grilled him on the topic. She pressed: "This is something that dogs Hillary Clinton, whether or not people trust her. If you look at what she said over the past year or so about her e-mail, I can count at least four statements that just turned out not to be true. Has she earned that mistrust?"
Kaine lamely replied: "Savannah, if you ask somebody a question 150 times or 200 times, you're going to be able to find that they don't use exactly the same word every time, and there's going to be variations and then people are going to play on those, but ‐ " Guthrie interrupted him with a dose of reality: "In point of fact, though, she did use the same verbiage, it just happens to not be true."
He asserted: "Well, here's what I've heard her say. I've heard her say, ’I made a mistake and I've learned something from it, and I wouldn't do it again and I apologize.’" Guthrie didn’t let him off the hook: "She has acknowledged mistakes with respect to the e-mail practices. She hasn't acknowledged a mistake with regard to what she has told the American people."
Kaine repeated: "The bottom line is this, you know, this is an area where she says, ’I made a mistake and I've learned from it and I've improved and I'm going to do differently.’"
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#3
Kaine lamely replied: “Savannah, if you ask somebody a question 150 times or 200 times, you're going to be able to find that they don't use exactly the same word every time
Tim, You mean like when an inveterate liar lies? lying?
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] An kaboom took place in the vicinity of 4th police district of the city earlier this afternoon.
Security officials confirmed the blast took place as a result of a magnetic bomb attached to a vehicle.
Fraidoon Abedi, the head of the Criminal Investigation Department in Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... Security commandment, said the magnetic bomb was planted in an army vehicle.
He said one person in the vehicle sustained minor injuries and no casualties were incurred to the other people.
Pictures emerging from the site of the incident on social media websites shows a Toyota Land Cruiser vehicle damaged as a result of the kaboom in Kolola Poshta area of the city.
There has been a considerable rise in the use of magnetic bombs in Kabul city during the recent months as at least 3 people were maimed in a similar incident in Kabul city 3 days ago.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
[Libya Herald] 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.... jacket wallahs in Sirte today killed 10 soldiers who were part of the Bunyan Marsous operation there. A further 65 were maimed according to Misrata Central Hospital where they and the dead were taken. The injuries vary between critical and relatively minor.
According to the Bunyan Marsous (BM) Operations Room, two cars driven by the suicide bombers went kaboom!. The attack happened in west Sirte, near the Gharaibat Bridge.
Misrata TV also reported that BM forces succeeded in thwarting a third suicide kaboom in the town. An IS supporter wearing a suicide belt was reportedly stopped by BM forces near the town’s District No. 1 and fled. He then went kaboom! without causing any other damage, the channel said.
BM earlier said that it was closing in on the last remnants of IS in the town, seizing District Nos. 2 and 3 and part of No. 1.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Council of Boskone, Helmuth ordered the space pirate fleet to attack Zemblonia... aid and supplies are moving into liberated areas of the town. A convoy of six trucks with humanitarian and medical relief aboard arrived yesterday from Misrata, according to Libyan news agency LANA.. The supplies, organised by the Red Islamic Thingy, included food packages for families who had remained in Sirte.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[AnNahar] A mentally disturbed man shouting "Allahu Akbar" stabbed a Jewish man in the northeastern French city of Strasbourg on Friday, police and Jewish community sources said.
The victim, a 62-year-old retiree who was wearing a kippa skullcap, was stabbed in the abdomen in the city's Jewish quarter by a man with a record of anti-Semitic violence, Strasbourg's chief rabbi, Rene Gutman, told AFP. The victim was admitted to hospital but Gutman said his injuries were not life-threatening.
Several witnesses said the attacker shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) as he set upon his victim with a knife.
"So why did this man stab this Jew, Herr Capitan?"
"We are never always sure, of course, but I think it is 'mental problems', Herr Journalist."
"Ack. It must be so. I thank you for the quote, Herr Capitan."
"I am merely doing my duty, Herr Journalist, as are you."
The local prosecutor's office confirmed the alleged attacker's arrest and said an investigation had been launched.
Police have not commented on the motive for the assault, but said the suspect, a man in his forties, had a history of mental health problems. In 2010, he attacked another kippa-wearing Jewish man in Strasbourg, beating him with an iron bar in a public square. Put on trial for attempted murder, he was considered to be not mentally responsible for his acts under criminal law and detained in a psychiatric hospital. Prosecutors at the time said the aggressor believed himself to be "the victim of a Jewish conspiracy" which he blamed for "all his misfortunes."
A Moslem man stabbed a 65-year-old Jewish man in Strasbourg, La Belle France on Friday, calling out "Allahu Akbar" while doing so. The attacker used a kitchen knife with a 10-centimeter-long blade to wound the victim, a member of the Chabad community.
[AlAhram] A 22-year-old police conscript was killed on Friday and five other Egyptian coppers injured by an improvised bomb in Arish in North Sinai, reported Al-Ahram Arabic website. The device went kaboom! in the western part of the city.
[AlAhram] Two conscripts from the Egyptian armed forces were killed early Thursday in North Sinai, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported. Security sources told Al Ahram that 21-years-old conscript Emad Hanna and 22-years-old Ahmed Abu El-Anein were killed by snipers while on duty at a checkpoint near Al-Arish in North Sinai.
The victims are natives of Beni Suef governorate in Upper Egypt. The bodies were transferred to Al-Arish military hospital. Funerals for the victims are set for Friday in their home governorate.
[WASHINGTONPOST] Iraqi forces pushed 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 out of a pocket of territory near the key western city of Ramadi on Friday evening, the military said, following a string of recent victories against the Sunni holy warrior group in the sprawling western Anbar desert.
Iraqi forces are now largely moving north, ahead of an eventual push on the country’s second-largest city of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , which has been under Islamic State group’s control for the past two years. Mosul is also the IS’s last remaining urban bastion in Iraq.
The development came as a powerful Iraqi Shiite holy man in Baghdad expressed discontent with the country’s new ministers appointed this week, after months of political wrangling -- a reflection of the still simmering political crisis.
The town retaken Friday from IS -- Khaldiyah, 55 miles (90 kilometers) west of Baghdad -- lies between Ramadi and Fallujah, ... the City of Mosques, which might have somthing to do with why it's not called Center of Prosperity or a really nice place to raise your kids... the two key cities in Anbar province retaken from IS by Iraqi security forces over the last year.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
His proposal makes no sense, using governmental resources for the doubtful purpose of registering the one firearms type almost never used in crime. Indeed, I can't see hunters being so angry about something they would gather at a public area in, say, Oregon, to protest. I can see AR and AK owners doing that, but not owners of Remington 700 bolt action rifles.
I guess if you live in a country where the king is sovereign and you are a subject, there is little you won't do to protect him from rubes who hold firearms to keep tyranny at bay. Our leftist opponents constantly say, "We don't want to take your guns." That is equivalent to the saying that diplomacy is the art of saying "Nice doggie" until you find a rock, presumably to strike the dawg. It is a well defined tactic used by domestic enemies of the Constitution in the past. They will continue to use it in the future, because it works.
Loads.
Rantburg's summary for arms and ammunition:
Prices for pistol ammunition were steady across the board. Prices for rifle ammunition were steady across the board.
Prices for used pistols were mixed. Prices for used rifles were mixed.
New Lows:
None
Pistol Ammunition
.45 Caliber, 230 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (5 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Goose Island Sales, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .24 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: LAX Ammunition, Tulammo, Steel Casing, .24 per round (From Last week: Unchanged (2 Weeks))
.40 Caliber Smith & Wesson, 180 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (4 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Ammo Mart, Legendary, FSFP, Brass Casing, Reloads, .20 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Ammo Mart, Legendary, FSFP, Brass Casing, Reloads, .19 per round (From Last Week: -.01 Each)
9mm Parabellum, 115 Grain, From Last Week: +.01 Each After Unchanged (4 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Outdoor Unlimited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .16 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: Cheaper Than Dirt!, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .15 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (4 Weeks))
.357 Magnum, 158 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (9 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Cheaper Than Dirt!, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .23 per round
Cheapest Bulk: 1,000 rounds: Ammunition to Go, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel cased, .23 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (2Q, 2016))
Rifle Ammunition
.223 Caliber/5.56mm 55 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2Q, 2016)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: LAX Ammunition, Hotshot, FMJ, Steel Casing, .21 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: LAX Ammunition, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .22 per round (From Last Week: +.01 Each After Unchanged (3 Weeks))
.308 NATO 150 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2Q, 2016)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Outdoor Unlimited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .35 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: LAX Ammunition, Tulammo, Steel Casing, FMJ, .34 per round (From Last Week: +.03 Each After Unchanged (3 Weeks))
7.62x39mm AK 123 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2Q, 2016)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Ammunition Depot, Wolf WPA, Steel Case, FMJ, .24 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: SG Ammo, Wolf WPA, Steel Case, FMJ, .22 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks))
.22 LR 40 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (9 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds (10 Box Limit): Ammomen, Federal, RNL, .07 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds (2 Box Limit): Ammomen, Aguila, RNL, .07 per round (From Last Week: +.01 Each )
[REALCLEARPOLITICS] Donald Trump gets a warm welcome from victims of the Baton Rouge flood as he toured the devastation with Republican nominee for Vice President Mike Pence.
A devastating flood in Louisiana and Mississippi has destroyed 40,000 homes and killed 13 people this week.
"We knew you would be here, Mr. Trump," one woman yells to the candidate. "We knew you would be here for us!"
"We're glad you aren't playing golf," says someone else. President Obama played a round of golf yesterday with 'Seinfeld' creator Larry David.
"Mr. Trump! Thank you so much. We love you," says another person as he signs hats.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
If there is any intelligence on the Trump team, they'd go after the MSM Democratic operatives with commercials contrasting their coverage of Bush/Katrina vs Obama/LA. Leave no one in the dark that its one big 2016 1984 Ministry of Truth of Big Brother and the Inner Party.
[DAWN] The Foreign Office said on Thursday it would welcome any UN mission intending to visit Azad Jammu and Kashmire, but took strong exception to equating AJK with India-held Valley.
"While welcoming any UN team that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights may wish to send to AJK, we cannot accept equating the rampant human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... violations in IOK (India-Occupied Kashmire) with the situation in AJK. In fact, today the contrast between grim reality in IOK and the peaceful situation in AJK could not be more stark. It is, therefore, essential that the UN fact-finding team must visit IOK," the FO said in a statement.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein had in a statement on Wednesday askFO chides UN for equating AJK with held Valleyed for access to both India-held Kashmire and Azad Jammu and Kashmire for probing the allegations of human rights violations.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Asharq al-Aswat] The other day it was announced that the US vice president Joe Foreign Policy Whiz Kid Biden The former Senator-for-Life from Delaware, an example of the kind of top-notch Washington intellect to be found in the World's Greatest Deliberative Body... would soon be visiting The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... . The visit will follow frantic Turkish activities in the aftermath of the failed coup attempt.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
As for Israel, it is a small-size ’major power’ which enjoys great influence in the West, especially, with the American ’political establishment’.
The nukes and the rumors of cyber & bio-warfare capabilities in advance of the rest of the world, don't hurt either.
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Russian Air Force carried out a special mission on Friday night to target the jihadist leadership in the northern Homs countryside after receiving intel from ground sources of a specific gathering near the village of Al-Ghanto.
According to a Syrian military source, the Russian Air Force struck a joint meeting that was taking place between Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham and Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham (formerly Nusra) near Al-Ghanto, resulting in the death of over 20 jihadists, including 3 high-ranking commanders.
The military source added that 8 armored vehicles were also destroyed during the Russian onslaught on Friday evening.
Among the jihadist commanders killed on Friday, 3 of them were mourned by Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham and Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham: Najdat Mansour (Ahrar Al-Sham), Muzaid ’Abdel-Sittar (JFS), and Mustafa Muhammad Al-Hussein (Sharia judge of Ahrar Al-Sham).
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
Russians been correlating their Syria activities with Israel - guess something rubbed off on them.
#2
"after receiving info" Love it when that happens, even if it isn't true. Makes the folks crazy looking for the spy and figuring out what (not) to do or say in front of...somebody or...somebody else.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
08/20/2016 7:32
Comments ||
Top||
[Asharq al-Aswat] An Egyptian military court has sentenced on Thursday 418 supporters of the banned Moslem Brüderbund to prison terms from two years to life imprisonment for involvement in violence in 2013.
A judicial source said that the court sentenced 350 defendants in absentia to 25 years, while 68 defendants present were sentenced up to 10 years.
President Mohammed Mursi was deposed following protests sparked against him after one year of his presidency. Authorities accuse his supporters of getting involved in aggressive activities that are occurring in Egypt since then.
Egypt banned Moslem Brüderbund and recognized it as a terrorist organization in December 2013; thousands of supporters are being prosecuted for involving in aggression incidents.
The Public Prosecution referred the defendants to military court in May, knowing that they have the right to appeal sentences.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood
Public concern is mounting over the rising number of teenage and child soldiers joining the ranks of public uprising groups in Badakhshan province.
Numerous children under the age of 15 have confirmed this and said they have participated in many battles.
Muhibullah is one such fighter, who at the age of 15, says he has been fighting alongside public uprising soldiers against insurgents for the past year. He said he has fought many battles in Bharak district of Badakhshan province.
"Taliban hate the local police a lot and if they catch any of them they will behead them or cut off their hands or feet," Muhibullah said.
Muhibullah said that he has lost many friends during battles. He said he fights insurgents but does not get paid to do it.
"I want peace and security for my country – it's not important for me if there is a salary or not," Muhibullah said.
One of the public uprising commanders Pahlawan Agha said that the child and teenage fighters join their ranks on their own accord.
"We never recruit any one by force or by threating; at the moment those who are fighting in the Taliban ranks all are teenagers," said Agha.
Meanwhile, Badakhshan MPs have condemned the practice but have called on responsible institutions to take action to prevent children and teenagers from getting caught up in the war.
"The recruitment of children in military ranks is against the child rights agreement that Afghanistan signed in 1995 ... and the government is responsible to implement all articles of the agreement," said Badakhshan MP Fawzia Kofi.
Badakhshan police said that they will take action against this practice if they find evidence.
"We are trying - if we find such children and teenagers anywhere we will separate them from the ranks and will hand them to their families," said Badakhshan police security chief Mohammad Nabi Bayan.
#3
"Well, Jenkins, you're fairly a sailor now, You've been aloft, you've lead a landing party, you've been drunk. Now get your hands out of your pockets or I'll have the sail maker sow them shut!"
#4
p2K, I'm afraid you may be wrong. Child soldiers are a popular approach to recruiting low cost/high dedication (albeit crappy training) fighters. Drug them up, use adults to give direction, and if necessary tie them to you by forcing them to join in executions (in Liberia they were sometimes required to kill family members).
They do ok as cannon fodder, and are hell on morale for regular army opponents.
I distinguish teenage from child soldiers, BTW.
Posted by: james ||
08/20/2016 19:35
Comments ||
Top||
[DAWN] IT is amazing how quickly a terrorist atrocity can concentrate minds in Pakistain. But not for very long, sadly. The recent slaughter of over 70 at a Quetta hospital is a case in point. The long dormant National Action Plan -- cobbled together after the December 2014 atrocity at the Army Public School in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. -- was dusted off. To oversee its implementation, retired Gen Nasser Janjua was pressed into service, and yet another committee formed under him.
But the problem is not a shortage of committees: we already have the National Counter-Terrorism Authority, or Nacta. In addition, no less than 15 committees were set up to monitor different aspects of NAP, with the interior minister chairing 11 of them.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Libya Herald] There were festivities today in the far eastern Jebel Nafusa town of Emsalata between the local military council forces and a group intent of freeing an alleged Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (IS) supporter, incarcerated Please don't kill me! after he had arrived from Benghazi for a family wedding.
Aiman Abdullah is reported to have been detained three days ago at a checkpoint to the south of Ensalata near the area inhabited by the Shaafyin tribe. He was arrested by members of the military council who had been tipped off about his presence in the area. It is claimed that after his arrest, photos of IS members in both Benghazi and Sirte were found on his mobile phone.
Members of the Shaafyin tribe to whom he is related then went to the military council to demand Abdullah’s release. However, there's more than one way to skin a cat... he was not there and the head of the council Abdulrahman Al-Safih has reportedly denied any knowledge of his whereabouts.
In response two days ago, the Shaafyin allegedly kidnapped three members of the military council’s forces, including Abdulrahman Al-Safih’s brother, saying that they would not release them until Abdullah was free. The military council, however, then detained Abubakr Rajab Khalifa, another member of the Shaafyin tribe.
With festivities today, local elders have been trying to find a way to calm the situation.
Last year there were allegations by officials in 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... that Emsalata had become a growing centre of IS activity.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least 2 people were killed and 49 others were maimed in a rocket attack by Talibs in eastern Kunar province ... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country..... of Afghanistan.
According to the local government officials, the incident took place in Asabad city, the picturesque provincial capital of Kunar province today.
Provincial governor Wahidullah Kalimzai said the Talibs fired the rocket to disrupt the local officials and residents to celebrate the 97th independence day of Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] An eastern neighborhood which includes al-Mkelkl military camp in the besieged city of Taiz has been liberated on Friday from the Iran-backed 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, a resident and Al Arabiya News Channel's correspondent reported.
Forces loyal to the internationally recognized government of President Abed Rabbu Hadi with the backing from the Saudi-led Arab Coalition freed Sala neighborhood, Mohammed al-Muntasir, a local resident, told Al Arabiya English.
Muntasir said the advancement of Yemeni forces into the militia controlled areas has been "delicately slow due to the congestion of residential areas and the mountainous area."
The southwestern city of Taiz is located between the Houthi-held capital Sanaa and the southern port city of Aden, which Hadi loyalists had recaptured from the militia group.
An activist who spoke under the condition of anonymity told Al Arabiya English that Houthis began to randomly shell residential areas on Thursday after losing several strategic positions in the western parts of Taiz.
Taiz has plunged into a serious humanitarian crisis after suffering months-long siege under the Houthis with the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... warning over the lack of food and medical supplies.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[15 views]
Top|| File under: Houthis
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Russian defense ministry has denied responsibility Nope. Nope. Wudn't us. for an attack on a neighborhood in the Syrian city of Aleppo which maimed a young boy whose rescue was filmed and shared widely on social media.
The image of the 5-year old stunned boy, sitting in an ambulance caked with dust and with blood on his face, captured the horror that has beset the war-torn city.
Meanwhile, ...back at the revival hall, the pastor had finally been wrestled from the pulpit. Y'got the wrong guy! he yelled just before Sergeant Malone's billy club landed... the United States Thursday expressed shock at a photo circulating worldwide on social media that shows a dazed Syrian boy covered in blood and dust, calling him "the real face" of the country’s war.
"That little boy has never had a day in his life where there hasn’t been war, death, destruction, poverty in his own country," State Department front man John Kirby told news hounds during his daily press briefing.
Departing from his usual diplomatic talking points, Kirby asked the news hounds how many among them had seen photos of the child.
The shocked boy, a four-year-old named Omran, is pictured sitting in an ambulance covered in blood and dust after an air strike Wednesday in the rebel-held district of Qaterji in the southeast of Aleppo, which has been devastated by the five-year war.
"You don’t have to be a dad, but I am. You can’t but help look at that and see that that’s the real face of what’s going on in Syria," Kirby said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
Russia denies link to Aleppo attack that wounded boy
..Well, they WOULD...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/20/2016 12:06
Comments ||
Top||
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Paleostinian police searching for weapons clashed with gunnies in the West Bank city of Nablus into Friday morning, leaving four people dead, Paleostinian officials said.
The firefight erupted on Thursday evening after officers entered Nablus’s Old City, a densely populated warren of alleyways that was one of the flashpoints of the second Paleostinian uprising between 2000 and 2005.
The shooting was still continuing on Friday morning, security forces front man Adnan al-Damiri said. Nablus governor Akram Rajub said that two police had been killed in the operation as well as two gunnies, both of whom he said were on a police wanted list.
Under the 1993 Oslo accords with Israel, Paleostinian police are only authorized to operate in 18 percent of the occupied West Bank, encompassing most of the major Paleostinian towns, including Nablus.
The northern West Bank has seen a number of Paleostinian police raids in recent months. The area has witnessed factional infighting within the ruling Fatah movement of Paleostinian president the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... .
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
[Iraq Sun] A senior Moroccan holy man has lashed out at what he called "nudity" in the Moslem kingdom, claiming that more and more women are immodestly dressed, sparking criticism in the media.
Morocco is seen as promoting a more tolerant form of Islam than some Arab countries, and woman in cities and towns often eschew the Islamic veil in public.
While the countryside is somewhat more conservative, attitudes to female dress vary according to local social and cultural customs and in the cities many women don Western-style clothes.
Omar al-Kazabri, imam of Casablanca's Hassan II mosque, Morocco's largest house of worship, said there is a growing trend among women across the country to go about "unclothed".
"Nudity is no longer confirmed to season, it is spreading before our eyes in winter and summer," he said on his official Facebook page earlier this week.
"Look at the streets. It breaks your heart to see the situation we find ourselves in. Obscene nudity [is an] affront to God's commandments and an insult and an outrage to the population," he wrote.
"Young women, unclothed, smoking cigarettes. Where are their guardians?" he asked.
And he warned that "impudent women could go to hell".
Kazabri said what he calls "nudity" is part of a "conspiracy" against Morocco by people who wish to "kill modesty, values and principles".
The outburst from one of Morocco's most prominent holy mans was criticised in the media.
"What's gotten into him?" the private news site Media24 asked on Thursday.
It said such remarks are "scary" coming from a top holy man.
Another private site, Telquel, said Kazabri had a "peculiar concept of nudity".
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
[RT] The Russian Defense Ministry has said Black Sea Fleet warships have launched three cruise missile strikes on terrorist targets in Syria. A terrorist command post and munitions production site were destroyed.
"As a result of the strikes a command post and a terrorist base near the village of Dar Taaza as well as a production site of mortar ammunition and an arms depot in Aleppo province were destroyed," the ministry said in a statement.
The rockets, targeting Al-Nusra Front sites, flew over unpopulated areas, the Russian military added.
"To ensure the safety of civilians the missile flight corridor was planned over an uninhabited area."
On Monday, Russia launched tactical naval drills in Mediterranean and Caspian waters. The warships taking part in the exercise engaged in live artillery and missile fire "under simulated battlefield conditions." The Mediterranean force includes two fast attack guided missile craft, both armed with Kalibr-NK cruise missile complexes equipped with eight missiles each.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: al-Nusra
[Iraq Sun] A senior Moslemholy man in Russia has prompted controversy by urging universal female genital mutilation after a rights group released a report on the practice in the country's North Caucasus region.
Mufti Ismail Berdiyev, who heads a Moslem association for the North Caucasus region, said on Wednesday that if FGM "could be applied to all women, that would be very good" in an interview with Interfax news agency.
The practice, which ranges from pricking of the clitoris to its complete removal, causes infections and loss of sensation.
The procedure has come under massive international scrutiny in recent years, with UN chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon in 2014 launching a global campaign to end it.
Berdiyev, who was decorated by President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... in March, said FGM does not stop women from fulfilling their ordained role of motherhood and if all women were mutilated, "there would be less fornication".
He later retracted his comments, claiming that he had been joking and Islam does not call for FGM.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
[Dhaka Tribune]Shafiqul Islam Uzzal, one of the five murderous Moslems who killed 23 people ‐ mostly foreigners ‐ at a Gulshan eatery on July 1, was a criminal mastermind behind the murder of a Hindu priest in Panchagarh in February
Identified by the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... as its member Abu Moslem al-Bangali, Uzzal was a master’s student at Bogra Azizul Huq College, and later took a job in a kindergarten at Ashulia. He remained missing for around six months, family members said.
On February 21, murderous Moslems killed priest Joggeshwar Roy of Sonto Gaurio Temple in Debiganj of Panchagarh. International terrorist group Islamic State took credit for the murder, but the government brands them as New JMB.
Uzzal is not named in the case. But on February 24, he published a statement on a website named justpaste.it describing the murder of the Hindu priest as legitimised in Islamic State’s norms.
According to the charge sheet pressed in the case on June 28, at least 10 murderous Moslems were involved in the attack. Of them, two murderous Moslems slaughtered the priest while another was waiting outside the temple on a cycle of violence.
Six of the accused are now in jail while two key accused ‐ Nazmul Islam alias Bike Hassan and Shafiul Islam Sohan alias Shariful alias Don alias Abu Muktadil ‐ have been killed in alleged shootouts with the law enforcers. Police claim Bike Hassan was wanted in 11 cases while Muktadil ‐ held after the July 7 Sholakia attack ‐ took part in two other murders claimed by IS.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[Mindanao Examiner] Maoist militants are set to free two policemen they seized in southern Philippines ahead of a scheduled peace talks with the Philippe government this month.
Rebel spokesman Rubi Del Mundo said the National Democratic Front of the Philippines ordered Friday the release of 'prisoners of war' Arnold Ongachen and Michael Grande. Both cops were captured by the New People's Army in separate operations. He said the captives would be handed over to the government as soon as Manila suspend the ongoing security operations against the militants. He said the release is a gesture of goodwill for the formal resumption of the peace negotiations in Norway.
Del Mundo said, "The People's Democratic Government's judicial proceedings and investigations into POW Ongachen and POW Grande's possible war crimes and violation of people's rights have been effectively suspended in deference to appeals of their families and peace advocates. POW Ongachen and POW Grande have apologized for their violations against the people."
Del Mundo's statement coincided with the release Friday from prison of two top militant leaders – Benito and Wilma Tiamzon – who both face a series of criminal charges. They will join more than a dozen other rebel leaders released from jails who will take part in the peace talks.
Del Mundo accused the military and police of sabotaging the negotiations by filing false charges against the Tiamzon couple and the other rebel leaders. He said the Philippine government should immediately release all the remaining 540 political prisoners held in jails across the country.
[Reuters] Police have identified a Thai man as a suspect in their investigation into attacks that killed four people and injured dozens in a series of bomb attacks in southern Thailand a week ago. Deputy national police spokesman Kissana Phatanacharoen identified the suspect as Ahama Lengha from Narathiwat province near the nation's border with Malaysia.
A Thai military court issued an arrest warrant on Tuesday for a then unidentified suspect for attempting to bomb a beach in the tourist island of Phuket.
Kissana said Ahama has not yet been taken into custody and it is not known if he was still in the country. He said, "We have only issued one arrest warrant in relation to the bomb attacks, and that is for Ahama. It's because it is clear that he is linked to what happened."
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the bombings, which came days after Thais voted to accept a military-backed constitution.
Police and the Thai government ruled out any link to foreign militants within hours of the attacks and insisted the perpetrators were home-grown. National police chief Jakthip Chaijinda said the attacks might be linked to the referendum but has not given further details.
0fficial suspicion has fallen on domestic political groups including supporters of ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was forced from office in 2006. While Thaksin's supporters have not been blamed outright, police said last week the attacks were carried out simultaneously by one group on the orders of one person, but gave no further details. Thaksin's lawyers have been instructed to file complaints against those accusing him of orchestrating the bombings.
Thai Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said on Monday the attacks were "definitely not an extension" of the insurgency in the southern provinces that border Malaysia and where Malay-Muslim militants are fighting a bloody separatist war.
However, some security experts have noted that southern militant groups have a track record of carrying out coordinated attacks.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A prominent Pak politician and religious scholar Maulana Samiul Haq ...the Godfather of the Taliban, leader of his own faction of the JUI. Known as Mullah Sandwich for his habit of having two young boys at a time... has said the communists would have occupied Pakistain had the Afghans not stopped them.
Samiul Haq who is considered as the father of the Taliban group made the remarks as the Pak authorities have stepped up crackdown on the Afghan refugees which he called a bad policy.
He was speaking at a meeting with elders of the Afghan refugees here, insisting that the act would render the sacrifices of Paks meaningless.
"The forced repatriation and the law-enforcement agencies personnel’s harsh treatment of Afghan refugees would spoil the sacrifices Paks rendered by hosting the Afghans during the last more than 30 years," he was quoted as saying in a report by The News Internaitonal.
Samiul Haq further added that the Afghans laid down their lives to stop the invading forces of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan from intruding into and occupying other Islamic countries of the region.He said the communists would have occupied Pakistain had the Afghans not stopped them in Afghanistan.
He also claimed that the anti-Moslem powers wanted to pitch the Afghans and Paks against each other.
Assuring the Afghan elders to taCommunists would have occupied Pakistain had the Afghans not stopped them: Samiul Haqke up the issue with the civil and military leadership in Pakistain, Samiul Haq asked the Ulema across the country to inform the people about the consequences of the policy of unfriendly attitude towards the Afghan refugees for peace in Pakistain and the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami
#1
A review of history: The Afghan Muslim Brothers were responsible for moving President Daud to effect a rapprochement with Pakistan, and initiate an effort to end their territorial dispute. The move was made in 1975 when Daud met privately with Pak PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The meet was arranged in 1975 by King Khaled of Saudi Arabia at the Funeral of King Faisal. The suppression of the Communist movement in Afghanistan was the demand of Middle Eastern monarchies for their aid to both nations. Following the Soviet invasion in December 1979, the anti-Soviet movement was funded by Saudi Arabia. Thus, Haq is self-serving and, in effect -- the Communists would have occupied [western] Pakistan had the Saudis (and American arms supplies) not stopped them.
[Libya Observer] Saraya Center, the media arm of the Benghazi Shura Council, said foreign warplanes bombed Wednesday the besieged Ganfouda district leaving deaths and injuries among civilians as the Arclight airstrikes hit houses and buildings used by the Shura Council, including a location used as a jail for former regime followers.
30 civilians at least were maimed due to the Arclight airstrikes on houses and buildings, while 15 prisoners were killed as the jail building collapsed while they are inside due to the Arclight airstrikes that hit it.
The foreign aircraft, in support of 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... , continue to bombard Ganfouda causing tens of deaths and injuries from the local and foreign residents that are still stranded in the district.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
A number of Kunduz provincial council members and residents on Friday said they are concerned about government's inattention to security in the province and that they fear a comeback by the Taliban if the situation prevails.
They said that one year after retaking the control of Kunduz city, government has failed to maintain law-and-order in the area and ensure the residents' safety.
"I mentioned this in the past that 70 percent of Kunduz is under the control of militants, but now the percentage has increased after another district fallen to insurgents – including most parts of Dasth-e-Archi district. We are concerned about the situation and so are the residents," said Mohammad Yusuf Ayubi, head of Kunduz Provincial Council.
"Government has only control over four roads. Now Qala-e-Zal district has collapsed, and in addition to that, parts of Imam Sahib and Dasht-e-Archi [districts] have fallen to militants. Nearly 80 to 90 percent of the district is out of government's control, and this is concerning for us," said Zargul Alemi, deputy head of the council.
Meanwhile, a number of Kunduz residents said they cannot travel to the outskirts of the Kunduz city due to the presence of the Taliban.
"We cannot go to our relatives' houses that are 10 kilometers far from the city. We always live in fear. The situation will worsen if government does not pay attention to the issue," said Akmal, a resident of Kunduz city.
"Taliban has complete control over 80 percent of Kunduz. This is serious. This can create another tragedy like the last year. We are not interested to witness the fall of Kunduz city once again," said Shahbaz Saberi, a civil society activist in Kunduz.
Kunduz security officials meanwhile said they will launch a large-scale military operation in Kunduz in the near future.
"Our military operations are advancing slowly because we to protect the civilians," said Sher Aziz Kamawal, a police commander in Kunduz.
The Pamir 20 Division commander Gen. Ekramuddin Samay meanwhile said that nearly 52 Taliban fighters were killed in recent conflicts in the province.
"Check posts are not under the control of the Taliban. Parts of the province are insecure. The enemy is hidden among people's houses and gardens, therefore we are advancing slowly in order to protect civilians' lives," he said.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] "You [Iranian officials] will be in the future etched in the annals of history as criminals. The greatest crime committed under the Islamic Theocratic Republic, from the beginning of the Revolution until now, which will be condemned by history, is this crime [mass executions] committed by you." Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri warns the Islamic Theocratic Republic ‐ the Judiciary, intelligence, the IRGC and all other officials involved, in an audio disclosed recently.
Montazeri’s son, Ahmad, a moderate holy man, posted the audio on his website but was ordered by the intelligence to remove it.
Born in Esfahan, Iran, Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri was one of the founding fathers of the Islamic Theocratic Republic, a human rights
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] ISIS has claimed its first terror attack on Russian soil after jihadis armed with a gun and axes attempted to storm a traffic police checkpoint outside Moscow.
Two coppers were maimed during the assault late on Wednesday on the motorway in Balashika.
Russian officials confirmed two bad boyz were potted during the attempted attack.
The ISIS news agency Amaq released a short video featuring the two bully boyz they named as Uthman Mardalov and Salim Israilov.
The pair declared allegiance to ISIS leader His Supreme Immensity, Caliph of the Faithful and Galactic Overlord, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ...formerly merely the head of ISIL and a veteran of the Bagram jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us... during the one-and-a-half minute clip.
The pair were wearing hoodies and spoke both Russian and Arabic.
During the video, the pair claimed they wanted to take Dire Revenge for Russia killing Moslems in the Middle East.
Russia has been bombing murderous Moslems in Syria since September last year, part of a military campaign in support of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... ISIS called on its members to carry out jihad or holy war in Russia in a YouTube video last month, after which the Kremlin said such threats would not affect its fight against international terrorism.
'We have taken the path of jihad on the orders of our Amir Abu Bakr al-Baghdad
'We have called this operation "Dire Revenge operation". Revenge for you bombing our brothers, because you kill our brothers every day in Syria and Iraq. ... This will be the start of everything that will come to you.'
Uthman Mardalov and Salim Israilov were active on jihadist websites and came from the mainly Moslem North Caucasus republic of Chechnya, a source in Russian security forces told Interfax news agency on Friday.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
Good outcome. Keep up the good work, oh Lions of Islam!
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian Army’s elite 4th Mechanized Division continues its advance on the rebel stronghold of Daraya that lies on the western fringes of the nation’s capital.
The advance allowed the Syrian Army to capture 24 building blocks in the southern sector of the rebel-held enclave in the embattled city. It is important to note that the Syrian Army is in control of the majority of the Damascene town following major advances in the Ajnad Al-Sham and Islam Martyrs stronghold.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[Dhaka Tribune] Absconding JMB leader Shariful Islam Khalid, a Rajshahi University student who was allegedly involved in the murder of his teacher Prof AFM Rezaul Karim, is one of the organisers of a new Lion of Islam outfit named Ansar Rajshahi raised in Baghmara area, police have claim
Police have gathered evidence that the outfit prepared a list of local Hindus and secularists, and finalised plans to kill a doctor, Nirendranath Sarker. The members communicate with each other through secured messaging application Threema and social media website Facebook.
The Sherlocks, however, are yet to know when the group started work and the possible number of its members.
They came to know about the outfit after questioning two cousins of Shariful ‐ Aminul Islam Rumi, 23, and Enamul Huq Sabuj, 22, of Sreepur Khamarpara vilage under Baghmara.
The duo were nabbed Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! on Monday night and produced before a Rajshahi court the following day with a five-day remand prayer for each. The hearing may take place next week, according to court sources.
During interrogation, Rumi disclosed the names of three of his associates in Ansar Rajshahi ‐ Rawshan Ali alias Akash, of Parbhangura under Pabna’s Bhangura; Abu Ibrahim alias Tareq alias Ripon, and Md Bulbul alias Alamin alias Billal of Boalia in Rajshahi.
Since last year, the JMB members have killed at least seven Hindu priests across the country while threatened several dozen Hindus and Christians with death. The outfit also launched attacks on three Christians in the northern districts. Two of them were killed.
Known as a stronghold of outlawed JMB, Baghmara saw a deadly kaboom on a local Ahmadiyya mosque on December 26 last year that killed the JMB suicide kaboomer and injured 10 devotees. In 2004, JMB second-in-command Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai established a reign of terror in the area by killing and torturing scores of people.
Shariful alias Rahat alias Talha, 25, has remained missing for the last 15 months, his family members say. He is the son of Abdul Hakim of Sreepur Khamarpara. He was a student of English department at Rajshahi University. Police claim that he was one of the JMB operatives who hacked Prof Rezaul to death near his house in Shalbagan area on April 23.
The family members of Shariful filed a general diary with the police on July 4 seeking information about him. He used to meet Rumi and Sabuj regularly before he going missing last year.
The RMP authorities on July 29 announced Tk1 lakh bounty for Shariful and another JMB Lion of Islam ‐ Nazrul Islam alias Bike Hassan who was wanted in 11 cases filed over the recent assassination'>assassinations including Prof Rezaul murder. Nazrul was killed in an alleged shootout with the DB police in Rajshahi on August 1.
Families unaware of Lion of Islam link
Rumi’s family claims his father Saiful Islam was picked up by plainclothes police from the house at Sreepur Khamarpara village around 1am on August 11. Rumi fled the house sensing the presence of the police.
At that time, police allegedly asked the family to hand over Rumi to them to ensure release of Saiful, and they complied with the condition. They went to the cop shoppe around 11am along with Rumi and the police let Saiful go.
Rumi’s mother Tayejan Begum said that her son used to say prayers at the local mosque regularly and work with his father in the field. "He was introvert ... was not attentive in his studies."
Tayejan said that she had no idea what Rumi and Shariful used to do apart from studies. She claimed that Rumi was innocent and demanded that the people behind Ansar Rajshahi be arrested immediately.
A local grocer Ali Hossain said that Rumi and Sabuj used to go to his shop for chat. "They were very close to their cousin Shariful," he told the Dhaka Tribune.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh
#1
Rumi’s mother Tayejan Begum said that her son used to say prayers at the local mosque regularly and work with his father in the field. "He was introvert ... was not attentive in his studies."
Was a good boy at heart.. turning his life around... wanted to play pro football...
[FIRSTPOST] Pakistain is investigating another Mumbai attack suspect, who has recently been locked away Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! , for allegedly providing financial assistance to the LeT men to carry out the deadly assault in 2008.
"The FIA (Federal Investigation Agency) has arrested Sufyan Zafar recently and is interrogating him for his role in providing financial assistance to the accused of the Mumbai attack - who are lodged in the Adiala Jail Rawalpindi," FIA special prosecutor Chaudhry Azhar told PTI on Friday.
He said Zafar was absconding after being declared proclaimed offender in the Mumbai case.
A resident of Gujrawala district of Punjab, some 80km from Lahore, Zafar is among 21 other absconding suspects wanted in this high-profile case.
"Zafar will be indicted in the Mumbai case after completion of the investigation," the FIA official said. A Pak anti-terrorism court has charged seven 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) activists - its operations commander Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum - with abetment to murder, attempted murder, planning and executing the Mumbai attack.
The case has been underway in the country for more than six years.
Lakhvi, the criminal mastermind of the Mumbai attack, is living at some holy man's guesthouse an undisclosed location after getting released from jail on bail over a year ago.
The other six suspects are in Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.
The trial proceedings have come to a halt as India is yet to send 24 witnesses to Pakistain for recording of their statements in the trial court. Pakistain says the trial cannot be concluded unless India sends its nationals for recording their statements in the case.
As many as 166 people were killed and over 250 injured in the attack carried out by 10 LeT men.
Nine assailants were killed while the lone survivor, Ajmal Kasab, was captured and later executed.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba
Displaced people in Chah-e-Anjir in the war-weary province of Helmand said Friday that they are tired of war and just want peace.
In the past three weeks heavy battles have been ongoing in Helmand between security forces and Taliban.
As a result more than four thousand people have fled their homes and mostly converged on the provincial capital, Lashkargah.
"I came from Nawa district and there was a battle. Our children are still there; no body from government has helped us. Half my family is here and the other half is stuck there and all my belongings were left behind. Now we are living here with nothing," said Khan Zaman, one of the displaced residents.
Chah-e-Anjir's displaced people have said they are in dire straights.
One elderly woman, who fled with her family to Lashkargah, said they are all living in one room without anything, not even a carpet.
"I escaped with only the clothes I was wearing," said Faizullah.
In addition to Nawa residents, thousands from Nad Ali and Chah-e-Anjir have taken refuge in Lashkargah in the past three weeks.
Video report at the link
HYDERABAD: Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) Irfan Ali Baloch said on Friday police arrested two activists of a Sindhi nationalist organisation for their alleged links with Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and subversive activities to sabotage China-Pak Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The apprehended individuals, identified as Noor Hassan Bhachho and Masroor Thebo, possessed improvised explosive devices (IED), the SSP told media during a press conference.
"The arrested individuals were being funded by India to weaken CPEC. Their accomplice Abdul Rehman Pirzada fled during the raid in the area of Fort police station," said the SSP, adding that the culprits belong to the banned Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM).
One pistol and seven improvised grenades were also seized from the two activists and according to reports the two activists were arrested a couple of days ago from different areas.
While the SSP claimed that the arrested are affiliated with JSMM, Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (Bashir) (JSQM-B) senior leader Dr Niaz Kalani said that Noor Hassan Bhachho is party's Hyderabad chapter's sitting general secretary and Masroor Thebo is also a senior activist.
Pirzado, who escaped the raid, has gone in hiding after police's raid on his house and denied that JSQM-B's role in the alleged activities.
"We neither celebrated nor boycotted Independence Day celebrations and we don’t agree with their way of politics”, he said
Baloch, however, was of the opinion that the arrested individuals will lead police to those involved in the recent attack on Rangers in Larkana which killed one.
“JSMM activists raise slogans of ‘go China go’ in their rallies”, SSP alleged.
They are likely to provide a clue of those who attacked a Chinese national in Karachi sometime back, he further said.
Baloch also said that the activists have confessed of being involved in August 14 IED blast underneath Sakhi Abdul Wahab Shah flyover in the area of Fort police station which injured nine.
“Noor Hassan lives in the same area where this act was carried out”, SSP said.
The SSP denied Kalani’s claim that accused are not with JSMM.
“They take shelter of JSQM-B. All those who are presently working in JSMM have mostly been part of JSQM-B or Arisar group”, he told Dawn.com over phone when he was confronted with Kalani’s rebuttal.
“They [JSMM] planned a “go China go” rally in Sann as well”, he said.
Shafi Burfat leads JSMM, formed in 2000, after having served in JSQM-B.
He previously worked as the Jeay Sindh Students Federation general secretary
[HUMANRIGHTSFIRST.ORG] Yesterday, Gitmo detainee Encep Nurjaman, better known by his alias, "Hambali," appeared before the Periodic Review Board (PRB) for the first time to advocate for his release. One of 15 remaining "high-value" detainees, Hambali has been consistently referred to in both national and international media as the "Bin Laden of Indonesia."
According to the Senate intelligence committee’s torture report, he was considered "the CIA's ’number one target’ in Southeast Asia" shortly after the 9/11 attacks. The Indonesian government recently stated it considers it too great a danger for Hambali to return to the country. However, a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth... his representatives describe him as a "respectful and energetic" man, who "wants nothing more than to move on with his life and be peaceful."
A mistranslation of the Arabic. He wishes submission, not peace... and that submission is to Islam, not to a secular government in opposition to it.
The U.S. government alleges that Hambali's involvement in terrorism dates back to the 1980s, when he first began training as a jihadist in Afghanistan. From there, he purportedly branched out to participate in violent jihad across Southeast Asia.
The U.S. government believes that Hambali was involved in the 2000 Christmas Eve attacks, a series of bombings in churches across eight cities in Indonesia carried out by al Qaeda and the Indonesian group Jemaah Islamiyah. He allegedly helped plan the Bali bombings in 2002, which killed 202 and injured 209 more.
The government also alleges that in 2003 Hambali facilitated al Qaeda’s financing for the bombing of the Jakarta Marriott Hotel, which killed 12 people and injured 150. It also believes Hambali was involved in planning post-9/11 attacks against U.S. interests and that he provided a microbiologist to al Qaeda to assist it in developing an anthrax program.
Hambali was captured in 2003 and arrived at Guantanamo Bay in 2005. Despite the serious allegations against him, he has never been charged with a crime.
That's because all those activities are acts of war by non-uniformed, non-state actors for the purpose of replacing existing governments around the world with Islamic rule, not criminal activities on American soil for the purpose of revenge or material gain.
Hambali is featured prominently in the Senate’s torture report, which notes he had been cooperative in response to "standard" interrogation techniques, but when subjected to so-called "enhanced interrogation" methods, Hambali "provided the false information in an attempt to reduce the pressure on himself ... and to give an account that was consistent with what [Hambali] assessed the questioners wanted to hear." The report also states that an interrogator said to Hambali: "We can never let the world know what I have done to you."
Although Hambali’s personal representatives said he "has no ill will toward the U.S.," and the government described him as "mostly compliant," it also asserted that Hambali "remains steadfast in his support for Death Eater causes and his hatred for the US," and "has been heard promoting violent jihad while leading daily prayers and lectures."
There are currently 61 detainees still at Guantanamo, with 20 cleared for release. Four detainees are still eligible for their first PRB hearing and nine are waiting on decisions. The Obama Administration has stated that it plans to complete all initial PRB hearings and transfer all cleared detainees by this fall.
What is the recidivism rate? How many of those released have looked up their old jihadi friends or found new ones?
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
With arms shipped to Al Nusra (Al Qaeda) in Syria under Hillary (when she was over the State Department) and Obama from Benghazi, Lybia, ahhhh, but the operators of that operation were conveniently snuffed out by the Al Qaeda branch in Benghazi (Huma Huma huma) I can assure you this Muslim murderer will be free to roam again.
Posted by: Unelet Protector of the Sith2424 ||
08/20/2016 18:20
Comments ||
Top||
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The organizing committee of the coffee and chocolates exhibition, which will be held for the third year in a row at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Centre on December 20-23, 2016, revealed increasing the size of exhibition area by 100 per cent more of what it was in the past few years reaching 7781 sq. meters’ display area, while the total number of participants reached more than 100 participants because of the outstanding and unprecedented turnout during the exhibition second year.
Participation varies this year among domestic and international and specialist entrepreneurs in coffee and chocolate industry, which included many of the leading chocolate and coffee makers and dealers and international brands agents, besides representatives of global chocolate companies in the region who are participating in the exhibition to demonstrate the visibility of their brands and their strong presence in the Gulf and Arab market and enhance communication with their customers. In addition, they will display all the coffee and chocolate kits as well as the making and preparation machines and other modern technologies that fascinate coffee and chocolate lovers.
New horizons Participants this year are from Brazil, India, Indonesia, Philippines, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , Leb, Egypt, Oman and the UAE. The exhibition aims to attract investors, suppliers and those seeking new investments in this vital sector to open new horizons for entrepreneurs.
It puts the kingdom on the map of commodity producing countries of coffee and chocolate instead of being only a consuming nation, conforming to the National Transformation Program 2020 and Kingdom of 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... Vision 2030. This is especially important since it is known that the kingdom has more than 70,000 coffee trees from the finest in the world at the Jazan mountains along with cocoa trees which Faifa region development authority successfully planted in the first experiment of its kind in the Arab world.
The exhibition organizers and participants have planned many surprises and new developments to engage visitors and lovers of coffee and chocolate. The exhibition is the largest recreational demonstration specific to these two commodities and will feature competitions , training courses and workshops and also enable visitors to meet specialists and professionals in the industry.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under:
#4
apparently, Filipino laborers are learning new skillz
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/20/2016 8:58
Comments ||
Top||
#5
nearest I can quickly find to Saudi coffee beans: Yemen beans
Yemen has a coffee culture like no other place, and the distinct flavor profile can be partially credited to the old style of trade in the country. Yemen is the first place coffee was commercialized, traded through the port city of Al Mahka (Mokha). Yemeni coffee has a distinct, rustic flavor profile which can be attributed to the old seed stocks cultivated there, the near-drought condition in which the coffee survives, and (sadly) defects in the cup. These defects are usually due to poor picking and processing, delays in transporting the coffee, and the very humid climate of the port city, Al Hudaydah (or Hodeidah)
The BDI has steadied since pushing toward 700 points, and has shown slight, downward corrections this week, which indicates that the climb may be running out of steam, but some optimism about Q3 and Q4 shipping activity is limiting losses.
Even though some optimism may be driving the BDI higher, there is currently a mixed consensus on what is in store for the BDI as the year winds down, and there is an argument for both an increase in prices, and a decrease.
The BDI’s value depends on the demand to transport raw materials. So far this year, demand has been strong, supported by increased building in China, an increase in demand for coal imports to China, and strong harvests and demand for soft commodities. While soft commodity demand will persist into later this year, there is a mixed opinion on what will happen to the coal and iron ore market. Both commodities are major cargoes that are transported by the BDI’s largest component ships.
Some believe, that after a solid performance in the first half of the year, demand will fall starting in September. This sentiment is backed by data showing that iron ore purchases typically contract in the fall. On the other hand, there are those who think China will ramp-up iron ore purchases in the fall to last through the winter season, and this will provide a boost to shipping demand. Supporting this opinion is the fact that this year, iron ore’s seasonality has not been typical, with demand lasting later into the season than expected.
On Thursday, the BDI fell 3 points to 682. The BDI has managed to trade just below 700 points over the past few weeks even though demand for cargoes has been somewhat muted. The reason for the resilience has been the hope that if August activity is low, then September shipping activity should heat up in preparation for the upcoming winter.
There could be a rebound in the dry bulk market in the fourth quarter, driven by a recovery in iron ore, coal and grain trade, shipping consultancy Maritime Strategies International said Thursday.
One key driver will be a new operation at western Australia’s Roy Hill iron ore mining project, which is “ramping up more quickly than expected and should reach just below its maximum capacity by December,” MSI senior analyst Will Fray said.
“Seasonal coal trade should also provide some support for Capesize shipments into China. We continue to forecast Capesize spot rates over $10,000/day in October, but rates will most likely drop early in the new year on seasonal trade weakness,” Fray added.
With the August Capesize time-charter average contract pegged August 17 at $4,525/day by Freight Investor Services, and the Q4 contract at $8,250/day, MSI predicted an average spot earnings level for a modern Capesize in October 2016 at $10,400/day.
In the Panamax market, MSI forecast an average spot rate for October 2016 at $7,000/day, compared with FIS’ $5,550/day for August, and $6,625/day for Q4.
MSI said that the recent strength in Chinese and Indian coal imports “have diverging causes” and may cancel each other out as China’s stronger imports hold up India’s near-term decline.
At the same time, winter stockpiling in the rest of Asia could end up supporting Panamax demand as Q3 gives way to Q4.
In coming months, the dry bulk market may also receive some support from US grain exports, with the International Grains Council increasing its estimate for US wheat and coarse grain exports by 6% for the 2016-17 season, while slashing Brazilian corn production estimates by 10%.
But MSI said it foresaw slim opportunities in the Handymax and Supramax dry bulk freight markets in the next six months. This is because, despite strong grain expectations out of the US in the remainder of this month and September, the Handymax/Supramax segment is still being weakened by strong newbuilding deliveries.
In addition, hopes for a resumption in bauxite trade from Malaysia have diminished with yet another extension of the ban on production until the middle of September, MSI said.
[Libya Herald] Armed vehicles and tanks have appeared on roads around the 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... ’s Abu Sleem district including the elevated section of the airport road. They are said to be belong to local strongman Abdul Ghani Al-Kikli (also known as Ghneiwa).
It is rumoured that the show of force is in preparation for a fresh attack by Ghneiwa agaisnt the rival Abu Sleem militia, the Salah Al-Burki brigade.
Both have been clashed several times before, the most recent being on 24 June when each accused the other of targeting its supporters. The rivalry between the two former Libya Dawn ...aka Fajr Libya, the Islamist operation launched to counter that of General Khalifa Haftar (Operation Dignity). It is made up of the Libya Shield militia (Misrata and Moslem Brotherhood), Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room (Moslem Brotherhood), and Tripoli Brigade (close to Abdul Hakim Belhaj, head of Al-Watan party). Financing and moral support come from Turkey and Qatar... allies is fuelled by the fact that most of Burki militia are originally from Misrata while many of the Kikli brigade come from Kikla in the Jebel Nafusa, although they staunchly proclaim their loyalty to Tripoli.
Meanwhile, ...back at the mall, Clarissa spent the day shopping for new underwear. Tonight was going to be a special occasion... in the same Abu Sleem district today, an gang attacked the local headquarters of Hatif Libya Telecommunications and cut communications to large parts of the south, east and west of the country. A source from the company has told the Libya Herald that he and his colleagues could not understand why this had been done.
"They have switched off all equipment and the only lines working now are those not connected to this station," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
Iran’s Judiciary has confirmed that three people, charged with terror attacks, were executed on Aug. 17.
The executed men killed three policemen in a terror attack in Iran’s south-western province of Khuzestan, Amanat Behbahani, an official with the province judiciary said, YJC news agency reported Aug. 18. The men were also involved in other “terrorist acts,” the official added.
Iranian media identified the executed men as Ghais Obidawi, Ahmad Obidawi and Sajad Obidawi. Behbahani said other convicts of the case were given prison sentences.
In April 2015, three police officers were killed when gunmen opened fire on a temporary police station at a park in the city of Hamidiyeh, about 25 kilometres west of the provincial capital city of Ahwaz.
Murder, rape, armed robbery and trafficking of drugs in quantities in excess of 5 kilograms are among the crimes punishable by death in Iran. Iran ranks second, after China, in terms of the number of executions in the world.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[Asharq al-Aswat] U.S.-led coalition aircraft were sent near the northeastern city of Hasaka, Syria to protect coalition ground forces in response to an earlier bombing by Syrian jets on August 18, a Pentagon official said on Friday.
On the other hand ISIS combatants have evacuated their families from a Syrian town at the Turkish border near a city that they recently lost to U.S.-backed militias, a monitor group reported on Friday, a sign they may be preparing to face an attack there.
Last week’s advance by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) of Manbij, 40km to their south, has left ISIS fighters in Jarablus in danger of being cut off from the bully boy group’s main stronghold.
The town is located at the eastern edge of an ISIS stretch 55km along the Turkish border, and could be encircled by any SDF thrust northwards from its positions further to the west. SDF positions on the Euphrates already look directly across to Jarablus on the opposing bank.
More than 50 families of ISIS fighters and leaders arrived in the group’s stronghold of Raqqa from Jarablus and the larger town of al-Bab, between Manbij and Aleppo, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitor, said.
Separately, a senior Syrian rebel source told Rooters that ISIS was moving personnel out of Jarablus.
The SDF have not yet declared what their next target will be after capturing Manbij.
A successful advance north could cut ISIS ate off from the Turkish border, while a thrust west could threaten al-Bab, an important 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.... stronghold.
After Manbij fell to the SDF, some local fighters announced they had established a military council for al-Bab, signaling they believed an assault on ISIS in the town would soon take place. The SDF denied having any links to the council.
The U.S.-backed SDF is made up of both Kurdish fighters, including the YPG militia, and local Arab gangs. It has denied any links to a military council established last week.
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Kurdish police (Asayish), backed by the People’s Protection Units (YPG), launched a new assault inside the Guweiran District today, targeting the positions of the pro-government "National Defense Forces" (NDF) near the Al-Askari axis.
In response to this Asayish/YPG attack in eastern Hasakah City, the Syrian Arab Air Force launched their first Arclight airstrike of the day, hitting the Kurdish forces at the Askari District.
This imperative Arclight airstrike managed to help the National Defense Forces repel the Asayish/YPG assault on their positions in the Guweiran District, while also alleviating the pressure applied on their front-lines.
Sporadic festivities are still being reported at several axes in Hasakah City, as the Kurdish forces continue their offensive against the National Defense Forces.
[ALMASDARNEWS] The National Defense Forces (NDF) advanced in the city center of the scenic provincial capital of Hasakah province seizing control of the New Hospital and Amal in the Marsho area.
In addition to that, the NDF managed to capture 14 Asayish fighters near Marsho. This escalation in violence in the usually peaceful city comes after Kurdish Asayish fighters assaulted NDF fighters and imprisoned family members of the pro-government paramilitary force during the night.
The Syrian Army has yet to fully intervene in the conflict with the exception of 10 Arclight airstrikes targeting Asayish headquarters and movements in the city.
[ALMASDARNEWS] The US-led Coalition quickly scrambled their warplanes on Friday night near the lovely provincial capital of the Al-Hasakah Governorate after a Syrian Su-24 almost struck their positions.
According to a statement released by the US-led Coalition, a Syrian Su-24 dropped bombs "dangerously near" the US Special Forces personnel that are currently embedded with the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in the Al-Hasakah Governorate.
This close-call on Friday night marks the first time that the U.S. military personnel have been in the vicinity of a Syrian Air Force strike.
The situation in Hasakah City remains very tense after both the government-backed "National Defense Forces" (NDF) and the Kurdish police (Asayish) traded offensives on Friday.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
Homeward bound,
We are homeward bound,
Home where the bombs not falling,
Home, where the joooos not calling
On my cellie all night long...
[Libya Observer] 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... has left the US and other countries that support him no choice but to break free from him over being adamant in his refusal to support a fragile UN-proposed government, the Washington Post reported Thursday, adding that Haftar, who is a CIA asset and US-trained military figure has jeopardized hopes for stability in Libya.
Renegade General, Haftar has for long styled himself as an opponent to gunnies while in fact, he was building his own power base, which finally made him so obstinate to approve the political agreement brokered by the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... , the American newspaper indicated.
"Haftar is threatening many of the Western-backed initiatives in Libya and the establishment of a recognized political power," Barak Barfi, a scholar at New America, a Washington think tank told the Washington Post.
Barafi added that Haftar is not strong enough on the battlefield to keep his promises to the US and defeat what they described as gunnies or whom he calls "Islamists" because he can act as a spoiler.
Haftar has been launching continuous attacks and air strikes on Benghazi and Derna in a bid to control the eastern region. He has formed his own militias and kicked off the so-called Dignity Operation in Benghazi back in 2014. Since then, Haftar militias have destroyed almost the whole city of Benghazi in their aspiration for power.
Moreover, Haftar's militias have also attacked Derna city as often as they did in Benghazi only after the IS snuffies were kicked out of the city by the Derna Shura Council revolutionaries to make his alleged war on terrorism and extremism sound far-fetched, laying a siege on the city and the residents and depriving them from the basic living needs like foods and medicines.
"A former senior U.S. official said that Haftar’s connections across the Middle East and beyond have made it difficult for the B.O. regime to develop a unified strategy to confront or co-opt him." Reported the newspaper.
These comments come as Haftar's militias are launching an offensive on the oil terminal of Zueitina in a bid to control it and to lay hands on the oil production and exportation in Libya in the oil crescent region.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
#1
"Haftar is threatening many of the Western-backed initiatives in Libya and the establishment of a recognized political power," Barak Barfi, a scholar at New America, a Washington think tank told the Washington Post.
FYI: The New America Foundation is a George Soros funded operation that reports on "global governance."
[Dhaka Tribune] Al-Qaeda-inspired JMB, an outlawed Lion of Islam group responsible for carrying out series kabooms in 63 districts on this day in 2005, has lost much of its strength in the recent years, detectives say.
But, the recently-emerged Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) faction has appeared on the scene as a deadlier Lion of Islam group than the mainstream one, founded in 1998 by Shayakh Abdur Rahman.
Law enforcers blame the New JMB members for most of the recent assassination'>assassinations including the Gulshan and Sholakia attacks, while some of the attacks were claimed by another Lion of Islam group Ansarullah Bangla Team. Ansarullah was declared banned in May last year.
The New JMB is believed to be inspired by international terrorist group Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... and local Ahle Hadith group. It is operated by eight to ten coordinators under the leadership of a yet unidentified spiritual leader from a northern district, detectives say.
Police say they have incarcerated I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! around 150 New JMB members in the last two years.
The main JMB in June this year issued a statement describing the attacks they have conducted since 1998 and denied having involved in other attacks. It said former majlish-e-sura member Salahuddin alias Salehin alias Sajeeb became their chief after he was snatched from a prison van in February 2014.
In another statement released on July 31, the JMB claimed they had no connection with the Gulshan attack when 23 people mostly foreigners were killed in a restaurant on July 1.
The previous chief, Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... leader Maulana Saidur Rahman, has been in jail since 2010 while its founder was hanged in 2007 along with several other policymakers including Siddiqur Rahman alias Bangla Bhai.
The group was banned on February 23, 2005.
After the August 17 blasts carried out in 511 places, the JMB carried out several suicide kabooms killing at least 33 people before its top leaders were arrested in early 2006. The notorious group came to light by establishing a reign of terror in Rajshahi and NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... re in 2004 by killing and torturing dozens of people, in the name of operations against forces of Evil linked to leftist parties and under the patronisation of some BNP-Jamaat leaders, and the attack on Prof Humayun Azad.
Around 160 cases were filed against the JMB leaders and patrons across the country regarding these incidents. But verdicts have been given in only 88 of the cases in the last 11 years.
At least 51 cases are still waiting for disposal in different district courts.
In the 88 cases, 35 bully boyz were given death penalty, and of them, only six have been executed so far. The other cases are pending with the top court. The courts sentenced 131 bully boyz to life-term imprisonment in these cases.
Four out of the 18 cases filed over 33 blasts in Dhaka city on this day in 2005 have been quashed by the courts.
According to the Police Headquarters data, police gave final report in 17 out of 160 cases clearing the accused. The number of people sued in the 143 other cases was 242 but charges were pressed against 1,157 people. Investigators say 960 of the accused have been arrested so far. However, ars longa, vita brevis... the number of bully boyz who secured bail could not be known.
In the recent years, the main JMB members were responsible for several assassination'>assassinations that include Mohammad Shahidullah at Tanore in Rajshahi on May 6, retired sergeant instructor of Kashimpur jail Rustom Hawlader in Gazipur on April 25, Pir Khijir Khan in Badda area of Dhaka on October 5 last year, popular preacher Sheikh Nurul Islam Faruqi in Dhaka on August 27, 2014, and self-proclaimed Pir Lutfar Rahman, his son and four disciples at Gopibagh in Dhaka on December 21, 2013.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh
An obscure website published a vague report Thursday making the dramatic claim that relations between Washington and Ankara had deteriorated so badly that the United States had begun moving nuclear weapons from Turkey to Romania.
The problem is that there doesn't seem to be any basis at all for the report, which alleged B61 nuclear weapons were on their way to Romania's Deveselu base. Romania's defense ministry promptly denied it and experts dismissed the idea as illogical for technical and other reasons.
But that didn't stop some of Russia's rabidly anti-American news outlets, including Sputnik and Pravda, from picking up the story and running with it.
"Where do U.S. nuclear weapons travel from Turkey?" read a piece in Pravda posted Friday, speculating wildly about how the whole alleged transfer would work.
Although the Obama administration declined to comment, officials privately scoffed at the report when asked by FP.
The article that set off the chatter came from EuroActiv, and did not impress nuclear weapons expert Jeffrey Lewis, the director of non-proliferation studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey.
For starters, Lewis tweeted, Romania does not have the special WS3 vaults needed to store the weapons safely. And, he noted, the article lacked evidence or quotes to back it up.
"They consulted one person, a generalist who said it was bunk, and Romania, which denied it. Then published anyway," tweeted Lewis, a contributor to Foreign Policy.
Lewis added that the story cites B61 weapons but that it was written "by a guy who doesn't know what a B61 is."
The author, Georgi Gotev, defended his story but acknowledged in a tweet he did not know what a B61 is. (It's a 300-pound U.S.-made tactical nuclear bomb that’s carried by fighter jets with a blast yield of up to 340 kilotons).
Romania's Defense Ministry said in a statement that it "firmly rejects these pieces of information" and that "so far there have not been any plans or discussions (among NATO members) on this topic."
Romania also is not part of a small number of NATO member states like Turkey that have agreed to host U.S. nuclear weapons and deploying the bomb to Romania would be deemed a provocative move by Moscow.
Although the article was widely rejected as off the mark, the failed coup last month in Turkey has set off questions about whether the United States might reconsider keeping nuclear weapons deployed at its Incirlik air base. During the attempted coup, Turkish authorities cut off electricity to the base.
And Turkey has been at odds with the Obama administration over the legal fate of Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based cleric who Ankara accuses of orchestrating the July 15 attempted coup. Turkey is demanding his extradition, but the U.S. says Ankara hasn’t provided enough evidence of his involvement.
[AnNahar] Indonesian security forces have rubbed out a suspected Uighur radical, an official said Thursday, the latest member of the mostly Moslem Chinese minority killed fighting with Lions of Islam in the archipelago.
Police said the man, who died in a shootout on a mountainside Wednesday, was the last of a handful of Uighurs who had joined Death Eater group the Eastern Indonesia Mujahideen on central Sulawesi island.
Several members of the minority, who allege decades of religious and political repression in China, had already been rubbed out by security forces while four others were caught on the island as they sought to join the group.
The group's leader Santoso was killed in a firefight with troops last month, ending a years-long hunt for the Moslem-majority country's most wanted bad boy and best known Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (IS) group supporter.
National police chief Tito Karnavian announced the latest death Thursday, saying the bad boy "was killed in a shootout and we found an M16 (rifle) on him."
Another suspected bad boy escaped, he said.
Indonesian Lions of Islam fighting with IS in Syria are believed to have plotted with Death Eater networks back home to send Uighurs in Southeast Asia to Indonesia to join up with Santoso, according to analysts.
Santoso, whose group was known for launching attacks on domestic security forces from jungle bases around the city of Poso, was killed after authorities sent thousands of police and soldiers to track him down in a major operation.
Authorities are now hunting the remnants of his group, with just 14 members still believed to remain.
Indonesia suffered a string of Islamic Death Eater attacks in the early 2000s, including the 2002 Bali bombings which killed more than 200, prompting authorities to launch a crackdown that weakened the most dangerous networks.
However IS has proved a potent new rallying cry for the country's radicals, and analysts believe cells linked to the jihadists pose a greater threat than Santoso's dwindling band of bad boys.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/20/2016
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
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.
[Jane Mann] is a retired Northampton science teacher and is concerned that photosynthesis, which depends upon sunlight, would not happen and would keep the vegetation from growing. She said she has observed areas near solar panels where vegetation is brown and dead because it did not receive enough sunlight.
[Wash Times] Hillary Clinton will have to give testimony about her secret email server and account, but it will be in writing rather than in person, a federal judge ruled Friday, delivering a partial victory to the Democratic presidential candidate.
He was one of my favorites. You ever notice how little democrats bother campaigning in Oklahoma ? 
[Dhaka Tribune] A bottle has been recovered from the stomach of a patient at a clinic in Barisal city.
Hillary Clinton
[WASHINGTONTIMES] Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said Friday that GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump is more than welcome in the state if he plans on helping flood victims, but not if it’s just for a photo-op to gain voters.
[REALCLEARPOLITICS] Donald Trump gets a warm welcome from victims of the Baton Rouge flood as he toured the devastation with Republican nominee for Vice President Mike Pence. 
Joe 
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Russian Air Force carried out a special mission on Friday night to target the jihadist leadership in the northern Homs countryside after receiving intel from ground sources of a specific gathering near the village of Al-Ghanto.
[Iraq Sun] A senior Moroccan 
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
[Mindanao Examiner] Maoist militants are set to free two policemen they seized in southern Philippines ahead of a scheduled peace talks with the Philippe government this month.
the 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
