HT AOSHQ
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials only archived 86 text messages out of 3.1 million agency employees sent and received in 2015, according to a federal watchdog's report made public Wednesday by House Committee on Science, Space and Technology Chairman Lamar Smith.
The EPA Office of Inspector General (IG) released the report requested by the Texas Republican, which described enormous text message retention problems within the EPA. One unnamed senior official configured his phone to automatically delete texts after 30 days.
The IG claimed EPA officials never "intentionally" violated the Federal Records Act and did not include the low number of archived texts in the body of its report, relaying it instead to congressional staff. and just how was "unintentional" determined?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/22/2016
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#1
..I believe he is using Comey's definition of 'intent'. Seems to be a pattern.
On the other hand, misuse a word or term that might be misconstrued as racist or sexist, then there is no concern about 'intent' by this same crowd.
#3
The FOIA is based on laws mandating archiving messages with penalties for noncompliance. This would be an excellent reason to start RIF'ing the deadwood atop the EPA -- Retire or be fired.
I don't believe text messages that *individuals* send arise to the level of a "public record". I think that *mass* text messages (wherein an agency employee sends out a text to more than one employee) ARE "public records", and should be preserved as such by the sender.
Since one person texting another (in my view) doesn't arise to the level of a "public record", I also don't think it should shield anyone from wrongdoing. For example, an employee shouldn't be able to claim immunity from an action by asserting that his boss "texted me that it was ok to proceed". "Public records" should include the policy manuals for the given agency and all email correspondance (yes Hillary, even about yoga classes), but not singular trading of text messages between two individuals.
There should also be a clear understanding that "we" (the given agency) neither make nor interpret policy decisions by text message.
#7
I was under the impression that all government agencies had everything backed up to a secure backup in case of major disruption. If so things could be retrieved from the backup.
It is legal. And soon President Trump and Congress will make it profitable to repatriate all that money that's being hidden abroad. So Google, et al will benefit – as will the American economy – despite fighting so hard against his election; it will be interesting to see if they fight against him next time.
#1
What is wrong about saving money? I wish I could figure out how to reduce my taxes. About the only way I see right now is gold. This way I pay taxes on the initial withdrawal to buy the product. From then on I can give it to my children without gift taxes.
h/t Instapundit
Final vote tallies from the November 8 election show that Democrat Hillary Clinton out-polled President-elect Donald Trump by 2.8 million votes while losing the contest by a wide margin in the all-important Electoral College.
Her upper hand with voters, however, came down to performances in New York and California that were far stronger than necessary.
Clinton won California by 4.2 million and took New York by more than 1.6 million. The combined 5.8 million-vote advantage in just those two states was more than twice the size of her overall edge nationwide.
When the dust settled, she lost the rest of the country by 3 million votes.
#1
The fact that Hillary had more Electoral College turncoats than Mr. Trump is just beautiful. All those Hollywood pukes can just stuff it...and board a plane to the destination of their choosing (as previousky announced)!
#6
Current "unauthorized population in CA - just over 3 million
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
12/22/2016 11:44
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#7
Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.
James Bovard, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty (1994), ISBN 0312123337, p. 333.
[Al Jazeera] Indonesian police say three suspects who were planning a suicide kaboom on Christmas Day or New Year's Eve were killed when a shootout erupted during a raid on the outskirts of the capital Jakarta.
It was the second imminent attack to be foiled in less than two weeks.
After Wednesday's raid, police said the suspects - supporters of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and the Levant - had planned to stab officers at a traffic post and then detonate a "large, homemade" bomb as crowds gathered.
"The intention was for a suicide bomb," national police front man Rikwanto, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, told a news conference.
"Every year, Christmas and new year events are the target of gunnies to carry out amaliyah," Rikwanto said, using an Arabic term to describe suicide kabooms in gang circles.
Police said a total of five bombs were found at the house in the South Tangerang suburb.
Television footage showed a bomb squad officer wearing a blast-resistant suit entering the house as locals watched from behind a police line.
Rikwanto said one suspect was captured alive after the firefight.
The raid was the latest in a series over recent weeks that police say have disrupted bomb plots, raising concerns that homegrown attackers in the world's largest Moslem-majority nation are getting bolder in their attempts to engage in violence.
Police said earlier this week at least 14 people were being interrogated over suicide-bomb plots targeting the presidential palace in Jakarta and some holy man's guesthouse an undisclosed location on Java island.
Both involved ajacket wallah'> exploding trollop female suicide bomber.
A firefight erupted at a house in South Tangerang 25 kilometres (15 miles) outside the capital Jakarta, with police saying the alleged bully boyz had shot up officers.
"We asked the three men to surrender but they fought, with one of them throwing a bomb (at officers). Thankfully the bomb didn't explode and we took firm action against them," said national police front man Rikwanto, who goes by one name.
The plot was disclosed by a member of the group who was placed in durance vile Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! earlier on Wednesday and tipped off police about the three bully boyz and their whereabouts, police said.
The men in South Tangerang have links to the Bekasi group, Rikwanto said. Some are members of a local radical outfit which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.
Police said investigations are continuing into the larger network and its agenda.
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[Al Ahram] Jordanian security forces have tossed in the slammer ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... a man suspected of funding an attack 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.... (IS) holy warrior group that killed 10 people including a Canadian tourist, a security source said Wednesday.
The suspect was detained in a raid on a house in Karak province on Tuesday by police looking for the perpetrators behind Sunday's shooting rampage, official news agency Petra quoted the source as saying.
The suspect "admitted to ties with the terrorist cell that targeted security forces and civilians" on Sunday "and to buying weapons and funding the cell," the source said.
Another suspect and four coppers were killed in Tuesday's shootout between gunnies and security forces at the house in Karak's Qarifla area.
Jordanian television showed footage of the house, with walls riddled by bullets.
Sunday's attack in Karak, home to one of the region's biggest Crusader castles, killed seven coppers and two Jordanian civilians as well as a female Canadian tourist.
Four assailants were killed by the security forces after an hours-long siege of the castle, where the suspects had fled after opening fire on police.
The security source said the investigation into the attack was ongoing.
IS on Tuesday grabbed credit, saying it was carried out by four "soldiers of the caliphate" who used machineguns and hand grenades.
A statement said the assault targeted Jordanian "apostate" security forces and citizens of the US-led coalition battling the Islamist bandidosbully boyz in Syria and Iraq.
Jordan is part of the alliance and has carried out air strikes targeting IS. It also hosts coalition troops on its territory.
King Abdullah II on Wednesday met US Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley to discuss extremism and terrorism in the region, a palace statement said.
Maaz al-Kassasbeh, a Jordanian fighter pilot from Karak, was captured by IS when his plane went down in Syria in December 2014, and he was later burned alive in a cage.
Sunday's attack in Kerak has dealt another blow to the country's vital tourism sector, which had already suffered from the 2011 Arab uprisings and conflict in neighbouring Iraq and Syria.
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The surprising strength of populist, anti-globalization leaders in the industrial West has underscored the declining prospects for the middle and working classes in the United States and Europe. By contrast, Asian elites and middle class workers are widely regarded as the largest beneficiaries of economic globalization.
Chinese debt has accumulated a dizzying 465 percent over the past decade, and totaled nearly 250% of GDP in 2015. Servicing the debt will consume a growing part of the country’s resources and is already exacerbating financial volatility.
Despite enviable growth rates, however, Asian economies have their own worries. China’s economy has manifested troubling signs in the form of two major, inter-related threats. First, mounting public and private debt has raised the risk of a financial crisis and of dramatically slower growth rates. Chinese debt has accumulated a dizzying 465 percent over the past decade, and totaled nearly 250% of GDP in 2015. Servicing the debt will consume a growing part of the country’s resources and is already exacerbating financial volatility.
Second, the country’s adherence to an increasingly inefficient mode of economic growth threatens long-term growth. China powered its phenomenal rise on the backs of exports and investment. But this approach has grown less effective as world demand has fallen and capacity grown redundant. More debt is now required to generate less and less growth. According to economist Ruchir Sharma, China now borrows six dollars to generate one dollar in GDP growth.
To correct these problems, China should consider ways to wean the economy from its dependence on cheap credit, exports and infrastructure investment and instead adopt a more balanced and sustainable mode of growth driven to a much larger degree by consumption and services. Much of the highly publicized “Third Plenum” agenda has centered on establishing the institutions, practices, and policies needed for such an economic transformation. However, implementation of the new policies has been extremely slow and the results largely disappointing. Accordingly, the government has frequently relapsed to loose credit as a way to boost growth and keep unemployment rates low. But these stop-gap measures only delay and compound the long-term structural problems.
Indeed, pessimism about China’s ability to ever carry out needed reform has grown in recent years. The mounting weaknesses in China’s economy come at an inauspicious time. Depressed global demand has left Beijing few options for overseas markets that could ease the pain of its economic transformation. The increasing financial volatility could also spur capital flight, as anxious investors move their savings to more secure and stable markets. Both the developing and developed world would feel the effects. The developed world could see a decline in investment if China opted to enact controls to prevent capital flight.
Although it remains to be seen what policies he may pursue, the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president could exacerbate China’s situation. Trump’s election is illustrative the spreading disenchantment with economic globalization in the industrial West. With Britain’s looming exit from the European Union and nationalist European parties poised to make larger electoral gains, the trend shows little sign of abatement. China’s continued dependence on exports to these countries renders the country highly vulnerable to the types of protectionist policies advocated by President-elect Trump and other nationalist European leaders.
Whether President-elect Trump chooses to pursue tariffs once in office is unclear. But if he chooses to do so, China could retaliate with its own tariffs. The result could be a global trade war that damages growth for all. Grimly, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts continued stagnation in advanced economies, which it warned could increase the appeal of anti-trade policies.
Like most other countries that have experienced rapid development, China is struggling to transition from a highly successful but unsustainable economic model. Such a transformation is difficult to carry out in even the best of economic climates, but Beijing faces the additional challenge of executing difficult reforms in the face of an increasingly inhospitable global economy. To avoid global stagnation, the world’s leading economies require even closer coordination and innovative policies to spur global demand. Whether global leaders can resist the growing call for retrenchment and enact policies that invigorate growth remains to be seen.
#2
I want to know what happened to all those leftists that 20 years ago were screaming about how free trade was bad cause China et. al. didn't have our environmental rules, and our labor rules.
[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] Nigerian troops have rescued 1,880 civilians from a Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... redoubt in the restive northeast in the past week and tossed in the calaboose Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! hundreds of Death Eaters, a military commander said on Wednesday.
The Sambisa forest, covering about 1,300 square kilometres (500 square miles), is a stronghold of the notorious jihadist group, who kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls in 2014.
"During our operations in the period 14-21 December 2016, a total of 1,880 civilians were rescued from Boko Haram enclaves," Major-general Leo Irabor said in a statement after a news conference in the northeastern city of Maiduguri on Wednesday.
Sambisa forest, covering an area of about 1,300 square kilometres (500 square miles), is a stronghold of the Boko Haram islamists
Irabor added: "564 Boko Haram bandidoshard boyz were arrested while 19 others surrendered to our troops. Also, seven suspected kidnappers and 37 foreigners were equally arrested."
He said several Boko Haram fighters were killed and a cache of arms and ammunitions was discovered in the operation, part of a military campaign launched last year to clear the area of the jihadists.
Hundreds of civilians, including women and kiddies, have also been freed in neighbouring Cameroon ...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there... , said Irabor. Eight jihadist suspects were subsequently identified among them and taken into custody.
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12/22/2016
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[DAWN] Masroor Nawaz Jhangvi said he has become more moderate and distanced himself from his previous anti-Shia rhetoric after winning a regional assembly seat.
Jhangvi's December election to the Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... provincial assembly caused a stir in due to fears his political ascent would increase sectarian divides in Jhang, a dusty town with a history of violence between its resident Shia and Sunni communities.
The 29-year-old is also on a list of people with suspected ties to holy warrior groups. Jhangvi's assassinated father, Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, was a fierce anti-Shia holy man who founded the now proscribed Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain ...a Sunni Deobandi organization, a formerly registered Pak political party, established in the early 1980s in Jhang by Maulana Haq Nawaz Jhangvi. Its stated goal is to oppose Shia influence in Pakistain. They're not too big on Brelvis, either. Or Christians. Or anybody else who's not them. The organization was banned in 2002 as a terrorist organization, but somehow it keeps ticking along, piling up the corpse counts... . He was killed in 1990.
The banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi ... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ... , which has carried out some of the worst sectarian attacks in Pakistain's history, was named after his father.
"Responsibility has fallen on my shoulders, now I am representative of all the people of Jhang," Jhangvi told Rooters in an interview last week during an hours-long tour of his home town.
"I consider everybody to be human, and I want peace in Jhang and in Punjab," Jhangvi added.
The proscribed Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) strongly backed Jhangvi during the election but the bearded holy man denies being a member of the group.
In the Punjab assembly, Jhangvi has joined the far right religious party Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam ...Assembly of Islamic Clergy, or JUI, is a Pak Deobandi (Hanafi) political party. There are two main branches, one led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and one led by Maulana Samiul Haq. Fazl is active in Pak politix and Sami spends more time running his madrassah. Both branches sponsor branches of the Taliban, though with plausible deniability... -Fazl (JUI-F).
Jhangvi distanced himself from sectarian video clips by saying they were several years old.
But when asked if he regretted making inflammatory comments about Shias in the past, Jhangvi smiled and said "no comment".
One prominent Shia resident in Jhang said Jhangvi did not run a sectarian campaign and has portrayed himself as a de-radicalised figure, even managing to win some Shia votes in the Dec 1 election.
"Time will prove whether it is genuine deradicalisation and a departure from the past or whether it's based on political expediency," added the resident, who did not wish to be identified.
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[The Hill] Terrorist attacks like the one in Berlin will continue to happen if the U.S. plays defense, former CIA Director James Woolsey said Tuesday.
“This is all going to happen again and again and again as long as we keep playing defense,” Woolsey told “Fox and Friends.”
Woolsey, who is currently serving as an adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, compared the U.S. fighting terrorism to playing in a hockey game.
“It’s as if we’re in a big, really important hockey game and we deploy our entire team as goalies. We’re going to lose,” he said. “We can try to catch people after the fact. We can try by vetting extreme people out. But if we keep going this way, we’re going to continue to have terrorist attacks of major proportion.”
[DAWN] Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar said Wednesday that Pakistain will control all traffic from Afghanistan through six dedicated routes by 2020.
"The border [between Afghanistan and Pakistain] stretches over more than 2,400 kilometres. We need to improve its management," Nisar said.
He was speaking at a presser near the Torkham Border in Landi Kotal, Khyber Agency ... the place to go if you've got an Indiana Jones hat and whip. Chock full of high adventure and treacherous Pathans. You should really train up to it, though... "Peace between the two countries is inter-linked," he said. "Pakistain wants free movement and welcomes the Afghan people, but terrorist infiltration needs to be curbed," he added.
Nisar said that no terrorist networks or headquarters were functional in Pakistain currently, claiming that forces of Evil have either been killed or have fled the country following the 'historic' Operation Zarb-e-Azb ..the Pak offensive against Qaeda in Pakistain and the Pak Taliban in North Wazoo. The name refers to the sword of the Prophet (PTUI!)... He added that certain rogue elements were now operating from across the Pak-Afghan border. "These people sneak across the border, enter our country, and attack our citizens like cowards," he said.
"We've always helped the Afghan people in their time of need. But forces of Evil took advantage of unregulated movement on our borders," Nisar said, adding that forces of Evil have been infiltrating Pakistain by hiding among ordinary citizens.
"[Every unscrupulous element] who enters Pakistain enters in broad daylight, but we have kept our promise with Afghanistan not to publicise this," he said.
But Afghanistan does not return the gesture, Nisar noted. "[Instead] they accuse us publicly of things we haven't even done," he said.
He urged the Afghan government to 'respect' the shared interests of both countries and its people, and avoid getting influenced by 'others'.
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[Daily Caller] The Pentagon’s semi-annual assessment of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan portends a grim situation for President-elect Donald Trump when he assumes control of America’s longest war.
The sum of the assessment basically amounts to two ideas: The scale of the problem is much larger than the current U.S. commitment, and the pace of the solution — training Afghan soldiers and then keeping them alive — is faltering dramatically.
The U.S. resolute support command estimates the Taliban control 10 percent of the Afghan population, and contest the U.S. backed Afghan government for another 20 percent. The report notes that the government has been adept at keeping control of the major cities in Afghanistan, while continue face a “resilient insurgency” in rural areas.
The Pentagon also rated the U.S. backed Afghan Security Forces “promising but inconsistent” in their progress since the U.S. ended its combat mission in Afghanistan in 2014. The Taliban now control more territory in Afghanistan than at any time since the U.S. effort began in 2001. The group has proven adept at surrounding and besieging major cities, while consolidating rural areas.
The threat assessment of the report additionally highlights the many dangers emanating from Afghanistan. “Afghanistan faces a continuing threat from both the Afghan insurgency and extremist networks, including the Taliban, the Haqqani Network, and to a lesser extent al Qaeda,” the report warns. Al-Qaida continues to provide “some limited support to insurgent groups targeting Afghan and coalition forces”
President Barack Obama has committed nearly 9,000 troops to remain in Afghanistan after 2017, but they will largely remain secluded on major U.S. bases. Trump will have to decide what force level to maintain in Afghanistan, what rules of engagement the U.S. operates under, and how to deal with Pakistani government to Taliban elements.
#2
The U.S. resolute support command estimates the Taliban Viet Cong control 10 percent of the Afghan South Vietnamese population, and contest the U.S. backed Afghan South Vietnamese government for another 20 percent. The report notes that the government has been adept at keeping control of the major cities in AfghanistanSouth Vietnam, while continue face a “resilient insurgency” in rural areas.
Some things never change.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/22/2016 7:59
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#3
When you don't fight wars to win but do something 'kinder and gentler' what do you expect from an opponent who will not quietly go away? Oh, and give them sanctuaries to retire to. Speak loudly and carry a small stick?
#5
Considering all the money and American lives wasted over there, I cannot help but wonder, who won the 9-11 war?
I would just drop a couple or few high quality bombs there and call it a day. If the Pak Taliban tried to enter, I would tell the Pak government they will get the same treatment if they cannot get them under control.
Frankly, I'm getting tired of all the money and lives wasted with nothing to show for it. Time to withdraw and let them suffer their fate. It seems like they don't want to get better.
[IsraelTimes] Israel Police say activist from Northern Branch of Islamic Movement continued to express support for organization after it was outlawed.
An alleged senior member of a recently outlawed Islamist group was detained by police for questioning Wednesday on suspicion of incitement to terrorism and violence, as well as supporting an illegal organization.
The investigation into the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement
...the Israeli branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, notorious for funding Hamas, agitating about the Temple Mount, and providing social services to the Arabs of the Galilee...
member by police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit was launched with the approval of the State Attorney’s Office, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said in a statement.
The unnamed activist had expressed support for the Northern Branch on multiple social media platforms since the organization was outlawed last year, the statement said. He also openly talked about his position within the organization.
Police said his online statements and own confirmation of his role in the Northern Branch amounted to incitement.
Last year, Israel banned the radical northern branch of the Islamic Movement, accusing it of links to terrorist groups and stoking the recent wave of violence that has seen 36 Israelis, two Americans and an Eritrea ...is run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), with about the amounts of democracy and justice you'd expect from a party with that name. National elections have been periodically scheduled and cancelled; none have ever been held in the country. The president, Isaias Afewerki, has been in office since independence in 1993 and will probably die there of old age... n national killed in a spate of stabbing, car-ramming and shooting attacks. Some 238 Paleostinians, a Jordanian and a Sudanese migrant have also been killed, according to AFP figures, most of them in the course of carrying out attacks, Israel says.
After the security cabinet declared the movement illegal last September, then-defense minister Moshe Ya’alon signed an edict banning any activity connected to the group.
Founded in the 1970s, the Islamic Movement is not just a political organization but also a religious outreach group and social service provider rolled into one. The movement’s overarching goal is to make Israeli Moslems more religious and it owes much of its popularity to providing services often lacking in Israel’s Arab communities. Today the group runs kindergartens, colleges, health clinics, mosques and even a sports league ‐ sometimes under the same roof.
The movement split two decades ago. The more moderate southern branch began fielding candidates for Israel’s Knesset in 1996 and is now part of the Joint (Arab) List, an alliance of several Arab-Israeli political parties. Three of the Joint List’s 13 current Knesset members are part of the movement. The more hard-line northern branch rejects any legitimization of Israel’s government and has called on its adherents to boycott elections.
In May of this year, northern branch leader Raed Salah began a nine-month prison sentence for incitement to violence and racism over an inflammatory sermon he delivered in 2007 in Jerusalem.
During the sermon, Salah expressed hope that "the streets of Jerusalem be purified with the blood of the innocent, who shed it in order to separate from their souls the soldiers of the Israel occupation, also in the blessed al-Aqsa Mosque." He further said that "our finest moment will be when we meet Allah as deaders in al-Aqsa."
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[IsraelTimes] Tehran insists move is permitted under 2015 nuclear deal which allows R&D on IR-8s, capable of enriching uranium 20 times faster than previous machines.
Iran’s nuclear energy agency indicated Tuesday that Tehran would soon begin injecting gas into the latest generation of advanced centrifuges, IR-8, in a move that marks the next step to make them operational and that Iran says is permitted under the terms of the nuclear deal signed last year with six world powers.
"The IR8 tests have come to an end and they will go into the stage of gas injection in the next few weeks," a front man for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Behrouz Kamalvandi, announced at a presser on Tuesday, according to the semi-official Fars new agency.
The report added that this step will proceed in accordance with "the nuclear deal that allows research activities on the eighth generation of Iran’s centrifuge machines, known as the IR-8."
Iran has said that its IR-8 centrifuges enrich uranium 20 times faster than the IR-1 centrifuges, which the country used prior to the deal.
Under the terms of the agreement as issued in a fact sheet released by the US State Department last year, Iran "will not use its IR-2, IR-4, IR-5, IR-6, or IR-8 models to produce enriched uranium for at least ten years. For ten years, enrichment and enrichment research and development will be limited to ensure a breakout timeline of at least 1 year. Beyond 10 years, Iran will abide by its enrichment and enrichment R&D plan submitted to the IAEA, and pursuant to the JCPOA, under the Additional Protocol resulting in certain limitations on enrichment capacity."
Iran has maintained that, under the accord, it was allowed to conduct R&D on its more advanced centrifuges.
Last week, American politicians voted to extend some sanctions against Iran for another 10 years and although President Barack Obama If you like your coverage you can keep it... declined to sign the act it still became law.
In response, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif sent a a letter to the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, calling for a joint commission meeting on the nuclear deal.
Iran believes the US has violated the nuclear deal by renewing the Iran Sanctions Act, which eased sanctions in exchange for curbs on Iran’s nuclear program.
US president-elect Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... during his campaign labeled the deal, which saw punishing economic sanctions on Iran lifted, a "disaster" and threatened to tear it up.
Last month, the head of the UN atomic watchdog chided Iran after a second minor breach this year by Tehran of the 2015 nuclear deal.
A report by the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency in November showed that Iran’s stock of so-called heavy water had inched above the level agreed under the landmark accord.
Heavy water, a modified form of normal water, is used in certain types of nuclear reactors.
"Iran has since made preparations to transfer a quantity of heavy water out of the country," which will bring it below the ceiling, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano told the agency’s board.
"It is important that such situations should be avoided in future in order to maintain international confidence in the implementation" of the deal, he said in Vienna.
The July 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers states that Iran’s "needs" are estimated to be around 130 metric tons of heavy water.
The confidential IAEA report, seen by AFP, said that Iran exceeded this level by 100 kilograms but that Iran had undertaken to export five tons.
#5
Pliny, my hope is the that the Israelis shake out those F-35s good and hard. Perhaps they need to do some long-range missions. You know, just to get the feel of the airplane...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/22/2016 11:42
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#6
...wait till 20 January, and politely ask for the IFF codes.
Whoops! In which extreme self-righteousness contains its own punishment.
I must say this story is somewhere between schadenfreude and schadenboner...
[CENTRALMAINE] SKOWHEGAN -- A local propane dealer who said in a recent message that he won’t sell to anyone who voted for President-elect Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... has been delivering and dispensing gas without a state license for at least two years, state officials said this week.
Michael Turner, who operates of Turner LP Gas Service on Canaan Road, left a message for would-be customers on his company’s voice mail, saying "If you voted for Donald Trump for president, I will no longer be delivering your gas. Please find someone else.
Michael Turner, who operates of Turner LP Gas Service on Canaan Road, left a message for would-be customers on his company’s voice mail, saying "If you voted for Donald Trump for president, I will no longer be delivering your gas. Please find someone else." That message was left on a Friday, when the weather was bitterly cold. The message goes on to say that the cost of gas remains $110 a bottle, with payment due on delivery.
However, alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... Turner is not licensed to sell gas. According to the Maine Fuel Board, Turner’s propane license expired in 2012. Turner had two licenses, one for delivery and the other for dispensing, which expired in 2012 and 2014, respectively. The board became aware of the issue after the news of Turner’s message was reported by the Portland Press Herald late last week.
According to records with the Maine Fuel Board, Turner was first licensed to sell propane in 1998. Doug Dunbar, a spokesperson for the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, said the department is aware that Turner’s license expired. It is illegal to operate without a license. He said anyone can renew a license at any time, and someone operating without a license could face disciplinary action from the department or fines from the state attorney general’s office. As part of the renewal process, an inspection of the location would be conducted to make sure it meets code requirements.
Jamie Py, president of the Maine Energy Marketers Association, said a company operating without the proper licenses was uncommon and that it is "a big liability" not to have licensing, as there are safety provisions in licenses. He did say it could be difficult to find out someone was operating without a license, though, especially if it "isn’t obvious."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/22/2016
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#1
He's Dimocrat. Laws, licenses, documentation are for Republicans.
The Navy is performing a brisk about-face on a controversial plan that shelved ratings titles for enlisted sailors, according to a message Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson that was set for release on Wednesday morning but was leaked on social media on Tuesday night.
The NAVADMIN message cancels a late September decision in which service leadership announced it would no longer address sailors by their rating – a more than 200-year-old tradition in which enlisted were known by their job title – and instead refer to enlisted sailors with the generic titles of Seaman (E-1 to E-3) or Petty Officer (E-4 to E-6).
The unpopular title change was the most visible part of an enlisted rank modernization effort spearheaded by former Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Michael D. Stevens.
In the message, Richardson said Navy leadership had heard the criticism.
“I underestimated how fiercely loyal people were to their rating,” Richardson said on Dec. 6 during an all hands call, Navy Times reported. “I’ve gotten a fair amount of feedback on that.”
The look at the revamp for the enlisted system was born from Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus’ push to create gender-neutral terms for the Navy and the Marine Corps, leadership said in September. Instead of tweaking rating titles like Damage Controlman or Hospital Corpsman, the Navy instead moved to refer to junior enlisted sailors by a generic title and adopt a series of Navy Occupational Specialty codes.
The look at the revamp for the enlisted system was born from Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus’ push to create gender-neutral terms for the Navy and the Marine Corps, leadership said in September. Instead of tweaking rating titles like Damage Controlman or Hospital Corpsman, the Navy instead moved to refer to junior enlisted sailors by a generic title and adopt a series of Navy Occupational Specialty codes. The NOS codes are similar to the Military Occupational Specialty used by the Army and Marines and the Air Force Specialty Codes system.
The reintroduction of ratings is by no mean the end of how the Navy will continue to reshape enlisted career paths or planned changes to titles in the service, Richardson said in the message.
“This course correction doesn’t mean our work is done – rating modernization will continue for all the right reasons. Modernizing our industrial-age personnel system in order to provide sailors choice and flexibility still remains a priority for us,” Richardson wrote. “As we execute the rating modernization plan, more sailors will have multiple occupational skill sets or ratings. We will need to tackle the issue of managing rating names. We will continue to involve sailors throughout the fleet.”
#2
Mabus needs to be ridiculed into retirement. Name a transgendered garbage scow after him
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/22/2016 7:12
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...Have been talking to a few friends with connections to the USN and DOD. Their takeaway on this:
*The USN leadership had utterly convinced themselves that this would go over without a single complaint.
*The reaction - 'revolt' was apparently not too strong a word - apparently put the fear of God into some people, even more so when the usual incantations of 'sexist' and 'diversity' had no effect whatsoever.
*Notice SECNAV Mabus hasn't said much on this at all.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/22/2016 8:17
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#4
Not quite Spithead, but who ever is put in charge with the new administration needs to retire a number of senior grade officers. When your ships can't make it through the canal, you got bigger problem than worrying about the dictionary.
#5
First off, it was another of a continuing series of SJW moves.
Secondly, it's just another step toward the 'purple suit'. For those unfamiliar with the term, it means having one 'defense establishment', similar to what Canada has (even Canada has backtracked from its original plan somewhat.) Other nations have similar set-ups as well.
While there are some advantages to combining certain common DOD functions, no one has made a solid case as to how such changes will actually contribute to the primary mission of supporting the national interest, or winning wars.
#6
Outside of the front line medics*, most of the medical personnel could be 'purple', but given the entrenched culture nature of the services, highly unlikely.
#8
As a retired officer, I really didn't have a dog in the fight over the rating system. However, it struck me as a fucking stupid move. The Navy could have adjusted the names of some of the ratings to eliminate the (mis)perceived sexism. For example, Corpsman could have been renamed Medic,or something similar. The Navy changes, combines, and renames ratings all the time. Instead, Mabus et al decided to throw out the baby, the bathwater, and the bathtub.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/22/2016 12:18
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Via Don Surber
Twitter is "toast" as a company and the stock is not even worth $10, according to a research note published Tuesday, following the departure of another top executive at the social media service.
The microblogging platform's chief technology officer, Adam Messinger, tweeted that he would leave the company and "take some time off", while Josh McFarland, vice president of product at Twitter, also said he was exiting the company. Both executives announced their departure on Tuesday. More at the link
#5
it needs to control costs as it has lost money for every quarter for year after year
"We lose money on every sale, but we make up for it in volume!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/22/2016 10:56
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#6
Beat me to it, Frank. How do they stay in business? They bring in money but they send it out the door faster. Whose money is floating the enterprise?
By the way, the test pic on this comment was the Hindenberg. It's like Fred installed an AI in last week's upgrade...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/22/2016 11:37
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#7
They stay in business by investors buying future revenues. Which is the case for any company that sells its stock.
Twitter has competitors that are much bigger in the market in places like India and China. I wouldn't buy their stock.
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] The young Turkish policeman who killed Russia’s ambassador to Ankara this week had provided security for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... eight times since the July 15 failed coup bid, a report said on Wednesday.
Mevlut Mert Altintas, 22, pumped nine bullets into ambassador Andrei Karlov at an art exhibition centre on Monday evening, before he himself was killed by Turkish police.
Altintas, a member of the Ankara anti-riot police for two-and-a-half years, had been on duty at eight events attended by Erdogan since July, the Hurriyet daily said.
At such events he was part of the second wave of Erdogan’s security after the personal bodyguard team of the president, wrote Hurriyet’s writer Abdulkadir Selvi, known for his contacts in the ruling elite.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told US counterpart John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, unsuccessful presidential candidate, and utterly failed Secretary of State... in a phone call on Tuesday that The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... believed the US-based holy manFethullah 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... , who it blamed for the July 15 coup bid, was behind the liquidation plot.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/22/2016
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That's one way to see it. Another way is to note that he's been declared Persona Non Grata.
[AnNahar] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... has recalled the head of a key religious organization in The Netherlands after he informed Ankara about Dutch citizens believed to oppose the Turkish government, the Dutch foreign ministry said Wednesday.
Handing over such information "is an undesirable and unacceptable form of interference in the lives of Dutch citizens by a diplomatic representative," Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said in a letter to parliament.
According to Dutch media, Yusuf Acar, the representative in the Netherlands for Turkey's powerful Diyanet religious affairs directorate and a member of embassy staff, had been gathering information on suspected sympathizers of the alleged criminal mastermind of Turkey's failed July coup.
The Netherlands has a large community of citizens with Turkish roots. And last week Acar was quoted by the daily De Telegraaf saying he had indeed collected information, but denied spying on people.
"I drew up a list based on information available on the internet," he said.
Following the revelations, Koenders said in his letter he had summoned the Turkish ambassador for talks and they reached "a mutual agreement to withdraw" Acar from The Netherlands.
Since the failed coup, Ankara has stepped up pressure on alleged supporters of U.S.-based Islamic holy manFethullah 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... accusing him of criminal masterminding the bid to unseat President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... .
An anti-Gulen crackdown targeting the army, justice officials, the media and teachers as well as the presidential guard has seen 35,000 people jugged ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... and 76,000 fired from their jobs. The scale of the crackdown has triggered international concern.
The coup also created tensions in the Turkish community in The Netherlands, prompting the Dutch government to call for calm.
The Diyanet, which is directly linked to the prime minister's office, was established in 1924 to control religion in officially secular modern Turkey.
It has a budget larger than many ministries and takes care of close to 80,000 mosques in the predominantly Moslem country. But it has been criticized for treating non-Moslems and Shiites differently from Sunnis.
I'm shocked.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/22/2016
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[IsraelTimes] Interior minister says it took months to plan murder of Mohammed al-Zoari, who the terror group says led its drone program
Tunisia’s interior minister said that journalists hired by individuals posing as a media company were entangled in the murder of an Tunisian engineer who the Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", terror group said spearheaded its drone program.
"It is possible that a foreign service is implicated but... We do not yet have any tangible proof," Hedi Mejdoub told a news conference Monday after attending a security meeting with his prime minister.
Mohammed al-Zoari, 49, was murdered at the wheel of his car outside his house in the port city of Sfax on Thursday. He was hit by 20 bullets.
Israel has not responded to an accusation by Hamas that it was behind the death.
Mejdoub told news hounds that "at least two foreigners" were involved in the shooting. The killing, he said, had the hallmarks of a foreign espionage agency’s handiwork.
According to Mejdoub, a Tunisian journalist told local Sherlocks that she was hired by foreigners posing as a media company planning to make documentaries in Tunisia for a Malaysian TV channel, including one about the aerospace industry in Arab states, and asked her to contact al-Zoari as one of the interviewees for the movie.
Paid 100 euros per day, plus expenses, the woman traveled to Tunis, filmed al-Zoari, and gave the footage to the company. In all, she received 2,000 euros for her work. Besides filming al-Zoari, she also rented a number of cars used in his liquidation, Mejdoub said, adding that planning for the killing took place over months, since at least June.
Three days before Saturday’s hit, the interior minister said, a foreign man working for the media company contacted her and asked her to rent two cars, and told her to then leave the country the next day.
The journalist was in Budapest during the hit, and only returned to Tunis after it was carried out.
The prosecution has said that 10 suspects, all Tunisians, have been detained for questioning, including a female journalist, and that authorities have seized four vehicles and two weapons.
Mejdoub said two Tunisian nationals living in Sweden were also involved in the operation. The two rented an apartment in Sfax to tail al-Zoari and rented four cell phones.
"The organizers prepared two plans for two teams, in case one failed or was caught. The hit was planned meticulously and thoroughly," he said.
Tunisian authorities have yet to identify who was behind the shooting.
Hundreds protested in Tunis on Tuesday over the killing.
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday, that the forces from the army’s 8th infantry brigade carried out search operations in the areas of al-Subaihat and al-Falahat, and found large quantities of weapons.
The Ministry, in a press statement, said, “Under supervision of the brigade’s Commander, Major General Abdul Hussein Saud, forces from the army’s 8th infantry brigade carried out search operations in the areas of al-Subaihat and al-Falahat, and found large quantities of weapons.”
“The operations resulted in seizing 27 explosive devices, 18 120 mm-mortar shells, 21 different mortar shells, 2 Jahannam rockets, 5 Jahannam Cannons, 4 cannon shells, 1 explosive barrel, ammunition, 3 Kalashnikov rifles and 9 detonators,” the statement explained.
“The security forces also arrested five terrorists during the operations, as well as discovering a tunnel containing an anti-armor mine and 2 72 mm shells,” the statement further added.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/22/2016
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[RUDAW.NET] The corpse count for the twin bombings that targeted the headquarters of a Kurdish armed party of Iranian Kurdistan has risen to seven on Wednesday, following the death of one of the maimed from the Kurdish security forces.
The Kurdistan Regional Government described the attacks an act of terror.
"We reiterate that we will exhaust all the efforts to bring those responsible for this terrorist act to justice," the KRG said in a statement on Wednesday. "We will declare to those behind this terrorist crime that every effort or plot against our nation will certainly fail."
The Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party (PDK), known locally as HADK has accused Tehran of criminal masterminding the Tuesday deadly attacks in Koya, 70 kilometers east of Erbil, on Tuesday evening killing five of its Peshmerga fighters, two members of the Kurdish security forces, and wounding three others.
In a statement issued hours after the deadly blasts rocked the PDK politburo offices in the outskirt of the Kurdish town of Koya, the party condemned the bombing, describing it as an act of terror.
A senior party official told Rudaw they had "little doubt" about Iran's involvement in the assault.
Ismail Sharafi said investigations had started but according to him at this stage much of their own clues led to the neighboring Islamic Theocratic Republic.
"We cannot at this moment identify the perpetrators of these bloody attacks, but such actions that are carried out against the PDK leave little doubt about the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran's involvement as a terrorist regime in the region," Sharafi told Rudaw.
Among the dead was Ali Qoitasi, a veteran commander in the group.
Sharafi also added that Tehran could have funded the attack instead of being directly involved in the terror action.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/22/2016
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Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Federal police Chief, Raed Shaker Jawdat, revealed on Wednesday that dozens of the Islamic State’s members were killed by a shelling near Guzlani Camp, south of Mosul.
Jawdat said in a press statement, “Heavy artillery shelled a camp belonging to the Islamic State in the German Hospital in front of Guzlani camp, in southern Mosul, killing dozens of the Islamic State’s members.”
“Our troops also repulsed a suicide attack on Palestine neighborhood, southeast of Mosul, resulting in the destruction of two vehicles and killing their occupants,” Jawdat added.
Joint security forces, backed by Army Aviation and international coalition, continue the liberation operations to retake the city of Mosul from the Islamic State’s grip.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/22/2016
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#1
Palestinian neighborhood in Mosul???
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/22/2016 12:09
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#2
that's probably just the neighborhood name, overpopulated by dead-enders, seethers, and criminals
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/22/2016 13:24
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[EXPRESS.CO.UK] A NATIVITY play was turned into chaos after an asylum seeker stormed the stage and started preaching from the Koran.
The Somali asylum seeker suddenly leapt on stage during the traditional depiction of the Christian story in the Austrian town of Oberndorf near Schwanenstadt in the state of Upper Austria, causing horror and upset amongst the children and parents.
At first, no one had reacted when the asylum seeker came to the venue and stood next to the stage where children of nursery school age were performing.
The asylum seeker suddenly leapt on stage, took out a copy of the Koran from his rucksack and started preaching.
The 24-year-old, who was wearing a white robe, was eventually overpowered by a number of men, including two brothers, while he was shouting "Allahu Akbar".
Posted by: Bov Flimbers ||
12/22/2016
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#1
Was friends with a guy from the ME and he was not religious at all but when he died unexpectedly his family and friends who were not religious either had an Imam come in and speak at his funeral just for formalities. After listening to his non-sense for about 10 minutes every body felt like over powering him, too.
[RUDAW.NET] Brigadier General Sherko Abdullah of Iraq's interior ministry says that they have reached a memorandum with their Iranian counterparts on tightening their stretch of the border against illegal crossing of people and the smuggling of goods.
This part of the border stretches from Biyara in the Hawraman region in Halabja province all the way down to Quratu crossing in the Garmiyan Region.
Some of the borders are official while others are semi-official.
Dozens of Kurds known as Kolbar [those who carry goods on their backs] are transporting goods between Iranian Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Region.
They have often been placed in durance vile Please don't kill me! by Iranian border guards, their horses and mules shot and their cargo seized, while several of these porters have been shot and killed by Iranian forces on accusations of smuggling in recent years.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/22/2016
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#1
One of the features of this is that, in some degree, the 0bama govt has funded both sides so as to protect a border. A priceless "twofer.".
[NYPOST] JACKSON, Miss. -- Mississippi authorities have incarcerated Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! a man in the burning of an African-American church that was also spray-painted with the words, "Vote Trump."
Mississippi Department of Public Safety front man Warren Strain says Andrew McClinton of Leland, Mississippi, who is African-American, is charged with first-degree arson of a place of worship.
A bishop said McClinton is a member of the church.
McClinton was arrested Wednesday. Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville, Mississippi, was burned and vandalized Nov. 1, a week before the presidential election.
It was not immediately clear whether McClinton is represented by an attorney.
Greenville is a Mississippi River port city of about 32,100 people, and about 78 percent of its residents are African-American.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/22/2016
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#1
Every time Obama says slavery and racism still exists he's doing the same thing this guy did.
[Al Ahram] Taliban gunnies stormed the residence of an Afghan politician in the capital Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... on Wednesday, with casualties feared in the ongoing shootout that follows a recent lull in violence.
It was not immediately clear if Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... MP Mir Wali was in the compound when the attack began on Wednesday evening, but local media reported some members of his family may have been killed or taken hostage, citing security officials at the scene.
The Taliban in a statement said their jacket wallahs raided the house to disrupt an "important gathering of security officials".
Sporadic gunfire and kabooms were heard from the house as Afghan forces cordoned off the property after launching a clearance operation.
Security officials were tight-lipped about the attack, which underscores the worsening security situation in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/22/2016
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[DAWN] SUKKUR: Three persons were killed and two others maimed in an armed attack on some members of the Jakhrani community in Dadpur Jagir village late on Monday night, officials at the Mauladad cop shoppe of Jacobabad said on Tuesday.
They said that the victims had an old matrimonial dispute with their rivals, also belonging to the same community.
According to the police, a group of gunnies opened indiscriminate fire on the victims while they were working in their agricultural fields. The attack left Sohrab, 27, son of Abdul Nabi and Ameer Hamza, 15, son of Mohammed Azam Jakhrani, dead on the spot and Mohammed Azam Jakhrani and his son Abdul Qadir Jakhrani maimed.
The maimed victims were rushed to the Jacobabad Civil Hospital where Azam Jakhrani also succumbed to his wounds before he could be transported to the Chandka Medical College Hospital in Larkana on doctors’ advice.
A post-mortem examination of the three bodies was performed at the Jacobabad Civil Hospital. Later, the bodies were handed over to the heirs.
The police said that the dispute between the two sides had cropped up over an alleged extramarital affair four years ago. Since then, they said, seven people, including a woman, had bit the dust in attacks and counterattacks, they added.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/22/2016
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#1
Nice picture of Punkinhead and Clint Martin.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/22/2016 15:21
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[NY Post] North Korean leader Kim Jong Un personally oversaw a rocket firing contest and a simulated combat flight drill, according to reports from the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
The agency announced Wednesday that the reclusive leader guided a firing contest of multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) operated by units of the Korean People’s Army under simulated war conditions. Kim reportedly said all commanding officers and troops need to be ready to strike targets at any time and gave a “high appreciation” of the successful competition, KCNA announced.
The report did not indicate exactly when or where the drills took place.
“Kim Jong Un expressed his satisfaction over the fact that all targets were hit properly, saying that the gunners are very excellent at firing and all of them are snipers,” according to KCNA. “He gave a high appreciation of the successful contest.”
MLRS snipers?
Kim also guided a nighttime assault combat flight drill of fighter pilots from the Korean People’s Air and Anti-Air Forces who successfully blasted targets on the ground. After the drills, Kim reportedly shook hands with the pilots, who were “moved to tears,” according to a second KCNA announcement. Kim reportedly took photos with the pilots and congratulated them on the successful drill.
A South Korean military expert told NKNews.org that the drills had actually had more of a defensive purpose, in contrast to North Korea’s more offensive drills that have occurred twice in the past month.
“Since an interceptor fighter has the aim of prohibiting enemy fighter jets from entering North Korean territory, the North conducted a military exercise in a bid to respond to an ‘ambush of South Korean and US soldiers,’” said Kim Min-seok, a senior researcher at the Korea Defense and Security Forum.
But another military analyst told NKNews.com that the exercises were an attempt to demonstrate the country’s firepower as deployments and drills continue on behalf of South Korea and the United States.
“North Korea showed off that the country can make massive retaliation with conventional weapons even without using nuclear weapons,” said Kim Dong-yeop, a researcher at the Seoul-based Institute for Far Eastern Studies.
#1
"well, that was fun, order xtra bark soup rations. Now take me to lunch, I'm famished!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/22/2016 7:20
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“Kim Jong Un expressed his satisfaction over the fact that all targets were hit properly, saying that the gunners are very excellent at firing and all of them are snipers,” according to KCNA. “He gave a high appreciation of the successful contest.”
In quite a few countries, the term 'sniper' is used to refer to exceptionally good military personnel, no matter what their specialty. IIRC, the Soviets even had a 'sniper' badge and/or medal for outstanding performance regardless of service.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/22/2016 8:42
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[DAWN] PESHAWAR: The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on Tuesday jugged Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! four suspected bully boyz from Palosai area.
A CTD official said the action was taken early in the morning, adding the four suspects were promoting a banned outfit by distributing pamphlets. They were identified as Jalal Khan, Ebadullah, Hammad and Saeedullah.
The suspects were said to be involved in different terror acts in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... The CTD official said pamphlets of banned ...the word banned seems to have a different meaning in Pakistain than it does in most other places. Or maybe it simply lacks any meaning at all...
organization were recovered from the alleged bully boyz who were shifted to an unknown location for further interrogation.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/22/2016
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[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] Facebook has announced plans to check for 'fake news' using a series of organizations to assess whether stories are true
One of them is a website called Snopes.com which claims to be one of the web's 'essential resources' and 'painstaking, scholarly and reliable'
It was founded by husband-and-wife Barbara and David Mikkelson, who used a letterhead claiming they were a non-existent society to start their research
Now they are divorced - with Barbara claiming in legal documents he embezzled $98,000 of company money and spent it on 'himself and prostitutes'
In a lengthy and bitter legal dispute he is claiming to be underpaid and demanding 'industry standard' or at least $360,000 a year
The two also dispute what are basic facts of their case - despite Snopes.com saying its 'ownership' is committed to 'accuracy and impartiality'
Snopes.com founder David Mikkelson's new wife Elyssa Young is employed by the website as an administrator
She has worked as an escort and porn actress and despite claims website is non-political ran as a Libertarian for Congress on a 'Dump Bush' platform
Its main 'fact checker' is Kimberly LaCapria, whose blog 'ViceVixen' says she is in touch with her 'domme side' and has posted on Snopes.com while smoking pot
Posted by: Fred ||
12/22/2016
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#1
Zuckerman is letting the libs have Facebook because CNN and MN(Bs)BC are down to three or four readers.
[DAWN] A team of houbara bustard hunters from Abu Dhabi, led by Prince Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, came under a gun attack by a group of men in the Gichk area of Panjgur on Monday.
Two vehicles of the convoy were damaged.
According to the tehsildar of the area, personnel of Frontier Corps ...a provincial paramilitary force. Total manpower is about 80,000. They are tasked to help local law enforcement in the maintenance of law and order, and to carry out border patrol and a..the Antwerp-based Salafist organization that had campaigned to introduce Sharia law to Belgium before single-handedly making Belgium the highest per capita supplier of jihadis to Syria in Europe. There was a big trial in Antwerp in 2015, but most of those convicted were in absentia...nti-smuggling operations.... and other coppers retaliated, forcing the attackers to flee.
The area was cordoned off and the convoy was taken to its camp.
A front man for the banned 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... Libration Front grabbed credit of the attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/22/2016
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#1
Gonna need a temporary Bustard Heading.
Nothing for years, then it's Bustard, Bustard, Bustard.
A suspected car bomb at the Australian Christian Lobby's Canberra office wasn't politically, religiously or ideologically motivated, police believe.
Windows are blown out and furnishings destroyed at the office in Deakin after it was rammed by a van carrying gas bottles about 9.35pm on Wednesday.
The group's director, Lyle Shelton, says the apparent bomb follows a year of death threats over its opposition to gay marriage and the Safe Schools program that aims to reduce bullying of gay students.
[ABC7NY] New York's attorney general is calling on the B.O. regime to eliminate what he calls an "unconstitutional religious registry" that targets Moslems.
"We can't risk giving President-elect Trump the tools to create an unconstitutional religious registry," Schneiderman said. "We can never allow our nation to return to the dark days of Japanese internment."
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Wednesday that he sent a letter to President B.O. asking him to rescind the regulatory framework of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System --before Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... takes office.
"We can't risk giving President-elect Trump the tools to create an unconstitutional religious registry," Schneiderman said. "We can never allow our nation to return to the dark days of Japanese internment."
Remind us: which president did that and to what party did he belong?
Posted by: Fred ||
12/22/2016
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#2
Schneiderman is a wanna-be Schumer. An attention seeking asshole
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/22/2016 7:10
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When I checked into a Hilton Garden Inn a couple of weeks ago, I had to show my driver's license and a credit card. Question: should it be easier to get into the United States than to get into a Hilton Garden Inn?
Posted by: Matt ||
12/22/2016 8:05
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Was the identity checker behind the desk dark haired with an accent?
#5
New York's attorney general is calling on the Obama administration to eliminate what he calls an "unconstitutional religious registry" that targets Muslims.
It's not going to happen. If Schneiderman has a beef about a so-called registry, and giving Trump all the keys to the Presidency, wouldn't the proper way to do this to be through legislation or to go through the courts?
Schneiderman is conjuring up inflammatory images by citing "the dark days of Japanese internment." BTW, it was FDR, a Dem, who put into place this program. Schneiderman is another Dem obstructionist trying to throw monkey wrenches into the machinery.
So, we have a current POTUS who wants to open the floodgates to immigrants from countries hostile to the U.S. Likely, many of these immigrants would be jihadists intent on doing us harm. They would take advantage of our freedoms to this harm.
How can one claim refugee status? The Departmetn of State outline who can claim refugee status: How do you decide who gets in to the United States under this program and who doesn't?
The Department of Homeland Security has the authority to make this decision. Under U.S. law, a refugee must have a well-founded fear of persecution based on one of the five “protected grounds”:
· Religion
· Political opinion
· Race
· Nationality
· Membership in a particular social group
If one must let people in from this part of the world, why not let in Christians. They fit the above criteria?
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Regime forces in Bahrain stormed town of Diraz on Wednesday, attacking mostly peaceful protesters who has been since June defending the house of prominent Shia holy man, Ayatollah Sheikh Issa Qassem.
Clashes took place between the protesters and the heavily armed regime forces who fired tear gas and used the internationally banned birdshot weapon.
Several protesters were maimed and several others were incarcerated Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! by regime forces.
One of the forces told protesters that the crackdown was just a "prova" (test) to arrest Sheikh Qassem.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Alamo, Davy was counting their remaining cannon balls and not liking the results... Press TV also reported the festivities, but said that regime forces handed a warrant to sheikh Qassem to appear in court.
Sheikh Qassem supporters who have been camping out at the area as a protective measure for his safety, called on more people from the local population to join them following the police raid.
The sit-in protest outside the holy man’s home entered its 185th day on Wednesday. The sit-in protest began on June 20, when Bahraini authorities stripped the 79-year-old holy man of his citizenship, less than a week after suspending the country’s main opposition party, the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, and dissolving the Islamic Enlightenment Institution -- founded by the senior holy man -- and another opposition Islamic association.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/22/2016
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[DeutscheWelle] Swiss police say the man who shot and injured three people at a Moslem prayer hall was not connected to radical Islam or the far right. The 24-year-old Swiss national did away with himself after the attack.
Zurich's police chief Christiane Lentjes Meili told a media conference that officers had searched the young man's home and found no links to hard boy Islam or any far-right group.
The 24-year-old Swiss national of partly Ghanaian descent
...Ghana is 17.6% Muslim, including Sunnis, Shiites, and Ahmaddis. The rest are various flavours of Christian...
burst into the Islamic Centre in central Zurich around 5.30 pm local time (16:30 UTC) on Monday and began shooting, according to police.
He "fired several shots at the worshippers," before fleeing, police said.
Three men, aged 30, 35 and 56, were maimed, two of them seriously. The suspect then beat feet from the mosque in the direction of Central Station," a police statement on Monday said.
"There are no indications that terrorism was involved," prosecutor Francoise Stadelmann said, adding that police are still unclear as to the suspect's motive. But Sherlocks said he "was possibly interested in occultism."
An interesting supposition to add without giving reason.
The police would have been unsure of the motive if the perp had been screaming "Alan Snackbar"...
Suspect did away with himself
After a short search, police found the suspect's body a few hundred meters (yards) from the scene on a river bank under a bridge. He appeared to have turned his gun on himself, Sherlocks told Tuesday's media conference.
The shooting happened just a few hours before a man plowed a truck into a Berlin Christmas market.
Answering questions from the media, a front man for Zurich's cantonal police said there was no indication of a connection between the two incidents.
While not identifying the suspect, Sherlocks said he had stabbed an acquaintance to death over the weekend after an argument. That victim was found on Sunday.
A third point would indicate a pattern -- d'you suppose his suicide counts as a third murder, dear Reader?
Police said the shooter lived alone and had quit his job at a shop last Friday.
Let that be a lesson unto you, dear Reader: keep your mind clear of occultism.
[RUDAW.NET] Fourteen Turkish soldiers were killed, and 33 others were maimed as the Turkish army and the so-called Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... (FSA) continue to push deeper into the ISIS-held Syrian city of al-Bab, northwestern Syria, the Turkish military said in a statement Wednesday night.
It also claimed that 138 ISIS turbans were killed in the festivities.
The military said earlier in the day that it took control of the road between the two northwestern cities of Aleppo and al-Bab, according to the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News.
The Turkish President said on Wednesday that he received the news from the military that they have now encircled the city.
"Right now, al-Bab is completely besieged by the Free Syrian Army and our soldiers," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... said, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.
Al-Bab is the only city ISIS still occupies in northwestern Syria since the US-backed YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) successfully captured Manbij from the turbans in mid-August, following a lengthy summer offensive.
The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... has been supporting hundreds of Free Syrian Army fighters in northwestern Syria with tanks, artillery, Arclight airstrikes and a small number of ground troops since they launched the Euphrates Shield operation on August 24.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
I've been wondering when Turkish military deaths would ramp up.
Also wondering what will happen when the Turkish troops bump up against Hezbollah.
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/22/2016 1:07
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wondering what will happen when the Turkish troops bump up against Hezbollah
Thanks for reminding me lord garth - gotta lay in supplies: munchies & condiments.
#7
If the information is accurate, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) is composed of ethnic Syrian Turkmen, volunteers from the Gray Wolves, and non-IS Islamists. I've not found a TO&E for the Turkish forces.
[RUDAW.NET] The last hospital in the rebel-held Aleppo is empty now as all of its patients, and those in need of urgent medical care have been evacuated to Orem in Western Rural Aleppo, the International Committee of the Red Thingy stated on Wednesday which along with its Syrian counterpart are facilitating the evacuation.
The full evacuation of rebel-fighters and their families is expected to finish by tomorrow morning provided that the limited evacuation of two Shiite villages of Foua and Kefraya will simultaneously continue, al-Ikhbariyah reported, a pro-regime private TV, citing officials involved in negotiations with Syrian rebel fighters.
The weather condition has worsened in Aleppo after heavy snowfall hit the war-torn country, including the rebel-held province of Idlib on the Turkish border where some of the evacuees have sought refuge.
Raed al Saleh, the head of the Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, said that their teams are working hard to clear the roads following the heavy snowfall to make it possible for the ambulances and buses to continue with the evacuation.
He also called on people to limit the traffic on the roads.
The evacuation resumed on Wednesday after it was put on hold for more than 24 hours because of disagreements between both sides of the conflict.
The Syrian news channel said that the rebel fighters have left driving their vehicles through the Ramouseh crossing in east Aleppo on Wednesday evening while their families were transported by about 21 buses.
Some 26,000 rebels and their families have left Aleppo since the evacuation began last week, the UN said
Posted by: Fred ||
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[RUDAW.NET] ISIS has issued an order to all its fighters to arrest the group's finance minister who is missing and believed to have defected, says a Kurdish official.
Saeed Mamuzini, a Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) official for djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... afffairs told Rudaw on Wednesday that ISIS's head of Zakat Diwan Abu Tabark has been missing for three days and the group is looking for him.
"ISIS [ISIS] organization has alerted its checkpoints in neighborhoods of the left side of Mosul to capture Abu Tabarak who has gone missing for three days," said Mamuzini.
Citing information he obtained from inside Mosul, Mamuzini said that ISIS faceless myrmidons had stormed Abu Tabarak's home in the city but failed to find him.
ISIS has executed its members, including big shots, in the past on charges of espionage, attempt to escape or plotting coups.
The group has been on the retreat from the eastern part of Mosul to its western side of the Tigris River in recent weeks as Iraqi troops continue to advance into the city in a push to drive out the radical group.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/22/2016
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[FOXNEWS] Incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer Senator-for-life from New York, renowned for his love of standing in front of cameras. Schumer has been a professional politician since 1975, when disco was in flower. , smarting from the Democratic Party´s big November losses, is blaming the messengers. With Christmas days away, nearly every member of the Senate Democratic Media Center has been fired, a senior Democratic aide confirmed to Fox News. Schumer swung the axe on Friday, according to Politico, which first obtained "goodbye" emails from staffers, including some with decades´ experience. The move comes amid plans to revamp the unit, which handles video content, in an effort to help the Senate Democratic caucus get their message out in the New Year.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/22/2016
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Fire everyone but don't look in the mirror or look inward to see why you went wrong.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/22/2016 0:38
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What a loathsome little man he is.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
12/22/2016 6:01
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Funny part is, Chucky is known for being the guy who never saw a camera or microphone he didn't want to stand in front of.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/22/2016 6:33
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Lost control of the White House. check
Lost control of Congress. check
Lost control of state legislatures and governorships. check
It may not be the message but the product there, boss. But, yes, go ahead and hire a good party faithful NYC PR firm to take over. I'm sure you'll spend good money talking down to the deplorables about how racists and terrible they are to put their own interests ahead of the urban narrative.
#5
darn it Airman Apprentice Smith, because of you the F-35 Lightening II is overbudget
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/22/2016 10:02
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#6
Trump beat all 17 candidates in his party and he beat Hillary--a terrible candidate, the MSM, a Dem-corrupted process, tons of wealthy donor money that supported Hillary, Wall Street, Hollywood and Silicone Valley and Schumer is still looking for scapegoats for why Hillary lost?
[DNAINFO] A Verizon worker collected more than $37,000 in workers' comp while teaching kickboxing in a Staten Island dojo.
Eugene Reems, 49, of Midland Beach, pleaded guilty Monday to stealing the workers' compensation while teaching classes at CKO Kickboxing in Westerleigh, Staten Island, state Inspector General Cathrine Leahy Scott and Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon announced.
Among evidence gathered was video showing him using his martial arts skills on a punching bag.
"This defendant’s repeated assertions that he was physically unable to work as a telephone company lineman, while at the same time demonstrating kicks and power punches as a martial arts instructor, was a brazen fraud perpetrated on a critical safety net meant for honest hard-working New Yorkers," Leahy Scott said in a statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A Mullah Imam (prayer leader) of a mosque has been tossed in the slammer Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! over alleged rape of a child in southeastern Ghazni province.
According to the local security officials, the incident took place in a remote village located in the outskirts of Ghazni city.
Provincial Criminal Investigation Department Chief Mohammad Qahir Nasiry confirmed the incident and said the Imam has been arrested and is in jug of the police forces.
He said the perpetrator was arrested after a complaint was lodged by the family of the child.
According to Nasiry, the Mullah Imam has confessed to his crime during the initial investigations.
Ghazni is located in the southeastern part of the country and is among the relatively volatile provinces besides criminal incidents are reported occasionally from the province.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[EXPRESS.CO.UK] Following the deadly Berlin terror attack at a Christmas market on Monday evening, which left 12 people dead and another 48 injured, Mrs Merkel’s leadership has been called into question.
The German Chancellor, currently seeking a fourth term in office, has been correctly accused of putting Germany at risk as a result of her decision to allow over a million migrants colonists to enter Germany since 2015.
Speaking the day after the attack Mrs Merkel said: "It would be very difficult for us to learn that a human being committed this deed who came to Germany to ask for refuge and asylum."
Her comments were skewered on Sky News by TV critic Kevin O’Sullivan, who accused the Chancellor of attempting to cover her own back following the attack. He said: "What she actually means is ’it would be very difficult for me [Merkel]’ to learn the attack was carried out by someone who came to Germany for refuge.
"Because of course it is her policy."
He continued: "The problem is... of course the far-right are having a field day because she let 1.1 million refugees come into Germany without any checks.
"For God’s sake is it any great surprise that possibly one of these people ‐ they are coming from an area known for terrorist and unrest ‐ is it a great surprise that this sort of thing would happen?"
Posted by: Fred ||
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[BUZZFEED] Jan. 16, 2017, will mark Moath al-Alwi’s 15th anniversary as a detainee at Guantánamo Bay. His lawyer argued in court this week that his continued "indefinite" imprisonment is unlawful.
Al-Alwi is one of 59 detainees still held at Guantánamo Bay. Pak authorities turned him over to the US in late 2001 on suspicion of ties to al Qaeda and the Taliban. The B.O. regime recently moved ahead with plans to transfer out another 17 or 18 detainees, according to The New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... , but in the meantime al-Alwi is challenging his detention in court.
Al-Alwi’s attorneys say that the nature of the conflict in Afghanistan in 2016 is so different from when he was captured 15 years ago and detained as an enemy combatant that the United States no longer has legal authority to hold him.
Guantánamo Bay detainees have so far unsuccessfully tried to convince judges that President B.O.’s public statements in 2014 and 2015 that the US combat mission in Afghanistan was over meant that they should be released. Three federal judges in Washington rejected variations of this argument, finding that there are still "active hostilities" in Afghanistan that give the US legal authority to hold enemy combatants.
Al-Alwi’s lawyers are hoping for a different outcome before the latest judge to consider the argument, US District Judge Richard Leon, who heard arguments on Tuesday on the government’ s request to dismiss al-Alwi’s case.
Leon ruled in 2008 that al-Alwi’s detention was lawful given evidence of his ties to al Qaeda and the Taliban. The judge on Tuesday expressed doubts about al-Alwi’s latest challenge and questioned whether it was Congress’ job, and not the courts’, to decide how to handle detentions if US anti-terrorism efforts continued without a definite end date.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/22/2016
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#2
"We went to his cell to release him but discovered he had committed suicide. He swallowed his elbow"
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/22/2016 10:12
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As I understand the Geneva Convention, and illegal combatant can be given a court martial and then executed if found guilty. Only various elements in the US insisted that the prisoners in Gitmo be given the rights and privileges of POWs.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/22/2016 12:07
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As I understand the Geneva Convention, and illegal combatant can be given a court martial and then executed if found guilty.
It calls for combatants to have identifiable uniform or markings to distinguish them from civilians. Failure to do so makes one an 'illegal combatant' not protected by the Convention. The CM can be held in country and punishment carried out as Skorzeny's boys found out in Belgium. However, these miscreants were deemed more important for intel than being dealt with as illegal combatants. It's like not Mirandizing a perp, you believe the info is more important than the individual. See - time bomb, kidnapping, et al
#5
In fact by extending GC protections to illegal combatants, as we do in far too many places, you place your own soldiers in danger because now your [future] enemy has no compulsion to follow the GC with your soldiers.
[BREITBART] Austrian police will hand out 6,000 pocket rape alarms on New Year’s Eve to help fight mass sex attacks such as those perpetrated by migrants colonists in neighbouring Germany a year ago.
"It’s a national campaign aimed primarily at women on New Year’s Eve," ministry front man Karl-Heinz Grundboeck told AFP.
The interior ministry said Tuesday that officers will be distributing the devices in the run up to the festive celebrations in the capital Vienna, Welt reports.
"It’s a national campaign aimed primarily at women on New Year’s Eve," ministry front man Karl-Heinz Grundboeck told AFP.
When activated, the gadgets will emit a shrill sound aimed at deterring potential attackers and attracting help, Mr. Grundboeck explained.
Hundreds are expected to visit the city for New Year’s Eve, and the ministry has already announced beefed up security following the deadly attack at a Christmas market in Berlin on Monday evening.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Hopefully those alarms go "bang" when you squeeze the trigger.
[BBC] The Kremlin has said it will take "adequate measures" after the US increased sanctions on Russian individuals and companies because of the 2014 annexation of Crimea.
As well as six bank officials, the US has targeted Yevgeny Prigozhin, a man known as the Kremlin's caterer, who has close links to the defence ministry.
The US Treasury said the action underscored its refusal to recognise the annexation.
The EU has prolonged its sanctions too.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not specify what new measures would be taken by Russia, which imposed a food import ban on European countries in retaliation in 2014.
"We can only once again express regret and misunderstanding over this destructive persistence of our US colleagues," Mr Peskov said on Wednesday. "We believe this damages bilateral relations."
What is not clear is whether US sanctions on Russia will continue for much longer when Donald Trump becomes president.
When asked if sanctions would stay in place, Reince Priebus, chosen by the president-elect as has White House chief of staff, said this month that "as far as where that product goes next, you have to just wait and see".
Unlike the US, the European Union has not added further names to its list.
Although EU leaders did agreed that sanctions should be extended for another six months, some member states, including Italy and Slovakia, are keen to have the measures eased.
The question of what President-elect Donald Trump has planned for Afghanistan rarely came up during his run for the presidency. As is the sometimes-custom of Trump, apart from several tweets (“Let’s get out of Afghanistan?”) and inflammatory comments (“Karzai is a crook”), it’s unclear what he wants to do in the country, despite the fact that it is the site of the longest war in U.S. history.
Since 2002, the international community has spent some $100 billion on rebuilding the country and its economy. Nearly 70 percent of Afghanistan’s annual income is from international donors. Yet the next American president has been a harsh critic of the very aid the Afghan state depends on, according to Barnett Rubin, director of New York University’s Center on International Cooperation and a long-time adviser on Afghanistan to both the UN and
“He believes it’s wasted money,” Rubin said. In Afghanistan, Trump may have a strong argument. Despite what the United States has spent there in the name of improving security, UN figures indicate that civilian deaths have reached a new peak since the beginning of the census in 2009. Corruption is also one of the main causes of the extreme poverty afflicting the country. Rubin said Trump would face congressional opposition if he tried to cut off all of Afghanistan’s aid. “But I think [such aid] will come into much greater question than if Hillary Clinton has been elected,” he said.
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[DAILYPOST.NG] The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai, has warned the government against delay in payment of salaries and allowances to troops, who are engaged in the battle against Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... Death Eaters.
Buratai was speaking at a seminar on Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), that was held yesterday for army personnel in Abuja. He explained that prompt disbursement of salaries and allowances, would boost the morale of soldiers fighting insurgency in the North East.
Buratai also stated that the objectives of the IPPIS, was to ensure transparency and improve payroll administration in all government ministries and agencies.
He said: "I approve this seminar and know that the implementation of IPPIS in the military will present new challenges in the management of troops’ salaries and allowances.
"I am hereby charging the finance corps to ensure that the nuances of transition are well understood so as to continue to boost the morale of the fighting troops.
"We understand that seamless, timely and regular payment of personnel salaries and allowances are an essential ingredient for the sustenance of morale of the troops.
"This is especially important towards the current ongoing efforts at consolidating on the counter-terrorism efforts in the north eastern part of the country and indeed all other operations around the country."
Posted by: Fred ||
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Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday, that Salahuddin Operations Command seized a number of explosive devices in the city of Tikrit, and also foiled an attempted attack launched by the Islamic State.
The ministry stated on its website, “Salahuddin Explosives Squad received intelligence information indication to the presence of explosives materials inside a house in Hayy al-Dyoum, in the city of Tikrit.”
“The forces searched the house and found 2 20-litter jerrycans attached to detonators,” the statement added. “The explosive containers were dismantled by the security forces,” the statement explained.
“Moreover, Islamic State’s terrorists attacked troops of Salahuddin Operations in Kanous village, but the attack was foiled by the security forces,” the statement further added.
In a related development, the number of displaced families returned back to Salahuddin Province reached 132,590, distributed as follow: Tikrit (37,715), Residential Compound of al-Daur district (2728), al-Daur district (6119), Albu Ajil (4767), Albu Teema (4938), Sharqat (26,519), north of Baiji (49,794).
Posted by: badanov ||
12/22/2016
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Reading of the latest “Allahu Akhbar!” attacks (so far this week) in Germany, Turkey, Jordan, Libya, and Switzerland, one is struck by the politicized incompetence of the authorities. This is true both East and West, but in plainer view to us in the West. News reports carry information that even I know they should not be carrying, about police suspicions. We learn that — at the usual frightful expense — additional security measures are in place at e.g. Christmas markets in several hundred cities, including a couple of miles away in this one. The idea is to put the general public back to sleep, as quickly as possible; to restore what President Harding called “normalcy”; to make the people feel safe in their beds, or waking, busy with their toys and pacifiers.
Apart from the enemy, however, I do not know who can benefit from such information. Too, unnecessary “editorial advice” is provided to the news agencies, not only to keep their language ideologically hygienic, but more systematically to slant and select what is presented. In particular: doubt must be cast on the motives of the perpetrators, and Muslim celebrations of the attacks must be ignored. The general public see through this, partly, but are by now accustomed to the many little lies that shield the big ones on which our liberal-progressive “values” are based.
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[ARA News] Homs – Clashes broke out on Wednesday between militants of the Islamic State (ISIS) and Syrian Army forces east of Homs Governorate. The clashes followed an offensive by ISIS militants on a military base for the pro-regime army forces near the T4 Military Airport.
“ISIS targeted headquarters of the Syrian Army in the vicinity of the T4 airbase with dozens of mortar shells and rockets,” media activist Amro al-Hussein told ARA News in Homs.
The ISIS hardline group has been trying to break into the T4 Military Airport for weeks.
“Wednesday’s offensive was a renewed attempt by ISIS jihadists to capture the airbase. However, the operation was foiled by the Syrian Army after receiving air support,” al-Hussein reported. “Pro-regime army forces were eventually able to repel the attack, forcing ISIS militants to retreat towards Palmyra.”
On December 12, ISIS fighters assaulted the T4 airbase with mortars and heavy machine guns, and destroyed at least three warplanes in the base.
Located in the Homs’ eastern countryside, the T4 Airport is a critical security installation, providing regime forces with close air support. ISIS jihadists were able to storm into the base after seizing security checkpoints in the nearby Mashtal and Qasr al-Hir Districts.
On December 11, the hardline group recaptured the ancient city of Palmyra in Homs Governorate. Activists and military sources confirmed the rout, reporting that the army had been forced to withdraw under fire.
“The army withdrew after the clashes reached the city center and it became impossible for them to push ISIS back,” local media activist Abas al-Omar told ARA News.
Regime forces were obliged to evacuate their headquarters in Palmyra, heading westward toward Doua District and the T4 Airbase. Russia had supported the Syrian Army in Palmyra, with airstrikes and logistical support but their efforts were apparently insufficient to save the city.
ISIS first took over Palmyra in May 2015, following a protracted battle with regime forces. The Islamic State’s occupation was exceptionally brutal, even by the standards of Syria’s 5-year-long conflict.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/22/2016
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[ARA News] Raqqa – The Syriac Military Council (SMC) on Wednesday announced the death of their member Hauro Hani, during the Euphrates Wrath Operation for Raqqa.
David Vergili, a representative for the European Syriac Union, told ARA News that the fighter joined the SMC a few months ago to participate in the anti-ISIS battle for Raqqa led by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) “to protect the region from jihadist forces”.
“Hauro Hani was always proud to be part of SMC and fighting for his people with his comrades. SMC joined Raqqa operation as a part of SDF forces to protect and liberate the region from ISIS and other radical groups,” Vergili said.
“The SMC’s participation in the operation is in line with previous achievements of SDF, namely in Shaddadi, al-Hawl and Manbij,” the Syriac official told ARA News.
“SMC believes that defeating and removing jihadist forces from the region is the only vital solution for the population and to the Democratic Self-Administration project which was founded by the main components of the area,” Vergili stated.
The SMC joined the Euphrates Wrath Operation on 6 November 2016.
“Our forces are a part of the Raqqa liberation campaign the Euphrates Wrath Operation,” the group said in November. “As Syriac-Assyrian Christians, we work with our Kurdish and Arab allies in the Syrian Democratic Forces to liberate Raqqa,” the SMC leadership said.
“The fight against terrorism is a fight for the existence of our Syriac-Assyrian people and we cannot rest until this fight is won,” it said. “We ask therefore the international community to support us and all Syrian Democratic Forces.”
The SMC is the military wing of the Syriac Union Party led by Ishow Gowriye, which is part of the local self-administrations set up by the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its allies in northern Syria, also known as Rojava. Moreover, the party has its own police wing called Sutoro that mans checkpoints in the cities within the canton administrations of Hasakah.
The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), Syriac Military Council, Raqqa Revolutionaries Battalion and Tel Abyad Revolutionary Brigade are participating in Euphrates Wrath. In addition to these local fighters, foreign soldiers from a half-dozen nations are participating, either as YPG volunteers or under the auspices of the US-led coalition.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/22/2016
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[DAILYSABAH] The former leader of the Lebanese group Hezbollah, Subhi al-Tufayli
...according to Wikipedia he and Hezbollah parted ways over joining the government after the Lebanese civil war ended, and accepting the patronage of Iran. Some say he is funded by Saudi Arabia...
slammed the Assad regime and pro-regime forces for the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Syria's Aleppo in a video released on Friday.
In the released footage, Tufayli speaks about the current situation in Syria and says "regime forces are the real bandidosbully boyz and they are the father and mother of ISIS terrorist group."
Tufayli, who was the first leader of Hezbollah from 1989 until 1991, said the people of Aleppo are being slaughtered at the hands of the regime forces, and ISIS is allowed by the Assad regime to flourish in Syria.
Tufayli also slammed the allies of the regime, for not being against the ISIS terrorist group in Syria, while praising the Syrian opposition fighting against the regime.
The people of Aleppo have witnessed deaths of thousands, bomb shelling and sounds of kabooms or fire by regime and pro-regime forces since the civil war began in 2011.
The humanitarian tragedy in Syrian towns, recently in Aleppo continues to receive criticism from different parts of the world.
Meanwhile, ...back at the pie fight, Bella grabbed the cocoanut cream... dozens of the civilians and moderate opposition fighters of Aleppo have been evacuated from the Syrian town despite attacks by regime and pro-regime forces on evacuation convoys.
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A key member of the Taliban group was killed along with at least 12 other turbans in the strategic Kunduz city.
The Ministry of Interior (MoI) in a statement said "Afghan National Security Forces launched a joint clearance operation in Kunduz city capital of Kunduz province."
The statement further added "As a result of this joint operation, 13 armed Taliban including Mullah Ramazan a key member of armed Taliban group were killed and 14 others including Mullah Mansour a local commander of armed Taliban were maimed."
"The clearance operation still continues in insecure villages of Kunduz City," the statement said, adding that "Also, during this operation, some amount of ammunitions and IEDs seized as well."
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On November 22, while the world watched, the U.S. Navy’s newest, most complex warship ground to a stop in the middle of the Panama Canal, both propellers seized. The USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) had to be towed out of the canal. While not as embarrassing as watching our sailors being taken hostage by Iran and then publicly humiliated, nonetheless it was pretty embarrassing. Yes, all new classes of ships have teething problems, but this is at least the third major “engineering casualty” that the USS Zumwalt has experienced over the last few months, and it is emblematic of a defense-procurement system that is rapidly losing its ability to meet our national-security needs.
The Zumwalt was going to be the United States’ 21st-century, cruiser-sized, super destroyer that would allow us to dominate the world’s oceans and littorals for the next 50 years. The Navy made big promises: The two overarching goals for the program were that the ship would be very stealthy and that it would set new standards in reducing crew size. Another major element was that it would be able to supply the Naval Surface Fire Support (NSFS) capability the Navy has been promising the Marines since it retired the last of the modernized Iowa-class battleships in 1992. Its 15,000 to 16,000 tons of displacement would be crammed full of new and revolutionary technologies. Its massive generating capacity would allow it to power the energy-hungry lasers and railguns of the future. Its defining glory, its stealth, would allow the Zumwalt to undertake missions that other less stealthy ships could not.
Based on the Navy’s 1999 assurances that each ship would cost just $1.34 billion and that the whole 32-ship program would come in at $46 billion, Congress committed to fund the program. But by 2001, cost growth prompted the Navy to lower the projected class size to only 16 ships. Flash-forward to today and the Navy has capped production at just three ships, with each costing over $4.2 billion in construction costs alone. Toss in over $10 billion for development costs, and you end up at more than $7 billion per ship.
Based on the Navy’s 1999 assurances that each ship would cost just $1.34 billion and that the whole 32-ship program would come in at $46 billion, Congress committed to fund the program. But by 2001, cost growth prompted the Navy to lower the projected class size to only 16 ships. Flash-forward to today and the Navy has capped production at just three ships, with each costing over $4.2 billion in construction costs alone. Toss in over $10 billion for development costs, and you end up at more than $7 billion per ship.
To make matters worse, this cost is still rising — the Navy actually took delivery of, and commissioned, a ship that is far from complete and years away from being ready for combat. Adding insult to injury, absolutely no one has been held accountable for this budget-busting debacle. In fact, every one of the Navy’s four original project managers were almost immediately promoted from captain to admiral upon completing their stint in charge. And the lead contractors for the Zumwalt program — Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, and General Dynamics — have received additional hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of defense contracts — even as costs soared, schedules slipped, and capabilities declined.
As we look across a range of big-budget defense programs, we see this pattern repeated over and over and over again. Not only is there zero accountability, but this behavior is rewarded. Indeed, in today’s military, successfully expanding a program beyond its initial budget is viewed highly favorably in terms of rank advancement, as well as being valued by defense contractors looking to hire “team players” who can effectively wield influence with their former colleagues on their behalf.
The Zumwalt is an unmitigated disaster. Clearly it is not a good fit as a frontline warship. With its guns neutered, its role as a primary anti-submarine-warfare asset in question, its anti-air-warfare capabilities inferior to those of our current workhorse, the Arleigh Burke–class destroyers, and its stealth not nearly as advantageous as advertised, the Zumwalt seems to be a ship without a mission.
If that’s the case, how will the Navy use the Zumwalt? Eric Wertheim, author and editor of the U.S. Naval Institute’s Guide to Combat Fleets of the World, noted that “with only three ships, the class of destroyers could become something of a [very expensive] technology demonstration project.” He is not alone in this verdict. Admiral Elmo “Bud” Zumwalt Jr. deserved better.
#2
The Navy, like the donks, needs to spend some time in front of a mirror trying to figure out what's wrong with it. A fair amount is 8 years of Obama flag promotions, but the problems go back much farther. And it's not just the Navy. Look at the F-35. At least the Army got out of the FCS early. But nothing has been done to improve the survivability of the branch that takes 80 percent of the casualties. I'd happily trade one Zumwalt for systems that would rescue infantry casualties by 50% while increasing their lethality. A swamp worth draining.
#3
To put it bluntly, when you haven't fought a real war in 70 years, you tend to do stupid stuff like this.
A few years back, I commented about the Navy being "a Fortune 100 Company in uniform." In front of a flag officer, his staff and my CO and her staff. It didn't go over well.
There are advantages to being a civil servant at times.
#4
Hmmm, maybe they should let the Air Force design the ships and pick the contractors and the Navy design the Aircraft/contractors then let the Marines have veto powers over the results. Sec. Maddog doesn't like either one, do over.
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Police forces blew up two suicide bombers who tried to attack a military checkpoint southwest of Baghdad, police said Wednesday.
The two suiciders were shot and consequently blown up by security forces upon their attempted entry to a security force headquarter in Darawsha, according to spokesperson of the Interior Ministry’ s Baghdad Operations, Saad Maan.
“Blown up before reaching their target, there were no losses among security forces,” Maan stated.
Since 2014, violence surged in Iraq with the Islamic State militants taking over wide areas of the country, and the United Nations said in November that 58000 people died since then. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) said early December that violence during November claimed the lives of 926 civilians and wounded 930 people.
Observers believe ISIS have begun to target several areas across Iraq to divert security focus from Mosul, where the group fights to defend its last bastion in Iraq under the brunt of continuous advancements by Iraqi government and popular troops.
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Baghdad Operations Command announced on Wednesday, that five persons were either killed or wounded in the explosion of a car bomb, in southern the capital.
The Command said in a brief statement, “A booby-trapped vehicle, parked on the roadside in al-Shuhada neighborhood in southern Baghdad, exploded at afternoon today, killing one person and wounding four others.”
The capital, Baghdad, is witnessing several blasts using booby-trapped vehicles or explosive devices, in addition to separate attacks against civilians and security members from time to time.
[RUDAW.NET] 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.... hard boyz continue to attack and kill civilians in djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... who refuse to become part of the group's forced human shield and as they retreat further west in the face of Iraqi troops advances into the city, says Human Rights Watch organization in a report.
"It’s indiscriminately or deliberately killing and wounding people for refusing to be human shields," said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at HRW.
The hard boyz have frequently used Mosul residents as human shields while reiterating west and attacked those who flee with mortar shells and sniper fire.
"If ISIS really cared about the people trapped in its so-called caliphate it would let them flee to safety." Fakih said
Iraqi troops launched an offensive on October 17 to wrest control of the second largest city from ISIS.
Asma, a woman from Qadisiya neighborhood in eastern Mosul told HRW that three of her young children had been maimed in an ISIS mortar attack on December 1.
"The mortar [shell] hit when I had gone to get water from the [local] tank because there was no running water," she said. "When I came back out Alaa hugged me and I saw that half his face was blown off."
Nearly 2,000 people have been fleeing Mosul on a daily basis, said Darbaz Muhammad, Iraq’s minister for migration and displaced in a presser held in Sulaimani earlier this week.
Rudaw cameras have captured devastating scenes of ISIS mortar attacks on different occasions, claiming the lives of and wounding civilians in liberated neighborhoods.
"ISIS targets areas with mortar rounds which affects civilians the most." said Rizgar Ismael, a Kurdish solder within Iraqi army, only days before himself was killed by an ISIS sniper inside Mosul.
"ISIS targeted here with 16-17 mortar rounds today," Ismael said.
More than 30 Mosul residents have provided HRW with firsthand accounts of ISIS mortar, sniper and car kabooms.
ISIS had taken an estimated 1,600 civilians to Mosul to shield themselves from Arclight airstrikes, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said in mid-November.
[ARA News] Duhok – Extremists of the Islamic State (ISIS) are deliberately targeting civilians who refuse to join them in Mosul city, in Iraq’s northwestern Nineveh Governorate, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on Wednesday.
“Mosul civilians were increasingly being caught in the crossfire, with at least 19 killed and dozens wounded in the period from the third week of November into the first week of December,” the international watchdog said.
According to HRW, fatalities incurred from “ISIS mortar or sniper fire, car bombs, roadside bombings and direct attacks,” as well as in airstrikes by the Iraqi forces and the US-led coalition. “The findings were based on interviews with more than 50 residents who had fled eastern Mosul,” the group said.
ISIS militants reportedly told residents of Mosul that those who don’t support its self-proclaimed Caliphate are “apostates” and therefore valid targets beside the Iraqi and coalition forces.
“Targeting civilians or using them as human shields is a war crime,” HRW said.
“Civilians are being hit from all sides in Mosul,” said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at HRW, adding that ISIS group’s “atrocities do not absolve Iraqi forces and the international coalition from doing their utmost to protect civilians.”
On October 17, the Iraqi Army and Kurdish Peshmerga launched a major operation to liberate Mosul city and its surroundings. According to military sources, more than 2,200 ISIS militants have been killed in the operation so far. Informed sources inside Mosul told ARA News that the Iraqi forces currently control approximately 50% of Mosul city, beside tightening the siege on the ISIS-held downtown districts.
Haidar al-Khalidi, a journalist inside Mosul, told ARA News in an earlier interview that ISIS is impeding the army’s advance by using civilians as human shields. This tactic has “prevented the army from using its heavy weapons during the clashes.”
“ISIS is using residential buildings as bases for its attacks on the Iraqi forces. Many civilians are located in Mosul’s ISIS-held districts. [They’re] being used as human shields,” al-Khalidi reported.
According to Michael Stephens, the head of the Royal United Services Institute–Qatar, there are a few reasons, mostly tactical decisions taken early on in the campaign, which have led to too many civilians being present in areas of heavy fighting. This has severely limited the ability of the Iraqi forces to use artillery and call in air power.
“The Coalition, Baghdad, and the KRG [Kurdistan Regional Government] will also be very cautious with the campaign plan to take the more densely populated districts of Mosul, fearing an even greater outflow of refugees from the city,” Nicholas Heras, a Washington-based Middle East researcher at the Centre for a New American Security, told ARA News.
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[Ynet] A court has convicted in absentia an Italian woman and her Albanian husband on terrorism charges for traveling to Syria to join the Islamic State group. In the first case in Italy involving foreign fighters operating inside the war zone, the court on Monday sentenced Maria Giulia Sergio to nine years in prison and her husband, Aldo Kobuzi, to 10 years. They are believed to be in Syria. Members of Sergio's family, who also were planning to join her in Syria, also were convicted. They included her father, who was convicted of a lesser charge of organizing the journey of jihadists and sentenced to four years in jail. He was arrested in mid-2015, six months after his daughter and son-in-law had departed for Syria.
[DeutscheWelle] A German-funded school in Istanbul has reneged on an earlier directive saying it would ban all things relating to Christmas. The Turkish managed school claimed that it was all a "misunderstanding". The effective Christmas ban had prompted uproar in Germany where German politicians had criticized the move as part of a larger change away from secularism across Turkey under Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's leadership.
[Ynet] The interior minister of the German state of Saarland said on Tuesday Germany is in a state of war after a man drove a truck into a crowd at a Berlin Christmas market, killing 12 people and injuring 48, in a suspected terrorist attack.
"We must say that we are in a state of war, although some people, who always only want to see good, do not want to see this," the minister, Klaus Bouillon, told German broadcaster SR.
[Ynet] Austria has arrested a 25-year-old asylum seeker from Morocco on suspicion of planning an attack during the holiday season in the city of Salzburg, prosecutors said on Tuesday.
A search on Monday of an accommodation centre for asylum seekers in the town of Fuschl am See, where the man was living, found "no materials clearly required for the execution of an attack", the Salzburg prosecutors' office said in a statement. It could not, however, be ruled out that he was planning an attack, a spokesman added. The formal accusation against the suspect is that he belongs to an unspecified "terrorist organization".
[TASS] Russia’s Foreign Ministry will demand an apology from the chief editor of the New York Daily News for publishing an article which justified the liquidation of Russia’s Ambassador to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... Andrei Karlov, the ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.
"American journalist and writer Gersh Kuntzman This is the same guy who came down with temporary PTSD after firing an AR-15.
wrote in the New York Daily News that he was ’shedding no tears for Andrei Karlov’," the Russian diplomat wrote on her Facebook page. "He also said that the Ankara attack reminded him of the liquidation of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath in 1938 who was killed in Gay Paree by a Jewish student. According to Kuntzman ’like Karlov, Rath was the public face of atrocity - in this case, Adolf Hitler ...late Fuehrer of Germany, founder of the Third Reich, currently communing with his pals Himmler and Heydrich. He is reincarnated every few days as a politician somebody doesn't like... 's genocide, anti-Semitism and coming global aggression’," Zakharova noted.
"We will immediately forward a message to the chief editor of the newspaper that published this Russophobic article justifying a terrorist attack, and demand an apology," Zakahrova said.
"Gersh Kuntzman, are you seriously comparing a Jewish student’s ideas to the ones of Mevlut Altintas?" she addressed the author of the article. "Don’t you understand, you have said that the fight of the Jewish people against anti-Semitism in1930s amounts to the terrorist ways of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... and Jabhat al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... (both terror groups outlawed in Russia)? Are they really the same to you? Do you adopt the same sensitive approach to terrorist attacks happening in Israel?" Zakharova wrote.
According to her, the re-writing of history in the US has reached the point of absurdity but even against this background Kuntzman’s words stand out.
"And one last thing. I call upon the anti-fascist organizations all over the world to voice their position on this article before it’s too late," the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman stressed.
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#1
Don't forget 'burgers, there are two main tabloids in NYC.
The Daily News is for Left Wing Wackadoodles; the New York Post if for the somewhat sane.
[Al Jazeera] Gambia ... The Gambia is actually surrounded by Senegal on all sides but its west coast. It has a population of about 1.7 million. The difference between the two is that in colonial days Senegal was ruled by La Belle France and The Gambia (so-called because there's only one of it, unlike Guinea, of which there are the Republic of Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, New Guinea, the English coin in circulation between 1663 and 1813, and Guyana, which sounds like it should be another one) was ruled by Britain... 's president has reiterated he will not step down despite losing the December 1 election, as West African leaders and Western powers urge him to hand over power peacefully.
Yahya Jammeh initially conceded defeat on state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
after 22 years in power, but a week later, reversed his position, denouncing the election results and demanding a new vote.
"Unless the court decides the case, there will be no inauguration on January 19," Jammeh said on Tuesday.
His political party has lodged a complaint with the Supreme Court to overturn the December 1 vote result.
Last week, Gambian troops took over the Independent Electoral Commission office in the capital, Banjul, and instructed its chairman to leave while barring other employees from entering.
Jammeh's pledge to stay, which broadcast on state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
, indicated a hardening of his position.
It came a day after President-elect Adama Barrow said he was ready to take office on January 18 - the day Jammeh's mandate ends.
"I am not a coward. My right cannot be intimidated and violated. This is my position. Nobody can deprive me of that victory except the Almighty [God]," Jammeh said.
Jammeh condemned West Africa's regional bloc, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), for what he termed "meddling" in Gambia's affairs.
The political crisis in Gambia will be settled internally and peacefully, Jammeh said, adding he would maintain his position of challenging the election result.
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#1
Is Barry watching?
Posted by: European Conservative ||
12/22/2016 11:01
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A man was jugged Please don't kill me! for brutally murdering his 7-month-old son over domestic violence in eastern Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province of Afghanistan.
The provincial police commandment in a statement said the perpetrator Amanullah was arrested from Behsud district after brutally stabbing his child to death. The statement further added that Amanullah is originally a resident of Bati Kot district and he is currently in the custody of the Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation.
According to the local officials, Amanullah stabbed his child to death after divorcing his wife on Tuesday.
The provincial security commandment said immediate steps will be taken to try the perpetrator and ensure justice for the child.
The latest incident involving the brutal murder of a child comes as the rate of domestic violence has been on the rise during the recent months.
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#1
But he didn't use an assault rifle, so that's something...
[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] Armed police tonight stormed two apartments in the hunt for the Berlin terror attack suspect after it was revealed he had been under the surveillance of German intelligence agencies for several months.
Commandos raided two addresses in Berlin's Kreuzberg neighbourhood, local media reported, as police continued a Europe-wide search for Tunisian national Anis Amri, who remains on the run more than 48 hours after the atrocity which claimed 12 lives.
Police believed Amri might have been holed up inside one of the apartments, German newspaper Die Welt reported. A man was 'overpowered' by officers at one address, it was reported.
German security services face difficult questions after it emerged that Amris, a lifelong criminal, should have been deported months ago.
The 23-year-old, who has a 100,000 euro reward on his head, was under close surveillance of German intelligence for several months following his arrival in the country last year.
He was tossed in the clink Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! three times this year and his asylum application was rejected, but deportation papers were never served and he disappeared.
The Tunisian radical was known to be a supporter of Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... and to have received weapons training.
He tried to recruit an accomplice for a terror plot ‐ which the authorities knew about ‐ but still remained on the lam.
He was under investigation for planning a ’serious act of violence against the state’ and counter-terrorism officials had exchanged information about him last month.
Last night it emerged the runaway spent four years in an Italian prison for acts of violence and vandalism inside a migrant centre where he was being kept following his arrival in Europe. The prison in Palermo, Sicily, is where mafia bosses and gangsters are locked up. Tunisian security officials also revealed he was convicted in absentia for aggravated theft with violence in his home country.
A senior foreign German politician today blamed the atrocity on 'institutional political correctness', arguing that Amri would not have been free to act if police had enforced the law.
Meanwhile a European arrest warrant issued for Amri reveals the runaway has used at least six different aliases under three different nationalities. Photographs show how he has changed his appearance over the years.
Today his family, who remain in Tunisia, were questioned by local police as his siblings condemned acts of terrorism, saying Amri 'deserves every condemnation' if he is guilty of the massacre.
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#1
Looking at the history of this thug I really have to restrain myself: He symbolizes everything that is wrong with Merkel's refugee policy.
Bavarian politicians are getting furious.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
12/22/2016 16:06
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[RUDAW.NET] Two strong kabooms hit the civil police department in the Turkish city of Istanbul last week, causing strong reaction across the country. The Turkish authorities took even school children to the scene, teaching them hatred and intolerance.
The Turkish army mounted on an intensive military operation in July 2015, turning the country’s Kurdish towns into a battlefield countering the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The year-long operation has cost the lives of more than 2000 civilians.
The situations have now reached flashpoint. The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... is now experiencing on a daily-basis acts of murder, abductions, boom-mobiles, jacket wallahs, military operations, and air bombings.
The PKK pledged to take the war to Turkey’s big cities following the year-long military operation, causing public outcry and condemnation by the country’s political parties including the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
The PKK’s new aggressive strategy has had blowback for the country’s Kurds, hampering the HDP’s inclusion in the country’s political process.
The HDP’ winning of 80 parliamentary seats changed the political balance in Turkey. But this didn’t prove long-lasting. The PKK’s influence on the HDP came at a cost, giving the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and other Turkish nationalists a pretext to introduce the HDP to the public as PKK’s shadow in the country.
The AKP and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) led a smear campaign against the HDP, accusing its MPs of being the PKK’s representatives in the Turkish parliament.
The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), an alleged offshoot of the PKK, recently grabbed credit for the Istanbul bombings. This further fomented the situations on the ground, making the PKK the most likely culprit to blame for any future acts of violence in the country.
Following the Istanbul twin-bombings, a boom-mobile hit the Turkish city of Kayseri, targeting a bus transporting troops from the country’s commando brigade. The kaboom cost the lives of 14 soldiers, and maimed 54 more.
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[MSN] Berlin police have yet to even put their hands on the right suspect after a truck ploughed into a Christmas market and left 12 people dead.
But Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... has no doubts about what happened.
Just three hours after Monday's apparent attack, the US president-elect had branded it the latest outrage in what he sees as a global religious war.
His language was a dramatic departure from how Western leaders generally respond to Islamist extremism but reflected the tone of his campaign.
"Innocent civilians were murdered in the streets as they prepared to celebrate the Christmas holiday," he declared, in a statement from his office.
His decision to focus on the presumed religion of the attackers was a deliberately chosen contrast with the policy of outgoing president Barack Obama.
The seasoned US leader called Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday to offer his condolences on "the horrific apparent terrorist attack."
"ISIS and other Islamist forces of Evil continually slaughter Christians in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad."
Trump made this case before German police released for lack of evidence a Pak asylum-seeker who was jugged Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! after the truck attack.
And he spoke even before Amaq, a jihadist-linked news agency, claimed that the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group was behind the ramming of the market.
Trump resorted to similar language to condemn the murder, on the same day, of Russia's ambassador to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... by a "radical Islamic terrorist."
His decision to focus on the presumed religion of the attackers was a deliberately chosen contrast with the policy of outgoing president Barack Obama If you like your coverage you can keep it... The seasoned US leader called Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel ...current chancellor of Germany. She was educated in East Germany when is was still run by commies, but in 1989 got involved with the growing democracy movement when the Berlin Wall fell. Merkel is sometimes referred to by Germans as Mom... on Tuesday to offer his condolences on "the horrific apparent terrorist attack."
Obama's administration is fighting holy warrior groups like the so-called Islamic State, but doing so under the banner of "countering violent extremism."
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#1
Islam is a legal, financial, and religious system. The Islamic radicals are at war with anyone who does not believe as they do. The West and those who embrace freedom will have to decide whether they want to be over-run by these supremacists or not. One should not get lost in the weeds in arguments about what to call them. Arguing about what to call them is just more stick-your-head-in the-sand behavior. We need to get smart about the fight and not be on a destructive suicidal mission ourselves. If we do not do this, we will cease to exist as a country and a culture.
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.
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] The young Turkish policeman who killed Russia’s ambassador to Ankara this week had provided security for President 
[EXPRESS.CO.UK] A NATIVITY play was turned into chaos after an asylum seeker stormed the stage and started preaching from the Koran.
[NYPOST] JACKSON, Miss. -- Mississippi authorities have 
[DAWN] SUKKUR: Three persons were killed and two others 
[NY Post] North Korean leader Kim Jong Un personally oversaw a rocket firing contest and a simulated combat flight drill, according to reports from the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
[FOXNEWS] Incoming Senate Minority Leader 
[EXPRESS.CO.UK] Following the deadly Berlin terror attack at a Christmas market on Monday evening, which left 12 people dead and another 48 injured, Mrs Merkel’s leadership has been called into question.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A key member of the Taliban group was killed along with at least 12 other 
[Al Jazeera] 
[WASHINGTONTIMES] State’s health commission blasts organization for ‘misconduct’ that ‘justif[ies]’ termination
[Al Ahram] 
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A man was 
[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] Armed police tonight stormed two apartments in the hunt for the Berlin terror attack suspect after it was revealed he had been under the surveillance of German intelligence agencies for several months.
[RUDAW.NET] Two strong 
[MSN] Berlin police have yet to even put their hands on the right suspect after a truck ploughed into a Christmas market and left 12 people dead.
