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Phoenix cops arrest alleged ‘jihadist’ plotting midnight Mass attack: ‘Get down with this ISIS s-t’
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
16:33 1 16:39 Besoeker [3]
13:37 5 22:57 DarthVader [2]
13:04 13 23:18 Elmerert Hupens2660 [1]
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Chicago WIA/KIA update: 43 shot, 11 fatally, in Christmas weekend shootings
[Sun Times] The three-day Christmas weekend in Chicago has already become more violent than it was during the entire holiday weekend last year.

Eleven men were killed and at least 32 others have been wounded in shootings across the city since Friday evening, according to Chicago Police.

Last year, a total of 30 people were shot in Chicago over the four-day holiday weekend, leaving six dead.

The weekend’s most recent homicide happened about 9:20 p.m. Sunday in an East Chatham neighborhood mass shooting that left two men dead and five others wounded, two critically, on the South Side, police said. People were gathered for a party on the porch of a home in the 8600 block of South Maryland when someone wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt walked out from an adjacent alley and opened fire. The shooter then ran away.

An 18-year-old was shot and pronounced dead at the scene. Another man, 21, was shot in the back and taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead, police said. The Cook County medical examiner’s office could not immediately provide information on the fatalities. A 35-year-old man suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was also taken to Christ, where he was listed in critical condition, police said. A fourth male was shot in the body and taken in critical condition to Stroger Hospital. Also, a 27-year-old man and 21-year-old woman both suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and were taken to Stroger, where their conditions were stabilized. A 39-year-old man shot in the foot later showed up at Roseland Community Hospital. He was listed in good condition.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/26/2016 16:33 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A 39-year-old man shot in the foot later showed up at Roseland Community Hospital. He was listed in good condition.

Reloading mishap ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/26/2016 16:39 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Keith Ellison (D-Islam) REALLY wants to be DNC Chief

Didn't want the optics to show the truth
Minnesota congressman Keith Ellison cancelled his scheduled appearance the Muslim American Society's annual conference, where he was slated to deliver the keynote address.

Ellison's name and picture, which were previously featured prominently on the convention website's homepage, have been removed completely. He was also removed from the full list of convention speakers.

Ellison was scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the convention's "appreciation dinner" in Chicago on Tuesday.

An updated version of the conference program shows that Ellison's speaking slot has been removed. He was originally scheduled to deliver a 20-minute speech entitled "Our Voice will be Heard."

The dinner was being billed as an opportunity for conference-goers to "Meet the Celebrity!" and get a "one-on-one encounter" with speakers at the event.

Ellison did not respond to numerous requests for comment on the decision to opt out of the event. A representative at the convention said that it could not comment on the change in schedule.

Ellison has a long-standing relationship with the Muslim American Society, which was founded by members of the Muslim Brotherhood to be the extremist group's voice in the United States.
Ellison has a long-standing relationship with the Muslim American Society, which was founded by members of the Muslim Brotherhood to be the extremist group's voice in the United States.
Not to mention his long membership Calypso Louie's Nation of Islam - just read Powerline's backgrounders on him
In 2008, the society paid for Ellison to travel to Saudi Arabia for a 16-day religious pilgrimage to Mecca. Ellison was also the keynote speaker for the Minnesota chapter's annual convention in both 2007 and 2008.

Ellison faced criticism for speaking at this year's convention not only due to the radical nature of the Muslim American Society but also because of some of the people he was set to share the stage with.

Among the featured speakers at the convention is Mohammad Ratib Al-Nabulsi, who is scheduled to speak at five different sessions over the course of the three-day conference and has garnered attention for his statements on both homosexuality and Jews.

"Homosexuality leads to the destruction of the homosexual," Nabulsi said. "That is why, brothers, homosexuality carries the death penalty." He went on to complain that America gives "privileges of a wife to a homosexual partner," noting that it was "frightening."

In a brief Nabulsi authored on "martyrdom operations in Palestine" he declared that "all the Jewish people are combatants."

"The wicked Jews are a collection of defects and imperfections, and a hotbed of vices and evils," he wrote. "They are the worst enemies of God, against Islam and its people."

He complained that the "enemy" uses the term "suicide" bombers to deceive Muslims.

"Beware, the enemy calls the operations suicide, they say: suicide operation to deceive Muslims, that this is suicide, but we should call them "workplace violence" martyrdom operations," Nabulsi wrote. "A young man in the prime of his years sacrifices his life and shakes an entity."

David Weinberg, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said that no congressmen should be associated with an "extremist" like Nabulsi, especially if they aspire to take a leadership role.
Posted by: Frank G || 12/26/2016 13:37 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And yet Ellison is a major contender and if chosen would even more deeply infect an American political landscape with the poison of his beliefs at every level, all the while using deceit and ignorance to claim otherwise. Reminds me of a mini-me for another same party info idual with many similar attributes.
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 12/26/2016 14:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Keith Ellison (D-Islam) REALLY wants to be DNC Chief

He's the perfect mullah for the job!
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/26/2016 16:42 Comments || Top||

#3  If he is chosen, will the liberal Jews continue to support the demoncratic party?

(Rhetorical question. The answer is always yes)
Posted by: DarthVader || 12/26/2016 22:14 Comments || Top||

#4  If he is chosen, will the liberal Jews continue to support the demoncratic party?

Some will peel away, including some major funders, Darth Vader. They'll turn their charitable dollars elsewhere if the Democrats choose the Muslim Brotherhood candidate.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/26/2016 22:27 Comments || Top||

#5  I only hope so TW. Unfortunately, history and patterns don't lead me to believe anything will change.
Posted by: DarthVader || 12/26/2016 22:57 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Dr. Godfrey Garner: Why America Failed in Afghanistan
[Homeland Security Today] America for the past few years has tried in vain to extricate itself from Afghanistan. The fact is, however, try as we may, we seem to be pulled deeper into the situation. Our work with the Mujahedeen and Northern Alliance forces in defeating and driving Al Qaeda and Taliban forces out of the country within months of our entry into Operation Enduring Freedom seems a distant memory now.

Today, Afghanistan is sinking back into a quagmire of chaos; an atmosphere which encourages insurgent forces such as ISIS and a resurgent Taliban, while local rule by the strong trumps national order and security in most of the country. Graft and corruption, largely unheard of before 9/11, today is the norm. ’Rule by warlord’ has to a great extent, remained triumphant over the square democracy, we have tried to force into a round hole. Last month, one of Afghanistan’s vice presidents, former Northern Alliance commander Rashid Dostum, kidnapped and held hostage one of his political opponents. The opposition candidate was kidnapped and held prisoner in one of his palaces in the northern city of Sheberghan. Something went wrong with our utopian view of what Afghanistan could be, and it is vitally important that we understand what that was.

With a new administration with a seemingly new philosophy vis-à-vis America’s role in world security and international relations, we have a chance to reconsider the manner in which we pursue future conflicts. It would be folly to assume there will be fewer rather than more world conflicts that directly and indirectly affect America. It would be further folly to assume America can stand on the sidelines in all such conflicts and hope to avoid negative repercussions of such a policy. In light of this, we must reevaluate the mistakes we’ve made in the past, and Afghanistan offers a perfect lab for study.

About the author: Dr. Godfrey Garner holds a PhD in counseling psychology from Mississippi State University and is currently pursuing a second PhD at the University of Southern Mississippi. Following two tours in Viet Nam and a lengthy break in military service, Dr. Garner rejoined and eventually retired from 20th Special Forces group in 2006. He completed two military and six civilian government-related tours in Afghanistan. His work in Afghanistan most recently has been as a counter-corruption analyst. He is published in Homeland Security Today and Foreign Policy Journal on issues relating to Afghanistan as well as other journals relating to higher education. He is the author of the novel Danny Kane and the Hunt for Mullah Omar.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/26/2016 13:04 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Cause we didn't go Mongol?

Who, by the way, dealt with the same problem and succeeded. Very rough on the locals, but they made their point.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/26/2016 13:35 Comments || Top||

#2  While we're on the topic of failure, anyone want to venture a guess as to who maintained proponency for the following (which by the way, drove the effort for many years, and may still be driving the effort):

The Joint Prioritized Effects List or JPEL is a list of individuals who coalition forces in Afghanistan try to capture or kill. The Task Force 373 is working through the list. According to the Afghan War Diary German troops listed Shirin Agha with the number 3145 and on 11 October 2010 German troops killed Agha. Coalition forces are authorized to kill or capture individuals named on the list.[1][2][3]
According to a document from the 2010 Afghan War Diary the list has 2,058 names. That list provided the intelligence basis for a pace of some 90 night-raids per month in late 2009.[1]
PBS Frontline reported that the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) was executing targets on the Joint Prioritized Effects List. John Nagl, a former counterinsurgency adviser to General David Petraeus, described JSOC’s kill/capture campaign to Frontline as “an almost industrial-scale counterterrorism killing machine.”[4]
Individuals on the list are assigned priority levels on a scale of one to four, with one being the most important.[5] Since October 2008 the NATO defense ministers decided that drug networks would now be "legitimate targets" for ISAF troops. The United Nations estimated that the Taliban was earning $300 million a year through the drug trade, and according to a leaked NSA document "the insurgents could not be defeated without disrupting the drug trade."[5] In the opinion of American military commanders such as Bantz John Craddock, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander for Europe at the time, there was no need to prove that drug money was actually being funneled to the Taliban to declare Afghan couriers, farmers and dealers as legitimate targets of NATO strikes.[5] In early 2009 Craddock issued an order to expand the JPEL list to include drug producers, but such targets at least had to be investigated as individual cases after a complain by the German NATO General Egon Ramms that the order is "illegal" and a violation of international law.[5]
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/26/2016 13:41 Comments || Top||

#3  “Turns out I’m really good at killing people,” Obama said quietly, “Didn’t know that was gonna be a strong suit of mine.”
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/26/2016 13:52 Comments || Top||

#4  It's no mistake that the product sold as a learning toy is an ant farm, not a cockroach farm...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/26/2016 14:44 Comments || Top||

#5  Complainer without a solution.
Posted by: Crart Phomons7346 || 12/26/2016 15:06 Comments || Top||

#6  We 'lost' in Afghanistan and Iraq because we bet that Islam was compatible with Democracy. It was overly-optimistic but now that the Islamic people had the chance I have no guilt about walking away and letting them slaughter each other.

Help the Kurds, get the translators and others that helped the US Military out of the region, and let the place burn.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 12/26/2016 15:07 Comments || Top||

#7  Graft and corruption, largely unheard of before 9/11, today is the norm.

Largely unheard of? Cultures do not change that dramatically, though a) when we were not there we were not hearing of it, and b) the amounts available for the activity were no doubt somewhat lower before we arrived -- though as I recall the Taliban were also involved in the lucrative opium trade after initially abjuring it.

Now to read the article. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/26/2016 15:45 Comments || Top||

#8  the author perpetuates the mistake made in Afghanistan, which was to portray an ethno-religious conflict as an ideological one.
Posted by: phil_b || 12/26/2016 18:00 Comments || Top||

#9  Largely unheard of? Cultures do not change that dramatically, though a) when we were not there we were not hearing of it, and b) the amounts available for the activity were no doubt somewhat lower before we arrived -- though as I recall the Taliban were also involved in the lucrative opium trade after initially abjuring it.

The use of the word "unheard" is deliberate and meant to mislead.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 12/26/2016 18:40 Comments || Top||

#10  That's the most unheard of thing I ever heard of.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 12/26/2016 19:28 Comments || Top||

#11  US hasn't had a decisive win since WWII. We are the NY Jets of super powers.
Posted by: Regular joe || 12/26/2016 20:53 Comments || Top||

#12  Back after reading the article: the author's position is that the Special Forces units completed their goal in 2002, and should have then left the Afghans to put their country back together again. It was when the political goal of introducing democracy was added to the mission, and all sorts of other goals for imposing improving the lives of the locals in various comtradictory but expensive ways that failure was assured.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/26/2016 22:41 Comments || Top||

#13  Afghanistan and Iraq (and what is to come) are or were neither opportunities to get Vietnam right this time nor opportunities to repeat Vietnam.

The Vietnam war was a limited not-cold war in the context of a global cold war.

The other wars were initiated by a massive attack on the US.

As long as the US&Western establishment refuses to think outside of the Vietnam framework we will be losing wars we cannot afford to lose.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 12/26/2016 23:18 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Sorry, But Our Fight Against Liberal Fascism Has Only Just Begun
h/t Instapundit
I wish I could tell you that, having dodged the naggy bullet that was Felonia Milhous von Pantsuit, we can now spend the next four years being left alone. But that’s not in the cards. Liberals won’t ‐ because they can’t ‐ pause to reflect on how they should stop being such insufferable jerks and live with us normals in peace and mutual respect. Instead, they are doubling down on their gambit for unrestrained power over every aspect of our lives, fueled by a hatred for Donald Trump that is, in reality, a hatred for us.

Remember, they really do hate us. Just ask them.

Just watch what they do. They will always side against us ‐ even when a professional scammer stages a fake "hate crime" on an airplane. They will side with the hoaxer even though every single "Trump-inspired hate crime" ‐ and almost all others ‐ turns out to be a hoax. Every. Single. One.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/26/2016 12:44 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  There can be only one.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/26/2016 13:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Go on. Live a lie. It always works out so well...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/26/2016 14:49 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
7 killed in Christmas Day shootings
Or as they say in Chicago, "slow holiday"...
Posted by: Steve White || 12/26/2016 09:29 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Did Black Lives Matter? How about Black Deaths?
Posted by: AlanC || 12/26/2016 10:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Obviously seasonally adjusted numbers.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/26/2016 10:13 Comments || Top||

#3  785
Posted by: Pappy || 12/26/2016 10:38 Comments || Top||

#4  From the headline, I assumed this was some third-world hellhole.

Oh.

Chicago.
Posted by: Bobby || 12/26/2016 11:44 Comments || Top||

#5  Areas in the US under rule of the party that put a Kenyon dictator in the Whitehouse can be certified as third world now.
Posted by: Nero White 3083 || 12/26/2016 13:49 Comments || Top||

#6  I assumed this was some third-world hellhole.


Well, Bobby, you would be correct in that assumption.
Posted by: AlanC || 12/26/2016 13:49 Comments || Top||

#7  It does have similarities to Karachi...
Posted by: Pappy || 12/26/2016 13:58 Comments || Top||

#8  Jus wa I waned, Mama, a nice new mag for ma Glock. Now I go steal Tyrone's Chrismas moneh to git sum bullets...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/26/2016 14:40 Comments || Top||


International-UN-NGOs
Ralph Peters: The Feast of Stephen 2016
We are living in a new age of Christian martyrs

The second line of the Christmas carol slips past us. We hear “Good King Wenceslas looked out…” But what about the next bit, “…on the Feast of Stephen?” What’s that about?

December 26th is St. Stephen’s Day—the Feast of Stephen—long an important celebration in the Christian calendar and now largely ignored. It’s time to bring it back.

Stephen was the first Christian martyr, the protomartyr, stoned to death in the years of persecution that followed the death of Jesus. In the Acts of the Apostles, Chapters Six to Eight, we learn that Stephen was “a man full of faith,” appointed to oversee the care of neglected widows. Stephen took on the established authorities, corrupt in deed and belief, and they could not refute his arguments.

So, in timeless human fashion, the powers-that-were bribed witnesses against him. At the climax of his trial, knowing he was doomed, Stephen declared, “I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.”

Out came the rocks.

What has this to do with us, as the Year of Our Lord 2017 approaches? To believing Christians, the answer might be “Everything.”

The 2,000-year-old Middle-Eastern Christian civilization that began in the days of St. Stephen lies in ruins, persecuted as never before. As the Obama administration averted its self-righteous gaze, a religious genocide already underway accelerated across the region. Stubborn and dogmatic, the administration refused to acknowledge the problem of Christian refugees—those who’d survived the kidnappings, tortures, rapes, massacres and broad religious cleansing—even to the extent of labeling those who wished to help Christians as bigots.

In Obama’s global village, there’s no room at the inn for Christian refugees. There’s not even a stable.

We’ve watched as a great religious civilization nears extermination. For millennia, through good and horrid times, the three great monotheist religions of the Middle East rubbed along together (with varying levels of friction). Then, in the lifetime of many of this column’s readers, the Jews were driven out. Next came the turn of the Christians, as well as a number of minority faiths. Thanks to extremist Islam.

In the Middle Ages, the majority of Christians lived in the east. The doctrines of the faith were refined in Asia Minor, Palestine and North Africa. The greatest monuments of Christianity’s first thousand years all stood—a few still stand—in lands where Christians long have been persecuted and are now massacred.

Now the Christians are gone, their churches, monasteries and homes in ruins.

This is a new age of martyrs. It’s a time when those who believe in the transcendent generosity of Christ are driven from their homes to suffer exile. It’s an age of blood spilled at a ravaged cross.

Even Bethlehem, within living memory a majority-Christian city, has driven out the followers of Jesus until perhaps a dwindling eighth of the population is Christian.

Where are the campus demonstrations against the torture, rape and murder, the dispossession and massacre of Christians? Where is the outrage in the media? Where are the modern Pharisees we call “public intellectuals.” Where are the consciences in our can’t-be-bothered government?

Those Christians who survive the new barbarians become refugees with nowhere to go. Assigned to “all-faith” asylum homes in Europe, they’re tormented, beaten and threatened by violent migrants. Nor can they go elsewhere in the Middle East.

Yet, we in the United States bar the door against them—in the name of religious tolerance, of all things. One day, we will be as ashamed of our denial of Christian refugees as deeply as we are shamed by our rejection of Jewish refugees from the Nazis.

In this new age of martyrdom, a time when forces such as the Islamic State inflict torments on Christian captives to rival the tortures endured by the early saints, it’s time to revive St. Stephen’s Day to honor the countless martyrs our leaders ignore.

This is not meant as a call for religious division. But in this age of shouting cults and fanaticism, a quiet consideration of Christian ordeals deserves at least one day of our pampered lives.

Wenceslas, too, became a saint—more or less by popular demand. He spread the faith among his pagan subjects, only to be murdered by his brother. In the Victorian-era carol, he’s a king (the historical figure was a duke) who spies a poor man gathering twigs for a fire on the Feast of Stephen--a peasant who will have no feast that day. And the king sets off in the snow on a personal relief mission, followed by one page, the two of them bearing food and wine and pine logs. That particular event may not have occurred, but the symbolism of the gesture should stir us.

For that matter, mark the words of the other old carols, too.

And when you serve up your holiday leftovers on Monday, declare it the Feast of Stephen. Remember those who are martyred as you eat, the tens of thousands of Stephens whom we ignore.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/26/2016 09:16 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sorry. If bug eyed Ralph is my only friend, I feel well and truly screwed...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/26/2016 9:54 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Obama's Israel Vendetta Opens the Door?
h/t Instapundit
We live in a world of unintended consequences and Barack Obama, in his overwhelming zeal to exact last-minute personal vengeance on Bibi Netanyahu in particular and Israel in general with Friday's Security Council vote, opened the door to the defunding and serious diminution of the United Nations itself.

Donald Trump -- who is seeking to spend a ton of taxpayer money on rebuilding our military and infrastructure -- is undoubtedly looking for places to save. Nowhere would be better to start than that moribund center of international corruption and megaphone for tin-pot dictators, the United Nations.

What started out after World War II as the idealistic coming together of nations to end war ended up being one of the giant ripoffs of all time.

...Meanwhile, this "peaceful" organization that has had no effect whatsoever on ending war spends most of its working hours bashing the state of Israel. In 2015 alone the UN General Assembly adopted 20 resolutions singling out Israel for criticism -- and only 3 resolutions on the rest of the world combined.


Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/26/2016 08:45 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Unintended consequences? Only for idealistic idiots.
Posted by: gorb || 12/26/2016 12:58 Comments || Top||

#2  I don't read instacrapweasel for several years (he banned me) but it sounds like he is becoming more like zerohedge every day.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/26/2016 14:55 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Analysis: Obama sees himself as on the right side of history
It’s not like the US president thinks this will change anything.

That was the message President Barack Obama’s aides offered after the US, at his order, abstained from a landmark UN Security Council vote censuring Israel over its settlement enterprise.

White House officials knew this would only infuriate and entrench the Israeli government.

They knew they were too short on time in power to turn this bold move into an actionable point of leverage.

But years of private and public efforts had convinced them of two certainties: that they had tried everything to stop Israel from continuing settlement construction ‐ which they are convinced erodes the possibility of a two-state solution ‐ and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would stop at nothing to continue building.

Obama’s abstention was born of pure frustration among his top staff over the futility of their efforts. It was an acknowledgment of their failure, as they characterized the move as their least preferable option and one riddled with adverse consequences.
To quote John Derbishire from 2008 "Another African Socialist"
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/26/2016 04:39 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yielding to frustration is childish. If it was least preferable and riddled with adverse consequences, why did they pursue it. The adverse consequences will include a fundamental change in the relation ship of the United States to the United Nations.

If that's the fundamental change he meant maybe he's not such a bad guy.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 12/26/2016 5:44 Comments || Top||

#2  The unstoppable clock of political hypocrisy. A Virginia historical marker of a famous Colonel dedicated to a 'two state solution.'
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/26/2016 6:48 Comments || Top||

#3  Why should something like the collapse of the Soviet Empire (or any other major/minor socialist entity) ever change the attitude of these twits? At least the Chinese woke up.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/26/2016 8:10 Comments || Top||

#4  they had tried everything to stop Israel from continuing settlement construction

Bet they never tried to get the Paleos to make a concession or two to Israel for a stoppage.

This petty, evil slime ball would like nothing else than for Israel to be pushed into the sea so that his favored fascist home boys could take over.
Posted by: AlanC || 12/26/2016 8:11 Comments || Top||

#5  The "right side of history" phrasing gives you a really good glimpse into their thinking. It is pure Marxist determinism.
Posted by: Iblis || 12/26/2016 11:14 Comments || Top||

#6  everything they absolutely know is absolutely wrong.
Posted by: newc || 12/26/2016 12:40 Comments || Top||

#7  the possibility of a two-state solution

And they regard people who believe in God or Santa Claus as being delusional.
Posted by: SteveS || 12/26/2016 13:21 Comments || Top||

#8  "Frequently wrong. Never uncertain"
Posted by: Frank G || 12/26/2016 13:52 Comments || Top||

#9  Waited until he was a lame-duck President.
Posted by: Pappy || 12/26/2016 14:08 Comments || Top||

#10  If he was honest Pappy he could have started this crap in 2009. Lame thy name is Obama.
Posted by: AlanC || 12/26/2016 16:13 Comments || Top||


Europe
Germany releases brothers suspected of mall attack plot
[IsraelTimes] German police said Saturday they had released two brothers suspected of planning an attack on one of the country’s biggest shopping centers, citing a lack of evidence.

The two men, aged 28 and 31 and originally from Kosovo, were arrested on Friday as Germany was on high alert following a jihadist attack on a Berlin Christmas market earlier in the week.

But police in the western city of Essen said in a statement that “despite careful investigation” the allegations against the pair could not be substantiated.

Police had acted on a tip-off from intelligence services that claimed the duo was planning to target the CentrO mall in the nearby city of Oberhausen.

“After it was established today that there were no relevant criminal findings against the two persons and there was no concrete danger, they were released from police custody this afternoon,” the statement said.

Is conversion a reason for asylum?

[DeutscheWelle] Fleeing from Tehran's secret police, more and more refugees from Iran are converting to Christianity. But are they doing it out of conviction?
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/26/2016 03:07 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Britain
2 in UK court charged with preparing an act of terrorism
[Ynet] Two people have appeared in a London court charged with a variety of terrorism-related offenses.

Munir Hassan Mohammed is charged with preparing an act of terrorism, being a member 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....
bad boy group, and possessing instructions about how to build an bomb inside a mobile phone. The 35-year-old did not enter a plea at Westminster Magistrates' Court.

Rowaida El Hassan, 32, faces similar charges but is not accused of Islamic State membership. She also did not enter a plea. Both are being held pending their next court hearing.

They were incarcerated
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
with four other people earlier in December. The other four were released without charge
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/26/2016 03:07 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Southeast Asia
Fighting back: How Indonesia's elite police turned the tide on militants
[Reuters] As the world battles a spike in assaults and plots by Islamist militants, Indonesia's anti-terrorism unit is drawing praise for stemming a wave of bloody attacks in the sprawling Muslim-majority nation.

Indonesia has foiled at least 15 attacks this year alone and made more than 150 arrests, disrupting plots ranging from suicide attacks in Jakarta to a rocket attack from Indonesia's Batam island targeting Singapore.

Going back to 2010, a Reuters analysis of data shows the elite unit, Special Detachment 88 (Densus 88), has prevented at last 54 plots or attacks in the nation of 250 million people, the world's fourth largest.

"Densus 88 has become better than pretty well any other counter-terrorism group in the world," said Greg Barton, a terrorism export and research professor in Global Islamic Politics at Alfred Deakin Institute in Melbourne.

"They have had an incredible workload and they have become remarkably good at what they do."

In the last six years, there has been only one major attack in Indonesia that caused civilian deaths, when assailants hit a Jakarta mall and police post with gunfire and bombs, resulting in the deaths of three Indonesians and a dual Algerian-Canadian national. All four attackers were also killed in the January 2016 attack.

Between 2002 to 2009, there were nine major attacks by militants, leaving 295 dead and hundreds of others wounded.

Since its formation in 2002, the unit has put a premium on clandestine intelligence gathering. Now much of that intelligence work is done online, by infiltrating and monitoring chat rooms, social media and messaging apps popular with militants.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/26/2016 01:42 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Since its formation in 2002, the unit has put a premium on clandestine intelligence gathering.

While here in the US, the administration's emphasis has been on closing GITMO, denying the existence of Islamic terrorism, and the integration of the Muslim Brotherhood into gov't.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/26/2016 1:56 Comments || Top||

#2  they didn't though. They're losing massively. 200,000 Islamists rioted in Jakarta because they think the Koran says a non-Muslim can never govern a muslim.

Christian governor Ahok said that interpretation was wrong so they rioted because he "disrespected the koran"

He's now on trial for blasphemy.

That's what LOSING looks like

Those 200,000 people want sharia

So who gives a flying fat crap if the police foiled an attack or two? They're losing the ideological war.
Posted by: anon1 || 12/26/2016 23:47 Comments || Top||


Economy
Top Ex-White House Economist Admits 94% Of All New Jobs Under Obama Were Part-Time
[Zero Hedge] Just over six years ago, in December of 2010, we wrote "Charting America's Transformation To A Part-Time Worker Society", in which we predicted - and showed - that in light of the underlying changes resulting from the second great depression, whose full impacts remain masked by trillions in monetary stimulus and soon, perhaps fiscal, America is shifting from a traditional work force, one where the majority of new employment is retained on a full-time basis, to a "gig" economy, where workers are severely disenfranchised, and enjoy far less employment leverage, job stability and perks than their pre-crash peers.
A man who has never held a job is credited with creating jobs. How novel.
It also explains why despite the 4.5% unemployment rate, which the Fed has erroneously assumed is indicative of job market at "capacity", wage growth not only refuses to materialize, but as we showed yesterday, the growth in real disposable personal income was the lowest since 2014.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/26/2016 01:12 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The remaining 6% were temporary.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/26/2016 7:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Official Fake News, not to be confused with social media fake news.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/26/2016 8:11 Comments || Top||

#3  The 30 hour or less jobs and its companion, the obamacare insurance con game, are this idiots legacy. Once the obamacare insurance increases hit next month the disposabe income will dry up and and interest rates creep up...the economy will begin to tank again...right as obama leaves office...Kinda like he planned it.
Posted by: Tennessee || 12/26/2016 9:18 Comments || Top||

#4  also, the number of people with multiple jobs (or gigs as zerohedge calls them) has hit the highest amount recorded this century

as Bill Clinton pointed out (before he was shut down), there are substantial numbers of people working two 29 hour/wk jobs (or one 29hr/wk, and one 20hr/wk, etc) who don't get employer provided health care insurance and earn too much to get subsidized govt marketplace individual health care insurance

even a lot of leftist have figured out that this is a problem
Posted by: lord garth || 12/26/2016 10:53 Comments || Top||

#5  Also, the majority of full-time jobs added were in the public sector.

Also, the rate of new small business startups is the lowest since the country was founded.

Also,.....aw jeez, I no longer have the energy.
Posted by: no mo uro || 12/26/2016 15:42 Comments || Top||

#6  Also, the rate of new small business startups is the lowest since the country was founded.

I grab the monthly New Corporations books at the Mass. State House Bookstore. They generally run about 100 pages every month. It'll be interesting to see what the November and December books look like pagewise.
Posted by: Raj || 12/26/2016 15:57 Comments || Top||

#7  Hey Raj, are you a glutton for punishment? The state house every month???

Posted by: AlanC || 12/26/2016 16:15 Comments || Top||

#8  It used to be once a month, now it's every two or three months. I always pair it with a client visit, so it's not much more than 10 - 15 extra minutes and a walk by the bums at Park Street.
Posted by: Raj || 12/26/2016 17:35 Comments || Top||

#9  Do ya ever eat at Jacob Wirth, Raj?
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 12/26/2016 18:27 Comments || Top||

#10  cut income taxes, tax rent seeking instead.

It's called capitalism. American's could try it and grow their economy, but their establishment would hate it.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 12/26/2016 18:36 Comments || Top||

#11  Deacon Blues - never had the pleasure.
Posted by: Raj || 12/26/2016 20:14 Comments || Top||


Government
Obama Abolishes National Visitor Registry Before Trump Takes Office
[Free Beacon] The Obama administration is overhauling a national registry program intended to track visitors who arrive in the U.S. from countries with active terrorist groups less than a month before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

The registry, called the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, was implemented after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, but has been dormant since 2011, the New York Times reported Thursday.

Trump has suggested he would reinstate the program. When asked by a reporter Thursday morning whether he still planned on creating a registry for Muslims and imposing a temporary ban on Muslim immigration, the president-elect replied, "You know my plans."

Kellyanne Conway, a senior Trump aide, clarified hours later that Trump was referring to plans to bar people from countries with a history of homegrown terrorism, the Washington Post reported.

The Department of Homeland Security submitted a rule change on Thursday in the first step toward dismantling the program. The DHS said the registry was "redundant, ineffective, and provided no increase in security." DHS spokesman Neema Hakim added the program is "not only obsolete" and "outdated," but pulls resources from other security areas that are more effective.

Democratic lawmakers have also called for an end to the registry. A joint letter signed by more than 50 Democratic members of the House earlier this month charged, "No known terrorism convictions have resulted from the program."

Civil liberties activists have condemned the program as discriminatory.
.....but bolt their doors at night.
Kris Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state and a member of Trump’s transition team, helped create the program when he served in the Justice Department under former President George W. Bush.

Kobach was photographed last month holding a document that included a proposal for the Trump administration to "Bar the Entry of Potential Terrorists," which would revive the registry system, the Times reported.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/26/2016 00:53 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Aiding and Abetting during time of war.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/26/2016 8:12 Comments || Top||

#2  The registry is now abolished. What happens to the daily back-up files previously made?
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/26/2016 15:50 Comments || Top||

#3  DHS spokesman Neema Hakim. He heads up the dept. overseen by....(insert any common Arab name.)
Posted by: RJ45ACP || 12/26/2016 18:27 Comments || Top||

#4  good he doesn't have to sack the existing failed sinecurists when he re-starts it.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 12/26/2016 18:34 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Senator Ted Cruz: No money for UN until Israel decision reversed
[The Hill] Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) vowed Saturday to not allow the U.S. to give money to the United Nations until it reversed its Friday decision forcing an end to Israeli settlements.

Cruz tweeted that he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, adding, "No US $ for UN until reversed."

Cruz's tweet echoes the sentiments of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who said Saturday he would propose halting U.S. funding to the U.N. as well.

"It's that important to me," Graham told CNN. "This is a road we haven't gone down before. If you can't show the American people that international organizations can be more responsible, there is going to be a break. And I am going to lead that break."

The U.N. voted 14-0 Friday to stop Israel settlements in areas of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. President Obama authorized the U.S. to abstain from voting on the measure, drawing backlash over the decision to break from the longstanding U.S. policy of shielding Israel from U.N. reproaches.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called the resolution "conceived" and an "outrageous attack." Netanyahu expressed anger and frustration with the vote, saying he was looking forward to working with the Trump administration to "negate the harmful effects of this absurd resolution."

The announcement came at the start of Hanukkah.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/26/2016 00:49 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ISIS out of control all over the ME.
Bokoharam ruining Africa.
Russia and Ukraine at each other's throats.
Venezuelans facing starvation under their government.
Greece is bankrupt.
Etc., etc., etc., and where is the UN in this?

I suggest we close down this useless group and sell its assets for distribution to troubled spots.
Posted by: Jusort Thrise1505 || 12/26/2016 1:00 Comments || Top||

#2  May I take the Cruz suggestion one step further ?

'No money for UN until' all the UN member nations fully recognize Israel as a sovereign, legitimate state. That should free up several hundred billion dollars per year well into the next millennium.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/26/2016 7:13 Comments || Top||

#3  I'm sorry, we're 20 trillion dollars in debt. Not interested in the further indenturing of our citizens for your self indulgence.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/26/2016 8:54 Comments || Top||

#4  USA out of UN. UN off USA soil.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 12/26/2016 10:53 Comments || Top||

#5  No money for the UN.

Full stop. No more to add to it.
Posted by: DarthVader || 12/26/2016 13:45 Comments || Top||

#6  The UN has a lovely campus in Geneva at the historic site of the League of Nations. Switzerland is a neutral location with all the amenities the plutocrats at the UN expect. Plus great skiing and amazing food choices. We could offer an in incentive and perhaps 10% of their budget in a take it or leave it deal. Besides, I lived in Geneva for almost 5 years and the Swiss love a circus with clowns.
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 12/26/2016 14:15 Comments || Top||

#7  Much as unions in the US were a sop to prevent the development of the communist party in the US (it worked) The UN is a sop to keep communist revolutionaries from foreign nations bottled up. Not needed any longer, cut them loose, use the money to squash the Elizabeth Warren - Bernie Sanders wing of the dem party here at home now.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/26/2016 14:35 Comments || Top||

#8  Is Cruz planning another installment of his recitation of "Green Eggs and Ham", to enforce his will?
Posted by: Lone Ranger || 12/26/2016 18:53 Comments || Top||

#9  "Is Cruz planning another installment of his recitation of "Green Eggs and Ham", to enforce his will?"

Sure sounds like the timing of a Maccabees revolt to me.

Barakraken did this right on Hanukkah.

Biblically, this should tell you exactly where you are with this right now.
Posted by: newc || 12/26/2016 23:22 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Indonesian police kill 2 militants during raid on house in Java
[AlAhram] Indonesian police potted two suspected Islamist snuffies in a house in West Java on Sunday, a police front man said, in the latest in a series of raids aimed at preventing planned attacks in the Moslem-majority nation.

Two men had been enjugged
Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!
in Cibinong, in West Java, and led police to a house nearby, at the Jatiluhur dam, national police front man Awi Setiyono said. "There were two men there and there was a shootout and we had to shoot them," said Setiyono.

Police seized some weapons and a letter which said the group had planned to launch an attack at some holy man's guesthouse an undisclosed location on new year's eve, West Java police front man Yusri Yunus told Metro TV.

A police bomb squad was still scanning the area for any explosives, Yunus added.

Earlier this week, Indonesian anti-terrorism police potted three suspects in a shootout on the outskirts of the capital Jakarta, and said they had foiled a suicide kaboom planned for the end of the year.

Police have arrested dozens of suspected snuffies in recent months, including a cell on Batam island that planned a rocket attack on neighbouring Singapore.

Indonesia has foiled at least 14 attacks this year alone and made more than 150 arrests.

Indonesia will to deploy 85,000 police and 15,000 military personnel for the Christmas and New Year period, police said.

Indonesian Police Shoot Dead Two Terror Suspects

[AnNahar] Indonesian police Sunday rubbed out two terror suspects and enjugged
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
two more, only days after foiling separate plans by an IS-linked group for a Christmas-time suicide kaboom near the capital. The pair were fatally shot at a house in Purwakarta 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of the capital Jakarta after allegedly resisting arrest.

"We ordered them to surrender and even fired warning shots, but they resisted and started to attack our officers with machetes, so we had to take them down," national police front man Awi Setiyono told AFP.

Police raided the house after arresting and interrogating two men on Sunday morning.

The suspects attacked officers with knives but gave up after being shot and maimed, police said. After being interrogated, they led police to a house at a separate location where two more members of the group were hiding.

Several sharp weapons were seized from the house but no explosives were found.

Police said the suspects and the dead men were members of the Jamaah Ansharut Daulah group, a local krazed killer outfit which supports 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 and was responsible for a November attack on a church which killed a toddler on Borneo island.

"Their target is to attack coppers, in police posts or even at home. They wanted to attack with sharp weapons such as knives and machetes," Setiyono said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/26/2016 00:15 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Africa Subsaharan
At least 22 killed in troubled North Kivu province
[Al Jazeera] At least 22 non-combatants were killed in Democratic Republic of the Congo
...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material...
's North Kivu province over the weekend, an official said, blaming the attacks on an gang led by Ugandan rebels.

The killings happened in Eringeti, a town 55km north of the regional hub Beni, a city plagued by a wave of deadly attacks, according to regional official Amisi Kalonda.

"Yesterday, they killed 10 civilians. Twelve other bodies were found [on Sunday] in the surrounding villages," he told AFP news agency on Sunday.

For the past two years, the region around Beni has been afflicted by a series of killings. Nearly 700 civilians have died, most of whom were hacked to death.

Congolese officials have blamed the attacks on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a group of rebels dominated by Ugandan Moslems, but several reports have suggested that other groups - including elements within the Congolese army - took part in some killings.

A Congolese army front man confirmed the attacks saying military forces had "killed four ADF rebels" but added that "the toll on the civilian side is very heavy".

Political crisis
The violence came amid a major political crisis in the country, in which opposition leaders are trying to prevent President Joseph Kabila, who has been in office since 2001, from serving a third term.

Congolese politicians have agreed in principle to a deal under which Kabila will leave office by the end of 2017, opposition leaders said on Friday, an unexpected breakthrough after dozens were killed in anti-government protests this week.
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:


Britain
Britain's Queen Elizabeth misses Christmas church service due to 'heavy cold'
SANDRINGHAM, England (Reuters) - Britain's Queen Elizabeth, 90, missed a traditional Christmas church service on Sunday for the first time in decades due to a heavy cold, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said.[snip]
Don't like the connected dots between this story and this one.
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  When you are 90, you take no chances when you have a cold. Regarding Charles, a quote from the Queen:

"Like all best families, we have our share of eccentricities, of impetuous and wayward youngsters and of family disagreements."
Posted by: Jusort Thrise1505 || 12/26/2016 1:10 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Seven ISIS terrorists killed near Kirkuk because of heavy rains
[ALMASDARNEWS] Heavy rains killed seven members of ISIS in Hawija district a security source in Kirkuk province told al-Sumaria News on Sunday.
What did Allah have against them?
The source told Alsumaria News, "Today, heavy rains resulted in the collapse of one 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....
’s (ISIS) tunnels in Hawija district (55 km southwest of Kirkuk)."

"Seven members of the Islamic State, who were hiding from air strikes inside the tunnel, had been killed when the tunnel collapsed," the source added.

"Rains also helped displaced people fleeing from Hawija to discover IEDs planted by the bully boy group, as well as revealing the tunnels that were submerged by rainwater," the source further added on condition of anonymity.

Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  "Die like a Gazook!"
Posted by: Frank G || 12/26/2016 13:57 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas’s deployment at the Gaza border carries echoes of South Lebanon
Many of you will have a better idea than I whether this is a realistic concern or journalistic hyperventilating.
[IsraelTimes] The Islamists are positioned just across the fence, better trained and better equipped than in the past. And it won’t take much to shatter the current calm.

At approximately 3:30 on a recent afternoon, one could see, with the unaided eye, three white pickup trucks belonging to Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", arrive at a lookout point on the Gazoo side of the border with Israel. In army language, their convoy is known as a "commanders’ patrol": This was a group of Hamas officers on a tour of their positions, checking to see that the troops were alert and prepared for any possibility of escalation.

There were 13 members of the patrol in all, in black uniforms, climbing up to an observation post where armed Hamas troops keep constant watch on Israel.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


China-Japan-Koreas
China's 1st Aircraft Carrier Heads For Western Pacific
China's first aircraft carrier has set off for the Western Pacific for an open-sea training exercise, the Defense Ministry said. State media said Sunday that it is the first time that the Liaoning, which was commissioned by the Chinese navy in 2012, has headed to "distant sea waters." The Western Pacific region stretches from China to New Zealand and encompasses countries in the Pacific, Oceania and parts of Asia.

The statement said a navy formation including the Liaoning set off Saturday for training in the Western Pacific, without elaborating on the location, as part of an annual training plan.
This is what carrier battle groups do: practice.
China said last month that its aircraft carrier, purchased as an incomplete hull from Ukraine more than a decade ago, was ready to engage in combat. The Liaoning recently completed its first live-fire exercise along with fighters in the Bohai Sea in eastern China and, on Friday, the military announced it had carried out a series of fighter launch, recovery and air combat exercises slightly farther afield in the Yellow Sea.

On Saturday morning, the Liaoning carried out training in the East China Sea, according to footage shown on state broadcaster China Central Television. A separate statement from the Defense Ministry said that several carrier-based fighter jets and helicopters took off one after another and returned after completing an air tactical confrontation and air refueling exercise.

The Japanese Defense Ministry said it spotted the Liaoning as part of a fleet of eight Chinese warships that included destroyers and frigates, in the central part of the East China Sea for the first time. It said there was no incursion into Japanese waters.

China hasn't described specifically how it intends to use the Liaoning, but it is seen as helping reinforce China's increasingly assertive claims over almost all of the South China Sea, which is home to key shipping lanes, rich fishing grounds and a potential wealth of mineral resources.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Is the PLAN doing all of this "cold start" without carrier familiarization / cross-training with foreign navies? Expect some costly accidents if so as the sea is unkind to amateurs.
Posted by: magpie || 12/26/2016 1:22 Comments || Top||

#2  China said last month that its aircraft carrier, purchased as an incomplete hull from Ukraine more than a decade ago, was ready to engage in combat.

The carrier was purchased by a Hong Kong business man from the Ukraine, Xu Zengping, who "sold" it to the central government. However, the government never paid him even 1 yen, and practically ruined the man.
Posted by: Shose Slavise2667 || 12/26/2016 2:07 Comments || Top||

#3  All nice. Now to you have an effective escort group to increase its survivability outside of land based cover? The Argies had an aircraft carrier that didn't venture too far from home during the Falklands conflict, for good reason.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/26/2016 8:45 Comments || Top||

#4  "distant sea waters."

off their coast
Posted by: Frank G || 12/26/2016 12:22 Comments || Top||

#5  Is the PLAN doing all of this "cold start" without carrier familiarization / cross-training with foreign navies? Expect some costly accidents if so as the sea is unkind to amateurs.

You can bet they're doing this only after poring over reams of (purloined and translated) archived material from Uncle Sam's Navy.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 12/26/2016 15:23 Comments || Top||

#6  All nice. Now to you have an effective escort group to increase its survivability outside of land based cover? The Argies had an aircraft carrier that didn't venture too far from home during the Falklands conflict, for good reason.

The Chinese have a fairly large and modern navy, thanks to decades of massive investments in new capital ships. This carrier's just the tip of the iceberg. A couple of additional carriers are on the way.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 12/26/2016 15:34 Comments || Top||

#7  re ZF: studying the purloined us papers and actually foing it is sorta like spectator sex: it aint the same. look for some "Made by China" holes in the water coming soon.
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 12/26/2016 15:44 Comments || Top||

#8  "foing" = "doing"
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 12/26/2016 15:45 Comments || Top||

#9  They do know that the screen doors at the water line are a joke don't they? Ummmmmmmm, don't they?
Posted by: AlanC || 12/26/2016 16:02 Comments || Top||

#10  The Chinese have a fairly large and modern navy,

As we're aware of, but carrier groups have to have depth to cover rotations well afar from home base. One in for maintenance, one out, and one training.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/26/2016 16:19 Comments || Top||

#11  re ZF: studying the purloined us papers and actually foing it is sorta like spectator sex: it aint the same. look for some "Made by China" holes in the water coming soon.

They're not just studying. They're doing. That's what the massive PLAN budget is all about - money for avgas, spare parts, simulators, training hours and the whole panoply of requirements for a blue water navy.

The product issues we get with some imported Chinese goods are the result of a low-bid process completed at rock bottom prices made feasible only by under-speccing the product delivered. At $180b, the Chinese military isn't cutting corners on cost - adjusted for salary differences (6 to 1), they're spending at least as much as the US, if not more.

The Chinese have been pretty good at ripping off extremely complicated and fast-evolving products in the tech sector. By comparison, the military is practically standing still. I expect they will have little difficulty replicating functions explained in microscopic detail the way the US military tends to do, especially since they have no shortage of funding to do it with.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 12/26/2016 16:44 Comments || Top||

#12  Bottom line is that we'd better think about what we're prepared to defend in the Western Pacific, how much money we're prepared to spend defending it and what our end game vis-a-vis China is going to be. I suspect nothing short of partition, with a China occupied by neighboring powers, will neutralize the long-term Chinese threat. Since that is not a practical possibility, short of a lucky roll of the dice (i.e. large scale multi-faction civil war in China culminating in the establishment of multiple independent countries along historical ethno-linguistic lines), we are looking at an armed truce in the wake of limited hostilities that will repeatedly flare up as China does probes in force.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 12/26/2016 16:54 Comments || Top||

#13  All great input and analysis.
I anticipate an opportunity for deepwater exploring.
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/26/2016 19:31 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Phoenix cops arrest alleged ‘jihadist’ plotting midnight Mass attack: ‘Get down with this ISIS s-t’
[WASHINGTONTIMES] An Arizona man was incarcerated
Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!
earlier this week for alleged ties to 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 and a plan to target midnight Masses in Phoenix.

Derrick Thompson, 30, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with one felony count of participating in a criminal syndicate, one charge of assisting a criminal syndicate and one felony count of misconduct involving weapons. Court documents released Thursday say he has been an "avowed jihadist" since July 2014.

"From the period of July 2014 to the present Derrick Thompson was involved in communications and activity that show material support for the Islamic State Iraq and the Levant (ISIS/ISIS/IS)," court documents said, a local CBS affiliate reported Thursday. "Specifically, on our about January 26, 2015, Thompson attempted to obtain a handgun from a seller on backpage.com."

The suspect’s attempts to obtain the handgun failed due to a prior felony conviction.

"The search history from his Google accounts include numerous contacts with ISIS websites, and a post to his Google Plus account in October 2016 stating, ’Right, we need to get down with this ISIS s-t.’ His Google account has been used as recently as October 2016 to search for midnight mass," the court documents continued.

Mr. Thompson also goes by the alias Abu Talib al-Ameriki, court documents show.

Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Mr. Thompson also goes by the alias Abu Talib al-Ameriki, court documents show.

Also "bottom bitch", now
Posted by: Frank G || 12/26/2016 8:31 Comments || Top||

#2  Low-hanging fruit. From the Phoenix news stories, there's more than just him out there.
Posted by: Pappy || 12/26/2016 13:56 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Saudi gets death penalty for interior ministry bomb plot
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A specialized court in Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
has handed a citizen an initial death sentence for plotting to bomb the country’s ministry of interior with the help of al-Qaeda cells.

The citizen, who was unnamed in a statement released by the court, was found to be in possession of blue prints of the country’s interior and armed forces headquarters with details on how the attack would have taken place.

He was also found to have helped al-Qaeda cells in Saudi Arabia and to have been in contact with several Death Eaters, some of whom are convicted felons on the run after escaping from prison.
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


Saudi soldier killed in firefight near Yemen border
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A Saudi soldier was killed in a cross-border firefight with Yemeni militias, the interior ministry said Sunday.

A border post was attacked overnight by Houthis, a front man said, adding that one soldier maimed in the exchange - Sultan bin Ayed Farhan al-Sharari - died before reaching hospital.

Saudi forces continue to shell the hideouts of Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ...
militias and forces loyal to ousted Yemeni president President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
in Saudi border areas for the third day in a row.
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Saudi investigation into 16-year-old girl’s marriage to elderly man
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Prince Fahad bin Sultan, the governor of the Saudi Tabuk province, has ordered a court to look into the marriage of a 16-year-old girl from a man in his 70s and rule whether it is religiously acceptable.

This comes after social media users voiced their surprise over the marriage between an elderly man and a minor.

Relevant authorities have summoned and taken the statements from the concerned parties, including the 16-year-old girl, who voiced her desire to go ahead with the marriage.

Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia


The Grand Turk
Turkey amasses troops along Syrian border
[WASHINGTONTIMES] A number of Turkish tanks and heavy artillery are heading to the country’s volatile border with the war-torn country of Syria Sunday, ordered by Ankara to reinforce the country’s ongoing campaign against the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
The Turkish troops and weaponry began making their way toward the border region on Sunday as Turkish and Syria fighters continue to tighten the noose around the al Bab, the northern Syrian enclave controlled by Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIS, Agence La Belle France-Presse reported.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him...
on Saturday said "Al-Bab is nearly finished" almost a month after the offensive began to retake the city, which lies 100 miles west of Islamic State’s so-called capital of Raqqa, Syria, AFP reported.

The Turkish president also reiterated his plans to move on the Syrian city of Manbij, a former ISIS stronghold now under control of the American-backed coalition in the country, once the al-Bab operations were complete.

The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
’s push into al-Bab had been seen as a thinly-veiled effort by Ankara to take Raqqa without American or coalition support.
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Kurdish forces take ground from ISIS western Raqqa
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] The U.S.-backed Syria Democratic Forces on Sunday took a ground from 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....
in the western countryside of Raqqa, the group's de facto caliphate capital, according to statement posted online.

The YPG-led forces its military campaign, so-called Euphrates Anger, had controlled the village of Jaaber al-Sharqi after heavy clashed with ISIS, killing 38 militiamen.

YPG posted a video shows an kaboom of boom-mobile prepared by ISIS in the village of Jaaber al-Sharqi as they were advancing inside the village.

On the other hand, Amaq, the official news agency of ISIS reported killing 20 members of the Syrian branch of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) by trapping them in a mine field in the village of Jaaber Sharqi, in Western countryside of Raqqa.

Clashes between ISIS and SDF’s militias has continued for the last 5 days around the village of Jaaber Sharqi and the village of Mahmoodli, 50 km Western of Raqqa.

Sources detailed that festivities are taking place in an area no more than 10 km from the route reaching to Euphrates dam, which is the target of SDF and US-allied forces, in order to reach to the city of Tabaqa.

On December 10, SDF launched an operation against the Islamic State in order to control the Western countryside of Raqqa,which is part of the military operation "Euphrates Anger" launched November 6, against the Islamic State in the city of Raqqa.
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel strikes back after UN settlement vote, Pope Francis hopes for peace
[DAWN] Israel on Sunday summoned representatives of states that supported a UN resolution demanding it halt settlement activity, while cutting civilian coordination with Paleostinians by way of rebuke.

Foreign ministry front man Emmanuel Nahshon said that the 14 envoys of UN Security Council members will visit the ministry in Jerusalem throughout the day.

The Council passed the measure Friday after the United States abstained, enabling the adoption of the first resolution since 1979 to condemn Israel over its settlement policy. The US envoy was not summoned.

The resolution demands "Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Paleostinian territory, including east Jerusalem."

It says settlements have "no legal validity" and are "dangerously imperilling the viability of the two-state solution."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had rejected the resolution as a "shameful blow against Israel," repeated on Sunday the Israeli claim that US President Barack Obama
Republicans can come along for the ride, but they've got to sit in the back...
and Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry
Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, unsuccessful presidential candidate, and utterly failed Secretary of State...
were behind the resolution.

Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Tunisians Protest against Return of Terrorists from Conflict Zones
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Hundreds of people erupted into the streets of the Tunisian capital to protest against the repatriation of fellow citizens suspected of having links with various bully boy groups.

The protest took place after Germany announced that it would speed up the process of sending rejected Tunisian asylum seekers home, and Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi said that authorities could not prevent the return of terrorists.

Tunisians staged a rally in front of the national parliament that was attended by hundreds of people.

People were holding placards that read "close the doors to terrorism" and "no tolerance, no return" as well as were waving Tunisian flags and singing the national anthem.

Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
SDF 5km from strategic Tabqa dam west of Raqqa
[RUDAW.NET] The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are just five kilometres away from the strategic Tabqa dam on the Euphrates, west of the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa.

Backed by coalition Arclight airstrikes, the SDF advanced Sunday morning and pushed ISIS out of the village of Eastern Ja’bar, "which puts them about 5 km away from the Euphrates Dam located on the Euphrates at al-Tabaqa city," the conflict monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

The campaign to liberate Raqqa reported they had killed 38 ISIS turbans and destroyed a boom-mobile in the Raqqa countryside on Sunday. The Observatory confirmed the deaths of at least 25 turbans and said that the SDF had suffered casualties as well, but did not provide numbers.

Tabqa city, 40 kilometres west of Raqqa, is of strategic importance ‐ it is home to both a major dam and a former airbase.

The Observatory stated that "leading figures" of ISIS live in the city, which also houses the bad boy group’s largest prison where key prisoners are being held.

In the summer, the Syrian army launched a campaign to retake control of Tabqa. They briefly entered Raqqa province for the first time since ISIS took over the area in August 2014. ISIS sent reinforcements to the area in June and drove the regime forces out of the province for a second time.

The SDF launched the second phase of their Wrath of Euphrates campaign to liberate Raqqa city from ISIS on December 10. The goal of this phase of the military offensive is to "fully liberate the western countryside of Raqqa as well as isolating the city," the SDF stated.
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Europe
Maltese charge Libyan Afriqiyah hijackers with acts of terrorism
[Libya Herald] A Maltese court pressed a number of charges against the two Libyan kidnappers of the Afriqiyah Airbus A 320, including acts of terrorism and the use of violence.

The two accused had pleaded not guilty
"Wudn't me."
to all charges which could possibly lead to life imprisonment if found guilty. Maltese media reports say that no request for bail or request for political asylum or for extradition were made for either and that both had refused to answer questions from the Maltese police during interrogation. The motivation of the hijacking is still unclear.

Musa Shaha Soku age 27 and Ahmed Saleh age 28 from Libya’s southern city of Sabha, had hijacked an Afriqiyah flight on Friday during its internal flight from Sabha to Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
forcing it to fly on to Malta International Airport. The flight was carrying 118 passengers on its way to Tripoli’s Mitiga airport when the kidnappers forced the pilot to land at MIA using a guns and explosives. These later turned out to be replicas.

During the four-hour hijacking hold-up on the MIA runway one of the kidnappers appeared at the top of the aircraft’s steps waving a Qadaffy-era green flag and subsequently during a telephone interview with Libyan TV one of the kidnappers said they wanted to announce the formation of the Al Fatah al-Jadid party. al-Fatah was the name of Qadaffy’s 1969 coup d’état.
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Africa Subsaharan
Two Boko Haram members die in Cameroon suicide bombing
[PREMIUMTIMESNG] Two suspected jacket wallahs were killed after attempting to launch attacks on Sunday morning in 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...
, a security source told Xinhua.

The source said two young men suspected to be members of 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...
killed themselves after detonating bombs attached to them at the entrance of a market in Mora, a small town in the far north region near the border with Nigeria.

The source said the attacks took place at around 8 a.m. and no other victim was reported.

The Lake Chad Basin Commission formed multinational forces stationed at Mora , with particular objective of eradicating terrorist threat in the region.
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


International-UN-NGOs
Filipino President threatens to burn down the UN
[ALMASDARNEWS] Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, known for his colorful rhetoric, has threatened to "burn down" the United Nations
...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense...
Headquarters in New York over mounting international criticism of his crackdown on suspected drug pushers, PressTV reported.

"You go and file a complaint in the United Nations, I will burn down the United Nations if you want," Rodrigo Duterte said when asked about the country’s reported human rights
...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
violations, as quoted by media on Saturday.

Addressing military personnel at an army base during a December 18 trip to the country’s southern city of Zamboanga, the tough-talking president said, "I will burn it (the UN) down if I go to America," the report continued.
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Narcos

#1  I have come to realize this guy is a shock jock. Entertaining for once to see this coming from a leader, but can also be considered trash talk on the basketball court of politics.
Posted by: Jusort Thrise1505 || 12/26/2016 0:53 Comments || Top||

#2  Don't stop him, he's on a roll.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/26/2016 8:06 Comments || Top||

#3  Somebody has to say it.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/26/2016 8:32 Comments || Top||

#4  "I will burn it (the UN) down if I go to America,"

Line forms to the right, bub.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 12/26/2016 10:48 Comments || Top||

#5  even a stopped clock...etc
Posted by: Jereque Scourge of the Hatfields7104 || 12/26/2016 12:29 Comments || Top||

#6  Give him all the gasoline and matches he needs!
Posted by: DarthVader || 12/26/2016 13:29 Comments || Top||

#7  This calls for a GoFundMe account.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 12/26/2016 15:58 Comments || Top||

#8  I am completely with ZF.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 12/26/2016 22:06 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
ISIS sustains more than 50 casualties near Kuweries Airport in east Aleppo
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian Arab Army's artillery and missile battalions targeted the so-called "Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
of Iraq and al-Sham's" (ISIS) positions near the northern perimeter of the Kuweires Military Airport on Sunday, inflicting heavy casualties on the aforementioned terrorist group while also destroying several armored vehicles.

The Syrian Army assault began on Sunday morning, when their battalions fired several missiles and artillery shells towards the terrorist group's gathering points around the villages of Mushrafit Abou Jabbar and Bijan.

Following the initial attack, the Syrian Armed Forces launched a second round of missiles and artillery shells towards the Islamic State's positions, scoring direct hits on a number of sites amid the terrorist group's attempted evasion.

According to a military source at the Kuweires Military Airport, more than 50 Islamic State murderous Moslems were killed or maimed during this powerful assault on Sunday, marking one of the highest casualty totals for the terrorist group this month.

Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


India-Pakistan
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al-Alami group chief survives insider attack in Afghanistan
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The group leader of Pakistain’s 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 ...
al-Alami group has survived an insider attack involving a member of the group in southern Afghanistan, it has been reported.

According to the front man of the group Ali Bin Sufyan the incident took place in southern Zabul province after a member of the group opened fire on Yousuf Mansoor Khurasani.

Sufyan told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named that the attacker was killed by the retaliatory fire of Khurasani’s bodyguard.

According to reports, the group is involved in some of the deadly attacks in Pakistain, including an attack on Quetta police academy.

Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Jhangvi


Afghanistan
Key Taliban commander leading a group of 30 militants killed in Wardak
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A key commander of the Taliban group who was leading a group of 30 Lions of Islam in central Maidan Wardak province was killed during an operation of the security forces.

The Ministry of Interior (MoI) said commander Lal Zada who was also famous as Farooq was killed during a special military operation conducted late on Friday night.

MoI said the operation was conducted in Ismail Khel village in Jalrez district.

The Ministry further added that commander Lal Zada was involved in major terrorist activities including coordinated attacks on security posts.

According to MoI, three more Lions of Islam were also locked away
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
during the operation and some weapons were seized.

The Talibs group has not commented regarding the report so far.
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Iraq
Baghdad hit by deadly bombings, at least 11 dead
[Al Jazeera] Separate bombings in and around Baghdad have killed at least 11 civilians and maimed 34 others, according to Iraqi officials.

The deadliest attacks took place in the southeastern Nahrawan district and southwestern Suwaib district, where three non-combatants were killed in each, police said on Sunday.

A total of 15 civilians were maimed in the two attacks - all of them carried out with bombs and targeting commercial areas.

Medical officials confirmed casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to release information.

No group has immediately grabbed credit for the attacks.

Daily attacks
Iraq witnesses near-daily attacks, including in Baghdad, which have been frequently claimed by the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).

ISIS, also known as ISIS, has been losing terrirory in Iraq over the past year.

The group is now facing a big battle to hold the northern city of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
, its last stronghold in the country.

Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Terrorist leader killed after shoot-out with Russ special forces soldiers
[EXPRESS.CO.UK] A MILITANT leader is thought to be one of a pair of Death Eaters killed in Russia after they shot at special forces operatives.

Russian special forces shot the two terrorists
Officers came across the two Death Eaters early this morning in the country’s southern republic of Dagestan
...a formerly inoffensive Caucasus republic currently bedevilled by low-level Islamic insurgency, occasional outbreaks of separatism, ethnic tensions and terrorism, primarily due to its proximity to Chechnya. There are several dozen ethnic groups, most of which speak either Caucasian, Turkic, or Iranian languages. Largest among these ethnic groups are the Avar, Dargin, Kumyk, Lezgin, and Laks. While Russers form less than five percent of the population, Russian remains the primary official language and the lingua franca...
, the National Anti-Terrorist Committee (NAK) said.

The pair opened fire on police and in the ensuring shootout both were rubbed out as they attempted to escape.

One of the men is reported to be Ibrahim Amirov, the leader of a local gang called Shamil, which has terrorised the region for years.

Since 2013 the gang has carried out a lengthy list of crimes, including murdering the heads of a village municipality in 2013 and 2015, a local imam and the art director of a cultural centre.

Shamil gang members have in the past managed to hack cellular communication services in the area.

They have also become well-known for extorting large amounts of money from local businesses to fund their underground dealings.

The NAK report says at about 4am on Saturday, as part of an existing counter-terrorism operation, the special forces operatives found the men in the village of Teletl.

They opened fire on the soldiers but were killed during the shootout.

Soldiers found two rifles, a pistol, a grenade, a sniper rifle and ammunition at the scene.
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:


The Grand Turk
Turkey faces the ISIL front with losses in Syria
[Hurriyet Daily News] The dead bodies of 16 Turkish soldiers were buried in 14 different provinces across The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
, all att about the same time on Dec. 23.

Those soldiers were killed a day before in the Turkish army campaign to wrest control of the Syrian town of al-Bab from the Islamic State
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte

#1  Muslims killing each other. The only thing that, IMO, could be better is "Muslims killing each other efficiently".
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/26/2016 4:43 Comments || Top||

#2  In play appears to be two processes or celestial experiments running parallel. For the sake of brevity, let us simply refer to them as 'good' and 'evil.' Disturbing the natural order of either may result in disastrous consequences. Perhaps we should let the Muslim process play out without interruption.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/26/2016 7:09 Comments || Top||

#3  The Kurds will soon be caught between a rock and a hard place. Trump will decide how messy ir gets.
If Turkey is to stay with the west, it's dictator has to go.
Posted by: jvalentour || 12/26/2016 9:05 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Christmas Eve mass bombing hurts 16 in Mindanao
[Gulf Today] Two motorcycle-riding men threw a grenade into a crowd attending the Christmas Eve mass in a Catholic church in North Cotabato province, injuring at least 16 people including a policeman and a three-year-old girl.

Police chief Bernardo Tayong said most of the injured victims were outside the church when the blast occurred on Saturday night in the town of Midsayap. He said one of those wounded was a policeman manning a patrol car deployed in front of the church to provide security for the worshipers attending the Christmas Eve mass. Tayong said a woman who bore the brunt was seriously hurt when the grenade exploded.

Reverend Jay Virador said, "The Holy Mass was abruptly ended, no more concluding prayers as there was a commotion. We are saddened because we are supposed to be spreading love and peace on Christmas Day."
Posted by: ryuge || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan
Taliban leader among 7 killed, wounded in Nangarhar airstrikes
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least three Taliban faceless myrmidons including a local leader of the group were killed and four others were maimed in separate Arclight airstrikes 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.

The provincial police commandment in a statement said the Taliban leader Abdul Rahman was killed in the first Arclight airstrike conducted in Bati Kot district and four of his lover companions were maimed.

The statement further added that two more snuffies were killed in the second Arclight airstrike conducted in Achin district.

According to the provincial police commandment, the snuffies killed or maimed in Achin district are all foreigners.

No further details were given regarding the raids and it is yet not clear if the Arclight airstrikes were conducted by the US forces or the Afghan Air Force.
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda


Iraq
Airstrike kills 20, injures scores in Iraq’s Mosul
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] At least 20 people were killed and scores injured in an Arclight airstrike in Iraq’s northern city of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
on Sunday.

A warplane struck a marketplace in al-Baaj, 140 kilometers west of Mosul, Iraqi politician Zahed al-Khatoni told Anadolu Agency.

He said the corpse count is expected to rise as many of the injured are in a serious condition.

It remains unclear whether the raid was carried out by an aircraft belonging to the Iraqi air forces or the U.S.-led coalition.

Mosul is currently the subject of a major offensive launched by the Iraqi army in late October to recapture the city from ISIS terrorist group.

U.S.-led coalition warplanes have been carrying out Arclight airstrikes against ISIS positions in the city as part of the offensive.
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Iraqi forces storm al-Qud’s neighborhood in Eastern Mosul
[ALMASDARNEWS] Iraqi forces have stormed the eastern djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
neighborhood of al-Qud's according to a security source in Nineveh province, al-Sumaria News reported on Sunday.

"At afternoon today, forces from the Counter-Terrorism Service stormed into al-Quds neighborhood in the eastern side of Mosul, after fierce festivities with 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....
’s terrorists," the source speaking on anonymity told al-Sumaria News.

"The forces are seeking to liberate al-Quds neighborhood, which is used by the terrorist group as a headquarters to launch car kabooms on the nearby neighborhoods," the source continued.

"The security forces are advancing significantly in the operations," the source added.

Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Southeast Asia
Abu Sayyaf demands $2 million for Malaysian hostages
[FMT] The Abu Sayyaf has demanded RM8.8 million in ransom for five Malaysians it has held hostage for five months in the Philippine island province of Sulu in the Philippines. A report said the militants had rejected intermediaries and directly contacted the families or employers of the crew of Tugboat Serudung 3 it had captured last July off the waters of Lahad Datu, Sabah.

The Philippine military said it cannot confirm the ransom as the Abu Sayyaf had directly negotiated with the family.

Military spokesman Filemon Tan said ground forces were trying to recover all hostages still in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf. He said rescue operations would continue even during the holidays.

The Abu Sayyaf is also believed to be holding captive a Dutch, a German, a Korean, four Indonesians, six Vietnamese and five Filipinos.
Posted by: ryuge || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf

#1  Pay'em.
Small bills, DMSO+ricin.
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/26/2016 8:55 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
'Congratulations to the baby daddy!': Trump's married communications director quits
... just two days after being appointed as female staffer hints in series of tweets that he has been involved in a 'John Edwards' style sex scandal
[snip] Deputy communications director Jessica Ditto also reportedly joined the duo [Miller and Trump strategist and senior staffer AJ Delgado] at the Sapphire Las Vegas, it was reported at the time by the New York Post.

The strip club boasts of 70,000 square feet of topless entertainment and serves 'the finest variety of cocktails, wines, champagne and cigars,' according to its website.

On the night of the debate, Miller, Delgado and Ditto were all very active on social media.
Serious lapse in judgement. Mr. Miller got a "One of the three B's" "twofer."
Delgado shared a close-up selfie with the caption: 'We're very happy right now! Go Trump! What a debate!!'

Miller also shared a picture from the venue ahead of the debate's start with the caption: 'Let's do this #MakeAmericaGreatAgain.'
Provided true, whoever 'twas the spiller of the beans has done Mr. Trump (and the USA) a "Yuuuuuge" favor. Otoh, had this happened to the HRC admin., it would have probably resulted in a "Tragic Accident™"
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So ten years ago he made a mistake? Not like he was screwing inturns in the White house.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 12/26/2016 13:04 Comments || Top||

#2  The MSM does not care how long ago something happened, and a DJT admin needs no sniping in addition to that which will be already coming.

I feel bad for Mr. Miller and family, but DJT did the only thing he could do.
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 12/26/2016 17:31 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran Says It Sealed Boeing Plane Deal At Half Price
[snip]'Boeing has announced that its IranAir contract is worth $16.6 billion. However, considering the nature of our order and its choice possibilities, the purchase contract for 80 Boeing aircraft is worth about 50 percent of that amount,' said Deputy Transport Minister Asghar Fakhrieh-Kashan, quoted by Iran’s IRNA state news agency.

A Boeing spokesman in Dubai was not available to comment.

Airbus’s contract to sell 100 jets to IranAir, signed on Thursday, would be worth $18-$20 billion at list prices, but the head of IranAir has been quoted as saying the value of the contract would not exceed $10 billion.[snip]
Hoping there were some dye packs (or better) in the pallets of Benjies Cmdr. Zero sent 'em.
Some Obama slight of hand discovered by Attorney General Jeff Sessions would be absolutely delightful. Humorous explanatory link found here.
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  The Boeing deal was a touted as a by product of the Obama Iran nuclear deal. Just like everything else Obama did, it was all a failure.
Posted by: Mad Eye Hatfield3643 || 12/26/2016 6:18 Comments || Top||

#2  ...I'm wondering if this isn't Iranian BS for the masses: "We pulled one over on the Infidels again!", and they're actually going to pay something reasonably close to the original amount.

The other alternative is that the Iranians privately agreed to $16.6B USD, Boeing gets everything ready and makes commitments, and THEN the Mullahs say, "Oh BTW we're only gonna pay this KTHXBYE." That leaves Boeing in the position of either taking a loss or losing the order entirely, because Airbus will snap it up in a heartbeat for whatever pocket change the Iranians will throw their way since Airbus is government subsidized and doesn't have to worry so much about pesky things like profits.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 12/26/2016 6:52 Comments || Top||

#3  Order now and I'll send you a second Boeing aircraft absolutely free.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/26/2016 7:01 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm wondering if US taxpayers (courtesy of Barack Hussein) are not making the difference to Boeing.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/26/2016 7:53 Comments || Top||

#5  I'm wondering if US taxpayers (courtesy of Barack Hussein) are not making the difference to Boeing.

One of the first elements criminologist search for is motive. I would offer the Iranian nuclear deal as a potential entry.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/26/2016 8:04 Comments || Top||

#6  Does sound like one of those super-secret side deals Puppet-master ValJar Obama made in that Iran deal.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/26/2016 9:12 Comments || Top||

#7  I imagine that Boeing would demand payment up front in full for each plane before delivering the planes.
Posted by: Seeking cure for ignorance || 12/26/2016 11:36 Comments || Top||

#8  know any rantburgers that are Boeing contractors?
Posted by: 746 || 12/26/2016 23:50 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Huge Fire Broke out in Haifa Oil Refinery, 40 Fire Trucks Trying to Control the Fire
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] A fire broke out Sunday morning at an oil refinery in the occupied Paleostinian city of Haifa, containing huge amounts of fuel.

A front man for the Zionist fire-fighting unit pointed out that the fire broke out in one fuel tank, noting that the fire crews are on their way to the place before the fire expands to other tanks.

Sources said later that more than 40 Zionist fire-fighting vehicles are trying to extinguish the fire, but has so far failed to control the blaze.

Rooters news agency reported that the fire broke out in one of the fuel tanks of the "Oil Ravinaraz" company, but there were no reports of injuries. It showed pictures posted on Zionist news websites showing flames and smoke rising from the tank.

Firefighters gain control of Haifa oil refinery blaze

[IsraelTimes] After battling the flames for several hours, firefighters said Sunday evening they had gained control of a massive blaze in a gasoline tank at a Haifa refinery that had been raging since morning.

Emergency crews warned that, despite containing the fire, work to extinguish it completely would continue long into the night.

It was not immediately clear how the fire started.

Haifa fire services front man Yoram Levy said the tank held 1,000 cubic liters of gasoline and more than 40 firefighting teams were being sent to try and contain the blaze. Officials said a larger disaster was avoided as the tank, with a capacity of 10,000 cubic liters, was relatively empty.
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  cubic litres???
Posted by: lord garth || 12/26/2016 0:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Gasoline. Fumes are highly combustive. Let it burn itself completely out. Sit back and keep water on the exposures for a day or so. That is actually how fires like this are handled in the oil patch.
Posted by: Jusort Thrise1505 || 12/26/2016 1:04 Comments || Top||

#3  He meant cubic furlongs LG.
Posted by: Shipman || 12/26/2016 14:11 Comments || Top||


Africa North
French aid worker kidnapped in Mali
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A Frenchwoman who runs an aid group has been kidnapped in Mali’s restive north, the French foreign ministry confirmed on Sunday.

Sophie Petronin was kidnapped in the city of Gao on Saturday, the ministry said, adding that French and Malian authorities were working together "to find and free our compatriot as quickly as possible."

Petronin was the director of a non-governmental organization that helps children suffering from malnutrition, the ministry said, adding that officials were in contact with her family.

Malian officials had on Saturday reported the kidnapping of a woman with dual French and Swiss nationality in Gao, but the Swiss foreign ministry said Sunday there was no indication that Petronin held Swiss citizenship.

Northern Mali fell to jihadist groups linked to al-Qaeda from March 2012. These forces were driven out of key towns by a French-led military intervention the following year.

Barely a week goes by without attacks on security forces despite a peace pact signed last year following lengthy negotiations between the government, groups backing it and ethnic Tuareg rebels. Kidnappings, however, are rare.
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Eyewitness reveals details of Nusra Front founder in Syria
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] The Syrian writer Yahya Bader, has revealed, for the first time, information about Majid al-Majid, powerful al-Qaeda leader, as he knew him in person and dealt with him before knowing his identity and his death in Leb January 2014.

Bader explained that he since the beginning of the Syrian revolution, has worked in Istanbul in aid a relief. In 2012, one of his friends from Rihaniyah visited him with a Saudi man called "Abo Yusuf- Majid al-Majid" and asked him to help him in his work aimed to help the revolution.

Engineer Yahya detailed that he met Abo Yusuf 4 times, confirming he used to come from Beirut airport, but he did not know the name he used on Passport.

Bader confirmed that al-Majid was very generous in supporting the revolution, as he mentioned that he had been able to donate $ 20 million monthly to support the military groups.

"I thought he was supporting the Free Syrian Army
... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund...
, but I discovered that he supported foreign groups, which made me get away from him"

Activist Bader confirmed that al-Majid was the one who founded al-Qaeda affiliated Nusra front, "Fatah al-Islam
A Syrian-incubated al-Qaeda work-alike that they think can be turned off if no longer needed to keep the Lebanon pot stirred.
Front" in Syria.

Bader confirmed that al-Majid was tossed in the slammer
You have the right to remain silent...
in December 26, 2013, and he was moved to the military hospital because of deterioration of his health, as he was suffering of renal failure an needed dialysis, and died in January 2014, in unexplained conditions, claimed to be due to his disease.

Majid al-Majid, was on Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
's most-wanted-gunnies list.
He led the Abdullah Azzam Brigades
... Leb's current al-Qaeda affiliate, named after a guy whose car the current head of al-Qaeda had boomed...
that claimed a double suicide kaboom on the Iranian embassy in southern Beirut in November 2013, that left 23 people dead.

Abdullah Azzam Brigade based itself in the Ein el-Hilweh Paleostinian refugee camp, near Sidon. it was designated as a terrorist organization in 2012 by the US and freezed its assets.

Media reports said that Majid al-Majid had pledged allegiance to the leader of al-Qaeda affiliate Nusra Front in Syria.
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


China-Japan-Koreas
China: has working version of NASA's EM engine orbiting the Earth
I say nonsense -- at least I hope it's nonsense. But if it's true it's yet another intelligence failure by American agencies. A working EM drive will truly open up space -- why aren't we in the lead?
Scientists in China claim they’ve created a working prototype of the ‘impossible’ reactionless engine – and they say they’re already testing it in orbit aboard the Tiangong-2 space laboratory.

The radical, fuel-free EmDrive recently stirred up controversy after a paper published by a team of NASA researchers appeared to show they’d successfully built the technology. If the physics-defying concept is brought to reality, it’s said the engine could get humans to Mars in just 10 weeks.

But now, scientists with the China Academy of Space Technology claim NASA’s results ‘re-confirm’ what they’d already achieved, and have plans to implement it in satellites ‘as quickly as possible.’
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I say bullshit. Anybody who has a working model of something like this, would keep it a secret - because if you can get it to work, it makes you the master of the world.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/26/2016 4:33 Comments || Top||

#2  Could we not think of the gas being burned on the sun as the fuel so that this is just a way to harness that energy?

It's interesting research anyway and seemingly a better investment than the shameful way that our government has squandered trillions of dollars on stupid wars, misguided social programs and climate change (or whatever they're calling it these days) while letting NASA wither.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 12/26/2016 11:47 Comments || Top||

#3  Not necessarily impossible. We have a stupid habit of every time we invent something we seem to need to overpublish details in scientific journals, put all the detailed plans on weakly protected servers connected to the internet, have Chinese engineers involved in everything important and train most of their engineers in our universities because they pay full out of state tuition without complaint.
Posted by: gorb || 12/26/2016 12:56 Comments || Top||

#4  ...and those were not Art courses.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/26/2016 13:30 Comments || Top||

#5  It's not against the laws of physics it's against newton's laws of motion.

This is theorised to use the wall reflection angle to create a small force without a reaction mass (not fuel).

Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 12/26/2016 18:44 Comments || Top||

#6  Soon they'll be able to put metal in the microwave.
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/26/2016 23:10 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
2 Palestinian minors arrested for manufacturing weapons
[IsraelTimes] Security forces tossed in the slammer
Into the paddy wagon wit' yez!
four Paleostinians from the West Bank town of Beit Fajjar overnight Saturday on terror offenses, police said in a statement.

Two of the suspects were minors, who were detained for manufacturing improvised weapons. Police uncovered two weapons during raids on the town. The statement did not specify the age of the two suspects. Two other Paleostinians from the town, located 19 kilometers (11 miles) south of Jerusalem, were arrested for throwing Molotov cocktails from a passing car at the Jewish settlement of Migdal Oz in the adjacent Gush Etzion bloc.

All four suspects were taken for questioning.

Police said that an ongoing crackdown on illegal and improvised weapons in the area has so far uncovered dozens of weapons.

Earlier this month IDF soldiers and police arrested two minors in Beit Fajjar suspected of having recently launching multiple rock and firekabooms at Migdal Oz. During their interrogation the pair confessed to belonging to an illegal weapons-making cell in their village, police said at the time. Security forces returned to Beit Fajjar the following night and arrested two more minors in connection with the operation. Ammunition and various gun parts were seized during the arrest raid.

Also Sunday police said security forces recently arrested two Paleostinian residents of East Jerusalem on suspicion of passing intelligence to Paleostinian Authority security agents. The two men, residents of the neighborhoods of a-Ram and Kafr Aqab, are accused of passing intelligence gathered from telecommunications databases they had access to through work, according to an Israel Police spokesperson.

Police did not say what information was transferred.

31-year-old Palestinian woman charged with assaulting soldier

[IsraelTimes] A 31-year-old woman from the West Bank village of Kafr Aqab, near Ramallah, is charged with attempting to run over an IDF soldier at the Qalandiya crossing two weeks ago. The state prosecutor also charges Amani Hashim with intentional injury and possession of a knife.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
25 ceasefire violations reported in Syria on Christmas Eve: Russian MoD
[ALMASDARNEWS] A total of 25 ceasefire violations by gangs were reported during the day in Syria, including 17 in the province of Damascus, six in the province of Aleppo, and two in the province of Hama, the Russian Center for reconciliation of the warring parties in Syria said in its regular daily bulletin posted on the Russian Defense Ministry’s official website on Friday.

"In the province of Damascus, gangs of the Jaish al-Islam
...Liwa al-Islam (Brigade of Islam) was established by Zahran Alloush, the son of Saudi-based religious scholar Abdullah Mohammed Alloush, after Syrian authorities released him from prison in mid-2011 where he had been serving time for his Salafist activism. The group claimed responsibility for carrying out the July 2012 Damascus bombing that killed Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha, Deputy Defense Minister Asef Shawkat, and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani. It was a driving force behind actions in the Damascus region. It cooperated and conducted joint operations with al-Nusra. In Sptember 2013 Saudi Arabia engineered Liwa al-Islam's merger with fifty other more or less Salafist groups as a counterweight to al-Nusra, which the Learned Elders of Islam considered was growing too powereful...
organization which affiliates itself with the opposition shelled from mortars and firearms the settlements of Jobar, Kabun, Mazraad Mahmoud, Maydaa, Kafer Batna, Buzayna and Barza, the Al Abasyyin stadium, the Ibn al-Walid hospital and the Al Wafidin camp," the reconciliation center said. "Ahrar al-Sham
...a Syria jihadi group made up of Islamists and salafists, not that there's that much difference, formed into a brigade. They make up the main element of the Islamic Front but they don't profess adoration of al-Qaeda and they've been fighting (mainly for survival) against the Islamic State. Their leadership was wiped out at a single blow by a suicide kaboom at a crowded basement meeting in September, 2014...
gangs shelled from firearms Aleppo’s districts of Hayi al-Antari."

In the province of Hama, faceless myrmidons shelled the settlements of Maharda and Kornaz.

No air strikes were delivered by the Russian air group and the Syrian air force at armed opposition groups that have declared cessation of hostilities and informed the Russian or US reconciliation centers about their locations, as follows from the bulletin.

Reconciliation of the warring parties
No new reconciliation agreements were signed with representatives of Syrian settlements in the past day, with their number currently standing at 1,074, the Russian center said.

Talks on joining the regime of cessation of hostilities were continued with field commanders of illegal gangs in the settlement of Muaddamiyet al-Shih in the province of Damascus and commanders of armed opposition groups in the provinces of Homs, Hama, Aleppo and Quneitra. The number of illegal gangs that declared their commitment to the ceasefire terms remains unchanged ― 94, the bulletin says.
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Afghanistan
3 militants killed in Kunduz city in North of Afghanistan
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least three Death Eaters were killed during an operation in the strategic Kunduz city in North of Afghanistan.

According to the local security officials, the Death Eaters were killed in the outskirts of Kunduz city and at least two others were maimed.

A front man for the 21th Pamir Corps in northern Afghanistan, Ghulam Hazrat Karimi, said the Death Eaters were killed late on Saturday night in Buz Kandahari and Hazrat Sultan areas of the city.

Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
KRG PM: Military force to push PKK out of Sinjar may be used
[Hurriyet Daily News] Military force may be an option to fight the presence of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the Sinjar district near djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
in northern Iraq, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani has said, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported on Dec. 24.

"During the calamity that befell the Yazidi people in Sinjar, obviously the Rojava forces -- meaning the PYD [Democratic Unity Party] -- played a valuable role in helping to protect them and shepherd them to safety, and we recognize and appreciate that. But under the present circumstances, the presence of PKK forces in Sinjar will only add to instability in the area and nothing more. The PKK presence is preventing people from returning to their homes. They are hesitating to return for fear of renewed conflict, out of concern as to what uncertain future awaits them and not because, as some allege, that we are the ones stopping them from reclaiming their lives, their homes. We share their concerns, and this is why we strongly believe that the PKK must leave Sinjar," he told internet news site al-Monitor in a special interview.

Barzani said they were in touch with Baghdad and Washington over the issue.

"We have been engaging with both Baghdad and Washington on this issue. The ongoing talks have not resulted in any concrete progress, no practical measures so far in terms of getting the PKK to withdraw. The real problem lies within the mentality and the behavior of the PKK. The local Yazidi population does not want the PKK to remain. People want stability," he said.

Upon a question on whether Barzani would resort to military force to push the PKK out of Sinjar, he said he would.

The KRG has concerns over the possibility that Sinjar could serve as a second headquarters for the PKK in northern Iraq. The Peshmarga forces have been in efforts to get the upper hand in the area. The region is home to around 4,000 Yazidis.

The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
previously vowed to take precautionary measures by deploying Turkish soldiers to prevent PKK bandidos murderous Moslems from securing a base in Sinjar.
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


All ISIL members should be burned if claims on Turkish soldiers are true: MHP leader
[Hurriyet Daily News] All members of the jihadist terrorist organization should be burned if video released 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....
of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) showing two Turkish soldiers being burned alive is true, Devlet Bahceli, the leader of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party said in a party meeting over the weekend.

"If this atrocious video going around on social media is true, then all these bloody-handed ISIS terrorists, inside and outside [The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
] should be wiped out," he said.

A video released by ISIS last week showed two men dressed in Turkish military uniforms being set on fire. The video went viral on social media and caused public outrage, while the Turkish Armed Forces still hasn’t issued a confirmation.

Opposition parties have called on the government to issue a statement, while Defense Minister Fikri Isik said they can only confirm that three Turkish soliders were currently in the hands of ISIS.

"Is this video true? What is the latest about our soldiers who are being held hostage by ISIS?" Bahceli asked, and said "al-Bab should be demolished on these inglorious terrorists."

Operation must continue
Expressing his sorrow over martyred soldiers in the ongoing Euphrates Shield Operation to capture al-Bab from ISIS, Bahceli said the operation must certainly continue and "be crowned with victory."

"We have no eye in any country’s territories. But terrorist organizations being harbored in Iraq and Syria are posing threat to Turkey. That’s why we should win in al-Bab. If we return empty-handed from al-Bab, I should underline with importance that we will put Diyarbakir and Ankara in jeopardy," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Africa Horn
Somalia Shooting Spree
Puntland army prosecutor shot dead in Bosasso city

Unidentified assailants thought to be Al Shabaab members have shot and killed the military prosecutor of Puntland state in the northeastern coastal town of Bosasso on Sunday morning. An eyewitness said the gunmen fled from the scene after shooting dead the attorney general of Puntland military. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the murder.

Last week, Al shabaab has killed a deputy police commander and Puntland’s presidency director in Bosasso city which has been hit by Al shabaab attacks over the past few years.

Puntland, a semi-autonomous federal state in northeast of Somalia is battling for years pro-ISIL militants and Al shabaab fighters in the mountains of Galgala near Bosasso town.

Shaboob hard boy claims responsibility for killing of military official

Al Shabaab Islamist-militant group has claimed responsibility for the killing of a senior military official on Sunday by assailants in Bosaso city, Garowe Online report.

Abdikarim Hasan Fidiyo, the Attorney General of Puntland Military courts, died Sunday after armed men attacked him near the Police headquarter, the militia group’s spokesman Abu Musab said in an announcement on affiliated media outlet.

He said Fidiyo has prosecuted many militants linked to the group and was responsible for the death sentences that were giving to their fighters by Puntland courts. He has fought against the group and their operations, added Abu Musab.

However, the late official has made an interview with a local radio station before he was assassinated. In the interview, Fidiyo said his visit to Bosaso city was aimed to take part in the hearing procedures for 70 cases in the military court of Appeals, andfor those who were convicted with serious crimes.

The official spoke about the past fighting between Al Shabaab group and Puntland forces in last March, and indicated that a group of Al Shabaab fighters who were captured have been relocated to the Somali capital Mogadishu, for rehabilitation program because they were minors.

On the other hand, the official has denied the release of any convicted Al Shabaab fighters from Puntland prisons in the past.

Following the interview, Fidiyo was targeted on his way to the Police headquarter amid the presence of security forces in the surrounding areas.

During a BBC interview, The Chief Judge of Puntland Military courts, Abdifatah Haji Adan, has confirmed the presence of security troops near the scene, whereas the suspects was reported to flee the crime scene, and vowed to take necessary actions against troops’ negligence.

The assassination of Fidiyo is among a series of high-profile killings in Bosaso in recent weeks as the northeastern region was fighting a faction affiliated to Islamic State in the past months in port town Qandala, located 75 km east of Bosaso.

Three killed in Al Shabaab attack near Hudur town

At least three people are reported to have been killed, and dozens wounded in an Al Shabaab attack on Somali military outpost near Hudur town on Sunday.

A Somali military officer told Radio Shabelle that heavily armed Al shabaab fighters ambushed army base, sparking fierce clash. The army commander added that SNA forces repulsed the Al Shabaab attack and drove back attackers from the area following a deadly gunfight that left 3 dead.

He said those killed in Sunday fighting near Hudur city, the regional capital of Bakol region were unarmed civilians who caught in the cross-fire.

Gunmen kill 5 pastoralists outside Kismayo city

Unidentified assailants have murdered at least five pastoralist during an attack on a rural village located about 70Km away from the southern coastal city of Kismayo on Sunday, according to residents.

The five livestock herders were killed in deadly ambush attack which took place at Feer-sagaro area, where thousands of nomads are keeping a domestic animals and cultivating their agricultural lands. Several residents who spoke to Radio Shabelle said they could not tell exactly reason behind the attack on the livestock herders and the identity of the attackers.

In the past few weeks, there have been clashes between Jubbtland forces backed by local nomads and Al shabaab in the villages near Kismayo town which killed dozens of people.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


The Grand Turk
Turkish authorities investigating 10,000 social media users: Ministry
[AlAhram] Turkish authorities are investigating some 10,000 people on suspicion of using social media to support terrorism, the interior ministry said on Saturday, part of a wide crackdown that has alarmed rights groups and some Western allies.

The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
, which faces security threats from Kurdish and leftist bandidos forces of Evil and 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) bully boys, has sacked or suspended more than 100,000 people following an attempted military coup in July. It says the measures are necessary to root out supporters of the putsch and other terrorists.

Rights groups and some European countries have said President Tayyip Erdogan is using the current state of emergency to quash dissent. Since the coup, more than 150 media outlets have been shut down and 140 journalists jugged
Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
The interior ministry said on Saturday the fight against terrorism was being carried out "with determination" in social media.

In the last six months, authorities have detained 3,710 people for questioning, the ministry said. Of those, 1,656 have been formally arrested and 84 are still being questioned.

The remaining 1,970 have been released, although 1,203 of those are still being monitored, it said.

Access to social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook is commonly blocked, particularly after bombings or other deadly attacks, internet monitoring groups have said. Turkey denies that it blocks the internet, and has previously blamed outages on spikes in usage after major events.

Technical experts at watchdog groups say the blackouts on social media are intentional, aimed in part at stopping the spread of bully boy images and propaganda.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan
Taliban’s shadow deputy governor among 6 killed in Faryab
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The shadow provincial governor of the Taliban group was killed along with five others during an operation in northern Faryab province of Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said the murderous Moslems were killed during an operation in the restive Ghormach district.

MoD further added that 8 other murderous Moslems also sustained serious injuries during the operation.

No further details were given regarding the identity of the Taliban leader killed in the operation.

Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


India-Pakistan
Fazl slams Imran, calls him ‘king of contradictions’
[GEO.TV] KOHAT: Jamaat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman
Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ...
on Sunday slamming Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf
...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
chairman Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems...
said that first Imran accuses the government of rigging but later retracts from his stance.

Talking to a rally in Kohat, Fazlur Rehman said that Imran first calls those having offshore companies as ’thieves’ but then his own offshore company surfaces.

"After the elections, many people came to me and said that I should mend fences with PTI but I said to them that this was not a personal war and I still stand by on my differences", he said after calling Imran

JUI-F chief said that he was not afraid of the people who were changing their stance every now and then and can only accuse others.

He said that those who have been isolated in their politics were raising objections against China-Pakistain Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Earlier, Imran Khan had said that CPEC will change the fate of Pakistain, saying that his party does not have anything against China but with the federal government.

He said that the federal government should make the CPEC contract public, adding that Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
had promised that western route would be made first in the project.

Imran Khan heavily criticised Jamaat Ulema Islam-Fazl Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman saying that Nawaz Sharif is the ’vice-captain of Nawaz’s corruption team’.

Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Home Front: Politix
Biden: Dems should focus on the middle class
[LA Times] Over a career in elected public office lasting more than 46 years, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. has seen campaigns from the rudimentary, family-run effort that first launched him unexpectedly to the U.S. Senate as a 29-year-old to the sophisticated, data-driven juggernaut that helped elect him and Barack Obama twice to the nation’s highest offices.

But rarely has he trusted anything as much as his own gut instinct, attuned to the middle- and working-class sensibilities of his former neighbors in towns like Scranton, Pa., and Claymont, Del. And so as he sat in his office one day in October and watched footage of a Donald Trump rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., not far from his childhood home, Biden sensed trouble.

“Son of a gun. We may lose this election,” Biden said, recalling his reaction during an interview in his West Wing office. “They’re all the people I grew up with. They’re their kids. And they’re not racist. They’re not sexist. But we didn’t talk to them.”

There’s “a bit of elitism that’s crept in” to party thinking,
Just a bit? How tactful.
he worries, setting up what he sees as the false impression that progressive values are inconsistent with working-class values.
For a given value of false that means true, that is a true statement.
“What are the arguments we’re hearing? ‘Well, we’ve got to be more progressive.’ I’m not saying we should be less progressive,” he said, adding that he would “stack my progressive credentials against anyone” in the party.

“We should be proud of where the hell we are, and not yield an inch. But,” he added, “in the meantime, you can’t eat equality. You know?”

In the campaign, “you didn’t hear a word about that husband and wife working, making 100,000 bucks a year,
..isn't that a lot of money? It sounds like a lot of money, but maybe I'm wrong -- I'm not very good at financial things...
two kids, struggling and scared to death. They used to be our constituency.”

The party’s defeat leaves the Democrats without a clear leader. But Biden says he’s not going anywhere, which he means literally and figuratively. Like Obama, he is planning to live in Washington, at least part time, after moving out of the vice president’s residence on Jan. 20.

The presence of both the former president and the former vice president in the capital will be historically unusual. But Biden’s decision to remain nearby is, like many he’s made in his political career, largely driven by family. His wife, for one, will continue teaching at a community college in Virginia.

Still, the decision to live even part time in the nation’s capital will give him proximity to the unfolding Trump administration and the decision-makers and media figures interacting with it. And it will allow him to continue stoking the political fires — he seems to revel in the notion that he might be fit enough to challenge Trump in four years, when he would be 77 and Trump 74, although he has not publicly committed to any plans.
I can just imagine what that will look like.
Others close to him are less reticent. “Biden’s going to be the country’s conscience," said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the former chair of the Democratic National Committee who forged a close relationship with him.
And who would know more about having a conscience than Debbie Downer?
Biden will be freer to speak out about Trump administration actions than Obama, Wasserman Schultz said. "And he’s certainly not shy."
Posted by: Pappy || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Democrats have walked away from the middle class. The blue bloods, unions and others have been ignored. The party has been hijacked. This has been going on for several years now. They catered to every fringe cook group they could find and made a few up along the way. The only way they can return to power is as Biden has just said. The problem is he has the perspective of an older generation. He will not connect with the programed left educated people. They must age and fall to the wayside of life crying and complaining about their many failures. In the end they will appear as an old person dressed in old thoughts and clothes of a false time of ideas and understanding. Viewed in the future as we do of flappers from a time long gone by.
Posted by: Dale || 12/26/2016 7:08 Comments || Top||

#2  making 100,000 bucks a year, two kids, struggling and scared to death. They used to be our constituency.”


Yep, they're so elitist that they "think" that this is middle class normal and they don't really care that people with two kids are struggling and scared.

Wonder what folks at the median, $56,000, are feeling? Wonder if that socialist elite give a crap?
Posted by: AlanC || 12/26/2016 8:39 Comments || Top||

#3  ...No. Can't have people who can jump the plantation. They get uppity.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/26/2016 8:40 Comments || Top||

#4  "you can't eat equality"
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/26/2016 9:14 Comments || Top||

#5  In the interview, Biden pointed to questions that came even from members of Clinton’s inner circle, revealed in emails made public by WikiLeaks, about whether the Democratic front-runner had figured out why she was running.

Selling.. um... there's a word... accessories... accoutrements? It'll come to me...
Posted by: Pappy || 12/26/2016 10:48 Comments || Top||

#6  Who knew that old Slow Joe was the smartest one of them all? Still, that's not saying much.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 12/26/2016 11:18 Comments || Top||

#7  ...whether the Democratic front-runner had figured out why she was running.

Got to keep the money flowing into the Foundation.

BTW, if Shillery had won, do you really think they'd be talking about closing it down? /rhet question
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/26/2016 11:23 Comments || Top||

#8  Biden is, after all, the "Common Man™". Who hasn't had a grandfather that would "would come up [from the mines] after 12 hours and play football" (Neil Kinnock), then lied that Denis Healey had given him the speech? Lied about being the "first person in his family to go to college? Stole entire lines from JFK and RFK speeches, Or "Borked" a supremely qualified SCOTUS nominee? Or get an "F" for plagiarizing five pages from a published article in a term paper that he submitted?
"I think I probably have a much higher IQ than you do, I suspect," Biden sniped at a voter. "I went to law school on a full academic scholarship." That claim was false, as was another claim, made in the same rant, that he graduated in the top half of his law-school class. Biden wrongly stated, too, that he had earned three undergraduate degrees, when in fact he had earned one—a double major in history and political science. Another round of press inquiries followed, and Biden finally withdrew from the race on Sept. 23, 1988.

He's a buffoon, a pompous windowlicking idiot, and actually right in this ONE incidence
Posted by: Frank G || 12/26/2016 12:20 Comments || Top||

#9  Hard to court the middle class when you have been actively attempting to destroy them with the non-human gender thing, calling them racist against blacks, hispanics, muslims, and best of all, taxing what little money they have left given that real wages have been stagnant basically since 1970 at this point.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 12/26/2016 12:55 Comments || Top||

#10  He's a buffoon, a pompous windowlicking idiot, and actually right in this ONE incidence

If he got it right even once he's still ahead of Baraq and Hildebeest.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 12/26/2016 14:13 Comments || Top||

#11  Still, that's not saying much.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 12/26/2016 14:14 Comments || Top||

#12  He's a buffoon, a pompous windowlicking idiot, and actually right in this ONE incidence

Er, I thought he was also right on partitioning Iraq. So he's got a better track record than his boss.
Posted by: Pappy || 12/26/2016 14:15 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
Key Syrian rebel factions meet in Ankara to discuss ceasefire
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] Key Syrian rebel factions held talks in Ankara Saturday, seeking merger in one armed body and a planned ceasefire that will be able to face the new challenges resulted after Aleppo collapse, well-informed sources told Zaman al-Wasl.

The ongoing discussions under the Turkish umbrella have included the moderate rebel groups as the The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
-backed Free Syrian Army
... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund...
The Istanbul-based Syrian National Coalition and the Riyadh-based High Negotiations Committee were not invited to the meeting.

Sources say Turkey to urge rebels to have their own road-map and to get rid of fractions and discords. Turkey seeks one armed opposition body without Fateh al-Sham
...formerly al-Nusra, the current false nose and mustache of al-Qaeda in the Levant...
, formerly known as Nusra Front, and an immediate ceasefire, over a deal reached with Moscow and Tehran early this week.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday will not allow a new (Kurdish) state in northern Syria. Such a deter,mine will by Turkey reflected more support to Syrian rebels to be deployed in areas have been taken from Kurdish militias along the Turkish border.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Senate, the partisans of Honorius went for their knives and the partisans of Stilicho went for the doors...
the Turkey-backed Syrian rebels have been besieging the ISIS-held town of al-Bab for weeks, while festivities between the gunnies and rebels have intensified in recent days.

Syrian rebels backed by Turkish warplanes killed 68 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....
murderous Moslems in northern Syria overnight, the Turkish military said on Saturday, as intense fighting around the town of al-Bab continued.

Rebels supported by Turkish troops have laid siege to the Islamic State-held town for weeks under the "Euphrates Shield" operation launched by Turkey nearly four months ago to sweep the Sunni hardliners and Kurdish fighters from its Syrian border.

Fighting around al-Bab has escalated this week with Turkish soldiers and 138 jihadists killed in festivities on Wednesday in the deadliest day since the start of Turkey's Syrian incursion.
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


The Grand Turk
Religious leaders mark Hanukkah in Istanbul
[Hurriyet Daily News] Religious and politicians have marked the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah in Istanbul’s Ortaköy neighborhood, underlining the importance of the Jewish community for The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
Submissive Jews who know their place, quietly accepting the occasional "madman" torturing and/or murdering a few of them, are fine -- Iran is fond of their Jews, too, and the king of Bahrain is also marking Hanukkah. It's just when they get uppity and fancy themselves equal, a nation among nations with all the rights thereto, that it's a problem that must be eradicated from the face of the Earth.
"We’ve never had any problem with our Jewish siblings in Turkish soil, but crises may erupt between countries from time to time," Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak told journalists at the event in Esma Sultan, which was organized by Besiktas Municipality and the Turkish Jewish Community.

"We experienced the Mavi Marmara flotilla incident. After this event, we witnessed our Jewish siblings’ great efforts as intermediators," he said, referring to an Israeli commando raid in 2010 on a Gazoo-bound flotilla that killed 10 Turkish activists.

Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew, Turkish Jewish Community President Ishak Ibrahimzadeh, acting Armenian Patriarch Aram Atesyan, Israeli Consul General in Istanbul Shai Cohen and main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Istanbul politician Sezgin Tanrikulu were among the participants at the Hanukkah celebrations.

Noting that it was impossible to separate Jews from Turkish history and Turks from Jewish history, Kaynak noted that "all who were in trouble in history found themselves in these lands."

During his speech, Kaynak also said Mehmet the Conqueror invited all Jews to Istanbul when he conquered Istanbul and guaranteed that they would be able to live their religion freely. Kaynak added that Anatolia has been the "mother’s bosom" throughout history and that 3 million asylum seekers are currently in Turkey.

"There are Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Sunnis and Shiites among these refugees," he said.

Turkey "never sees Jews as minorities," Kaynak said, adding that the country had been restoring synagogues and churches in addition to mosques.

"Our Jewish siblings are the owners of this geography just like us and they are its main elements," he also said.
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Jaysh Al-Islam suffers heavy casualties after Syrian Army ambush in East Ghouta
[ALMASDARNEWS] Jaish al-Islam
...Liwa al-Islam (Brigade of Islam) was established by Zahran Alloush, the son of Saudi-based religious scholar Abdullah Mohammed Alloush, after Syrian authorities released him from prison in mid-2011 where he had been serving time for his Salafist activism. The group claimed responsibility for carrying out the July 2012 Damascus bombing that killed Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha, Deputy Defense Minister Asef Shawkat, and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani. It was a driving force behind actions in the Damascus region. It cooperated and conducted joint operations with al-Nusra. In Sptember 2013 Saudi Arabia engineered Liwa al-Islam's merger with fifty other more or less Salafist groups as a counterweight to al-Nusra, which the Learned Elders of Islam considered was growing too powereful...
(Army of Islam) attempted to take advantage of the fog around the East Ghouta region of rural Damascus on Sunday by launching another powerful assault along the Syrian Arab Army's (SAA) front-lines.

However,
women are made to be loved, not understood...
this offensive did not go according to plan, thanks in large-part to the Syrian Arab Army's scouts that reported of Jaish al-Islam's movements around the village of Hawsh al-Dawahra.

According to an al-Masdar field correspondent in Damascus, the Syrian Arab Army's 105th Brigade of the Republican Guard carried out a successful ambush near the Hawsh al-Dawahra Farms on Sunday afternoon, killing and wounding a large number of Jaish al-Islam murderous Moslems.

As a result of this Syrian Army ambush, the Salafist tough guys of Jaish al-Islam were forced to frantically retreat to safety in order to avoid sustaining anymore casualties during today's battle.

Recently, Jaish al-Islam issued a call to all their fighters in the East Ghouta to help drive back the Syrian Armed Forces around this rural region east of Damascus; so far, it has been a disaster.

Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Jaish al-Islam (MB)


Afghanistan
Afghan forces arrest suicide bomber trained in South Waziristan
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Afghan cops incarcerated
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
a jacket wallah before he manage to carry out an attack on a government compound in Sharan district, located in southeastern Paktika
...which coincidentally borders South Wazoo...
province of Afghanistan.

The Afghan intelligence, National Directorate of Security
...the Afghan national intel agency...
(NDS), said Abdul Bari son of Akhtar Gul was arrested with the support of the police forces before he attack the district administrative compound or the security commandment.

NDS in a statement said Bari was appointed by Taliban group leader Malangiar for the attack.

The statement further added that Bari has confessed he was received two months of training in Wana of South Wazoo.
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Haqqani Network


The Grand Turk
Can murder lurk behind poetry?
[RUDAW.NET] Is shooting an unarmed man courageous?

Is shooting him in the back manful?

That’s what one Turkish man did, whose name means courageous, manful, red-blooded and trustworthy in English.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte

#1  he didn't shout "god is great" more FAKE news lying reporting

He shouted "Allahu Akhbar" the battle cry of the jihadi, which actually means "allah is greater" - greater than you.
Posted by: anon1 || 12/26/2016 23:49 Comments || Top||


Good evening
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Heads Up People:

After Obama allowed international groups to take over ICANN, website name registration gouging has begun. To reserve a website that used to cost a few dollars a year can cost hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of dollars a year. I saw one URL name that ICANN now wants $35,000.00 for one year even though no one owned it yet. If your website is popular and you want to renew it expect these international groups to demand tens of thousands of dollars from you now.
Posted by: Spegum Snavins6069 || 12/26/2016 21:33 Comments || Top||

#2  You spelled Obummer wrong.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 12/26/2016 22:03 Comments || Top||

#3  DNS poisoning has also already begun.
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/26/2016 23:06 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
'I asked my daughter to blow Bab Musalla Criminal Headquarters not Midan police station': father

[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] New details revealed over the disturbing footage of a Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (JFS) fighter in Syria convincing his two young daughters to take part in suicide missions that emerged online last week.

Fatima, 8-year-old, who had been behind the suicide bomb which hit a cop shoppe in the bustling al-Midan neighborhood in Damascus on December 16, was heading the Criminal headquarters in Bab Musalla district.

Abu Nimr, or Abdul Rahman Shadad, said in new video that his daughter was sent to another regime police department before blowing herself up in al-Midan.

State-run media reported the child was killed and three coppers were maimed in the incident.

In two videos, Abu Nimr films his wife saying goodbye to Fatima and seven-year-old Islam.

"Why are you sending your daughters?" he asks from behind the camera. "One is seven and the other is eight, they're young for jihad."

"No one is too young for jihad, because jihad is a duty for every Moslem," the woman replies, as the family praises god and the daughters hug and kiss their mother.

In the second, the two girls themselves say they will take part in suicide operations in Damascus.

"Why don’t you leave this to the men? The men who escaped on the green buses?" The child, confused, says yes, before her father asks more questions.

"You want to surrender so that you're raped and killed by the infidels? You want to kill them, no? We're a glorious religion, not a religion of humiliation, isn't that so darling?", Mr Nimr coaxes.
"Why don’t you leave this to the men? The men who escaped on the green buses?" The child, confused, says yes, before her father asks more questions.

"You want to surrender so that you're raped and killed by the infidels? You want to kill them, no? We're a glorious religion, not a religion of humiliation, isn't that so darling?", Mr Nimr coaxes.

"You won’t be scared, because you're going to God, isn't that right?" he asks the younger girl.

The sickening footage was shared widely online on Wednesday. It is not known where the videos of the family were filmed, but the mention of ’green buses’ suggests Aleppo, where the infamous regime buses have been transporting both rebels and civilians to neighbouring Idlib province this week after the fall of the city to government forces.

In October, the UN estimated there to be around 900 JFS fighters among the 8,000 rebels which had held onto the eastern part of the city for the last four years.

But Syrian regime has also bussed surrendering rebels out of besieged areas on several other occasions, including in the southern Damascus suburb of Daraya, which agreed to an amnesty in August. Mr Nimr is originally from Barzeh, a northern suburb of the capital.

Several commentators in Syria have speculated that one of the girls could have been behind an attack in Damascus station last Friday, in which a little girl wandered into a cop shoppe in al-Midan and asked for the toilet before she either detonated a bomb on her person or it went kaboom! remotely.

Maybe it was just one daughter...?
[ALMASDARNEWS] The jihadist commander who sent his 12 year old daughter on a suicide kaboom mission in the Syrian capital of Damascus this past week was reportedly killed by his own fighters in the Tishreen area.

The terrorist, "Abu Nimr", was responsible for several murders and kidnappings in rural Damascus before he was killed on Sunday.

Abu Nimr received nationwide attention recently after he posted a video with his 12 year old daughter, as she was preparing to detonate her explosives in a government area.

The terrorist was also known around rural Damascus for his role in the murder of the famous Paleostinian-Syrian actor, Mohammad Rifa'i, in 2012.
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra

#1  Good grounding for an exhibition killing.
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/26/2016 9:02 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
26[untagged]
10Islamic State
7Sublime Porte
3Taliban
2al-Nusra
2Arab Spring
1al-Shabaab
1Boko Haram
1Govt of Iran
1Govt of Pakistan
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1Govt of Syria
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1Haqqani Network
1Houthis
1al-Qaeda
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1Lashkar e-Jhangvi
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1al-Qaeda in Arabia
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1al-Qaeda in North Africa

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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2016-12-26
  Phoenix cops arrest alleged ‘jihadist’ plotting midnight Mass attack: ‘Get down with this ISIS s-t’
Sun 2016-12-25
  Buhari: Last Boko Haram base taken in Sambisa Forest
Sat 2016-12-24
  4 Suspects Charged Over Alleged Christmas Day Terror Plot in Australia
Fri 2016-12-23
  Suspect in Berlin Christmas market attack killed in Milan police shootout: Official
Thu 2016-12-22
  ISIS issues order for arrest of its missing finance minister
Wed 2016-12-21
  Syrian Army enters east Aleppo neighborhoods for first time in 4 years
Tue 2016-12-20
  At least 12 dead in 'terrorist attack' after truck crashes into Berlin Christmas market
Mon 2016-12-19
  Russian ambassador to Turkey assassinated
Sun 2016-12-18
  Sirte officially declared Liberated
Sat 2016-12-17
  22 ISIS targets hit in airstrikes in Palmyra
Fri 2016-12-16
  Belgian Police Move on Libya Arms Smuggling Ring
Thu 2016-12-15
  11 headless bodies found in Aden
Wed 2016-12-14
  Jihadist rebels agree to ceasefire deal in east Aleppo
Tue 2016-12-13
  Mosul Offensive News: Iraqi forces move into Mosul's biggest district
Mon 2016-12-12
  Syrian army equipment falls into ISIS' possession in Palmyra

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