Default status is terrorism, though that could change.
A gunman opened fire Friday afternoon at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida, shooting at least nine people and killing one, Broward County officials said.
A gunman was in custody, local law enforcement sources told NBC News. The Fort Lauderdale airport tweeted the incident occurred at a baggage claim inside Terminal 2.
Passengers and workers were evacuated onto a tarmac. Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer tweeted he was at the airport at the time of the shooting and "everyone is running." He later tweeted that "all seems calm."
A law enforcement expert said authorities will try to determine who the suspect is and whether there are other plots afoot. "You're trying to understand, is this a one-off guy? Regardless of motive, is he alone, or is there something else?" law enforcement expert Jim Cavanaugh told MSNBC. "We hate to think that way, but that's the requirement for police commanders -- to think that way."
#2
Fixed. I've been having trouble with it, too. For some reason it started closing highlight immediately after opening, instead of closing at the end of the chosen bit of text -- very annoying. So I moved it and all is as intended. ;-)
#4
The Daily Mail concurs on three dead and the gunman in custody. They'll be updating, too, no doubt, and have Ari Fleisher's tweets as the situation unfolded.
#7
Ima listening to Fox News about this incident right now. I can't believe what a slimy little self-centered pompous asshole egomaniacal rat Shep Smith is.
One suspect is in custody in connection, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office. A law enforcement source talking to CBS News identifies the accused shooter as Esteban Santiago who was born in New Jersey and had a military ID.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
01/06/2017 18:24
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#21
Wasn't that enough to get him on the NO FLY list?
One of the problems with treating terrorism as a criminal justice matter, you have to wait for someone to actually do something before you can take action.
[FOX] A Republican congressman took matters into his own hands Friday and personally removed a painting depicting police officers as pigs that a colleague had allowed to be displayed at the U.S. Capitol complex.
"I was angry," Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., told FoxNews.com. "I’ve seen the press [reporting] on this for about a week or so. ... I’m in the Marine Corps. If you want it done, just call us."
Hunter said he walked over to the artwork Friday morning with a few colleagues and unscrewed it. He then delivered it to the office of Rep. Lacy Clay, D-Mo., the congressman whose office had allowed the piece to be displayed. The painting, hanging since June, was done by a high school student who had won Clay’s annual Congressional Art competition.
The piece drew outrage, however, from law enforcement groups and fellow lawmakers.
The Pentagon has established a "red team" to address considerable shortcomings with the F-35C, the carrier-based naval variant of the most expensive weapons project in history.
The Pentagon's red team found the problem was due to several factors central to the plane's design, and recommended several fixes that will take several months to several years to fully fix. The report states that long term actions to address the problem will not take place until 2019, at which point they'll take 12-36 months to implement.
Redesigns to the plane, as well as to carriers, may be necessary to fully address the problem.
#3
Don't forget, this was designed as a multi-service aircraft - which means no service got what they really needed.
The last time we tried this we got the F-111. The last time we succeeded was with the F-4, which we didn't design for all services. The Phantom II was designed to be the best fighter possible - and we kept adding to it.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
01/06/2017 15:07
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#4
Look at the bright side, at least it didn't lose a motor.....yet
Redesign the carriers, RIGHT !
Posted by: USN, Ret ||
01/06/2017 15:47
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#5
Had a red team come thru once on a project. They came up with some good ideas. Never hurts to have a second pair of eyes on a design.
Just a tad hypocritical, no?
[TMZ] President Obama is taking a cue from Donald Trump ... he's building himself a wall.
We got photos of construction at Obama's soon-to-be D.C. rental. You also see construction in the garage. As we reported, it will become an office with a bathroom. AKA the Secret Service's office.
We broke the story ... the rental will be home until Sasha graduates so the Obamas needed the property outfitted for the Secret Service and ... it needed more fortification.
BTW ... he's getting a new neighbor. Ivanka Trump and fam are moving nearby to a rental. Bwahhh ha ha ha!
At least the landlords know the checks will clear. And guess who's paying for it? Hint - it's not Obama. He throws around quarters like they were manhole covers.
In a first-of-its kind test, the Navy used F-35B sensors as an aerial node as part of an integrated ship defense technology -- designed to destroy air and surface enemy missile threats from beyond-the-horizon.
A Marine Corps F-35B used its on-board sensors to function for the first time as a broad-area aerial relay node in an integrated fire-control weapons system designed to identify, track and destroy approaching enemy cruise missiles from distances beyond-the-horizon, service officials announced.
A Navy "desert ship" at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. designed to replicate maritime conditions, used ship-based radar to connect the F-35B sensors to detect enemy missiles at long ranges and fire an SM-6 interceptor to destroy the approaching threat.
The emerging fire-control system, called Naval Integrated Fire Control ‐ Counter Air, or NIFC-CA, was deployed last year on a Navy cruiser serving as part of the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group in the Arabian Gulf, Navy officials told Scout Warrior, last year.
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy ||
01/06/2017
13:01 ||
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House Republicans this week reinstated an arcane procedural rule that enables lawmakers to reach deep into the budget and slash the pay of an individual federal worker -- down to $1 -- a move that threatens to upend the 130-year-old civil service.
The Holman Rule, named after an Indiana congressman who devised it in 1876, empowers any member of Congress to propose amending an appropriations bill to single out a government employee or cut a specific program.
The use of the rule would not be simple; a majority of the House and the Senate would still have to approve any such amendment. At the same time, opponents and supporters agree that the work of 2.1 million civil servants, designed to be insulated from politics, is now vulnerable to the whims of elected officials.
The revival of the Holman Rule was the brainchild of Rep. H. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), who is intent on increasing the powers of individual members of Congress to reassign workers as policy demands.
He favors a strategic application, likening it to a bullet from a sniper rifle rather than a shotgun. It's unlikely -- but not impossible -- that members will "go crazy" and cut huge swaths of the workforce, he said.
[NYT] Judith Clark, who drove a getaway car in the infamous 1981 robbery of a Brink’s armored car in Rockland County, N.Y., that left a guard and two police officers dead, went into prison defiant, with seemingly little chance of getting out. The judge who sentenced her saw her as beyond rehabilitation, giving her a minimum of 75 years in prison and all but ensuring she would die there.
But Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, citing what he called Ms. Clark’s long sentence and "exceptional strides in self-development" commuted her sentence on Friday.
Mr. Cuomo’s action does not undo Ms. Clark’s conviction on second-degree murder and robbery charges, but it reduces her sentence to 35 years to life and makes her eligible for parole in 2017.
If Ms. Clark is freed, it would be in recognition of her evolution from radical to model prisoner, and serve as a coda to a notorious case that was among the last gasps of violent left-wing extremism seen in the 1960s and 1970s.
#1
She was more than just a getaway driver. When finally caught she was reaching under seat for a loaded gun
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/06/2017 11:30
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#2
WTF! Cuomo a typical lib is concerned about the perp and doesn't give a rat's behind about the families of the dead victims. He is more like an accessory after the fact than a governor. Well if the voters of New York State keep reelecting him that says something.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/06/2017 14:23
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#3
It's not that the "last gasps of violent left-wing extremism" have fallen out of favor; it's that those sentiments and attitudes have become mainstream on the left.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
01/06/2017 18:30
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[Daily Signal] Sen. Edward "Ted" Kennedy had "selfish political and ideological motives" when he made secret overtures to the Soviet Union’s spy agency during the Cold War to thwart then-President Ronald Reagan’s re-election, a Reagan biographer said in an interview with The Daily Signal.
When they came to light years later, Kennedy’s secret contacts with the Russians through their KGB spy agency in the early 1980s didn’t cause nearly the tizzy that Russia’s alleged interference with this year’s election has for President-elect Donald Trump among liberal activists and reporters.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom Trump has said he hopes to "get along," is a former foreign intelligence officer and lieutenant colonel in the KGB.
In the 1980s, Kennedy was "terribly misguided" and "a fool" for seeing Reagan as a greater threat than either the leader of the Soviet Union or the head of its brutal secret police and intelligence agency, political science professor and writer Paul Kengor told The Daily Signal.
[DeutscheWelle] Authorities in North-Rhine Westphalia have been scrutinized over their handling of Berlin attack suspect Anis Amri during the time he lived in the state. Despite concerning observations, they could not detain him.
Herewith a neat demonstration of the limits of the law enforcement approach when dealing with an attempt to conquer by terrorism amid migration.
Ralf Jäger, the interior minister of Germany's western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), on Thursday defended the actions of security authorities in the lead-up to the December 19 attack.
Speaking before a special meeting of the state's parliamentary interior committee, Jäger explained that "thorough, close observation" had failed to provide concrete evidence of an imminent threat.
He came as a colonist. If he will not be an acceptable neighbour, Germany authorities have the duty to send him home without further explanation, just as Tunisia has a duty to accept him. The alternative is to hold a court martial and shoot him on the tarmac, then hand the Tunisian customs officials his body and a copy of his file.
Authorities say Anis Amri, a 24-year-old Tunisian national, killed 12 people and injured dozens more in the attack in the German capital last month. He was killed four days later in a shootout with Italian police in Milan.
According to a report presented to the NRW committee, Amri was known to police under 14 different aliases.
"The attack was carried out by a man whom security officials across Germany were very well aware of," Jäger told regional politicians. He added, however, that "in a constitutional state, we can't simply lock up threats as a precautionary measure."
Citizens, no. Guests on probation do not have the same rights.
No hard evidence of planned attack
Amri had long been on Germany's list of potentially violent Islamist bully boys. He arrived in the country in 2015 and had been based mainly in NRW. Local immigration authorities there had rejected his application for asylum and tried in vain to deport him.
I think he's the one who couldn't be sent back because he'd destroyed his passport, and they were waiting for Tunisia to send a replacement. Also, Tunisia didn't want him.
During Thursday's committee meeting, NRW criminal police chief Dieter Schurmann told politicians that both state and federal authorities had investigated concerns that the 24-year-old Tunisian could mount a terrorist attack. In the end, he said, their findings wouldn't stand up in court and they had "exhausted all legal powers to the limit to ward off potential dangers."
The NRW opposition rejected that explanation, saying it was incomprehensible that someone considered a threat could move freely around Germany and carry out an attack.
Ahead of the special meeting, Gregor Golland of the state-level opposition Christian Democrats (CDU) blasted the regional government for what he described as its "blatant failure" and "misjudgment" in the Amri case.
Opportunity for change
Jäger told politicians there was a need for legal reforms to make it easier for police to detain individuals who posed a potential danger to the public and who had no prospect of remaining in Germany.
Wisdom appears.
One example, he said, could be negotiating more effective readmission agreements with countries of origin like Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria.
"We must and we will draw the necessary lessons from this terrible event," he said.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/06/2017
09:03 ||
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Europol: Drug Traffickers Increasingly Involved in Migrant Smuggling
5 Jan 2017
Organised crime is diversifying its activities as traditional drug smugglers are now expanding into the growing market of human trafficking, according to European Union police agency Europol.
Thousands Arrived in Germany via ‘Closed’ Balkan Route in 2016
5 Jan 2017
Despite the closure of the Balkan route that saw the majority of the migrant traffic in 2015, German authorities say thousands of migrants were still able to use the route to reach Germany.
Italy steps up efforts to fight Islamist radicalisation in jails after Berlin truck attack by Tunisian who had spend time in Italian prison
05/01/17
Italy is to step up its efforts to combat Islamic radicalisation in its prisons following the Berlin truck attack by a Tunisian who spent time in an Italian jail. New Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni has come under increased pressure to tackle illegal migration and radicalisation in the aftermath of December's terrorist attack. Italy's anti-terrorism chief said last week the suspect, Anis Amri (pictured), had been radicalised while in a Sicilian jail. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed 12. Amri was shot dead four days later by Italian police in Milan on December 23 after fleeing Germany. Italy's Interior Minister Marco Minniti added that he wanted a 'protective network against the malware of terror' online, but gave no details on how the government planned to address the problems in jails. The national prison workers' union said in a statement that jails had become 'a fertile ground' for jihadists to recruit weaker individuals to fight for them.
French police 'searched a lorry hours before an Eritrean stowaway was found crushed to death in the back under an avalanche of baby clothes catalogues as the driver reached the UK '
05/01/17
The body of the unnamed man was found in the lorry at a cafe in Ashford, Kent - despite the fact French authorities had checked the vehicle prior to its departure from a Calais port.
[Breitbart] Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak told a national television outlet that the yet-unnamed jihadi responsible for killing dozens at Istanbul’s Reina nightclub on New Year’s Eve is likely a member of the Uighur Moslem ethnic minority, which makes its home in China and central Asia.
While authorities have identified the attacker as a citizen of Kyrgyzstan, news reports from the past year indicate that a thriving market exists in falsified Kyrgyz passports, and his Uighur ethnic identity could mean the terrorist came from China.
An interesting point.
"The terrorist’s identity has been established by security forces and his potential whereabouts have also been determined," Kaynak told the television channel A Haber, describing the suspect as probably a member of the Uighur ethnic minority. He also confirmed that authorities believe that the man acted alone, but that he appeared "specially-trained" and was likely a member of a "well-formed" terror cell. 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.... Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/06/2017
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#1
US picked up several dozen Uighurs in first year or so of Enduring Freedom. By 2013, all had been released to other countries.
they would be in their mid 30s to early 40s by now so the guy in the picture is probably not one of them
Posted by: lord garth ||
01/06/2017 14:17
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Fears that Britain is 'wide open to terrorists' after Syrian refugee was 'waved' through airport security with a BOGUS passport
05/01/17
Mohammad Aabouss claims he paid £300 for a passport with a photograph that looked similar to him and then spent the remainder of his savings on a flight from Dortmund to Stansted.
Why wasn't foreign killer turned away at the UK border? Afghan who beheaded Dutch woman is allowed into Britain... where he assaulted a Gatwick staff member and two police officers with a HAMMER
04/01/17
Afghan-born Jamshid Piruz was allowed to enter the UK unchallenged despite being sentenced to 12 years in jail for slaughtering his female tenant after watching a Taliban beheading video.
Asda worker 'abandoned his wife and three-year-old daughter to join ISIS-linked terror group in the Philippines'
05/01/17
Ryan Counsell, 28, from Nottingham, was said to be 'in the advanced stages' of planning to travel to the Philippines order to fight with an 'Islamic terrorist group
'It's only three days to the beheading and I've got no idea what to wear': BBC faces viewers' backlash over 'Real Housewives of ISIS' sketch in comedy show
05/01/17
The sketch show, a satire of an American series about wealthy women in New York and Beverly Hills, depicts Muslim women laughing and taking selfies while wearing suicide vests.
'I never used to feel my age but I do now. The worst thing is I thought I was helping': WW2 veteran, 93, was fleeced out of £113,000 by a heartless gang who swindled pensioners to support ISIS terrorists
05/01/17
Kenneth Whitaker said he felt ‘dumb and stupid’ after he lost his life savings in the cruel scam which saw the gang target at least 18 victims from Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, London, Bedfordshire and Kent.
[American Thinker] President Obama has another ironic award for his trophy shelf, to accompany his Nobel Peace Prize and all those participation trophies he got at Punahou for his basketball skills. His appointee and subordinate Ash Carter yesterday pinned a military medal ‐ the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service ‐ on his boss, as Warner Todd Huston reported for Breitbart.
The ceremony took place at Joint Base Myers-Henderson, before a crowd that had an awful lot of empty seats, almost as if the military service members who attended were there on orders.
Yes, has to irk him that after 8 years of servicing Soros, he never got to have anybody put up against a wall just because.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/06/2017 10:03
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#8
Pretty sure several Presidents have received that award, and it's always given by the military, of which the POTUS is boss, hence he 'awards himself.'
#9
Pretty sure several Presidents have received that award, and it's always given by the military, of which the POTUS is boss, hence he 'awards himself.' Posted by Glenmore
Alright, but only if accompanied by a 14 day Hawaii vacation which starts at noon today.
[American Thinker] In the wake of Donald Trump's election as our next President, much has been made of the GOP's need to unite. I agree with this sentiment. However, I humbly suggest to those Republicans, including Trump who led the successful campaign to retake our country, that while we must unite and even forgive our wayward rank-and-file GOP brethren who chose not to support our efforts, we must never forget those who engaged in outright acts of treachery that jeopardized our cause and our nation's future.
First, I must make clear I am not referring to every Republican who made a personal decision not to support Trump. I am sure that there are registered voters in every election cycle who quietly choose, for personal reasons, not to support their party's nominee. As American voters, we must all act according to the dictates of our consciences.
Rather, I am referring to those Republicans who had such a vested interest (emotional, financial, or otherwise) in maintaining the status quo, maintaining the same stale policies that had long served their personal and business interests at the expense of the Republican electorate and their country, that they poured significant time and energy into derailing the GOP nominee and thwarting the will of the Republican voters who supported him.
We must not forget Jamie Weinstein, a "conservative" editor at Dailycaller.com who advocated a "negotiated Republican surrender" to Hillary Clinton. Weinstein went so far as to publicly urge his fellow Republicans to vote Democrat.
We must not forget Jonah Goldberg, Kevin D. Williamson, and the majority of contributors and editors at the National Review, which posted multiple anti-Trump articles on a daily basis, even dedicating one entire issue to attacking Trump. Williamson became so unhinged at one point that he characterized white-working class communities that supported Trump as "morally indefensible" and wrong to blame their troubles on our nation's illegal immigration problem and policies that have proven harmful to the working class. In Williams's judgment, these white working-class communities had "failed themselves" and "deserve to die."
Following Trump's victory, and a catastrophic loss of subscribers, the National Review has since tempered its message. The staff continue to attack Trump, but now they take the occasional break to give our president-elect "sound conservative advice." Namely, they have advised Trump to abandon the positions that got him elected, to appoint the same stale establishment GOP figures who have repeatedly failed to stand up to Obama for eight years, and to adopt the same stale establishment policies that cost us the White House in 2008.
But National Review has nothing on Bill Kristol and his Weekly Standard. Kristol didn't just criticize Trump or write scathing articles attacking the campaign; Kristol orchestrated a massive search for a third-party candidate to run in the general election. He met with prospective candidates and even tried to line up financial backing for a third-party run. Kristol acknowledged that this third-party candidate had no realistic chance to win but expressed the hope that the candidate would take enough votes away from Trump to keep him from getting elected. More awaits.
#1
I don't have a problem with people disagreeing within the same party about politics, nor acting on their convictions based on the information available at the time. To the contrary, I think it is dangerous to shut down and shout down voices of dissent -- that's what the Social Justice Warriors on the left do until a Donald Trump steps forward and defeats their pre-crowned candidate, with coattails that sweep most of the country of Democratic representation.
I have a problem with people staging marches and riots when the vote didn't go their way. And I have a problem with people watching subsequent events unfold, but not modifying their opinions in the face of actual evidence. On the other hand, while we are now seeing the kind of influence Mr. Trump is willing and able to wield as president-in-waiting, since he has not yet been sworn in we do not know if he will be able to live up to that promise as president. But even a majority of Democrats, in a recent poll, hope he will be successful, so there's that in opposition to the posturing in the news and on social media.
Those pundits and politicians who roared the loudest against Mr. Trump now have to deal with rescuing themselves from irrelevance. It remains to be seen whether they will succeed by offering analyses useful to potential readers, or if they will realize they have already unintentially retired. I accepted the National Review's offer of a free one-year subscription, which pops up every time one clicks on one of their articles; I shall be watching this experiment with interest.
SOMERVILLE ‐ A five-day, round-the-clock manhunt for a potentially dangerous federal fugitive who made a brazen escape from a Rhode Island detention center ended Thursday with a foot chase in Somerville, where a veteran state trooper snared James W. Morales as he tried to jump a fence in the Ten Hills neighborhood.
The 114-hour search, which began when Morales was discovered missing during a New Year's Eve head count at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility, came to a dramatic end around 4 p.m.
Somerville and Cambridge had been on alert all day, attuned to the sound of helicopters overhead and the sight of police searching everywhere from bustling Central Square to the quiet marsh around Alewife Station...
Morales, a former Army Reserve medical logistics specialist, was being held in Rhode Island while awaiting trial for allegedly breaking into a Worcester armory in 2015 and cutting through the ceiling of a weapons vault to steal six assault rifles and 10 semiautomatic pistols. At the time, he was wearing a GPS monitoring bracelet while awaiting trial on child-rape charges that originated in Cambridge.
[Guardian] As I write, president-elect Donald Trump ‐ soon to become the most powerful individual on Earth ‐ is having a tantrum on his Twitter feed. Losing the popular vote can have devastating consequences for a bigoted plutocrat’s ego, and accusations that Vladimir Putin’s regime intervened to his advantage are getting him down. "The ’intelligence’ briefing on so-called ’Russian hacking’ was delayed until Friday," he claims (falsely, apparently), "perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!"
Did Putin intervene in the US election? It is entirely plausible, although evidence from the CIA (with its dubious record) and the FBI needs to be carefully scrutinised, whatever our feelings on Trump. And if the Democratic establishment pin the supposedly unthinkable calamity of Trump’s triumph on a foreign power, they will fail to learn the real lessons behind their defeat.
That doesn’t mean alleged interference by the Russian regime shouldn’t be taken seriously. Putin heads a hard-right, kleptocratic, authoritarian government that persecutes LGBT people, waged a murderous war in Chechnya, and has committed terrible crimes in Syria in alliance with Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship. It is a pin-up for populist rightwingers across the west, from Trump to Ukip, from France’s Front National to Austria’s Freedom party. Its undemocratic manoeuvres should be scrutinised and condemned.
But while Americans feel justifiably angry at alleged interference with their political process, they have also been handed a mirror, and the reflection should disturb them. Couldn't find a mirror, please accept this old photo of Mugabe and friend.
#2
Precisely gorb, and the Guardian making such a claim is particularly galling. Of course looking down upon the colonies has long been a popular pastime, at least until you need arms and reinforcements.
#4
I thought it was the same exact pole numbers the networks and radio used for everything no matter what that never differed or changed?!? Good job bad job high liking low liking what crap!
[Free Beacon] Rep. Bobby Rush (D., Ill.) made payments to four family members that combined to more than $100,000 during the 2016 election cycle, campaign finance records show.
A wellness center associated with the church the congressman founded also received more than $2 million in government grants last year.
Rep. Rush, who was first elected to Congress in 1992, made $50,000 in payments to his wife, Carolyn, during the 2016 cycle for "consulting fees." This was not the first time Carolyn has received money from the campaign committee.
Since 2002, the year Carolyn first appeared on the committee’s payroll, she has been the top recipient of expenditures from the campaign numerous times and has since collected more than $550,000 in payments from her husband’s campaign.
Marlon Rush, Rep. Rush’s brother, was paid $34,082 throughout the course of the 2016 campaign to act as his campaign manager. Rush, who defeated Barack Obama by more than 31 percent during a Democratic primary in Chicago’s 1st congressional district in 2000, has faced no real challenge since being elected in the early 1990s. Rush defeated his Republican challenger by nearly 50 points in the 2016 election.
#1
.... Former Black Panther, weren't he? Just askin'.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/06/2017 8:47
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#2
Another "rising dem star." Hopefully asking Blago for soap handling advice in the near future...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/06/2017 9:36
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#3
If they did the work, those are not excessive salaries. But while campaign manager is a standard job title, what consultants do is a good deal more nebulous.
#4
If they did the work, those are not excessive salaries. But while campaign manager is a standard job title, what consultants do is a good deal more nebulous.
Would acting as narcotics conduit fit the category of nebulous ?
#5
Doesn't he know that you're supposed to form a charity foundation like the Clinton Foundation which only gives about 5.4% of its intake to actual charities?
[Free Beacon] Four people were charged Thursday with a hate crime in Chicago in connection with a live-stream video that allegedly showed them torturing and assaulting a teenager with special needs.
The four African-American individuals also face a slew of other charges relating to the incident, according to ABC 7 News in Chicago.
Jordan Hill, 18, of Carpentersville; Tesfaye Cooper, 18, of Chicago; Brittany Covington, 18, of Chicago; and Tanishia Covington, 24, of Chicago were each charged with aggravated kidnapping, hate crime, aggravated unlawful restraint, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and residential burglary. Hill was also charged with robbery and possession of a stolen motor vehicle.
The video shows the victim, who police said has mental disabilities, was forced to drink toilet water, slashed, beaten, and yelled at.
[Free Beacon] Democrats have been in power for so long that they’ve forgotten how to oppose. Their party has been on a roll since 2005 when the botched Social Security reform, the slow bleed of the Iraq war, and Hurricane Katrina sent the Bush administration into a tailspin. The Democrats won the Congress the following year and the White House two years after that. And while they lost the House in 2010 and the Senate in 2014, Democrats still had the advantage of retaining the White House, a president seemingly immune from criticism, the courts, the bureaucracy, and large portions of the media. The correlation of forces in Washington has weighed heavily in favor of the Democrats for a decade.
No longer. The election of Donald Trump has brought unified Republican government to Washington and overturned our understanding of how politics works. Or at least it should have done so. The Democrats seem not to understand how to deal with Trump and the massive change he is about to bring to the nation’s capital. During the general election they fell for the idea that Trump can be defeated by conventional means, spending hundreds of millions of dollars in negative television advertising and relying on political consultants beholden to whatever line Politico was selling on a given day. This strategy failed Trump’s Republican primary opponents, but Democrats figured that was simply because the GOP was filled with deplorables. It was a rationalization that would cost them.
[The Hill] A former CIA director who had been advising Donald Trump on national security said he will no longer be involved with the president-elect or the transition.
A spokesman for James Woolsey said in a statement Thursday that "Effective immediately, Ambassador Woolsey is no longer a Senior Advisor to President-Elect Trump or the Transition. He wishes the President-Elect and his Administration great success in their time in office."
In an appearance on CNN Thursday, Woolsey said he hasn’t been advising Trump lately and simply wanted to remove the title.
"I didn’t want to fly under false colors. I’ve been and adviser, and felt that I was making a contribution, and I strongly support Mr. Trump for president -- did since early September -- and I wish him well," he said. Interesting timing, which appears to coincide with the announcement of possible intelligence community shake-ups and former Sen. Dan Coats being named as DNI. Probably just a coincidence.
#1
CIA Directors naturally invite castle intrigue and obviously Woolsey is no exception. Then again sometimes things are exactly as presented. He certainly has knowledge on all things Rooshin but he and his contacts have a shelf life.
Call anytime now Jim...buh-bye.
#3
Woolsey is an active fellow who is associated with a half dozen non profits, some for-profit advisory groups, some strategic policy consultants, etc.
Unfortunately he has spread himself so far he sometimes doesn't know what he is talking about. He was a big time proponent of cellulose based ethanol. Several hundred million in grants were awarded for cellulose ethanol and we have little to show for it.
Posted by: lord garth ||
01/06/2017 9:35
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[The Hill] Donald Trump's team is demanding politically appointed ambassadors leave their overseas posts by Inauguration Day, The New York Times reports.
The mandate could leave the U.S. without Senate-confirmed representatives for months in key countries like Germany and Britain, the Times notes. The order breaks with precedent. In the past, administrations have granted extensions on a case-by-case basis.
A senior Trump transition official told the Times there was no "ill will" in the order and that it is meant to make sure President Obama's appointees leave the government on schedule.
According to the Times, many ambassadors are considering appealing the decision with Rex Tillerson, Trump's nominee for secretary of state. The State Department reportedly informed all politically appointed ambassadors that they were to submit letters of resignation effective Jan. 20 the day after the election, and instructed those seeking extensions to submit formal requests.
#2
...some have been working themselves into non-appointee positions by reclassifying the position as such. There's going to be a weeding out. Seems Trump understands one of the fundamental failures of Bush II.
#5
The mandate could leave the U.S. without Senate-confirmed representatives for months in key countries like Germany and Britain, the Times notes.
Still have the chargé d'affaires, the Chief of Station, Defense Attache, and other staff. Still have the foreign office desk at Foggy Bottom. I see absolutely no downside.
[The Hill] President-elect Donald Trump will name former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats to direct the nation’s sprawling intelligence community, multiple media outlets reported Thursday.
The mild-mannered Republican, who did not seek reelection in November, was a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
A former ambassador to Germany under George W. Bush, Coats served in the Senate twice -- from 1989 to 1999, and again from 2011 until this year. Bio found here.
[Breitbart] Newly arrived Fox News host Tucker Carlson will take over the coveted 9 p.m. time-slot left by the departure of Megyn Kelly, who is heading to NBC later this year.
The 47-year-old host of Tucker Carlson Tonight joined the network just two months ago as a replacement for outgoing host Greta van Susteren. His 7 p.m. show has been a hit, averaging 2.8 million total viewers and posting strong ratings in the key 18-49 demo, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Carlson will begin hosting the 9 p.m. hour on Monday, January 9. Kelly’s last day at the network is Friday, January 6.
Arlington cemetery is full of 'indispensable men.'
[Breitbart] Stanley Black & Decker, one of the U.S.A.’s most well known hand and power tool manufacturers, has unveiled plans to move some manufacturing back to the U.S. after the election of Donald J. Trump to the White House.
In remarks to investors during a Thursday conference call, Stanley Black & Decker CEO James Loree said it just makes "business sense" to move manufacturing back to the U.S., especially given the uncertainty of trade relations with China and Mexico, USA Today reported. From an old Rigid calendar. Oil can Lilly threading a piece of 1 inch on a Rigid, American made pipe machine.
"It’s going to be advisable to have more manufacturing in the U.S.," Loree added.
"We believe this is an excellent opportunity to re-Americanize and revitalize this legendary brand," he concluded.
Stanley Black & Decker has been slowly increasing jobs in the U.S. for the past several years. Its current level of some 3,000 workers is already up 800 from 2013. It is not yet known how many more jobs the company will be bringing to the U.S. as a result of its latest announcement.
[ABC News] Police in Chandler, Arizona, have released surveillance footage from an April 2016 shootout that left two officers injured and the suspect dead.
On April 23, 2016, at around 6:21 a.m., Officers Joshua Pueblo and Daniel Colwell responded to a non-emergency call about a person trespassing at a Walmart store, police said.
Colwell arrived first and spoke with the suspect, whom police identified as Mitchell Oakley. Police said that shortly after Pueblo arrived, Oakley then shot both officers multiple times.
In the video footage, which shows multiple angles of the scene unfolding, officers can be seen talking with Oakley, who is seated in a chair in front of them. As Oakley stands up, he suddenly starts shooting as shoppers scatter.
Title courtesy of M. Murcek, who submitted the same story.
An engine dropped out of a B-52 bomber during a training flight on Wednesday, the Air Force has confirmed.
Righty-tighty, lefty-loosey...
A B-52 bomber on a training flight near Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota lost one of eight Pratt & Whitney TF33-P-3/103 turbofan engines mid-flight.
Don't you just hate when that happens?
The crew declared an in-flight emergency when the pilot discovered that an engine departed the aircraft and were able to land the aircraft safely without any injury to the five personnel on board.
It departed, did it? Did it leave its tray table in the upright and locked position? Did it remember to check the seat back for personal items? Was it careful upon opening the hatch of the overhead luggage storage compartment in case contents inside had shifted?
An Air Force helicopter sent to recover the wreckage “located possible engine debris” in an unpopulated area about 25 nautical miles northeast of the base, Air Force officials added.
BOMBS AWAYYYYY!!!
Officials said that there was no threat to public safety and that an investigation has been started.
Wing commander, master crew chief, and ground operations chiefs all going to be losing their jobs...
'We lost an engine'...gains an entirely new meaning.
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#3
Officials said that there was no threat to public safety and that an investigation has been started.
Wing commander, master crew chief, and ground operations chiefs all going to be losing their jobs...
Sadly, the best case scenario here is some incredible fudge-up on the part of the maintainers - if Miss Buffy has developed some sort of structural problem, that will be it for the fleet.....
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/06/2017 5:00
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Officials said that there was no threat to public safety...
This was true after the engine stopped bouncing...
#5
Old craft. Made by Boeing who had just a few years earlier turned out the B-17. Kill some time on google pics to see what shape some of those aircraft looked like after a spin over Germany. You ask yourself, how in the hell did that fly home.
Actually, you need all the engines to get the bird aloft. Once aloft you can still operate on less thrust unless you get a critical.
B-52, the closest thing the zoomies have to a M2. Something that does it job so well, its really hard to come up with a replacement (that doesn't cost 18 trillion dollars).
#6
My first thought when I read the articles was "It could not be for very long, but if the engine was running when it dropped loose, it had to keep running for a second or four even minus fuel, air, hydraulic and electrical connections." Like something out of a Bruce Willis Die Hard movie...
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01/06/2017 8:36
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[AlAhram] Three inmates from the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay arrived 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... Thursday, after the White House rejected US President-elect Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... 's demand for a freeze on transfers.
An AFP news hound saw the three prisoners after they landed at a terminal normally reserved for royals at the Riyadh international airport.
There will likely be additional prisoners transferred from the U.S. naval facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, before President Barack Obama Republicans can come along for the ride, but they've got to sit in the back... leaves office on Jan. 20, the White House said on Thursday.
"I am not able to speak to any specific detainee transfers between now and Jan. 20 other than to confirm for you that there are likely to be some," White House front man Josh Earnest said at a news briefing.
The releases will be announced publicly as they have been in the past, he said.
Dear King Salman,
I would deem it a great favor if you would lock up those Guantanamo Bay prisoners President Obama has been sending you. I'll send a transport to pick them up on Monday, January 23rd, after your weekend and ours.
BEIRUT, Lebanon: Syrian pro-government forces clashed with opposition forces around the main water source for Damascus on Thursday, a monitor said, threatening a fragile cease-fire as it entered its seventh day.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said regime troops backed by fighters from Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement were battling to recapture parts of the Wadi Barada region from rebels.
The area north of Damascus is the main source of water to the capital.
The Observatory, a Britain-based monitor of Syria’s conflict, said regime forces had late on Wednesday launched “dozens of air strikes on parts of Wadi Barada along with artillery and rocket fire, killing a firefighter.”
Fighting has continued in the area despite a nationwide cease-fire brokered by regime backer Russia and opposition sponsor Turkey, which has brought quiet to large parts of Syria.
The regime says forces in Wadi Barada include former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh Al-Sham Front, previously known as Al-Nusra Front, which Moscow and Damascus say is excluded from the cease-fire.
Opposition forces deny the group is in the area.
The capital’s water supply has been cut since December 22, with the regime and rebels trading accusations over responsibility.
Regime forces late Wednesday also bombed several parts of opposition-held Eastern Ghouta near Damascus, while regime and loyalist forces battled Islamist militants there, the Observatory said.
The opposition-controlled Rashidin district on the western outskirts of Aleppo was also bombed, it said, killing a rebel fighter and wounding eight others.
The cease-fire agreement is meant to pave the way for peace negotiations later this month in the Kazakh capital Astana, but Ankara warned on Wednesday that violations of the truce by President Bashar Assad’s government were putting the talks at risk.
In the context of the local reconciliations in Damascus countryside, the legal conditions of hundreds of gunmen were settled after they turned themselves in to the Syrian authorities.
In parallel, the Syrian army continued counterterrorism operations in various provinces, killing a number of militants and destroying their vehicles as well as equipment.
Source: Al-Manar Website
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At least 13 police and soldiers are reported to died in an overnight breakout from the besieged Benghazi terrorist enclaves of Ganfouda and Sabri.
A column of vehicles is reported to have bust out of Ganfouda and headed south towards Suluq. They are said to have included Wissam Ben Humaid, the militants’ leader. He is thought to have escaped.
A running battle, including airstrikes, then started nearby with at least one technical in the column destroyed.
Meanwhile, a second group of terrorists burst out of Ganfouda north towards Benghazi. A solider was killed at a checkpoint in Sidi Faraj and two police officers were gunned down near Benghazi Medical Centre. It appears that this escape included a car bomb, possibly without a driver, which however is said to have failed to detonate and was captured intact.
Some of the police dead and injured came in the third breakout when a vehicle clad in steel plate smashed its way out of Sabri. Among the dead there was traffic policeman. Three terrorists were also killed but it is being said that at least two more managed to escape into the city.
Several schools in Benghazi have not opened their doors today after the reported discovery of of explosive devices in a school near the passport centre in Al-Majuri. Banks too have been ordered to close and many people are staying indoors.
These three break-outs would appear to have been coordinated and to have taken security forces by surprise after more than a week’s lull in the fighting. They occurred during a city-wide power cut. It is understood that a GECOL control room staff member has been arrested.
At least six insurgents including two foreigners were killed during a counter-terrorism operation conducted in South of Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said the operation was conducted on Helmand-Nimroz highway and at least 9 others were also wounded.
MoD further added that the security forces also discovered and confiscated at least 20 Improvised Explosive Device planted by the militants on the same highway.
No further details were given regarding the identities of the two foreign insurgents killed during the operations.
The anti-government armed militant groups including the Taliban insurgents have not commented regarding the report so far.
The highway linking southern Helmand with western Nimruz province is relatively volatile as the anti-government armed militants frequently set up check points to kidnap or kill passengers besides conducting direct attacks.
In the meantime, the Afghan forces are busy conducting their annual operation to eliminate the anti-government armed militants in the restive provinces.
The annual operation by the Afghan forces was launched in response to Taliban’s spring offensive and the security officials are saying that the key leaders and commanders of the militants are normally targeted during the operations.
[WASHINGTONEXAMINER] Republican senators are warning Democrats that their efforts to resurrect racism charges against Sen. Jeff Sessions' nomination for attorney general won't derail his confirmation and will only serve to poison the well for future bipartisanship early this Congress.
Since Sessions' nomination, Democrats and liberal civil rights groups have reiterated racism charges from 1986 that sunk the Alabama senator's appointment to a federal judgeship by President Reagan. Sessions' supporters and those who believe some of the charges are overblown have spoken out on his behalf in recent weeks in an attempt to debunk the 30-year-old claims.
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., who calls Sessions a friend of 18 years even though he doesn't agree with all of his policy positions, has said Democrats' decision to re-level charges of racism against the Alabama senator could poison the well for any chance of cross-party cooperation this year.
"I think it's very questionable what the Democrats are doing," he told the Washington Examiner. "It has a way of pulling our string of comity in the Senate -- it's been pulled pretty hard and it looks like we're going to go through some more pulling."
If Democrats decide to call witnesses who made the original charges from the 1986 Judiciary Committee hearings, Roberts said it could seriously hamper any chance for bipartisan cooperation this session.
"I hope that doesn't happen," Roberts said. "I mean, that really eliminates any possibility for meaningful bipartisan action because then that opens the door for us to respond in kind and then it keeps devolving and poisons the well for any cooperation down the line."
Other Republican senators said Democratic efforts to cast Sessions as a racist simply won't work regardless of whom the Democrats call as witnesses because the Alabama senator, a 20-year veteran of the Senate, has worked well with so many Democrats over the years.
"We all know Jeff and have worked with him for a long time," said Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D. "I think you are going to see strong support for him among Republicans but also some Democrats too."
"He's worked with a lot of Democratic members of the Senate for a long time and built up good relations," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
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won't derail his confirmation and will only serve to poison the well for future bipartisanship early this Congress
What a maroon. 'Bi-partisanship' means either you agree with the Donks and vote with them, or their specific representative is doing so badly back in the district or state they have to vote with the Trunks to survive another election.
[NYDAILYNEWS] A New Jersey soldier set to deploy to the Middle East in just a few months was met with violence when he traveled home to visit his widowed mother for the holidays.
U.S. Army Serviceman Austin Freni was reportedly attacked and brutally beaten by a group of young men while he was walking with his mother, Lori Freni, after the Mummers Parade in Philadelphia on New Year’s Day, NJ.com reported.
The attack was prompted, Lori Freni said, by the fact that her son was wearing his Army jacket, according to Fox 23. She said a group of 10 to 15 men walked by them making "derogatory comments" about the jacket, and then one of them took a swing at her 19-year-old son.
Immediately after, the rest of the group piled on top of Austin, she said.
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[AlAhram] Morocco has ordered the closure of schools it says are linked to a US-based Islamic preacher that The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... blames for a failed coup last year, the interior ministry said.
"Investigations on the establishments of the Mohammed al-Fatih group, linked to Turkish national Fethullah Gulen ... a Turkish preacher living in Pennsylvania whom the current govt of Turkey considers responsible for all the ills afflicting Turkey and possibly the entire world... , showed they use education to spread the group's ideology and ideas contrary to the principles of the Moroccan educational and religious system," a ministry statement said.
After a series of warnings from the education ministry, "it was decided all the group's educational establishments would be closed within a delay of one month", it said.
The statement did not say how many schools or pupils would be affected but said the government would strive to ensure the students continued their education in other schools.
In August, an official Turkish delegation visited Morocco to convince the authorities of the danger of Gulen's group.
A school director from the Mohammed al-Fatih group at the time rejected any link with Gulen for seven schools teaching 2,500 students including 2,470 Moroccans. He said 90 percent of their teachers were also Moroccan nationals.
Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999, has denied any involvement in the July 15 failed coup aimed at toppling Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The preacher heads the Hizmet group which includes schools, associations and companies.
Turkey, which calls it the Fethullah Terror Organisation (FETO), has embarked on a massive crackdown of the group.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
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[Ynet] Turkish prosecutors issued arrest warrants for 380 businessmen accused of providing financial support to the network of US-based holy manFethullah Gulen ... a Turkish preacher living in Pennsylvania whom the current govt of Turkey considers responsible for all the ills afflicting Turkey and possibly the entire world... , who is accused of orchestrating July's failed coup, media reports said on Thursday.
State-run Anadolu news agency said prosecutors had also issued demands for searches of the suspects' homes and offices. Gulen denies accusations of involvement in the attempted putsch, in which more than 240 people were killed.
[AlAhram] Turkish police detained the chief legal advisor and a former chief executive of Dogan Holding on Thursday, the conglomerate said, as part of a probe into followers of a U.S.-based holy man blamed for a failed July coup.
Dogan - which has interests in media, finance, energy and tourism and owns newspaper Hurriyet and broadcaster CNN Turk - said the raids were only on the personal offices and homes of the two individuals and that its operations were unaffected.
Last month another Dogan Holding executive, Barbaros Muratoglu, was remanded in jug on an accusation of "aiding a terror group" as part of an investigation into the exiled Moslemholy manFethullah Gulen ... a Turkish preacher living in Pennsylvania whom the current govt of Turkey considers responsible for all the ills afflicting Turkey and possibly the entire world... and his followers. Ankara refers to the group as the "Gulenist Terror Organisation".
In its statement to the Istanbul stock exchange, Dogan said Thursday's detentions were part of the same investigation.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
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#1
With tourism in the toilet, an economic implosion coming.
[MEDIAITE] CNN host Don Lemon pushed back Wednesday night after a conservative panelist labeled four Chicagoans torturing a mentally handicapped man and posting the video live on Facebook “evil.”
Daily Caller columnist Matt Lewis called the video “sickening” and said the assault– during which the assailants chanted “F*** white people” and “F** Donald Trump“– was just another example of the problem of evil. “At the end of the day, you just try to wrap your head around evil,“ he said. “That’s what this is: it’s evil, it’s brutality, it’s man’s inhumanity to man.”
While denouncing the video, Lemon wasn’t willing to go that far. “I don’t think it’s evil,” he said. “I don’t think it’s evil. I think these are young people and I think they have bad home training.”
“I have no idea who is raising these young people, because no one I know on earth who is 17-years-old or 70-years-old would ever think of treating another person like that,” he continued. “You wonder, at 18-years-old, where is your parent, where is your guardian? If you're convinced there's no such thing as Evil then this little recreational session by street lice wasn't evil.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
"In order for evil to triumph good men only need do nothing." If you endorse evil then you will eventually be called on it. I suggest using a large foot ball stadium be used to celebrate BLM and invite all the white enablers...then drop the fuel air bomb.
#4
Evil and horrible parents produce evil and horrible offspring.
Nevertheless that has little bearing on the problem of what to do after these monstrous offspring jump out of their closets and prey on the innocent among the rest of us. The past can't be changed.
#5
It's all by design. Destroy the family, substitute the state as the 'bread winner'. De-normalize morality. Rationalize the de-civilization of a society. Lower education standards, lower moral standards, all for one group who get a pass based solely on their politically determined identity. Declare anyone a racist who disagrees.
(Reuters/IraqiNews.com)A car bomb in eastern Baghdad claimed by Islamic State killed six civilians and wounded 15 on Thursday, police and medics said.
The Amaq news agency, which supports Islamic State, said a parked car loaded with explosives in the al-Obeidi area had targeted a gathering of Shi’ite Muslims, whom the ultra-hardline Sunni group considers apostates.
Attacks across Baghdad in the past week, some claimed by the ultra-hardline Sunni group, have killed more than 60 people, with violence escalating as U.S-backed Iraqi forces try to drive the militants from the northern city of Mosul.
Islamic State has lost most of the territory it seized in northern and western Iraq in 2014, and ceding Mosul would probably spell the end of its self-styled caliphate. However, its insurgent capabilities in Iraq and plotting or inspiring attacks on the West are likely to persist.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) said recently that violence in Iraq had left 19000 casualties in 2016, but said the count excludes deaths in Anbar during three months of that year.
Observers believe Islamic State have begun to escalate attacks outside the city of Mosul, where the group has been losing ground and personnel since October, so as to relieve pressure on that front by government forces and to divert attention from losses.
Posted by: badanov ||
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[AlAhram] Around 20 more members of the Islamist murderous Moslem group 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... have surrendered in Niger, the government says.
"About 50 Boko Haram fighters have now given themselves up" since December 27, Niger's interior minister, Bazoum Mohammed, said in an interview broadcast late Wednesday on the state TV channel Tele Sahel.
The combatants surrendered at Diffa, in southeastern Niger, a Boko Haram stronghold close to the border with Nigeria, where 31 fighters turned themselves in at the end of last month.
Mohammed attributed the success to a military squeeze on the group, launched in July, coordinated with security forces in Nigeria and Chad, where the group also operates.
More surrenders will follow, he said, adding "in some sectors, the war (against Boko Haram) is already over."
But he warned that "organised Boko Haram elements are training" in the marshes of Lake Chad, a zone that straddles the three countries.
Three Niger soldiers were killed and seven maimed on the night of New Year's Eve when Boko Haram fighters attacked their position at Baroua, in the Diffa region, the military say.
Fifteen assailants were killed and another one was captured, they say.
Boko Haram is waging a seven-year-old uprising against the Nigerian state that has claimed more than 20,000 lives, with the insurgency spilling over the West African nation's borders into neighbouring states.
The violence has left around 2.6 million people homeless, sparking a dire humanitarian crisis, with the United Nations ...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly... warning the affected region faces the "largest crisis in Africa".
Diffa is one of the worst-hit regions, with around 300,000 people supported by a local population which is already chronically poor.
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[AlArabiya] Turkish warplanes and artillery have struck ISIS targets in Syria, ‘neutralizing’ 38 of the group’s militants, Turkey’s military said in a statement on Thursday.
In a round-up of its military operations over the last 24 hours in support of rebels in northern Syria, the army said air strikes by Turkish fighter jets on 28 ISIS targets destroyed shelters, command centers, weapons and vehicles.
The Turkish military operation, dubbed ‘Euphrates Shield’, was launched more than four months ago to drive ISIS militants away from the border region. In recent weeks, the forces have been besieging the town of al-Bab.
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[WASHINGTONEXAMINER] A staunch opponent of President B.O.'s environmental agenda was formally made the head of the Senate environment committee Wednesday.
Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., was unanimously elected to head the Environment and Public Works Committee, which has direct oversight over the Environmental Protection Agency. The agency is a top target of the Republican-led Congress and President-elect Trump.
"Over the past eight years, a runaway Environmental Protection Agency has time and again issued cumbersome regulations that have limited job creation and energy development," Barrasso said. "Our committee will work closely with the next administration to remove these obstacles to economic growth, while protecting the environment."
Barrasso doggedly opposed Obama's agreeing to the Gay Paree climate change accord without Senate consent. He later tried to rescind the State Department's authority to send millions of dollars to the United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... ' Green Climate Fund, which is a key program under the Gay Paree deal meant to direct $100 billion per year by 2020 to help developing nations cope with the effects of climate change.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Glen, I am old enough remember the time before the EPA. You're right - they have done some "good" - mostly by shutting down polluting industries. However, they went off the rails when they started to look for new pollutants to regulate like CO2 and dust from farmers.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/06/2017 11:18
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#6
Do you hear the sound of document shredders breaking down under heavy unprecedentedfreakingamazing usage as Jan 20 nears? The question is will FOIA requests on the Obama years be stonewalled. Interesting times.
Thursday at a press conference on Capitol Hill, when asked about President-elect Donald Trump calling Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) a "clown" in tweets about the congressional fight over the Affordable Care Act, Schumer fired back by saying it "was not a time for calling names."
Trump: "The Democrats, lead by head clown Chuck Schumer, know how bad ObamaCare is and what a mess they are in. Instead of working to fix it, they..
...do the typical political thing and BLAME. The fact is ObamaCare was a lie from the beginning. "Keep you doctor, keep your plan!" It is....
...time for Republicans & Democrats to get together and come up with a healthcare plan that really works - much less expensive & FAR BETTER!
Posted by: Pearl Hupomorong1598 ||
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[ARA News] Damascus – A car bomb attack hit on Thursday the Syrian coastal city of Jablah, a main regime bastion, killing and wounding dozens.
At least 16 people were killed and some 30 others wounded in the attack.
Jablah lies in the heartland of President Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite sect.
The Syrian authorities condemned the attack, and blamed “terrorist groups”.
Ghassan Findi, a senior medical officer, told state television the death toll was expected to rise, with rescue operations still continuing and scores of injured still being rushed to nearby hospitals.
At least 150 people were killed and 200 wounded in May when bombs hit the town and the port city of Tartous on the Mediterranean coast that hosts Russian military bases. ISIS claimed the May attacks, saying its fighters had targeted “gatherings of Alawites”.
[IsraelTimes] State Department says Hamza bin Laden poses ’serious’ risk to national security after urging attacks on American, French, and Israeli targets.
The B.O. regime imposed sanctions Thursday on a son of Sept. 11 criminal mastermindthe late Osama bin Laden ... who used to be alive but now he's not... , saying the younger bin Laden poses a risk to US national security.
The State Department said Hamza bin Laden has been added to its Specially Designated Global Terrorist list after he was "determined to have committed, or pose a serious risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of US nationals or the national security."
Hamza bin Laden was officially named an al-Qaeda member in 2014 by his father’s successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri ... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area assuming he's not dead like Mullah Omar. He lost major face when he ordered the nascent Islamic State to cease and desist and merge with the orthodx al-Qaeda spring, al-Nusra... The State Department says the younger Laden -- in a 2015 audio message -- called for acts of terrorism in Western capitals. In an audio message last year, he threatened Dire Revenge against the US and warned Americans they would be targeted at home and abroad.
Hamza bin Laden also has called for lone wolf, or solo-operative, attacks against US, French, and Israeli interests in Washington, Gay Paree and Tel Aviv.
"Hamza bin Laden is actively engaged in terrorism," the State Department said, adding that terrorism designations deny individuals access to the US financial system and "can assist or complement the law enforcement actions of other US agencies and other governments."
Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden was killed by US special forces in Pakistain in 2011.
The State Department also announced penalties against Ibrahim al-Banna, a senior member of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ...the latest incarnation of various Qaeda and Qaeda-allied groups, including the now-defunct Aden-Abyan Islamic Army that boomed the USS Cole in 2000... . He served as that group’s security chief and provided military and security guidance to its leadership.
Al-Banna wrote a 2010 article in AQAP’s English-language magazine, Inspire, hailing the Sept. 11 attacks as virtuous, according to the State Department, and threatened to target Americans both domestically and abroad.
#3
Well Hamza you've been designated. Think of it as badge of honor. Hell, why not designate your own number two while you're at it. As you're probably aware along with the title comes responsibility. You may want to shoo the kin folk out for awhile. Oh and don't worry about that wurring noise from above that's just the wind.
[WASHINGTONEXAMINER] Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., indicated Thursday that he is exploring all possible procedures at his disposal to delay certification of the Electoral College results during a joint session of Congress on Friday.
Perlmutter hasn't committed to putting up a roadblock to finalizing the results, but his office confirmed that he is "reviewing certain laws and the U.S. Constitution as it pertains to efforts to undermine our electoral process."
The rules allow politicians to protest the counting of Electoral College votes, but because the votes are counted during a joint session of Congress, a senator would also have to protest the results to halt their certification.
Perlmutter was reacting to intelligence community officials' statements during hearings on Capitol Hill Thursday about Russia's meddling in the November elections. Intelligence officials say Russia was behind the hacking into Democratic emails last year in an attempt to sway the election.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
To the Left its all ritualistic formality. They have no loyalty to a republic, only power. That lust will not abate till a lot of blood flows.
#2
They're gonna fight Trump tooth and nail for the entire time he is in office. That's what Perlmutter is doing and it's the same thing with this Russian hacker business. They're gonna fight him every step of the way and the MSM is gonna be yapping right along with them.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
01/06/2017 11:25
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On the other hand AU, the reason the lot of them are so "brave", is because - so far - there wasn't any costs just benefits to this type of behavior.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Three drones guided by Islamic State militants were brought down and 35 group members were killed in Mosul on Thursday, Iraqi police and paramilitary forces said as operations continue to recapture the city from militants.
Federal Police services said three drones were brought down before they attacked security locations in the eastern section of the city.
In western Mosul, a local source told Alsumaria News that al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units) had killed 35 Islamic State combatants who waged an attack on a PMU location near the strategic town of Tal Afar.
The deaths included an IS senior recruitment agent, nicknamed Abu Qaswara al-Shami.
Iraqi commanders said earlier this week they had recaptured 60 percent of the city’s eastern section. IS still maintains hideouts in the west close to its strongholds in Syria, but Iraqi generals and allied militia leaders say the group has become isolated from Syria and Iraq.
Security officials estimate the number of remaining IS combatants by 6000. But those are fighting against at least 100.000 government and militia soldiers.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in December the battle for Mosul was entering a “decisive” stage, and predicted that the operations could realize final victory within two months.
Liberating Mosul, IS last outstanding stronghold in Iraq, could deal a final fatal blow to group’s influence in the country.
(Reuters) Iraqi forces have retaken around 70 percent of eastern Mosul from Islamic State militants and expect to reach the river bisecting the city in the coming days, Iraq’s joint operations commander told Reuters.
Lieutenant General Talib Shaghati, who is also head of the elite counter-terrorism service (CTS) spearheading the campaign to retake the northern city, said the cooperation of residents was helping them advance against Islamic State.
In its 12th week, the offensive has gained momentum since Iraqi forces backed by a U.S.-led coalition renewed their push for the city a week ago, clearing several more eastern districts despite fierce resistance.
“Roughly 65-70 percent of the eastern side has been liberated,” Shaghati said in an interview late on Wednesday in the Kurdish capital of Erbil. “I think in the coming few days we will see the full liberation of the eastern side”.
The western half of the city remains under the full control of Islamic State, which is fighting to hold on to its largest urban stronghold with snipers and suicide car bombs numbering “in the hundreds” according to Shaghati.
The Mosul assault, involving a 100,000-strong ground force of Iraqi government troops, members of the autonomous Kurdish security forces and mainly Shi’ite militiamen, is the most complex battle in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
The commander of a U.S.-led coalition backing the Iraqi offensive told Reuters on Wednesday that increased momentum was due largely to better coordination among the army and security forces. He said the Iraqis had improved their ability to defend against Islamic State car bombs.
Although vastly outnumbered, the militants have used the urban terrain to their advantage, concealing car bombs in narrow alleys, posting snipers on tall buildings with civilians on lower floors and making tunnels and surface-level passageways between buildings. They have also embedded themselves among the local population.
HUMAN SHIELDS
The presence of large numbers of civilians on the battlefield has restricted Iraqi forces’ use of artillery but the cooperation of residents has also helped them target the militants.
“They give us information about the location of the terrorists, their movements and weapons that has helped us pursue them and arrest some and kill others,” Shaghati said.
In the run-up to the Mosul offensive, Iraqi officials expressed hope that residents would rise up against Islamic State, accelerating the group’s demise in the city. But mass executions seem to have discouraged widespread resistance.
An Iraqi victory in Mosul would probably spell the end for Islamic State’s self-styled caliphate, which leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared 2-1/2 years ago from Mosul’s main mosque after the militants overran the city.
But in recent days, the militants have displayed the tactics to which they are likely to resort if they lose the city, killing dozens with bombs in Baghdad and attacking security forces elsewhere.
An attack claimed by Islamic State killed six people on Thursday on the capital’s eastern outskirts.
CTS pushed into Mosul from the east in late October and made swift advances but regular army troops tasked with advancing from the north and south made slower progress and the operation stalled for several weeks.
The roughly 10,000 members of CTS, established a decade ago with support from the U.S. forces, are considered the best-trained and equipped fighters in Iraq.
Shaghati described the role of the international coalition, providing air support and advising Iraqi forces on the ground as “outstanding” and said Islamic State was crumbling under pressure.
“Daesh (Islamic State) devised many plans to obstruct and block us but they failed. We were able to surpass them and these areas were liberated with high speed,” Shaghati said.
“We have intelligence that (Islamic State) leaders and their families are fleeing outside Iraq.”
[ARA News] Erbil – The US-led coalition has launched thousands of airstrikes on Islamic State’s (ISIS) positions since the launch of the Mosul campaign nearly three months ago, helping allied Iraqi forces to capture more ground in the key city.
According to Air Force Col John L. Dorrian, Spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR)–the US-led coalition against ISIS, the air campaign hit hundreds of ISIS targets in Mosul.
Since the start of Mosul Operation last October, the coalition has destroyed more than 125 ISIS car bombs that had been prepared by the group to hit Iraqi and Kurdish forces in the vicinity of Mosul.
Furthermore, dozens of ISIS tactical units have been recently destroyed by the US-led coalition in Mosul and other parts of Nineveh Governorate, in northern Iraq.
Also, over 2,500 ISIS fighters have been killed either by coalition air raids or Iraqi shelling.
On October 17th, 2016, the Iraqi Army and Kurdish Peshmerga forces launched a major battle for Mosul to liberate the city and its surroundings from ISIS. The US-backed forces have so far captured approximately 70% of Mosul city, which is deemed a de facto capital for ISIS in Iraq.
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Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi army and police forces, backed by tribal militias, launched on Thursday a first major campaign to retake western regions of the province of Anbar, near the borders with Syria, from Islamic State militants.
Commander of the army’s al-Jazeera Operations, Lt. Gen. Qassem al-Mohammadi, said in a statement that the forces partaking in the onslaught are backed by an aerial cover from US-led coalition fighter jets.
He said the operations target the towns of Annah, Rawa and Qaem from Islamic State militants who maintained hold since 2014. Joint forces advanced Thursday towards Annah, he revealed.
IS used regions of western Anbar as launching points for attacks against civilians and security forces. Iraqi security and coalition forces responded with occasional strikes on those locations.
The most outstanding battle against IS in Iraq has been running since October at the city of Mosul, the country’s second largest city and the formerly proclaimed capital of the militants’ “Islamic Caliphate”. Generals say they have become in control over a half of the city’s eastern section and hope to advance towards the western section on the borders with Syria.
Battles and hard living conditions in IS-held regions has forced at least 150.000 civilians to flee homes to refugee camps.
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Anbar Operations Command announced on Thursday confiscating 80 Jahannam (Hell) missiles and quantities of different rockets and remnants left by the Islamic State in the areas of al-Tharthar basin, in northern the province.
Commander of Anbar Operations, Major General Ismail Mahalawi, said in a press statement, “Security forces searched the area of Albu Shamlon, in Tharthar basin, north of Ramadi, resulting in confiscating 80 Jahannam (Hell) missiles and quantities of different rockets and remnants left by the Islamic State.”
“Security forces continue searching and securing the liberated areas, in order to remove military remnants left by the Islamic State, in preparation for the return of displaced people,” Mahlawi added.
The areas of Tharthar Lake (70 km north of Ramadi) were fully liberated from the Islamic State, four months ago.
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi security forces and tribal militias cleared on Thursday 8 kilometers of a road linking Islamic State-held towns west of Anbar as operations started earlier on the day to retake those regions.
Qassem al-Mohammadi, commander of the army’s al-Jazeera Operations, said in press statements that army forces and allied militias cleared eight kilometers of the road between the towns of Haditha and Annah from militants, killing some as they advanced.
Nazem al-Jugheifi, a senior leader at Popular Mobilization Units in the province, said the militias defused more than 100 explosive devices during the campaign.
Meanwhile, Saad Rachid, mayor of Annah, said Islamic State militants were confining 8000 civilians inside the town, adding that those suffer medicine and food shortages. He however, predicted the IS-controlled regions to be retaken soon, arguing that most regions are empty of residents, which will facilitate the mission of security forces.
IS used regions of western Anbar as launching points for attacks against civilians and security forces. Iraqi security and coalition forces responded with occasional strikes on those locations.
The most outstanding battle against IS in Iraq has been running since October at the city of Mosul, the country’s second largest city and the formerly proclaimed capital of the militants’ “Islamic Caliphate”. Generals say they have become in control over a half of the city’s eastern section and hope to advance towards the western section on the borders with Syria.
More on Hadith-Annan operation from Arab News
BAGHDAD/ERBIL: Iraqi forces launched an offensive against the Daesh group near the Syrian border Thursday, piling further pressure on the militants’ crumbling “caliphate.”
A joint operations commander told Reuters that Iraqi forces have retaken around 70 percent of eastern Mosul from Daesh militants and expect to reach the river bisecting the city in the coming days.
Lt. Gen. Talib Shaghati, who is also head of the elite counter-terrorism service (CTS) spearheading the campaign to retake the northern city, said the cooperation of residents was helping them advance against Daesh.
Baghdad and its allies also turned up the heat on Daesh in its last remaining Iraqi stronghold of Mosul, where the US-led coalition said it had doubled the number of its advisers.
“A military operation has begun in the western areas of Anbar (province) to liberate them from Daesh,” said Lt. Gen. Qassem Mohammedi, head of Jazeera Operations Command.
He said the operation was led by the army’s 7th division, police, and fighters from local tribes that have opposed the militants, with aerial backing from the coalition.
The main targets of the operation are Aanah, Rawa and Al-Qaim, the westernmost Iraqi towns along the Euphrates Valley.
The militant hub of Al-Qaim, which lies 330 km northwest of Baghdad, is still a long way down the road and the most immediate target is the town of Aanah.
“Our forces started advancing from Haditha toward Aanah from several directions,” Mohammedi told AFP.
Haditha was never seized by Daesh when the group swept across much of Iraq’s Sunni Arab heartland in 2014 and is home to a tribe that has led the fight against the militants in the area.
“Zero hour has come to liberate the western areas,” Nadhom Al-Jughaifi, a commander with the Haditha tribal fighters, said.
In 2016, Iraqi forces retook large parts of the vast province of Anbar, including its capital Ramadi and the city of Fallujah.
Anbar is a desert area traversed by the Euphrates that borders Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria. Security in reconquered areas remains precarious and militants continue to move across the province.
Daesh has lost more than half of the territory it once controlled in Iraq and the loss of Mosul would deal a major blow to the “caliphate” it proclaimed there in June 2014.
Tens of thousands of Iraqi forces are currently involved in an offensive to retake the main northern city, which is also Daesh’s last major stronghold in the country.
The operation launched on Oct. 17 is Iraq’s largest in years and while significant territory was reconquered around Mosul, the going has been tough inside the city itself.
After a lull in operations, Iraqi forces launched a fresh push last week and appear to have found new momentum.
“Iraqi security forces have made significant progress since initiating phase two of their operation to liberate Mosul,” Col. John Dorrian, the coalition’s spokesman, said on Wednesday.
He said that was partly owed to increased coalition involvement in the battle, with a doubling of the deployment of advisers there to about 450.
“We have increased the number of advise and assist forces that are there with the ISF (Iraqi Security Forces) command elements to help advise them as they move forward and to synchronize operations,” he said.
Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi promised that his forces would rid Iraq of Daesh by the end of 2016 but commanders have admitted they were surprised at how stiff militant resistance was in the city.
According to a top commander in the Counter-Terrorism Service that has spearheaded the battle in Mosul, Iraqi forces have now retaken about two thirds of the city’s eastern half.
Dorrian said the presence inside the city of hundreds of thousands of civilians had slowed progress.
“There are more than 200,000 buildings in Mosul. And really, in order to do this properly, given the way that the enemy has conducted themselves, you end up having to clear each one,” he told reporters.
Posted by: badanov ||
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Three teenage girls suspected of planning a triple suicide bomb attack in a town frequently targeted by Boko Haram have been shot dead, a local government official said on Thursday.
Civilian vigilantes opened fire on the trio near the town of Madagali when they refused to stop for a security check, the town council’s chairman, Yusuf Muhammad, told AFP.
“Explosives strapped to two of the girls exploded from the impact of the shooting, while those on the third girl were defused by soldiers,” he added.
Boko Haram extremists have regularly used young women and girls as human bombs in a nearly eight-year insurgency, which has left at least 20,000 people dead and made more than 2.6 million homeless.
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[Al-Manar] Dozens of Saudi-led mercenaries were killed and injured as the Yemeni rocketry force fired a ballistic missile on a Saudi military camp in Bab el-Mandeb.
Yemeni sources told al-Massirah Yemeni channel that 150 of mercenaries were killed and injured as the medium-range missile accurately targeted Shaab al-Jen military camp in Bab el-Mandeb.
Among the mercenaries killed were Takfiris transformed from Syria via Turkish planes, the source said.
Yemen has been since March 26, 2015 under brutal aggression by Saudi-led coalition.
Thousands have been martyred and injured in the attack, with the vast majority of them are civilians.
Riyadh launched the attack on Yemen in a bid to restore power to fugitive ex-president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi who is a close ally to Saudi Arabia.
The background to this article g(r)omgoru posted late yesterday.
[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] The website Newsmax is floating the idea that Hillary Clinton is 'talking about' running for New York City mayor
Clinton is reportedly feeling pressure from donors and Democratic Party leaders who are less-than-pleased with current Mayor Bill de Blasio
While it's highly unlikely that Clinton would give politics another go so soon, she has surprised people in the past by running for senate in 2000
Her decision to become President Obama's secretary of state in 2008, was also eyebrow-raising, after the two politicians' bitter primary battle earlier that year
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2017
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#1
From the Sharpe series, "You get dross from dross I always say".
#13
The entire Clinton Foundation and paid speaking engagement scheme are based on selling access to power. Since the entire Donk system has been reduced to making noise and virtue signaling to keep the serfs awake it's hard to get six figure speeches to fund their majestic lifestyle expectations and ego salving. So, Gracie Mansion offers a low rent option and a place from which to continue to get media attention. Sadly, in the nest of vipers that is NYC politics, even more of the shabby truth about Hildabeest will be revealed in the tabloid press each morning. Plus, imagine the photos of Bill and the energizer bunny in Chapaqua while Huma spends evenings with her wife?
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
01/06/2017 13:02
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#15
What, being the Norma Desmond of Chappaqua is not enough?
Posted by: Regular joe ||
01/06/2017 14:49
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#16
It's a possible win for NYC here. I mean, Hill hasn't been able to accomplish anything in her other jobs, so it would be net improvement for the citizens of NYC.
Think of it as a "loser's consolation" prize.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
01/06/2017 18:53
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[IsralTimes] Le Monde says 8 jihadists were killed in Syria and 5 in Central Africa; 40 assassinations in total. I'm not sure why this an issue at all. If you're a jihadist you're making war on the west. The fact that you have citizenship among the kaffirs can't be a protection when you're at war with a country, or in this case a civilization. La Belle France has assassinated some of its own citizens in assassinations on the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... and other jihadist groups, and each of the attacks was approved by French President Francois Hollande ...the Socialist president of La Belle France, an economic bad joke for la Belle France but seemingly a foreign policy realist... , Israel Radio reported Thursday.
Citing the French daily Le Monde which gained access to unpublished, relevant documents, the radio station said that strikes killed eight IS commanders who were French citizens in Syria and Iraq. Another five French jihadists have been killed in central Africa.
According to Le Monde, Hollande green-lighted each of the missions, which were mostly carried out by the French Air Force.
La Belle France is one of the nations participating in the US-led coalition against the IS, which seized large areas of Syria and Iraq in recent years and then imposed a brutal interpretation of Islamic law on local people.
In total, La Belle France was behind 40 assassinations that have not been publicized. Most of those on La Belle France’s hit list were killed in US dronezaps.
Hollande has admitted that intelligence in not always clear about who is in a building or vehicle that is targeted.
In some cases, missions have been called off due to concerns that innocent civilians might be harmed.
An autumn 2015 attack on a building in Raqqa, Syria used to train bandidossnuffies for attacks in Europe was canceled because noncombatants might have been killed. The target was Belgium-Moroccan terrorist Abdelhamid Abaaoud, believed to be the ringleader of the November 12, 2015, coordinated attacks in Gay Paree that killed 120 people.
It later transpired that at the time the strike was planned Abaaoud was already in Europe. He was killed on November 18, 2015, in a shootout with French police in Saint-Denis in the followup to the Gay Paree attacks.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/06/2017
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Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Seventeen civilians were killed and 13 others were injured on Thursday when Islamic State militants bombarded residential areas east of Mosul as government forces continued to storm neighborhoods to drive militants out.
Joint Operations major Shokr Mahmoud was quoted by Bas News as saying that the shelling targeted the districts of al-Bakr, al-Aalam, Muharibin and al-Zohour. He added that security forces evacuated civilians from those areas.
Iraqi generals have said they had become in control over 70 of Mosul’s eastern section. But IS militants have regularly bombed areas they have lost to security forces since operations kicked off in October to recapture Iraq’s second largest city.
Earlier on Thursday, Federal Police forces said they became 700 meters away from al-Salam hospital, a strategic bastion which militants captured from security forces a few weeks ago.
IS still maintains hideouts in the west close to its strongholds in Syria, but Iraqi generals and allied militia leaders say the group has become isolated from Syria and Iraq.
Security officials estimate the number of remaining IS combatants by 6000. But those are fighting against at least 100.000 government and militia soldiers.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in December the battle for Mosul was entering a “decisive” stage, and predicted that the operations could realize final victory within two months.
Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) The self-proclaimed Islamic State extremist group abducted a civilian from his house, northwest of Kirkuk, on charges of revealing information about the group’s members, a source told Al Mada Press on Thursday.
The source said, “Six members of the Islamic State sneaked, at late hour yesterday, into al-Tank neighborhood in Dibs District (55 km northwest of Kirkuk), and stormed into the house of a citizen named Khedr Mahmoud, who was killed earlier by the group, and took his two sons outside of the district.”
“The Islamic State’s members released the younger son midway, and took the other son to the group’s headquarters in the mountains,” the source added on condition of anonymity.
“The Islamic State accused the abducted son of revealing information about the group’s members who are disguised among families fleeing from areas south and west of Kirkuk,” the source further added.
ISIS executes one by dunking in liquid detergent "Tough on stains, but gentle on skin"
[ARA News] Duhok – Extremists of the Islamic State (ISIS) on Thursday executed an Iraqi man in Mosul city by drowning him in a disinfectant detergent liquid.
The radical group released a video showing the brutal execution, claiming that the victim was spying for Iraqi government forces.
While drowning him, ISIS broadcasted a call between the man and an Iraqi radio station.
“This infidel has been supporting the Iraqi regime’s campaign to take Mosul,” one of the militants said, adding that the city needs to be cleansed with Dettol detergent.
According to Raafat al-Zarari, the head of Nineveh Media Centre, the execution was another attempt by ISIS to terrify the people of Mosul.
“The group considers anyone with suspicious activities as a spy for rival forces,” al-Zarari told ARA News. “These brutal executions will continue until ISIS is eliminated completely in Mosul.”
This comes as US-backed Iraqi forces started the second phase of the battle for Mosul against Islamic State’s militants.
On October 17th, 2016, the Iraqi Army and Kurdish Peshmerga forces launched a major battle for Mosul to liberate the city and its surroundings from ISIS.
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[ARA News] Deir Ezzor – Militant fighters of the Islamic State (ISIS) launched on Thursday a major offensive on Syrian Army bases in Deir ez-Zor Governorate, in eastern Syria.
ISIS militants initiated the offensive by targeting headquarters of the Syrian regime’s army forces in the Bagheliya town with heavy artillery and mortar shells.
Dozens of casualties were reported among the Syrian forces in Bagheliya.
The group also attacked the 137th Regiment of the Syrian Army in western Deir ez-Zor with two car bomb attacks, followed by fierce mortar shelling.
“The attacks on the 137th Regiment caused the destruction of several military vehicles and the death of over 20 Syrian Army soldiers,” media activist Samer al-Khalaf told ARA News in Deir ez-Zor.
In the evening on Thursday, ISIS fighters continued their offensive by shelling the regime-held Military Airport of Deir ez-Zor. The results of the airbase attack remained unknown.
Most of the city of Deir ez-Zor and its countryside is under ISIS control. However, pro-regime army troops still hold control of several neighborhoods in the city beside a military airport in Deir ez-Zor suburb.
The province of Deir ez-Zor is deemed strategic for ISIS for it links the group’s de facto capital of Raqqa with Iraqi territory controlled by the radical group.
Posted by: badanov ||
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"Draftees good, volunteers bad."
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Amnesty International urged Thursday to halt arms transfers to militias fighting the Islamic State on the side of government forces, saying the supplies from 17 countries are used in war crimes.
The USA, Europe, Russia and Iran come at the forefront of arms suppliers to the militias, the organization said in a report published Thursday. “Field research and detailed expert analysis of photographic and video evidence since June 2014 has found that these paramilitary militias have benefited from transfers of arms manufactured in at least 16 countries, which include tanks and artillery as well as a wide range of small arms.”
Those countries “must wake up to the fact that all arms transfers to Iraq carry a real risk of ending up in the hands of militia groups with long histories of human rights violations,” said Patrick Wilcken, Researcher on Arms Control and Human Rights at Amnesty International. “Any state selling arms to Iraq has to show that there are strict measures in place to make sure the weapons will not be used by paramilitary militias to flagrantly violate rights. If they haven’t done that, no transfer should take place.”
Shia-led al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units) have been actively engaged in the campaign launched in October by the Iraqi government to clear the Iraqi province of Nineveh from IS militants, but its involvement in the liberation of areas inhabited by Sunnis has aroused international fears especially among Sunni powers such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia, as well as from the United Nations.
In December, Iraqi President Fuad Masum approved a law passed by parliament in November that turned al-Hashd al-Shaabi from a paramilitary to national force.The passing of the long-debated bill came amid intense objections from Sunni groups within the parliament who feared the law would grant the militia unchecked powers, and therefore stoke sectarian tensions.
Al-Hashd al-Shaabi was formed by a decree in 2014 from Iraq’s top Shia clergy to combat the Islamic State militants who took over many regions of Iraq.
But Amnesty urged to further scrutinize the weapons supply to that group. “Some PMUs have been documented carrying out revenge attacks mainly targeting Sunni Arabs, and nobody is holding them to account.”
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Shia-led militias fighting Islamic State militants with the Iraqi government rebuffed on Thursday accusations of committing war crimes, announcing that they were preparing for fresh onslaughts against the extremist group.
Ahmed al-Assadi, spokesperson of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units) said Thursday that a sixth phase of the militia’s operations against IS in western Mosul was due to start soon, seeking the liberation of the strategic IS stronghold of Tal Afar.
Responding to accusations by Amnesty International on Thursday that PMU use arms supplies from several countries to commit war crimes, Assadi labelled the accusations as lies, demanding Iraq’s foreign ministry to sue the organization.
“Whatever is circulated across malicious media about violations is untrue,” Assadi said during a press conference. “The priority for al-Hashd al-Shaabi is to protect civilians, and we shall chase Daesh (Islamic State) to the last spot of Mosul and based on directives from the supreme commander of the armed forces,” he said, referring to Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.
PMUs have been actively fighting Islamic State militants in western Mosul, while government forces are still struggling to clear the eastern section from IS extremists. PMUs recaptured the strategic Tal Afar airport in November and are eyeing to advance towards the center of the town.
Al-Hashd al-Shaabi was formed by a decree in 2014 from Iraq’s top Shia clergy to combat the Islamic State militants who took over many regions of Iraq. In December, Iraqi President Fuad Masum approved a law passed by parliament in November that turned al-Hashd al-Shaabi from a paramilitary to national force.
But its involvement in the liberation of areas inhabited by Sunnis has aroused international fears especially among Sunni powers such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia, as well as from the United Nations.
Earlier on Thursday, Amnesty said countries supplying arms to PMUs, most notably Iran, the US and Russia, “must wake up to the fact that all arms transfers to Iraq carry a real risk of ending up in the hands of militia groups with long histories of human rights violations.”
[Anadolu Agency] A former public school administrator was gunned down in a market in southern Thailand in what police suspect to be the latest operation against the Thai government. The slain former official also worked as an advisor to the chairman of the provincial administration organization of Yala province.
Police captain Pongsak Promaket said that the man was ambushed by gunmen. He said, "The 59-year-old former school administrator was selling goods in a market in Yala province, when a group of men drew guns and shot him repeatedly before fleeing."
Rising addiction rates and disputes among street-level drug dealers were key factors in driving up homicides in Tijuana last year, making 2016 the most violent in the city’s history, authorities said Tuesday.
The total for the year came to 910 for Tijuana, according to figures for the Baja California Attorney General’s Office. That represents a 36 percent increase over 2015, when authorities registered 670 homicides. The 2016 tally surpasses the city’s previous record in 2008, when authorities reported 844 killings.
"There is a tremendous conflict in the street over the sale of drugs," said Miguel Angel Guerrero, coordinator for special investigations in the Baja California Attorney General’s Office in Tijuana. "Every day, we see more addicts, and as we see more addicts, there will be more drug consumption, more problems, and more deaths as a result."
With a population of more than 1.7 million residents, Tijuana is Baja California’s largest city and has traditionally led the state in homicides. Last year was no exception: By comparison with Tijuana’s 910 killings, Mexicali, the state capital, had 112 homicides, Ensenada had 85, Rosarito Beach had 80 and Tecate had 77, according to the Attorney General’s figures. That's almost as many murders as Chicago in a much smaller city. More at link...
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
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[WASHINGTONEXAMINER] Omarosa Manigault, the incoming director of the White House's Office of Public Liaison, said on Wednesday she jumped parties because Democrats have repeatedly failed voters.
The former "Apprentice" Season 1 contestant told Fox News host Megyn Kelly that she voted for Bill Clinton ...former Democratic president of the U.S. Bill was the second U.S. president to be impeached, the first to deny that oral sex was sex, the first to have difficulty with the definition of is... and Barack Obama teachable moment... in their presidential elections, even working for Vice President Al Gore Former Vice President, Nobel Prize winner, and crazed sex poodle Al Gore and Clinton in the 1990s.
"Traditionally, African-Americans have been Democrats. I think that the Democrats have taken advantage and taken for granted the African-American vote. We are seeing a huge movement of African-Americans moving to the Republican side. And that's what I did. I'm a Trumplican," Manigault said, coining a new term.
Manigault said in her new communications role, as well as an official assistant to the president, she will be responsible for sharing the public's feelings on policy and other matters with President-elect Trump.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2017
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#1
I don't trust her. She seems opportunistic. She seems like an attention whore, and I read somewhere that she convinced Michael Clark Duncan to will most of his money to her instead of his family shortly before he died, when he seemed to be behaving strangely. They weren't even married! Dunno. Keep an eye on her.
#4
Traditionally, African-Americans were Republicans. They only became Democrats after the Civil Rights Act was signed by Johnson and we all know what he said about that. He was right.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/06/2017 7:57
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ISIS have successfully adopted a little known Al-Qa’eda / Al-Nusra tactic known as Inghimasi.
In a switch from the suicide bombing terrorism of the 2000’s, Inghimasiyun deliberately aim to stay alive, killing their enemies with firearms before having the option to detonate their vests when overwhelmed
Evidence the tactic has been exported to North Africa and Europe, in the form of attacks against Westerners in Tunisia, Libya and France
Ideal for the social media age as a long-running Inghimasi siege holds media attention for hours or days.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
01/06/2017
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#1
a long-running Inghimasi siege holds media attention for hours or days
It also draws first and second tier threat response and tactical command teams to prepared target locations. Anticipate escalation of secondary incidents now that there is a Active Shooter response model for the 'lone wolf'.
[al-Manar] A car bomb exploded outside a courthouse in the western Turkish city of Izmir on Thursday, wounding at least 10 people and sparking clashes in which at least two “terrorists” were killed, officials and reports said.
Several ambulances were rushed to the scene after the blast outside the prosecutors and judges’ entrance to the court in the usually peaceful city on the Aegean Sea, the channel said.
Police then clashed with “terrorists” during which two of them were killed and one escaped, according to state-run Anatolia news agency.
The mayor of the local Bayrakli municipality, Hassan Karabag, told NTV television that at least 10 people were wounded, one of them seriously.
The wounded were taken to hospital as police secured the scene.
As is customary after such attacks in Turkey, the authorities slapped a broadcast ban on images from the incident, state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
The provincial governor, Erol Ayyildiz, blamed the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, for the car bombing and a large crowd assembled at the scene, chanting: 'God damn the PKK.'
Two men armed with machine guns, grenades and a rocket launcher were later killed while a third is on the run after a deadly car bomb outside a courthouse.
Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak said it could have been much worse: 'Based on the preparation, the weapons, the bombs and ammunition seized, it is understood that a big atrocity was being planned.'
The state-run Anadolu news agency said two suspects were tossed into the calaboose but it was not clear if they included the pursued hard boy.
It added that security forces carried out a controlled kaboom on a vehicle that the attackers may have been looking to use as a getaway car.
The usually peaceful port city, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... 's third largest metropolis, is the gateway to the plush beach resorts of the Aegean and rarely sees violence on this scale. It is well west of the PKK's main theatre in southeastern Turkey.
[Zero Hedge] The rising hysteria about Russia is best understood as fulfilling two needs for Official Washington: the Military Industrial Complex’s transitioning from the "war on terror" to a more lucrative "new cold war" ‐ and blunting the threat that a President Trump poses to the neoconservative/liberal-interventionist foreign-policy establishment.
By hyping the Russian "threat," the neocons and their liberal-hawk sidekicks, who include much of the mainstream U.S. news media, can guarantee bigger military budgets from Congress. The hype also sets in motion a blocking maneuver to impinge on any significant change in direction for U.S. foreign policy under Trump.
‐ From the post: Who Benefits from War with Russia?
The following will probably be one of the most important articles I’ve ever written. After spending some time watching the recently concluded intelligence briefing to the U.S. Senate, I’ve concluded it to be one of the most disturbing and ominous things I can remember. I have several takeaways from what I saw, and none of them are good.
Before I get started, I want to remind you of something I wrote last summer in the piece, Japanese Government Shifts Further Toward Authoritarianism and Militarism.
One of the most discomforting aspects of Neil Howe and William Strauss’ seminal work on generational cycles, The Fourth Turning (1997), is the fact that as far as American history is concerned, they all climax and end with massive wars.
To be more specific, the first "fourth turning" in American history culminated with the Revolutionary War (1775-1783), the second culminated with the Civil War (1861-1865), while the third ended with the bloodiest war in world history, World War II (1939-1945). The number of years between the end of the Revolutionary War and the start of the Civil War was 78 years, and the number of years between the end of the Civil War and the start of World War II was 74 years (76 years if you use America’s entry into the war as your starting date). Therefore, if Howe & Strauss’ theory holds any water, and I think it does, we’re due for a major conflict somewhere around 75 years from the end of World War II. That brings us to 2020.
The more I look around, the more signs appear everywhere that the world is headed into another major conflict. From an unnecessary resurgence of a Cold War with Russia, to increased tensions in the South China Sea and complete chaos and destruction in the Middle East, the world is a gigantic tinderbox. All it will take to transform these already existing conflict zones into a major conflagration is another severe global economic downturn, something I fully expect to happen within the next 1-2 years. Frighteningly, this puts on a perfect collision course with the 2020 area.
#7
An effective facilitator uses lots of butcher paper and permits the audience to sort out the facts. History might indicate the common man, soldier, or village priest is seldom responsible for starting wars. That leaves only a few others who might ultimately be held to account.
[BLOOMBERG] Sears Holdings Corp. agreed to sell its Craftsman tool brand to Stanley Black & Decker Inc. for about $900 million, marking Chief Executive Officer Edward Lampert’s third move in the last two weeks to prop up the beleaguered retailer with fresh sources of funding.
Stanley will pay $525 million at closing and $250 million after three years, the companies said in a statement Thursday. The buyer also will make annual payments on new Craftsman sales for 15 years.
With Sears’s department-store business continuing to bleed cash, Lampert has turned to selling and spinning off assets to keep the company operating. The hedge fund manager, who also is the retailer’s chairman and largest investor, agreed earlier this week to lend the company $500 million and said last month that affiliates of his firm would offer it a $200 million letter of credit. Sears also has been reviewing its DieHard batteries and Kenmore appliance brands for potential sales.
The Craftsman sale is "another piece of the puzzle of trying to cobble together enough liquidity to navigate ’17," said Noel Hebert, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. "But the more you sell to fund losses, the less there is to sell."
Hebert also said the price Sears sold the unit for was "disappointing."
Separately, Sears said it’s closing 150 more stores, part of a program to shrink the retailer’s physical presence to stem its continued losses. The company posted another grim sales report Thursday, with comparable-store sales declining 12 percent to 13 percent during the holiday period.
"We will continue to take actions to adjust our capital structure, meet our financial obligations and manage our business to better position Sears Holdings to create long-term value," Lampert said in Thursday’s statement.
Investors cheered the moves, sending Sears up as much as 8 percent to $11.19 in New York. The stock had slumped 55 percent last year as the company continued to post losses. Shares of New Britannia, Connecticut-based Stanley advanced as much as 3.6 percent to $120.69.
Iconic Brand
Craftsman has been part of Sears since 1927, when the retailer acquired the brand for $500. The tools debuted in the iconic Sears catalog two years later. By the 1940s, the brand benefited from a surge in power-tool sales. In 1981, President Jimmy Carter ... the worst president ever. Maybe the second worst. The votes aren't all in yet... was given a Craftsmen woodworking set as his farewell gift when he left the White House.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2017
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#1
With every roll of chicken wire I unload at Amazon, I can't help but think of all the Sears catalog sales execs that must be spinning in their graves. Maybe the company could harness that energy for sale to raise xapitol.
#2
Darwin at work. Adapt or perish. For a Sears, there's an Amazon.
Kenmore is not long for the world either. Replace a 24 year Kenmore refrig at Sears, it was a pain. Fit their schedule, pay extra. Replaced a 18 year dishwasher at Lowes, they fit my schedule, free delivery, free take away, and a mil discount on top of an on going sale.
#3
The first Kenmore microwave I bought, that was in 1982, lasted until 2013. The second Kenmore microwave I bought, was in 2013, and it didn't last through that year.
#4
Oh great! Craftsman used to be a great brand, now that B&D is going to own it, it's gonna turn to crap. Might as well buy my tools from Harbor Freight as their quality is the same as Craftsman is going to be once B&D gets their grubby hands on it. HF much cheaper too, I do note that the quality of HF tools has been going up in the past few years.
#7
I gave up on Craftsman 10 years ago. I now buy Mac Tools or other high quality tools. Buy them once and they last for decades.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/06/2017 9:44
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#8
Ugh! Black and Decker is going to buy Craftsman?
Craftsman used to make pretty good tools and their lifetime guarantee has been useful. Do you think B&D will still honor the lifetime guarantee?
#10
That's a bummer - my garage is full of Craftsman stuff - drill (I've had it for about thirty years), circular saw (15 or 20), table saw, wrenches, socket sets and even my snowblower (some 18 HP Canadian model, bought at the Braintree MA Sears about five years ago), and they all work great. I agree that it looks like the brand's about to turn to shit.
The Taliban insurgents have killed a policewoman in southern Helmand province of Afghanistan while another woman who was formerly serving with the police forces was killed in Uruzgan.
According to the local officials in Helmand, the policewoman was killed by the Taliban insurgents in Nawa district after she visited the province to meet her relatives.
The officials further added that the woman was accompanied by her husband and visited Nawa from Lashkargah city four days ago.
In the meantime, local officials in Uruzgan are saying a woman, former police member, was killed by her husband after she filed a divorce.
Deputy provincial governor Abdul Wahid Patan said the incident took place in Tarinkot city and the perpetrator, husband of the woman, has been arrested.
He said the woman was strangled to death after she filed for divorce on Wednesday.
According to the officials, the victim has been identified as Marwa and had served with provincial police commandment for several years.
This comes as the Taliban insurgents earlier beheaded a woman in northern Sar-e-Pul province of Afghanistan.
The Taliban insurgents also executed at least two people including a woman in northern Jawzjan province late last year.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[NYT] Judith Clark, who drove a getaway car in the infamous 1981 robbery of a Brink’s armored car in Rockland County, N.Y., that left a guard and two police officers dead, went into prison defiant, with seemingly little chance of getting out. The judge who sentenced her saw her as beyond rehabilitation, giving her a minimum of 75 years in prison and all but ensuring she would die there.
[Daily Signal] Sen. Edward "Ted" Kennedy had "selfish political and ideological motives" when he made secret overtures to the Soviet Union’s spy agency during the Cold War to thwart then-President Ronald Reagan’s re-election, a Reagan biographer said in an interview with The Daily Signal.
[DeutscheWelle] Authorities in North-Rhine Westphalia have been scrutinized over their handling of Berlin attack suspect Anis Amri during the time he lived in the state. Despite concerning observations, they could not detain him.
[Breitbart] Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak told a national television outlet that the yet-unnamed jihadi responsible for killing dozens at Istanbul’s Reina nightclub on New Year’s Eve is likely a member of the Uighur 
[American Thinker] President Obama has another ironic award for his trophy shelf, to accompany his Nobel Peace Prize and all those participation trophies he got at Punahou for his basketball skills. His appointee and subordinate Ash Carter yesterday pinned a military medal ‐ the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service ‐ on his boss, as Warner Todd Huston reported for Breitbart.
SOMERVILLE ‐ A five-day, round-the-clock manhunt for a potentially dangerous federal fugitive who made a brazen escape from a Rhode Island detention center ended Thursday with a foot chase in Somerville, where a veteran state trooper snared James W. Morales as he tried to jump a fence in the Ten Hills neighborhood.
[Guardian] As I write, president-elect Donald Trump ‐ soon to become the most powerful individual on Earth ‐ is having a tantrum on his Twitter feed. Losing the popular vote can have devastating consequences for a bigoted plutocrat’s ego, and accusations that Vladimir Putin’s regime intervened to his advantage are getting him down. "The ’intelligence’ briefing on so-called ’Russian hacking’ was delayed until Friday," he claims (falsely, apparently), "perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!"
[Free Beacon] Rep. Bobby Rush (D., Ill.) made payments to four family members that combined to more than $100,000 during the 2016 election cycle, campaign finance records show.
An engine dropped out of a B-52 bomber during a training flight on Wednesday, the Air Force has confirmed.
[AlAhram] Three inmates from the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay arrived in 
[MEDIAITE] CNN host Don Lemon pushed back Wednesday night after a conservative panelist labeled four Chicagoans torturing a mentally handicapped man and posting the video live on Facebook “evil.”
[AlAhram] Around 20 more members of the Islamist
Thursday at a press conference on Capitol Hill, when asked about President-elect Donald Trump calling Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) a "clown" in tweets about the congressional fight over the Affordable Care Act, Schumer fired back by saying it "was not a time for calling names."
Zawahiri
[WASHINGTONEXAMINER] Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., indicated Thursday that he is exploring all possible procedures at his disposal to delay certification of the Electoral College results during a joint session of Congress on Friday.
What about meeeeee ? 
Former Vice President, Nobel Prize winner, and crazed sex poodle Al Gore
[BLOOMBERG] Sears Holdings Corp. agreed to sell its Craftsman tool brand to Stanley Black & Decker Inc. for about $900 million, marking Chief Executive Officer Edward Lampert’s third move in the last two weeks to prop up the beleaguered retailer with fresh sources of funding.
Jimmy Carter
