#7
Humana is dropping ObamaCare in 2018. More insurance companies have indicated they will drop Obamacare. Trump's executive order emasculates the mandate. Line 61 on IRS tax forms previously required a person to state whether or not they had health care insurance. Indicating you had no insurance got you a penalty. Now completing line 61 is optional by EO. The IRS has no mechanism for collecting the penalty for not having health care insurance.
h/t Instapundit
The media narrative that recently ousted National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was involved in nefarious -- nay, sinister and possibly treasonous!!! -- dealings in his December call with the Russian ambassador is quickly collapsing, as CNN reports that the FBI will not be pursuing any criminal investigation involving Flynn's phone call.
So too is the hype that the Trump campaign was riddled with contacts with Russian intelligence, as reported yesterday by The New York Times. Which, rather, brings to the fore the question "Why was Trump admin so quick to ask for his resignation?". Something smells.
#1
Excellent work done here by Mr Poole. As for questions regarding swift action - swift is a judgement call. The fact is as discussed here, Flynn had his weaknesses - being a Russian mole just wasn't one of em. This was a forced error and that's a shame
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
02/16/2017 12:36
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#2
Which, rather, brings to the fore the question "Why was Trump admin so quick to ask for his resignation?".
#6
This is why primetime commentary is so useless. First the Fake News then the circle of pundits being outraged about each other's faux outrage. Useless parasites at best, poisonous vermin normally.
#7
Interestingly, the infamous telecom occurred before the inauguration, so the emptysuit hisself, Obumble, authorized the wiretap so this is a Democratically orchestrated hit.
The Klingons et al were after Flynn since before the election because he deigned to talk to Trump about anything.
#1
Under NLRB rules, workers must wait a year before another union vote
"you'll keep voting til you get it right!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/16/2017 11:03
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#2
...Had Hilary! won, that's exactly what would have happened. I know some folks who work there and though I've not talked with them since the vote, they had all been of the feeling that the sentiment was overwhelmingly against the union...but there was a lot of pressure from the NLRB, much like there had been at the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee a while back. The Obama NLRB had the attitude that right-to-work states needed to be broken - problem was that the workers didn't agree.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/16/2017 20:55
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#2
Serious business, that, but I could not help thinking of Green Grass and High Tides Forever...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/16/2017 9:42
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#3
If it wasn't the Zulus, it was the Mormons, who have never lived down 9/11/1857.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Meadows_massacre
An eye for an eye until all are blind.
[Australian Business Review - WSJ reprint] US intelligence officials have withheld sensitive intelligence from President Donald Trump because they are concerned it could be leaked or compromised, according to current and former officials familiar with the matter.
The officials’ decision to keep information from Mr. Trump underscores the deep mistrust that has developed between the intelligence community and the president over his team’s contacts with the Russian government, as well as the enmity he has shown toward US spy agencies.
On Wednesday, Mr Trump accused the agencies of leaking information to undermine him.
In some of these cases of withheld information, officials have decided not to show Mr Trump the sources and methods that the intelligence agencies use to collect information, the current and former officials said. Those sources and methods could include, for instance, the means that an agency uses to spy on a foreign government.
The process is far too lengthy. Dispatch a battalion of Infantry. Less the Director and his personal staff, order everyone in the grades of GG-14 and higher to leave their desks, go home, and begin the resignation or early retirement process. Update the access roster and order Chinese carry-out.
#3
Just as the MSM keeps 'news' from making its appearance which is counter the the narrative, other Donk operatives are playing the same game in government. Surprise.
#4
Just as the MSM keeps 'news' from making its appearance which is counter the the narrative, other Donk operatives are playing the same game in government. Surprise.
Yes, the 'impondo zenkomo' duel axis of attack, or buffalo horns strategy.
#6
Fire them?
The process is far too lengthy. Dispatch a battalion of Infantry. Less the Director and his personal staff, order everyone in the grades of GG-14 and higher to leave their desks, go home, and begin the resignation or early retirement process. Update the access roster and order Chinese carry-out. Day #2 should show significant improvement. Posted by Besoeker
#7
About the private security consultants Pr.Trump most assurdly used before he was elected -- how do their reports compare to what the alphabet organizations are feeding him?
[Free Beacon] Senior Iranian officials are warning the Trump administration about disclosing secret deals related to the nuclear deal that have long been hidden from the public by the Obama administration, according to recent comments that prompted pushback from senior sources on Capitol Hill.
Iran's warning comes on the heels of a Washington Free Beacon report disclosing that former national security adviser Michael Flynn had been pushed out of office partly due to his intention to release these sensitive documents to the American public.
Leading lawmakers in Congress launched multiple investigations last year into the Obama administration's efforts to keep these documents secret and out of public view. Sources who spoke to the Free Beacon about the matter said that the Trump White House is working on ways to publicize this information despite warnings from Iran.
Secret side deals related to the nuclear agreement remain unclassified but have been stashed in a secure location on Capitol Hill, making it difficult for staffers and lawmakers to view them. Individuals seeking to view these documents must have security clearance and are barred from taking notes or speaking about what they see.
#8
OK. So let us say that President Trump decides to bring the secret deals to light. Will he be able to get access to these documents containing the secret deals? Or will they be so secret or so lost that DoS, CIA or other alphabet agency will deny these to the President? Are we going to see major league obstructionism? The skirmishers have already fired a few rounds. What's next?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/16/2017 17:59
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#9
N matter what the secret stuff says, they'd want to impeach Trump for going against the wishes of the Obama and Hilary.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/16/2017 19:04
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[Breitbart] The Deep State has done its dirty work, getting rid of Michael Flynn, the now-former national security adviser to President Trump. And so the MSM, having taken direction--even dictation--from the Deep State, is moving in for the kill. The ultimate target, of course, is Trump himself.
The Washington Post, which has long hated Republicans, and Trump in particular, is leading the charge. On February 15, seven of the eight top stories on its online home page were anti-Flynn, anti-Trump--and, of course, pro-MSM.
h/t Instapundit
Hispanic voters support President Trump's new focus on deporting illegal immigrants with criminal records and punishing some 300 cities that grant "sanctuary" to undocumented criminals, according to a new poll.
The survey for Secure America Now found that 56 percent of Hispanic voters approve of deporting criminal illegals. Some 31 percent don't.
What's more, they back the president's executive order to end the Obama administration's "catch and release" policy at the border.
Over all in the McLaughlin and Associates survey, 69 percent of all voters back the president's plans.
#1
Silly writer. Haven't you heard? Giant anti-anti-immigrant protests/marches today. Huge Trump puppets sure to be there. Media drooling in anticipation.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/16/2017 7:29
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#2
Oh. In the photo at the link are protesters who are no longer "immigrants". They now self-identify as "refugees".
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/16/2017 7:33
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#3
Illegal Hispanics are likely to prey upon the Hispanic communities they hide within. Nos a surprise they don't like the criminals coming back again and again.
[PJMedia] Those who thought things would cool off after the elections, should think again. The Trump administration has not yet won the battle for legitimacy. Maybe it never will. Thomas Lifson argues the "CIA broke the law to take out its critic General Flynn". Bill Kristol doesn't care about the legalities. He sees the resignation of Mike Flynn as a power struggle between two evil Washington factions, only one of who can win. "Obviously strongly prefer normal democratic and constitutional politics," Kristol Tweeted. "But if it comes to it, prefer the deep state to the Trump state."
No middle ground? Not even the constitution? Can things be so bad? The language of the pundits is full of warlike metaphors. Rush Limbaugh called what happened "the Political Assassination of Michael Flynn". Jennifer Rubin sees it as a softening up of the beaches on the Road to Tokyo. Flynn was only a whistle stop en route to the final destination. "If Flynn gone in less than a year how long will Trump last?," she asks.
The overall tone is so bellicose even long time Trump critics worry things have gone too far. John Podhoretz says "what happened with Flynn also represents a frightening portent" because "no joke, people -- if they can do it to Mike Flynn, they can do it to you." Suddenly no one is safe.
...But dangerous or not, the game is afoot. A fight is on between what Kristol referred called the "deep state" and "the Trump state". It marks an escalation between the incoming Trump crew and the coalition consisting of establishment Republicans, Democrats, media and intelligence bureaucrats. Also any other public "service" bureaucrat. The bad, bad, childishly irresponsible people rebel against the wisdom of their betters - intolerable! If Trump loses, it could be the end of western civilization
#1
So Flynn is out as a Cabinet member.
Doesn't mean his value as an adviser and confidant is compromised. I think his stock has gone up now that he is not subject to public and political oversight. Now he is outside, like Blackwater.
#5
Substitute "Fallujah" for "Washington" in the title of the article and you will then see the magnitude and scope of the task facing President Trump w/r/t the established rot.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/16/2017 10:09
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#6
Never forget the establishment in DC all opposed trump. This is a soft revolution from the heartland. The DC elites will continue to fight, their very existence and power is being challenged by the people. There will be more casualties from both sides. It is just getting started!
Posted by: 49 pan ||
02/16/2017 11:03
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#7
A shoe that hasn't yet dropped: the Russians almost certainly have recordings of all calls their ambassador was involved in, even if Flynn didn't bother.
[Jpost] The reality is a world becoming more religious and hateful every day ‐ and almost all of this hate is driven by Islamists.
Everyone is a "moderate" these days. The Economist used the word "moderate Muslim" in three articles in its January 28 edition. In Malaysia there was "moderate Muslim culture." Indonesia has "moderate Muslim leaders." Morocco has a "moderate Muslim" political party. The moderate-hardliner spectrum is one of the most facile media clichés.
Hamas’ new Gazan leader is a "hardliner," while Iran’s president, enforcing the most extreme discrimination against women, is a "moderate" and Saudi Arabia’s former king, who did not allow women to drive, was a "reformer."
For almost two decades since 9/11 the mainstream media in every Western country, and to some extent the rest of the world, has adopted Orwellian language to whitewash and mislead the public about the nature of Islamist regimes, political Islamism and the creeping bigotry, hatred and extreme right-wing, conservative, fundamentalist intolerance in parts of the world.
There needs to be a push-back against this agenda, or our world will slowly become dominated by the most hateful and intolerant views, passed off as normal and even liberal. The quiet alliance between Islamist right-wing extremists and parts of the Western Left will leave a wound on human societies that will be impossible to heal. We saw that wound in Iraq when Islamic State (ISIS) "insurgents" overran parts of the country, committing genocide, ethnic cleansing and systematic rape and enslavement of people as media described their acts and "militant" and an "insurgency." 5,000 ISIS members booked tickets from European airports to go to Iraq to commit genocide, and hundreds returned home without ever being held to account. Even today you will not encounter the terms ethnic cleansing or genocide in mainstream media coverage of ISIS, or hear it described as a right-wing death squad.
The unwillingness to question the nature of Islamist conservative hate-mongering and chauvinism was on display when Sweden’s trade minister made a pilgrimage to Tehran to beg approval from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. The Swedish minister dressed her female delegation in long coats and head-scarves so as not to offend the extreme right-wing, theocratic hate-mongering Iranian regime. Facing criticism in the media for the veiling, she told the newspaper Aftonbladet that "she was not willing to break Iranian law," according to reports.
...What is wrong with our culture? Why is it we change our way of life when visiting the countries of others and then change it again in our own countries in order to always please others? Why is it that every time a hate-monger finds something "offensive," such as the sight of a woman’s hair, a woman’s legs, a handshake, a statue, that Western culture runs to cover it up? How about some dignity? We will get to a point in the failed and pathetic Western civilization where European diplomats will deny the Holocaust to please their Iranian handlers.
There is no point at which someone will say "no."
Saudis require segregated beaches for their vacations in France? No problem.
Why is Islamism the only right-wing extremist movement that always gets a pass? Hindu nationalists? Distasteful. Lord’s Resistance Army? Disgusting. Russia decriminalizing domestic violence? Aghast. Le Pen? Racist. Pat Robertson? Objectionable religious right-winger.
Consider that The Guardian ran an op-ed in 2015 condemning the UK government for hosting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He had worked for a "gang of religious fascists...inciting religious hostility... as a boy joined the far-right." How come the same writers don’t use these terms for Saudi Arabian or Iranian leaders, whose policies are more right-wing, more hostile, more extreme? Why isn’t Modi a "moderate" or a "reformer" if the last Saudi king was? What is called "moderate" in every Islamic country is "far right" in every neighboring society. "Reform" translates to "intolerance" and "hardliner" is equivalent to preaching ideas akin to those of the Nazis. Our major media uses these terms to shield our societies from reality.
[Jpost] The media, from the editors down, presume that they know much better than average Israelis what they should be hearing or reading.
’Fake news’ has been anointed by at least one dictionary as the "word of the year" and most assuredly it is one of the linguistic highlights for others who promote vocabulary inventiveness.
To our mind, fake news is the lesser problem. Most of it turns out be fake and the public knows. A much more difficult issue is when real news is made fake by journalists who have no respect for their own profession and its code of ethics.
A fact can easily be misrepresented.
...The media, from the editors down, presume that they know much better than average Israelis what they should be hearing or reading. One cannot find a single public poll which attempts to understand the media needs of Israelis. Even the public broadcasters do not give a hoot for the public’s interests as they know it all.
For example, shortly after the recent Amona evacuation, Judge Miriam Lipschitz-Previs of the Jerusalem District Court handed down a spectacular decision. Four years after the previous Migron expulsion, she declared that Arab ownership of the lands in question was unproven. She issued an order that the plaintiffs who had sought damages themselves would pay the residents of the former Migron location for the discomfort they had caused. She also prohibited the Arabs from attempting any future court challenges connected to land upon which the original Migron was built.
This decision merited headline treatment and studio debate. But hardly anyone knows about it. Our media, which is so good at exposing political misdeeds and at deifying "investigative reporters" such as Ilana Dayan, did not, as far as we know, devote an investigative report to the fate of the families evacuated from Migron. Where are they today? What are their conditions? Has anything been learned from the catastrophic Gaza and North Samaria expulsion of 2005? And what of the conditions of the current Amona evacuees? Even the Left should be interested in such facts, given that it promotes further expulsions of Jews from their homeland.
Another item has been the ongoing media treatment of police investigations into actions taken or not taken by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. One concern was Netanyahu’s rumored involvement in the process of contracting for the purchase of German submarines.
Some media outlets indicated that bribes were involved.
Last week, as if in a "still, small voice," it became apparent that Netanyahu was not a suspect. Almost daily, several times a day, Israelis, almost obsessive consumers of news, were primed by the media to think "Netanyahu" and "bribery" as if in a Pavlovian experiment. And then, within a day, we learn the matter never really existed. Headlines? An apology? Only additional "news" about the alleged misdeeds of the prime minister and his wife. Enemies general of the human kind - to be dealt with as wolves are.
[IsraelTimes] Group said to have used status as Islamic holy mans to gather intelligence on supporters of US-based Erdogan opponent Fethullah Gulen.
German authorities on Wednesday raided the apartments of four Islamic holy mans suspected of spying on opponents of the Turkish government, accusing them of hiding behind religion to conduct espionage on behalf of Ankara.
The federal prosecutors’ office said the morning raids in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rheinland-Palatinate were carried out to collect evidence, and no arrests were made. The unidentified targets are suspected of spying on supporters 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 by the Turkish government of orchestrating a July 15 coup.
Prosecutors say the four men affiliated with the DITIB, the union of Turkish-Islamic cultural organizations in Germany, are suspected of passing the information on to the Turkish consulate in Cologne ...a lovely city in Germany. They invented perfume there... DITIB had no comment when reached by telephone and did not immediately respond to an email query.
Last week, when an official of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency said that 13 imams affiliated with DITIB had sent the names of alleged supporters of Gulen to the Turkish government’s Office for Religious Affairs, Diyanet, the union said it was not involved and that Diyanet supervised imams directly.
Following the raids, Justice Minister Heiko Maas said the government expects "DITIB to promptly and completely explain the allegations."
"Whoever uses Islam as a cover for espionage cannot rely (for protection) on the freedom of religion," he said. "If the suspicion that some DITIB imams were spying is confirmed, the organization must be seen, at least in parts, as a long arm of the Turkish government."
Earlier this week, an Austrian politician raised concerns that Turkish diplomatic offices around the world were gathering information to try to undermine organizations loyal to Gulen, who denies involvement in the coup. Austrian Greens Parliamentarian Peter Pilz said memos from the Turkish Embassy in Vienna and the Turkish Consulate in Salzburg showed ATIB, the Austrian equivalent to DITIB, sending in reports on Gulen-backed organizations, with the information then forwarded to Ankara. Pilz spoke of a "global spying network," saying his team was working on publishing similar documents from 30 other countries in Europe, Africa and Asia.
The matter came up when German Chancellor Angela Merkel ...current chancellor of Germany and the impetus behind Germany's remarkably ill-starred immigration program. Merkel used to be referred to by Germans as Mom... visited Ankara at the beginning of February, and Merkel said that "confusion must not arise here."
"If we have problems, for example with the Gulen movement, and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... has information about that, then our security authorities must discuss that with each other," she said after meeting Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.
She stressed that she wants people of Turkish origin in Germany "to be able to have access to their imams. So confusion or this feeling that people here are being observed or spied on must be dispelled from the start."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/16/2017
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#1
Can I borrow someone's Surprised Face, I can't seem to find mine.
[IsraelTimes] A dozen cars confiscated in Husan village, 3 more for involvement in ’unlawful riots’ in Bil’in.
Israeli security forces tossed in the slammer Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! 20 Paleostinians and seized 15 Paleostinian vehicles overnight Tuesday in sweeps across the West Bank, the army said.
Twelve of the vehicles, impounded in the southern West Bank village of Husan, were "illegal," according to an army statement, a designation that can mean either unregistered or stolen.
Three additional cars were confiscated in the northern West Bank village of Bil’in, with the IDF saying they were used in violent riots in the village.
In various other raids throughout the West Bank, forces from the IDF, Shin Bet security service and Israel Police detained 20 Paleostinians for alleged participation in violent demonstrations.
One of those detained is reportedly an activist with the Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood, terror group, while two others were arrested for suspected "terrorist activity," according to the statement.
An improvised weapon-making site was found and a weapon was confiscated from the location, in a village north of Jerusalem.
It's so easy to be an idiot when you're an Arab boy in Israel!
[IsraelTimes] A 13-year-old Arab Israeli boy was locked away Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! after attempting to snatch the gun of a female Israel Defense Forces soldier in the central city of Lod on Wednesday, police said
Police said they were investigating the circumstances of the incident.
The teenager tried to flee the scene but was held by civilians until police arrived, according to the Walla news site.
He was taken in for questioning by police "to clarify the circumstances" of the incident, police said.
Great, great strategy!
Plotting terror, planning sedition, hauling contraband...who has the time or attention to detail to properly license their cars?
[Ynet] The Netherlands' main intelligence service says it is treating a small group of Dutch children in conflict zones in Iraq and Syria as "Jihadist travelers" since they may have received military training.
In a report published Wednesday, the General Intelligence and Security Service says at least 80 Dutch children are in those areas, either having been born there or taken there by one or both parents. It says fewer than 20 percent of the children are age 9 or older.
The report says that because children in territory controlled by the so-called Islamic State group "sometimes receive weapons and combat training from as young as nine years old," intelligence officials consider them jihadi travelers.
[AnNahar] Paris' prosecutor's office says that three suspects in a thwarted attack last week in the southern French city of Montpellier have been handed preliminary terrorism charges. Authorities gave only the suspects' first names. A teenage girl, Sara, and a man called Thomas were charged with terrorist association and possessing explosives Tuesday night. Another man, Malik, was also charged with justifying terrorism.
Last week, anti-terrorism forces uncovered a makeshift laboratory for fabricating a bomb. France's top security official Friday said the raid thwarted an "imminent attack."
A police official said the teenage girl — among several arrested — had pledged loyalty to the Islamic State group in a recent video.
The three - arrested near the coastal city of Montpellier - were identified as Thomas Sauret, 20; his partner, a 16-year-old minor named only as Sarah; and Malik Hammami, 33.
A good way for local officials to find themselves out of a job, given the current mood of the voters and an upcoming election...
[DeutscheWelle] Angela Merkel's government has promised to send rejected asylum seekers home, but some local states aren't cooperating. Schleswig-Holstein, for example, has temporarily halted all deportations to Afghanistan.
Farage Slams EuroParl for Ignoring the People on Migration – ‘They Want Tougher Rules Than I do!’
15 Feb 2017
Nigel Farage has slammed European Union (EU) institutions for continuing to foster large scale immigration from Muslim countries in opposition to the wishes of the people of Europe.
Entire German 2016 Budget Surplus Earmarked for Migrants
15 Feb 2017
The German government will allocate the entire six billion plus euro 2016 budget surplus to migrants after the two coalition parties failed to agree on how to spend it.
Mayor Orders Soil Pile Roadblock To Keep Migrants Out
15 Feb 2017
The mayor of a small Italian town has ordered a pile of earth to be dumped on a road leading to a residence to stop more migrants moving in.
Frankfurt Police Claim NYE Sex Attack Reports Were Faked
15 Feb 2017
Authorities in Frankfurt are investigating two people who claimed to have witnessed mass sexual assaults on New Year’s Eve saying the pair may have been making up the attacks.
Islamic State Targeting Spanish Coastal Resort Towns
14 Feb 2017
The Spanish government has released a new report claiming members of Islamic State could be targeting coastal resort towns to carry out large-scale massacres of tourists.
Paris police dump BOULDERS under a railway bridge to stop UK-bound migrants sleeping rough close to the Eurostar
15/02/17
Paris authorities have dumped tonnes of limestone boulders on a central traffic island underneath a railway bridge to prevent migrants from establishing a camp in the city.
Afghan migrant, 17, is arrested after 'sexually assaulting a young mum in broad daylight while she was pushing a pram with her two children inside' in Vienna
14/02/17
An Afghan immigrant has been arrested after an alleged sex attack on a young mother in broad daylight in Vienna while she was pushing a pram with her two children in.
Furious row breaks out in Calais as Catholic group sets up a 'mini' aid centre for UK-bound migrants and local council blocks it with a SKIP
14/02/17
The move follows the destruction of the Jungle refugee camp in Calais, when thousands of migrants were moved away and told to stop trying to get to Britain illegally
[AlAhram] The European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... should expect as many migrants colonists crossing from Libya this year as last, when a record number disembarked in Italia, the head of the bloc's border agency said on Wednesday.
Some 1.6 million refugees and migrants colonists reached the bloc by crossing the Mediterranean in 2014-2016 and the main route now leads from the shores of the lawless Libya to Italia.
"There was an increase by 17 percent last year so we had approximately 181,000 irregular border crossings coming from Libya... We have to be ready to face the same number," Fabrice Leggeri, the head of the EU's border agency Frontex told news hounds.
"In 2016, 2015 and 2014, we had more than 150,000 thousand irregular migrants colonists coming from Libya, he said, using the term favoured by the EU to mean those entering illegally.
The bloc, overwhelmed by the arrivals and waging bitter internal battles on how to share the burden, has increased its efforts to cut the number of people who use smugglers' boats to make the perilous voyage.
This includes support for the U.N.-backed Libyan government in Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... , efforts to boost deportations of people with no case for asylum, and working with African states along the migration trails to ensure they let fewer people pass.
But these would only bear fruit in the medium- to long-term, Leggeri said, adding that for now the EU had to ensure Italia has enough support and capacity to handle high arrivals.
The EU says some 70 percent of people coming via Libya from the impoverished Africa are not fleeing violent conflicts or oppressive regimes and hence are unlikely to win asylum. They are qualified as economic migrants colonists and the EU wants to deport them.
Frontex said the whole bloc deported some 176,000 people last year, roughly in line with 2015. But a majority of these returns are actually of nationals from the non-EU states in the Western Balkans.
The more complicated deportations to the Middle East are often held up by asylum procedures, which must ensure the right to appeal.
That is the case for Syrians and other potential refugees who arrived in masses to Greece from The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... in 2015, an influx that has now largely stopped after Brussels sealed a deal with Turkey under which Ankara prevents them from leaving its shores.
While confirmed refugees should not be sent back, for the African migrants colonists the obstacles delaying larger-scale deportations include problems with identification and obtaining travel documents, as well as the reluctance of some African governments to take back their people.
The EU has been increasingly working on that with Nigeria, Senegal ... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees... , Mali, Niger and Æthiopia.
[DeutscheWelle] Increased efforts to rescue migrants off the coast of Libya have failed to minimize the death toll as smugglers, knowing the migrant will be picked up, are sending more and more people out to sea in increasingly rickety rafts, according to Frontex, the European Union's border control agency. The executive director of Frontex, Fabrice Leggeri, said authorities face a "sad paradox."
Migrant deaths along the Libya-to-Italy smuggling route, across the Mediterranean Sea, rose to 4,579, a record level, in 2016. Leggeri called it "tragic and the reasons are well known: the number of migrants now [arriving] on very small dinghies."
A Frontex report - "Risk analysis for 2017" - on the crisis said smugglers have grown more bold and reckless, knowing that rescue boats will be on the edge of Libya's territorial waters.
"Dangerous crossings on unseaworthy and overloaded vessels were organized with the main purpose of being detected" by military, EU or civilian vessels ready to pluck desperate migrants out of the water if necessary.
"Apparently, all parties involved in [search and rescue] operations in the central Mediterranean unintentionally help criminals achieve their objectives at minimum cost, strengthen their business model by increasing the chances of success," the report said.
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militants have kidnapped 16 civilians from a region in Anbar to an unknown destination, the region’s mayor said.
Muayyad Farhan told Alsumaria News Wednesday that IS militants had kidnapped the civilians from al-Rouda, a district on the road between Rahaliyah and Ramadi which, he said. is totally empty of security presence. He urged the government to secure a pathway for Rahaliyah civilians.
Since Islamic State militants took over several Iraqi cities in 2014, Rahaliyah has been known to be under security control, with barely any breach by the extremist group.
Islamic State has notoriously kidnapped hundreds of civilians and held them as potential human shields since the Iraqi government launched a wide-scale offensive to retake the group’s biggest bastion, Mosul, in October 2016. The holding of civilians and Iraqi forces’ proclaimed commitment to their safety had been one reason for occasional slowdowns in military operations against IS.
The group is still holding some strongholds in western Anbar towns near the borders with Syria. While the Iraqi government has not yet officially declared a security onslaught to retake those regions, fighters jets from the Iraqi army and the allied U.S.-led coalition regularly bombard the group’s locations there, with recent, unconfirmed reports talking about an airstrike having seriously wounded IS supreme leader, Abk Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) The Islamic State executed 21 civilians in Mosul and Kirkuk on Wednesday for collaborating with security forces against the group.
The militants drowned 13 civilians to death in central Mosul over charges of collaborating with security forces, a local source in Nineveh told Alsumaria News on Wednesday as the group braces for a decisive battle with government troops bent on recapturing the city.
“Daesh (Islamic State) today drowned 13 civilians to death inside metal cages in Dawasah, central Mosul, over charges of collaboration with government and Peshmerga forces,” the source told Alsumaria News, referring to Kurdistan region’s defense force.
The group filmed the execution, which was imposed following a verdict by the group’s so-called “legislative court”, said the source.
A similar execution style was adopted in Mosul’s Faisaliyah district with 14 civilians in August 2016 who were also found guilty of giving insider information to security.
Another source said the group executed eight for the same reason in Hawija, southwewest of kirkuk, but did not specify the method of the execution.
Since it occupied large areas of Iraq in 2014 to establish a self-styled “Islamic Caliphate”, Islamic State has posted videos of heinous executions of civilians, security personnel, and foreign workers over multiple charges, most commonly collaborating with security authorities as well as violating its extreme religious rules.
Islamic State remains in control over most of western Mosul, and government forces are awaiting orders to invade that area since they recaptured the eastern section on January 24th. It also remains strong in Kirkuk’s Hawija.
Islamic State’s reign of terror, as well as encounters with security, forced at least 191.000 civilians to flee to refugee camps, and the United Nations had predicted one million to be displaced in Mosul.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Three grocers died Wednesday and four others were wounded when a drone guided by Islamic State militants dropped two rockets on a marketplace in eastern Mosul.
Anadolu Agency quoted Birg. Gen. Rakan al-Ameri, from the army’s Counter-Terrorism Forces, as saying that the drones targeted a popular market in Nabi Yunus district, one neighborhood retaken during security campaigns that launched in October.
He said the group had made use of inability to address what he described as a “security gap” in areas recaptures by security forces from Islamic State militants.
Since Iraqi government troops became in control of eastern Mosul late January, IS fighters, who fled to strongholds in the west, waged occasional attacks on the liberated areas in the east, either by fighters crossing from the west via the Tigris River or by sending bomb-supplied drones. Militants, some security personnel and civilians were killed in those attacks.
Government troops are awaiting orders from the supreme command to invade the west, with the generals occasionally reiterating that combat plans were ready for the next move.
Consummating the recapture of Mosul would represent the biggest blow to the group which still, however, maintains smaller hideouts in Anbar, Salahuddin and Kirkuk.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) A local source in Nineveh Province revealed that the Islamic State group imposed a curfew in the majority of Tal Afar, and started to arrest its local leaders in the district, Alsumaria News reported on Wednesday.
The source said, “The Islamic State group imposed a curfew in the majority of areas in Tal Afar, west of Mosul, amid intense spread of its armed detachments in main streets.”
“The Islamic State also started to arrest its local leaders, after the failure of last Saturday’s attack on al-Hashd al-Shaabi and losing dozens of leaders and members,” the source added on condition of anonymity.
Earlier this week, al-Hashd al-Shaabi forces foiled a massive attack launched by the Islamic State on their headquarters in Tal Afar, west of Nineveh Province.
Posted by: badanov ||
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[AFP] Malaysian police probing the killing of the half-brother of North Korea's leader tossed in the clink You have the right to remain silent... a woman Wednesday as they tried to unravel a Cold War-style liquidation the South said was carried out by Pyongyang's agents.
As Seoul pointed the finger at poison-wielding female spies from North of their shared border, police in Kuala Lumpur said they were holding a woman with a Vietnamese passport.
Her arrest came around 24 hours after news broke of the death of Kim Jong-Nam, the elder sibling of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, with reports saying female assassins had sprayed toxins in his face at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
CCTV images that emerged in Malaysian media, purportedly of one of the suspects, showed an Asian woman wearing a white top with the letters "LOL" emblazoned on the front.
Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said 28-year-old Doan Thi Huong was arrested at the airport on Wednesday morning -- two days after the killing.
The suspect was "positively identified from the CCTV footage at the airport and was alone at the time of arrest," Khalid said in a statement.
Meanwhile, ...back at the chili cook-off, Chuck reached for the green sauce... pathologists in the Malaysian capital examined the body for clues as to how he died, in a killing that has echoes of Soviet-era spycraft.
If confirmed, the liquidation, which analysts said could have been ordered over reports he was readying to defect, would be the highest-profile death on Kim Jong-Un's watch since the 2013 execution of his uncle, Jang Song-Thaek, in a country with a long record of meting out brutal deaths.
- Seizure -
South Korea's spy chief Lee Byung-Ho said the two women struck on Monday morning as Kim was readying to board a flight to Macau where he has spent many years in exile.
Malaysian police said Kim, a portly 45-year-old, was walking through the departure hall when he was attacked.
"He told the receptionist... someone had grabbed his face from behind and splashed some liquid on him," Selangor state's criminal investigation chief Fadzil Ahmat was reported as saying by Malaysia's The Star newspaper.
"He asked for help and was immediately sent to the airport’s clinic. At this point, he was experiencing headache and was on the verge of passing out," said Fadzil.
"At the clinic, the victim experienced a mild seizure. He was put into an ambulance and was being taken to the Putrajaya Hospital when he was pronounced dead. He's dead, Jim! An autopsy at Kuala Lumpur Hospital's forensics department was completed by Wednesday evening, Selangor Police Chief Abdul Samah Mat told AFP, but said no results had yet been issued by the hospital.
A black Jaguar sedan bearing the North Korean flag was seen outside the department, and four officials wearing flag pins were observed within the forensics compound.
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02/16/2017
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Strained Egyptian-Sudanese relations appear to be easing amid reports that Khartoum has "expelled" Moslem Brüderbund members to mend fences with Cairo.
The two Nile River neighbors have common bonds of history, language and religion. But diplomatic relations have been frosty over the past years due to various reasons.
Among them was Khartoum’s alleged hosting of Moslem Brüderbund members who escaped Egypt following the ouster of former Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi -- a member of the now terrorist-designated group.
A news report by the London-based al-Hayat newspaper suggested that Khartoum expelled "tens of Egyptian Islamists" who sought refuge in Sudan following the forceful dispersal of the pro-Mursi sit-in at Rabaa al-Adawiya Square.
The Sudanese authorities reportedly "expelled" during the past two months tens of Moslem Brüderbund and al-Gamaa al-Islamiya members, al-Hayat quoted a source as saying.
The newspaper quoted an Islamist source who said that Sudanese authorities "sent indirect messages" to Egyptian Islamists suggesting that it "is better for them to leave Sudan." Some of them travelled to Malaysia and others to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , it added.
Several Egyptian newspapers hailed the news, while some denied it was true.
Last month, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi met with his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it. in the Æthiopian capital Addis Ababa as they both agreed to begin a new phase of bilateral relations, a joint statement said.
Al-Bashir told Al Arabiya in an interview aired on Sunday that his relationship with Sisi is "very distinct", and denied that Khartoum has hosted Moslem Brüderbund members.
Fleeing to Sudan
Following uprisings that rocked the Arab world, members of the Moslem Brüderbund across the region flocked to Khartoum to reassemble themselves and hold meetings, an expert on Islamist groups quoted by Asharq al-Awsat said Friday.
He claimed that Egyptian security prosecution following the ouster of Mursi has forced many Brotherhood members to flee to Sudan.
But due to pressure from Gulf countries and the United States, he said, Sudan has "reconsidered" its stance towards the group.
"Cairo demands a complete dry-out for Moslem Brüderbund presence in Sudan in addition to the extradition of those wanted," he told the newspaper, adding that it is one the most detrimental issues with regards to diplomatic ties between both countries.
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[WashingtonTimes] Even if President Trump can’t convince the courts to approve his extreme vetting executive order, he may have another tool at his disposal that would allow him to strip visas from some of the seven countries he’s trying to target, crackdown supporters say.
A federal law says the government can stop issuing visas to countries that are deemed "uncooperative" because they refuse to take back their citizens when the U.S. tries to deport them. At least five of the seven countries Mr. Trump is targeting -- Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia and Sudan -- are already on that list, according to new data obtained by the Immigration Reform Law Institute.
All Mr. Trump would have to do is have his Homeland Security Department secretary issue an official notification about those countries, and the State Department would immediately halt visas, IRLI says.
Continued on Page 49
U.S. national security officials are reportedly ready to "go nuclear" after President Donald Trump’s latest attack on the intelligence community.
In a series of tweets on Tuesday and Wednesday, Trump insisted that the "real scandal" was not that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn lied about his contact with Russia. Instead, the president blasted what he said were "un-American" leaks that led to Flynn’s ousting.
On Wednesday, former NSA intelligence analyst John Schindler provided some insight into the reaction of national security officials.
"Now we go nuclear," he wrote on Twitter. "[Intelligence community] war going to new levels. Just got an [email from] senior [intelligence community] friend, it began: ’He will die in jail.'"
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 ||
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#2
I AM building a Sedition folder right now. Starting with Progbama and his herd of mutant lobotomized parrots.
Ready to prosecute them at a moments notice.
Remember John Schindler, the conservative talking head, retired NSA spook, and Naval War College professor who briefly went incognito after screenshots of (what appear to be) his penis leaked onto the Internet? While he has since reappeared on Twitter—where he first drew attention for defending domestic spying and criticizing Edward Snowden—he has refused to comment on the mysterious emails, sent to the Naval War College by an unnamed blogger, that prompted the school to place him on leave.
The emails sent to NWC, which Gawker obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request, refer to Schindler’s habit of calling himself a “spy”; detail his correspondence with an unnamed woman (who apparently received his penis photo); and, in a lengthy missive, accuse Schindler of staging “cyber warfare” against his online enemies, using “thuggish tactics” to silence NSA critics, and violating various federal laws., and his penis under official investigation.
Each of the messages is heavily redacted, and the identities of their senders obscured, due to the ongoing investigation into Schindler’s conduct. But the last email is detailed (and nutty) enough to earn a closer reading, so we’ve embedded it below. You can read the rest here. Let us know if anything sticks out.
#9
“I would put this right at the feet of John Brennan and Jim Clapper and I would go so far as to say the Obama White House was directly involved before they left,” Shaffer said. “Ben Rhodes and those folks… The Democrats are behind this and some of the Republicans are involved with the leaks. So I say ‘Bring it on!’
#10
Scumbag Communist asshole displaying his nothingburger of a resume except for throwing molotov cocktails.
"Obama has an army of agitators — numbering more than 30,000 — who will fight his Republican successor at every turn of his historic presidency. And Obama will command them from a bunker less than two miles from the White House."
It is an idiot fake bolshevik revolution after they held power already. You fucking scum of the earth.
“If President Obama is serious about his often-expressed desire to rein in big money in politics, he should shut down Organizing for Action and disavow any plan to schedule regular meetings with its major donors,”
What is the issue? They (The Intel Community) have acted with immoral reason in the past. Ergo, they cannot be exposed for their actions in the future - which only leads to... You can never keep a secret. Look see here:
#11
"I would suggest that many members of the establishment have, in addition, something very personal to fear from the Trump administration: For it would appear that some of America’s most powerful people have been involved in activities which if brought into the public forum would utterly destroy them, not only professionally, but also personally."
Worse than that, employing the Moslem Brotherhood as an fulcrum of destructinve powers eating away at Legitimate power sources:
#12
Let US be clear. If you exert power like the Soviet KGB, then I have no compunction whatsoever in treating ALL OF YOU as enemy spies.
I graduate Sedition to Treason as you are, in defacto, weakening our entire structure of authority. I would post you in Quantico for de-brief and a very long stay in the US Federal PEN.
I would not let this happen to ANY US President, not even Obama who is the most destructive and useles Leader in my lifetime.
If he is not careful, he may join you there. I will be having none of this.
Superb effort in revealing the true 'locus of power' newc. Unable to hyperlink the Wordpress piece. Please send updated link or alternate source. Regards, Mod
#14
An 'I fok'n told ya so' from late yesterday that simply had to be brought forward:
#30 Now you all know what I was saying here years ago when I told you that the Intel Community, especially the CIA, needed to be disbanded then restructured and reassembled - with personnel cleaned out with a flamethrower in some cases.
Posted by OldSpook 2017-02-15 23:53|| 2017-02-15 23:53|| Front Page Top
[Spamcop 3734282 Smokey]
#15
"bunker less than two miles from the White House". newc
Zero is a private citizen now, directly accountable both civil and criminal for his actions from this point own. I suggest hauling his ass in for depositions via civil citations in regards to possible government related illegal activity.
#19
Until I see otherwise I have to believe these "going nuclear" folks are a handful of political types that got promoted above their intelligence level by Clinton or Obama who now (rightfully) fear for their jobs.
Also, if Schindler got an email I would think someone should subpoena(sp?) it and track down the sender.
#21
#19 Until I see otherwise I have to believe these "going nuclear" folks are a handful of political types that got promoted above their intelligence level by Clinton or Obama who now (rightfully) fear for their jobs. Posted by: rjschwarz
Concur 100%. "Senior source" is code for appointee flapping their gums. These senior sources imagine themselves as intellectuals...their subordinates know them as idiots that must be suffered... These "senior sources" do not speak for the IC.
#24
thanks newc am going to read now... ps: do you think that this could be another democrat stooge instigated attempt to set Trump at war with the Intel agencies?
since they lost from the huge wikileaks
and they have lost congress and the senate and the governorships, all they've got left is the media and their previous appointees?
maybe it's only the demo appointees in the intel agencies leaking to press
#25
You know the only type of people hired for that agency, or any agency for the last 8 years were idiot leftists.
This explains the un-professional nature of events in IC right now, anon1
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A large cache of ammunition, rockets, and explosives was discovered and seized in eastern Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province of Afghanistan.
Provincial police front man Gen. Hazrat Hussain Mashriqwal said the cache was discovered during an operation in Behsud district.
He said the cache included 15 rounds of Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and 250 rounds of various types of heavy and light ammunition, including rockets.
Mashriqwal further added that RPG rockets, BM-1 rocket, Dshk machine gun and various other types of bullets were seized by the security forces.
According to Mashriqwal, the operation was conducted by the Counter-terrorism Unit of Nangarhar police commandment.
The forces of Evil were looking to transfer the ammunition and explosives to Jalalabad city for a series of terrorist attacks, Mashriqwal added.
He said no suspect has been tossed in the clink Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! in connection to the discovery of the cache but an operation is underway to arrest the forces of Evil who were keeping the explosives and were planning attacks in the city.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Sixteen Islamic State militants died Wednesday after a mysterious blast hit a group training camp in southern Mosul, according to an Iraqi police officer.
Captain Khalil Ibrahim told Bas News that “a mysterious blast took place inside one of Daesh (Islamic State) encampment in al-Hawi, south of Mosul, leaving 16 militants dead and others seriously wounded.”
IS members cordoned the camp off and casualties were taken to the city’s forensic medicine facility, according to Ibrahim.
On January 24th, Iraqi government forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and popular paramilitaries, recaptured eastern Mosul from Islamic State, achieving the most remarkable victory in three months of battles against the extremist group.
Islamic State had lost at least 3000 fighters in battles at the eastern section, but is vigorously building up its defenses in the west for the decisive battle. It has also carried out several attacks on recaptured areas in the east over the past weeks, leaving civilian and security deaths.
The group, however, has reportedly lost many of its leaders in the battles, and is grappling with internal divisions which saw many commanders mysteriously assassinated, and reached their peak this week with reports talking about discussions to replace its supreme leader.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) This morning, two members of the Islamic State group blew up themselves on a checkpoint of al-Hashd al-Shaabi, south of Mosul, killing and wounding a number of its members, Captain Udai Bashar, member of al-Hashd al-Shaabi said.
Bashar said in a press statement, “Two suicide bombers blew up themselves near a checkpoint belonging to al-Hashd al-Shaabi in Tal Abta area, south of Mosul.”
“The two blasts resulted in the killing of 5 members of al-Hashd al-Shaabi, as well as wounding others with serious injuries,” Bashar added.
Posted by: badanov ||
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[DAWN] An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) met Afghan Deputy Head of Mission Syed Abdul Nasir Yousafi in Islamabad on Tuesday to address bully boy attacks in Pakistain by factions operating in Afghanistan, said a blurb from MoFA.
United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... and European Commission (UN&EC) Additional Secretary Tasnim Aslam raised the "grave concern [Pakistain has] about the continuing terrorist attacks on Pak soil by the terrorist outfit Jumaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) [operating] from its sanctuaries inside Afghanistan," the release read.
Aslam also informed Yousafi that Afghan authorities had been informed "earlier" about "actionable intelligence" where Pakistain pressed Afghanistan "to take urgent measures to eliminate the bully boyz and their sanctuaries, financiers and [controllers] operating from its territory," the statement read.
The additional secretary also shared an 'aide-memoire' with the Afghan deputy head of mission, which contained "details of the terrorist attacks and supporting information".
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I feel like I am attending a meeting of a religious sect here this morning. It’s as if the global revolution of 2016, Brexit, Trump, the Italian rejection of the referendum, has completely bypassed you.
You can’t face up to the fact that this bandwagon is going to roll across Europe in these elections in 2017. A lot of citizens now recognize this form of centralized government simply doesn’t work. … At the heart of it is a fundamental point: Mr. [name not recognized] this morning said, the people want more Europe.
Many of you here will probably despise your own voters for what I am about to say because just last week, Chatham House, the reputable group, published a massive survey from 10 Europen states, and only 20% of people want immigration from Muslim countries to continue. Just 20%. … Which means your voters have a harder line position on this than Donald Trump, or myself, or frankly any party sitting in this Parliament.
They don’t. The people want less Europe. We see this again and again when people have referendums and they reject aspects of EU membership. But something more fundamental is going on out there. …. No doubt, many of you here will probably despise your own voters for what I am about to say because just last week, Chatham House, the reputable group, published a massive survey from 10 Europen states, and only 20% of people want immigration from Muslim countries to continue. Just 20%. … Which means your voters have a harder line position on this than Donald Trump, or myself, or frankly any party sitting in this Parliament. I simply cannot believe you are blind to the fact that even Mrs. Merkel has now made a u-turn and wants to send people back. Even Mr. Schulz thinks it is a good idea.
And the fact is, the Europen Union has no future at all in its current form. And I suspect you are in for as big a shock in 2017 as you were in 2016.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Nigel Farage, The Man Who Saved Britain
he is glorious in his entireity. From becoming an MEP and using it as a beating stick against them, to UKIP, Brexit and supporting Trump.
#2
I've read a fair bit from the UK and get the feeling that they have a RINO problem where the establishment is globalist regardless of what the people want or do.
#3
yes Alan C I get that feeling too. Theresa May is right now supporting sharia courts by having a fake inquiry into them so she can whitewash the problems and on they go.
the UK bipartisan now will not touch Islamism because they've simply imported so many Muslims they are making a voting bloc that got the London Mayor elected
[REUTERS] Staff at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have been told that President 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... is preparing a handful of executive orders to reshape the agency, to be signed once a new administrator is confirmed, two sources who attended the meeting told Rooters on Wednesday.
A senior EPA official who had been briefed by members of the Trump administration mentioned the executive orders at a meeting of staffers in the EPA's Office of General Counsel on Tuesday, but did not provide details about what the orders would say, said the sources, who asked not to be named.
"It was just a heads-up to expect some executive orders, that's it," one of the sources said.
The second source said attendees at the meeting were told Trump would sign between two and five executive orders.
Trump administration officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Trump has promised to cut U.S. environmental rules - including those ushered in by former President Barack Obama Ready to Rule from Day One... targeting carbon dioxide emissions - as a way to bolster the drilling and coal mining industries, but has vowed to do so without compromising air and water quality.
Trump has also expressed doubts about the science behind climate change and promised during his campaign to pull the United States out of a global pact to combat it. Since his election in November, he has softened that stance, saying he would keep an "open mind" to the climate accord.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
it's not to late to quit. There's endless job opportunities out there for arrogant paperhangers!
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/16/2017 7:22
Comments ||
Top||
#2
"Remove all sharp objects from your front pockets and grab your ankles."
[WASHINGTONPOST] President Trump has indicated that he wants to make a splash in space. During his transition, he spoke with historian Douglas Brinkley about John F. Kennedy's famous 1961 vow to go to the moon before the decade was out. Now Trump and his aides may do something very similar: demand that NASA send astronauts to orbit the moon before the end of Trump's first term -- a move that one Trump adviser said would be a clear signal to the Chinese that the U.S. intends to retain dominance in space.
NASA already has a plan to launch its new, jumbo Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with an Orion capsule on top in late 2018, a mission known as EM-1. No one would be aboard. The capsule would orbit the moon and return to Earth, splashing down in the ocean.
This is intended as the first test flight of SLS and part of the integration of the new rocket and new capsule. Significantly, the SLS and Orion are both still under construction.
According to current plans, a crewed mission, EM-2, would not be launched until several years later under the NASA timeline -- certainly not during Trump's current term. That crewed mission would also orbit the moon.
But on Wednesday, NASA's acting administrator, Robert Lightfoot, sent a letter to employees saying he'd instructed the top NASA official for human spaceflight, associate administrator William Gerstenmaier, to explore the feasibility of adding astronauts to the EM-1 flight.
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Gemini VI, Gemini IX, Apollo 10, Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Astronaut; Chairman, NASA International Space Station Advisory Committee
Dr. Ellen Stofan
Former Chief Scientist, NASA
Mr. Tom Young
Past Director, Goddard Spaceflight Center; Past President/COO, Martin Marietta; Past Chairman, SAIC
The title of the hearing includes the words "past," "present" and "future," but the witnesses all seem to be from the past. Glorious though that past is, this doesn't seem to me to be a good basis for discussing the future.
This is what I meant when I said NASA is living off of its legacy.
How do we change it? How do we make space economical?
I feel it's the same answer it's always been, keep NASA out of the rocket business...
Witnesses:
Hon. Harrison Schmitt -- Age: 82, last served in House 35 years ago
Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Stafford -- Age: 87, retired from USAF 38 years ago
Mr. Thomas Young -- Age: 79, retired from LM 22 years ago
Dr. Ellen Stofan -- Age: 56, NASA Chief Scientist
One member stands out as an active scientist and potential contributor to the discussion of
bold and innovative missions going forward. Is this the best the House of Representatives can do?
[CHICAGO.SUNTIMES] Three children were shot in reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown ... home of Al Capone, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel,... in less than three days -- two fatally -- with the third still at death's door with a gunshot wound to her head.
None was old enough to attend high school. One was three years away from starting kindergarten. All were unintended targets.
Coming on the heels of the most violent year since the mid-90s, Chicago’s 2017 gun violence stats have held steady, with more than 70 homicides in the first 45 days of the year, according to records from police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Three child victims in less than a week, though, is an uncommonly high number.
"One victim of one shooting is one too many, but when innocent children are caught in the crossfire of gun violence and young people have their childhood stolen by stray bullets, our consciences are shaken and our hearts are broken," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in an emailed statement Tuesday.
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Pakistain has summoned a top Afghan diplomat over a deadly attack in Lahore city of Pakistain which left at least 13 people dead.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistain in a statement said "Foreign Office calls in Afghan DHM, registers concern over terrorist attacks on Pakistain by Jumaat-ul-Ahrar from sanctuaries in Afghanistan."
The statement further added that Syed Abdul Nasir Yousafi was called-in to the Foreign Office, yesterday, by Additional Secretary.
"The Afghan DHM was conveyed the grave concern of Pakistain about the continuing terrorist attacks on Pak soil by the terrorist outfit, Jumaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) from its sanctuaries inside Afghanistan," the statement added.
According to Pakistain’s Foreign Ministry "Attention of the DHM was also drawn to the earlier actionable intelligence shared by our authorities with the Afghan side. Afghanistan was urged to take urgent measures to eliminate the bandidossnuffies and their sanctuaries, financiers and handlers operating from its territory."
It also added "An Aide-Memoire containing details of the terrorist attacks and supporting information was also shared with the Afghan Deputy Head of Mission."
According to the Pak security officials, the incident took place after a jacket wallah detonated his explosives among the protesters in the city.
The officials further added that several senior police officials were among those killed.
The suicide bomber targeted the gathering as a negotiation was underway between the police officials and the protesters who had organized a sit-in to protest against a new bill passed by the government.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Pot decrying the color of the kettle
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/16/2017 11:01
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates who sustained injuries in an kaboom in Kandahar province has died.
According to reports, Juma al-Kaabi succumbed to injuries while receiving treatment.
UAE’s Ministry of Presidential Affairs announced his death via Twitter on Wednesday.
According to the local media repots, Al Kaabi had returned to the UAE to continue treatment in Abu Dhabi two days after the attack.
At least 12 people including the deputy provincial governor and five UAE diplomats bit the dust in the attack and several others including the UAE ambassador and Kandahar governor were maimed.
The cousin of the former Afghanistan's Caped President also departed this vale of tears he sustained in the attack as he was receiving treatment in India.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) Dozens of Kurdish families in the north of Salahuddin province have accused pro-government militias of forcing them out of home and persecuting the community, maintaining a Kurdish-Turkmen antipathy in the region.
Meeting with residents of the Tuz Khormato region, north of the province, the London-based, pan-Arab al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper quoted them decrying a surge in killings, kidnappings and vandalism targeting the community since al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units) took over their regions north of the province.
“Sayyid al-Shohadaa Brigades, which operates under al-Hashd, are responsible for all abuses in the region,” the newspaper quoted one resident, Davud Cocnau, as saying, adding that he had to flee with his family from Teen district in Tuz Khormato after Kurds were increasingly being targeted by Turkmen fighters within the PMUs.
Another one, Safin Mazwi, said many neighborhoods in the precinct became no-go areas for Kurds after a surge of assassinations of that community, adding that security authorities failed to respond to repeated complaints.
The situation forced 2685 Kurds to migrate to Kurdistan region, according to Mazwi.
Sabah Bazini, a Kurdish migrant from Tuz Khormato, told the paper that the town’s biggest market had been closed to Kurds who abandoned it after 123 shops had been looted. He said 743 other shops are currently closed down after their Kurdish owners became incapable of doing their business or transporting merchandise because of lurking PMU fighters.
Tuz Khormato had witnessed several clashes between Kurdish Peshmerga (army) forces and PMUs that left several casualties. Sectarian tensions had been high between Sunni Kurds and mostly-Shia Turkmen in the region.
Since its engagement in the war against IS militants, Al-Hashd al-Shaabi, an alliance of Shia paramilitary troops fighting Islamic State extremists alongside the Iraqi government, has occasionally been accused by international rights groups, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, of committing war crimes and human rights abuses against Sunni residents of areas recaptured from IS. The force has persistently rebuffed the accusations, deeming the reports fabricated, and the Iraqi government has praised its operations on the humanitarian level.
Al-Hashd gained a government recognition as a national armed force under the army’s observation in November.
[DAWN] QUETTA: The government of Balochistan has banned the sale of medicines of 10 pharmaceutical companies allegedly involved in manufacturing spurious drugs, and warned chemists and medical stores of strict action if they are found trading with these firms.
Presiding over a meeting of the Provincial Quality Control Board (PQCB) on Tuesday, Health Secretary Noorul Haq Baloch shuffled drug inspectors in view of their performance, besides setting up a special monitoring cell which will submit a daily report regarding an ongoing campaign.
The meeting observed that many firms in Sindh and Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... were producing spurious medicines and selling them in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... and other provinces through their agents.
It took a serious note of doctors of government and private hospitals prescribing to their patients the medicines of companies involved in illegal manufacture of drugs.
Participants of the meeting vowed not to let anyone play with the lfie of people and decided that every possible action would be taken against owners of medical stores involved in the life-threatening business.
PQBC Chairman and Additional Secretary Abdul Rauf Baloch informed the meeting that 138 cases of selling spurious and junk medicines were sent to courts in 2016-17, while over 30 medical stores had been sealed in Quetta during the campaign.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/16/2017
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#1
Is "spurious medicine" covered by Obamacare?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/16/2017 14:42
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[WSJ] What’s striking about the French presidential election is the extent to which the two front-runners share a basic analysis of the choice facing the country. Marine Le Pen, the leader of the right-wing National Front, and Emmanuel Macron, the 39-year-old former economy minister who quit Francois Hollande ...the Socialist president of La Belle France, an economic bad joke for la Belle France but seemingly a foreign policy realist... ’s government to stand as an independent, are poles apart politically. But both agree that the defining issue is La Belle France’s membership of the eurozone.
Both point to the widening divergence between Germany and La Belle France’s economic performance during the past decade as evidence that the status quo isn’t sustainable. The National Front points to a recent International Monetary Fund study that suggested the euro is up to 15% undervalued in Germany and 6% overvalued in La Belle France as proof that La Belle France is at a competitive disadvantage. It argues that the only way La Belle France can remain a member of what one party official calls the "fixed eurozone exchange-rate regime" is to pursue an internal devaluation by cutting back on social protections and driving down wages. The alternative is to quit the eurozone.
Mr. Macron implicitly agrees. He wants La Belle France to stay in the euro and is campaigning for changes to the country’s public sector, welfare system and labor rules, which he says are needed to restore the country’s competitiveness. He advocates a more-flexible welfare system and labor market that protects individuals rather than jobs and allows employers to strike deals with workers at a company level rather than across sectors.
Ms. Le Pen, on the other hand, believes there is no appetite for cuts to welfare, which the National Front says provides an important economic as well as social safety net, helping to maintain household consumption. It argues that the only way to preserve the welfare system is to quit the eurozone and devalue the currency.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/16/2017
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Saudi’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, received the head of Ulemas' Council of Pakistan Hafiz Mohammed Tahir Al-Ashrafi on Tuesday. Ashrafi hasn't missed any meals for the past forty years or so.
During the meeting, they discussed close relations binding the two countries. The meeting was attended by the Minister of Islamic Affairs, Sheikh Saleh Al Al-Sheikh. I have no idea how he wipes his butt, assuming he does.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/16/2017
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[ARA News] Turkey’s military forcers and allied rebels in Syria continued their offensive against the town of Tel Rifaat in northern Aleppo, targeting positions of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), local sources reported on Wednesday.
The Turkish Army and Turkey-backed rebels of the Euphrates Shield have been bombing Tel Rifaat since Tuesday.
SDF headquarters and residential buildings in Tel Rifaat were hit with dozens of mortar shells. The Turkish troops and allied rebels also used heavy artillery and machine guns in the offensive–aimed at driving the SDF out of the town.
The number of casualties is still unknown.
In the meantime, two Turkish cobra helicopters hit the village of Tal Alo in Syria’s northeastern Hasakah Governorate, close to the headquarters of the Arab Sanadid forces.
The Turkish army has also entered Syrian territory near the Kurdish-held Afrin District in northwestern Aleppo, occupying several hectares of land since January, local sources reported.
Also, Kurdish female fighters of the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) on Monday clashed with Turkish Army forces near the town of Amude in Hasakah Governorate. “After three hours of sporadic clashes, the Turkish Army was forced to withdraw. They retreated towards the Turkish side of the border,” a YPJ officer told ARA News.
The clashes followed an attempt by the Turkish military troops to enter the Kurdish territory in northeastern Syria, where Turkey continues to build a concrete wall alongside the borderline.
Kurdish officials condemned the Turkish violations against border areas in northern Syria.
Posted by: badanov ||
02/16/2017
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CIA Director Mike Pompeo held secret talks with Palestinian officials in the West Bank Tuesday evening, ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's first summit with President Trump, according to reports.
Palestinian sources told Haaretz that Pompeo and Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the war in Syria.
They were the first top-level talks between a Trump administration official and the Palestinians.
"The Americans needed to understand that the collapse of the PA — in such a manner that there will be no way to implement the two-state solution, as quite a few elements in the Netanyahu government are striving for — will lead to the entry of extremist elements, perhaps associated with Iran," a Palestinian source told Haaretz.
The source added that the Palestinians received positive messages about the prospects of a two-state solution at the meeting.
The head of Palestinian intelligence, Majid Faraj, and senior negotiator Saeb Erekat were also in attendance. The meeting was held at the Palestinian government compound in Ramallah, the PA’s de facto capital in the West Bank, The Associated Press reported.
The meeting came a day before Netanyahu arrived in Washington for his first sit-down with Trump since the U.S. leader's election and amid growing anxiety over Trump's break with decades-old U.S. policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Trump on Wednesday said he could support either a one-state or two-state solution. Past administrations from both parties have backed a two-state solution, with an Israeli state and a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu during the presser also said Palestinians needed to recognize the state of Israel and the country's security needs. He said it is necessary for Israel to maintain security control over the area west of the Jordan River, which includes the West Bank, to prevent “another radical Islamic terrorist state in the Palestinian areas.”
Trump on the campaign trail and in office has promised better relations with Israel. Netanyahu publicly clashed with former President Barack Obama on a number of issues, including the peace process and the nuclear deal with Iran.
As a candidate, Trump also vowed to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, a change critics warned could inflame Palestinians and the Middle East. But since then, the administration has suggested any move could take time.
[UPI] China is deploying troops along its border with North Korea, as Pyongyang could be preparing a fifth nuclear test ahead of its Seventh Party Congress in May.
The Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, a nongovernmental organization in Hong Kong, announced Wednesday that Beijing has dispatched 2,000 soldiers along the border, South Korean news service Newsis reported.
China has previously deployed troops along its border with North Korea.
In January after Pyongyang announced a "successful" hydrogen bomb test, China reportedly sent 3,000 soldiers to its northeastern region, and also sent troops during the North-South land mine provocation last August. In late 2013, China also dispatched troops in response to the execution of Kim's uncle-in-law, Jang Sung Taek.
The center also said more Chinese military personnel were stationed at two major observation posts, and the guards are acting as lookouts 24 hours a day.
Some of the troops are responsible for measuring the radioactive material that could be emitted in the event of a North Korea nuclear test, the Center said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/16/2017
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#1
Lemme know when they mass two hundred thousand.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/16/2017 12:14
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#2
Kabuki. They could rein in their little yappy dog in a coup in an instant
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/16/2017 12:23
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...in which the writers at the National Review get caught on a "statistical sleight of hand."
[Bloomberg] Benjamin Disraeli is reputed to have said “There are three type of lies: lies, damn lies and statistics.”
Today let's address the third component of Disraeli's formulation in the context of a recent National Review article with the headline, “The Myth of the Stagnating Middle Class.” The article observes that “more Americans have easier lives today than in years past.”
To regular readers, this is a variant of the assertion that “common folk live better today than royalty did in earlier times,” a claim we debunked two years ago. The current argument is more nuanced in that it: a) relies on a few statistical twists; b) contains statements that are true but don’t support the main claim; and c) is an argument against Donald Trump’s populism from the political right. It all has the general appearance of plausibility until you start digging.
This is where we come in.
Let’s begin with the claim that more Americans have easier lives today than in years past. This is true and almost always has been. Progress is humanity’s default setting ever since our ancestors climbed down from the trees and began walking upright on the African savanna.
Thus, it should come as no surprise that the standard of living for all Americans has been rising for many years, mainly because of technological advances. However, the main issue under discussion is actually about how the economic benefits of the U.S. economy get apportioned across the populace.
In other words, how the wealth is distributed. The National Review engages in a statistical sleight of hand that distracts from this.
For further insight I spoke with Salil Mehta, who teaches at Columbia and Georgetown, and is perhaps best known for his role as the top numbers-cruncher in the federal government’s $700 billion TARP bank bailout plan in the financial crisis.
Mehta made short work of the article: More at the link
#4
I'm lower middle class and have reacted to the squeeze by cancelling my subscription to National Review several years back. Not only saved money going in, didn't need to read their social climber BS, and saved on associated disposal costs.
Ya do what ya gotta do.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/16/2017 7:29
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#5
I made the unfortunate decision to get out the old inflation calculator from my MBA eco classes and applied it to my pay at various times in my life.
I found that corrected for inflation I am making less now than I did when I was a GM-13 in Frankfurt.
I also found out that my O-3 over 4 pay was pretty good in today's dollars.
I then found out that the $63,000 I was making in 1998 is worth almost 20% more than what I make right now...
So stagnation? It's real, decline in real income, you betcha.
The statistics are simple. Get an inflation chart from anyone of several colleges, multiply your annual income in any particular year by the coefficients in the chart to correct to current dollars.
You don't need a bunch of statistical folderol to see the middle class is in it up to their necks and struggling as the rich get richer and the welfare state feeds more and more from the higher and higher hidden taxes on the middle class.
For instance...oil is selling for less than half what it was in 2010. So is gasoline selling for less than half? Nope, the Feds and the States raised gasoline taxes to cover the lost revenue stream.
Buying grocery bags in California? Essentially a 10 cent a bag tax on groceries
Notice how property taxes fluctuate?
They have bled the middle class for years and really want to kill it off but then who pays the bills for all of these wonderful entitlement programs?
#6
I've just printed the 74 page Pew report, titled "The American Middle Class is Losing Ground." I could have pulled any number of other 'headlines' off individual charts, but after scanning all the charts, I concluded the report - released December 9, 2015 - was toxic to the POTUS at the time. The middle class decline started about the time The One took office. Yes, the rich got richer, but the poor got richer, too. Only the middle class suffered.
I'm going to work up half a dozen 'headlines' out of the one report as an example to the family.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/16/2017 13:52
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., about a month before political hacks in the intelligence began leaking information obtained illegally, coincidentally predicted it would happen in a veiled threat.
Either Schumer is a closet Nostradamus, has incredible foresight or something more sinister is potentially going on. He isn’t exactly known for the former two.
Meanwhile, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said Tuesday that those who leaked the contents of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s phone calls "belong in jail."
"That’s nine leakers that all belong in jail," Rep. Nunes said.
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy ||
02/16/2017
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#1
If I were Trump, I would have this punk investigated by a special prosecutor, just for fun...
#6
The cavalier manner and forum in which Senate Minority Leader Schumer made his comments regarding IC retribution was somewhat stunning at the time. First, he wasn't waxing philisophically. It was matter of fact and very public. That's East Germany shit. And as a member of the so-called "Gang of Eight" he is briefed on Nat-Sec investigations and would be privvy to the Flynn matter. Perhaps most curious is the timing of his comments. According to reports this would have been the time when they were notified. As I said at the time, Schumer didn't merely give the green light but he offerd cover as well.
#8
Either Schumer is a closet Nostradamus, has incredible foresight or something more sinister is potentially going on. I'd vote for the latter. This schmuck is hell bent on undermining Trump's administration. Must mean Trump is having an effect in shaking up the Establishment Party.
"Awright, lissen up: we're holding you all for ransom! Here's the deal: we want $2.54 for each of you, and we want it by Friday at five p.m. in cash or the equivalent value in goats. We've decided to take this thing wholesale."
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The anti-government armed Lions of Islam have kidnapped at least 52 Lions of Islam in northern Jawzjan province of Afghanistan.
According to the local government officials, the incident took place earlier today in Darzab district.
It is yet not if the Lions of Islam were kidnapped by the Taliban gunnies or Lions of Islam belonging to any other Death Eater group.
Both the Taliban gunnies and Lions of Islam loyal to the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group are active in some parts of Jawzjan province.
This comes as at least six employees of the International Committee of Red Thingy were rubbed out by Lions of Islam in this province last week.
Local officials said the ICRC employees were rubbed out by ISIS loyalists and at least two of them were kidnapped.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/16/2017
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[DAWN] Former president General (retd) Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... disclosed that he had received millions of US dollars from Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... back in 2009 to purchase apartments in London and Dubai.
In an interview with Nadeem Malik on Samaa TV, he claimed that he had received "financial assistance" from King Abdul Aziz back in 2009. However, corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds... Musharraf avoided to disclose the details, saying that it was a "private affair" so he would not go into details.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Jeddah- Yemen’s Cabinet confirmed on Tuesday that it detected threats by Houthis against whoever cooperates with the legitimate government to facilitate paying salaries for employees working in areas that fall under their control.
Press Secretary of Prime Minister Ghamdan al-Sharif told Asharq Al-Awsat that Houthi militias imposed sanctions to prevent the submittal of payrolls and data to the government.
Sharif noted that paying salaries for employees working in areas under the control of the insurgents was done due to the cooperation of many benevolent people working in government institutions and rejecting the continuation of their suffering.
He said that these people provided competent authorities in the legitimate government with payrolls approved before the coup and codified in the official records as they were before 2014.
He continued: “Houthi insurgents approved severe penalties against those who cooperated with the legitimate government and contributed to ending the suffering of employees when they received their salaries,” describing these sanctions as an additional humanitarian crime committed by Houthis.
Sharif stressed the legitimate government’s pledge not to allow the continuation of the sufferings inflicted by the militia, underscoring the Yemenis’ unacceptance for this coup and will to help the legitimate government.
[REUTERS] Campaigning for the Dutch election began on Wednesday with anti-Islam leader Geert Wilders frontrunner in a vote that will test the anti-establishment sentiment that swept Britannia out of the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... and 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... into the U.S. presidency.
Wilders, a eurosceptic, anti-immigration fan of Trump, has dubbed the March 15 parliamentary election the start of a "Patriotic Spring" in Europe, where French and German voters go to the polls in May and September.
Wilders and his Party for Freedom has led in opinion polls for most of the past two years, but the fragmented political landscape means a coalition government of four or more parties is all but inevitable.
His main rival, Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the conservative VVD Party, is banking on a strengthening economic recovery to restore popularity lost during the austerity years of 2012-2014.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[DAWN] One person was killed in a suicide kaboom in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. 's Hayatabad area when the bomber targeted a vehicle carrying civil judges on Wednesday.
Civil Judge Asif Jadoon and three female judges of the lower judiciary were travelling in an official car in Hayatabad's Phase 5 area when an attacker on a cycle of violence struck the front of the vehicle and went kaboom!, killing the driver and injuring the four judges.
The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain grabbed credit for the attack.
A total of six persons were maimed in the kaboom and subsequently moved to the Hayatabad Medical Complex. An emergency was imposed at the hospital.
"About 15 kg of explosive was used in the suicide kaboom targeting a van carrying Civil Judge Asif Jadoon and other judicial staff in Hayatabat Township," said Peshawar police chief Tahir Khan.
The blast occurred as officials from the provincial government were expected to inaugurate the Out Patient Department (OPD) at the Hayatabad Medical Complex. Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the brightest knife in the national drawer... and other senior party leaders were expected to attend the ceremony.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
officials from the provincial government were expected to inaugurate the Out Patient Department (OPD) at the Hayatabad Medical Complex.
They did, just not how they expected
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/16/2017 8:46
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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday visited Kuwait as part of a lightning two-nation tour aimed at mending ties with Gulf neighbours strained by the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.
Rouhani held talks with Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, who last month launched a dialogue with the Islamic republic to normalise Iran-Gulf relations.
An official statement cited by the KUNA news agency said they discussed bolstering bilateral ties in all fields.
They also held talks on "latest regional and international developments," said the statement, without giving further details.
Ahead of his visit to Oman and Kuwait, Rouhani had expressed support for the latter's efforts to "resolve misunderstandings and boost relations" with Gulf countries.
Rouhani's tour excludes regional kingpin Saudi Arabia, Iran's key rival.
Tehran's ties with other Gulf states have been strained over its support for the Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad and alleged backing of Yemen's Huthi rebels.
[GodfatherPolitics] Alcoholics Anonymous has its 12-step program to conquer the demon drink. The Black Panther Party has a 10-point program. There is a four step, five, and 10-step program for quitting smoking and a 10-step program for weight loss. Everywhere we look there is a "step" program to accomplish some goal.
Religions also have "step" programs. There are the nine steps to convert to Judaism and 13 steps to convert to Catholicism. Even radical Islam has a "step" program.
Yes, the Muslim Brotherhood, the originator of modern-day terrorism, from which all modern Islamic terror was born, has a five-step program, or strategic plan, to take over Western nations, including the United States, and subjugate all its citizens, for all to submit to Sharia law.
The plan is called "Civilization Jihad." This five-step (or phase) plan was crafted by Mohammed Akram, a senior Hamas leader in the United States and board member of the Muslim Brotherhood of North America, and approved by its Shura Council in 1987.
Their mission statement is as follows:
The process of settlement is a ’Civilization-Jihadist Process’ with all the word means. The Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and sabotaging its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.
Phase One calls for discretion, as members and operatives arrived in America (or any other Western nation). They are to keep a low profile -- go about their business as shop owners, students and professionals. They are to be seen as model citizens, gaining respect within their vocations and communities.
Years or even decades may pass between stages.
Phase Two requires Muslims to begin to come out of the shadows. This can only be achieved when there is sufficient population. They are then to begin gently pushing for recognition of Sharia law, but only within their own communities and sphere of influence, all the while publicly siding with the West against radical Islam. They insist that Islam is a religion of peace while co-opting western progressive leaders in this insistence. They assure these leaders that Sharia will never be applied outside their own communities.
Phase Three is one of penetration and escalation. This, in my opinion, is where we are presently. When there are enough Muslims in any given city, they begin to penetrate Western society beyond their own communities, i.e. Dearborn and Minneapolis.
They build mosques like crazy -- many more than are needed, funded by foreign entities. In 1994 there were 962 mosques in the United States. Today, a mere 20 years later, there are close to 2200.
They roll out more and more front groups and "organizations" to make it appear that they have more clout and influence than they actually do. Here is a list.
There is no better example than the Brotherhood front group CAIR, which has a staff of about 70 and little more than 300 volunteers, yet they are treated with more respect and frankly feared more than the NRA, with its 4.5 million members.
The job of these front groups is to pressure politicians and academia for Islamic studies and prayer areas, claiming victimization and demanding accommodations. They are to file lawsuits and cry Islamophobia at every turn, thus wearing down their Western hosts.
Then it’s on to Phase Four, where Muslims, now a rather significant minority population in the host country, become more belligerent and insistent that Sharia law be woven into the host’s legal and political system. Violence from supposedly independent and disparate radical groups may also be part of Phase Four.
Phase Five is the final step, as Muslims have now become the majority, or at least the "ruling" minority. All the veils have been pulled back and there is no more pretense of getting along, as they terminate any non-Islamic influence. Sharia law is then imposed nationwide.
Don’t think it could ever happen here? You must always remember that these are a patient people and this is a 100-year plan. We are less than 30 years in, and they are already at Phase Three.
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy ||
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#1
yes this is exactly what they want this document was seized as evidence from a computer in the terror funding trial
#3
nobody is going to stop them because our Saudi-influenced governments and "intelligence" communities have maintained the fiction now since 9/11 that it is possible to fight an ideological battle with spies and cops.
all while keeping "multiculturalism" intact and deceiving the public with "nothing to do with islam"
NONE of that has anything to do with the struggle by women to simply be treated equally under the law.
None of it has to do with the leftards either. They are just an annoying symptom of ignorance.
This began at the top with the original sin, agreed to by George W, when he came out after 9/11 and said "Islam is a religion of peace. This is not a war on Islam, it's a war on terrorism"
every person who says "daesh" instead of "Islamic State" contributes to this problem.
In early 2017 the Indian Navy issued a request for foreign suppliers to bid on a $15 billion contract to supply 57 jet fighter-bombers capable of operating from an aircraft carrier. This comes after a late 2016 announcement by the navy that India’s locally designed and built LCA (Light Combat Aircraft or "Tejas") jet fighter was unsuitable for use on Indian aircraft carriers.
The navy mentioned the LCA being overweight and, well, simply not suitable. With some encouragement from the government the navy amended its decision to include the possibility that 46 of the LCA Mk2 (due in 2025) might be ordered if the empty weight could be reduced 15 percent (from 6.6 tons to 5.6 tons). Currently the max weight is 13.5 tons and armament is one twin barrel 23mm autocannon and up to 3.5 tons of missiles and bombs. Internal fuel is 2.5 tons and that can be increased by at least 40 percent via drop tanks. Many in the navy don’t believe LCA will survive until 2025 and the government seems to concur and authorized the navy to seek a suitable carrier aircraft abroad.
So even when it's empty it's too heavy. Good bird for a carrier. Talk about a 'lawn dart'...
Actually the Indian navy already has a foreign built carrier jet but is seeking other suppliers. The Indian Navy bought Russian 16 MiG-29K jets for their new aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya. The Indians were not happy with the performance of the Russian work on the Vikramaditya or the MiG-29K. There have been problems and disappointments.
There's a theme here, see if you can figure it out...
The same could be said with the way India buys foreign weapons. What is going on here? It is all about the infamous Indian procurement bureaucracy. That includes the problem with the procurement bureaucracy being so inefficient that even when the military gets the money to buy some foreign system it can take a decade of more for the bureaucrats to make it happen. With Indian made weapons there is also corruption and inefficiency in state owned firms. That was the main reason the Indian Air Force and Navy went public with their pleas for the government not to force them to accept and operate the LCA.
There's a whole lot more, including that the Indian Air Force would be better off with used F-16 aircraft. Wonder how well those work on a carrier?
Recently the only Russian aircraft carrier (the Kuznetsov) completed its longest and busiest cruise yet, spending 117 days at sea and carrying out 420 aircraft takeoffs using its Su-33s and MiG-29Ks jets. Some of those flights were for combat missions in Syria. That level of activity comes out to 3.6 fixed wing aircraft operations per day. While doing that two jets were lost. Russia considered this a training cruise that cost less than $200 million.
While it demonstrated the Russian carrier could carry out flight operations it did them at a lower level of intensity and with far more accidents than their U.S. Navy counterparts. An American carrier averages about 24 catapult assisted aircraft operations a day over careers that last more than 40 years. The accident rate is much lower than what the Russians experienced. While the Russians may not gain much from this achievement, the Chinese are paying attention because the Chinese, unlike the Russians, already have one carrier operational and another one under construction. The Chinese, in a way, are out to finish what the Kuznetsov started. Kuznetsov has an interesting history that started back in the 1970s and eventually involved China as well.
Kuznetsov entered service in 1995, after a decade of construction. The Kuznetsov was an experiment to see if Russia could build and operate a large carrier. Kuznetsov is a 65,000 ton (full load) ship that uses a ski jump type flight deck instead of a steam catapult. The ship normally carries a dozen navalized Su-27s (called Su-33s), 14 Ka-27PL anti-submarine helicopters, two electronic warfare helicopters and two search and rescue helicopters. The ship carries 2,500 tons of aviation fuel, allowing it to generate 500-1,000 aircraft and helicopter sorties. Crew size is 2,500 (or 3,000 with a full aircraft load.) The crew size for the recent trip to Syria was only 2,000.
Originally the Russians planned to build four or more large (similar to the American Nimitz class) nuclear powered carriers. But they soon realized (in the late 1970s) that this was beyond their capabilities or resources. After 2000 the Russian Navy began to rebuild and again made plans to build five or more larger carriers but by 2010 it was clear the money was not there and would not be for a long time. So Kuznetsov, after nearly 40 years of effort, appears to be the end of the line for Russian carriers.
While the Kuznetsov was undergoing a 24 month refurbishment in 2005-7, the navy realized that the Su-33 was also in need of replacement and in 2009 ordered 24 MiG-29Ks to replace the Su-33s. In 2008 the carrier version of the Russian MiG-29, the MiG-29K, made its first flight, about fifteen years later than originally planned. The MiG-29K modifications included arrestor gear and stronger landing gear for carrier landings, folding wings and rust proofing to reduce corrosion from all that salt water. Anti-radar paint is also used, to reduce the radar signature. Fuel capacity was increased 50 percent and more modern electronics installed. A more powerful engine is used, which enabled the aircraft to carry over five tons of weapons (air-to-air and anti-ship missiles, smart bombs).
In 2007, after two years of refurbishment, returned to service. But the refurb, like the original construction, was sloppy.
Rooshun yard work sloppy? Who ever heard of such a thing?
Ten years later the Kuznetsov finally got a chance to do what it was designed for (long cruises to distant waters) and demonstrated that it could go through the motions but not much more than that.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/16/2017
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#1
You missed one.
Brazil decided to shutdown carrier air and scrap their old French carrier once known as Foch and currently São Paulo (A12).
#3
With one-engined planes over water,
We'll make of the Pakis a slaughter,
But if'n we're damaged
And fishes are famished,
We'll shoo them away with our shutter.
Alternatively...
The Indians' martial impatience,
In contrast to meat-eating nations,
Secures them the vanguard
Where others say, "too hard:"
"Commencing unmanned operations!"
#5
There's a whole lot more, including that the Indian Air Force would be better off with used F-16 aircraft. Wonder how well those work on a carrier?
Back when the F-16 was the Latest Thing(TM), Vought Aircraft - desperate to stay in business with the F-8 Crusader gone and the A-7 Corsair II going - proposed a navalized version of the F-16 as a cheaper alternative to the F-18, which had some fairly serious problems in its earliest versions. The USN said no, mainly because the Sea Falcon only had one engine, and USN aircraft must have two engines to increase the safety margin at sea.
Fast forward to 2017. How many engines does the F-35 have again?
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/16/2017 5:34
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F16 and F18 came out of the same light weight program, but put current models next to each other and you should notice that the landing gear of the F16 looks like toothpicks compared to the F18. Carrier landings are brute force efforts not to crash on a postage stamp.
#7
Should start with a helicopter carrier anyways. India really doesn't have need of a full carrier and they can work up the institutional knowledge without catapults and very expensive jets.
#8
As far as Russian equipment being sub par, you have to remember that Russia's design plan has long been 'It only has to work correctly once!'
(I give you the engines of the MiG25 as an example...)
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/16/2017 19:16
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Reading slumps can be sneaky. You can be rolling along and not even necessarily noticing that you’re reading less and less until, BAM–you’re in a slump. Don’t worry, though. I have compiled a list of warning signs to watch for.
1. Your Netflix queue is on the verge of being empty.
[DAWN] THE lull has been broken and the country is bleeding again. Lahore, Mohmand Agency ... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar... and Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. have been attacked in rapid succession by the holy warriors. In between, Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... and Quetta have suffered violence too; a diverse map of militancy and terrorism appears to once again be stretching the will and capabilities of the state. As the country mourns the latest casualties in the long war against militancy, policymakers need to urgently turn their attention to the reasons and causes for the latest spike. While panic must be avoided -- the attacks are extremely disturbing, but have not been catastrophic in scale -- the political and military leadership clearly have no reason to be complacent. The Lahore, Mohmand Agency and Peshawar attacks have all targeted security forces or public officials and none of them appear to be random or unplanned. It appears that the murderous Moslems are once again not only growing in confidence but that the support and facilitation networks on which attackers rely are being rehabilitated. In the past, growing confidence and execution capabilities have been a prelude to a sustained and painful series of attacks. The past must not be allowed to repeat itself.
If a new, sustained wave of terrorism is to be avoided and the resultant downturn in violence to become a permanent trend, the anti-militancy policy framework will need to be overhauled. Already, officials are publicly pointing figures at outside powers, especially Afghanistan, and appear to be trying to externalise blame. Certainly, the existence of TTP sanctuaries in Afghanistan is undisputed. But the policy challenges there need to be addressed incrementally, meaningfully and in a sustained manner. The sanctuary problem along the Pak-Afghan border is a stubborn one and will not yield to short-term convulsions and rancour on either side. Indeed, the quiet spells are when behind-the-scenes diplomacy and military dialogue are most important -- the high emotionalism in the aftermath of an attack can inform the need to have a long-term solution, but is likely to prevent results-oriented talks in the short-term. Afghanistan and Pakistain must keep dialogue open and be incrementally progressive at all times.
Domestically, the bombings have shed an unsavoury light on the patchy implementation of the National Action Plan. Developing the will to want to end all forms and manifestations of militancy is important, but the strategy and operational tactics to do so is an essential concomitant. The reaction of the Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... government to the Lahore bombing is illustrative of the muddleheaded nature of the state’s response. Rapid-fire, after-the-event orders for crackdowns and heightened security measures appear to be announced more for public consumption than out of hope for real gains in the fight against militancy. To break the link between tribal sanctuaries and urban targets, and to break up the terrorist networks inside the country’s cities and towns, a calm, focused national leadership is needed.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/16/2017
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[TheHill] McCain stressed his opposition wasn't personal but focused on Mulvaney's previous policy positions, accusing the conservative lawmaker of working to "torpedo" Senate efforts to increase defense spending.
"My decision to oppose this nomination is not about one person. It is not about one Cabinet position," said McCain, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee. "This is not political. This is about principle." I figured everyone could use the laugh.
[al-Manar] Yemeni air defense shot down late Tuesday a Saudi drone over the country’s central province of Marib.
According to Yemeni military sources, the unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down while engaged in operations over the province’s Sirwah district. It was downed by the Yemeni army and the popular committees.
On 25 January, the Yemeni army and popular committees shot down an Apache helicopter belonging to the US-Saudi aggression on the outskirts of “Thabab” directorate in Taiz.
More than 7,400 people have been killed in the war since a Saudi-led coalition started a military campaign on Yemen. That toll includes around 1,400 children.
[OCREGISTER] An Orange Coast College student who secretly videotaped his instructor making anti-Trump statements was suspended from school and told to write a letter of apology as well as a three-page essay about the incident.
The college suspended Caleb O’Neil for the current semester and the summer term, saying he violated a Coast Community College District policy prohibiting recording someone on district property without that person’s consent.
"It is my hope that this experience will lead you to truly think through your actions and the consequences of those actions when making decisions in the future," Victoria Lugo, interim dean of students, wrote in a Feb. 9 letter to O’Neil, whose video clips of instructor Olga Perez Stable Cox in December went viral.
William Becker, an attorney representing O’Neil, said the sanctions are excessive and the student’s legal rights have been violated. O’Neil, 19, plans to appeal and can continue to attend classes during that process, Becker said.
"This is an attack by leftists in academia to protect the expressive rights of their radical instructors at the expense of the expressive rights of conservative students on campus," said Becker, president of Freedom X, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving religious and conservative freedom of expression.
O’Neil, who campaigned for Trump, couldn’t be reached for comment on Tuesday.
Orange Coast College President Dennis Harkins had previously said his administration would investigate whether Cox’s comments were appropriate and within the context of what she teaches. Whether that has concluded is unclear. College front man Doug Bennett said this week that the school could not comment on personnel manners, and he declined to discuss investigations involving students, citing their privacy.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/16/2017
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#1
I would hope that FIRE or some other entity would come to this student's legal defense?
#2
I'm thinking there's a suit for 'hostile school environment' here. At the very least, maybe somebody at Dept of Education would like to show the new boss how bad they want to keep their job...
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/16/2017 19:07
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#3
"It is my hope that this experience will lead you to truly think through your actions and the consequences of those actions when making decisions in the future," Same could be said about the teacher who showed zero common sense in ranting in front of the class, each with a minor movie studio in their pocket.
#4
"It is my hope that this experience will lead you to truly think through your actions and the consequences of those actions when making decisions in the future," Lefties are not good at anticipating the consequences of their actions.
Diyala (IraqiNews.com) A local source in Diyala Province declared that two civilians were killed in and armed attack, east of Baqubah, Alsumaria News reported on Wednesday.
The source said, “Unidentified gunmen launched an attack, this evening, on two civilians near Abu Seba’ Village in Abu Saida vicinity (30 km east of Baqubah), killing them on the spot.”
“Security forces cordoned off the area of incident and opened an investigation into its circumstances, while ambulances evacuated the bodies to the forensic medicine department,” the source added.
On Monday, an official source in Diyala revealed that the area of Abu Saida is witnessing a security instability in the current time.
Diyala (IraqiNews.com) A local source in Diyala Province declared that three locations belonging to the Islamic State were completely destroyed by an airstrike on Mutaibijh area, located between Salahuddin and Diyala, Alsumaria News reported on Wednesday.
The source said, “Three locations belonging to the Islamic State in the area of Mutaibijh, which is located between Salahuddin and Diyala, were completely destructed by an intensive aerial bombardment that lasted for more than half an hour.”
“Semi-confirmed information indicated to the killing of the so-called Islamic State’s Wali of Salahuddin in the air strike,” the source added on condition of anonymity.
“The destroyed locations were known as the immigrants’ locations/ places, and they were homes for Arab and foreign suicide bombers who were planning to launch attacks on security and civilian targets in Salahuddin and Diyala,” the source further explained.
Posted by: badanov ||
02/16/2017
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[DAWN] Four Indian soldiers and as many gunnies were killed on Tuesday in shootouts in India-held Kashmire, in the second outbreak of violence between security forces and gunnies in three days.
Three soldiers and a Lion of Islam died in a shootout in north Kashmire’s Bandipora district, as a joint army and police team mounted a search following a tip-off that gunnies were in the area, a defence front man said. Five soldiers were maimed.
"During the searches, gunnies hiding in a house opened fire, triggering off an encounter," Lt Col Rajesh Kalia said.
Separately, security forces rubbed out three gunnies in Handwara district, a senior police official said. An Indian army officer was also killed in the shootout.
Four gunnies and two Indian soldiers were among at least seven killed in a shootout and subsequent protests in south Kashmire on Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/16/2017
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least 38 loyalists of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group were killed during the newly-launched Shaheen-25 military operations in eastern Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province of Afghanistan, the Ministry of Interior said Wednesday.
The Nangarhar police however said at least 22 bandidosforces of Evil were killed in the past 24 hours in Haska Mina and Kot districts.
At least 9 bandidosforces of Evil were also maimed and another hard boy was placed in durance vile Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! alive by the security forces.
According to Nangarhar police, at least 11 of the bandidosforces of Evil were killed in Haska Mina district after they were targeted in Gorgori and Payeen areas.
The nine bandidosforces of Evil were also maimed in the same areas and one of their fighters was arrested.
The remaining 11 bandidosforces of Evil were killed during the clearance operations in Kot district as the Afghan forces targeted the bandidosforces of Evil in Sepai and Patadari areas.
The Nangarhar police commandment said huge caches of explosives, weapons, and ammunition were seized during the operations.
The security forces and local residents did not suffer any casualties during the operations, the police commandment added.
[ToloNews] At least 16 foreign Daesh militants were killed in an Afghan security forces ground and air operation in Nangarhar province, local officials said.
Provincial governor's spokesman Attaullah Khogyani confirmed the operation and said that the Daesh militants were killed in Operation Shaheen 25 launched by security forces three days ago in Kott and Dih Bala districts.
Among the 16 Daesh militants killed, 11 of them were killed in Nare area of Dih Bala district in an airstrike and five others were killed in a ground operation, Khogyani said.
Two other Daesh militants were wounded, Khogyani added.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/16/2017
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
[DAWN] US President 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... halted Washington's quest for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict Wednesday, saying he would back a single state if it led to peace.
The new president warmly welcomed Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House and hailed the "unbreakable" bond between their countries.
And -- while he urged Netanyahu to "hold back" from building Jewish settlements for a "little bit" -- Trump broke with the international consensus insisting on two states.
"So I'm looking at two state and one state, and I like the one that both parties like. I'm very happy with the one that both parties like. I can live with either one," he said.
"I thought for a while the two-state looked like it may be the easier of the two but, honestly, if Israel and the Paleostinians are happy, I am happy with the one they like the best."
If this change in the US stance was calculated to please Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition, Trump's views on the shortcomings of the Paleostinian position will delight them.
"I think the Paleostinians have to get rid of some of that hate that they're taught from a very young age," he said, echoing Netanyahu's argument that Paleostinians are not ready for peace.
"They're taught tremendous hate. I have seen what they're taught... it starts in the school room, and they have to acknowledge Israel."
Netanyahu had warm words for the US alliance, and hammered home his own prerequisites for peace.
"First, the Paleostinians must recognise the Jewish state. They have to stop calling for Israel's destruction," he said.
"Second, in any peace agreement, Israel must retain the overriding security control over the entire area west of the Jordan River," he added.
This area contains the entire West Bank area that would represent the heart of any Paleostinian state as conceived in all previous international agreements.
The change in the US stance, which was trailed overnight by a US official, triggered Paleostinian despair and consternation in international capitals.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/16/2017
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#3
An example of Trump's attitude of keeping our nose out of other people's busienss and 'letting them sort it out.' The paleos and our shadow gov't are no doubt apoplectic with seething and rage.
[ROLLINGSTONE] It's amazing. I'm like, "Why don't we check in with Russia, you guys?" I think it tends to come more from the right wing, although I'm not sure. Now it's so hard to know what's coming from where, because stories get published on Breitbart and two days later they're in Newsweek and you're like, "What the fuck is happening right now?" No one is more studied in the art of the right wing planting a story and liberals eating each other alive over it than I am. I see it every single day, but I'm not gonna stand there screaming about it, 'cause that makes you a bad sport. And also it's boring and I'm not interested in it. But do people want me to go, "I don't think I'm really good for this. I'm gonna bow out"? I wouldn't see any use for celebrity if I wasn't fighting rabidly for what I thought was right.
I backed Hillary Clinton when a lot of people in my age group were on the Bernie train, so I was getting shit from the right for being a "libtard" – and getting shit from young people for supporting what they saw as a corporate candidate. It was painful when people were like, "Hillary lost because Lena Dunham is such a bad example of liberalism." But everyone's scared and upset, and they need someone to blame. It's easier to blame me than it is to, like, blame George Clooney for not giving enough speeches or whatever. You could go around pointing fingers in every fucking direction in Hollywood if you wanted to. If I'm gonna be the punching bag for that, I know where my heart is and I know why I felt like I needed to campaign for her. I know what those experiences on the road meant to me with other women, the connections that I made – and I just have to hold on to that.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/16/2017
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#1
I am confident that the Dunham graphic will eventually catch the eye of Sports Illustrated lurkers.
#3
Just remember, Don't Ever Blame Hillary!
Ever, ever, ever...
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/16/2017 7:19
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#4
Don't Ever Blame Hillary!
or risk the wrath of a Dunham Sconed.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like a point of order - when selling a product, one has to have a message, and it is not just a right, but a requirement, to criticize that message. In fact, it was just celebrated with the oh so vaunted Super Bowl Commercials.
Ms. Doneham continuously sells her TV, and her celebrity rating, show by using her body in various ways - image, orientation, raping her sister, so forth.
I reject that sales pitch, mostly for lack of casing and poor taste.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] In an interview with Al Arabiya General Manager, Turki AlDakhil, that will be fully aired later this week, the Turkish President said that he does not consider the Muslim Brotherhood group to be a terrorist group, adding that Turkey would treat the group as a terrorist in case the Brotherhood carries out armed attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/16/2017
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The only person convicted in the 1985 Air India bombings that killed 331 people is now free, Canada's parole board said Wednesday.
Inderjit Singh Reyat had been ordered to live at a halfway house following his release from prison one year ago, after serving two decades behind bars. That condition has now been lifted and Reyat may return to a normal life, including 'living in a private residence,' parole board spokesman Patrick Storey told AFP in an email.
The Sikh immigrant from India was convicted of making bombs that were stuffed into luggage and planted on two planes leaving Vancouver, and of lying in court to cover for his co-accused.
One bomb tore apart Air India Flight 182 as it neared the coast of Ireland, killing all 331 people aboard, including 268 Canadian citizens, 27 Britons and 24 Indians. The incident was the largest mass murder in Canadian history.
The second exploded at Japan's Narita airport, killing two baggage handlers as they transferred cargo to another Air India plane.
The blasts followed a crackdown on Sikhs fighting for an independent homeland, and those behind it were allegedly seeking revenge for the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar by Indian troops.
Reyat was working as a mechanic in westernmost Canada and purchased the dynamite, batteries and detonators used to construct the bombs.
Two alleged co-conspirators were acquitted due to a lack of evidence and, according to prosecutors, because of Reyat's perjury.
Storey said Reyat's parole officer has assessed those with whom he will live 'to ensure they will not have a negative influence on him.' Conditions of his release from prison also still apply, including having no contact with the victims' families nor with extremists.
Reyat must also shun all political activities and take counseling for violent tendencies, a lack of empathy and exaggerated beliefs.
#4
"The court declared the murdered innocents 'better now'"
F*cking Canuck "justice"
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/16/2017 8:55
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#5
HEY!!!!! Why so harsh, people? He said he was sorry didn't he? No, wait. He didn't.
I'm sure the computer chip that was implanted in his buttocks will allow the Mounties to track him. Unless it was something else implanted in his buttocks during the 20 years in prison. No, let's not go there.
In any case, the whole episode, and I remember it well, just left me Sikh.
[LOSANGELES.CBSLOCAL] Orange County Congressman Dana Rohrabacher ...Representative for Caliphornia's 48th congressional district, and previously the 46th, 45th and 42nd, serving since 1989. He is a member of the Republican Party and a former speech writer for President Reagan... says a 71-year-old staffer at his Huntington Beach office was knocked unconscious during a protest, but the protestors say they were delivering Valentine’s Day cards.
The "assault" on Rohrabacher’s district director, Kathleen Staunton, happened Tuesday afternoon during a protest by a group calling themselves Indivisible OC. Police confirmed they were called to the scene, but made no arrests.
Staunton was trying to exit through the front door of Rohrabacher’s office to visit a restroom when, according to Rohrabacher, a protester yanked the door open, causing her to fall and hit her head. The door also pushed over a 2-year-old child who was apparently brought along with the crowd, but she was not injured, the congressmen said.
Staunton, who has managed Rohrabacher’s office since his first term in 1989, was treated by paramedics and taken to a local hospital, Rohrabacher said in a statement released Wednesday.
"I am outraged beyond words that protesters who mobbed my Huntington Beach office violently knocked down my faithful district director, Kathleen Staunton, causing her to be hospitalized," Rohrabacher said. "And, yes, deliberate or not, the incident came as part of a mob action that not only intimidates but coerces. Though the protesters think of themselves as idealists, they engaged in political thuggery, pure and simple."
The protest was part of a nationwide movement calling itself "Indivisible" and pledged to resist President 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 agenda. Rohrabacher said the group came to demand a town hall meeting with him even though he was working in Washington D.C. with the House of Representatives in session.
The group’s Twitter page confirmed they were at Rohrabacher’s Huntington Beach office Tuesday ‐ but according to their page, it was to deliver Valentine’s Day cards.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Two people were killed and 14 others were wounded, including security members, when blasts hit three areas in Baghdad on Wednesday, news reports quoted security sources as saying.
An IED exploded near a grocery in Radwaniya, southwest of the capital, killing two and wounding six, sources said, according to Sky Press.
Another explosive device hit a passing police patrol in al-Doura, south of Baghdad, wounding four personnel.
A third bomb exploded near a fish market in Youssefiya in the south, wounding four.
No exact count of casualties has been given yet.
Violence surged in Iraq with the emergence of Islamic State militants who took over large areas of the country in 2014. Baghdad has been witnessing almost daily bombings targeting civilians and security personnel.
Nobody has claimed responsibility yet for the bombings, but IS militants have said they had been responsible for several bloody explosions and attacks that hit the capital in the past months, bringing the governorate municipal and security officials under critics’ fire.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) said violence in the country left nearly 382 dead, including security members, and 908 injured during January. Baghdad was the most affected province with 128 deaths and 444 injuries, according to the organization.
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) A car bomb blast hit Habibiya area in eastern Baghdad, killing and wounding 25 persons, Baghdad Operations Command said on Wednesday.
Earlier today, a booby-trapped vehicle, parked in Wahran area near Habibiya area in eastern Baghdad exploded, killing two persons and wounding five others.”
“The casualties of the bombing that hit Habibiya area earlier today increased to five killed and 20 wounded,” Spokesman for Baghdad Operations Command said.
Today, a series of explosions hit different areas of the capital, Baghdad, where an IED exploded near a grocery in Radwaniya, southwest of the capital, killing two and wounding six others, while another explosive device hit a passing police patrol in al-Daura, south of Baghdad, wounding four personnel.
A third blast hit a fish market in al-Yusufiyah area in southern, wounding four persons.
18 die in car bomb attack in Sadr City al-Manar -- You know how those guys are
At least 18 people have been killed in a bomb attack on a suburb in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, security sources say.
A suicide bomber detonated a pick-up truck in Sadr City, targeting a busy street full of garages and used-car dealers.
At least 42 people were also wounded in the blast in the eastern district.
Baghdad saw a wave of deadly suicide attacks in the first few days of 2017, but the number has dropped recently.
No-one has yet said they carried out the latest attack, although similar blasts have been claimed by ISIL terrorist group.
Following up on a tip by the U.S. Border Patrol, Mexican authorities in the border town of Agua Prieta seized a catapult being used to throw bundles of marijuana and possibly other drugs over the border to Douglas, Arizona. Texas Petraria Arcatinus counter-battery. Payload and range CLASSIFIED.
Agents patrolling the Douglas area last week said they sensed suspicious activity when a group of men started to run away as they were approaching. When the agents got to the south side of the border fence they discovered the catapult system attached to it.
Two bundles of marijuana weighing more than 47 pounds combined were found nearby.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Local sources in Ibb governorate have revealed that the Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... militias kidnapped 300 civilians, mostly elderly and children, in the town of al-Adeen.
Sources said that the kidnapped people were all civilians from the villages of Dbayeh and al-Meydan in Ramid District.
The kidnappings are said to be in Dire Revenge for the killing of Houthis commander Abu Abdulrahman al-Alwi in the district last Friday, which reportedly happened during festivities with unidentified people. Sources said that the forces of Evil blew up a number of houses in the same area.
Militias raided the houses and drove out families by force before kidnapping civilians and taking them to an unknown destination. Sources also confirmed that residents of these villages are not armed and do not know the killer of the Houthi leader.
According to local sources, the militias looted a group of houses and continue to surround the village blocking its entrance and exit points. They noted that the rebels asked some mothers to give them gold in exchange for the release of their children. According to them, one woman gave up all her gold to ensure that her toddler son is released.
Recent human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... reports have documented the arrest of about 10,000 people by the Houthi militias sine they entered Sanaa on September 21, 2014.
According to local and international human rights reports, many of the detainees are subjected to torture, beatings, flogging and electrocution, and exposed to frost and ironing with fire, to force them to confess to charges of crimes they did not commit.
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02/16/2017
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[Libya Herald] More bombs were dropped on Hun this morning by aircraft linked to the Libyan National Army (LNA). Casualties are unconfirmed although some reports suggest there could have been two fatalities.
The LNA are understood to have targeted the Benghazi Defence Brigade (BDB) which has been using the base as its operational headquarters. Hun residents posted on social media that they could hear the sound of explosions as planes roamed overhead.
The air force says it carried out three airstrikes, destroying a number of vehicles and killing a number of BDB supporters.
The LNA has been targeting BDB patrols in the surrounding area. Three days ago the LNA claimed to have destroyed 40 BDB vehicles as they approached the Mabruk oilfield.
The LNA had said the that attack was dedicated to the memory of three of their helicopter pilots shot down by the BDB south of Sirte two days before.
Posted by: badanov ||
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[al-Manar] The Saudi warplanes committed on Wednesday a new massacre after raiding a funeral ceremony in Arhab in the capital Sanaa, killing six women and injuring 10 others.
Media reports mentioned that the Saudi warplanes kept on flying over the scene of the massacre, knowing that it is not the first time that KSA warplanes target funeral ceremonies in Yemen.
Meanwhile, the Yemeni army and popular committees continued striking the Saudi soldiers and the mercenaries in various areas across Yemen and in the bordering towns, inflicting heavy losses upon them.
[ZDNet] For over a decade now, USCIS grants H-1Bs through a computer-generated lottery, and you would think that this serves as an excellent, unbiased way to distribute these work visas. The problem is, while an employee can only submit one Labour Condition Application (an approval by the Department of Labour and a pre-requisite for a H-1B visa), there is no limit to the number of applications that a firm can submit for that one job. If a firm then submits 10 applications with the names of 10 other staff, no prizes for guessing how much the odds of getting a visa for solo applicants such as you or I in a lottery increase.
Therefore, most small companies seeking that one visa for a tough-to-find biophysics engineer or a robotics expert will in all probability lose out to a $60,000 low-end IT programmer with an H-1B from India who most probably performs mundane and routine software tasks for a large American company. So, when people furiously debate about whether there is a shortage or a surplus of STEM workers, the answer in fact may be both -- a shortage at the upper end for specialized work and a sudden surplus of low-end tech candidates who have been crowded out of the market.
Two things clearly indicate that these H-1Bs are no AI or robotics geniuses: Employers who hire H-1Bs need to show that these recruits are not displacing American workers. However, the exception to that rule is if the new hire's annual salary is greater than $60,000. No surprise that the median salary for most outsourcing firms is just a shade north of this number.
Also, it doesn't come as a shocker that not a single technology services company was among the top 200 in terms of patents granted according to Mint -- at least one marker for cutting edge innovation -- while close to half of the total hire didn't have more than a Bachelor's degree.
#1
I know that certain high-tech companies go looking for specific foreigners to fill specific roles. Probably because they take less money. The legal team is told who needs to be hired, then they go to work. They interview the guy and find out all sorts of details about his life, and write up what they need so that it includes these details, including specific dialects spoken sometimes, etc.. Then they advertise for a candidate, probably in the same closet the jaguar is hiding in in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", and lo and behold, the only guy who responds is the guy they have in their hand! Voila, instant H1-B.
#2
And the kickback to the offshore account Gorb, don't forget that. More middlemen and markups than Tony Soprano's liquor business.
"What's the rate?"
"I'll get you a guy for 3/4 of that"
"I'll get you another guy, offshore, for half"
"You get two guys for 5/4 the wages of what you're paying now, and 24 hr service"
"With 1 local and 2 guys offshore you get 3 for less than the price of two. Round it up to two and we'll call the difference an 'assurance premium', rebated after the first year."
[REUTERS] Venezuela's socialist leader Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday that he wanted to avoid confrontation with new U.S. President 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... "I don't want problems with the Trump administration," Maduro said in a speech, after Trump held various conversations with other Latin American leaders expressing concern over Venezuela. "We want respectful relations with the new administration."
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
You have more problems with your own people and your idiot rule over them with that idiot socialist idiot system that only idiot Leaders want who eventually get beheaded from the idiots that live under that idiot system, idiot.
You are low on the totem pole, inless I see Hezbolla and IRGC there.
#3
Naw. let them idiot on. When they find Cuba and Iran is not there for them, they self flush. I see them falling through the marble floor they stand on.
[FoxNews] Over 2,000 passengers who thought they'd be sailing to the Bahamas this week were unexpectedly delayed at port after a Royal Caribbean cruise ship failed an annual Coast Guard safety inspection Monday.
The Majesty of the Seas was scheduled departure from Port Canaveral, Fla. late Monday but Coast Guard officials ordered the liner to remain docked on Valentine's Day after inspectors found multiple safety infractions, including the vessel's life preservers that were "showing their age", according to Florida Today.
Only "showing their age"? Makes me wonder either they pissed someone off or forgot to make a contribution.
Posted by: Seeking cure for ignorance ||
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#1
Too many times reported events mask reality. It's easier for readers to believe some graft event (via 'life preservers') is to be blamed for ending the cruise than the less remote possibility of the Coast Guard actually stopping a disaster.
If you think a blown airliner with hundreds of passengers is bad, imagine the cascading impact on the passenger maritime industries when a billion dollar 'soft target' vessel goes down with thousands of passengers, on a Valentine's Day cruise.
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.
[Free Beacon] Senior Iranian officials are warning the Trump administration about disclosing secret deals related to the nuclear deal that have long been hidden from the public by the Obama administration, according to recent comments that prompted pushback from senior sources on Capitol Hill.
Flynn, under the belly of the bus. 
[IsraelTimes] Group said to have used status as Islamic 
[AlAhram] The 
North Korea
[REUTERS] Staff at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have been told that President 
[WASHINGTONPOST] President Trump has indicated that he wants to make a splash in space. During his transition, he spoke with historian Douglas Brinkley about John F. Kennedy's famous 1961 vow to go to the moon before the decade was out. Now Trump and his aides may do something very similar: demand that NASA send astronauts to orbit the moon before the end of Trump's first term -- a move that one Trump adviser said would be a clear signal to the Chinese that the U.S. intends to retain dominance in space.
[CHICAGO.SUNTIMES] Three children were shot in 
[WSJ] What’s striking about the French presidential election is the extent to which the two front-runners share a basic analysis of the choice facing the country. Marine Le Pen, the leader of the right-wing National Front, and Emmanuel Macron, the 39-year-old former economy minister who quit 
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Saudi’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, received the head of Ulemas' Council of Pakistan Hafiz Mohammed Tahir Al-Ashrafi on Tuesday..jpg)
North Korea
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., about a month before political hacks in the intelligence began leaking information obtained illegally, coincidentally predicted it would happen in a veiled threat.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The anti-government armed 
Pervez 
[REUTERS] Campaigning for the Dutch election began on Wednesday with anti-Islam leader Geert Wilders frontrunner in a vote that will test the anti-establishment sentiment that swept 
[GodfatherPolitics] Alcoholics Anonymous has its 12-step program to conquer the demon drink. The Black Panther Party has a 10-point program. There is a four step, five, and 10-step program for quitting smoking and a 10-step program for weight loss. Everywhere we look there is a "step" program to accomplish some goal.
Mohmand Agency
[TheHill] McCain stressed his opposition wasn't personal but focused on Mulvaney's previous policy positions, accusing the conservative lawmaker of working to "torpedo" Senate efforts to increase defense spending.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] In an interview with Al Arabiya General Manager, Turki AlDakhil, that will be fully aired later this week, the Turkish President said that he does not consider the Muslim Brotherhood group to be a terrorist group, adding that Turkey would treat the group as a terrorist in case the Brotherhood carries out armed attacks.
The only person convicted in the 1985 Air India bombings that killed 331 people is now free, Canada's parole board said Wednesday.
[LOSANGELES.CBSLOCAL] Orange County Congressman 
Following up on a tip by the U.S. Border Patrol, Mexican authorities in the border town of Agua Prieta seized a catapult being used to throw bundles of marijuana and possibly other drugs over the border to Douglas, Arizona.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Local sources in Ibb governorate have revealed that the 
[ZDNet] For over a decade now, USCIS grants H-1Bs through a computer-generated lottery, and you would think that this serves as an excellent, unbiased way to distribute these work visas. The problem is, while an employee can only submit one Labour Condition Application (an approval by the Department of Labour and a pre-requisite for a H-1B visa), there is no limit to the number of applications that a firm can submit for that one job. If a firm then submits 10 applications with the names of 10 other staff, no prizes for guessing how much the odds of getting a visa for solo applicants such as you or I in a lottery increase.
[REUTERS] Venezuela's socialist leader Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday that he wanted to avoid confrontation with new U.S. President 
