SpaceX Press release:
We are excited to announce that SpaceX has been approached to fly two private citizens on a trip around the moon late next year. They have already paid a significant deposit to do a moon mission. Like the Apollo astronauts before them, these individuals will travel into space carrying the hopes and dreams of all humankind, driven by the universal human spirit of exploration. We expect to conduct health and fitness tests, as well as begin initial training later this year. Other flight teams have also expressed strong interest and we expect more to follow. Additional information will be released about the flight teams, contingent upon their approval and confirmation of the health and fitness test results.
Most importantly, we would like to thank NASA, without whom this would not be possible. NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which provided most of the funding for Dragon 2 development, is a key enabler for this mission. In addition, this will make use of the Falcon Heavy rocket, which was developed with internal SpaceX funding. Falcon Heavy is due to launch its first test flight this summer and, once successful, will be the most powerful vehicle to reach orbit after the Saturn V moon rocket. At 5 million pounds of liftoff thrust, Falcon Heavy is two-thirds the thrust of Saturn V and more than double the thrust of the next largest launch vehicle currently flying.
Later this year, as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, we will launch our Crew Dragon (Dragon Version 2) spacecraft to the International Space Station. This first demonstration mission will be in automatic mode, without people on board. A subsequent mission with crew is expected to fly in the second quarter of 2018. SpaceX is currently contracted to perform an average of four Dragon 2 missions to the ISS per year, three carrying cargo and one carrying crew. By also flying privately crewed missions, which NASA has encouraged, long-term costs to the government decline and more flight reliability history is gained, benefiting both government and private missions.
Once operational Crew Dragon missions are underway for NASA, SpaceX will launch the private mission on a journey to circumnavigate the moon and return to Earth. Lift-off will be from Kennedy Space Center’s historic Pad 39A near Cape Canaveral ‐ the same launch pad used by the Apollo program for its lunar missions. This presents an opportunity for humans to return to deep space for the first time in 45 years and they will travel faster and further into the Solar System than any before them.
Designed from the beginning to carry humans, the Dragon spacecraft already has a long flight heritage. These missions will build upon that heritage, extending it to deep space mission operations, an important milestone as we work towards our ultimate goal of transporting humans to Mars.
#11
Lightfoot’s problem lies in the two pieces of NASA equipment he wants to work with: a rocket that’s too expensive to fly and is years from completion—the Space Launch System; and a capsule that’s far from ready to carry humans—the Orion. Neither the SLS nor the Orion are able to land on the Moon. Let me repeat that. Once these pieces of super-expensive equipment reach the moon’s vicinity, they cannot land.
Who is able to land on the lunar surface? Elon Musk and Robert Bigelow. Musk’s rockets—the Falcon and the soon-to-be-launched Falcon Heavy—are built to take off and land. So far their landing capabilities have been used to ease them down on earth. But the same technology, with a few tweaks, gives them the ability to land payloads on the surface of the Moon. Including humans. What’s more, SpaceX’s upcoming seven-passenger Dragon 2 capsule has already demonstrated its ability to gentle itself down to earth’s surface. In other words, with a few modifications and equipment additions, Falcon rockets and Dragon capsules could be made Moon-ready.
#12
Nice place to visit with a beautiful view of planet earth but wouldn't want a permanent station. The tiniest meteor rock has no resistance to kick up a huge hole in things and they hit the moon frequently.
[Jpost] Hamas on Monday evaded claiming responsibility for a rocket launching that struck southern Israeli territory earlier in the day, and accused the IDF of escalating tensions with Gaza.
"We place full responsibility for the continuation of this dangerous escalation in Gaza on the Israeli entity, which is targeting the Palestinian resistance and the people of Gaza," Hamas charged in a statement.
"The continued targeting of the resistance's locations, the purposeful explosion of the situation in Gaza, and the imposition of new formulas on the resistance can not be permitted irregardless of the price."
Hamas claimed that three Gazans were moderately wounded during an Israeli bombardment east of Rafah.
[Clarion Project] The liberal left has teamed up with extremist and violent Islamists in its next salvo against newly-inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump.
On March 8, International Women’s Day, a follow-up event to the January 21 Women’s March on Washington, will be staged.
One of the co-authors of the "militant" manifesto behind the nationwide event is convicted Palestinian terrorist Rasmea Yousef Odeh.
Odeh was convicted in Israel in 1970 for being involved in two fatal bombings. Odeh spent 10 years in jail before she was released in a prisoner exchange in 1980.
She moved to the U.S. by omitting her terror conviction on her immigration papers and served as the associate director of the Arab American Action Network in Chicago and later as an ObamaCare navigator. In 2014, she was convicted in the U.S. for concealing her past and thus illegally obtaining U.S. citizenship.
After claiming she forgot about her conviction and imprisonment in Israel due to post traumatic stress disorder, she was awarded a new trial which is currently pending.
#2
"For if Men are to be precluded from offering their Sentiments on a matter, which may involve the most serious and alarming consequences, that can invite the consideration of Mankind, reason is of no use to us; the freedom of Speech may be taken away, and, dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep, to the Slaughter."
George Washington's address to the Officers of the Army | Saturday, March 15, 1783
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/27/2017 13:23
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A recent video posted this week shows Islamic Republic strategist, Hassan Abbassi, discussing the destructive potential of Iran's hidden army within the US. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Commander Abbassi admitted to having terror cells situation and ready to strike in the United States.
Abbassi: "I'll be brief. We have two million Iranians there. Be certain that I will raise a guerilla army from amongst them against you. You know this well. Look how vulnerable you were on 9-11 when four Arabs who don't know how to fight managed to endanger your foundations."
Well, why would be doing extreme vetting, then?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/27/2017
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#1
Hmmmm. Is that why the Academy had to give one of their people an Oscar last night?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/27/2017 10:31
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#2
not 'admitting to having terror cells'
but 'bragging about their terror cells'
Posted by: lord garth ||
02/27/2017 10:43
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#3
The irony of the statist's fit against vetting is that their cities will be the first ones hit.
#4
Iranian Revolutionary Guards in a fifth column in the U.S. ready to strike?
"Are you feeling lucky punk? Well are you?" That would be the last mistake they made. This POTUS is not going to screw around. Has Hassan Abbassi noticed that Trump has brought in many former and current military guys into key government positions?
#6
It is much more cost effective to learn the lessons vicariously and through reasoning than to be a dumb $h!t and blunder into it. Unfortunately some people never learn.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/27/2017 18:31
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#7
Obama and Valerie Jarrett are the head of the Iranian threat to the national security of the United States.
[ABC] North Korea executed five senior security officials with anti-aircraft guns because they made false reports that "enraged" leader Kim Jong Un, South Korea's spy agency said Monday.
The comments by the National Intelligence Service in a private briefing to lawmakers come as Malaysia investigates the poisoning death of Kim's estranged elder half brother, Kim Jong Nam. That investigation is still going on, but South Korea says it believes Kim Jong Un ordered the assassination, which took place Feb. 13 at Kuala Lumpur's airport.
The spy agency told lawmakers that five North Korean officials in the department of recently purged state security chief Kim Won Hong were executed by anti-aircraft guns because of the false reports to Kim, South Korean lawmaker Lee Cheol Woo said. It's not clear what false reports they allegedly made, and the NIS didn't say how it got its information.
South Korean spies have a spotty record when reporting about high-level events in authoritarian, cloistered North Korea.
North Korea fired Kim Won Hong in January, presumably over corruption, abuse of power and torture committed by his agency, Seoul said earlier this month. The fallen minister had been seen as close to Kim Jong Un. North Korea has not publicly said anything about Kim Won Hong or about the alleged executions in his department.
Lee also cited the NIS as saying that Kim Won Hong's dismissal was linked to those false reports, which "enraged" Kim Jong Un when they were discovered.
Since taking power in late 2011, Kim Jong Un has reportedly executed or purged a large number of high-level government officials in what rival Seoul has called a "reign of terror."
#5
The only way Hong was executed for his agency torturing people is that they weren't doing enough and it wasn't painful enough.
Someone is gonna get this guy...Fat Boy is obviously running scared right now lashing out at any rumor of disloyalty...Of course he knows that he might just be driving his opposition deeper in the dark and making it harder to find out the next time.
I think Fat Boy has about a year and then he's AA gun ready.
h/t Instapundit
As anyone who pays attention to the Social Media parts of the Intertubes is aware, Milo Yiannopoulos is in hot water for allegedly being in favor of Man Boy luurve. This is almost certainly a deliberate hit since the video that has caused the controversy has been out in public for a year or so now without anyone getting worked up about it. Milo has a couple of FB posts up that provide, IMHO, a pretty good defense.
I’m not going to defend him further. He’s a grown up and has a bigger pulpit than I do so that would be silly. However the whole affair has led me to ponder some issues that merit further discussion. These are
1. the decline in reading/listening comprehension
2. the value of a professional troll
3. the relationship of pedophilia to (male) homosexuality
4. the age of consent, maturity and the law
#1
I wish Rantburg readers would listen to what Milo has to say instead of dismissing him as a Podesta-style pedo. Come on, the MSM wouldn't do a hit piece on him unless he was a threat to them.
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 ||
02/27/2017 9:52
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#2
Yep, he's a gay man that refused to stay on the plantation with the rest of the gays...that's why he had to go.
Can't have a gay Republican can we?
I wonder what happens when Thiel runs for the Senate.
#3
The arbitrary age of consent argument, in general, is specious. If you notice, the author provides no solutions other than to say he believes there ought to be "some sort of flexibility". BTW, Senator Boxer made a simmilar argument in a failed attempt to pass legislation that would allow an adult to bring a minor across state lines to an abortion provider without parental consent. An officially ajudicated "maturity test" would be required. And that would be impracticable -at best.
Thank you Wikileaks! Just 18 minutes after a new DNC chair was chosen, Wikileaks tweeted out a link to emails exposing Tom Perez for sabotaging Bernie Sanders during the 2016 campaign. Bernie Sanders supporters took to twitter to protest with the hashtag: #Demexit :
Perez is a total scumbag! We have so much information on this La Raza pro-illegal former Obama Labor Secretary.
Here are the Wikileaks tweets and a link to the emails busting Perez for being in the clinton grifter camp during the election:
[Daily Caller] More people died last in Spain than were born, so the government has appointed a ’sex tsar’ to encourage citizens to make babies.
The new sex tsar will draft a national strategy for the country to deal with the rapidly declining birthrate, UK newspaper The Independent reports. No thought given to importing Mexicans? I thought not.
Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy appointed Edelmira Barreira to deal with the demographics challenge.
The declining birthrate in Spain is one of the worst in Europe, and in 2015, the death rates surpassed birth rates for the first time ever. "We have provinces in Spain where for every baby born, more than two people die. And the ratio is moving closer to one to three," Alejandro Macarrón, a consultant, told The Guardian in 2015. How can 'big government' survive without a constituency ?
Spanish citizens between the ages of 18-49 had an average of 1.3 children according to an October 2016 report, which is below the 1.58 average for the whole European Union. The same study also said that within 15 years, single, non-married people could make up a fifth of the countries populations.
Some experts theorize that after working long hours and late nights day, people are simply too tired to get busy. The long hours "do not help with making a family," Rafael Puyol, professor of the IE Business School in Madrid, said. "Then a child arrives and it is even worse." The duel tax paying 'two earner' family has a downside? Who knew ?
Spain is hardly the first country to try and boost its population by encouraging lovemaking. A local politician in Sweden proposed last week that workers should get a paid hour off of work once a week to have sex. (RELATED: Swedish Town Floats Idea Of Paid Hour Off From Work To Have Sex)
#3
And it's the upbringing that's heavy investment - doesn't really works if women don't stay at home.
Not necessarily works if women stay at home - look at all the Muz.
#4
The socialist ponzi schemes of big government (Social Security, Obamacare and the like) depend upon an ever widening pool of payers or subscribers.
Politically motivated attacks on the traditional family, environmentally motivated population control, abortion, and birth control are all contributing factors. Islamist's who believe in NONE of the aforementioned measures, continue to reproduce and migrate to fill the population shortfalls.
Behold the suicide of cultures.
Anjem Choudary, right-hand man of exiled preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed, said: “It may be by pure conversion that Britain will become an Islamic state. We may never need to conquer it from the outside.” Many Muslims are having 10 or 12 children per family. The swollen Muslim population would be enough to conquer Britain from inside, they claim. He added: “We do not integrate into Christianity. We will ensure that one day you will integrate into the Sharia Islamic law.”
"We will conquer you through the bellies of our women."
~ anon
#6
Catalonia is the exception to the rule in Spain. You see more stollers and kiddos on the sidewalks of Barcelona than anywhere else in Western Europe. The main difference between Catalonia and the rest of Spain, the Catalonians hate the rest of Spain.
#10
Catalonia is the exception to the rule in Spain. You see more stollers and kiddos on the sidewalks of Barcelona than anywhere else in Western Europe. The main difference between Catalonia and the rest of Spain, the Catalonians hate the rest of Spain.
Posted by: brujotejano
Don't know anything about Catalonian fellas, but I worked with a Spanish Basque guy once. Fancy dresser, spoke English and 4 other languages. Hated communists. Interesting fella.
#15
I seem to remember reading about a fellow named Octavian who tried something similar back in the day. Bonuses for children, penalties for childless marriages, that sort of thing.
I don't think it worked.
Posted by: James ||
02/27/2017 20:12
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#16
The main difference between Catalonia and the rest of Spain, the Catalonians hate the rest of Spain.
Too bad. That's the only part of Spain I'm interested in breeding with!
[AA.TR] More than half of construction of a concrete wall along the Turkish-Syrian border was completed, said the head of The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... ’s housing agency.
Ergun Turan, the president of Turkey’s state-owned housing agency TOKI, said half of the 511 km Syrian border wall has been completed.
Turan said so far the construction of 290 km of the wall along Turkey’s border provinces of Sanliurfa, Gaziantep, Kilis, Hatay, Mardin and Sirnak had been finished.
"The construction works of about 221 km part are ongoing and we will complete it as soon as possible," he added.
Turkey shares a 900-kilometer (559 miles) border with Syria which has been embroiled in a civil war since 2011.
The construction is undergoing in cooperation of TOKI and the ministries of defense and finance.
The Turkish Armed Forces are boosting security on the Turkish side by putting up the concrete walls, and on the Syrian side with coalition air forces, through Operation Euphrates Shield, which began on Aug. 24 last year. The operation aims to provide security, support U.S.-led coalition forces and eliminate the terrorist presence along Syria’s northern border with Turkey.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2017
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#1
Where is the international outrage? Did the wall cost 100 billion dollars. I need to go to my safe place.
Posted by: chris ||
02/27/2017 5:10
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What odds the concrete mix isn't close to international standards?
[AA.TR] The nation saying Yes to the April 26 referendum on constitutional changes will end all kinds of terrorism in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Sunday.
"With the new constitution, Turkey will be cleared of FETO, the PKK, as well as the ISIS terror group," Yildirim told a Yes rally, referring to the FETO terror group, blamed for last July’s defeated coup; the PKK, which has killed over 1,100 people since July 2015; and ISIS, currently active in Syria and responsible for numerous attacks in Turkey.
"Turkey will get rid of living with terrorism. It will have a clear view of its future," he added.
Yildirim, speaking in the Kahramankazan district of the capital Ankara -- where nine citizens were martyred during FETO’s coup attempt -- argued that approving the referendum will bring peace and stability and strengthen Turkey and also provide a bright future to its people.
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02/27/2017
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[AA.TR] Turkish President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... met the leader of Iraq’s Kurdish region Sunday in Istanbul.
The one-hour closed meeting between Erdogan and Masoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish Regional Government, took place in Mabeyn Palace on the European side.
Economic ties and saving djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... from ISIS terror group were the main topics, according to Barzani’s office.
On Wednesday, Erdogan’s front man Ibrahim Kalin said about the meeting: "We have a lot to talk about.
"Iraq is important for us in all terms -- economically, in terms of border security and in humanitarian and cultural terms," he said.
Ankara has taken an active role in the international fight against ISIS in both Iraq and Syria. Turkish troops provide training to local fighters in Bashiqa, northeast of Mosul.
In Syria, the Turkish military announced Friday that the ongoing Operation Euphrates Shield has resulted in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... -backed Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... wresting control of al-Bab -- 30 kilometers south of Turkey-Syria border -- from ISIS.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2017
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least forty two civilians were rescued from the captivity of the loyalists of Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group 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.
According to the local security officials, the civilians were kidnapped from the vicinity of Pacher Agam district around four months ago.
The officials further added that the civilians were rescued due to the efforts of the local government and security officials.
Provincial security chief General Syed Aqa Gul Rohani condemned the act by the loyalists of the terror group for taking ordinary civilians as hostages.
He said the Afghan forces are fully capable to confront ISIS loyalists and vowed that Nangarhar will be turned into their graveyard.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2017
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Amid deteriorating relations between Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... and Islamabad, the government of Pakistain eyes to create a joint mechanism, involving military, intelligence, and political cooperation to jointly fight terrorism.
Pakistain’s foreign affairs adviser Sartaj PrunefaceAziz ...Adviser to Pak Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on National Security and Foreign Affairs, who believes in good jihadis and bad jihadis as a matter of national policy... informed regarding the talks during a presser in Islamabad on Saturday.
He said Islamabad has sent its proposals to Kabul for the joint mechanism and further talks are expected on the sidelines of Regional Economic Cooperation Conference.
Aziz further added that both Kabul and Islamabad have agreed to the notion that terrorism a common enemy and an agreement has been reached for joint cooperation to deal with the issue.
According to the local media reports, the two sides have quietly started working on a proposal, which envisages engagement at multiple levels -- military, intelligence, and political.
This comes as tensions further intensified between the two nations following a series of deadly attacks across Pakistain in the past three weeks.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2017
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#1
the government of Pakistain eyes to create a joint mechanism, involving military, intelligence, and political cooperation to jointly fight terrorism
Which has pretty much been Pakistan's objective - not to fight terrorism, but to gain 'cooperation'.
As Iraqi forces continue their advance towards key Isis-defended districts in west Mosul, attention is turning to what northern Iraq will look like once the jihadi group is routed. Ministers from the Kurdistan regional government (KRG) believe that one option might be offering to Baghdad land their peshmerga forces have recaptured from Isis in return for self-rule, the pinnacle of Kurdish ambition for decades.
Oh, that's going to twist some turbans in Ankara...
Speaking from his office in the Iraqi Kurdistan capital of Erbil, foreign minister Falah Mustafa said that, although the Mosul alliance of Iraqi and peshmerga troops was on course to quash Isis in Iraq’s second city, the time had arrived for Kurdistan to move forward by itself.
“It’s important that the right to self-determination is put on the table – we need to put an end to this unhealthy relationship [with Baghdad]. We are neither fully integrated into Iraq, nor are we fully independent and sovereign.
#2
Kurds should try to get as many Turkish Kurds as possible to resettle in Kurdish Iraq. If you drain enough out of Turkey the Turkish opposition *might* diminish. Even if it doesn't it means a larger military force.
#4
(1) Better to have all Kurds together in one location where they can have strength rather than be picked apart as seperate groups in Iraq/Syria/Turkey. (2) Turks are likely to go Armenian on them before Kurds can become the majority population due to birthrates.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A shadow provincial governor of the Taliban group was killed along with at least 20 others during the counter-terrorism operations, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said Sunday.
According to a statement by MoD, at least twenty three holy warriors were also maimed during the same operations.
The statement further added that the operations were conducted in the past 24 hours in 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.. , Kapisa, Paktia, Ghazni, Pashtun-infested Logar, Khost, Bamyan, Uruzgan, Zabul, Baghlan, and Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... provinces.
The Taliban shadow governor killed during the operations was in charge of the group for southern Uruzgan province, MoD said, adding that he was identified as Sheikh Hamza.
The ministry also confirmed the death of a top Taliban leader Haji Abdullah whose elimination as confirmed by the provincial government in Bamyan.
According to MoD, the operations were jointly conducted by the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) in coordination with the Afghan Air Force and the artillery units of the Afghan national army.
This comes as the Afghan cops are busy conducting their counter-terrorism operations as part of the Shahfaq-2 military operations being conducted to suppress the insurgency activities of the krazed killer groups.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2017
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#1
When a "Shadow Governor™" gets killed, does that make him a "Smudge"?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/27/2017 8:49
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Pak Ambassador to Afghanistan was summoned in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan regarding the persistent artillery shelling in eastern provinces of Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said Ambassador Syed Abrar Hussain was summoned and a protest was lodged by deputy foreign minister for administrative affair Dr. Nasir Ahmad Andisha.
Dr. Andisha strongly condemned the artillery shelling on Sarkano district of Kunar and Goshta district of 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.. which resulted into blaze in a jungle in Shangari area of Sarkano.
He sought clarifications from the Pak envoy regarding the shelling that resulted into displacement of hundreds of people.
Another protest was also lodged regarding the military activities across the Durand Line and the harassment of Afghans by the Pak authorities, calling for an immediate release of the detained Afghans in Pakistain.
In his turn, Ambassador Hussain said the recent military activities along Durand Line were aimed at curbing the bully boyz activities and vowed to forward the concerns of the Afghan government to the relevant authorities in Pakistain.
This comes as the local officials in Kunar said Sunday that the artillery shelling resumed late on Saturday days after it was halted.
The officials further added that the shelling has not resulted into casualties of the local residents but hundreds of people were forced to flee their homes.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2017
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[Iraq News] Six members of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... ’s so-called "Diyala State" were killed Sunday in a blast and Arclight airstrikes in Kirkuk and Salahuddin.
Three big shots from the Islamic State were killed in Arclight airstrikes that targeted their location at the outskirts of Hawija, a group stronghold in southwestern Kirkuk.
In statements quoted by Alsumaria News, Sadeq al-Husseini, chairman of Diyala security committee, said one of those killed was the group’s media official in the province.
Also in Diyala, Udai al-Khadran, mayor of the town of Khales, said three other Islamic State members died while a booby-trapped ambush they were trying to set up in Mutaibija went kaboom!.
Mutaibija lies between Diyala and Salahuddin, and has proven to be a security concern having witnessed several deadly attacks against security members.
According to Khadran, IS members have worked on booby-trapping Mutaibija roads to stymie any advances by security troops.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2017
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[Iraq News] A local source in Nineveh Province revealed that the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group closed its last main headquarters in central Tal Afar, west of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , while pointed out that the group besieged a residential neighborhood in the district after the escape of three prisoners, Alsumaria News reported on Sunday.
The source said in a press statement, "The Islamic State group closed its last main headquarters, known as the black building, in the center of Tal Afar District, west of Mosul," pointing out that, "The headquarters was opened after the turban group took over the district in 2014."
"The Islamic State also besieged a residential neighborhood in the eastern vicinity of Tal Afar District, after the escape of three prisoners from a detention center belonging to the group," the source added on condition of anonymity.
Noteworthy, security forces continue liberating the remaining areas held by the Islamic State in the city of Mosul, after inflicting heavy human and material losses on the turban group.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2017
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[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Autopsy results on Kim Jong-Nam suggest he was killed by "very serious paralysis" due to a lethal nerve agent, Malaysia’s health minister said Sunday, as the airport terminal where he was assassinated was given the all-clear.
The estranged half-brother of the North Korean leader would have died "in a very short period of time", Health Minister S. Subramaniam added.
Malaysia revealed Friday that the 45-year-old victim was killed with the VX nerve agent, which is so deadly it is listed by the UN as a weapon of mass destruction.
Police are holding two women suspected of staging the attack as well as a North Korean man.
They want to speak to seven other North Koreans including a senior embassy official, but four of the suspects fled Malaysia on the day of the murder.
The two women can be seen shoving something into Kim’s face in leaked CCTV airport footage of the February 13 attack. He later suffered a seizure and was dead before he reached hospital.
Nerve agents prevent the proper operation of an enzyme that acts as the body’s "off switch" for glands and muscles.
Without that switch, glands and muscles are constantly being stimulated, eventually tire and become unable to sustain breathing.
Subramaniam told news hounds the cause of death was now "more or less confirmed".
The scene of the killing, the budget terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport, was swept by civil defense personnel in hazmat suits overnight before being declared safe.
Police sealed off large areas of the Terminal Two departures hall as a few curious onlookers watched.
"The police cordon was at three areas -- the scene of the attack, the bathroom where the two female suspects washed their hands and pathway leading to the airport clinic -- (and) has been taken down," a police front man said.
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#1
Post Superbowl LI Roman numeration I see VX and read a transliterated 5.
#3
From the description of the actions of the two women, it seems that these nerve agents might have been binary agents. Yup, serious paralysis like being permanently comatose or "tits up."
#6
On asking around, I am informed that the binary agents for VX are QL precursor and a generic sulfur containing compound. The person that applies the second agent to the mix has at most a couple of seconds to clear.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/27/2017 17:40
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[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has decided to run for re-election in May, the vice-president for parliamentary affairs said on Sunday, according to state news agency IRNA.
"In recent weeks, Mr Rouhani has reached a conclusion to take part in the presidential elections," Hosseinali Amiri told news hounds.
Rouhani, 68, has been widely expected to run for a second term but has yet to formally announce his candidature for the May 19 election. He remains popular for stabilizing the economy and ending sanctions through a nuclear deal with world powers.
The conservative camp has so far failed to settle on an obvious challenger to Rouhani, who sits atop a relatively unified coalition of moderates and reformists.
There is no such thing as 'reform' and 'conservative' in Iran; there are only those who are in-favor and out-of-favor with the leading ayatollahs...
Meanwhile, ...back at the comedy club, Boogie ducked another tomato... the only person to throw their hat in the ring has been Hamid Baghaie, a former deputy to former president Mahmud Ahmadinejad who ruled between 2005 and 2013 but fell out of favor with conservatives. Baghaie said he was running as an independent.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2017
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[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] The Taliban’s leader called on Afghans to plant trees as Spring approaches in a rare public statement Sunday that comes amid fears of another bloody fighting season.
Haibatullah Akhundzada ...Deputy to Taliban supremo Mullah Akhtar Mansour... , who became head of the Taliban after his predecessor was killed in a US dronezap in Pakistain last May, urged for more tree planting in a message on the group’s website.
Spring traditionally marks the start of the fighting season for the myrmidons, so called their annual "Spring offensive", in which the Taliban launches a major campaign of attacks across the country.
Akhundzada said trees played "an important role in environmental protection, economic development and beautification of earth".
"The Mujahideen and beloved countrymen must join hands in tree plantation and not hold back any effort in this regard," he added.
Sediq Sediqqi, the interior ministry front man, responded by saying the Taliban should stop planting bombs instead.
"They should stop planting IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) that are killing so many innocent Afghans including children and women daily", he said on his Twitter account.
Afghan civilian casualties in 2016 were the highest recorded by the UN, with nearly 11,500 non-combatants killed or maimed.
More than 3,500 children were among the victims, a "disproportionate" increase of 24 percent in one year, the UN said in a recent report.
Afghanistan last year also saw the highest recorded civilian casualties caused by pressure-plate IEDs in a single year, according to the world body.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2017
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#1
Trees versus poppies? Poppies are more profitable.
[DAWN] KARACHI: A suspect was rubbed out in an ’encounter’ in the early hours of Saturday in Sohrab Goth police limits, according to officials.
They said that the incident occurred during random spot checking of vehicles, when the police indicated to motorcyclists to stop for identification in Chutta Gabol Goth. However, ars longa, vita brevis... they opened fire on the police and attempted to flee. In an ensuing exchange of gunfire, one suspect was killed while his accomplice managed to escape, the officials said.
The dear departed was identified as Zar Jan, the police added.
They claimed to have seized one pistol and a cycle of violence without number plate from his custody.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2017
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[DAWN] MUZAFFARABAD: Around 80 kilograms of explosive material was seized by police during a raid in Bagh district of Azad Jammu and Kashmire on Saturday.
The raid was conducted on a tip-off on a rented house in Nomanpura village where three persons, belonging to Malakand Agency in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... , were residing, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Bagh Kamran Ali told Dawn.
The police locked away Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! Raees Gul and Moslem Khan while the third suspect, Abdullah Khan, managed to escape.
The SSP said 52 kilograms of kaboom was in "ready condition" while the rest was in raw form.
"As of now, it’s premature to confirm whether the haul was stashed for any terrorist activity. The exact situation will become clarify once the investigation is complete," he said. The suspects were booked under Section 5 of the Explosives Act and Section 15 of the Arms Ordinance and they would be presented in court on Monday.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2017
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[DAWN] A VERY valid question is circulating inside the National Assembly, thanks to the efforts of Asad Umar of the PTI: can the government tell us how much money has been sent abroad from Pakistain for the purpose of buying property in Dubai or in the rest of the United Arab Emirates in the recent past? Unfortunately, in this country, the whole scheme of sending and receiving foreign exchange is rigged in such a way as to make it impossible to find an answer. There is a good reason why this is important. For a number of years now, we have been hearing about billions of dollars worth of investment in Dubai real estate by Paks. The latest release of data may show a large decline, but the amount is still just below $1bn in the year 2016, down from $2.1bn in the preceding year. In total, the data from the Dubai Land Department indicates that $7.73bn have been invested by Paks in Dubai real estate since 2013.
There are grounds to be careful with this data though. First of all, it includes investments by those non-resident Paks who are living and earning abroad. Second, it includes perfectly legitimate investments, not necessarily made from so-called black money or other ill-gotten proceeds. It would be a mistake to assume that the full reported amount of $7.73bn necessarily presents a problem. But in order to know the extent of the challenge these investments may pose, we need a simple reporting template that can tell us how much has been sent from here.
And that is where the problem comes in. The State Bank governor recently told a National Assembly standing committee that his institution has not granted any permission for outward remittances for investment in Dubai real estate. According to the Foreign Exchange Manual, any investment made abroad that exceeds $5m requires cabinet approval, and any investment made abroad in amounts less than that, through the interbank market, requires State Bank approval. But the way the system is set up, one can simply send an outward remittance without declaring that it is for investment purposes, and under the prevailing law no questions can be asked. The only way this could come to the attention of the state is if the person involved decides to declare the assets acquired in his or her wealth declaration at home, in order to keep the money white. For those who have no intention of ever declaring their assets, the hawala system provides an easy route to send the money with no questions asked. It is a marvel to note that our foreign exchange scheme is set up in a way that we can never even know the amount that is going from the country into real-estate investments abroad, let alone do anything to regulate or tax the enterprise.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2017
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[DAWN] Interior Minister Chaudry Nisar Ali Khan on Saturday said that he is not in the habit of criticising other members of the government, but had to break his silence after the federal government was criticised for the lack of security at Lal Shahbaz Qalandar's shrine.
"'Was security at the shrine the federal government's responsibility, or was it provincial's'? I asked, after our department was blamed for the lapse," he said, narrating the incident.
"At the briefing after the Sehwan blast, I had to raise the question and ask them why there was not enough security to begin with. Why were the walk-through gates not working, and why was the power supply cut at the shrine? They had no answers to these questions," he added.
Talking about lapses on provincial governments' part, due to which several terrorist bids were allegedly not foiled in time, Nisar said: "There have been numerous times that our department has had intelligence about certain attacks and we informed the provincial governments to take measures to prevent those attacks, but they did not act on our tips."
"When those attacks that we had told them about were carried out, they shamelessly raised fingers at the interior ministry for not doing its job," he added.
Nonetheless, Nisar added that: "I have lived by two personal rules during my term as the Interior Minister: To not take credit for any win that comes our way, rather, share it with all departments; and to not criticise anyone for any lapses."
Posted by: Fred ||
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Two years on, police are still to submit the chargesheet in the murder of writer-blogger Avijit Roy. Investigators say they were waiting to arrest the five, who were involved in the assassination of the Bangladeshi American writer, who founded the blog ‘Muktomona’ (free thinkers).
It's too bad the perps were lefties in some way. The RAB would have dealt with this long before today...
Roy and his wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya were attacked on the night of Feb 26, 2015 on the Dhaka University Campus. Machete-wielding men attacked the couple as they came out from the Ekushey Book Fair. Avijit suffered a deep gash on his head and died while Bonya survived but lost a finger in the assault.
Islamist zealots had been threatening Avijit, a bioengineer and a naturalised US citizen, for his active campaign against Islamist radicals, for quite some time.
His father Ajay Roy, a well-known physicist who has taught at the Dhaka University for a long time, started a police case over the incident.
A bioengineer and a naturalised US citizen, Avijit Roy founded the the blog ‘Muktomona’ (free thinkers). A bioengineer and a naturalised US citizen, Avijit Roy founded the the blog ‘Muktomona’ (free thinkers). The couple was attacked at the TSC intersection on the Dhaka University campus. The couple was attacked at the TSC intersection on the Dhaka University campus. In the last two years, the Detective Branch (DB) pleaded 15 times to the court for extending the deadline to submit the probe report.
Police say they are now clear about the motive and that they have identified the perpetrators.
A senior police officer, who is supervising the probe, said they are conducting raids to nab the five assailants.
Maybe you should send the RAB...
"So far, eight persons have been arrested over the killing," said DB Deputy Commissioner Md Mashruqur Rahman Khaled.
Since the killing of Avijit, several others, including online activists, writers, publishers, members from the minority communities have been attacked or killed in similar fashion by machete-wielding attackers, targeting the head to ensure immediate death.
You get more of what you encourage...
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/27/2017
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[Update.PH] Two members of the Maute terrorist group were killed and one was arrested after a carjacking attempt in Iligan City, on Saturday. Military spokesman Edgard Arevalo said, "This is a manifestation of the AFP’s resolve in defeating the terrorist groups operating in Central Mindanao. We are determined to crush the membership of this group including their leaders who continue struggling to get the affirmation from ISIS of their actions."
The Maute militants flagged down and forcibly drove away a pick-up truck owned by a businessman in Ubaldo, Iligan City. Philippine National Police Special Action Force troopers chased the vehicle and intercepted it, resulting in the arrest of Maute member Eyeman Alonto.
The military spokesman said, "Meanwhile, the Ford Ranger which was driven towards the opposite direction by the group was intercepted along the boundary of Iligan and Tagoloan, Lanao del Norte by troops of the CAA patrol base. A shoot-out transpired after the suspects fired at the government forces who were on checkpoint and blocking positions. As a result, the enemy incurred two casualties who were later identified as Azzam Ampua Tahir and a certain Wowie, both members of the Maute group."
Never trust a certain Wowie.
Posted by: ryuge ||
02/27/2017
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[Bangkok Post] Seven armed rebels in military-style uniforms on Saturday night raided the office of a local administrative office in Tak Bai district, tied up three employees, then set fire to the building and an emergency rescue vehicle before fleeing with a pick-up truck. The building and the emergency rescue vehicle were damaged.
The janitor said that when he returned to the office to be on night duty at about 9:30 p.m., he saw seven armed men in military-style uniforms waiting at the entrance gate and waving at him. Believing they were soldiers, he stopped his motorcycle, only to be held up at gunpoint.
About ten minutes later, two members of the TAO's rescue team also arrived. They were held up and forced to walk along with the janitor in front of a water pump building. All of them were tied up with nylon rope and blindfolded. The raiders then set fire to several parts of the office and the emergency rescue vehicle before fleeing with a pick-up truck.
About an hour afterwards, the janitor managed to free himself and the two other men. He then reported the incident to someone who called the police to set up security checkpoints to intercept the stolen vehicle for fear that it could be later turned into a car bomb, but they found no trace of it.
The police found this morning that the rebels had brought chairs and desks to the reception hall of the TAO office, piled them up and set them on fire. The fire damaged the wall and the ceiling. A storeroom on the second floor of the building was also set ablaze.
On Sunday morning, the pick-up truck stolen from the TAO office was found abandoned near a ranger outpost in Sungai Padi district. Rangers who examined the vehicle found that a home-made bomb had been installed in it.
The bomb was connected to two gas cylinders and a power circuit. A bomb disposal unit was called. After using a robot to open the truck doors and disconnect the power circuit, the unit removed both gas cylinders from the vehicle. Four cans of gasoline left on the back seat were also removed.
Police believed that after stealing the pick-up truck, the rebels installed the bomb and drove it from Tak Bai to Sungai Padi district, possibly with an aim to use it in a violent attack in Sungai Kolok. But, on seeing the rangers' security checkpoint, the militants decided to abandon the vehicle and fled.
The organization that fervently opposes checking IDs to vote in election did just that on Saturday during its election for party chairman.
The Democratic National Committee was planning to use electronic "clickers" to cast ballots for its next leader, but that plan was scrapped moments before the vote was scheduled to begin.
"Pursuant to the rules of procedure, the chair has the discretion as to the voting mechanism," chairwoman Donna Brazile said.
"And it’s my determination, based on the system that we tested this morning, that I would like to use paper ballots. And I’ll tell you why.
"We have to make sure that we can not just count the ballots but verify every name and signature," Brazile said as party members began applauding. "And I want to make sure that at the conclusion of all of our votes, that you, the members of this party, will be able to review those ballots."
It’s not clear why Brazile came to this conclusion moments only before the vote.
Regardless, it’s remarkably the party that shouts "racism!" when Americans want to have voter ID would go the extra step of verifying signatures in its election.
A family is in grief and wants answers. I understand the anger. We can talk about the raid and what went wrong, but let's never forget that defending our country has a terrible price for a few of our people.
When they brought William “Ryan” Owens home, the Navy SEAL was carried from a C-17 military plane in a flag-draped casket, onto the tarmac at Dover Air Force Base, as President Donald Trump, his daughter, Ivanka, and Owens’ family paid their respects. It was a private transfer, as the family had requested. No media and no bystanders, except for some military dignitaries.
Owens’ father, Bill, had learned only a short time before the ceremony that Trump was coming. Owens was sitting with his wife, Marie, and other family members in the solemn, living room-like space where the loved ones of the fallen assemble before they are taken to the flight line.
“I’m sorry, I don’t want to see him,’’ Owens recalled telling the chaplain who informed him that Trump was on his way from Washington. “I told them I don’t want to meet the President.”
It had been little more than 24 hours since six officers in dress uniform knocked on the door to Owens’ home in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. It was not yet daylight when he answered the door, already knowing in the pit of his stomach what they had come to tell him.
Now, Owens cringed at the thought of having to shake the hand of the president who approved the raid in Yemen that claimed his son’s life — an operation that he and others are now calling into question.
“I told them I didn’t want to make a scene about it, but my conscience wouldn’t let me talk to him,” Owens said Friday, speaking out for the first time in an interview with the Miami Herald.
Owens, also a military veteran, was troubled by Trump’s harsh treatment of a Gold Star family during his presidential campaign. Now Owens was a Gold Star parent, and he said he had deep reservations about the way the decision was made to launch what would be his son’s last mission.
Ryan and as many as 29 civilians were killed Jan. 28 in the anti-terrorism mission in Yemen. What was intended as a lightning raid to grab cellphones, laptops and other information about terrorists turned into a nearly hour-long firefight in which “everything went wrong,” according to U.S. military officials who spoke to the New York Times.
Bill Owens said he was assured that his son, who was shot, was killed early in the fight. It was the first military counter-terrorist operation approved by the new president, who signed the go-ahead Jan. 26 — six days into his term.
“Why at this time did there have to be this stupid mission when it wasn’t even barely a week into his administration? Why? For two years prior, there were no boots on the ground in Yemen — everything was missiles and drones — because there was not a target worth one American life. Now, all of a sudden we had to make this grand display?’’
In a statement from the White House Saturday, spokesman Michael C. Short called Ryan Owens “an American hero who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of his country.”
The White House did not address his father’s criticisms, but pointed out that the Department of Defense routinely conducts a review of missions that result in loss of life.
Bill Owens and his wife sat in another room as the President paid his respects to other family members. He declined to say what family members were at the ceremony.
Trump administration officials have called the mission a success, saying they had seized important intelligence information. They have also criticized detractors of the raid, saying those who question its success dishonor Ryan Owens’ memory.
His father, however, believes just the opposite.
“Don’t hide behind my son’s death to prevent an investigation,” said the elder Owens, pointing to Trump’s sharp words directed at the mission’s critics, including Sen. John McCain.
“I want an investigation. … The government owes my son an investigation,” he said.
Much, much, more at the link.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/27/2017
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#1
Typical of the media to give a megaphone to Gold Star parents who are critical of a GOP president, while denying same to Gold Star parents who were critical of Obama. It's good to own the megaphone.
#6
Almost all missions go tits up in the beginning. You train for the fact that Mr. Murphy will be there trying to fuck you every way he can. Our troops are good because they can adapt and still complete the mission when Plan A, B, C and D go all to hell.
It is always good to have a AAR (After Action Review) to dissect what went wrong, but unless their is gross incompetence you never blame anyone.
This is more of a media witch hunt to try to further discredit Trump. There were raids that got US soldiers killed under Obumble and there wasn't one goddamn peep about it from the MSM.
#7
I just don't understand why this guy is blasting away at Trump...the mission was developed under the sheep in sheep's clothing president and went FUBAR as soon as their skids hit the ground.
Its been in the media several times that the mission was compromised and this guy blames Trump?
Well, looking at it this way, he's grieving and he's hurt and he's still in the denial/anger phase of the process. He is lashing out just because he can't do anything else...we should pray for him and his family and we should pray for the SEAL's immortal soul.
#10
Mr. Owens is being stress-pumped by every interviewer and any/every response is distorted at 'print' time. This increases the sticky-ad view frequency and click interval.
#11
White House said today there will be an investigation. If there was a tip off, this will add gravity to the cause of finding those who are leaking to undermine the White House.
[Iraq News] Iraqi security forces recaptured on Sunday two major districts in western djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... from Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... fighters, both near the city’s airport which the troops conquered a few days earlier.
Sky News Arabia quoted Haider al-Maturi, an Iraqi army commandos chief, as saying that the forces invaded al-Tayaran. He said the forces detonated nine booby-trapped cars planted by IS myrmidons, but a tenth vehicle went kaboom!, killing two police members.
Meanwhile, ...back at the game, the Babe was wondering why the baseball kept getting bigger and bigger. Finally it hit him... Abdul-Amir Yarallah, commander of the Joint Operations Command’s operations in Nineveh, said in statements that troops also retook al-Maamoun district, with the forces arresting several bandidosforces of Evil of diverse nationalities.
Iraqi police forces also said Sunday they had killed three snipers from the Islamic State group in southern Mosul, and took control over the Baghdad-Mosul road.
Bas News quoted Cap. Karim Gamal, from the Iraqi Federal Police service, saying that the force killed three IS snipers, including a Russian national, at Wadi Hajar region, south of Mosul. The troops also ran into a weapons stashes in the area.
Meanwhile, ...back at the game, the Babe was wondering why the baseball kept getting bigger and bigger. Finally it hit him... Aziz al-Aaraji, a colonel at the Federal Police, said the forces also took over the southern road linking Baghdad with Mosul. He said the takeover followed encounters with IS bandidosforces of Evil which left 20 bully boyz dead. He added that seven others were incarcerated Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! while attempting to escape the area after police captured it.
Regarding the situation with refugees fleeing battles in Mosul, the Migration and Displacement Ministry said Sunday that 2380 people fled western Mosul in 24 hours.
Aaraji said security forces had invaded al-Mansour area in southern Mosul, and had opened safe exit routes for civilians fleeing southwards from IS-held areas.
Iraqi government forces pushed deeper into western Mosul until late Saturday, announcing the recapture of the Mosul Airport and the nearby Ghizlani military camp, with several senior IS commanders announced dead. They pushed further to announce later the takeover of al-Tayaran and Maamoun districts near the airport.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2017
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After approving plans on Friday for informal talks in New York between a North Korean delegation and former American officials, the Trump administration reversed course hours later, withdrawing approval for the North Koreans’ visas, two people who were to take part in the planned talks said.
The schedule called for the two sides to meet in early March, and arrangements were underway for the six-member North Korean group, led by Choe Son-hui, who runs the American affairs bureau of the North’s Foreign Ministry, to travel to New York.
The organizer of the talks, the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, led by Donald S. Zagoria, was told by the State Department on Friday morning that the visas would be granted. But the decision was reversed in the afternoon when “someone overruled State,” said one person who planned to participate in the talks. Both of the people on the participants’ list spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the matter.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/27/2017
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#1
I like it! Shorten their chairs when they come back, the walk out
A militant bomber attacked a police station in the eastern Algerian city of Constantine on Sunday but was shot before he could enter the building, Reuters reported.
Another happy ending!
Officials did not immediately confirm details of the attack, but local private Ennahar TV station reported the bomb exploded and APS state news said the bomber was shot in the attack before he got inside. It was not clear if there were any injured.
"A policeman who was in front of the police station located under in a building with dozens of families, retaliated vigorously..., precisely targeting the explosive belt carried by a terrorist," APS said citing a police statement.
Interior Minister Noureddine Bedoui confirmed an attack to state television, and wished a quick recovery to the wounded without giving any details.
Attacks and bombings have become less common in Algeria since the end of the country's 1990s war against armed Islamists in which more than 200,000 people died. But al Qaeda's North Africa branch and small brigades of Islamic State-allied militants are still active, mostly in remote mountains and the desert south.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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The dose of poison given to North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un’s half-brother was so high it killed him “within 15 to 20 minutes”, Malaysia’s health minister has said. Kim Jong-nam died on 13 February at Kuala Lumpur airport from being poisoned with VX nerve agent, a banned chemical substance classified by the UN as a weapon of mass destruction.
Made by a government. What's the UN doing about it?
Subramaniam Sathasivam said on Sunday that the dose of VX given to Kim was so high it “would have affected everything”.
“VX only requires 10mg to be absorbed into the system to be lethal, so I presume that the amount of dose that went in is more than that,” he said at a news conference. “The doses were so high and it did it so fast and all over the body, so it would have affected his heart, it would have affected his lungs, it would have affected everything.”
Asked how long it took for Kim to die after he was attacked, Subramaniam said: “I would think it was about, from the time of onset, from the time of application, 15-20 minutes.”
Must have really wanted him dead...
Despite the poisoning, Malaysia has insisted the killing poses no remaining danger to the public and on Sunday declared its international airport a “safe zone” after completing a sweep of the terminal where Kim had been assaulted. The police forensic team, fire department and atomic energy licensing board swept the budget terminal of Kuala Lumpur International airport at 1 am on 26 February.
“We confirm, number one, there is no hazardous material found in KLIA2; number two, KLIA2 is free from any form of contamination of hazardous material and thirdly, KLIA2 is declared a safe zone,” Abdul Samah Mat, the police chief of Selangor state who is leading the investigation, told reporters at the airport.
Security camera footage released by Japanese broadcaster Fuji TV showed the moment two women assaulted Kim with a cloth authorities suspect was laced with the nerve agent. In later clips Kim is seen asking airport officials for medical help and rubbing his eyes and stumbling as he entered an airport clinic. Airport authorities said he complained of dizziness and died on the way to hospital.
Authorities have said there have been no anomalies in medical cases reported at the clinic since the incident. They also said medical staff at the clinic were in good health.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/27/2017
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#1
As I remember from my CBR training, VX is a contact poison that doesn't require inhalation so a rag with the chemical rubbed on the skin is a viable way to administer the stuff to an enemy.
I still think they need to do some broad spectrum blood work on the ladies to see if they have any nerve agent antidotes in their system that would be the clincher for me. The women couldn't handle the stuff without some prophylaxis being administered a few minutes before attack.
#6
I'm gonna repeat myself here...
On asking around, I am informed that the binary agents for VX are QL precursor and a generic sulfur containing compound. The person that applies the second agent to the mix has at most a couple of seconds to clear.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/27/2017 17:43
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#7
Still the ladies had to have some protection as the off gassing when they shoved the stuff in Nam's face would have put them at some risk
Likely, SPoD. Though it does seem telling (and rather cynical) that non-Koreans were used.
[DAWN] Firstly, military courts for terrorists are not the norm, but necessary for survival. In the two years they were in existence, 274 cases were referred to them by the federal government, out of which capital punishment was awarded in 161. However, in only 12 has the sentence been carried out. The rest are in various stages of appeal in civilian courts. So where is the advantage of these courts? The appellate process for civilians whose cases are referred to the military courts should also be the same as for accused in uniform. If the army can be trusted to do justice to its own ranks, it should be trusted to do justice with alleged terrorists also.
Secondly, madressahs seem to be increasing faster in our rural areas than regular schools, as exemplified by the situation in traditionally moderate Sindh, in particular the recent attack on Lal Shahbaz Qalandar’s shrine in Sehwan. Boarding house education, the hallmark of our madressahs, is far more effective in impacting a child’s personality and brainwashing him, than day schools. The child is deprived of his family’s values and ethos while interacting with those of the management overseeing his madressah. He leaves his home at a tender age, sometimes as young as four years. Why do you think a sophisticated society like England bases its elite education on boarding house schools like Harrow and Eton?
A law should, therefore, be introduced where an NOC is required to operate any form of boarding school. This would obviously not be madressah specific but apply to ordinary schools like ‘cadet colleges’ too. There would be no restriction on day madressahs where children of the locality study.
Thirdly, unless the ownership of this war against terrorism is taken to the basic policing unit, ie the police station, it will be no more than rhetoric. The police station is the level that has effective command. It also used to have intimate knowledge of all those living within its jurisdiction, but this institution has become ineffective because of population growth and increased crime. Not only must the number of police stations be increased but more training for upgrading manpower and resources provided to them everywhere.
Currently, the interior ministry specifically, and the centre generally, are blamed for their inability to control terrorism. The fact is that they have no say in actual operations. They are dependent on the political priorities of the respective provincial governments. Also, the local station house officer is not interested in confronting terrorists/facilitators in his jurisdiction as long as they do not indulge in local crime, which they usually do not.
There may be a number of long-term solutions but one step that could be taken is to have a representative of the ministry of interior/Nacta, perhaps of inspector level, in uniform, placed in every police station, specifically assigned the task of keeping a watch on terrorists and their facilitators (counterterrorism) and ensuring that local police implements the interior ministry’s policy on terrorism in letter and spirit. Implementation of this proposal would entail problems of coordination, cadre rivalry and resources but a solution will have to be found to contain this hydra-headed monster.
We will have to think out of the box to prevent being overwhelmed by the extremists.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2017
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#1
pakistan needs to have its nukes removed
then it needs to be cut off from the modern world along with afghanistan and saudi arabia
buy nothing from them, take no migrants, sell them no technology, deny entry to their students
let them regress back to the bronze age with their korans until they socially evolve
and kick islam out of politics
then they can do business with us
and meanwhile support india.
that's the only road left
there are no secular solutions possible now for pakistan although brave people are trying
you just have to let them sort it out themselves which means they want to immerse themselves in religitard? let them until they get sick of it
[Iraq News] Bomb blasts in southern Baghdad left one police agent and one civilian dead on Sunday, according to security sources quoted by news reports.
One casual police member was killed when a bomb fitted beneath his vehicle went kaboom! as he passed through al-Resala neighborhood in Abu Gharib, south of the capital, according to security sources.
Also on southern Baghdad, a civilian was killed and four others were maimed when bomb went kaboom! near a popular market in Suweib neighborhood.
Violence surged in Iraq with the emergence of Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... Death Eaters who took over large areas of the country in 2014. Baghdad has been witnessing almost daily bombings targeting civilians and security personnel.
Nobody has grabbed credit yet for the bombings, but IS Death Eaters have said they had been responsible for several bloody kabooms and attacks that hit the capital in the past months, bringing the governorate municipal and security officials under critics’ fire.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2017
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Dozens of headstones at a Jewish cemetery in the Wissinoming section of Philadelphia have been broken and overturned. The Philadelphia police say this was an act of vandalism at the Mt. Carmel Cemetery on the corner of Frankford and Cheltenham avenues.
Aaron Mallin of North Jersey made the disturbing discovery Sunday when he came to visit his father's grave.
"It's just very disheartening that such a thing would take place," Mallin said. He says he knows this doesn't look good, but is hoping that somehow this wasn't an anti-Semitic attack.
"I'm hoping it was maybe just some drunk kids. But the fact that there's so many, it leads one to think it could have been targeted," Mallin said.
The damage is widespread all across the cemetery with dozens, perhaps hundreds, of headstones affected.
Mallin just doesn't understand how someone could do this. "It's just very heartbreaking," Mallin said.
Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon released a statement on Twitter saying, "#Philadelphia Jewish cemetery desecration is shocking and a source of worry . Full confidence #US authorities catch and punish culprits."
The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia tells Action News they will be opening a mailbox at jewishphilly.org later Sunday to begin raising money to help speed up the repairs of the cemetery.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/27/2017
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#1
...is hoping that somehow this wasn't an anti-Semitic attack
Unknown gunmen have shot and killed a senior official working at the office of Somali Parliament speaker office in Mogadishu on Sunday morning.
The officer who was identified as Abdulkadir Mursal Salad was killed by two men armed with pistols near his house in Dharkenley district while he was heading to his workplace. Salad died on the spot
"Which spot?"
"THAT spot!"
after he was shot on the head and chest several times by the gunmen, who later escaped the scene before police arrived and launched an investigation.
Almost as if they were never there, or were Officers Muldoon and Clancy down at the pub rather than guarding their man?
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the murder of the staffer worked for the speaker’s office, but the local officials blamed Al shabaab for the assassination.
Easy claim to make, right or wrong...
Salad has served as a member of Somalia’s former transitional Parliament elected in Djibouti from 2000 to 2004. In the last few years, he was working at the office of the speaker.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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[FoxNews] President Trump's nominee to be secretary of the Navy said Sunday that he was withdrawing from consideration for the post.
In a statement released by the Pentagon, Philip Bilden he determined that he would not be able to satisfy the Office of Government Ethics requirements without what he called "undue disruption and materially adverse divestment of my family's private financial interests."
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said in a statement that he would make a recommendation to Trump for a nominee in the coming days.
"While I am disappointed, I understand and his respect his decision," Mattis said, "and know that he will continue to support our nation in other ways."
Rumors of Bilden's withdrawal had been widely reported in recent days, but were denied by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. The Pentagon also issued a statement Feb. 19 saying that Bilden had assured Mattis he remained committed to serving as Navy secretary if confirmed by the Senate and that Mattis was confident Bilden was "the right leader" to rebuild the Navy and Marine Corps.
Bilden was an intelligence officer in the Army Reserve from 1986-1996. He relocated to Hong Kong to set up an Asian presence for HarbourVest Partners LLC, a global private equity management firm. Bilden recently retired from HarbourVest Partners after 25 years.
Bilden's withdrawal raises similar issues to that of Vincent Viola, Trump's nominee for Army secretary who stepped aside earlier this month.
Viola cited his inability to successfully navigate the confirmation process and Defense Department rules concerning family businesses.
A military veteran and former Airborne Ranger infantry officer, he was also the founder of several businesses, including the electronic trading firm Virtu Financial. He also owns the National Hockey League's Florida Panthers and is a past chairman of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
#1
...I have long held that given the thoroughly whacked-out rules and regs currently in place, just about anything one does - if not strictly, by-the-book illegal, can certainly be spun that way. And I think that's what happened with Bilden and Viola: a court of law wouldn't have found them guilty of anything, but the Dem/Media kangaroo courts would have, and they just didn't feel like putting up with it.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/27/2017 5:07
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Turkish security forces killed ten PKK terrorists and captured two others on Saturday in an ongoing anti-terror operation in eastern Bitlis province, according to the local governor, Anadolu reported.
A statement released from the Bitlis Governor's Office said that one PKK shelter, eight AK-47s, several weapons, four improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and several documents were also seized during the field search carried out by Bitlis Gendarmerie Regional Command.
The anti-terror operation continues in the region.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/27/2017
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[Iraq News] Iraqi paramilitary forces pounded Sunday a gathering of Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... snuffies in western djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... before carrying out an attack against the forces.
Al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units) said through its media outlet that the force bombarded a gathering of IS fighters west of al Jahaf village, saying they were planning an attack against PMU troops
The announcement comes hours after al-Hashd said they had recaptured eight villages (40 Kilometers of land) near the strategic town of Tal Afar, a major Islamic State stronghold where PMU operations have been concentrated since the launch of operations to liberate Mosul in October.
Iraqi government forces pushed deeper into western Mosul until late Saturday, announcing the recapture of the Mosul Airport and the nearby Ghizlani military camp, with several senior IS commanders announced dead.
Iraqi forces recaptured eastern Mosul late January after three months of fighting, and are carrying on with U.S.-led coalition-backed operations to retake the west since last Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2017
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#1
PMU= Powerful
Men
Urinating - it was amazing I was there when the shit went down like when the Jews marched around the walls with their horns shit just collapsed!
[DAWN] PESHAWAR: "A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is only a statistic," said former Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin when a senior officer briefed him about famine in Ukraine.
Stalin’s words are correct in the context of prevailing scenario in Pakistain. Our society is currently passing through the same situation. The reason is that multitude of deaths by militancy in the decade has left us so senseless that we have lost the count and more deaths in terrorist acts only add up to the figure.
Bodies are buried; the government immediately comes up with announcements of compensation for the victims’ heirs, and the people heave a sigh of relief until another mishap occurs.
Continued on Page 49
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[Daily Mail] American explorer George Kennan, from Ohio, collected hundreds of cartes de visites from across Russia. These fascinating portraits showcase the diversity of those living in the Russian Empire during 1870s and 1880s. The intriguing images, were captured by the American explorer George Kennan as he travelled around Siberia.
In 1864, he secured employment with the Russian–American Telegraph Company to survey a route for a proposed overland telegraph line through Siberia and across the Bering Strait.
During 1870, he returned to St. Petersburg and travelled to Dagestan, in the northern Caucasus region, which had been annexed by the Russian Empire only ten years previously. There he became the first American to explore its highlands, a remote Muslim region of herders, silversmiths, carpet-weavers and other craftsmen. He traveled onward through the northern Caucasus area, stopping in Samashki and Grozny, before returning once more to America in 1871.
In May 1885, Kennan began another voyage in Russia, this time across Siberia from Europe.
#2
Fascinating, chain mail was still in fashion.
I'm guessing the male jacket ornaments are more likely black powder paper roll rifle cartridges than cigars.
[Iraq News] Two leaders of al-Hashd al-Shaabi militia were killed, by booby-trapped houses’ kaboom, during the ongoing battles against the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group in western djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , Militia leader Mousa Hassan Jawlak said.
Jawsak said in a press statement, "Militia leader Arkan Kareem al-Mayahi, member of Martyr Sadr Forces), and leader Hussien Ajami al-Burki, member of Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia were killed during the ongoing battles in the vicinity of Tal Afar (56 km west of Mosul)."
"The Islamic State planted explosives in several houses in the villages of Tal al-Zalat and Umm al-Masayed," Jawsak added. "The two leaders were killed due to the kaboom of the booby-trapped houses, in two separate incidents," Jawsak further explained.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[PhilStar] The Abu Sayyaf has reportedly executed German captive Juergen Gustav Kantner after the deadline the terrorist group imposed for the ransom payment lapsed yesterday. Reports received by the military and police said the rebels led by sub-leader Muamar Askali, alias Abu Rami, beheaded Kantner at about 3:30 p.m. in Indanan, Sulu.
Last Saturday, the military launched air strikes against the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu as the ransom deadline approached. The Philippine Air Force 3rd Air Division used attack helicopters to pound 40 to 60 Abu Sayyaf militants with rockets.
Military spokesperson Jo-Ann Petinglay said ground commander Col. Cirilito Sobejana confirmed that the air strikes were directed against rebels encamped in the mountains of Patikul, Sulu.
Philippine security forces searched for Kantner's remains yesterday. Without the remains, the military and police said that though they received a report about the beheading, they could not officially confirm it.
Posted by: ryuge ||
02/27/2017
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Mogadishu’s Regional Court had summoned the International Committee of the Red Thingy Cross (ICRC) to answer a case of Hareasmment and wrongful dismissal as well unreasonable and unduly insensitive manner of abusing its representative in Mogadishu.
The court summoned Jordi Raich Curco, Head of ICRC Delegation to Somalia after staffer’s attorneys at Horn Legal Consulting Services filed legal case against the Geneva-based humanitarian institution. This is a damage of reputation to this Humanitarian organisation acted its Management to abuse its trusted position to be the management of the Somalia Delegation.
ICRC is accused of perpetrating wrongful employment termination following well-documented case of threats, abuse of power, Hareassments and mistreatment experienced, educated well know Head of their OFFICE in Mogadishu.
I can't tell if this is a wrongful dismissal tort, a claim of wrongful treatment of refugees, or an act of war...
In a letter of notice of legal action, Horn Legal Consulting Services argues that this unfair dismissal affected the health, dignity, security and safety of its representative without even given time, and therefore mentioning “blatant violation” of “basic employment principles, rights and responsibilities in the Somali law”.
Somalia’s Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MOLSA) presented to regional court an labour rights abuse case in which it specified that the Head of Office for ICRCA is grieved by threats and sacking from Daniel Gerard OMalley, deputy head of ICRC delegation to Somalia, has deliberately Harrassing the Head of its sub delegate for 8 Months. In line with Somalia’s labour code, MOLSA indicated that it called upon ICRC to come before the Ministry, but the humanitarian organisation refused to respect the call and therefore snubbed to come before the labour officials.
MOLSA asked Banadir regional to take appropriate action against International Committee of the Red Thingy Cross (ICRC) for breaching Somali laws, wrongfully dismissing head of its office in Mogadishu and putting in danger the life of its employee.
In a response letter addressed to MOLSA, ICRC termed Ministry’s intervention as “premature” and quoted article 3 of the Headquarters Agreement between the Federal Republic of Somalia and the International Committee of the Red Thingy Cross (ICRC), in which ICRC claimed immunity “from every form of legal and administrative process, except insofar as in any particular case the ICRC has expressly waived its immunity.
So there! Pbbbbh!
The said immunity has not been waived, for us to appear before you”. However the Ministry of Labour argued to review the said agreement that was not even passed by the parliament. Its this Head of Office has helped ICRC to obtain this agreement that now they are violating the right of the staff.
Nevertheless, attorneys representing staffer contended that there is an overt abuse of immunities and privileges accorded to international organisations like ICRC who exploit headquarter agreements as an excuse to evade justice after breaching national laws.
Its only Banadir Head of Office faced harassments, Hiraan Head of Office resigned such manners and also Baidoa Head of Office was forced to resign.
Banadir Regional Court is expected to conclude the hearing and deliver a judgement soon.
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[AnNahar] Most of the hundreds of people streaming over the US border into Canada in recent weeks are asylum-seekers, coming from Syria, Yemen, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... or Sudan, according to the United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... ' refugee point man in the country.
Continued on Page 49
#2
Raises an interesting ethics question. Canadians (people, not ruling elites) clearly don't deserve them - nobody deserves to have Muslim neighbors. On the other hand, neither do Americans - who did vote for somebody who promised to rid them of this plague.
So, the question is: does USA has a moral obligation to guard the border from its side --- detain the fleeing Muslims and ship them back to Dar?
Posted by: chris ||
02/27/2017 5:12
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#4
...above all people who had good reason to leave their country with prospects of being recognized as refugees.
Well, Mr UN refugee guy it would seem that statement doesn't square up with the facts. Initial reports say that most of the illegal border crossers' VISA's are either expired or close to it. That would indicate they didn't or won't qualify for refugee status. Really it's now just a matter of which country is gonna cave in or pay to ship em back.
#6
The moral obligation of any legitimate government is to provide security to its citizens, their families and their property. If the government fails or refuses to do that, it has no legitimacy. The government of the United States derives its powers from its citizens not from the UN. And that is one of the reasons you got Trump.
Spending government money in support of Christians attacked by Muslims? Whatever will they think of next!
[AlAhram] Egypt has rehoused 118 Coptic families who fled North Sinai after a spate of killings of Christians by holy warriors there, the parliamentary affairs minister told parliament on Sunday.
The state announced on Sunday it had housed 118 Coptic families fleeing from North Sinai to four governorates, according to the latest report presented by a Cabinet operation room.
Minister Omar Marawan said that 96 of the families were given shelter in the neighbouring Ismailia governorate, eight families in Qalioubia, 12 in Assiut, and two in Cairo.
"The social solidarity ministry will bear the cost of education, accommodation and healthcare for the displaced families, as well as allocating EGP 1000 each in urgent financial aid," he added.
In the past few days, churches in Ismailia have received dozens of Coptic families who have fled Arish, in the light of a number of killings of Christians linked to holy warriors in the governorate.
On Saturday, Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ordered the government to take all necessary measures to provide assistance to Christians who have fled Sinai.
In a cabinet meeting, the president stressed the importance of countering attempts to "undermine security and stability in Egypt," saying the displaced families, had been "received and housed until terrorist elements are dealt with."
At the Ismailia’s main youth hostel where authorities were putting up 45 families, luggage, boxes of food and new displaced arrived throughout the day.
"I don’t want to stay there and die as a casualty in the war that has hit el-Arish," said Reda, a civil servant who arrived two days earlier with six family members including grandchildren. "If they allow us we will stay here until the terrorism is over and the government makes peace."
Before Egypt’s 2011 Arab Spring uprising, some 5,000 Christians lived in northern Sinai, but the number has since dwindled to fewer than 1,000, priests and residents say. Egypt does not keep official statistics on the number of Christians in cities or across the country.
#4
No, generally speaking, you do not need to be licensed to 'own' a gun. Licensed to 'concealed carry' a weapon, yes. Some municipalities however, do require ownership licensing. All ownership of fully automatic weapons (machine guns), artillery pieces, sound suppressors, and explosives requires Federal and/or State licensing. Someone please correct me if I have misspoken.
#5
The guns are registered to their owner through the NICS system. Go with out saying to those who know but there may be some who have not purchased a gun.
#6
Colorado just passed this out of their committee and sent it to the house floor. More than likely it will die there as there are still to many demoncrats controlling the house, but good to see things like this being discussed.
Keep in mind, most states can deny ownership to any convicted felon (along with the vote). Given there were no prison systems in America in 1792, most felons hung. Dead men had no need of either (and Chicago was merely a trading outpost at the time).
#10
Before this law, anyone who wanted to carry their gun concealed had to apply for a license with a local police official who would decide if they were "suitable" for one. Detractors said this system was too subjective.
The above statement is abit misleading. Prior to this law NH was already a "shall issue" state as opposed to a "may issue" state. Meaning that if the applicant was in good stead with both federal and state guidelines officials have no choice but to issue a permit. By definition, that's the opposite of "subjective".
#12
Interesting the number of BLUE states passing these new concealed carry laws.
NH was solid red when I lived there. In the late 80's it started turning blue - first it was an influx of welfare refugees from Lawrence and an ever-expanding invasion of Massholes and retirees from other blue states (PA, NJ, etc) that turned the state purple.
#16
In Texas you need a CHL license to open carry a handgun. Rifles and shotguns do not need a license to open carry. On your property you decide if firearms are allowed.
#17
Some municipalities however, do require ownership licensing
Back when Kansas was working on our CCC, they passed a resolution affirming Kansas law presided over local firearm rules, that is the counties and municipalities could not make their own firearm rules.
We can also open carry handguns.
Guess what happened with our open carry, CCC, and no local restrictions?
Nothing. Dodge City did not revert to Wyatt Earpian violence. Wichita did not become Mogadishu-on-Arkansas. Kansas City did not blow up.
#18
In NH you now don't require a license to buy or carry, open or concealed, or in a vehicle. If you want to take advantage of reciprocity with other states, you would need a license, and the new term is five years.
[Iraq News] The Syrian army and its allies made a sudden advance on Saturday and Sunday into areas held by Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... in northwest Syria, a war monitor said, as the jihadist group retreated after losing the city of al-Bab to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... -backed rebels.
By taking Islamic State territory south of al-Bab, the army is preventing any possible move by Turkey and the rebel groups it supports to expand southwards, and is moving closer to regaining control of water supplies for Aleppo.
On Sunday, the army took the town of Tadef, just south of al-Bab after Islamic State withdrew from it, state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
reported. Earlier this month, a senior Russian official said Tadef marked an agreed dividing line between the Syrian army and the Turkey-backed forces.
The eastwards advance south of Tadef has extended Syrian army control across 14 villages and brought it within 25km (15 miles) of Lake Assad, the stretch of the Euphrates above the Tabqa dam.
Also on Sunday, the Syrian army and its allies made a new advance against Islamic State around Palmyra, coming to within a few kilometers of the ancient desert city that the jihadists captured in December.
Islamic State’s holdings in northwest Syria have been eviscerated over recent months by successive advances by three different, rival forces: Syrian Kurdish groups backed by the United States, the Turkey-backed rebels, and the army.
Fighting in the area is continuing as the army and its allies advance, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britannia-based war monitor, said on Sunday.
Islamic State’s loss of al-Bab after weeks of bitter street fighting marks the group’s effective departure from northwest Syria, once one of its most fearsome strongholds, and an area of importance because of its location on the Turkish border.
Steady advances since 2015 by the Syrian Democratic Forces, the Kurdish-led alliance of gangs, had already pushed Islamic State from much of the frontier by the middle of last year and have since then threatened its stronghold in Raqqa.
Turkey’s entry into Syria’s civil war via the Euphrates Shield campaign in support of rebel groups fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... was intended both to push Islamic State from the border and to stop Kurdish expansion there.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Jpost] UNRWA has suspended Suhail al-Hindi, an employee of the UN agency, pending the investigation into allegations that he was elected into the Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",politicianship, Chris Gunness, a UNRWA front man wrote in an email.
"We have seen the latest communication from the Israeli authorities," he said. "Before that communication, and in light of our ongoing independent internal investigation, we had been presented with substantial information from a number of sources which led us to take the decision this afternoon to suspend Suhail al-Hindi, pending the outcome of our investigation. As with all UN Agencies, we will ensure that a staff member’s due process rights are followed."
Hindi was elected to the Hamas politicianship in the Gazoo Strip, the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories unit alleged on Sunday.
"The name Suheil Ahmad Hassan al-Hindi has emerged as one of those selected for membership in the Hamas politburo," a report published on COGAT’s website stated, two days after a senior Hamas official denied the claim.
Reached by telephone Sunday evening, COGAT, which coordinates civil, economic and security affairs in the territories, said it concluded, after an investigation, that Hindi was elected to Hamas’s leadership in the Gazoo Strip.
On Friday, a senior Hamas official denied that Hindi, who is a part of UNRWA’s education staff and chairman of the union for UNRWA employees in Gazoo, was elected to a leadership position in Hamas.
"Suheil was not elected to any position nor did he participate in elections for any political party," a senior Hamas official told The Jerusalem Post. "He has no position in Hamas."
Hamas’s denial came a day after Foreign Ministry front man Emmanuel Nahshon tweeted that Hindi was elected to the Hamas leadership.
On February 13, the same day that Hamas announced the completion of its internal politicianship elections in the Strip, some Paleostinian media outlets reported that Hindi was elected.
Hindi quickly responded, denying the reports and calling them inaccurate.
"I have no relation to that issue in any way and I will sue the parties that are throwing around my name on social media and new sites," Hindi said in a statement.
UNRWA said on Thursday that the results of an ongoing internal investigation gave it no reason to believe the allegations against Hindi are true.
"As soon as the allegations came to UNRWA’s attention, the agency undertook a preliminary investigation, including discussing the allegations with the staff member. Based on the due diligence carried out by the agency to date, UNRWA has neither uncovered nor received evidence to contradict the staff member’s denial that he was elected to political office," Gunness said in an email late Thursday evening.
[AnNahar] La Belle France is to send a contingent of counterterror forces to help the army in Niger after turbans ambushed a military patrol killing 16, the defense ministry said.
The decision, announced late Saturday, was taken following a request from President Mahamadou Issoufou after Wednesday's attack near the border with Mali.
The bushwhack, which took place in an area some 200 kilometers (120 miles) north of Niamey, the capital, also maimed another 18 Niger troops, with the army blaming "terrorist elements".
Following talks with Issoufou, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said La Belle France was preparing to send a detachment of troops "to help our Niger colleagues."
A French military source said it would include 50 to 80 troops, most of them special forces, who would be operational in the area "within three days." They would be equipped with aerial support capacity to provide backup for Niger forces on the ground.
The troops are part of Operation Barkhane, a French counterterror operation whose mission is to target jihadist groups operating in the Sahel region ... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas... south of the Sahara Desert.
Set up in 2014, the operation comprises around 4,000 soldiers who are deployed across five countries -- Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso ...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and will leave office feet first, one way or the other... . In Niger, it operates four Mirage 2000 fighter jets and five Reaper drones for gathering intelligence.
Niger shares its southern border with Nigeria which has been struggling with a bloody seven-year uprising by the Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... Lion of Islam group that has so far claimed more than 20,000 lives.
The insurgency began in northeast Nigeria ... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border... but has since spread to Chad, Cameroon ...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there... and Niger.
#1
That back up wouldn't happen to include big lumpy guys speaking French with a Russian accent would it???
Betcha the French Foreign Legion is on this like a duck on a june bug...of course, you will not hear a peep out of the French media about what they do or how they do it. Funny the French MSM is as lefty as ours if not worse and they don't compromise secrets and missions and intel gathering operations like ours...perchance ours is MORE leftist than the French...God protect us.
#2
Years ago (many years now) when the French jump into the Shaba province (Kantanga now I believe) of what was then Zaire, the ROE was a bit different. Word had it, no bag limit.
#3
I had essentially the same ROE, make no contact and if you do leave no witnesses and take no prisoners...
I just honestly believe from my experiences with the Foreign Legion that anyone with two brain cells to rub together would think twice about screwing with the French and risk garnering the Legion's affectionate attentions.
[DAWN] LAHORE: Four terrorism suspects have been killed and around 600 have been taken into custody during crackdowns jointly conducted by the Counter Terrorism Department 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.... Police and the Punjab Rangers in different parts of Layyah and Rawalpindi districts of Punjab.
The law-enforcement agencies also claimed to have seized weapons and banned literature during the crackdowns.
According to a news release issued on Saturday by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the official mouthpiece of the military, the crackdowns were undertaken under the recently launched Raddul Fassad operation by the army.
The news release said: "Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad continues across the country. Punjab Rangers conducted over 200 search operations in various areas of the Punjab including Karor, Layyah and Rawalpindi. Rangers have searched suspicious houses, madrassas and shops in both districts."
The ISPR claimed that the four suspected bad boyz were potted during an exchange of fire with security personnel. It said some Afghan nationals were among the jugged You have the right to remain silent... suspects.
Some suspects believed to be controllers in the recent acts of terrorism in the country are also among the arrested people.
The ISPR said they belonged to the Jamatul Ahrar, a splinter group of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain, which has grabbed credit for some of the recent terrorist attacks in the country, including the one carried out outside the Punjab Assembly building in Lahore on Feb 13. Fifteen people, including two senior coppers, were killed and over 80 others injured in the attack carried out by a jacket wallah during a protest organised by chemists and pharmaceutical manufacturers.
The arrested people have been taken to unspecified locations for interrogation.
A senior police official told Dawn that personnel of the Punjab Rangers and police had conducted an operation in Shiyan Wali village in Karor Lal Esan tehsil of Layyah district during which they had arrested four terrorism suspects and seized a rifle, flags with the insignia of a banned outfit and hate literature.
The Pakistain Army launched the Raddul Fassad operation after a series terror attacks in different parts of the country claimed lives of hundreds of people.
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02/27/2017
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[Iraq News] A Federal Police Officer announced on Sunday, that security forces recaptured al-Harakiyat area, the biggest oil smuggling point belonging 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.... , south of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... Major Kareem Jamal said in a press statement, "Security forces managed to recapture al-Harakiyat area, which is considered the biggest oil smuggling point belonging to the Islamic State from areas south of Mosul to outside the city."
"Security forces also imposed it control over the entire area, after violent festivities resulted in the killing of 16 members of the Islamic State, as well as wounding others," Jamal added.
Meanwhile, ...back at the revival hall, Buford bit the snake and Eloise began speaking in tongues... Iraqi security forces continue liberating the western side of the city of Mosul, while pushing deeper into residential areas and neighborhoods, to drive out the Islamic State’s Death Eaters.
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02/27/2017
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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.
[ABC] North Korea executed five senior security officials with anti-aircraft guns because they made false reports that "enraged" leader Kim Jong Un, South Korea's spy agency said Monday.
...Adviser to Pak Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on National Security and Foreign Affairs, who believes in 
[Iraq News] A local source in Nineveh Province revealed that the 
North Korea
[DAWN] KARACHI: A suspect was 
[DAWN] Interior Minister Chaudry Nisar Ali Khan on Saturday said that he is not in the habit of criticising other members of the government, but had to break his silence after the federal government was criticised for the lack of security at Lal Shahbaz Qalandar's shrine.
[Update.PH] Two members of the Maute terrorist group were killed and one was arrested after a carjacking attempt in Iligan City, on Saturday. Military spokesman Edgard Arevalo said, "This is a manifestation of the AFP’s resolve in defeating the terrorist groups operating in Central Mindanao. We are determined to crush the membership of this group including their leaders who continue struggling to get the affirmation from ISIS of their actions."
[Bangkok Post] Seven armed rebels in military-style uniforms on Saturday night raided the office of a local administrative office in Tak Bai district, tied up three employees, then set fire to the building and an emergency rescue vehicle before fleeing with a pick-up truck. The building and the emergency rescue vehicle were damaged. 
The organization that fervently opposes checking IDs to vote in election did just that on Saturday during its election for party chairman.
[Iraq News] Iraqi security forces recaptured on Sunday two major districts in western 
Unknown gunmen have shot and killed a senior official working at the office of Somali Parliament speaker office in Mogadishu on Sunday morning.
[Daily Mail] American explorer George Kennan, from Ohio, collected hundreds of cartes de visites from across Russia. These fascinating portraits showcase the diversity of those living in the Russian Empire during 1870s and 1880s. The intriguing images, were captured by the American explorer George Kennan as he travelled around Siberia.
[PhilStar] The Abu Sayyaf has reportedly executed German captive Juergen Gustav Kantner after the deadline the terrorist group imposed for the ransom payment lapsed yesterday. Reports received by the military and police said the rebels led by sub-leader Muamar Askali, alias Abu Rami, beheaded Kantner at about 3:30 p.m. in Indanan, Sulu.
