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It's worse: Jewish Israeli-American, 19, arrested in Ashkelon for phoning in dozens of JCC bomb threats
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
13:49 7 20:05 Frank G [8]
10:31 5 20:07 trailing wife [8] 
10:08 13 22:21 Skidmark [7]
09:38 14 23:39 Whiskey Mike [16] 
09:00 2 11:10 AlanC [5]
08:49 10 19:02 Frank G [9]
08:42 1 12:31 al aSha-med [4]
08:22 0 [6] 
06:08 3 11:06 gorb [4] 
05:24 1 11:36 Rjschwarz [7]
05:19 7 12:00 SteveS [3] 
05:05 3 17:36 trailing wife [11] 
04:38 2 12:19 Glenmore [4]
00:54 4 16:36 gorb [4]
00:11 9 09:13 DarthVader [8]
00:00 3 22:38 badanov [8]
00:00 11 15:39 al aSha-med [1]
00:00 14 11:04 Zenobia Floger6220 [8]
00:00 1 05:59 Mike Kozlowski [5]
00:00 3 16:52 SteveS [8]
00:00 3 09:59 Jack Salami [4]
00:00 3 17:21 magpie [5]
00:00 1 14:29 gorb [4]
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00:00 2 19:43 Nero White 3083 [11]
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-Short Attention Span Theater-
Why Women Are Angry (sometimes)
This could explain a lot... Look at so many of the angry women at the various womens' rallies recently - I can see why they might not be getting enough s*x and thus would be so irrationally angry.
[DailyMail] we're simply not making love as often as we used to. The National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles in 2013 showed the average couple aged between 16 and 44 had sex five times a month in 1990, four times in 2000 and just three times a month by 2010. What is only now becoming apparent, however, are the serious repercussions.

As well as impacting on our mood and mental health, experts now believe a lack of sex is partially responsible for the break-up of some marriages, and for the UK's increasing dependency on antidepressants and sleeping tablets.
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/23/2017 13:49 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  experts now believe a lack of sex is partially responsible for the break-up of some marriages

Absolutely profound, rankly closely with the previous discovery of fire.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/23/2017 14:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Carriage before the horses?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/23/2017 14:27 Comments || Top||

#3  A UK survey.
Significantly different demographics than US.
Coupling with self, random, closed circle, partner, same sex, different sex(18?).
Were the same participants surveyed each decade?
Posted by: al aSha-med || 03/23/2017 15:18 Comments || Top||

#4  Some women lack a certain 'attractiveness' and perhaps have trouble encouraging men to couple with them, thus making them angry and motivating them to join together in rallies and demonstrations, deluding themselves they are after womens rights when really they just can't get laid. Of course it could be a feedback loop, with anger making them even less attractive, generating more anger, and so on.
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/23/2017 15:44 Comments || Top||

#5  I suspect a major reason why there is no interest in sex is after seeing someone like the pic below, one would lose all interest in sex. (Having to find your shrunken manhood afterward may also be a factor!)
Posted by: Seeking cure for ignorance || 03/23/2017 19:54 Comments || Top||

#6  Maybe the anger is the source of the problem. Whole lot of angry people of all ages, sexes, proclivities, etc., spouting off about how outraged they all are, when not searching for something new to be angry about.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/23/2017 19:59 Comments || Top||

#7  If you are a single male, ESPECIALLY if in college, you would be foolish not to have her sign release forms before you let her in your home or vehicle
Posted by: Frank G || 03/23/2017 20:05 Comments || Top||


Europe
"North African" Man Held for Driving at Crowd in Belgium, Arms Found in Car
[AnNahar] Belgian police locked away
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
a man on Thursday after he tried to drive into a crowd at high-speed in a shopping area in the port city of Antwerp, a police chief said.

The man was of north African origin and used a car with French registration plates, Antwerp police chief Serge Muyters said.

The incident came a day after an attack on the British parliament killed three people plus the attacker, as well as after the first anniversary of the Brussels attacks in which 32 people died.

"A vehicle with French plates has tried to drive at high speed into the Meir (shopping street). A man in camouflage was taken away," Muyters told a news conference.

"The pedestrians had to jump aside," he said.

"My gratitude on behalf of all Antwerp to the soldiers who have intervened, the police services and the special intervention force," Antwerp mayor Bart de Wever tweeted.

- 'Continue to be vigilant' -
Prime Minister Charles Michel said the government was "following this situation as it develops" in the Phlegmish-speaking northern city.

"We continue to be vigilant. Our security services did an excellent job in Antwerp, thanks," he tweeted.

Meir is the main shopping street in Antwerp's historic center and is mostly pedestrianized. It is one of the most important shopping areas in the country.

With soldiers deployed at key sites, Belgium has been on high alert since March 22 last year when jacket wallahs attacked Zaventem airport and Maalbeek metro station that left 32 people dead and more than 320 maimed.
The high cost of resisting conquest.
Belgium suffered a further shock in August when a machete-wielding man shouting "holy shit! Allahu akbar" (God is greatest) attacked two policewomen in the industrial town of Charleroi.

He badly injured one in the face, before a third officer shot him dead.

- IS fighters coming home -
They are going to have to make it a jailable offense to be involved in any sort of pro-jihadi activity whatsoever, like watching videos. Waiting for someone to commit an actual attack is entirely too expensive in terms of manpower and risk to the populace. So are we.
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....
Jihadists have grabbed credit for a number of attacks using vehicles in Europe in recent months, including Wednesday's carnage in London.

Attackers rammed lorries into crowds in the French city of Nice in July last year killing 86 people and a Christmas market in the German capital Berlin last year.

On Wednesday, Belgium's King Philippe and Queen Mathilde led ceremonies commemorating the Brussels bombings, which were also claimed by IS.

Interior Minister Jan Jambon told AFP in the runup to the anniversary that tighter security had made Belgium safer safer than it was a year ago.

However he said it faced the threat of continuing radicalization at home and from battle-hardened fighters returning from Middle East battle fields.

Belgium's federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw told AFP in November that the cell that carried out the Brussels bombings, and was involved in the Gay Paree attacks, had got its orders from high up in the IS command.

Numbering around 500, Belgium is the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
's largest per capita source of so-called foreign jihadist fighters, but Jambon said none had left the country for the Middle East since January 2016.
Update from the Daily Mail at 11:05 a.m. EDT:
French Muslim arrested after trying to drive a car loaded with liquid gas, assault rifles and knives into a crowd at high speed on a busy shopping street in Antwerp
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/23/2017 10:31 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  I have no idea why the title disappeared, but it's fixed now.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/23/2017 13:18 Comments || Top||

#2  There will be more.
But first they must be on the dole long enough to buy or buy-into a car consortium, then learn how to drive it.
Posted by: al aSha-med || 03/23/2017 15:07 Comments || Top||

#3  We have a name, or part of one, courtesy of the Daily Mail:

Belgian police arrested a man named as Mohamed R, 39, on Thursday after he tried to drive into a crowd at high-speed in a shopping area in the port city of Antwerp at around 11am.

The suspect, who has not been confirmed as a Muslim but is named after the religion's prophet and is said to be of North African descent, was wearing camouflage when he was arrested.

Belgian security forces found a rifle as well as bladed weapons in the car driven by the Frenchman who tried to ram a crowd in the main pedestrianised street in the port city, described by the French President Francois Hollande as an 'attempted terrorist attack'.

The federal prosecutor's office also said bomb disposal units were sent to the scene to examine the vehicle.

'Different arms were found in the boot - bladed weapons, a riot gun (rifle) and a container of liquid that is still unidentified,' the federal prosecutor's office said in a statement.

'The suspect is Mohamed R, born on May 8, 1977, of French nationality and a resident of France,' the statement said.

The driver sped off after Belgian soldiers, who have been deployed around the country to assist the counter-terrorism fight, tried to stop the car.

'A short while later, a rapid intervention force from Antwerp police was able to stop the car,' the statement said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/23/2017 19:11 Comments || Top||

#4  Not "Clive" or "Owen"?
Posted by: Frank G || 03/23/2017 19:12 Comments || Top||

#5  Perhaps Clive or Owen are what his intimate friends called him, Frank G.

The Times of Israel adds:

The man was “under the influence of something” but it was not clear what substance, a source close to the investigation tells AFP.

Authorities were not certain if it was an attempted attack and the incident remained under investigation, several Belgian sources added on condition of anonymity.

The prosecutor’s office says the man was a national of France, but a French police source told AFP he was a Tunisian holding French residency papers.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/23/2017 20:07 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Stranded for 5 days in Arizona wilderness, woman hikes 11 miles to call for help
Smart enuf to take extra food and water. Not smart enuf to top off petrol tank. Helo ride on bucket list. Scottsdale book signing scheduled for early August.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/23/2017 10:08 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A GoFundMe account has been set up to help VanHecke with medical expenses.

Silly girl! You should've signed up for Obamacare. Then all of your expenses would've been covered!

[/sarc]
Posted by: Bobby || 03/23/2017 13:20 Comments || Top||

#2  Rescuers said VanHecke was smart and "did everything right."

Yet they located her car before finding her. So other than getting the first rule of survival in stranded vehicle situation wrong she did everything else right.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 03/23/2017 14:53 Comments || Top||

#3  11 miles?
She was only 11 miles from cell coverage?
That's an afternoon's walk at a sauntering pace!
This is winter. The Arizona temps are moderate.
Posted by: al aSha-med || 03/23/2017 15:29 Comments || Top||

#4  Her posting / explanation:
Hey guys. Since everyone keeps asking, I'll post the explanation here.

I was on my way from the southern rim of the Grand canyon. I put Havasu Falls Trail Head into Google maps. I had 70 miles to empty not including reserves. I go down the highway leading from the rim and it says turn right before I thought it was the right road. I decided to trust Google and turn onto this ratchet dirt road. Google said I'd only be on it 40 miles before the next highway where I figured I could get gas well before the danger zone. Anywho. 35 miles in, it says to turn on a road that doesn't exist. I figured it may have washed a bit of the road away since they were primitive dirt roads. So. I turned anyway and figured I'd see the road momentarily. It was getting dark. I came up to a fence with no roads in sight. Panicked since gps stopped working, too. So I Panicked and tried to find the road again. Finally found it but was at 0 to empty. Parked by the first man made structure I found and decided to wait til daylight. Turns out my reserve was exhausted, too.

So I spent five days constructing various signs to help someone find me. Including an SOS sign out of rocks about four feet by ten feet. That wasn't working so I made a "HELP" sign on the third day that I got to about 20-30 feet tall for the letters. I also tried a signal fire but since everything was so dry, it burned too clean. I also made a road barricade after a truck driver drove past me without noticing. I had a flashing headlamp that I turned on every night. I rationed my food and water and when they found me I still had 16-18 days left. However, I got tired of waiting to be rescued.

I had no signal and no gps. So I pulled myself up by my bootstraps and hiked a total of 21-22 miles. I had to hike 11 miles east from my car just to get signal to call 911. Even then, the call dropped after 49 seconds and I had to pray they got enough info to find me. The helicopter found me about two hills away from my car on my hike back. Idk if it was a mile. Maybe less.

So they put me on the care flight and hooked me up to fluids and oxygen. On the bright side, I guess I got to cross riding in a helicopter off of my bucket list. Now I'm at a hotel in Flagstaff awaiting family and an escort. So yeah. Trauma and stuff.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/23/2017 16:40 Comments || Top||

#5  So apparently she was returning to her car & was a short distance away from it when she was found.
She either did not have a spare tire, or was unaware of the huge and extremely visible amount of black smoke produced by a burning spare tire.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/23/2017 16:42 Comments || Top||

#6  "explained that she ran out of gas after Google Maps sent her down a road that didn't exist."

Wonder if the lawyers are ringing her phone off the hook.

Picture on the story has her vehicle parked in some nice shade. Amazed she waited 5 days though.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/23/2017 16:45 Comments || Top||

#7  Question about txt msg in general: If you try to send one and don't have cell coverage at that very instant, will the cell phone keep "pinging" until it makes contact with the network, and then will it send its msg at the usual high bit rate typical of cell msgs? Sending txt msgs usually takes just a few seconds, no where near the 49 sec. mentioned.
I was once hiking in the canyon of the Rio Grande near Bandelier National Monument. Had no cell phone coverage for miles in any direction due to the canyonland features. At one point, I was suddenly able to see the Sandia ridgeline above Albuquerque - line of sight was about 40 miles away, and this only through a gap in the nearby mountains. At that very instant I received a text msg from Albuquerque (most likely from a cellular network transmitter on that distant ridge) that caused me to change my plans. A few feet further down the trail - no coverage at all.
Reading between the lines, lost person was using Google maps through the cell phone data system, an extremely bad choice in any remote area.
One remote area close to where I live -- many shorelines of the Great Lakes have NO coverage, even though they may be rather close to major cities. The networks don't bother installing transmitters out on the lakes.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/23/2017 16:58 Comments || Top||

#8  It is my understanding that the 9-11 system does not accept text messages, Anguper Hupomosing9418.

When I try to send a text message and for some reason it does not get into the system, a message just pops up on my cell phone that the message failed. The phone does not keep trying to send it until it gets through.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/23/2017 17:12 Comments || Top||

#9  FCC notes on sending text to 911. Some 911 systems will accept, some won't.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/23/2017 17:31 Comments || Top||

#10  I've had the same problem before - Google Maps relies on an always-on connection and won't tell you where you are unless you have data. Even with offline maps enabled it still will freak out and not load.
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 || 03/23/2017 17:54 Comments || Top||

#11  She did a lot of things right, but she needed better situational awareness, which means she needed good paper maps. When all the wonderful electronics wink out you are back to basics.

I have a Delorme Inreach device that keeps track of my trips by sending an email to who I request, and when they open the website address, they get a graphic of the trip with waypoints every 10 minutes. I can also text message with Iridium, just like how the points are sent. Also have emergency button. It's a good thing. Also better to let someone know where you are going.

Here is a map of one of my son's snow machine trips. The contour map comes as part of the program.

Leif snowmachine trip map
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/23/2017 17:59 Comments || Top||

#12  I LOVE paper maps
Posted by: Frank G || 03/23/2017 18:58 Comments || Top||

#13  What projection Frank?
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/23/2017 22:21 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
It's worse: Jewish Israeli-American, 19, arrested in Ashkelon for phoning in dozens of JCC bomb threats
I lack both polite and impolite language to properly express my feelings at this moment.
[IsraelTimes] After months-long undercover investigation, police and FBI say suspect used voice-altering technology to make threatening calls.

A Jewish Israeli teenager, 19, has been tossed in the calaboose
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
on suspicion of issuing dozens of fake bomb threats against Jewish institutions in North America and elsewhere in recent months, police said on Thursday.

Police said the resident of the southern city of Ashkelon was the subject of a months-long undercover investigation by police’s Lahav 433 cyber unit and the FBI. It said in a statement the motive behind the bomb threats was unclear.

The suspect will be brought before the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court later on Thursday for a remand hearing. His father was also summoned by police for questioning.

The suspect, who was not named, faces charges of extortion and is accused of sowing widespread fear and panic.

According to police, he used advanced voice-altering technology to call in fake bomb threats to Jewish community centers in the US, Australia, New Zealand, and Israel.

Sources confirmed the suspect is a dual US-Israeli citizen. He was exempted from the mandatory IDF service after recruiters deemed him unfit for military service, according to the Haaretz daily.
What exempts a Jewish male from the draft for unfitness?
Sources said the suspect also phoned in a threat to a Delta plane, rerouting the aircraft.

Nearly 150 bomb threats have hit JCCs, Jewish day schools and other Jewish institutions since the beginning of the year,
...that's just in the U.S. How many for the other countries?
causing the evacuation of dozens of Jewish community centers. The threats have mostly come in waves, via phone and email. Many of the institutions have been threatened more than once.

The FBI, Department of Homeland Security and other law enforcement agencies have been investigating the threats. Juan Thompson, a St. Louis resident, has been charged with committing eight of the threats, but appears to be a copycat. Earlier this month, a top New York police official said most of the threats were likely being carried out by a single individual using phone spoofing technology to mask the source of the calls.
More from the liveblog:
15:06 JCC bomb hoaxer also grounded flights with bomb threats
In addition to being suspected of carrying out hoax bomb threats on US Jewish Community Centers, a Jewish teen arrested by Israeli police made threats to airlines, causing Delta flights to change course after receiving a call, sources tell The Times of Israel.

In January 2015 two Delta Air Lines flights arriving at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, one continuing to and one arriving from Tel Aviv, were evacuated following a bomb threat.

An anonymous caller to an unnamed airline reported that a pipe bomb had been placed aboard Delta’s flight 468, according to reports. The airline has two flights with the same number.

One of the flights, a Boeing 777, was waiting to depart from Kennedy Airport at 9:23 p.m. when the call came in. The passengers were evacuated and waited on buses on the tarmac while security officials searched the plane. The luggage also was removed and rescreened. No explosives were found on board.

The second flight, a Boeing 757, arrived at the airport from San Francisco at 8 p.m. and was scheduled to continue on to Tel Aviv. After the passengers disembarked, the plane was searched. No explosives were found.

14:54 Israeli JCC bomb threat suspect is also a US citizen
The suspect arrested by Israeli police in suspicion of carrying out hoax bomb threats on US Jewish Community Centers has dual Israel-US citizenship, sources say.

Upon searching his house, police discovered advanced communication equipment including satellites and antennas used to cover up the origin of his calls, police told The Times of Israel.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/23/2017 09:38 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [16 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hope he enjoys his PMITA prison term. They love the young ones.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/23/2017 10:10 Comments || Top||

#2  I lack both polite and impolite language to properly express my feelings at this moment.

OK TW, I think I've discovered a cure for this ailment of yours.
Posted by: gorb || 03/23/2017 10:15 Comments || Top||

#3  Wow Gorb, that site is blocked on my work internet: must be pretty darn good....
Posted by: ptah || 03/23/2017 10:55 Comments || Top||

#4  Wonder if he'll get extradited to the US.
Posted by: Pappy || 03/23/2017 11:16 Comments || Top||

#5  ptah, here is a sample. Thou clouted ill-nurtured cutpurse!
Thou impertinent bunched-backed measle!
Thou droning rug-headed fustilarian!
Thou wenching fen-sucked bum-bailey!
Thou spongy shrill-gorged puttock!
Thou peevish hedge-born death-token!
Thou mewling lean-witted varlot!
Thou mewling crook-pated foot-licker!
Thou purpled common-kissing vassal!
Thou puny pox-marked miscreant!
I'd just go with Bugwit!
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 03/23/2017 11:20 Comments || Top||

#6  How about jail bird?
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 03/23/2017 11:25 Comments || Top||

#7  Ok, that's funny.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/23/2017 11:33 Comments || Top||

#8  Uponsearching his house, police discovered advanced communication equipment including satellites and antennas ...

This kid had his own satellites? That's pretty high-tech!

Joking aside ... I truly wonder at the motivations for this.
Posted by: ExtremeModerate || 03/23/2017 14:59 Comments || Top||

#9  "the motive behind the bomb threats was unclear."

Are you kidding? False flag to generate sympathy for his people. Unclear? It's clear as day.
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 || 03/23/2017 18:00 Comments || Top||

#10  He was exempted from the mandatory IDF service after recruiters deemed him unfit for military service, according to the Haaretz daily.

Sure, Herb. It couldn't possibly be that he's a self-hating Juice or wants to prove someone wrong, or is just a F-d up loser, or...

"Clear as day". Idjit
Posted by: Frank G || 03/23/2017 18:43 Comments || Top||

#11  OK TW, I think I've discovered a cure for this ailment of yours.

Too much fun, gorb. What a treasure!
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/23/2017 20:40 Comments || Top||

#12 
some reports are that he didn't graduate high school and that he has a brain tumor
Posted by: lord garth || 03/23/2017 20:48 Comments || Top||

#13  also he recently received some bitcoins on line

this might be a coincidence or he might have been doing the bomb threats for money
Posted by: lord garth || 03/23/2017 22:17 Comments || Top||

#14  Frankly, this saddens me. Sorry TW, I feel for you. It (his actions) just don't make sense.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 03/23/2017 23:39 Comments || Top||


Britain
Childhood Obesity Standards Adjusted for Protected Class
[Daily Caller] A United Kingdom (U.K.) government-funded study calls for adjusting a measurement used to determine obesity to correct for differences across ethnic groups.
I'm gobsmacked! Something has surely changed.
The race-based adjustments lower the Body Mass Index (BMI) for children of African descent, making them seem thinner, while raising the BMI of children of South Asian descent. Scientists studied children of various ethnic groups between the ages of 4 and 12, and developed a race-based technique to "adjust" BMI definitions to ethnicity.

The new adjustments mean black children are less likely to be classified as overweight or obese than a white or Asian child with the same BMI. The researchers urge the adoption of these new altered standards for the entire U.K, as they "reflect body fat more accurately."

"Childhood obesity is a major public health challenge in the UK, and this research will give healthcare professionals extra help in making accurate judgements when deciding whether children, particularly of South Asian or Black African origin, are underweight, normal, overweight or very overweight (obese)," Mohammed Hudda, a researcher at University of London, said in a press statement.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/23/2017 09:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So the health risks of obesity are less for black children and greater for asian children? That feelings are more important than health risks?

Or are they saying that nutritional science is all make it up as you go along stuff anyway so it doesn't matter?
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/23/2017 10:13 Comments || Top||

#2  BMI don't mean jack. It's nothing more than the old height weight charts with fancy new packaging and less useful because they've removed the body type (ectomorph, mesomorph, etc.) It's all a scam right up there with AGCC.
Posted by: AlanC || 03/23/2017 11:10 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Senile Idiot Visits DC, Babbles About Nukes and Trump

Gov. Jerry Brown arrived in Washington for his first trip to the capital during the Trump administration with an agenda full to the point of groaning. But in addition to infrastructure, immigration, health care and myriad other issues important to the nation's largest state, he had another topic on his mind.

"The end of the world," said Mr. Brown.
Or DC
In a visit to The New York Times Washington bureau Tuesday, the always-spirited governor was at his most animated when discussing his work on the board of the Nuclear Threat Initiative and a threat he said should be taken more seriously.

"One bomb of 15 kilotons dropped in Washington from a terrorist from some material they put together ‐ unlikely but highly possible ‐ could kill 80,000 people instantly, 100,000 serious casualties, wipe out the president, most of the Congress, whoever is at the meeting and change America forever," said Mr. Brown, tapping a conference table for emphasis. "End America as we know it. That is not inconceivable."
Cue Inigo Montoya
The governor put in a plug for legislation sponsored by Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts that would require the president to receive congressional approval to use nuclear weapons
Thanks, Moonbeam, you doddering old choo choo fool
Posted by: Frank G || 03/23/2017 08:49 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 03/23/2017 10:27 Comments || Top||

#2  It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine. Posted by Deacon Blues

Me as well, but I've always excelled at denial.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/23/2017 10:28 Comments || Top||

#3  That photo always brings me back to 1979 when Moonbeam and Linda Ronstadt were an item and I saw her perform at an outdoor festival in Northern Cal called Mountainaire. She had a mishap the week of the show and performed with an ankle cast.
Posted by: Capsu78 || 03/23/2017 11:34 Comments || Top||

#4  that would require the president to receive congressional approval to use nuclear weapons

Is this the same Congress that would be wiped out in a nuke strike on Washington?
Posted by: SteveS || 03/23/2017 11:57 Comments || Top||

#5  Linda was a "beard".
Posted by: Sgt.D.T. || 03/23/2017 13:39 Comments || Top||

#6  "One bomb of 15 kilotons dropped in Washington

More likely rowed to shore then driven to its destination. But do go on.
Posted by: gorb || 03/23/2017 14:32 Comments || Top||

#7  Senile Idiot Visits DC, Babbles About Nukes and Trump

Thought this was a Biden news story
Posted by: al aSha-med || 03/23/2017 15:31 Comments || Top||

#8  Could have been any member of the demoncratic party these days.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/23/2017 15:36 Comments || Top||

#9  Yeah, I thought it was going to be about McCain. Biden was my second choice.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 03/23/2017 16:42 Comments || Top||

#10  yeah...both good calls
Posted by: Frank G || 03/23/2017 19:02 Comments || Top||


Economy
Death Rates Rise for Wide Swath of White Adults, Study Finds
BLUF: [WSJ] The rising mortality of working-class white adults appears to be rooted both in worse job opportunities and increasing social dysfunction, following generations of relatively stable lives that involved job advancement and an expectation of living better than one’s parents, the researchers said.
Should we then assume the plan is working ?
Wages aren’t rising with age now as much as they once did for high-school-educated white men, Ms. Case said, suggesting that the composition of jobs available to them has changed and that there is less upward mobility.

"The company man job has gone away for working-class people," Mr. Deaton said.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/23/2017 08:42 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The stupidity of the rest of the world is killing us.
Posted by: al aSha-med || 03/23/2017 12:31 Comments || Top||


Britain
Westminster Attacker ‘British Born', Known to MI5
[Breitbart] Prime Minister Theresa May has confirmed the Westminster attacker who killed three on Wednesday was "British-born" and had been investigated by security forces in the past.

Speaking in parliament, Mrs May said the man was known to police and MI5 and had been investigated "some years ago" "in relations to concerns about violent extremism".

However, she described him as a "peripheral figure" and said, "the case is historic".
"Peripheral"... except to the innocent people he killed.
"He was not part of the current intelligence picture", the Prime Minister added. "His identity is known to the police and MI5, and when operational consideration allow he will be publicly identified".

She also confirmed that six addresses in Birmingham and London had been searched in relation to the investigation and police had made seven arrests.

The terror threat level, Mrs May said, had been set at "severe" (it’s second highest level) meaning that an attack was "highly likely". At the next, highest level, the security forces would consider an attack "imminent".

Despite Mrs May’s statement, Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn immediately responded by demanding people do not "rush to judgement" and warned again "fear and hatred".
No "rush to judgement" about out feckless immigration policies please.
Former interim Labour leader Harriet Harmen said the attack should not "be used as a pretext for division... and Islamophobia". The Prime Minister "absolutely" agreed.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/23/2017 08:22 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists


UK Prime Minister Theresa May statements on London attack
[Telling excerpt from the Metro transcript] "The location of this attack was no accident. The terrorists chose to strike at the heart of our Capital City, where people of all nationalities, religions and cultures come together to celebrate the values of liberty, democracy and freedom of speech."

They 'come together' alright, but sadly, not for the reasons the PM has mentioned.

Posted by: Besoeker || 03/23/2017 06:08 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  No Chinees shoot crackers at shindies,
Nor nice Hindu ladies with bindis.
Pashtun or Balochi?
No way. Tamagotchi?
And never suspect the West Sindhis!
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 03/23/2017 6:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Also, "They love us for our freedom!" Sheesh.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 03/23/2017 6:43 Comments || Top||

#3  :. . . where people of all nationalities, religions and cultures come together to celebrate the values of liberty, democracy and freedom of speech."

There is one very important word that is missing its modifier in this sentence.

It needs to be changed to "all but one".
Posted by: gorb || 03/23/2017 11:06 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
South Africa wants to sell missiles to Iran
[MyBroadBand] South Africa has applied to the United Nations Security Council to sell missiles worth R1.5 billion to Iran.

The Rapport newspaper reported that this will be the biggest deal yet for Denel’s Umkhonto surface-to-air missile system.

The Umkhonto vertical launch surface-to-air missile was developed for the SA Navy’s Meko A200 class frigates, and has been in service since 2001. The missile is high-velocity and infrared homing, providing defence against attacks from missiles and aircraft.

Although it is a surface-to-air missile, it is also capable of taking out stationary surface targets. The Umkhonto was designed with a 23kg warhead for high-kill probability, unlike other missile systems in its class.

This news follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding in December 2016 between Iran and South Africa to boost defence and military cooperation. According to the agreement, the countries will bolster cooperation in the fields of marine security and fighting organised crime.

Although Iran was removed from the United Nations’ list of countries to which no weapons can be provided, approval from the UN’s sanction committee is still needed for missile technology.

According to the Rapport, there is discomfort in political circles about South Africa’s plan to provide weapons to Iran.

For the inquiring mind: uMkhonto we Sizwe (abbreviated as MK, Xhosa pronunciation: [uˈmkʰonto we ˈsizwe], meaning "Spear of the Nation") was the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC), co-founded by Nelson Mandela in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/23/2017 05:24 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And they should be told that any use of those missiles to carry nukes will be held against them as if they had fired the missile themselves.
Posted by: Rjschwarz || 03/23/2017 11:36 Comments || Top||


Britain
Wrong terrorist? Man initially named as London terror attacker 'may still be in prison'
[METRO] The man who was initially identified as the London terror attacker is still in prison, according to his solicitor.

Hate preacher Abu Izzadeen ‐ formally know as Trevor Brooks
... also Omar Brooks and Abu Baraa for reasons that no doubt made sense at the time. He was born in Britain of Jamaican parentage and worked as an electrician before discovering the joys of Mohammedanism, followed on short order by the additional pleasures of Al-Muhajiroun and preaching fiery nothings for offshoot Al-Ghurabaa...
‐ was falsely named as the attacker in early reports. However, it later became clear the reports may be false with Channel 4’s senior home affairs correspondent Simon Israel confirming it ’may be we’re not as certain about the identity of the attacker as we thought’.

According to the Mail Online, senior security sources and Izzadeen’s lawyer both denied he could be the attacker. The show later carried confirmation from Izzadeen’s brother that he was still in jail.

The former BT electrician, who was once known as Trevor Brooks, is a former BT Electrician who converted to Islam aged 17. He was jailed for two years in January 2016 for breaching the Terrorism Act by leaving the UK illegally.
This article starring:
Abu Izzadeen
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/23/2017 05:19 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1 
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/23/2017 5:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Fog of war.
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 03/23/2017 8:00 Comments || Top||

#3  Attack in the vicinity of the U.K. Parliament of great concern. Something similar taking place in Manchester, York, or Leeds.....not so much. Someone, please help me sort this out.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/23/2017 9:49 Comments || Top||

#4  The Brits don't seem to have a good handle on the perps identity. Fingerprints? Other?
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/23/2017 10:23 Comments || Top||

#5  In fairness, maybe, MI5 is playing it close to the vest so they can roll up the terrorist network.
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/23/2017 10:25 Comments || Top||

#6  My hunch as well John.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/23/2017 10:27 Comments || Top||

#7  "This is not the Mohammed Mohammed you are looking for." /waves hand
Posted by: SteveS || 03/23/2017 12:00 Comments || Top||


London attack: police confirm seven people arrested
[Guardian] Here is the full interview from defence secretary Michael Fallon this morning.

Fallon says the belief is that the man was motivated by international terrorism

Their working assumption this is linked to Islamic terrorism but they don’t yet know and the investigation - and it is a very large investigation - has been underway since it happened.

Fallon said attacks are not part of normal life but London was clearly a target police were preparing for
The current warning is at severe - that an attack - and that has been the case for sometime, is likely but not imminent. There is no specific information about other attacks and let me emphasise today although there is intense security around palace of Westminster, London is going to work this morning, I passed school children going to school, there are school trips going ahead, parliament itself will resume at the normal time at half past nine.
This is the Guardian's very thorough liveblog of today's events.
  • Seven arrested in six counter-terrorism raids in London, Birmingham and elsewhere following Wednesday’s terrorist attack on London

  • Four dead including the killer and a plainclothes policeman, 29 treated in hospitals
Here is yesterday's post on the attack.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/23/2017 05:05 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  Sweet, sweet diversity.
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 03/23/2017 8:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Update from The Guardian. The current headline and key bullet points:

London terror attack: Khalid Masood named by police as responsible for Westminster attack

o Police name 52-year-old born in Kent as man responsible for attack in which three victims have died and seven more are critically injured

o Full report: Attacker was ‘peripheral figure’ who had fallen off intelligence radar


Scrolling down the live feed, one finds:
1h ago 11:33
Khalid Masood was known to police but not subject of surveillance

Masood, 52, was born in Kent and detectives believe he was most recently living in the West Midlands. Masood was also known by a number of aliases, police said in a statement.

Scotland Yard said Masood was not the subject of any current investigations and there was no prior intelligence about his intent to mount a terrorist attack.

However, he was known to police and had a range of previous convictions for assaults, including GBH, possession of offensive weapons and public order offences.

His first conviction was in November 1983 for criminal damage and his last conviction was in December 2003 for possession of a knife.

He had not been convicted for any terrorism offences.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/23/2017 13:09 Comments || Top||

#3  More:

16:22 A Scotland Yard spokesman said research into other names the attacker used was ongoing, adding: “Khalid Masood is not at this early stage believed to be his birth name.”

3h ago
14:00 Eight arrests after raids
Counter terrorism detectives are investigating the possibility of a wider conspiracy that assisted the attack and made eight arrests after raids in Birmingham, and east London.

Seven people in Birmingham and one in London were arrested on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts.

Police still believe the attack was carried out by one person, and are examining what role if any, those arrested played.

Searches were also carried out in Carmathanshire, Wales, and Brighton, Sussex.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/23/2017 17:36 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Time to Investigate Zero, not Just Trump
[PJ] House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Adam Schiff is in high dudgeon over the bad form of House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes in reporting his bombshell -- that the chairman had been shown actual surveillance (not involving Russia) of the Trump transition team and possibly of the then president-elect himself -- to President Trump before he presented the evidence to the committee.

Bad form, quite possibly. But so what?

The facts are what they are.

What appears at this writing is that Trump transition team members and possibly Trump himself had their identities revealed, were "unmasked" in the parlance, while foreign diplomats were being surveilled. The identities of American citizens were not sufficiently "minimized," as they are required to be by law. This is a crime one would assume would put the perpetrators in prison. So far it hasn't. More than that, such behavior is a grave threat to a free society, to all of us.

In effect, Trump was wiretapped -- if not in the corny, old sense of the word, something very close. Technologically, he was wiretapped, as were several (actually many) others.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/23/2017 04:38 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Originally all the heartburn over the NSA's relaxed rules for cross agency dissemination of raw signals was the fear that the incoming Trump administration couldn't be trusted. As for the timing, they went so far as to say it was the "responsibility" of the outgoing administration to make it more difficult for any succeeding teams to to write new rules. It might well be that all the anguish over "Parallel Construction" was a feature not a bug.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 03/23/2017 12:17 Comments || Top||

#2  Rumor is that people in the Trump campaign were caught in actual collusion with the Russians. If true, big problem. Possibly not true, but 'manufactured' evidence - much bigger problem. Warnings are out there that the Deep State (the uniparty) will do whatever it takes to protect itself, which I have to believe includes creating 'evidence' that would provide grounds for impeachment.
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/23/2017 12:19 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Saying tunnels not existential threat, IDF head admits hitting them from air
[IsraelTimes] Revealing that air force is destroying tunnels during reprisal attacks, Gadi Eisenkot tells politicians the passageways are a serious threat but shouldn’t be exaggerated.

The head of the army sought to downplay concerns over the threat of Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood, tunnels infiltrating Israel to Gazoo Wednesday, while admitting for the first time that the military is destroying the subterranean passages with ground-penetrating bombs fired from afar.

Army chief Gadi Eisenkot told politicians that while the tunnel threat was important, the Jewish state was not at risk of being subsumed by Hamas fighters infiltrating from Gazoo.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/23/2017 00:54 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Practice for mapping the NKor tunnels?
Posted by: al aSha-med || 03/23/2017 1:11 Comments || Top||

#2  Practice for Iran.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/23/2017 4:23 Comments || Top||

#3  I suspect they can see the entrances on IR.
Posted by: phil_b || 03/23/2017 15:38 Comments || Top||

#4  After they're bombed, they're probably not an existential threat.
Posted by: gorb || 03/23/2017 16:36 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Federal staffers panicked by conservative media attacks
[Politico] Conservative news outlets, including one with links to a top White House official, are singling out individual career government employees for criticism, suggesting in articles that certain staffers will not be sufficiently loyal to President Donald Trump by virtue of their work under former President Barack Obama.

The articles -- which have appeared in Breitbart News, the Conservative Review and other outlets -- have alarmed veteran officials in both parties as well as current executive branch staffers. They say the stories are adding to tensions between career staffers and political appointees as they begin to implement Trump’s agenda, and they worry that the stories could inspire Trump to try purging federal agencies of perceived enemies.

The claims posted on the conservative sites include allegations of anti-Israel and pro-Iran bias against staffers at institutions such as the State Department and the National Security Council. Breitbart News, whose former executive chairman Steve Bannon is now Trump’s chief strategist, has even published lists of workers that the president should fire.

Washington veterans say they can’t recall similar targeting of government employees, who are required to stay apolitical and generally shun the spotlight.

"It’s deeply unfair to single people out and question their loyalty," said William Burns, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former longtime diplomat. "It’s demoralizing for institutions. It’s demoralizing for professionals, and it’s offensive."
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/23/2017 00:11 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "It’s demoralizing for institutions. It’s demoralizing for professionals, and it’s offensive."

And sadly, it's necessary.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/23/2017 0:38 Comments || Top||

#2  They have worked hard to earn this.
Enjoy.
Posted by: Theatch Thaiting5261 || 03/23/2017 0:46 Comments || Top||

#3  Don't like individual responsibility? Too bad.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/23/2017 4:19 Comments || Top||

#4 

Party's over...
Posted by: Blinky Snanter7222 || 03/23/2017 4:48 Comments || Top||

#5  "It’s deeply unfair to single people out and question their loyalty," said William Burns, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former longtime diplomat. "It’s demoralizing for institutions. It’s demoralizing for professionals, and it’s offensive."

More offensive than your undeserved bloated magic paycheck and retirement package? More offensive than the fact you grew government until it is now four times larger relative to the general population than it was two generations ago, with no more quality or quantity of government services to show for it? More offensive than the fact that you consider yourselves to be the private sector's rulers rather than its servants?

More offensive than the fact that your "loyalty" is to whichever political party will most advantage you materially -not the one whose policy is best for America - and the fact that you now value your government funded wherewithal more than the businesses, liberties, and lives of your neighbors?

Color me unsympathetic.

Posted by: no mo uro || 03/23/2017 5:40 Comments || Top||

#6  Don't want to be accused of supporting Iran, then don't support Iran.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 03/23/2017 7:17 Comments || Top||

#7  Just wait until they get a rent-a-mob to sit outside your home. Calling you and your family alll sorts of nasty things. Threatening your family and following your kids to school.

Oh, that's right... conservatives don't do that.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/23/2017 7:54 Comments || Top||

#8  More offensive than the fact that you consider yourselves to be the private sector's rulers rather than its servants?

Pretty much sums it up.
Posted by: jvalentour || 03/23/2017 8:08 Comments || Top||

#9  We're coming for you. Resign now and save yourself the humiliation.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/23/2017 9:13 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
China issues warning to one US bomber flying in East China Sea-2nd broke
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  ...Word is that Our Friends On The Mainland are scared silly that we might be about to whack the Kims.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 03/23/2017 5:59 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US-backed forces begin offensive to take Tabqa Dam
[AA.TR] U.S.-backed forces have started a "multi-pronged" campaign to wrest control of Syria's Tabqa Dam from ISIS, the U.S.-led coalition confirmed Wednesday.

Spokesman Army Col. Joe Scrocca told news hounds the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) offensive took ISIS by surprise when the fighters carried out a "daring air assault" behind enemy lines.

"It takes audacity and courage, and the SDF has that in spades," he said.

The coalition backed the offensive with helicopters and other aircraft to airlift the SDF, Arclight airstrikes, M777 Howitzer artillery, special operations advisors, and Apache helicopters that provided close air support.

"This is a message for ISIS: their day is done," Scrocca said, referring to the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
of Iraq and Syria, another name for ISIS.

Scrocca said the airlift was the first such action taken by the coalition, and he didn't know if it would be the last.

"I’m sure ISIS will be expecting nothing less," he said.

The Tabqa Dam sits on the southeastern outlet of Lake Assad. It lies about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the city of Raqqah, ISIS's self-declared capital that the SDF has been working to encircle.

Retaking the dam, "a key element of northern Syria’s economy", and the surrounding areas is considered a major goal in the effort to isolate Raqqah.

"The dam, city, and air fields are locations critical to ISIS’ ability to import and harbor imported muscle, export terror, and is ISIS’ last link to their territory west of the Euphrates," said Scrocca.

He said the dam's potential destruction would create a humanitarian catastrophe, and the coalition is "taking every precaution" to make sure that does not happen.

U.S. support for the YPG-backed SDF has long vexed The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
, who views the YPG as the Syrian offshoot of the outlawed PKK group. Turkey, the U.S. and the EU have designated the group a terrorist organization, but neither the U.S. nor EU have followed Turkey's lead on the YPG.

Asked if the SDF forces included Kurdish forces, Scrocca said they did, but he did not confirm whether the YPG had participated.

Approximately 80 percent of the SDF's forces were Arab fighters, he said.

Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
David Brock, Media Matters founder and Clinton ally, suffers heart attack
[WASHINGTONEXAMINER] David Brock, founder of the left-leaning Media Matters for America non-profit and a longtime Hillary Clinton ally, suffered a heart attack on Tuesday, according to a press release.

"David Brock suffered a heart attack while working in the Washington DC office early Tuesday," the release said on Wednesday.

It added that he was quickly treated and stabilized.
Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [12 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Any medical updates on George Soros ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/23/2017 0:45 Comments || Top||

#2  He drank from Breitbart's glass?
Posted by: al aSha-med || 03/23/2017 1:10 Comments || Top||

#3  At a certain age, ya gotta quit. Cocaine - it's a helluva drug
Posted by: Frank G || 03/23/2017 7:12 Comments || Top||

#4  Whose heart attacked him?
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 03/23/2017 7:14 Comments || Top||

#5  With any luck, it will prove to be an eye-opener for Mr. Brock.
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 03/23/2017 8:09 Comments || Top||

#6  There's always a down side to medical advances.
Posted by: brujotejano || 03/23/2017 10:14 Comments || Top||

#7  A lot of stress involved when you align yourself with losers.
Posted by: Nero White 3083 || 03/23/2017 19:08 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Blasphemy charges create climate of fear for Pakistani media
[Dhaka Tribune] Analysts and social media monitors say the blasphemy law is a powerful tool to silence critics. Some say it is being used by gunnies to silence moderates at a time when Paks are increasingly speaking out against violence and extremism, and voicing support for a government crackdown on Islamic krazed killers



Ahmad Waqas Goraya couldn’t see anything through the black hood, but he could hear the screams.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  I just can't wait to live like this again, can you!
Posted by: newc || 03/23/2017 0:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Try to use the N word, or state that homosexuality is unnatural, or question the genders' equality in print, and see what happens.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/23/2017 4:18 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian army captures rebel position near Damascus, 150 die
Regaining the textile factory in northern Jobar and killing over 150 terrorists, the Syrian army and allies on Wednesday repelled attempts by terrorist groups to break the siege imposed on the area.

A military source said that army units repelled repeated attempts by al-Nusra terrorists and groups affiliated to them to break the siege imposed on terrorist groups trapped in the textiles factories north of Jobar.

The source said that army units are engaged in violent clashes with terrorist groups north of Jobar, and that they are shelling the terrorists’ gatherings and movements in the depths of Jobar and surrounding areas.

The source added that the operations in Jobar resulted in the death of more than 150 terrorists, including foreigners and some of their leaders, in addition to injuring hundreds of them, destroying 3 car bombs, and killing 7 suicide bombers before they could reach army positions.

In the same context, SANA’s reporter said that the Syrian Air Force carried out since dawn a number of airstrikes targeting the terrorists’ movements and supply routes coming from the Eastern Gouta towards the north of Jobar neighborhood, inflicting heavy losses upon them in personnel.

The reporter said that clashes continue between army units and terrorists that infiltrated the factories area on the northern outskirts of Jobar neighborhood on Tuesday, leaving many of their members dead and injured and destroying large amounts of their weapons and equipment.

Posted by: badanov || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Iran smuggling hi-tech weapons to Houthi militia
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] In recent months, Iran has increased its role in the war in Yemen, according to regional and Western sources, by sending hi- tech weapons and military advisers to the Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ...
militias.

A senior Iranian official revealed that Qassim Soleimani, Commander of the Quds Force, met with senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officials in Tehran last month to discuss ways to "empower" the Houthis with weapons, ammunition and military counseling.

According to many sources, Iran’s support for the Houthis has increased significantly in recent months, despite Iran’s persistent attempts to deny it.

In a recent Rooters report on Tehran, sources maintained that Qassim Soleimani and senior IRGC officials agreed to increase aid to the Houthi militias through training, weapons and financial support.

Strenghthen grip
A former senior Iranian security official was quoted by Rooters as saying that Iranian regime is planning to assist the Houthi militia in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
to strengthen their grip in the region, similar to the Hezbollah militia in Leb.

Iran is using ships to deliver supplies either directly to Yemen or through Somalia to circumvent the coalition’s efforts.

After the ships arrive in the region, the cargo is transported to small fishing boats that are difficult to monitor on Yemen’s 2,700-kilometer coastline.

The report asserted that the Houthi militia received several hi-tech weapons recently such as the Kornet anti-tank guided missile which were not available in Yemen before.

In January, the Houthis launched an attack on a Saudi frigate through a remote-controlled boat. A Coast Guard boat was also destroyed near Mukalla region this month by mines laid by the Houthis.

The equipment that was smuggled included long-range ballistic missiles and drones with explosive warheads.

In addition to weapons, Tehran sends Afghan and Arab Shiite experts to train the Houthi militia and to act as advisers, including Afghans who fought in Syria under the Quds Force.

Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under: Houthis

#1  After the ships arrive in the region, the cargo is transported to small fishing boats that are difficult to monitor on Yemen’s 2,700-kilometer coastline.

Isn't there a spring storm season in that region that makes transit hazardous for cargo ships?
Posted by: al aSha-med || 03/23/2017 1:15 Comments || Top||

#2  al ashamed

yes, in the Gulf of Aden there is elevated risk of tropical storms during the months near the equinox - in Nov 2015 there was a monster 120mph cyclone

also, there is considerable piracy
Posted by: lord garth || 03/23/2017 1:51 Comments || Top||

#3  There should also be some subs there sinking their asses
Posted by: chris || 03/23/2017 17:28 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Mly courts law passed amid allies’ opposition
[DAWN] The government managed to secure the passage of two key bills seeking the reinstatement of military courts from the National Assembly on Monday, but without the support of two of its allies.

The 28th Constitutional Amendment Bill -- which will be numbered as the 23rd Constitutional amendment after its passage from the Senate -- was passed by 255 votes to four against, more than the required two-thirds majority needed to pass an amendment.

The Pakistain Army (Amendment) Bill 2017, which is required to facilitate the setting up of the military courts, was passed by a majority through a voice vote.

Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


-Land of the Free
'America First' cannot mean 'America, Go It Alone,' top EU official cautions (wanna bet?)
[FoxNews]
Given that President Trump wants Europe to be able to better defend itself at home and abroad, hence the demand they increase defense spending to long-promised levels, it seems to me that going it alone is not what he intended.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  it seems to me that going it alone is not what he intended

His intent to suggest that they should carry their share may have been faithfully nuanced but poorly represented by Ms. Airhead.
Posted by: al aSha-med || 03/23/2017 1:06 Comments || Top||

#2  ...They always start with the "we all need each other" song when they think we might actually start making them carry their own weight...

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 03/23/2017 7:54 Comments || Top||

#3  How does one say "Lead, follow or get out of the way" in European?
Posted by: SteveS || 03/23/2017 16:52 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Militants attack girls' school in Balochistan
Armed attackers hurled a hand-grenade at a government girls' high school in Balochistan's Killa Abdullah district near Pak-Afghan border on Wednesday, security sources said. No loss of human life was reported.

Levies sources said two armed militants riding on a motorcycle hurled a hand-grenade at girls high school in Killi Pir Alizai area of district Killa Abdullah. The blast smashed the glasses of school.

"Fortunately, the girls were inside their classes at the time of attack, " Zamarak Achakzai, the parliamentary leader of Awami National Party (ANP) who belongs to the same village told DawnNews via telephone.

"We strongly condemn this terror act and demand the arrest of culprits behind the attack," Achakzai said.

The assailants sped away on their motorcycle after the attack.

Levies personnel reached the girls high school as investigation into the incident went underway. Panic prevailed among the students in the aftermath of the attack.

This was for the first time in the area to target any educational institutions. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
Posted by: badanov || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Baghdad Bomb and Bullet Bulletin


Iraqi kops detains suspect in Al-Aalam bombing

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Security forces arrested the suspects behind a deadly car blast that rocked a district in southwestern Baghdad on Monday, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said Wednesday.

“A security force arrested perpetrators behind the explosion that occurred at St. 84 in al-Amel neighborhood on Monday and left 44 casualties,” according the ministry’s statement.

It said forces also arrested another group suspected of carrying out another attack in February that killed five people in al-Aalam district, also southwest of the capital.


Al-Amel district, Baghdad (google maps)
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) says violence in the country left nearly 392 dead and 613 injured, excluding security members, during February. Baghdad was the second most affected province with 120 deaths and 300 injuries, according to the organization’s monthly casualty count. It excludes death toll among security members after Iraqi authorities had asked to get such information exclusively from security commands.

While several blasts are not followed by a claim of responsibility, Islamic State militants said they had been behind some bloody explosions and attacks that hit the capital in the past months, leaving casualties among civilians and security troops.

Some observers believe Islamic State have begun to escalate attacks outside the city of Mosul, where the group has been losing ground and personnel since October, so as to relieve pressure by government forces on that front and to divert attention from group losses. They are concerned that the group could, however, shift to a guerilla-style war and lone wolf attacks after the recapture of Mosul.
Google Map at the link
1 dead in al-Shaab bombing attack

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) One civilian was killed and six others were wounded on Wednesday in two separate bomb blasts north and west of Baghdad, according to security sources.

An explosive device placed on the side of al-Seha road in al-Shaab, north of baghdad, exploded, leaving one person wounded, sources were quoted saying.

Another bomb planted near a popular market in Subaihat, in Abu Gharib, west of Baghdad, also exploded, killing one and wounding five others, the sources added.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) says violence in the country left nearly 392 dead and 613 injured, excluding security members, during February. Baghdad was the second most affected province with 120 deaths and 300 injuries, according to the organization’s monthly casualty count. It excludes death toll among security members after Iraqi authorities had asked to get such information exclusively from security commands.

While several blasts are not followed by a claim of responsibility, Islamic State militants said they had been behind some bloody explosions and attacks that hit the capital in the past months, leaving casualties among civilians and security troops.

Some observers believe Islamic State have begun to escalate attacks outside the city of Mosul, where the group has been losing ground and personnel since October, so as to relieve pressure by government forces on that front and to divert attention from group losses. They are concerned that the group could, however, shift to a guerقilla-style war and lone wolf attacks after the recapture of Mosul.
Google Map at the link
Posted by: badanov || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:


Bangladesh
Mufti Hannan to seek clemency
[Dhaka Tribune] Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami Bangladesh (HuJI
Founded in 1984 by Fazlur Rehman Khalil and Qari Saifullah Aktar. The Bangla branch was established in 1992 with assistance from Osama bin Laden. Recruits come mostly from Deobandi madrassahs. HuJI and Fazlur Rehman Khalil are signators of bin Laden's declaration of war on the west.
B) leader Mufti Hannan will seek presidential pardon.

Hannan informed it to the Kashimpur Jail authorities when the full verdict was read out to him around 10:30am on Wednesday.

"Hannan has told us that he will file the petition seeking presidential clemency with due process through his lawyer," Mizanur Rahman, jail superintendent, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Another death-row convict Sharif Shahedul Alam, Hannan’s aide, would also seek clemency, he added.

The other convict is Md Delwar Hossain.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division released the full text of its verdict reconfirming death penalties handed to Mufti Hannan and two accomplices for a failed liquidation attempt on the then British high commissioner to Bangladesh Anwar Choudhury.

The full verdict reached to Kashimpur Jail on Tuesday night.

Three people were killed and Anwar sustained injuries in the grenade attack carried out during his visit to Shahjalal Shrine in Sylhet city on May 21, 2004.

The commissioner reported being hit in the stomach by a bomb, which then fell on the ground near the foot of the district chief and went kaboom! "with a big bang." Sixty-nine others were also injured.

The UK foreign secretary at the time, Jack Straw, said he was "deeply shocked" by the attack.

The HuJIB murderous Moslem group was formed in 1992 and claims to have carried out at least 14 attacks, killing more than 100 people in the pursuit of establishing Shariah Law in Bangladesh.

A Sylhet court in December 2008 sentenced the trio to death and two others to life-time imprisonment for their roles in the attack. The High Court upheld the sentences in February 2016.

The same month, the death-row convicts appealed to the Appellate Division but to no avail. Their review petitions filed challenging the Appellate Division verdict were also rejected.

Hannan was also sentenced to death for the 2001 Ramna Batamul bombing, in which ten people were killed.
Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: HuJI

#1  I'm sure the mufti's a fine fellow and all, but I can't get past that name. Then again, he steered clear of the Kennedys, so there's that.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 03/23/2017 7:04 Comments || Top||


-Obits-
Chuck Barris Hears The Final Gong
It must have been the Russians.

He worked for the CIA, right?
Posted by: charger || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "It must have been the Russians."

Absolutely. Maybe. "They" gave him a potion that would ultimately age him to the point of system collapse. Diabolical!

RIP Chuck. You made me laugh.

Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 03/23/2017 8:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Donations may be made to the New York Police Foundation.

It's nice to see a Hollywood celeb who honors the Police.

Al
Posted by: Frozen Al || 03/23/2017 11:44 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
Fighting fundamentalism in a post-ISIS scenario
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
of Iraq and Syria holy warrior group is equally dangerous as al-Qaeda. However,
denial ain't just a river in Egypt...
concerning its global reputation, there are four factors that have contributed to ISIS gaining popularity across the world through different media outlets.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
Susan Rice Lectures Trump About Making False Statements
[Daily Caller] The Obama administration official who misled the American public on national television about the Benghazi attacks is out with a new op-ed lecturing President Trump about contorting "the facts."

Writing at The Washington Post, Susan Rice, the national security advisor under Obama, chastised Trump for his claims in recent weeks that the Obama administration wiretapped his offices during the presidential campaign.

While Trump has made false and inaccurate statements about being wiretapped by both the Obama administration and British intelligence services, Rice is perhaps the least-qualified Obama official to call out the Republican.

Rice is perhaps best known for her appearances on five Sunday talk shows on the morning of Sept. 16, 2012, five days after Muslim terrorists killed four Americans in attacks on U.S. compounds in Benghazi.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But...the pot IS black
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/23/2017 0:21 Comments || Top||

#2  The left defines Trooth. Got that?
Posted by: Pliny Shose2737 || 03/23/2017 0:27 Comments || Top||

#3  I am sooooo sick of these self righteous assholes lecturing us.

Posted by: DarthVader || 03/23/2017 8:15 Comments || Top||

#4  Lord Have Mercy,

Its a wonder lightning didn't strike her dead when she said that...
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 03/23/2017 10:51 Comments || Top||

#5  Some types of mouthing off should be a capital offense.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/23/2017 11:36 Comments || Top||

#6  It's about the best the Dems could do, I guess.
Posted by: gorb || 03/23/2017 14:36 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrians reinforce their fight in Hama
(Reuters) The Syrian army is sending reinforcements to face a major rebel offensive in Hama province, a Syrian military source told Reuters on Wednesday, as insurgents pressed an attack in a western area critically important to President Bashar al-Assad.

The assault spearheaded by jihadist fighters got under way on Tuesday and follows two attacks on Assad’s seat of power in Damascus in recent days, showing the lingering threat posed by rebels even as Assad enjoys the military upper hand in the war.

The areas of Hama province targeted in the latest assault form part of the western region of Syria where Assad has shored up his rule during the six-year-long war with crucial military support from Russia and Iran.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based organization that monitors the war, said insurgents had captured the towns of Soran, some 20 km north of Hama city, and Khattab, some 10 km northwest of it, confirming rebel accounts.

The military source said there were clashes in both places but the situation was not yet decided, adding that the insurgents had mobilized large numbers for the assault.

“Reinforcements are now being sent” by the army, the source said. “There are fierce battles between the two sides.”

The attack is being led by Tahrir al-Sham, an alliance of Islamist factions dominated by a group that was formerly al Qaeda’s official affiliate in the Syrian war. Groups fighting under the Free Syrian Army banner are also taking part.

An FSA rebel commander, in an interview with the pro-opposition Orient TV, said the Hama assault had been long in the planning, and insurgents were ready for a protracted fight.

“The battle – praise God – has been prepared for a long time and all capacities have been prepared for it so that we can wage a long battle,” said the FSA commander identified as a lieutenant in the Ezza Army group.

The escalation in Hama province follows two rebel assaults on government-held areas in Jobar in Damascus, launched by opposition fighters from the Eastern Ghouta, an opposition stronghold east of the capital.

State media said on Wednesday the army was waging fierce clashes with insurgents in northern Jobar.

The Ezza Army commander said the rebel attack in Hama was coordinated with the one in Damascus. He also said that more attacks would be launched “in a number of other areas”.
Posted by: badanov || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Kurds suffer Turkish artillery attacks near Afrin
(Reuters) Turkish shelling of Syrian villages in the predominantly Kurdish region of Afrin near the border wounded 10 civilians on Wednesday, the Kurdish YPG militia said.

“This morning from 8 a.m. (0600 GMT) the Turkish artillery began shelling the border villages in the Afrin area,” YPG spokesman Redur Xelil told Reuters.

“The Turkish army shelling is continuing,” he said. “Any response by our forces in this region comes as self defense,” he added in a written message.
Posted by: badanov || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Afghanistan
6 militants killed while planting bomb on a roadside in Helmand
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least six forces of Evil were killed while planting an bomb on a roadside in the restive Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
in South of Afghanistan. The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said the forces of Evil ere blown up as they were fixing the homemade Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Loy Bagh area located in Nad-e-Ali district. The source further added that four forces of Evil also sustained injuries in the incident.
Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


-Land of the Free
Devin Nunes says President Trump's personal communications may have been picked up by investigators through "incidental collection"
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sounds like he used Geek Squad.
Posted by: Pliny Shose2737 || 03/23/2017 0:35 Comments || Top||

#2  The bird on the right was "incidentally collected."
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/23/2017 0:40 Comments || Top||

#3  Is that Cheney?
Posted by: al aSha-med || 03/23/2017 1:02 Comments || Top||

#4  And then incidentally leaked?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/23/2017 4:20 Comments || Top||

#5  Maybe so, but it wasn't "wiretapped" and Obama didn't connect the wires, so Trump was still lying. We never make a mistake - The Media
Posted by: Bobby || 03/23/2017 7:33 Comments || Top||

#6  Just a question for those who may know.

Nunes took his info first to Paul Ryan then to Mr. Trump before presenting it to the Intelligence Committee.

The Committee Dems now have their panties in a wad.

Question: Is it possible that the Committee could have bottled up this information, thereby delaying it from Messrs. Ryan and Trump?
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 03/23/2017 8:08 Comments || Top||


#8  My guess is they know the damage to Trump was done and they will soon be exposed that they did wiretap him so they are slowly walking things back and managing the story to avoid the worst of the blowback as the story ages.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/23/2017 10:07 Comments || Top||

#9  Outrage!™: Top Dem calls for investigation into House Intelligence chairman
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 03/23/2017 10:52 Comments || Top||

#10  Outrage!™: Top Dem calls for investigation into House Intelligence chairman.

Great idea, but can begin with former Congressman and HPSCI Chair Mike Rogers, then bring it forward ?

No you say? Well then just fok'n drop it.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/23/2017 13:20 Comments || Top||

#11  Possible Clinton State Dept connections
Posted by: al aSha-med || 03/23/2017 15:39 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Vietnam suspends air controller who slept on duty as planes tried to contact tower for 33 minutes
[SCMP] Vietnam’s aviation authority has suspended three air traffic controllers, including one who fell asleep while on duty, for causing delays for two flights.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said in a statement on its website late Tuesday that it had recommended that the sleeping controller and one other controller also be fined.

The statement said the incident was a threat to safety, adding that the head of the air traffic control was also suspended.

Cat Bi international airport in the northern city of Hai Phong. Photo: Voice of Vietnam

The online Dan Tri newspaper reported that the crews on two flights of budget airline Vietjet Air-- one departing for South Korea and one arriving from Ho Chi Minh City -- could not contact the air traffic control at Cat Bi international airport in northern city of Hai Phong for 33 minutes on March 9.

The aviation authority was reviewing operations at Cat Bi air traffic control and said officials would implement measures to prevent a repeat of the incident.

The newspaper said one controller was absent while the main air traffic controller was sleeping. A technician was also suspended.

The flights were eventually able to depart and land successfully.

Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
Desperate Dems mobilize elderly Volkssturm - Joe Biden sent to the Russian front
[The Hill] Former Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday knocked the Trump administration for its relationship with Russia, criticizing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's decision to visit Russia before a NATO meeting.

"The notion that there's still this romance with Putin ... I'm told [Tillerson] has decided he's going to go visit Putin before he goes to the NATO conference? What in the hell are we doing?" Biden told reporters at the Capitol.

On Monday, it was announced that Tillerson would not attend an April 5-6 meeting of NATO foreign ministers. He is instead staying in the U.S. for a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Tillerson will then travel to Russia for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Lawmakers from both parties have called for a thorough investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election after Russian-backed hackers were linked to a breach of the Democratic National Committee last year.

In December, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security released a joint report detailing how federal investigators linked the Russian government to hacks of Democratic Party organizations.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What in the hell are we doing?

Guess what, Joe. You're not doing anything!
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 03/23/2017 11:35 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
About time. DoJ seeks to strip convicted terrorist of citizenship
[Hot Air] Back in 2003 Iyman Faris was convicted of a rather scatterbrained plot to take down the Brooklyn Bridge by cutting the structure’s support cables. He was planning to do this in collusion with Al Qaeda as part of a possible second wave of attacks against the United States. He was given a rather lengthy jail term but he’s due to be released in December 2020. So what happens then? He’s a naturalized citizen of Pakistani birth, but the Justice Department is now looking to change that situation by stripping him of said citizenship and ejecting him from the country. [AP]

The Department of Justice has taken the rare step of seeking to strip a convicted terrorist of his U.S. citizenship as he serves the last several years of a 20-year prison sentence for plotting to destroy New York’s Brooklyn Bridge.

Some national security experts suggested Tuesday the move might signal a new, tougher line under President Donald Trump.

The case involves Iyman Faris, 47 and born in Pakistan, who was sentenced in 2003 for aiding and abetting the al-Qaida terrorist group with his plan to cut through cables that support the iconic bridge. At the time, it was among the highest profile terrorism cases in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Can we really do this? I certainly hope so, and all signs point to there being precedent for such an action. You can’t take away the citizenship of a natural born American citizen, but we have revoked that status for naturalized citizens in the past, including Nazis who were discovered living here after having fled Europe following World War II.

Amazingly, there are already people raising a fuss over this and saying that it would set a bad precedent. Really? Faris had worked briefly as a double agent for the FBI but confessed to being part of the infamous terrorist network and plotting one of the more devastating attacks we would have ever seen on American soil had he succeeded. Critics of this proposal seem to be implying that taking away his citizenship would constitute extra punishment not provided for under the law. Perhaps that’s true, but terror attacks seem to fall into a rather unique niche of the American justice system.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda


Iraq
Heavy Iraqi shelling on Anbar leaves dozens of IS casualties


[Iraq News] Iraqi army commander announced on Wednesday, that dozens 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....
members were either killed or maimed by Iraqi aircraft air strikes in Anbar Province.

Commander of the army’s 7th brigade, Lieutenant General Numan Abd al-Zawei said in a press statement that Iraqi Sukhoi aircraft bombarded an explosive plant, a cache of weapons and a hideout belonging to the Islamic State in al-Karabla area in the city of Qaim.

The aerial bombardment resulted in the full destruction of the explosive plant, cache of weapons and hideout, as well as killing and wounding dozens of the terrorist group, Zawei added.

Zawei further explained that another air strike targeted a gathering of Death Eaters in al-Okashat area, north of Rutba, leaving dozens of casualties among the ranks of the Islamic State group.
Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Africa Subsaharan
Boko Haram commander who escaped from prison in 2010 rearrested
[PREMIUMTIMESNG] A Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
commander who beat feet from prison in 2010 has been re-tossed in the slammer
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
, the State Security Services, SSS, said.

In a statement by a Tony Opuiyo, the SSS said that the service arrested Nasiru Sani, also known as Osama, in Bauchi on March 15.

He said Mr. Sani beat feet from Bauchi Central Prison in October 2010 and hid in Maiduguri, Borno State.

Mr. Opuiyo said that in continuation of the service crack down on murderous Moslems, it arrested another suspect, Adamu Jibrin, at Jeka-da-Fari Market in Gombe on March 13.

He said the suspect who operated under the pseudo name of Dantata Sule, serves as a middleman for Boko Haram members and their commanders.

He said the suspect had affirmed his membership of the sect.

Mr. Opuiyo said in sustaining its operation, the service also arrested a suspected Boko Haram commander and food supplier, Ibrahim Fulata, and three of his associates in Dustsen Tanshi area of Bauchi State on February 28.

He said the suspects were being questioned to establish other possible members of the network.

Mr. Opuiyo said that the service had also arrested Boko Haram suspects in Kano, Kogi and Yobe.

The activities of Boko Haram have caused the death of about 100,000 people since 2009 according to official figures.

Mr. Opuiyo attributed the recent successes recorded to the cooperation and support of Nigerians who volunteered useful information to the service.

He assured that the service would maintain the zeal to ensure safety of lives and property of Nigerians.

Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram (ISIS)


32 Boko Haram fighters arrested
[NAIJ] Following new operations aimed at dismantling Boko Haram’s aggressive fundraising operations to finance its plans through kidnapping, armed robbery and gun-running, the DSS says it has arrested 32 Boko Haram members.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday, the DSS disclosed said it is questioning two suspects, Ibrahim Sule and Bello Shehu, who were arrested on March 13 at Nasarawa town in Kaduna State for alleged involvement in the abduction of two Germans – Dr. Peter Breuning and Johannes Brehinger at Pahkogo village in Kaduna State on February 22.

According to the DSS, about 32 suspected members of Boko Haram and other criminal gangs were arrested in operations conducted in Ekiti, Bauchi, Yobe, Gombe, Nassarawa, Kaduna and Kogi states between February and March this year.

The statement said: “Determined to sustain the prevailing peace and stamp out all cases of kidnap in various states where it is taking root, the Service staged vigorous operations which recorded successes.

“The duo of Ibrahim SULE and Bello SHEHU were arrested on March 13, 2017 at Nasarawa town, Nasarawa LGA of Kaduna State for their suspected involvement in the kidnap of two German nationals – Dr. Peter Breuning and Johannes Brehinger – on February 22, 2017 at Pahkogo, Kagarko LGA, Kaduna state.

“On March 20, 2017, a suspected Boko Haram kingpin, Adenoyi Abdulsalam was arrested in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State by a Joint Military/DSS operation team and an AK-47 rifle was recovered from the suspect who is presently undergoing investigation; Abdulsalam was in the final stages of kidnapping some high level targets in Ekiti, not only to raise funds but to terrorize communities in the state.

"Prior to this arrest, several other Boko Haram suspects had been apprehended in various parts of Northern Nigeria especially in Bauchi, Yobe, Gombe, Nasarawa, Kaduna and Kogi States.

“Typical cases of arrest include that of 29 –year-old Boko Haram member, Usman Ladan Rawa (a.k.a Mr. X) on March 17, 2017 at Lafia, Nasarawa State; he was discovered to have rented accommodation at Lafia for Abdullahi Isa, known for his notorious terrorist actions and his plan was to establish an effective base to conduct terrorism, kidnapping and robbery operations in Abuja, Minna, and other adjoining states.”
Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram (ISIS)


China-Japan-Koreas
NSA official suggests North Korea was behind US$951 million heist from Bangladesh’s central bank
[SCMP] A senior National Security Agency (NSA) official appeared to confirm that North Korean computer hackers were behind a multimillion-dollar heist targeting Bangladesh’s central bank last year.

Computer hackers attempted to steal US$951 million, but only got away with US$81 million, some of which was later recovered. After the theft, security firms quickly pointed the finger at North Korea. Other experts disputed that finding. But on Tuesday, NSA deputy director Rick Ledgett appeared to suggest North Korea was the culprit during a cryptic exchange at a Washington forum.

Speaking at an Aspen Institute roundtable, Ledgett pointed out that private sector researchers had linked the digital break-in in Bangladesh to the 2014 hack on Sony Pictures, which the US government attributed to Pyongyang.

"If that linkage from the Sony actors to the Bangladeshi bank actors is accurate ‐ that means that a nation state is robbing banks," Ledgett said. "That’s a big deal."

The moderator of the event, John Carlin, a former assistant attorney general for national security, quickly followed up: "Do you believe that there are nation states now robbing banks?"

If that linkage from the Sony actors to the Bangladeshi bank actors is accurate ‐ that means that a nation state is robbing banks. That’s a big dealNSA DEPUTY DIRECTOR RICK LEDGETT

Ledgett offered a simple answer: "I do."

While the NSA, America’s premier spy agency, has far greater insight into North Korean cyber operations than private security firms, Ledgett’s remarks studiously avoided any reference to what evidence the agency has collected on the Bangladeshi heist. They stopped short of an official US government statement that North Korea was behind the attack.

But Ledgett, a 30-year veteran of the agency due to retire later this year, would be unlikely to lend his credibility to reports that do not match his agency’s findings.

"I think the public case was well-made," Ledgett said.

The NSA declined to comment beyond Ledgett’s public remarks.
Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under: Commies


Africa North
Egyptian court jails 6 ex-policemen for torture, murder
[AA.TR] An Egyptian court Wednesday slapped six former coppers with prison terms after finding them guilty of having tortured a citizen to death in 2012, according to a local judicial source.

"Western Cairo’s Giza criminal court sentenced one former police officer to five years in prison; four former coppers to three years each; and a former police director to one year behind bars," the source, preferring anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to media, told Anadolu Agency.

All six convicted coppers had worked at the main cop shoppe in Giza, a main district of capital Cairo, at the time of the incident.

According to the source, the six were convicted of "arresting a citizen without justification at the Giza cop shoppe and torturing him to death" in 2012.

Wednesday’s sentences, however, remain subject to appeal, the source said.

The case was the second of its kind this week.

On Monday, three other Egyptian coppers were formally charged with "involvement in the torture of a young man to death during his detention".

According to a report issued last July by rights watchdog Amnesia Amnesty International, "hundreds" of people have been subject to forcible disappearance and torture at the hands of Egyptian security personnel since the beginning of 2015.

Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Afghanistan
Noor says will soon decide to resign as Balkh governor
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The provincial governor of the northern Balkh province Ata Mohammad Noor has said he will soon decided regarding his resignation as the governor of the province.

Noor described the motive behind his likely decision as the major political activities he has eyed for the future, including the upcoming elections.

Speaking a ceremony in Mazar-e-Sharif city on the eve of Nowruz, Noor thanked President Mohammad Ashraf Ghan for trusting him to once again assume charge as the governor of Balkh.

However,
it was a brave man who first ate an oyster...
he said he has intentions to step into major political activities, emphasizing that the decision regarding his resignation will be taken once consulting with the elders, his political allies, and others close to him.

Noor was one of the main supporters of Abdullah Abdullah
... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun...
during the controversial presidential elections in 2014 and played a key role in both the first round of the elections and during the run-off elections.

However,
it was a brave man who first ate an oyster...
he slammed Abdullah last week and apologized from his supporters for lobbying in his favor and supporting him during the elections.

Meanwhile,
...back at the alley, Slats grabbed for his rosco...
late in December last year, Noor said he is no more counting on decision making capabilities of Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah.

He claimed that his lack of confidence on Abdullah has led to opening of direct talks with President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..
.

Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
YBS fend off ISIS attack south of Shingal
[RUDAW.NET] Yezidi forces fended off an ISIS attack south of Shingal mountain, Monday night and into Tuesday.

Around midnight on Monday, ISIS murderous Moslems began an attack on positions of the Shingal Protection Units (YPG) in the villages of Skiniye and Hayale, at the southeast base of the mountain, the YBS command detailed in a statement published Wednesday.

Clashes continued through midday on Tuesday near Tewra village, 8 kilometres southwest of Skiniye and Hayale.

"As a result of actions our forces implemented, the gangs’ attacks were broken and they had to retreat," the statement read, as published by ANF News and confirmed to Rudaw English by YBS commander Zardasht Shingli.

One member of the PKK’s armed wing, the HPG, was killed when their forces came to assist the Yezidi forces.

The YBS reported killing 11 ISIS murderous Moslems and destroying several of their vehicles.

As many as 13 villages and complexes in the Shingal region are still held by ISIS despite major setbacks of the group across the northern part of Iraq.
Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


India-Pakistan
Man guns down wife in suspected honour killing in Sindh
[DAWN] A woman was rubbed out in a suspected honour killing case in Sindh's Qambar Shahdadkot district on Wednesday, police told Dawn.

Bahram Station House Officer (SHO) Meboob Ali Mithiani said that Koran Ali Chandio allegedly bumped off his 27-year-old wife using a pistol over 'honour'.

Mithiani said that the accused suspected his wife was having an affair with someone in the same village, adding that a First Information Report (FIR) for the murder has yet to be filed.

"No FIR has been registered yet. If no one comes forward to lodge the case within the next two days, we will register the FIR against the accused on behalf of the state," the SHO said.

He added that following a postmortem at a local hospital, the woman's body was handed over to her relatives.

The SHO added that the accused was on the lam and a search was ongoing in the area.
Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  She reached first!
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/23/2017 4:30 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US airstrikes kill hundreds near Syria's Raqqah
[AA.TR] Hundreds of Syrian civilians were reportedly killed in two U.S.-led coalition Arclight airstrikes in northern Raqqah province, according to local sources who spoke to Anadolu Agency.

The first Arclight airstrike targeted a school housing displaced people late Monday in the town of Mansura, located 30 kilometers (19 miles) west of Raqqah on the shores of Euphrates River, sources said, requesting anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Although the school is located in a ISIS-held area, the sources said there was no presence of the Lions of Islam in the area.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Hubba Hubba Club, Nunzio had his hands full of angry bleached blonde...
local sources said 40 others were killed in another U.S.-led coalition strike on Monday in al-Tabqah, west of Raqqah.

Mostly women and kiddies were killed in the attack.

Anti-ISIS coalition front man U.S. Army Col. Joe Scrocca said he was unable to confirm the strike on the school was a coalition action but confirmed the coalition carried out strikes in the area.

"We have not been able to look at all the evidence to determine whether that was one of our strikes or not," he said.

Scrocca said he would not put it past ISIS "to blow up a school or something.

"We see them targeting civilians all the time," he said.

ISIS-held Raqqah and its surroundings lack Internet connections, hindering efforts to deliver images or videos to mainstream media.

Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Britain
Is the attacker Abu Izzadeen the Jamaican national?
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] According to the police chief of counterterrorism Mark Rowley reported by Agencies, the unknown attacker is "Asian" as we can see in the enhanced picture. But English newspaper "The Independent" reported on its website that it may be the Jamaican national Abu Izzadeen known as Trevor Brooks
... also Omar Brooks and Abu Baraa for reasons that no doubt made sense at the time. He was born in Britain of Jamaican parentage, worked as an electrician before discovering the joys of Mohammedanism, followed on short order by the additional pleasures of Al Muhajiroun and preaching fiery nothings for offshoot Al-Ghurabaa...
in Britannia, where he was born 42 years ago.

However,
a clean conscience makes a soft pillow...
a correspondent for ABC News reported that he had spoken to Abu Izzadeen’s lawyer, saying that Abu Izzadeen is still serving his sentence in a prison in London. "So it couldn’t have been him," as stated by the official front man for the Gurabaa organization established by the Lebanese - Syrian Omar Bakri Mohammed, currently living in Leb after being expelled from Britannia. Al Arabiya reported the news published by the independent based on "reports that it didn’t hear about."
This article starring:
Abu Izzadeen
Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  they have fingerprint and retina scans by now.

assuming they take these routinely, the terrorist would be known by now if he was previously arrested
Posted by: lord garth || 03/23/2017 1:24 Comments || Top||

#2  DNA, too...
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/23/2017 5:59 Comments || Top||

#3  To the Tower with the lot. Time is of the essence. Please permit Gawd do the sorting.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/23/2017 6:03 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Islamic State Mag Praises Ohio State Jihadi, Doubles Down on Knife Attacks
[BREITBART] 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....
(ISIS/ISIS), in the latest edition of its online propaganda magazine Rumiyah, applauds the "martyrdom" of the Ohio State University (OSU) jihadi who used a butcher knife and vehicle to attack people and repeats instructions on carrying out more knife attacks.

In the English version of the magazine’s fourth edition released Wednesday, ISIS provides "a full-page spread on knife attack advice" along with new charts and pictures instructing prospective jihadists on the best knives to use and the most lethal parts of the body to stab, report the Foreign Desk and the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks jihadi activity online.
Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Dated article, but still germane.
Why is Rumiyah, or it's writers/editors/publishers allowed to exist? First amendment? I don't think so.
Posted by: al aSha-med || 03/23/2017 1:23 Comments || Top||

#2  8 Dec 2016

Good catch, al aSha-med.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/23/2017 19:47 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US-led coalition air-drops forces in Raqqa province
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The US-led coalition has air-dropped US and allied Syrian forces near Tabqa in Raqqa province, expanding a campaign by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militias against ISIS, the SDF said on Wednesday.

The operation aims both to capture the al-Tabqa area, across the Euphrates from the SDF’s other main holdings, and to curb Syrian government advances in that direction, the SDF’s Raqqa campaign said in a statement on social media.

The landing forces had seized four small villages in the area west of al-Tabqa and cut a main highway that links the provinces of Raqqa, Deir al-Zor and Aleppo, the SDF, a US-backed alliance of militias said.

"American forces have conducted a landing operation for US ground forces, along with special forces" from the Raqqa campaign, it said.

A local official familiar with SDF operations told Rooters the air-drop operation aimed to secure a crossing point for forces coming in boats across the Euphrates, which began arriving at dawn on Wednesday.

The official described it as "a pioneering step by the coalition and SDF in the framework of the war against ISIS," using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.

With the help of air strikes and special forces operations from the US-led coalition, the SDF is waging a campaign to encircle Raqqa city, ISIS’s most important holding in Syria.

The SDF, which includes the powerful Kurdish YPG militia as well as Arab groups, is fighting to isolate Raqqa ahead of an anticipated assault on the city, which ISIS has used as a command node to plan attacks abroad.

The Kurdish-led alliance cut the last main road out of Raqqa earlier this month, narrowing in on the city from the north, east and west.

The only way out of Raqqa now is over the Euphrates that borders the city to the south, the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor has said.

ISIS is losing ground to three separate campaigns in northern Syria - by the SDF, by the Russian-backed Syrian army and by Turkish-backed Syrian rebels.

The Syrian army and allied forces have made rapid gains east of Aleppo in recent weeks, edging towards the provincial border with Raqqa, close to al-Tabqa.
Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Feds Indict Philly DA Seth Williams on Charges of Corruption, Stealing From His Mother
Why are you surprised?

He's a Democrat, isn't he?



Posted by: charger || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Inreturn, the indictment alleges that, among other things Williams sought to assist Ali "in limiting security screening by law enforcement authorities at the United States border when attempting to return to the United States after foreign travel," specifically trying to help him avoid secondary screening when Ali would travel through the Philadelphia airport.

Selling America's and Citizen's safety out.
Yep. A Democrat
Posted by: Frank G || 03/23/2017 7:11 Comments || Top||

#2  Mr. Williams should not have brought his work home.
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 03/23/2017 8:12 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Erdogan warns Europeans 'will not walk safely' if attitude persists
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  Islamic scum whore.
Posted by: newc || 03/23/2017 0:19 Comments || Top||

#2  They don't walk safely - except when attacking Israel or USA, now.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/23/2017 4:41 Comments || Top||

#3  And this Islamist dictator is the leader of a Nato country. How's the diversity working for you?
Posted by: Jack Salami || 03/23/2017 9:59 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Spy vs Spy
CNN -- House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes said Wednesday that President Donald Trump's personal communications may have been picked up by investigators through "incidental collection."
I'm not sure what that means.
Nunes said at a news conference he discovered the potential surveillance of Trump himself while reviewing intelligence reports, but said it was not related to Russia.
So The Donald may have been right after all.
"This is a normal, incidental collection, based on what I could collect," Nunes said. "This appears to be all legally collected foreign intelligence under" the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Nunes said he alerted House Speaker Paul Ryan about the collection and is traveling to the White House Wednesday afternoon.

"I'm actually alarmed by it," Nunes said.

Asked whether he felt vindicated by Nunes' comments, Trump told reporters in a brief exchange he felt "somewhat" vindicated.

Democrats on the committee appeared blindsided by Nunes' announcement. Rep. Jim Himes said he spoke with ranking Democratic member Adam Schiff, and that neither of them are familiar with the evidence Nunes is citing.
Heads in the sand.
Nunes is chairing the House Intelligence Committee's investigation into Russian meddling into the US election last year. Two weeks ago, Trump asked Congress to investigate whether Trump Tower was wiretapped by his predecessor, then-President Barack Obama.

On Monday, Nunes' committee held a hearing featuring FBI Director James Comey and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers. At that hearing, Comey confirmed for the first time that his agency is investigating possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign and whether any crimes may have been committed during last year's election campaign as part of a wider probe into the hacking of Democratic servers and the Clinton campaign.

Also at that hearing, Comey said he had seen no evidence so far of the specific allegation of wiretapping Trump Tower.

Nunes did not know whether the "incidental collection" happened at Trump Tower, and could not say for certain whether Trump's communications were directly collected.

Nunes said the collection included Trump transition officials and that it happened after the election. He said he could not say whether it meant that Trump was "spied on"

"I'm not going to get into legal definitions, but clearly I have a concern," he said.
If there were legitimate concerns that Candidate Trump and his team were engaged with the Russian government to illegally interfere with the 2016 elections, exploring that would have been legitimate, it seems to me. But barring information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the American citizens involved, unmasking their names in leaks to the press and warnings to foreign governments and foreign intelligence services seems to me to be exactly that interference in the election process by American intelligence and law enforcement staff that they were accusing Russia and Mr. Trump of. Winkle them out and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.
Nunez sez a 'FISA warrant was involved and everything was legal.' That really does point to collection against US Persons (USP).

Daily Caller: House Intel Chair: Trump’s Personal Communications May Have Been Captured In Sweep

Grabien News: Nunes - FBI Not Cooperating With Investigation Into Trump Camp Surveillance


Legal Insurrection was updating the story as new information came in.

I seriously doubt the term "oh well, shi* simply happens" can be found anywhere in the lexicon of General Mike Flynn. My guess, and it's only a guess mind you, Mike Flynn has been very busy as work discovering precisely went wrong.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "This appears to be all legally collected foreign intelligence under" the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

What about the illegal distribution half of the question?
Posted by: gorb || 03/23/2017 14:29 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Misrata municipal council gets full Presidency Council backing after hardliners attempts coup
[Libya Herald] The Presidency Council (PC) has declared its firm support for Misrata municipal council after hardliners announced it had been sacked and would be replaced by a steering committee . . .
Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Home Front: Culture Wars
Boston school district switches to a more accurate world map, blows kids' minds
All flat maps are inaccurate in different ways -- only globes tell the truth. So the question becomes, what different perspective is this "more accurate" projection intended to teach, and would the parents agree if they knew?
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mmmm...grid cells of uniform size? I suppose that makes it easier to compute distances, if the grid were representative of distance, which it's not.

Relative land mass, uhhh maybe, but you don't need a grid for that. It's not mass at all.
Posted by: al aSha-med || 03/23/2017 0:55 Comments || Top||

#2  I, for one, am sick of the innumerate racists who have never seen a globe.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 03/23/2017 7:18 Comments || Top||

#3  Take your pick
Posted by: Bobby || 03/23/2017 7:30 Comments || Top||

#4  Oronce Finé - 20 December 1494 – 8 August 1555:




Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 03/23/2017 8:21 Comments || Top||

#5  Maybe Shaq is onto something?
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 03/23/2017 9:10 Comments || Top||

#6  Shaquille: "The map should be flat, just like the Earth"
Posted by: Frank G || 03/23/2017 9:13 Comments || Top||

#7  Damn - beat me to it, Frank!
Posted by: Raj || 03/23/2017 9:47 Comments || Top||

#8  Although the map the Boston School district is using was no doubt intended to glorify how important the third world is, how much land they control and all that it just makes them appear as bigger failures.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/23/2017 10:10 Comments || Top||

#9  I like the polar projections myself.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/23/2017 10:11 Comments || Top||

#10  Oronce Finé depiction of an enlarged prostrate.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/23/2017 10:26 Comments || Top||

#11  B
I believe "prostrate" isn't what you think it is.
Posted by: DonM || 03/23/2017 10:44 Comments || Top||

#12  @#11: Thank you for helping me flush my sinuses with coffee...
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 03/23/2017 10:55 Comments || Top||

#13  Natacha was trashin' the borders:
Sad Universe Dashed in Disorder!
Such luck that her locus
Remained at the focus,
So Massholes were sure to support her.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 03/23/2017 10:56 Comments || Top||

#14  The world re-discovered, sans scurvy:
"Screw old dead explorers." Ooh, nervy!
A renaissance flowered:
"Our kids were empowered
By turning their maps topsy-turvy!"
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 03/23/2017 11:04 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
5 injured at Punjab University as IJT halts cultural event
[DAWN] At least five people were maimed as students from the Islami Jamaat Taleba (IJT) allegedly gatecrashed a Pakhtun cultural event being held at 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....

University (PU), Lahore, police sources said.

IJT members allegedly tried to halt the proceedings, which resulted in a clash between students at the university, DawnNews reported.

Following the clash, police reached the campus and used tear gas to disperse the violent crowd.

The five injured have been shifted to Jinnah Hospital, police sources added.

"The cultural show was being held with the PU administration's permission, but IJT had issues with the activity being held so they tried to halt the proceedings," PML-N stalwart Rana Sanaullah told DawnNews

"Measures are being taken to make sure that the students involved in the disruption are held accountable," Sanaullah said.

"[Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
leader] Sirajul Haq
...current head of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. Siraj was born in 1962 and entered politics shortly after that...
talks about fighting terrorism, the National Action Plan and building a positive narrative on one hand, but his own people are involved in creating such disruptions on the other," the provincial politician said.

Sanaullah further said the police had been asked to inquire from the PU administration about the people involved and file a case against those involved in violence.

'Will not tolerate attacks at unarmed students'
Nationalist and religious political parties termed the Punjab government equally responsible for the altercation at the university.

The Awami National Party
founded by Abdul Wali Khan in 1986. Part of the PPP-led cabinet 2008-13. The ANP is considered left wing, advocating for secularism, democratic socialism, public sector government, and economic egalitarianism....
’s Zmarak Khan Achakzai announced the launch of a protest movement.

"The Punjab government gave a free hand to the gunnies of a religious party," said Achakzai. He added that no negotiations would take place until the enrolment of students involved in the attack is revoked.

"We will not tolerate attacks on unarmed students," said Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam
...the political wing of the Pak Taliban...
-Fazl’s Amir Zaman.

He added that his party would support every protest against the 'attack on Pakhtun students'.

Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
National Party’s Majeed Kakar referred to the incident as an "act of terror".

History of intimidation
The IJT is a right-wing student body that often operates in university campuses across the country as the de facto moral police. IJT members have in the past objected to Valentine's Day celebrations and the playing of music at certain cultural events.

University administration officials have also complained to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif
...Pak dynastic politician, brother of PM Nawaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab...
about the "Jamaat's negative activities on the university campus".

In February, as many as 15 students were maimed in a clash between two organizations at a Punjab University hostel on the playing of loud music at hostel no 4.

Pushtoon and Baloch Educational Development Movement’s Imran Kakar said some students were playing music in their room when a group of IJT activists reached there.

He said the IJT activists torched the room, while those who were playing music moved away after the incident.

Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
KGB defector Yuri Bezmenov's warning to America (Video)
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Which political party comes to mind that resembles Soviet-style goals to alert reality? Hint hint, a person with a uterus and breast is a male or I was born in 1990 but identify as a senior citizen so give me social security benefits.
Posted by: Jack Salami || 03/23/2017 9:51 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
One arrest made in social media blasphemy case, interior ministry tells IHC
[DAWN] As the hearing of a petition seeking removal of blasphemous content from social media resumed on Wednesday, Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui was told that the interior ministry had made one arrest in the case, while the names of several have been put on the Exit Control List (ECL).

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) submitted its report on the matter and informed the court that they had started the paperwork but haven't done much else two days ago after completing their inquiry.

The court expressed its disappointment at the speed at which the case was progressing and instructed the interior ministry to hand in a detailed report on the matter in the next hearing, which will be held on March 27.

The court reiterated that the country's premier spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence
...the Pak military intelligence agency that controls the military -- heads of ISI typically get promoted into the Chief of Army Staff position. It serves as a general command center for favored turban groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, tries to influence the politix of neighboring countries, and carries out a (usually) low-level war against India in Kashmir...
, should assist the government in the case.

Justice Siddiqui said a decision on banning social media in Pakistain will be made only after the interior ministry submits its report.

The issue has kicked up a political storm on the national level.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
said on March 14 that blasphemy is an unpardonable offence and directed the state machinery to find those responsible for putting blasphemous content on social media and bring them to justice without delay.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar has also said that Pakistain will represent the global Moslem community on the issue of blasphemous content posted on social media platforms and take the fight to any extent necessary to get its message across.

On March 16, the National Assembly passed a resolution condemning blasphemous content posted on social media and unanimously agreed to the formation of a committee of parliamentary leaders to monitor such content.

Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [12 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Government
Fairness Alert: IRS takes only 10 days to make After School Satan Club Tax Exempt
Professional courtesy ?
Posted by: Frozen Al || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Maybe that's what the Tea Party should have called itself.
Posted by: gorb || 03/23/2017 4:14 Comments || Top||

#2  I've read comments from Leftists that the Tea Party IS Satan.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 03/23/2017 14:27 Comments || Top||

#3  Said absolutely serious: "All members of the Tea Party are racist!"
In a prior conversation the same person had complained that a Lil' Old Lady had seen his Obama bumper sticker and accused him of "Supporting godless baby killers!"
Posted by: magpie || 03/23/2017 17:21 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Soddys suffer casualties in Najran attacks
The Yemeni army and popular committees launched Zelzal rocket onto a Saudi military site in Najran and stormed Mesyal border position, killing a number of KSA soldiers.

Saudi Soldier Killed, Two Military Vehicle Bombed in Asir, Najran, Jizan

The Yemeni army and popular forces shot dead a Saudi soldier and bombed two military vehicle in Asir and Najran provinces, a military official told Saba on Wednesday.

The soldier was killed in al-Makhruqa military site and gatherings of Saudi soldiers were hit in a numbers of the military sites of Akafah camp, al-Hamadah, al-Shurfah and Nahiqah in Majran province.

Moreover, the national army bombed the two military vehicle in Raqabat Nashmah military site in al-Rabu’eh area of Asir province, the official said.

Meanwhile, the artillery of the army and popular forces shelled also other soldiers’ groups in military sites of al-Kars, al-Sudanih and al-Matan in Jizan province, the official added.
Posted by: badanov || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Bangladesh
YouTube training videos key tool for Bangladeshi militants
[Dhaka Tribune] Law enforcement agencies say homegrown bully boy krazed killer outfits are using readily available videos from the Internet to train their recruits in combat, ideology and organising skills.

The videos are widespread even in the world’s largest video sharing website, YouTube.

The Chittagong-based krazed killer outfit Shaheed Hamza Brigade was found to be fully dependent on online videos for the training of its members. The Hamza Brigade members took battle training with the help of these videos in remote hill areas of Banshkhali in Chittagong, said Rapid Action Battalion (RAB 7).

On Tuesday, RAB caught five members of the New Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (New JMB) including engineers who graduated from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) in Dhaka. The group had been taking combat training from online videos of foreign krazed killers, said RAB 10.

A cursory search on YouTube using the terms "jihad training" results in many videos that show bandidos Lions of Islam from groups like the international terrorist organization Harkat-ul Jihad or the Iranian group Jaish ul-Adl exercising, doing weapons training, battle formations and hand-to-hand combats.

There are also thousands of videos from the Syrian war, filmed by al-Nusra
...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ...
Front using GoPro.

The terrorist groups Ansarullah Bangla Team and Harkatul Jihad Bangladesh also use online videos to brainwash lower income and illiterate people into militancy and extremism, law enforcement members said.

Last year the bully boy organization Hizb-ut Tahrir, banned in Bangladesh, conducted an online video conference across the world for its members. Bangladeshi members of the group also viewed the conference, intelligence reports said.

Intelligence agencies and detectives said the bully boy groups had been using the Internet to recruit and groom its members due to the absence of government monitoring on the web.

As the government cannot impose any bar over viewing such videos on the web, the bandidos Lions of Islam can easily roam around the virtual world and enrich themselves in the ill-motivated sector receiving massive collection of krazed killer related videos and some others, said sources in BTRC.

Experts say the government should introduce techniques to stop such instigating videos in the same manner that pornographic websites and videos were controlled in the country recently.

Law enforcement sources said the leaders and the top people in these terrorist groups took krazed killer training from abroad by joining international groups in Afganistan, Iraq, Pakistain and other parts of the world. On the other hand, new recruits use the shortcut way of taking training through videos.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit Deputy Commissioner (Cyber Crime) Md Alimuzzaman said: "We often request the YouTube authorities to take down militancy related videos. They sometimes respond to our requests according to their policies.

"We have to introduce a combined system to stop the viewing of such videos." Most of the videos that the bandidos Lions of Islam or potential recruits were watching were made somewhere else, he added.

"It is rare for these videos to be made in Bangladesh," he said.

Respective cyber crime units in various law enforcement agencies have done good work on this issue, sources said. But the government should impose strong vigilance on the web by taking different measures, they said.

Bangladesh Police Headquarters’ Assistant Inspector General (Media) Sahely Ferdous told the Dhaka Tribune: "We have plans to ban such videos. It is an ongoing process with the government. Already we talked to Facebook and got a positive response. In the future, we will hopefully contact YouTube and other popular online sites."

The head of Police Bureau of Investigation, Deputy Inspector General Banaz Kumar Majumder, said: "The practice of using the web is not new for krazed killers. The krazed killer organizations use social media and other websites for their communication and training.

"Although there are no direct restrictions over such media, we are keeping watch on the viewers and arresting those who are involved with krazed killer activities in the country."

Prof Dr Md Ziaur Rahman, chairman of Department of Criminology at Dhaka University, said such practices are a threat to the country’s security. Although the problem cannot be fully solved, it can be controlled, he said.

Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Secretary Md Sarwar Alam declined to make any comment about the issue.
Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Salafists


Iraq
Mosul Offensive News


US airstrike smokes 14 ISIS Bad Guys in western Mosul

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi fighter jets pounded Islamic State locations in western Mosul on Wednesday, killing 14 militants and destroying the group’s vigilantism office, according to a statement from the Defense Ministry media.

The War Media Cell said 14 militants were killed while two booby-traps were destroyed when Iraqi fighter jets bombarded Ras Sinjar and 17 Tamuz (July 17th) regions in western Mosul. It added that six booby-trapped vehicles belonging to the extremist group were destroyed.


17 Tamuz (July 17th) district in western Mosul (google maps)
Other strikes destroyed the group’s so-called “Islamic police” office in al-Baaj area, also west of Mosul, according to the statement. Islamic police was IS’s vigilantes service which observed civilians’ commitment to its extreme religious rules.

Iraqi government forces recaptured eastern Mosul in January after three months of fighting, and launched an offensive in February to recapture the western region.Iraqi troops are currently working to retake central Mosul districts from IS militants, specifically eyeing the city’s grand mosque where the group’s self-styled “Caliphate” was declared in 2014.

Earlier this week, the Iraqi air force said strikes it had carried out since the start of Mosul operations in October killed 2200 Islamic State members.

Iraqi field commanders were quoted earlier this week saying that bad weather, coupled with the narrowly-structured residential areas of western Mosul, had forced troops to halt ground incursions at some stages and to rely instead on air assaults and artillery bombardments to avoid fires and suicide attacks by Islamic State snipers and attackers who, Iraqi commanders say, use civilians as human shields.
Google Map at the link

40 ISIS troops die in fighting in northwestern Mosul

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi army forces took over an Islamic State command center in northwestern Mosul on Wednesday, killing 40 fighters in the process as operations continue to clear the west of the city from militants.

The Defense Ministry said in a statement that armored divisions took over the group’s command center in Badush, an area north of the western side of Mosul and near the Tigris River, killing more than 40 members of several nationalities, including a senior leader nicknamed “Abu Adul-Rahman”, according to the ministry’s statement.


Badush town, northwest of Mosul (Google Maps)
The forces seized locally-made rockets, communication sets and a network of underground tunnels at the area, the statement added.

The development put Iraqi forces in full control over Badush as well as over the western bank of the Tigris River, which bisects Mosul, according to the statement.

Iraqi government forces and allied paramilitary forces have been recapturing several areas around Badush since operations launched mid February to retake western Mosul. The troops recaptured eastern Mosul in January after three months of fighting, and launched an offensive in February to recapture the western region.Iraqi troops are currently working to retake central Mosul districts from IS militants, specifically eyeing the city’s grand mosque where the group’s self-styled “Caliphate” was declared in 2014.
Google Map at the link

2 civilians wounded by mortar fire as Iraqi forces advances in western Mosul

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) lraqi forces advanced towards more districts in western Mosul on Wednesday as operations against Islamic State militants proceed to retake the region.

The army’s Counter-Terrorism Forces command said its troops moved towards the Shuqaq al-Yarmouk (apartment buildings) and Yabessat districts in western Mosul, having recaptured nearby districts of Shuqaq Nablus and al-Resala on Tuesday.


Yarmouk district, western Mosul (google maps).
Meanwhile, Ikhnews quoted a security source in Nineveh saying two civilians were wounded by mortars fired from IS militants at Ghizlani, south of Mosul’s western side. The source said the pair was going to Nabi Shiit district, which was recaptured weeks ago by security forces, to pull out the bodies of relatives buried under debris.

Iraqi government forces recaptured eastern Mosul in January and launched an offensive in February to recapture the western region.Iraqi troops are currently working to retake central Mosul districts from IS militants, specifically eyeing the city’s grand mosque where the group’s self-styled “Caliphate” was declared in 2014.

Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition generals have admitted that battles in western Mosul were much more difficult due to the region’s high population and the complex structure of its residential areas.

Iraqi government data reveal that at least 355.000 civilians have been displaced since operations began in October.
Google Map at the link

15 ISIS troops die in southern Mosul fighting

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) A Federal Police Officer announced on Wednesday, that security forces killed 15 members of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, and arrested several sleeper cells belonging to the group in central Mosul.

Captain Khalil Haider said in a press statement that Iraqi security forces killed 15 members of the Islamic State group, as well as arresting sleeper cells belonging to the terrorist group, including four women, in central the city of Mosul.

Meanwhile, army forces also managed to kill an IS suicide bomber, before blowing himself up near the great mosque in Mosul, Haider added.

Iraqi forces capture 2 villages near Badush

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) We Are Coming Nineveh Operations Command announced on Wednesday liberating the villages of Al Yassin and Arhila, north of Badush, and raising Iraqi flag over their buildings.

Commander of Operations, Abdel Amir Yarallah, said in a press statement that troops of the army’s 9th armored brigade liberated the villages of Al Yassin and Arhila, north of Badush, and also liberated the Iraqi flag over their buildings.

The security forces inflicted heavy human and material losses on the enemy, Yarallah further added.

Nineveh Province is witnessing extensive military operations, after Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced launching an offensive to liberate the western side of the city of Mosul, in addition to capturing the last stronghold of the Islamic State in the city.
Posted by: badanov || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Terror Networks
The Beatings Will Continue: Iraqi Edition


1 dead in ISIS mortar attack in central Mosul

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) One civilian was killed and three others were wounded, including a security soldier, in a mortar shelling by Islamic State militants on areas at central Mosul Wednesday with mortar missiles, according to security sources.

Shafaaq News website quoted the source saying that a girl was killed and two other civilians were injured when a mortar shell launched by militants landed on al-Farouq area, in central Mosul.

Other rockets fell on Souq al-Arbaa market and Bab al-Toub, wounding a member of the Rapid Response forces.

The Federal Police command said earlier on Wednesday that IS members have begun to shell areas recaptured by security forces in western Mosul, but said they became in control over passageways in the Old City which militants used to pass through to carry out suicide attacks on troops.

Iraqi government forces recaptured eastern Mosul in January and launched an offensive in February to recapture the western region. Iraqi troops are currently working to retake central Mosul districts from IS militants, specifically eyeing the city’s grand Nuri al-Kabir mosque in the Old City, where the group’s self-styled “Caliphate” was declared in 2014.

There have been several instances of civilians’ deaths since operations launched in October to retake Mosul, with international rights groups blaming all parties to the conflict for the deaths.
Google Map at the link

7 die in ISIS mortar shelling in southern Mosul

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) A Police Officer informed on Wednesday, that 20 civilians were either killed or wounded in a mortar shelling launched by the Islamic State group on the liberated areas, south of Mosul.

Captain Amir Wathiq said that seven civilians were killed and 13 others were wounded in a mortar attack launched by the Islamic State on the areas of al-Jawsak and al-Dindan, south of Mosul.

Security forces rushed to the areas of incident, while ambulances transferred the wounded to a nearby hospital and the bodies to the forensic medicine department, Wathiq added.

Iraq is witnessing an extraordinary security situation, where ongoing military operations take place to drive out the Islamic State, while the US-led international coalition intensifies its air strikes on the group’s headquarters.

In wake of losses, ISIS turns to Scorched Earth

(Reuters) As Islamic State loses ground in Iraq and Syria, the Sunni militant group which once held territory amounting to a third of those countries is turning to sabotage to ensure its enemies cannot benefit from its losses.

As the Syrian army and allied militias advanced under heavy Russian air cover on the ancient city of Palmyra three weeks ago, Islamic State leaders ordered fighters to destroy oil and gas fields.

“It is the duty of mujahideen today to expand operations targeting economic assets of the infidel regimes in order to deprive crusader and apostate governments of resources,” an article in the group’s online weekly magazine al-Nabaa said.

The strategy poses a double challenge to Baghdad and Damascus, depriving their governments of income and making it harder to provide services and gain popular support in devastated areas recaptured from the militants.

The March 2 article said operations by Islamic State in the area around Palmyra “prove the massive effect that strikes aimed at the infidels’ economy have, confusing them and drawing them … into battles they are not ready for.”

It’s not just oil wells the group has targeted. Twice in the last two years it has taken over Palmyra, about 200 km (130 miles) northeast of Damascus, and both times destroyed priceless antiquities before being driven out.

A Syrian antiquities official said earlier this month that he had seen serious damage to the Tetrapylon, a square stone platform with matching structures of four columns positioned at each corner. Only four of the 16 columns were still standing.

In their earlier occupation of the city, the militants ruined an 1,800-year-old monumental arch and the nearly 2,000-year-old Temple of Baalshamin.

However, the article in al-Nabaa suggested Islamic State sees the destruction of tangible economic assets as a greater weapon against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, who is from Syria’s Alawite minority.

“In the first days of the second conquest of Palmyra, where fighters secured the city and other vast areas to the west that include the Alawite regime’s last petrol resources … the Alawite regime and its allies rushed to the depth of the desert to reclaim them,” Islamic State wrote.

“But the caliphate’s soldiers had beaten them to the punch and destroyed the wells and refineries completely so that their enemies could not gain from them and so that their economic crisis goes on for the longest time possible.”
More at the link

ISIS filling mass graves with bodies

[ARA News] The Islamic State (ISIS) radical group has executed and dumped the bodies of possibly hundreds of detainees at a site near Mosul, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Wednesday.

More and more mass graves are being discovered now that ISIS is being slowly defeated in Iraq, and pushed out of Mosul, the group’s de-facto capital in Iraq.

Multiple witnesses said that the bodies of those killed, including bodies of members of Iraqi security forces, were thrown into a naturally occurring sinkhole at a site known as Khafsa, about 8 kilometers southwest of Mosul.

Local residents said that before pulling out of the area in mid-February, ISIS laid improvised landmines at the site, which are sometimes referred to as improvised explosive devices or booby traps.

“This mass grave is a grotesque symbol of ISIS’s cruel and depraved conduct – a crime of a monumental scale,” said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Laying landmines in the mass grave is clearly an attempt by ISIS to maximize harm to Iraqis.”

“Iraqi authorities should make it a priority to mark and fence the site for the protection of the mass grave and those in the area, until deminers can clear the site,” the HRW said.

Residents said that water runs through the bottom of the sinkhole, which may make it difficult to exhume the human remains there. If exhumation is possible, the process should be carried out under international standards. Authorities should turn the site into a memorial and support families of victims seeking justice for the executions, according to the human rights watchdog.

The site is one of dozens of ISIS mass graves found between Iraq and Syria, but could be the largest discovered thus far, Human Rights Watch said.

While it is not possible to determine the number of people executed at the site, the estimates of residents, based on executions they witnessed and what ISIS fighters in the area had told them, reaches into the thousands.

Some of the victims may also have been detainees at Badoush Prison, 10 kilometers west of Mosul, which ISIS captured on June 10, 2014. On that day, ISIS fighters executed about 600 prisoners at a ravine in the nearby desert, nine survivors told Human Rights Watch.

On March 11, 2017, the Iraqi Security Forces announced that they had found another mass grave, about two kilometres from the Badoush Prison, that held between 500 and 600 men – though it is unclear how they determined these numbers.

On March 15, a general in the Iraqi military’s 9th Division said that under the division’s supervision, medical experts from Baghdad had exhumed about 400 bodies from the site.

“These excavations are unacceptable. They must be carried out by trained teams with sufficient experience, because they are dealing with human remains at a crime scene,” Fawaz Abdulameer of the International Committee for Missing Persons told HRW.

This is the second report of ad hoc and unprofessional exhumations taking place without authorization.

“To facilitate accountability for these crimes, Iraq should ratify the Rome Statute, giving the International Criminal Court jurisdiction over war crimes and crimes against humanity there, and should incorporate the prosecution of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide into its domestic law,” HRW said.

“The strong desire to exhume the remains of loved ones from ISIS mass graves is perfectly understandable, but hastily conducted exhumations seriously harm the chances of identifying the victims and preserving evidence,” Fakih said.

“While exhuming the remains of those killed at Khafsa may be difficult, authorities should do what they can to make sure that those who lost their loved ones there have access to justice.”
Posted by: badanov || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Arabia
Number of unwedded girls amounts to 2.5 million in Yemen
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Statistical sources estimated that the number of unwedded Yemeni girls is about 2.5 million, half a million of which are over 30 years old. Due to the situation in Yemen, there were no official reports about any comprehensive survey on Yemeni families, however, the available preliminary indicators confirm the increase of the number of unwedded girls to about 2.5 million.

The 2009 report had shown that the number of unwedded girls amounted to 2 million. According to the 2016 report, Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
ranked nine in the Arab region with a 30 percent ratio of unwedded girls. This social phenomenon is exacerbating in Yemen.

Studies show that the category of educated activist woman and those who are involved in the social life are less likely to get married because men do not like to marry a girl who has higher education level then them. The study also pointed that men tend to delay their marriage due to their economic situation or family traditions and other reasons related to their personal state of mind.

Al Arabiya interviewed two college students. The first wanted to be mentioned as "Zekra"; she said that she is 30 years and no suitable man has yet proposed to her, explaining that they usually prefer younger girls who are inexperienced in life, so that they obey them without objecting on anything. As for Lamia Ali who is a 40-year-old teacher, she says that she is convinced that it is too late for her to get married.

Social researcher Suleiman Abdullah confirmed that this phenomenon has increased after the Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ...
revolution that led to the deterioration of the economic and living conditions. He added that tribal traditions are also hindering the marriage of girls because their parents prefer to marry her to relatives and same tribe members. He added that the exaggeration in expensive ceremonies and celebrations will surely negatively affect this crisis. It is worth mentioning that 38 organization and charity associations are trying to work on this issue.
Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [12 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Not surprising.
Have you been to Yemen?
Posted by: al aSha-med || 03/23/2017 0:42 Comments || Top||

#2  the situation is similar in many other countries, including the USA where, I think, the number of unmarried women over 16 now exceeds the number married over 16
Posted by: lord garth || 03/23/2017 1:32 Comments || Top||

#3  And there are millions of unwed young men in China - I see a commercial opportunity.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/23/2017 4:21 Comments || Top||

#4  Adopting the culture of their American cousins.
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 03/23/2017 8:02 Comments || Top||

#5  Only need 300k - 400k men to marry 2.5 million women in Yemen
Posted by: Airandee || 03/23/2017 17:50 Comments || Top||

#6  or 50K Martyrs
Posted by: Frank G || 03/23/2017 18:44 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Third Force hands over key northern checkpoint to Sabha security department
[Libya Observer] Sabha security department has been handed over the checkpoint of Guwairat al-Mal by the Third Force that is securing the southern Libyan region in the presence of Sabha security chief, Colonel Yunis Abdelkader, the chief of 32 Brigade's operations room, Mustafa al-Shareef and Third Force's personnel.

Colonel Abdelkader said the handover aims at saving the bloodshed and avoiding any festivities between the Third Force and the forces of 12 Brigade of Khalifa Haftar
... served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all...
's Dignity Operation, confirming that the road between Brak al-Shatea and Sabha is open and secure.

The commander of the backup 32 Brigade, Abu Bakir Abdullah, added that their personnel took positions across the checkpoint in coordination with the Sabha security department's personnel in a step aimed at activating the role of the army and police.

Guwairat al-Mal checkpoint lies on the northern road of Sabha between Sabha and Brak al-Shatea town that leads all the way to Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
.

Third Force personnel have been positioned in the checkpoint since 2014.

Several festivities have taken place at the checkpoint between pro-Haftar 12 Brigade and the Third Force on many occasions.

Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Government
ICE agents outnumbered 5 to 11,000 illegals, cheer new Trump hires
[Wash Examiner] U.S. Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement unions are cheering President Trump's plan to hire 15,000 new agents, claiming that he has boosted sagging morale by promising to finally help the outnumbered immigration officers -- and let them do their jobs.

"During my career at ICE I have never had the opportunity to commend a sitting U.S. president, or DHS secretary, but I'm doing so today. Amidst all the hammering from the media, and protests from special interest groups, President Trump and Secretary (John) Kelly haven't wavered, but instead continued steadfast in their support of the rule of law and our officers in the field," said Chris Crane president of the union representing ICE.

In prepared testimony for a Wednesday Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing to support the new Trump hiring project, Crane revealed just how outnumbered ICE's Enforcement and Removal force, responsible for seizing and deporting criminal illegals, is.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  To keep it revenue-neutral, cut 15,000 IRS and EPA staffers
Posted by: Frank G || 03/23/2017 9:12 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Is California crazy from Lead?
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's gotta be something. A very good friend and fellow musician from my college days at Auburn University moved to Los Angeles to persue a musical carier. He is now a card-carrying leftist. Us Rubes in flyover land just don't understand what's best for us.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 03/23/2017 11:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Yes California has an abundance of home-grown crazy but I don't think the numbers are any higher percentage wise than usual, but we draw crazy in from other states and countries. WE also have a large population and ram people into a couple of large metro areas so the crazy is magnified.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/23/2017 16:47 Comments || Top||

#3  kookiez
Posted by: badanov || 03/23/2017 22:38 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Prominent religious cleric killed in East of Afghanistan
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A prominent religious holy man and former member of the provincial council of eastern Laghman
...It has a population of about 445,600, which is multi-ethnic and mostly a rural society. During the invasions of Alexander the Great, the area was known as Lampaka, wich is apparently Olde Macedonian for Laghman.The city of Mihtarlam serves as the bucolic capital of the province. The population is half Pashtun, the remainder Tadjik and Pashai. It had a reputionagreat wealth until it was conquered in the tenth century by Abu Mansur Sabuktigin.
He conquered it and set fire to the places in its vicinity which were inhabited by infidels, and demolishing the idol-temples, he established Islam in them, He marched and captured other cities and killed the polluted wretches, destroying the idolatrous and gratifying the Musulmans. After wounding and killing beyond all measure, his hands and those of his friends became cold in counting the value of the plundered property.

province departed this vale of tears he sustained during an attack by gunnies.

The provincial government 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..
said Qari Rohullah was shifted to Nangarhar for the treatment after he was critically injured in the attack.

Qari Rohullah was serving as the prayer leader of the central mosque of Sultan Ghazi Baba township in Mehtarlam city, the scenic provincial capital of Laghman province.

Provincial governor of Nangarhar Mohammad Gulab Mangal condemned the attack on Qari Rohullah in strongest words as he called him a patriotic religious figure who was tireless for the development of the country.

Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Home Front: Politix
Obama Admin Loyalists, Government Insiders Sabotage Trump White House
[FREEBEACON] The B.O. regime worked in its final weeks in office to undermine the incoming Trump White and continues to do so, according to multiple sources both in and out of the White House.

Behind the effort, these sources say, are senior government officials who previously worked under President B.O. and remain loyal to his agenda. These individuals leak negative information about the Trump White House and its senior staff to a network of former B.O. regime officials who then plant this information in key media outlets including the Washington Post and New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
Meanwhile,
...back at the palazzo, Count Guido had been cornered by the banditti...
holdovers from the B.O. regime are working to undermine the Trump administration's agenda through efforts to alter official communications, a number of administration officials confirmed in conversations with the Washington Free Beacon.

Multiple sources expressed concern
...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended...
over what they described as an unprecedented effort by the former administration to subvert President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
's team. These sources would only speak on background because they were not officially authorized to publicly discuss the situation, which is said to have fostered a level of discomfort and distrust in the West Wing.

The Free Beacon first reported on several portions of this effort earlier this year, including separate campaigns to undermine current CIA Director Mike Pompeo and former national security adviser Michael Flynn, both of whom were subjected to leaks aimed at undermining their credibility.

"We have members of the former administration at the highest levels who through their actions after January 20 have demonstrated their refusal to recognize the results of the general election," one senior administration official told the Free Beacon. "They have pursued, organized, and managed a comprehensive subversion of the new administration."
Posted by: Fred || 03/23/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  and BO is working his way thru the impoverished on the atoll
Posted by: al aSha-med || 03/23/2017 15:33 Comments || Top||

#2  The last great white hope for the liberals, Paul Ryan, will hopefully go down in flames with the defeat of Ryancare.
Posted by: Nero White 3083 || 03/23/2017 19:43 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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1Sublime Porte
1al-Qaeda

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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.
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In no particular order...
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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2017-03-23
  It's worse: Jewish Israeli-American, 19, arrested in Ashkelon for phoning in dozens of JCC bomb threats
Wed 2017-03-22
  Jihadi car and knife attack: Parliament in lockdown
Tue 2017-03-21
  U.S. Bans Laptops, Tablets from Cabins on Flights from Middle East
Mon 2017-03-20
  Syrian regulars gain control of regions near Palmyra
Sun 2017-03-19
  Four wanted Maute militants nabbed in Lanao
Sat 2017-03-18
  Man shot dead at Paris Orly airport this morning after taking soldier's gun: official
Fri 2017-03-17
  Four Killed as Bangladesh Police Storm Islamist Hideout
Thu 2017-03-16
  Kommander Abdullah, 10 others die in airstrike in Paktika
Wed 2017-03-15
  Dozens killed in suicide bombing at Damascus "Palace of Justice" courthouse
Tue 2017-03-14
  Suspected ISIS gas attack hits Iraqi forces in west Mosul
Mon 2017-03-13
  Kenyan police nab 6 terror suspects in coastal town
Sun 2017-03-12
  Double suicide attack kills 40 in Damascus
Sat 2017-03-11
  Syrian force a ‘few weeks’ from Raqqa, U.S. Marines deployed
Fri 2017-03-10
   Ax attacker at Düsseldorf main train station arrested
Thu 2017-03-09
  Baghdadi abandons Mosul fight to field commanders
Wed 2017-03-08
  IS gunmen dressed as medics kill 30 at Kabul military hospital

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