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Mortars hit near Somali Presidential Palace, 2 hurt
Today's Headlines
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Home Front: Politix
Questions, answers about the legal immunity process
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/31/2017 17:15 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It may be a legal ploy to avoid the possibility of criminal prosecution in the DOJ.

Q: If Congress chooses to grant immunity, what impact might that have on any criminal investigation?
A: It's not clear, though there are long-established restrictions on the Justice Department's ability to use any statements given to Congress under immunity in any future criminal prosecution. Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said his panel was "deeply mindful of the interests of the Department of Justice in the matter."
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/31/2017 17:21 Comments || Top||


Europe
US gives NATO allies 2 months for defense spending plans
h/t Instapundit
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned NATO allies Friday to boost defense spending or come up with plans to reach the alliance's budget guidelines within two months.

Tillerson, in his first talks with NATO counterparts in Brussels, said that Washington is spending a "disproportionate share" on defense compared with its 27 partners, and that he expects action by the time President Donald Trump meets with other alliance leaders on May 25.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/31/2017 15:17 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
Michael Flynn's Immunity Request Rejected By Senate Intelligence Committee
h/t Instapundit
The Senate Intelligence Committee turned down the request by former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's lawyer for a grant of immunity in exchange for his testimony, two congressional sources told NBC News.

A senior congressional official with direct knowledge said Flynn's lawyer was told it was "wildly preliminary" and that immunity was "not on the table" at the moment. A second source said the committee communicated that it is "not receptive" to Flynn's request "at this time."
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/31/2017 13:12 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
Defense Sec. James Mattis: North Korea ‘Has Got to Be Stopped'
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/31/2017 12:04 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Given how the Chinese are so 'historically' oriented, maybe this could be a new border between Korea and China. No need for THAAD and maybe just a MAG team left in the south. Major problem solved.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/31/2017 12:51 Comments || Top||


Britain
Ilana Mercer: Jihad's Triumph On Westminster Bridge
Moved to Opinion

[Townhall] The attacks keep coming. Murder or maiming by Muslims living among us is an almost daily occurrence in the West. The latest was knifeman Khalid Masood, who plowed a car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, London, and then proceeded to slash at them with a 12-inch blade. Immoral media counted five dead, with the killer.

In addition to the four murdered, 50 people were injured.

Promptly did Prime Minister Theresa May get her Churchill on: "[W]e are not afraid and our resolve will never waver in the face of terrorism." How easy it is to wax fat from the safety of a bunker! May was whisked away from the Houses of Parliament by an armed security detail.

In fact, the only reason Masood hadn't claimed more lives for his vampiric God (a peaceful entity, promised Prime Minister May) was because he committed Jihad at the Parliamentary estate. There, a "close protection officer," essentially a bodyguard to a politician, drew a gun and dispatched the rampaging Muslim.

So you know: In Cool Britannia, the moniker the Island acquired in the times of trendy Tony Blair, the only way disarmed Britons may shoot a savage is with ... a camera. For in the country that gave us the "Rights of Englishmen," the inspiration for the American founders--including the 1689 English Bill of Rights which entails the right to possess arms--the natural order has been inverted.

In the new old Blighty, only criminals are armed.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 08:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
Tammy Duckworth joins effort to block Neil Gorsuch confirmation vote
[Guardian] Illinois senator criticized Gorsuch’s refusal to meet, as more than 30 Democrats now plan not to support Donald Trump’s supreme court nominee.

Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth announced Thursday that she would join fellow Democrats in blocking a confirmation vote on Neil Gorsuch, Donald Trump’s supreme court nominee.

Duckworth, a combat veteran of the Iraq war who was first elected to the Senate in 2016, cited in a statement the refusal of Gorsuch to meet her as one key reason for her vote.

"Judge Gorsuch has not made the effort to meet with me in person to answer the serious questions I have about his record and he in fact cancelled a meeting we had previously scheduled," said Duckworth. She added: "I refuse to vote to end debate on a nominee who refuses to provide any answers to my questions."
Emphasis added.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 07:34 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Judge Gorsuch has not made the effort to meet with me in person

That would be to his credit. The real news is found underlined in the first sentence. Possibly as few as 16 left undecided.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 7:40 Comments || Top||

#2  They don't slather shmuckworthless with the same "war hero" stuff mcstain gets mega helpings of...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 03/31/2017 7:51 Comments || Top||

#3  meet with me in person

The public hearings where the various senators engage in grandstanding and long-winded speeches aren't enough?
Posted by: SteveS || 03/31/2017 10:39 Comments || Top||

#4  As Lee said about the Richmond Congress, which he had little use for.... (slight paraprhase I suspect):

"All they do is sit around chewing tobacco and eating peanuts"
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 11:05 Comments || Top||

#5  Maybe he's imitating Mike Pence.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/31/2017 12:06 Comments || Top||

#6  Re: Ms. Quackworth -any damn fool can crash an aircraft. The heroes are those who put the damn fools back together.

Enough of this "Hero" bull$hit already.
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 03/31/2017 17:08 Comments || Top||

#7  I crashed one once upon a time. Fortunately for me no lasting injuries and most fortunately for me, prevented my deployment in 1971. When I was able to fly again my window was gone.
Unfortunately I believe I once heard that "damn fool" comment being said about me as well. I'll take it now, but back then, I'll just say I wasn't.
Posted by: illeagle || 03/31/2017 17:33 Comments || Top||

#8  Republicans, who number 52 in the Senate, need eight Democrats to join them in order to end the expected filibuster, or in more technical terms, invoke cloture.
If they don't reach 60 votes, they can still get around it by changing the rules and requiring only a simple majority, or 51 votes, to end the debate.
...and otherwise invoking the nuclear option.
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/31/2017 18:08 Comments || Top||

#9  Dear 'illeagle:' Thank you for your service to our Nation. Glad you survived the crash. Thank you for visiting the Burg also.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 18:24 Comments || Top||

#10  Don't think #6 meant "any damn fool" means "only damn fools."

I read accident analyses regularly. Once you sit in the front seat, excepting catastrophic failures and/or unforecast Wx, well, you're "boned" if something untoward happens.
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 03/31/2017 20:02 Comments || Top||

#11  Absolutely correct, BU5562. My greatest "bitch" about Tammy D. is that her only claim to fame is a Purple Heart and prosthetic limb.

Although her sacrifice was great, its constant use as a marketing gimmick grows tiresome and tarnishes her body of work.

As far as myself, too much caffeine and not enough sleep is a dangerous combination......
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 03/31/2017 22:53 Comments || Top||


Rush: ‘Fantasy' of Trump Working With Dems Will End When Gorsuch Confirmation Is Filibustered
[Breitbart] Thursday on his nationally syndicated radio show, conservative talker Rush Limbaugh dismissed the possibility of President Donald Trump working alongside Democrats as "fantasy."

Limbaugh said this fantasy would come to an end when Democrats filibuster the Supreme Court confirmation vote of Judge Neil Gorsuch likely to happen next month, which Limbaugh said will be done out of a necessity for Democrats to fundraise.

Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 07:26 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's not so much Trump working with the Donks as much as the Donks, sensing their total lack of power and influence after the Reid option, working with Trump to claw some back. Individual Senators and some reps may be looking for constituent representation.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/31/2017 9:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Dems won't break ranks. The hard Left would crucify them if they tried.
Posted by: Iblis || 03/31/2017 11:32 Comments || Top||

#3  How can you work with people who are full on bat shit crazy?
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 03/31/2017 12:05 Comments || Top||

#4  How can you work with people who are full on bat shit crazy? Posted by Abu Uluque

Appears you've never worked in the Federal Government Ab. Alcohol my vriend, and in prodigious quantities.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 12:41 Comments || Top||

#5  How can you work with people who are full on bat shit crazy?

I perceive you haven't spent much time in academia.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/31/2017 12:53 Comments || Top||

#6  Trump needs to do and say all the cross-the aisles things to appeal to the drive by voters.

The left will do the crazy thing and it is best to give them little of anything to blame except themselves.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/31/2017 13:55 Comments || Top||


Trump Admin to Host Convicted Palestinian Terrorist Despite Outrage
[Free Beacon] The Trump administration says it will permit a Palestinian official known for endorsing terrorism and murder to enter the United States next week for a series of high-level meetings on the Israel-Palestinian peace process, a move likely to prompt outrage in the pro-Israel community.

The State Department confirmed to the Washington Free Beacon late Thursday that it intends to permit Jibril Rajoub, secretary of the Fatah Central Committee, to participate in meetings with U.S. officials next week, despite his repeated calls for terrorism against Israel and a 15-year stint in Israeli prison for committing terror acts.

Arafat visited Washington. Rajoub will feel right at home within the beltway. Remember, it's just a short visit, not a full, four year congressional term. After eight years of Obama, what harm could there possibly be ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 07:10 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Cheaper than dispatching a 'snatch' team.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/31/2017 9:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Host them in Guantanamo bay. That's US territory still. Hopefully even the dim Palestinian leaders will get the hint.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/31/2017 13:52 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
California Transgender Inmates May Soon Be Given Bras, Mascara, Lip Gloss
[Free Beacon] Men's prisons in California may soon provide access to bras, mascara, and lip-gloss for inmates who identify as transgender.

Women's prisons would also be equipped with boxers and aftershave, according to rules introduced by the Department of Corrections. The rules stem from a lawsuit brought against the state by a murderer serving a life sentence, who was the first inmate in the state to receive taxpayer-funded sex change surgery.

"Transgender female inmates housed in men's facilities could have feminine undergarments, lip gloss and mascara, for instance, while transgender male inmates in women's prisons could wear aftershave and boxers," according to the Associated Press.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 06:44 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hot sheet hotel with bars
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/31/2017 11:26 Comments || Top||

#2  Any little thing to squander money...
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 03/31/2017 12:26 Comments || Top||

#3  "Shoot, a fella' could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff."

Major T.J. "King" Kong
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 03/31/2017 12:46 Comments || Top||

#4  Do they get their own bathrooms, or do they get transferred to the other prison?
Posted by: Bobby || 03/31/2017 13:13 Comments || Top||

#5  As a believer in Federalism, all I can say is: I am glad that I am not a California taxpayer.

With that said, this is none of my business - I could care less what the progressive lunatics do in California.
Posted by: Lone Ranger || 03/31/2017 14:29 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
NSA Set to Provide Classified Communications Intercepts to House Committee
[Free Beacon] The House intelligence committee will soon receive top-secret documents that investigators expect to reveal whether private communications of the president-elect and his transition team were improperly gathered.

Rep. Devin Nunes (R., Calif.), chairman of the oversight panel, is pressing ahead with an investigation into unauthorized disclosures of intelligence that revealed the identities of Americans inadvertently caught up in foreign electronic surveillance, congressional aides said.

Nunes this week brushed off harsh Democratic-led criticism of recent briefings he gave to President Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) based on disclosures of improper electronic spying provided by an intelligence community whistleblower.

Documents shown to Nunes revealed what appears to be electronic spying on communications of the Trump presidential transition team, including the president-elect, between November and January during a foreign spying operation.

House Democrats and major news outlets have ignored or downplayed the alarming assertions of unauthorized spying and leaks of highly classified electronic intelligence.

Instead, critics who in the past have decried unauthorized electronic surveillance by the National Security Agency have focused on unconfirmed allegations of Russian government collusion with Trump aides during the 2016 election.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 06:30 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  House Democrats and major news outlets have ignored or downplayed the alarming assertions of unauthorized spying and leaks of highly classified electronic intelligence.

"Alarming assertions"... or what very soon may become indisputable facts.

Will we soon learn that NSA conducted the collection but Klingon Director Brennan provided the dissemination? The unauthorized release really is the key.

Mr. Barry Soetoro to the white courtesy phone please. Mr. Barry Soetoro.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 6:42 Comments || Top||

#2  Who ordered the Code Red?
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 03/31/2017 7:44 Comments || Top||

#3  The unauthorized release really is the key.

Yeah, that. In the meantime, expect more Russian squirrel sightings.
Posted by: SteveS || 03/31/2017 10:49 Comments || Top||

#4  Yeah, that. In the meantime, expect more Russian squirrel sightings.
Posted by SteveS


Who could have imagined, Putin the victim ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 11:17 Comments || Top||

#5  Putin is facing increasing opposition at home.

If he is brought down the chaos will be worse than post-Gaddafi Libya.
Posted by: Angusock Chuting6110 || 03/31/2017 12:04 Comments || Top||

#6  Mr. Barry Soetoro to the white courtesy phone please. Mr. Barry Soetoro.

Sorry. He seems to be temporarily unavailable.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 03/31/2017 12:08 Comments || Top||

#7  Ms. Farkas is now doing the Sgt Schultz act. She now claims to know nothing.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 03/31/2017 12:15 Comments || Top||

#8  Ms. Farkas is now doing the Sgt Schultz act. She now claims to know nothing.
Posted by Deacon Blues


Which perhaps indicates she took our suggestion of yesterday here at the Burg to heart, and 'lawyered up.'
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 12:33 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Eat your cake & keep it?
h/t Instapundit
The vice president--and other powerful men--regularly avoid one-on-one meetings with women in the name of protecting their families. In the end, what suffers is women’s progress.
Progress to where?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/31/2017 02:14 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  In the end, what suffers is women’s progress.

No, the sufferers are the muckrakers and scandal sheets. Sunt angustiae my dear g(r)om, sunt angustiae.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 6:17 Comments || Top||

#2  Apparently, some of this has been going on for a long time, but it takes a Pub to make it news.
Posted by: Bobby || 03/31/2017 7:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Senator Kennedy to the courtesy phone.

[remember its OK when they do it]
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/31/2017 9:28 Comments || Top||

#4  Come-on Besoeker, we all know that good looking women who know how to flirt - within the bounds of propriety, do considerably better than otherwise.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/31/2017 10:21 Comments || Top||

#5  Forgive the oversimplification. Yes, our TW, Barb. and Ms. Besoeker being the obvious exceptions.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 11:06 Comments || Top||

#6  IMO, you're entering a danger zone, Besoeker.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/31/2017 12:02 Comments || Top||

#7  I dunno, being alone with my ex-wife was a danger in its own.
Posted by: Seeking cure for ignorance || 03/31/2017 14:15 Comments || Top||

#8  My mother used to warn me about one-on-one meetings with women I wasn't already related to.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/31/2017 18:49 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Mother Beats Up Daughter’s Rival at School, Destroys Girl’s Car with Ax
[Breitbart] A Florida mother faces multiple charges after she went to her daughter’s high school around the end of the school day and beat up the girl who was her daughter’s rival, police say.

Police said Ernstlatta LaFrance, 30, hit the Carol City High School student and knocked her phone out of her hand, the New York Daily News reported.

But the fight did not end there. The victim went to LaFrance’s townhouse to retrieve her phone when LaFrance allegedly broke the girl’s finger and used an ax to destroy her car.

Police said LaFrance’s partner, Erlisa Evans, 28, got involved in the incident when she came outside the home and fired three gunshots into the air, according to an arrest report.

Evans now faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and firing a gun into the air, Fox News reported.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 00:43 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ax 'em to keep the noise down.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/31/2017 1:37 Comments || Top||

#2  There are so many things wrong with this story that I wouldn't know where to start.

How far down will we define deviancy before society becomes totally mired in this toxic dysfunction?
Posted by: AlanC || 03/31/2017 8:15 Comments || Top||

#3  Were do you think we're now, AC?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/31/2017 10:18 Comments || Top||

#4  Not totally mired g(r)om but definitely bogged down some.

There's still enough science morality left that while we're on the slippery road to hell (or Albquerque) we're not there yet.

Do I win a prize for mixing metaphors? How about Martinis?
Posted by: AlanC || 03/31/2017 10:42 Comments || Top||

#5  still enough science morality left

Kept up with Global Warming or Cold Fusion?
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/31/2017 11:30 Comments || Top||

#6  Nothing raises a kids stock among their peers than having their parents get involved. /sarc
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/31/2017 13:59 Comments || Top||

#7  Ernstlatta LaFrance and her partner, Erlisa Evans

C'mon now, ya gotta be making this shit up!
Posted by: Frank G || 03/31/2017 15:50 Comments || Top||

#8  "There's a place," sings LaFrance, "where... Good heavens!
Regardez Erlisa's size sevens!"
Sighs Evans, much taken,
"That sheet is sure shakin',"
Admiring Ernstlatta's elevens.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 03/31/2017 16:26 Comments || Top||

#9  wow. just wow
Posted by: Frank G || 03/31/2017 20:21 Comments || Top||

#10  Ax 'em to keep the noise down.

Martin Luther King was no saint, but I'd wager he'd be *shocked* at how many steps backward his people have taken in the last 4 decades.
Posted by: Crusader || 03/31/2017 22:41 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Kenya arrests 3 alleged human traffickers for ISIS
[Ynet] A Kenya police official says they have placed in durance vile
Book 'im, Mahmoud!
three alleged international human traffickers who are suspected of smuggling recruits for ISIS and helping to finance the group.

Two of the men were on a Kenyan wanted list with a $20,000 reward for information leading to their arrest.

Police front man George Kinoti said in a statement Thursday the two Kenyans and a Somali were arrested Monday in the coastal town of Malindi.

Kinoti says Somali-born Ali Hussein Ali is accused of being recruited by ISIS after he left Kenya in 2010 and "deployed" back to the country in November.

Kenya is battling to stop recruitment of its youth by holy warrior groups, notably al-Shabaab
... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
in neighboring Somalia.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/31/2017 00:37 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  "arrests"? Should be "kills"
Posted by: Frank G || 03/31/2017 21:33 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
US names Islamic State fighters, British cleric to ‘terror’ blacklist
[IsraelTimes] Preacher Anjem Choudary and six others put in catalog of ’specially designated global terrorists,’ placed under global financial.

The US State Department named British radical Islamic holy man Anjem Choudary
...Self-proclaimed holy man who used to work for Omar Mohammed Bakdri as spokesman for al-Muhajiroun. Anjem is a loathesome little attention prostitute who is to be heard cheering for the home team anytime anybody with a turban manages to slaughter a group of unarmed infidels. Anjem was born in the UK in 1967 and is, as you would expect, of Pakistaini descent. The Ghost of Dante is of the opinion that when he goes to hell his knees will be broken once a month...
and the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group’s "Beatles" execution squad member El Shafee Elsheikh to its "designated terrorist" lists on Thursday.

The two were among seven backers and imported muscle of jihadist groups added to the State and Treasury Department blacklists of "specially designated global terrorists," which place them under global financial sanctions.

Others added to the lists include Mark John Taylor of New Zealand, who joined the Islamic State in 2014; Trinidadian Shane Dominic Crawford, another IS foreign fighter; and Tunisian-born Swede Sami Bouras, whom the State Department called a member of al-Qaeda involved in planning suicide kabooms.

Also included were Muhammad Bahrun Naim Anggih Tamtomo of Indonesia and Muhammad Wanndy Bin Mohammed Jedi of Malaysia.

Naim is a Syria-based planner and financier for Islamic State, while Jedi works with IS in Syria and Iraq to recruit new fighters from abroad.

Choudary is the only one of the seven not at liberty. The former lawyer of Pak descent was jugged
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
in September 2016 for encouraging support for IS jihadists.

Elsheikh, also British, is a member of an Islamic State "execution cell" dubbed "The Beatles", which is accused of multiple beheadings of captives, according to the State Department.

"Elsheikh was said to have earned a reputation for waterboarding, mock executions, and crucifixions while serving as an ISIS jailer," said the State Department, using another acronym for the Islamic State.

Listing the seven on the Treasury’s sanctions list aims to deny them access to global business and banking networks by banning any American entities from doing business with them.

That ban can extend to foreign entities like banks with US operations, widening the impact of the sanctions.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/31/2017 00:37 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  global financial sanctions? Garnering his dole check?
Posted by: Frank G || 03/31/2017 12:02 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
I-85 Bridge Collapses in Atlanta Freeway Fire During Rush Hour
[NBC] A massive fire caused a bridge to collapse Thursday night on Interstate 85 in Atlanta, one of the busiest stretches of roadway in America, backing up rush hour traffic for several miles and creating what the mayor called a long-term "transportation crisis."

The huge fire was reported at 6:21 p.m. ET underneath the bridge on the northbound side -- near where the interstate merges with another major artery, State Highway 400 -- forcing authorities to close the interstate and turn drivers around during the evening rush.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 00:23 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Posh! Everybody knows fire can't melt steel (or reinforcing in concrete)!
Posted by: Frank G || 03/31/2017 0:31 Comments || Top||

#2  The huge fire was reported at 6:21 p.m. ET

Around hobo supper time.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 0:36 Comments || Top||

#3  They probably tried to put the (PVC/Plastics stored under the bridge) fire out with water. Should have used FOAM (link).
Posted by: Elmomotle Smiter of the French2165 || 03/31/2017 1:31 Comments || Top||

#4  It's really difficult to exaggerate how big of a mess this is going to create in Atlanta. About the only thing that could cause as many problems is messing up the Airport.
Posted by: Beau || 03/31/2017 9:47 Comments || Top||

#5  So, Frank G, are you going to Atlanta?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 03/31/2017 10:05 Comments || Top||

#6  Seems the Congressional caucus of Atlanta needs to visit the White House for some highway funding. That could be interesting.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/31/2017 11:08 Comments || Top||

#7  This gonna suck so bad for so long.

Thankfully I'm Alpharetta to Dunwoody and done
Posted by: Beavis || 03/31/2017 11:28 Comments || Top||

#8  My younger son had gone over the section that collapsed two hours earlier. My wife had a premonition yesterday and prayed for our son and her parents in Atlanta.
Posted by: Ptah || 03/31/2017 11:52 Comments || Top||

#9  My wife had a premonition yesterday and prayed for our son and her parents in Atlanta.
Posted by Ptah


If she has any future premonitions involving a southerly arc down I-85, please post it here or ring me up.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 12:45 Comments || Top||

#10  Here's the stuff that seems to have been set alight. From the AJC.
Posted by: Classical_Liberal || 03/31/2017 14:58 Comments || Top||

#11  That was my big question. What could provide a fuel source that would crack the concrete and melt internal reinforcing (as obviously happened). I mean even Jet fuel can't do that - Or so our expert celebrities say
Posted by: Frank G || 03/31/2017 15:21 Comments || Top||

#12  add to #11, Rosie's "Expert" Credentials™:
While she attended Commack High School, O'Donnell was voted homecoming queen, prom queen, senior class president, and class clown.[3] During high school she began exploring her interest in comedy, beginning with a skit performed in front of the school in which she imitated Gilda Radner's character Roseanne Roseannadanna.[2] After graduating in 1980, O'Donnell briefly attended Dickinson College, later transferring to Boston University before ultimately dropping out of college.[3]
Posted by: Frank G || 03/31/2017 15:24 Comments || Top||

#13  Let's be honest jihadis are crap and could cause a lot more economic damage with a bit of what they lack i.e. thought power.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/31/2017 15:50 Comments || Top||

#14  Spalling of concrete due to fire.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 16:36 Comments || Top||

#15  Heat causes concrete to pop and flake. Take a cutting torch to concrete and you better have safety glasses because the flakes will travel pretty fast and far.

Concrete will also crack at low temperatures. That is why there are creases in the sidewalk. To try to make sure if concrete is going to crack, it cracks at the crease and not in the panel itself. That is called controlling the random, unpredictable cracking of concrete.

When you add heat to concrete for a period of time, it pops off and fault lines appear everywhere, and then collapses if elevated. Taking the rebar down with it.
Posted by: Ebbuger Hatfield7637 || 03/31/2017 19:22 Comments || Top||


Europe
Europe migrant colonist briefs
Italy foils IS-inspired plot to blow up Rialto Bridge in Venice

[IsraelTimes] Three men from Kosovo and an unidentified minor have been arrested in Venice on suspicion of plotting to blow up the city’s celebrated Rialto Bridge and planning other attacks, Italian police said Thursday.

“With all the unbelievers there are in Venice, you put a bomb under the Rialto and you go straight to heaven,” one of the alleged jihadist plotters said in a wiretapped conversation, according to Adelchi d’Ippolito, the Venice prosecutor in charge of the case. He revealed the group had been under surveillance since last year.

Authorities identified the suspects as Fisnik Bekaj, Dake Haziraj and Arjan Babaj. They said the wiretap evidence against the suspects also includes recordings of them celebrating the attack that killed four people outside Parliament in London last week and discussing their desire to join Islamist fighters in Syria.

D’Ippolito said the suspects were “truly dangerous” and were suspected of plotting attacks both in Italy and overseas. One had returned recently from Syria, he said. But he added that they wouldn’t have been able to carry out an attack in Italy since they were being closely watched.

The suspects were detained in an overnight sweep carried out after it was established that they had undergone “religious radicalization”, according to a police statement.

D’Ippolito said a search of a Venice apartment showed the suspects were getting in physical shape and watching videos of Islamic extremists demonstrating how to carry out knife attacks. He also said the suspects appeared to have been studying how to build explosives but did not have the necessary components for making a bomb.

Raids were conducted at 12 locations in the historic center of the city, which is a magnet for millions of visitors from around the world.

Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said all those detained had residency permits to live in Italy.

Migrants accused of being part of Syrian militant group go on trial in Germany

[AlAhram] Two Syrian migrants who came to Germany as part of an influx of refugees in the summer of 2015 went on trial in Munich on Thursday accused of fighting in Syria as part of a militant group. Barbara Stockinger, a judge and spokeswoman for Munich's higher regional court, said 22-year-old Azad R. and 24-year-old Kamel T.H.J. were accused of fighting near Aleppo as part of the Islamist rebel group Ahrar al-Sham between August 2013 and April 2014.

"They armed themselves with kalashnikovs and fought against other rebel groups and the Syrian military government," she said.

Stockinger said one of the men was injured during combat and headed to Turkey for medical treatment along with the other defendant. They then travelled to Germany, where they arrived in around June 2015 before being taken into custody in April 2016.

If convicted, the men could face up to 10 years in prison.

Syrian migrant sets himself on fire in Greece protest: Report

[AlAhram] A Syrian man set himself on fire at a migrant camp on the Greek island of Chios on Thursday in despair over his bid to gain asylum, the Greek news agency ANA reported. The unidentified man was rushed to hospital with burns over 90 percent of his body, ANA said. The policeman who tried to save him was also hospitalised with burns.

Thousands of people, many of them Syrians fleeing war, are stuck in Greece's Aegean islands as a result of an EU-Turkish agreement that curbed the influx of migrants to the European Union. Most of them have filed for asylum to avoid being sent back to Turkey, but these applications take months to handle. Humanitarian groups have repeatedly sounded the alarm over declining morale in their camps.

In a separate incident, Greek police said Thursday they had arrested a people trafficker who imprisoned 23 South Asian migrants for a week in a bid to blackmail their families into paying money for smuggling them into Greece. The 26-year-old Greek national was demanding between 1,500 and 3,000 euros ($1,600 to $3,200) a head. The migrants had only made an up-front payment. Police were alerted by a migrant who complained that his brother and a nephew were being held in the warehouse in Menemeni, a small town near the northern city of Thessaloniki, a police statement said.

Germany: radicalized teen charged over attempted mall attack

[Ynet] German prosecutors have charged a radicalized man with attempted murder for throwing two Molotov cocktails into the entrance of a shopping mall in an effort to kill "infidels." Prosecutors in Celle identified the 18-year-old German citizen Thursday only as Saleh S., in line with privacy rules. He is the elder brother of a 16-year-old girl, Safia S., who was convicted in January of stabbing and wounding a police officer at the behest of the Islamic State group.

Prosecutors say the suspect sympathized with groups such as ISIS. He allegedly threw the home-made firebombs—filled with diesel fuel that didn't ignite—into the entrance of the mall in Hannover on Feb. 5 last year. They sideswiped two people, but no one was hurt and no damage caused.

Danish minister urges people to report illegal labor in pizzerias

[DW] Ordinary Danes should inform the authorities if they suspect food vendors are employing illegal immigrants, Danish Integration Minister Inger Stoejberg has said. The police cannot be everywhere at once, she added. Stoejberg recommended informing on food businesses on Wednesday after Danish media reported that a growing number of people were living in Denmark illegally.

The hardline minister is no stranger to controversy. Two weeks ago, she sparked outrage by posting a picture of herself with a cake commemorating the 50th government measure to tighten immigration law. She was also involved in the push to seize immigrants' valuables and jewelry in order to pay for their stay in immigration centers.

According to Danish media, the number of foreigners living illegally in the Scandinavian country has risen from 877 people in 2015 to 1,348 last year. The state, with its population of 5.6 million, has been mostly spared from the immigration wave that hit Germany and Sweden.

From Breitbart:
EU President Predicts 30 Million More Migrants Will Come Europe
30 March
European Parliament President Antonio Tajani claims there could be as many as 30 million migrants heading to Europe in the coming years and advocates “refugee cities” as an answer to the crisis.

Hungary Begins Detaining Migrants in ‘Container Villages’ Amidst Protests from EU
30 March
The Hungarian government has begun the process of relocating asylum seekers into two “container villages” while the European Court of Human rights (ECHR) has fought against the move.

Auditors: German Courses For Migrants Waste of Millions of Euros
29 March
German auditors have slammed the government’s German language courses for asylum seekers saying that it is likely that millions of euros have been wasted on programmes where no measure of success could be found.

German Minister Threatens Sanctions on Countries Who Refuse to Take Back Migrants
29 March
The German government is putting pressure on African countries to take back their citizens who have failed to claim asylum by threatening economic sanctions.

Austrian Government to Ban Burqa
29 March
The grand coalition government of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) and the Socialist Party (SPÖ) have now agreed to ban the full-face Islamic veil, known as the burqa, as part of a new integration package.

Austria Wants to Exit EU Migrant Redistribution Scheme
28 March
Austria should withdraw completely from the European Union’s migrant redistribution programme because it has already taken enough, government ministers have said.

European Union Attacks Hungary’s Anti-Migrant Laws
28 March
Hungary’s new legislation allowing for the detention of asylum-seekers in shipping containers at border camps took effect Tuesday, with the European Union’s commissioner for migration saying that it needs to comply with the bloc’s rules.

Eastern EU Members Slam ‘Blackmail’ by Brussels on Migrants Resettlement
28 March
Leaders from Central Europe said Tuesday they reject a European Union policy that calls for all member states to receive migrants, protesting suggestions that the level of their compliance could be linked to the availability of EU funds to them.

Hungary Refuses to Take 5,000 Migrants From Sweden
28 March
Hungary has refused a request by the Swedish government to take in 5,000 asylum seekers, and the Swedes want to take the matter to court.

Underage Runaway Migrants in Germany Forced into Prostitution and Drug Peddling
28 March
Underage migrants who run way from asylum homes are finding themselves reduced to selling drugs or becoming child prostitutes for as little as €10 in the German capital of Berlin.

Italian Public Prosecutor Accuses NGOs of Abetting Illegal Immigration into Italy
26 March
An Italian public prosecutor has called for monitoring of the funding of NGOs engaged in rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea, noting that “the facilitation of illegal immigration is a punishable offense regardless of the intentions.”

Hungarian Government Denies Widespread Abuse of Migrants Claimed by Campaign Groups
26 March
A new report shows that while there have been instances of violence from Hungarian border guards or police, the extent is nowhere near what various pro-migrant NGOs have claimed. Over the last year, many humanitarian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have accused Hungarian border
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/31/2017 00:08 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  Just before the rollover, rjschwarz asked

What is the percentage of Muslims in France? 39%?

According to the CIA World Factbook,my favourite source for such things, Muslims make up 7-9% of the French population. Presumably that does not count the never mentioned number of migrants who may or may not be passing through.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/31/2017 1:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Reading further down the entry after posting the above, I note the following note:

note: France maintains a tradition of secularism and has not officially collected data on religious affiliation since the 1872 national census, which complicates assessments of France's religious composition; an 1872 law prohibiting state authorities from collecting data on individuals' ethnicity or religious beliefs was reaffirmed by a 1978 law emphasizing the prohibition of the collection or exploitation of personal data revealing an individual's race, ethnicity, or political, philosophical, or religious opinions; a 1905 law codified France's separation of church and state (2015 est.)
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/31/2017 1:17 Comments || Top||


Anti-EU activist fails to burn EU flag due to EU rules on flammable materials
[Dhaka Tribune] A balaclava wearing anti-EU activist has been filmed spectacularly failing to set fire to a European flag because of EU regulations on flammable materials.

The man, believed to be a white nationalist affiliated with far-right group the Bolton North West Infidels, is filmed posing in front of the flag before launching into a rant about "forced mass immigration" eroding British identity.

"The European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
is corrupt to the core," he says in the clip. "It’s here to take away our nationality, our identity, our free speech and our illusory sovereignty.

"Its forced mass immigration is genocide on the British people. Its main aim is to wipe us and our country out. We want no part of it. Get us out now."

The man then attempts to set the flag alight with a cigarette lighter. But he appears to have forgotten European fire safety regulations and was soon thwarted by the fire-retardant flag as the flames flickered out.

Undeterred, the man tries to light it again ‐ despite it being draped over a wooden fence.

The painstaking efforts continue for two minutes, with the video eventually stopping when a small part of one corner of the flag had burnt off.

The video was initially posted on the Facebook page of the Bolton North West Infidels this week, but was quickly deleted. Its authenticity could not be confirmed.

The discovery of the film follows the move by Britannia on Wednesday, March 29, to formally serve the EU with notice of its intention to withdraw from the union.
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Don't live stream your video, frame it properly, keep it from shaking, shut up the onlookers, film the event, edit it for length, and make sure you don't embarrass yourself before you release it. Its really not that difficult.

This should be taught in high schools around the world. Should only take a day.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/31/2017 14:02 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian Army derails ISIL’s offensive in Deir Ezzor
[ALMASDARNEWS] 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) launched another offensive in the Deir Ezzor Governorate this week, targeting the Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) defenses around the provincial cemetery and Panorama Roundabout.

ISIS began the offensive by simultaneously storming the Syrian Arab Army’s western flank at both the Panorama Roundabout and provincial cemetery; this would result in a series of intense festivities that would last for most of the day on Thursday.

Unable to infiltrate the Syrian Arab Army’s defenses, the Islamic State forces of Evil were forced to withdraw their assault in order to avoid anymore casualties.
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


India-Pakistan
Nine-year-old girl allegedly raped
[DAWN] ISLAMABAD: A nine-year-old girl was allegedly raped on Wednesday, police said.

The incident took place in I-16 where the girl’s family worked at a brick-kiln, and also resided there.

The girl’s farther approached Noon police and lodged a complaint seeking registration of a case against the unidentified person.

He told the police that he and his family were sleeping in the open area and later went inside their house when it started to rain.

His daughter and her grandmother also went into the room, but after sometime the girl started screaming, the police quoted her father as saying. He and other family members rushed to the room and saw a man running away. They chased the man but he managed to escape. When the girl’s father returned, his wife told him that their daughter had been raped by the man.

According to the police, the girl had been shifted to the hospital for medical examination and legal action would be take on the basis of the report.

Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Her stoning is scheduled next week
Posted by: Frank G || 03/31/2017 0:26 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
GOP adopts Rantburg Border Wall funding solution
[Wash Times] A group of House Republicans on Thursday introduced the first major bill to fund President Trump’s border wall, saying the government could collect billions of dollars by imposing a 2 percent fee on all the money Mexicans and other immigrants send back home.

Estimates vary, but remittances from those in the U.S. to their relatives back home could top $130 billion a year. A 2 percent tax could net more than $2 billion a year, if it applied to all money regardless of who’s sending it.
"This bill is simple ‐ anyone who sends their money to countries that benefit from our porous borders and illegal immigration should be responsible for providing some of the funds needed to complete the wall," Rep. Mike Rogers, Alabama Republican, said in a statement. "This bill keeps money in the American economy, and most importantly, it creates a funding stream to build the wall."

Mr. Rogers and Rep. Lou Barletta of Pennsylvania are leading the effort. Mr. Trump has vowed to make Mexico foot the bill for his border wall, but Mexican authorities have said they won’t play along.

Left without a funding source, the president has said American taxpayers will pick up the tab for now, and he’ll look for ways to soak Mexico in the long run.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Why don't we hear Western Union squealing yet?
Think the Mexicans will develop Sharia banking?
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/31/2017 7:43 Comments || Top||

#2  How about funding it with a check-off box on income tax return? If it comes with RoE that permit deadly force I'd go for it.
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/31/2017 10:55 Comments || Top||

#3  The transgressors don't pay income tax, GM.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/31/2017 11:32 Comments || Top||

#4  My brother said not to bother with the wall: messing with their money would be incentive enough. He thought 20% would be appropriate.
Posted by: Ptah || 03/31/2017 11:54 Comments || Top||

#5  Will this bill include H1B visa holders? That'd be cool.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 03/31/2017 12:23 Comments || Top||

#6  My brother said not to bother with the wall: messing with their money would be incentive enough. He thought 20% would be appropriate.
Posted by Ptah


Yes, at 20% they might just build the wall themselves.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 12:47 Comments || Top||

#7  Sounds like Glenmore is suggesting the sale of hunting licences. While I don't endorse that sort of thing the rumor alone would probably stop a lot of the border incursions.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/31/2017 13:53 Comments || Top||

#8  Not a sale of hunting licenses - just permission for use of official force when called for. The check-off box would be like the one they have for political donations, but dedicated to border enforcement.
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/31/2017 16:08 Comments || Top||

#9  The entire illegal immigration inundation actually began when the USBP had use of lethal force ROE significantly changed under Reagan and it turned into no-flag tackle football. From then on, it was a numbers game and quickly all the strategies to overwhelm the BP sectors with diversionary tactics were refined.
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 03/31/2017 17:17 Comments || Top||

#10  Good idea, but not likely to happen.

Trump probably agreed to not tax remittances in this meeting with Carlos Slim. Shortly after this meeting the Mexican President met up with candidate Trump for a photo op.
Posted by: rammer || 03/31/2017 17:26 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US no longer focused on removing Assad from power
[ALMASDARNEWS] The United States (U.S.) is no longer actively seeking to remove Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Despoiler of Deraa...
from power, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks...
(U.N.) Nikki Haley
...first woman to serve as Governor of South Carolina, and the second Indian-American governor in the country, after Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. At the age of 39, Haley is the youngest current governor in the U.S., a distinction formerly held by Jindal. She is a Republican, which really grates on the Dems...
told a group of news hounds on Thursday.

"You pick and choose your battles and when we’re looking at this, it’s about changing up priorities and our priority is no longer to sit there and focus on getting Assad out," U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley stated, as reported by the Rooters News Agency.
They had a legitimate uprising against a dictatorship. It drew every filthy sandlouse from thousands of miles around, trying to impose a solution that's worse than the problem. The Syrian revolution was lost the instant an Islamist anus ate the heart out of a dead Syrian soldier.
"Do we think he’s a hindrance? Yes. Are we going to sit there and focus on getting him out? No," she said. "What we are going to focus on is putting the pressure in there so that we can start to make a change in Syria."
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Exactly what we're we focused on before now? I seem to have forgotten.
Posted by: gorb || 03/31/2017 2:42 Comments || Top||

#2  so that we can start to make a change in Syria."

There's an informationally dense construct....NOT.

Exactly what change do you want and why will it be an improvement? Obubbles got us into a big mess and we can't get out without some measure of cleanup first. I don't know what to do but putting our troops on the ground ain't it.

Do what's necessary to insure Israel's safety and then let's see what the neighbors have to say and are willing to do.
Posted by: AlanC || 03/31/2017 8:05 Comments || Top||

#3  Exactly what change do you want and why will it be an improvement?

Obamacare? Affirmative action? Microaggressions?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/31/2017 10:08 Comments || Top||

#4  The Devil you know...
Posted by: Frank G || 03/31/2017 12:03 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
POTUS calls critics' bluff: Will share intel on Obama spying
[WND] WASHINGTON ‐ It didn’t take long for a buzz of electricity to crackle through the glorified shoebox that is the White House press briefing room. It was the news they’d all been waiting to hear.

Network reporters jumped on boxes to do live reports breathlessly passing on the news: The New York Times had just dropped a bombshell. And then they all proceeded to miss the lead.

That was likely because the Times itself had buried the lead 10 paragraphs below the headline, which read: "2 White House Officials Helped Give Nunes Intelligence Reports."

However, the tenth paragraph read: "But the officials’ description of the intelligence is in line with Mr. Nunes’s own characterization of the material."

In other words, the New York Times’ own sources confirmed that the way House Intelligence Committee chair Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., had described the information in key classified documents was accurate.

And what Nunes had seen may prove President Trump’s claim that former President Obama spied on him and his transition team.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Could this be where the insufferable Congressman Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) receives his piping hot cup of STFU ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 7:04 Comments || Top||

#2  Ah, yes Congressman, here's a dossier of your communications. Think the public would be interested in all its contents?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/31/2017 9:25 Comments || Top||

#3  You mean the Congressperson's Carlos Danger emails?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/31/2017 10:14 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Mike Flynn Offers to Testify in Exchange for Immunity
[WSJ] WASHINGTON--Mike Flynn, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, has told the Federal Bureau of Investigation and congressional officials investigating the Trump campaign’s potential ties to Russia that he is willing to be interviewed in exchange for a grant of immunity from prosecution, according to officials with knowledge of the matter.

As an adviser to Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign, and later one of Mr. Trump’s top aides in the White House, Mr. Flynn was privy to some of the most sensitive foreign-policy deliberations of the new administration and was directly involved in discussions about the possible lifting of sanctions on Russia imposed by the Obama administration.

He has made the offer to the FBI and the House and Senate intelligence committees though his lawyer but has so far found no takers, the officials said.

Mr. Flynn’s attorney, Robert Kelner, declined to comment.

It wasn’t clear if Mr. Flynn had offered to talk about specific aspects of his time working for Mr. Trump, but the fact that he was seeking immunity suggested Mr. Flynn feels he may be in legal jeopardy following his brief stint as the national security adviser, one official said.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Immunity from telling the truth or from telling the establishment what they want to hear?
Posted by: Uneresh Fillmore5642 || 03/31/2017 0:26 Comments || Top||

#2  Worked well enough for Clinton and Obama staffers.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/31/2017 7:41 Comments || Top||

#3  No matter what information Flynn intends to provide, any good lawyer would advise a request for immunity. Without it, anything he says can be twisted like pretzel.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 11:13 Comments || Top||

#4  That's essentially what I heard on the radio early this morning B - He seeks immunity from political bushwacking. The attorney said it nicer, of course.
Posted by: Bobby || 03/31/2017 12:53 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Offensive operations begin in Diyala
Diyala (IraqiNews.com) A military operation has been launched to drive the Islamic State militants out of the northeastern regions in Diyala province, Ahmed Hussein al-Tamimi, a leader from al-Hashd al-Shaabi troops (Popular Mobilization Units), said on Thursday.

Speaking to Alghadpress, Tamimi said “a joint military operation of army, police, al-Hashd al-Shaabi, backed by the air force, was launched this morning to purge the areas of Hamrin, northern regions of Muqdadiyah and the gas station, northeast of Diyala, of IS militants. IS havens as well as sleeper cells will be raided.”

“The operation was launched after accurate information was obtained over presence of IS havens in these areas,” he said, adding that security troops seek preventing the militias from finding safe shelters from which they could carry out their terrorist schemes in Diyala.

“Five bombs planted by IS on the main roads to hinder the security troops were defused,” Tamimi said, adding that the final outcome of the operation will be declared within the coming few hours.

Security troops alongside al-Hashd al-Shaabi troops were able to destroy several rest houses and kill number of IS fighters in previous operations launched in the northeastern regions in Diyala.
Posted by: badanov || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Africa Horn
Trump declares parts of Somalia a War Zone
That's more than Obama ever did...
President Donald Trump has ordered that measures intended to prevent civilian casualties in Somalia be relaxed, effectively declaring the country a war zone. On Wednesday, Trump reportedly signed a declaration that deemed Somalia an “area of active hostilities.”

According to The New York Times, the move is intended to give top officials “more latitude” in the fight against Islamist insurgencies, including al-Shabab.

“It’s very important and very helpful for us to have little more flexibility, a little bit more timeliness, in terms of decision-making process,” Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser, the head of U.S. Africa Command, said this week.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)

#1  Let the wailing begin...
Somalia blames Saudi-led coalition for deadly strike on boat
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/31/2017 9:50 Comments || Top||

#2  I propose a land swap. Saudi for Somalia.

Should make for some light entertainment.
Posted by: AlanC || 03/31/2017 10:38 Comments || Top||

#3  Are we talking the Minneapolis part or the African part?
Posted by: SteveS || 03/31/2017 10:52 Comments || Top||

#4  The African part with a city to be named later.
Posted by: AlanC || 03/31/2017 15:58 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Kurdish forces closing on ISIL bastion in west Al-Raqqa
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are within striking distance of the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
’s second most important city in the al-Raqqa Governorte after seizing the Tabaqa Military Airport this past weekend.

Backed by U.S. Coalition Arclight airstrikes, the Syrian Democratic Forces have managed to liberate a large chunk of al-Raqqa’s western countryside, putting them in position to seize the Islamic State’s bastion of Tabaqa City.

According to the SDF’s official media wing, their forces are currently attacking the Islamic State-held town of al-Safsafah, which is located just east of Tabaqa City ‐ it will likely be liberated in the coming hours.

As of now, the Syrian Democratic Forces are within 2km of Tabaqa City, which is the closest any entity in this war has come to this Islamic State stronghold in western al-Raqqa.
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Massive build-up of jihadist rebels in northern Latakia
[ALMASDARNEWS] The jihadist rebels of Harakat Ahrar al-Sham
...a Syria jihadi group made up of Islamists and salafists, not that there's that much difference, formed into a brigade. They make up the main element of the Islamic Front but they don't profess adoration of al-Qaeda and they've been fighting (mainly for survival) against the Islamic State. Their leadership was wiped out at a single blow by a suicide kaboom at a crowded basement meeting in September, 2014...
have been steadily building up their forces in the northern Latakia countryside for an upcoming offensive that will target the key village of Kinsibba in the Kurdish Mountains.

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) reportedly learned of Harakat Ahrar al-Sham’s plans late this month after Russian spy drones captured footage of the jihadist rebels moving into the Latakia countryside from The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
’s Hatay Province.

According to a military source stationed in northern Latakia, the jihadist rebels were expected to attack the Syrian Arab Army’s defenses around Kinsibba three days ago; however, the assault was called off for unknown reasons.

With the conclusion of Operation Euphrates Shield in northern Aleppo, the jihadist rebels now have a lot of reserves to transfer to this imperative mountainous front in order to recover the ground they lost to the Syrian Arab Army last year.
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Ahrar al-Sham (Salafists)


The Grand Turk
Turks continue operations in southern Syria
Ankara – Turkey’s National Security Council announced on Wednesday concluding its northern Syria offensive, known as Operation Euphrates Shield.

Turkish army troops had backed factions of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) forces in northern Syria successfully.

In a Turkish National Security Council meeting chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, the government confirmed the operation had been “successfully concluded”.

Turkey’s “Euphrates Shield” military campaign that began last year in northern Syria has been completed, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Wednesday.

Yildirim said any other future military operations would be named differently.

“If something threatening our security happens in the future, regarding ISIS or something else, then this will be a new operation. Operation Euphrates Shield has ended, and any other future operations will be named differently,” he said.

The announcement, which left spectators surprised, followed the council concluding a 6-hour meeting chaired by Erdogan, which addressed internal and external developments, first and foremost the fight against terrorism and developments in Syria and Iraq.

In August, Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield inside Syria targeting ISIS militants and Syrian Kurdish militia men that Ankara considers “terrorists”.

Turkey-backed Syrian rebels have captured several towns including Jarabulus, al-Rai, Dabiq and finally al-Bab from extremists.

The announcement on ending the operation came a few hours before the visit of the United States Secretary of State to Ankara.

In recent weeks, the operation has approached a semi-complete halt after forces took control of the city of Bab, amid assurances from Erdogan and senior Turkish officials that the process will then move to Manbij, and then to al-Raqqa.

Manbij has recently become crossroad of all warring sides in Syria, where the regime, along with allies Russia and Iran and other influential parties such as the United States positioned themselves inside the strategic town.

Turkey has not been welcomed by the US administration with its proposals for liberating Raqqa without involving Kurdish People’s Units.
Posted by: badanov || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Bangladesh
Nasirpur raid in Operation Hit Back
[Dhaka Tribune] ‐ CTTC unit Chief Monirul Islam says that 7-8 dead Lions of Islam have been found in the Nasirpur hideout.

‐ He says it is difficult to ascertain the exact number of dead as many of the bodies have been torn to pieces in suicide kabooms.

‐ From different sources, law enforcement agencies determined that the Lions of Islam in Sitakunda, Shibbari and Moulvibazar are members of New JMB.

‐ Three points of similarity between the Death Eaters:

1)Similar weaponry and equipment, including IEDs

2) Similar tactics and modus operandi

3)Similar manner of death

‐ Nasirpur hideout had a massive stash of IEDs that were planted at the entrances

‐ IEDs were photographed by drones used by law enforcement agencies

‐ The IEDs are also very similar to those found on the suicide kaboomer near Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Friday, March 24, 2017
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (IS)


Police arrest three suspected militants from Tongi madrasa
[Dhaka Tribune] Police raided a residential area in Tongi near the Tamirul Millat Kamil Madrasa.

Gazipur Additional Superintendent of Police Russell Sheikh said the raid was conducted as part of a regular raid to stake out potential bad boy hideouts.

He said: "The raid is a follow-up to the recent anti-militant raids in Moulvibazar, Comilla and Sylhet.

Three people, including a madrasa student, were jugged
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
on Thursday evening. Touhidul Islam, 17, a first-year Alim student, Abdullah, 30, and Anisur Rahman, 30, the latter two local traders, were arrested on suspicions of being involved with bad boy activities.

"We suspect faceless myrmidons might try to set up footholds in certain areas and are combing through them," he added.

The area was also canvassed on Wednesday night by the police.
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Salafists


India-Pakistan
Cousin of Nobel laureate Abdus Salam gunned down
[DAWN] A prominent local leader of the Ahmadi community and a relative of Nobel laureate Abdus Salam was bumped off in Nankana Sahib on Thursday morning in an attack claimed by the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ...
(LeJ).

Advocate Malik Saleem Latif, a leader of the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiya in Nankana Sahib, was on his way to a local court on a cycle of violence along with his son, Advocate Farhan, when Latif was targeted and shot at by "unidentified attackers".

Latif's son informed Dawn that the attackers had fired at them from behind.

"Saleem Latif was spreading Ahmadi beliefs in the region," the LeJ said in a statement claiming Thursday's attack.

A district police officer (DPO) said that a suspect had been identified and police are narrowing their leads in the case. He refused to disclose further information for the time being.

"We have three teams investigating and searching for the assailants and trying to apprehend them," DPO Shahzada Billa Umer later told Rooters.

Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Jhangvi


Arabia
4 al-Qaeda operatives die in drone strike in Abyan
Aden – At a time the terror offshoot of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is attempting a failed comeback in Yemen’s Lahij, a US drone reportedly killed four suspected members of the organization in the northern district of Moudiya early Wednesday.

They said the attack in Amqoz in the Moudiya district of Abyan province took place around midnight on Tuesday. Their vehicle was completely burned and the four bodies inside badly charred, they added.

Residents also reported hearing missile strikes on a suspected Qaeda outpost in Wadi al-Naseel area, also in Abyan province, but said the number of casualties was unknown.

The US raid came within 48 hours after an attack staged by AQAP hardliners against local authorities in Lahij province, bombing two cars. Pro-legitimacy Yemeni security forces responded to the attack killing 10 armed attackers, some of whom equipped with explosive belts. Six government soldiers and 4 citizens were killed in the attack.

Yemeni spectators deemed the AQAP attack a failure given that the group lost 10 fighters, unlike previous incidents during which security forces accounted for mass losses caused by lone wolf suicide bombing.

Counter-AQAP security and military operations in southern Yemen have intensified recently as the group attempts to push back to forefronts through staging a series of terrorist attacks. The most recent of which was the failed attack targeting local authority headquarters in Lahj province, north of Aden.

Local government forces announced the arrest of Abu Ali al-Sayyari, a senior AQAP leader–the arrest was made during a qualitative raid which also apprehended three militants and killed two others.

Yemeni security authorities recently stepped up attacks targeting AQAP strongholds. They have also cleared some neighborhoods in the government-held interim capital Aden.

The United States has repeatedly attacked AQAP, the Yemeni arm of the militant group, in strikes this month from aircraft and unmanned drones in what US officials say is a campaign to degrade the group’s ability to coordinate militant attacks abroad.

AQAP has exploited nearly two years of civil war in Yemen to recruit followers and cement its dominance in central and southern parts of the Arab country.
Posted by: badanov || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula


The Grand Turk
Demirtas announces hunger strike with HDP MP
[Hurriyet Daily News] Selahattin Demirtas, the placed in durance vile
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
co-chair of the Kurdish issue-focused Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), will start a hunger strike on March 31 to protest "inhumane treatment," along with placed in durance vile
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
HDP deputy Abdullah Zeydan.

Last week, HDP Siirt deputy Besime Konca started a hunger strike in the Kandira Prison.

Demirtas and Zeydan, who are both placed in durance vile
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
in the northwestern province of Edirne, said they would go on hunger strike due to the actions of the Edirne prison warden.

"We are going on a hunger strike starting from Friday due to the warden’s refusal to engage in dialogue, his practices outside the boundaries of law, his inhumane treatment of other inmates, and the fact that he didn’t take any well-intentioned step towards ending other inmates’ hunger strikes, which have been going on for days," Demirtas said on March 30, in a message addressed to the HDP and the public.

"We invite the public to be sensitive regarding the ongoing hunger strikes and rights violations in prisons," he added.

A hunger strike had also been launched on Feb. 15 in the prisons in Edirne, Sakran in the western province of Izmir, the northwestern province of Tekirdag, and Sincan in Ankara in protest at "rights violations in prisons."

A total of 13 politicians from the HDP, including its co-chairs Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, are currently in jail facing hundreds of years in jail over alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


What kind of success did Turkey achieve in Syria?
[Hurriyet Daily News] Hours before U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s arrival in Ankara on the evening of March 29, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on NTV that The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
’s "Euphrates Shield" operation on Syria soil had been completed.

Yildirim had just stepped out of a National Security Board (MGK) meeting chaired by President Tayyip Erdogan, with the board’s blurb subsequently saying the operation had been "successfully completed."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Turkey can start new operation if necessary as Euphrates Shield ends
Turkey has successfully completed its months-long Euphrates Shield Operation in northern Syria but can launch new military movements under a different name if necessary, the Turkish prime minister has said, adding that the life has turned to normal in places cleared of jihadists.

“After this point, if we take action in the event that our security is threatened or if action is needed against DAESH [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – ISIL], then it will be as part of a new operation. That means the Euphrates Shield is over and any potential actions, if necessary, will be named differently,” Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım told NTV late March 29.

Yıldırım’s words followed a statement issued by the National Security Council (MGK) meeting which announced the “successfully completion” of the Euphrates Shield Operation, which was launched on Aug. 24, 2016, in a bid to clear Turkey’s border of ISIL and stop the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) from merging its Kobane and Afrin cantons.

“Thanks to the Euphrates Shield, we have secured an area of 2,015 square kilometers under security by capturing al-Bab. The Free Syrian Army (FSA) has been settled there. Syrians in Turkey have returned and life has returned to normal,” he added.

It is not clear whether Turkey will withdraw its troops from northern Syria and when it will begin an extensive effort to create new residential areas in the region for Syrians.

“The Euphrates Shield Operation, launched to secure our country’s border security, to prevent DEAŞ threats and attacks from targeting our country, to give an opportunity to our displaced Syrian brothers to return their homes and to continue their lives in peace and security, has been successfully completed,” the MGK said in a statement issued on March 29 following a meeting chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The Turkish military supported FSA fighters with artillery and special forces during the operation. Thousands of militants were killed in the operation, according to official numbers, while more than 70 Turkish soldiers were also killed.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Turkey doubles oil intake from Iran
Turkey increased oil import from Iran more than two times in January 2017, compared to the same month of the previous year, Turkey’s Energy Market Regulatory reported.

According to the report, Iran exported about 834,000 tons (about 199,083 b/d) of crude oil to Turkey in January 2017, while the figure for the same month in 2016 was 406,894 tons. The report also added that Turkey exported 643.193 tons of petroleum products to Iran in January 2017, while the figure for January 2016 was only 34.825 tons.

Iran and P5+1 Group (US, UK, France, Russia, China + Germany) reached a nuclear agreement, which was implemented in January 2016 and removed sanctions (imposed in 2012) on Iran. Before sanctions, Iran exported about 9.287 million tons (188,000 b/d) to Turkey in 2011, about 27 percent more than 2010, but after sanctions, the volume decreased significantly.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Iraq
7 ISIS Turbans have a Very Bad Day in Kirkuk
Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) 17 militants of the Islamic State were killed and injured in a strike launched by the US-led coalition, southwest of Kirkuk, a security source from the province said on Thursday.

Speaking to AlSumaria News, the source said, “the airstrikes by the international coalition striked on Thursday sites of the IS in villages of Olw Borhan, al-Sheikh Zakaa and al-Khabbaz, 35 KM southwest of Kirkuk. Seven members were killed including a prominent leader, while ten others were injured.”

“The airstrike was launched in coordination with Iraqi intelligence authorities,” the source, who preferred anonymity said.

Military operations in Iraq are resumed at places where IS control it. International coalition launch airstrikes against the IS sites leaving casualties.

Islamic State has been holding areas in southwestern Kirkuk since the group emerged in 2014 to announce a self-styled “Islamic Caliphate” In Iraq. It has executed hundreds of civilians in Kirkuk for collaborating with security forces or attempting to escape those areas.

The Iraqi government is expected to launch an offensive to retake IS-occupied areas in Kirkuk once it is done with eradicating IS from Mosul, the group’s biggest bastion in Iraq where U.S.-backed government troops and allied militias have entered a sixth month of operations seeking to recapture the city.
Posted by: badanov || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Terror Networks
IS propaganda team killed in Iraq air strike
[IsraelTimes] Coalition official says slain jihadists were part of efforts to recruit imported muscle and encourage terror attacks in Western countries.

The US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group said Thursday that it had killed a propaganda chief and associates in an air strike in the western Iraqi town of al-Qaim.

Ibrahim al-Ansari was an "important ISIS leader," said Colonel Joseph Scrocca, a front man for the Baghdad-based coalition, using an alternate acronym for Islamic State.

The propaganda official was a leader in propaganda efforts to recruit imported muscle and encourage "terror attacks" in Western countries, Scrocca told news hounds.

The air strike took place on March 25, he said.

The bombardment, which also killed four other IS jihadists, destroyed a multimedia operation team, said another Defense Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Their propaganda efforts included "brainwashing of young children to perpetuate ISIS brutal methods," the source said.

The remote town of al-Qaim is in the Euphrates Valley, at the border with Syria.

According to the Pentagon, the Euphrates Valley could become the last bastion of the Islamic State following the fall of their strongholds in djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
, Iraq, and Raqqa, Syria.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Europe
Many Injured as Erdogan Supporters, Opponents Clash in Brussels
[AnNahar] Several people were maimed in "serious" altercations in front of the Turkish consulate in Brussels between supporters and opponents of Turkish President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him...
on Thursday, Belgian police said.

"Serious incidents broke out between supporters and opponents of the Turkish regime, on a public road, outside the consulate of The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
," Brussels police spokeswoman Ilse van de Keere told AFP.

"Many people were maimed" and taken to hospital, she added.

The incident occurred on the third day that Turkish voters in Belgium are allowed to cast early ballots for a referendum that could vastly boost Erdogan's powers.

Turkish voters in Austria, Denmark, La Belle France, Germany and Switzerland
...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell...
can also cast their ballots for the next two weeks, until April 9.

Van de Keere gave no other details on the number of people injured or on the state of their injuries, saying the situation was "sensitive" and that about 100 people remained in front of the consulate at 8:00 pm (1800 GMT).

The Brussels prosecutor's office was investigating the incident.

According to the pro-Kurdish Firat news agency, three people of Kurdish origin arriving to vote on the referendum were stabbed in incidents provoked by supporters of Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Turkey will vote on April 16 on the proposal to create an executive presidency and abolish the post of prime minister.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  Where's El Cid when you need him?
Posted by: AlanC || 03/31/2017 7:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Don't you mean Charles Martel, AC?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/31/2017 10:17 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Hundreds still missing in Boko Haram's biggest abduction of kids
How many are dead, how many were sold as trade goods in a tradition going back to the earliest days of Islamic comquest?
[Ynet] Hundreds of children remain missing while officials refuse to acknowledge the largest-ever mass abduction of Nigerian schoolchildren by 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...
Islamic holy warriors, Human Rights Watch said Thursday.

Boko Haram kidnapped hundreds of children in the northeastern town of Damasak on Nov. 24, 2014, the New York-based organization said in a dispatch from researcher Mausi Segun.

She quoted traditional leaders as saying they submitted a list of 501 missing children to police and local government officials in April 2015, when the town was briefly freed from Boko Haram, but have never received a response.

International outrage met the separate April 2014 abduction of 276 girls from a school in Chibok. Dozens escaped early on and Nigeria's government last year negotiated the release of 21. More than 200 Chibok schoolgirls remain missing.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram (ISIS)


Science & Technology
SpaceX poised to launch first recycled rocket
[DAWN] SpaceX is poised to launch its first recycled rocket on Thursday, using a booster that sent food and supplies to the astronauts living at the International Space Station in April.

The goal of the launch, scheduled for 2227 GMT from Cape Canaveral, Florida, is to send a communications satellite for Luxembourg-based company SES into a distant orbit.

The weather forecast was 80 per cent favorable for launch, officials said.

Standing upright at the NASA launchpad, the white Falcon 9 rocket contains a tall, columnar portion known as the first stage, or booster, that propelled the unmanned Dragon fat merchantman to space last year, then returned to an upright landing on an ocean platform.

SpaceX, the Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,-based company headed by visionary entrepreneur Elon Musk, has for years been honing the technology of powering its boosters back to careful Earth landings on solid ground and in the water.

So far it has successfully landed eight - five on so-called "drone ships" floating in the ocean, and three on land.

The goal, Musk has said, is to make rocket parts just as reusable as cars, planes or bicycles.

Currently, millions of dollars' worth of rocket parts are jettisoned after each launch.

SpaceX officials have said that reusing hardware could slash costs - with each Falcon 9 launch costing over $61 million - by about 30pc.

While generating plenty of buzz, the novel process still raises concerns for both customers and SpaceX.

They include "worries about it failing, insurance implications, retrofitting turnaround, building up a critical mass of reused first stages in the warehouse," said the global investment banking firm Jefferies International in an April report.

Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Worked perfectly.
1st stage landed for a second time.
For the first time experimented with thrusters and steerable parachutes on the farings and the two faring pieces landed in the ocean in good shape excepting the fact that saltwater is not good for them. Soon will land them (ship or land)
Musk then said he's ready to start experimenting with 2nd stage recovery so the whole rocket excepting fuel can be recovered. Want's the ability to refly a F9 after one day.

Explained that FH was taking so long because the central core ended up requiring major structural changes. That's complete now and they are waiting for Pad 40 to be rebuilt for F9 flights before risking 39A with a new rocket.
Posted by: 3dc || 03/31/2017 11:32 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Irving, Texas Mayor Who Clock Boy Sued to Join Trump Administration
IRVING (CBSDFW.COM) ‐ Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne said Thursday she will soon be working for the Trump Administration.

She made the announcement at a luncheon. She did not say what her position will be.

An official announcement is expected next week when the paperwork is finished.

Van Duyne had said earlier this year she would not seek a third term as mayor.
Beth should be considered a Conservative rising star on the national level due to how she overcame the clock boy Islamic challenge to her political leadership.
Posted by: Angiter Tholusing2783 || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Groan, so many ways to read that headline!
Posted by: Seeking cure for ignorance || 03/31/2017 14:13 Comments || Top||

#2  #1 Groan, so many ways

Thank you!
Posted by: Buffalo Buffalo || 03/31/2017 14:35 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Italy set to offer menstrual leave for female workers
What a clever way to ensure that that the only females to be hired will be unadulterated men who nonetheless identify as women.
[Dhaka Tribune] Italia might soon become the first Western country with an official "menstrual leave" policy for working women. The lower house of Italia’s parliament has started discussing a draft law that, if approved, will mandate companies to grant three days of paid leave each month to female employees who experience painful periods.
Next comes PMS leave.
The proposed law was hailed by some local media outlets as a positive step to help working women who suffer from cramps. The Italian edition of women’s magazine Marie Claire described it as "a standard-bearer of progress and social sustainability". But the bill has also its critics, even among the working woman it seeks to protect.

Some fear that the law might backfire, penalising women in a country where they are already struggling to participate in the workforce. If women were granted extra days of paid leave, wrote Lorenza Pleuteri in Donna Moderna, another women’s magazine, "employers could become even more oriented to hire men rather than women".
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Bloody HELL!
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 03/31/2017 9:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Well, it would justify only paying women 86% (18 vs 21 workdays per month) of what men get for the same job. Of course the more severe sufferers are already not working those 3 days, or shouldn't be - their presence is counterproductive.
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/31/2017 11:06 Comments || Top||

#3  Women are Equal except when they have special entitlements.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/31/2017 12:43 Comments || Top||

#4  In Italy now, the padroni
Want women who wear a bologna,
Giumente so phony
They look like stalloni
And never need any tamponi.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 03/31/2017 14:11 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
ISIL claims responsibility for twin suicide bombings in Damascus
[ALMASDARNEWS] 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) announced on Thursday that their terrorist organization was responsible for the twin suicide kabooms in Damascus’ Palace of Justice earlier this month.

According to the terrorist group’s statement, their two jacket wallahs were identified as Abu Mos al-Jolani and Abu Firas al-Shami.

These twin suicide kabooms ended up killing over 40 civilians inside the Damascus Palace of Justice, marking the second time that week the Syrian capital was the target of a terrorist attack.
Ynet adds:
An online publication linked to ISIS says two of its Syrian members carried out the deadly twin suicide kabooms in mid-March in Syria's capital.

The al-Nabaa online weekly says the man who attacked the Justice Palace in central Damascus shot the guards first, then walked into the building and went kaboom!. Two hours later, another ISIS member from Syria went kaboom! in a restaurant frequented by Christians.
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  at the time, Al Q claimed responsibility but since ISIS can name the perps, there claim may be better
Posted by: lord garth || 03/31/2017 12:48 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Somali Gov’t imposes travel ban on ICRC officers in Mogadishu
Mogadishu’s Regional Court had summoned the International Committee of the Red Thingy Cross (ICRC) to answer a case of Hareasmment and wrongful dismissal as well unreasonable and unduly insensitive manner of abusing its representative in Mogadishu.

The court summoned Jordi Raich Curco, Head of ICRC Delegation to Somalia after staffer’s attorneys at Horn Legal Consulting Services filed legal case against the Geneva-based humanitarian institution. This is a damage of reputation to this Humanitarian organisation that its Management in Nairobi acted to abuse its trusted positions to be the management of the Somalia Delegation.

ICRC is accused of perpetrating wrongful employment termination following well-documented case of threats, abuse of power, Hareassments and mistreatment experienced, educated well know Head of their OFFICE in Mogadishu.

In a letter of notice of legal action, Horn Legal Consulting Services argues that this unfair dismissal affected the health, dignity, security and safety of its representative without even given time, and therefore mentioning “blatant violation” of “basic employment principles, rights and responsibilities in the Somali law”.

Somalia’s Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MOLSA) presented to regional court an labour rights abuse case in which it specified that the Head of Office for ICRCA is grieved by threats and sacking from Daniel Gerard OMalley, deputy head of ICRC delegation to Somalia, has deliberately Harrassing the Head of its sub delegate for 8 Months.

In line with Somalia’s labour code, MOLSA indicated that it called upon ICRC to come before the Ministry, but the humanitarian organisation refused to respect the call and therefore snubbed to come before the labour officials.

MOLSA asked Banadir regional to take appropriate action against International Committee of the Red Thingy Cross (ICRC) for breaching Somali laws, wrongfully dismissing head of its office in Mogadishu and putting in danger the life of its employee.

In a response letter addressed to MOLSA, ICRC termed Ministry’s intervention as “premature” and quoted article 3 of the Headquarters Agreement between the Federal Republic of Somalia and the International Committee of the Red Thingy Cross (ICRC), in which ICRC claimed immunity “from every form of legal and administrative process, except insofar as in any particular case the ICRC has expressly waived its immunity.

The said immunity has not been waived, for us to appear before you”. However the Ministry of Labour argued to review the said agreement that was not even passed by the parliament. Its this Head of Office who has helped ICRC to obtain this agreement that now they are violating the right of the staff.

Nevertheless, attorneys representing staffer contended that there is an overt abuse of immunities and privileges accorded to international organisations like ICRC who exploit headquarter agreements as an excuse to evade justice after breaching national laws.

Its not only the Banadir Head of Office faced harassments, but also Hiraan Head of Office resigned for such manners and also Baidoa Head of Office was forced to resign.

Banadir Regional Court now ruled that the dismissal of the Banadir Sub – delegation Head of Office for ICRC is illegal and not in line with employment law, and concluded the Head of Office to continue to work and to sit the Office.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Great!
Wait...Somalia has a government?
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/31/2017 11:22 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian regulars continue attacks on al-Nusra groups in Daraa
The Syrian army units eliminated 3 terrorist group affiliated to al-Nusra Front terrorist organization in the countryside of Daraa and Sweida.

A military source told SANA that an army unit carried out a special operation against a gathering of al-Nusra terrorist organization between the villages of Barghasheh and al-Shayahat in al-Lajat area in Sweida northwestern countryside.

The source added that all members of a terrorist group were killed in the operation and their military equipment was destroyed.

An army unit also eliminated two terrorist groups affiliated to al-Nusra after they infiltrated from the direction of Tloul Khalif and the village of Um Walad in the eastern countryside of Daraa towards one of the military posts in the western countryside of Sweida.

Meanwhile, army units carried out intensive bombardments against positions of al-Nusra terrorists in Daraa al-Balad area, killing a number of them and destroying two of their positions in the neighborhood of al-Sad Road, in addition to destroying a barricade for a machinegun to the north of the roundabout of al-Karak neighborhood.

Later, army units killed a number of al-Nusra terrorists and destroyed their sites in al-Bahar neighborhood and to the south of al-Abbasiya Bakery in Daraa province

Homs

The Air Force and Artillery of the Syrian army launched strikes against al-Nusra terrorists’ sites and movements in the northern countryside of Homs.

A military source told SANA that the strikes resulted in destroying one of the sites of al-Nusra and killing and injuring a number of the terrorists, including leaders and foreigners, in the area between the village of Deir Foul and al-Rastan city.
Posted by: badanov || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


Syrian warbirds hit rebel positions in Hama
BEIRUT: Warplanes pounded opposition-held areas north of the Syrian city of Hama on Thursday in an escalation of air strikes, a opposition official and a monitor said, as government forces fought to reverse the insurgents’ biggest assault in months.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a doctor said air strikes near the town of Latamneh, northwest of Hama, had led several people to choke, saying it was a sign of a gas attack. A Syrian military source denied the army had used any such weapons, branding the reports as opposition propaganda.

Opposition groups, spearheaded by jihadist insurgents from the former Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front but also including Free Syrian Army (FSA) groups, launched their attack on government-held areas near Hama last week.

The area is of vital importance to President Bashar Assad, who with the support of Russia and Iran has the military upper hand there.

The observatory, a Britain-based war monitoring group, said jets had hit several opposition towns on Thursday, including Soran and Khattab, both captured by insurgents at the start of the offensive.

The Syrian military source said the army was conducting attack operations in the area and had seized the initiative back from the opposition.

Chemical attack?

Speaking to Reuters from Turkey, Abdallah Darwish, head of the health authority for opposition-held parts of Hama province, said air strikes in the south of Latamneh on Thursday morning had injured many people.

“The bombardment had a substance that caused intense irritation, heavy foaming from the mouth, and constricting pupils,” said Darwish, citing his medical staff on the ground.

A chemical attack hit the same area on Saturday, killing an orthopedic doctor, Darwish added.

The Syrian military source said the allegations that government forces were using chemical weapons were “devoid of truth.”
“The army has not, will not, and does not need to use these weapons,” the source said.

A joint inquiry for the United Nations and the global chemical weapons watchdog has previously accused government forces of toxic gas attacks. Damascus has repeatedly denied using such weapons during the six-year-old war.

Mohammed Rasheed, a spokesman for the Jaish Al-Nasr opposition group fighting in Hama under the FSA banner, said government and Russian “air strikes have been ramped up terribly.”

“The Russian warplanes have not stopped since last night,” he said.
While the opposition have been on the back foot in recent months, their latest attack has shown the challenges facing the army and allied militia in fighting on numerous fronts at once.

Opposition groups also clashed with government forces along several front lines in rural Hama on Thursday.
Posted by: badanov || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Caribbean-Latin America
Venezuela: Supreme Court Dissolves Congress
Venezuela slid closer toward dictatorship after the country’s Supreme Court gutted the only opposition-run institution -- the Congress -- seizing its powers and declaring the elected body invalid.

The court’s ruling late on Wednesday night was, in the words of lawmakers, nothing short of a coup. Several opposition leaders called for street demonstrations and other forms of "democratic resistance."

As the once-wealthy oil power descends into a chaos of hunger and crime, however, it remained far from clear whether the increasingly despondent population will view the court’s move as a genuine turning point or just another step in the nation’s bottoming out toward hopelessness.

"This is not only going to cause alarm for concern within the region, but also actions, and at this point, it will be very difficult for countries to remain neutral," said Carlos Romero, a political scientist at the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas. "The government is provoking; not only has it not made a single gesture toward dialog, it has become completely entrenched."

Opposition deputies said they would appeal to international bodies for help. But that may yield little. Two days before the court’s ruling, the Organization of American States met to urge Venezuela to respect the congress that has now been neutered.

The U.S. State Department condemned the Supreme Court’s decision on Thursday, saying the move "greatly damages Venezuela’s democratic institutions," according to a statement.

Constitutional Crisis

In Wednesday’s ruling, the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Chamber declared the National Assembly was operating "outside the rule of law" after long standing claims that the legislature was in contempt of previous legal statements.

"The Constitutional Chamber shall ensure that the parliamentary powers are exercised directly by this Chamber or by the body it appoints to ensure the rule of law," the decision said.
Posted by: Glineck Glavins5554 || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The next step would be to dissolve the Venezuelan electorate and select / appoint a new & improved version.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/31/2017 0:12 Comments || Top||

#2  it's effectively already a dictatorship with no rule of law.
Posted by: Frank G || 03/31/2017 0:25 Comments || Top||

#3  AH #1 and I know where they can get a whole lot of replacements for that wayward electorate.

We've got 65 million Hillary voters that should be eligible to replace VZ's 35 million people.

Send the leftover 30 million to help out in Africa.
Posted by: AlanC || 03/31/2017 8:23 Comments || Top||

#4  With all the necklace-clutching and hand-wringing by the opposition, Maduro and buddies have nothing to worry about for a while. At least until the populace figures out that Chairman Mao was right when he said, "Power comes from the barrel of a gun!"
Who knew he was a 2nd Amendment supporter?
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 03/31/2017 9:55 Comments || Top||

#5  This just gave the left a bunch of new wet dreams in how to get rid of Trump.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/31/2017 13:11 Comments || Top||

#6  The Solution

After the uprising of the 17th June
The Secretary of the Writers Union
Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee
Stating that the people
Had forfeited the confidence of the government
And could win it back only
By redoubled efforts. Would it not be easier
In that case for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another?
-- Bertolt Brecht
Posted by: SteveS || 03/31/2017 13:23 Comments || Top||

#7  Now just WHERE is Chief Justice Roberts? Sounds like something he would get behind.....
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 03/31/2017 17:08 Comments || Top||

#8  When federal judges make decisions that imperil the country, you'd think the citizens might find their own way to remove those judges from the comfort of their chambers.
Posted by: Crusader || 03/31/2017 22:33 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Arab League summit ends with plan to help Somalia
They're doomed...
President of Federal Republic of Somalia H.E Mohamed Abduallahi Farmaajo, in a written speech distributed to the leaders of the Arab world attending at 28th Ordinary Summit of the Arab League, discussed Somalia’s progress, priorities and remaining challenges going forward.

The president acknowledged that most of the Arab world is currently facing grave challenges stemming from the threats of insecurity, political upheaval and economic distress. In light of this, the President called on Arab leaders to unite to overcome these challenges and galvanize wide ranging support to safeguard the future of the Arab world and its citizens.

“We need to unite our efforts to overcome these challenges and galvanize support for our people and safeguard our future…We call for immediate end to the fighting and violence in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen.”

President Farmaajo spoke of Somalia’s democracy as a sign of the potential for reform and progress within the country and good news within the Arab League.

“Though there are many challenges in the Arab world, it’s not all gloom. We had peaceful, free and fair parliamentary and presidential elections in Somalia. That’s good news for a start,” said the President in his statement.
Followed by a mortar bombing in Mogadishu and an abandonment of towns by ANISOM...
President Farmaajo advised Arab nations embroiled in conflicts to learn from Somalia’s experiences and acknowledge that the only viable solution to end the crises is to engage in dialogue.

The President acknowledged that Somalia is still facing enormous challenges, including a deadly drought that has led to and continues to lead to famine for many and the ever present and opportunistic and evil threat of international terrorism.

“The drought situation in Somalia has caused the death of millions of livestock, thus diminishing our strongest economic mainstay. More than 3 million people now face enormous risks, if immediate aid and support is not extended to them.’

The president said to mitigate the effects of the drought, there’s an immediate need to move quickly to alleviate hunger, as well as put in place mid-level and long term plans to find durable solutions.

“To overcome these challenges, we need to have realistic plans and unyielding support from our brothers and friends.”

The president also affirmed that terrorism has been the biggest threat to Somalia’s progress and stability for some time.

“Continuous terror attacks that cause ineffable loss of lives and destruction of property is the biggest affront to progress, stability and reconstruction in Somalia……terrorism has now become a fast growing tumor in almost all continents, unfortunately we had endured it longer than the rest. We call on the world to have a common position and unite efforts to combat the threat of terrorism.”
Posted by: Steve White || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Baghdad Bomb and Bullet Bulletin


6 die in checkpoint bombing

(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad security said Thursday a bombing that targeted a security checkpoint at the capital’s southern entrance left six dead as a final toll.

A booby-trapped tank exploded late Wednesday while standing in line for a security check, killing six and wounding 19, the Interior Ministry’s Baghdad Operations said, adding that the explosion occurred 100 meters away from the security members.

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 has been escalating 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 guerrilla-style war and lone wolf attacks after the recapture of Mosul.

al-Manar sez 14 are dead
Posted by: badanov || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Anbar Antics


8 ISIS Bad Guys smoked in airstrike near Anah

Ramadi (IraqiNews.com) A military source in Anbar Province revealed that a coalition air strike destroyed a headquarters belonging to the Islamic State in addition to killing 8 of its members, west of Ramadi, Alsumaria News reported on Thursday.

The source said, “Today, US-led international coalition air force bombarded a headquarters belonging to the Islamic State group in the city of Anah (210 km west of Ramadi), destroying it completely and killing two militants.”

“The coalition aircraft also bombarded two vehicles of the Islamic State in the city, destroying them completely and killing 4 IS members,” the source added on condition of anonymity.

The International coalition air force and Iraqi Air Force continue attacking targets belonging to the Islamic State in Anah, Rawa and Qaim in preparation to liberate these cities.
Posted by: badanov || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Three Syrian ISIL members killed in east Lebanon
[ALMASDARNEWS] Three Syrian members of the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS) were killed in eastern Leb on Thursday after an IED attack inside the town of ’Arsal.

According to a Lebanese security source, the three ISIS members were killed when an IED planted inside their vehicle exploded in the midtown area of ’Arsal on Thursday.

The source added that the location of the boom-mobileing was near the old police headquarters of the ’Arsal Municipality.

The three ISIS bandidos murderous Moslems were originally members of the Free Syrian Army
... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund...
(FSA) that fought against the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) during the battle of al-Qusayr in April 2013.

Lebanese army artillery hammers al-Nusra positions in Arsal

[AAWSAT] Beirut – Clashes erupted in the border area of Arsal in northeastern Lebanon on Tuesday night, when militants from the so-called Al-Nusra Front attacked several “Hezbollah” posts located along the Lebanese-Syrian border.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that the Lebanese Army joined Hezbollah in shelling Nusra Front militants in Arsal’s outskirts, using heavy artillery.

Hezbollah’s “military media” said that “Hezbollah” fighters, in cooperation with the Syrian regime forces, have targeted with automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades, armed militants from the Nusra Front, who were trying to infiltrate into the area of western Qalamoun that lies east of Arsal.

A number of militants, including one of their commanders, were killed during the clashes, and the rest fled the area, “Hezbollah” added.

The fighters of “Hezbollah” along with the Syrian forces have repelled the attempts of the Nusra Front to attack positions of the Syrian forces in Flita in the western Qalamoun area bordering Lebanon, it stated.

On Wednesday, Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television reported that “Hezbollah” members fired at Nusra militants, who were trying to remove the bodies of terrorists killed during the overnight clashes in western Qalamoun.

Wednesday’s clashes led to further deaths among al-Nusra militants, Al-Manar added.

Meanwhile, Syrian Activist Nasser al-Qalamouni, who was present in the Arsal area, said that the Lebanese Army continued shelling several areas in the region, accompanied by intensive flying of Lebanese reconnaissance aircrafts over Arsal.
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Government
DEA Seized $4 Billion From People Since 2007. Most Were Never Charged with a Crime
The Drug Enforcement Administration seized more than $4 billion in cash from people suspected of drug activity over the last decade, but $3.2 billion of those seizures were never connected to any criminal charges.
Good work if you can get it
A report by the Justice Department Inspector General released Wednesday found that the DEA's gargantuan amount of cash seizures often didn't relate to any ongoing criminal investigations, and 82 percent of seizures it reviewed ended up being settled administratively‐that is, without any judicial review‐raising civil liberties concerns.

In total, the Inspector General reports the DEA seized $4.15 billion in cash since 2007, accounting for 80 percent of all Justice Department cash seizures. Those figures do not include other property, such as cars and electronics, which are favorite targets for seizure by law enforcement.
Enriching themselves at the plebe's expense.
All of this is possible through civil asset forfeiture, which allows law enforcement to seize property if they suspect it's connected to criminal activity, without having to file criminal charges against the owner. While law enforcement groups say civil asset forfeiture is a vital tool to disrupt drug traffickers and organized crime, the Inspector General's findings echo the concerns of many civil liberties groups, which say asset forfeiture creates perverse incentives for law enforcement to seize property.
Civil asset forfeiture is one of the biggest tools our corrupt government uses to basically steal from its population. A sad part of the failed war on Insert stupid idea here
"When seizure and administrative forfeitures do not ultimately advance an investigation or prosecution, law enforcement creates the appearance, and risks the reality, that it is more interested in seizing and forfeiting cash than advancing an investigation or prosecution," the Inspector General warned.

Darpana Sheth, an attorney for the libertarian-leaning nonprofit law firm Institute for Justice, said in a statement that the report's findings "fundamentally undercut law enforcement's claim that civil forfeiture is a vital crime-fighting tool."
Vital for their pocket book
"Americans are already outraged at the Justice Department's aggressive use of civil forfeiture, which has mushroomed into a multibillion dollar program in the last decade," she continued. "This report only further confirms what we have been saying all along: Forfeiture laws create perverse financial incentives to seize property without judicial oversight and violate due process."
End the ability to seize without charges, reduce significantly or eliminate most of these rogue agencies and end the stupid war on all fucking things. Maybe, just maybe we'll get a partially honest government again.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Re-direct to POTUS' border wall (Construction, Operations & Maintenance) budget and initiate annual reporting. Please see to it.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 7:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Pretty damned good protection racket.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 03/31/2017 7:46 Comments || Top||

#3  Who is the criminal here?
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/31/2017 10:34 Comments || Top||

#4  ...the King's revenue collectors?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/31/2017 11:06 Comments || Top||

#5  Appears little has changed. Tribute and insurance became the norm throughout history.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 11:07 Comments || Top||

#6  Civil forfeiture is a cancer and should be abolished.
Posted by: Iblis || 03/31/2017 11:31 Comments || Top||

#7  The Drug Enforcement Administration seized $3.2 billion that were never connected to any criminal charges. Isn't that called thievery?
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/31/2017 18:15 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Senators Manchin and Heitkamp announce they will vote to confirm Judge Gorsuch
[Hot Air] Today, Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia became the first Democrat to announce he plans to vote to confirm Judge Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Shortly after his announcement, Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota also announced she would vote to confirm Gorsuch. Manchin released a press statement announcing his decision on Twitter:
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  As predicted, vulnerable Dems in reddish states will bring the 60 votes needed. Filibuster will survive for the real fight - the next SCT vacancy.
Posted by: Iblis || 03/31/2017 11:34 Comments || Top||

#2  Annnd... The other six dems are who? Plus the one more you might need if Susan Collins goes the other way...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 03/31/2017 13:38 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Mortars hit near Somali Presidential Palace, 2 hurt
A salvo of mortars targeting Somalia’s presidential palace in Mogadishu landed on a nearby neighbourhoods on Thursday, a day after a new cabinet was approved and sworn-in.

According to sources, two mortar rounds landed inside the Palace, while the rest struck a residential area in Wardhigley district. Reports said at least two people were wounded in the mortar shelling.

Somali security forces have cordoned off the scene and subsequently began an investigation into the incident. No group has claimed responsibility for the bombardment.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Mosul Offensive News


Iraqi troops ordered to avoid heavy weapons in Mosul

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi troops have been directed to avoid using heavy weaponry in battles with Islamic State militants in western Mosul as dozens of civilian casualties had sparked an international uproar.

The Joint Operations Command had received directives from the Armed Forces leadership to not to use heavy weapons and smart guns in operations to recapture the remaining parts of western Mosul, DPA quoted a senior Iraqi officer saying.

Mohamed al-Jubouri, a brigadier-general from the JOC, said the command forwarded the instructions to troops on field, including the Federal Police and the Rapid Response forces, urging to avoid using heavy weapons in bombarding IS havens so as to prevent more civilian casualties.

He said that while IS continue to use civilians as human shields, large numbers of militants flee battlefronts to outside Mosul.

The Pentagon has recently said it was going to investigate reports saying that at least 240 civilians died when fighter jets from the U.S.-led international coalition bombarded IS locations in a western Mosul district on March 17th. Its officials, however, said it was difficult to avoid civilian deaths and stressed that combat strategies were not going to be changed.

The JOC, which has been leading battles against IS in Mosul since October, has said it found no evidence that civilians died due to airstrikes, and accused IS of fabricating such allegations to defame the security campaign and detonating civilians’ homes to push back security troops.

Iraqi troops continue advance in Mosul

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Commander of the Counter-Terrorism 2nd Operations Brigade announced on Thursday, that security forces continue to advance against the Islamic State militants in the terrorist group-held areas in Mosul.

Major General Moen al-Saadi said in a press statement that security forces are advancing significantly against the Islamic State terrorist group.

Forces from Iraqi Army and police managed to impose their control on important and strategic areas in the western and southern axes of Mosul, including Silo plants, Health Control Directorate, and some service departments, Saadi 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.

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.

Iraqi troops capture Qadib al-Ban neighborhood in western Mosul

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Commander of We Are Coming, Nineveh Operations Command, Lieutenant General Abdel Amir Yarallah, has declared liberating Qadib al-Ban district, located west of Mosul, Shafaq News reported.

Federal Police and Rapid Response Forces, according to Yarallah, freed the district from IS and raised the Iraqi flag above the buildings.

Iraqi troops are now making their way toward al-Zangeli neighborhood.

Mosul is the Islamic State’s strongest stronghold in Iraq. Eastern Mosul was recaptured from IS in January, after a US-backed offensive was launched in October. A new offensive started in February to retake the west.

Battles in the west are believed to be much more difficult due to the density of residential areas and the high number of civilians who the commanders believe are used as human shields by IS members.

IS lost control on most of the cities it captured in northern and western Iraq in 2014 and 2015.

Iraqi troops closing on al-Hadba Minaret in central Mosul

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi Federal Police Chief, Lieutenant General Raed Shaker Jawdat announced on Thursday, that security forces advanced toward al-Hadba Minaret, in central the city of Mosul.

Jawdat said in a press statement that troops of the Federal Police continued their advance toward al-Hadba Minaret, after recapturing Qadib al-Ban, in western Mosul.

The Federal Police troops also continue raiding IS-held areas, backed by snipers and drones, in the vicinity of the Great Mosque of Nuri, as well as opening safe havens for civilians to leave the city, Jawdat added.

Earlier today, Federal Police and Rapid Response Forces freed Qadib al-Ban district, in western Mosul, from the Islamic State and raised the Iraqi flag above the buildings.
Posted by: badanov || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Africa North
4 die in Libyan fighter aircraft crash in Tobruk
BENGHAZI: A fighter jet belonging to east Libyan forces crashed in a residential area south of the city of Tobruk on Wednesday, killing the pilot and a family of three, military officials said.

The MiG jet suffered a technical fault while it was being piloted by Saleh Joudah, the commander of Tobruk air base, said Ahmed Al-Mismari, spokesman for the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA).

Libya is home to a patchwork of armed groups with shifting loyalties. The LNA, which does not recognize the UN-backed government in Tripoli, has made territorial gain in recent months in eastern and central Libya, while also fighting rival factions inside areas under its control.

A video was showing a prisoner exchange between the LNA and the Benghazi Defense Brigades (BDB), a faction that seized control of two of Libya’s key oil ports earlier this month.

Three LNA troops captured during the oil port fighting were seen being exchanged for six women who had been trapped by fighting in Benghazi. The exchange took place on Tuesday.

The women had been in a cluster of unfinished buildings on the edge of Benghazi’s Ganfouda district where a long siege by the LNA ended earlier this month when rival fighters and their families tried to escape.

The BDB said it advanced on the oil ports as part of a campaign to reach Benghazi and secure the return of families displaced by the LNA’s near three-year campaign there against militants and other opponents. Some of the BDB’s members had earlier fled the eastern city as the LNA advanced.

The Red Crescent said medical authorities received 54 bodies on the day the Ganfouda siege ended and that it later recovered another 21 bodies from the area.
Posted by: badanov || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Britain
UK peace activist attempts to arrest Saudi general for war crimes in Yemen
[ALMASDARNEWS] A peace activist attempted to apprehend Saudi General Ahmad al-Asiri in London on Thursday, citing war crimes 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...
as the primary reason for his citizen’s arrest.

The peace activist, Sam Walton, stopped General Asiri while he was attempting to walk into a conference he was scheduled to speak at in London.

According to a statement released by Walton and Reverend Daniel Woodhouse, "The UK government has blood on its hands and we need to do everything we can to stop the transfer of weapons and show these sales are illegitimate. By providing weapons and support Britannia is deeply complicit in Saudi war-crimes, and it’s vital that we bring an end to this immoral, abhorrent trade."

A lifelong pacifist, Walton confirmed via his Twitter account on Thursday evening that he did not attack General Asiri or engage in any violent act, despite claims by pro-Saudi regime outlets.

In response to the protesters outside the conference, General Asiri was allegedly seen giving the crowd the middle finger upon entering the building of his conference.
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia


Arabia
10 die in Soddy air raid in Sanaa
10 Yemeni civilians were martyred as the Saudi-led warplanes struck a house in Saada on Wednesday.

Yemeni sources said the Saudi-led warplanes carried out a strike on a residential house in Baqem governorate in Saada province, Al-Massirah Net reported.

All the martyrs are civilians, according to the sources who noted that eight of them were children while the two others were pregnant women.

More four civilians were injured in the strike, including a child.
Posted by: badanov || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  All the martyrs are civilians, according to the sources who noted that eight of them were children while the two others were pregnant women.

Uh huh
Posted by: Frank G || 03/31/2017 12:00 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
The Beatings Will Continue: Iraqi Edition


Video shows ISIS using kid as human shield

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) A video released by the Iraqi Federal Police service purports to show an Islamic State militant in Mosul forcing an Iraqi child to stand as a human shield during encounters with security forces.

On its facebook page, the Federal Police command explained that the video, apparently filmed through a combat equipment, was shot during fights with IS members in central Mosul’s Old City district.

Iraqi forces, backed by a U.S.-led international coalition, recaptured eastern Mosul in January after three months of fighting to retake the city that fell to Islamic State extremists in 2014. The government launched a new offensive in February to retake the city’s western side.

Police and supporting forces said recently they became closer to the Old City’s Nuri al-Kabir mosque, where IS supreme leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the establishment of the group’s rule in Iraq and Syria. They had earlier recaptured the city’s airport and biggest military base besides several other districts since the launch of the campaign. The army’s leadership said recently government troops became in control over 50 percent of the region.

The United Nations, Iraqi generals and aid groups have accused IS of using civilians as human shields. Iraqi commanders said the practice was behind recent casualties in western Mosul blamed on coalition airstrikes.

ISIS executes 23 in Mosul

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State executed 23 civilians in western Mosul on Thursday for refusing to evacuate, and arrested a senior commander over treason.

Dijlah TV quoted eyewitnesses saying that an Islamic State firing squad shot dead 23 civilians from Ras al-Jada and Malaab areas in western Mosul for refusing to evacuate homes and move to other districts with the militants. The execution was carried out at Zanjili district in central Mosul, according to the witnesses.

ِAslo in central Mosul, a trainer at Mosul’s sports club and his wife were killed when a Kateyusha missile landed on their home in Deka Barka neighborhood, according to the channel.

Meanwhile, Alsumaria News quoted local sources saying the Islamic State arrested an elite commander of al-Farouq battalion and 20 other members in Tal Afar town, an IS stronghold west of Mosul. The source said those arrested were accused of “breaching the pledge of allegiance” to IS supreme leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The source added that the arrest took place while the commander was arresting a leadership meeting.

Iraqi forces launched a major campaign in February to retaken western Mosul, having retaken the east in January. Iraqi commanders, aid groups and U.N bodies have accused IS of using civilians as human shields. Occasional news reports have highlighted internal divisions within IS ranks as the destiny of Baghdadi grew murkier.
Google Map at the link

3 executed bodies found in Mosul

Captain Amir Watheq told BasNews that “security troops found three unidentified bodies in al-Karama and al-Quds, east of Mosul, on Thursday.”

“The bodies were blindfolded and had shots in the head,” the source said.

In related news, another security source said several citizens were killed and injured due to a missile shelling on a market located in western Mosul, the National News Center reported.

Speaking on condition of anonymity on Thursday, the source said, “Islamic State militants shot three missiles on al-Zohour market targeting women and children in east of Mosul.”

“The shelling left seven women and children killed and one woman severely wounded,” he said, adding that the victims were transferred to hospital in al-Zohour area.

Mosul is the Islamic State’s strongest stronghold in Iraq. Eastern Mosul was recaptured from IS in January, after a US-backed offensive was launched in October. A new offensive started in February to retake the west. The government troops have recently pushed deeper into the Old City, a densely-populated and -structured area which military officials view as central to the desired victory over IS militants.

Battles in the west are believed to be much more difficult due to the density of residential areas and the high number of civilians who the commanders believe are used as human shields by IS members.

18K kidz recruited by ISIS in Iraq

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Number of children who were recruited by the Islamic State fighters in Mosul have exceeded 18,000, according to a senior security source. Many of them resorted to refugee camps with their families.

Speaking to Al-Ghad Press on Thursday, the source said that IS recruited more than 18,000 children below the age of 18 years old through mobilization of the school students.

Security troops obtained the full names of those recruited by IS, he said, adding that university students were forcibly divided among different specializations that serve IS purposes in Mosul.

“The security committee in charge of reviewing the situation in Mosul revealed that thousands of recruited children are there among displaced families,” he said indicating follow up on them to seeking rehabilitation in coordination with religious endowments and education ministries.

IS recruits children to carry out terrorist and suicide attacks.

Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights reported earlier this week that 197 children have been taken hostage by the IS militants near al-Nouri Grand Mosque in west Mosul where the Iraqi troops have closed in on the militant group.

Mosul is the Islamic State’s strongest stronghold in Iraq. Eastern Mosul was recaptured from IS in January, after a US-backed offensive was launched in October. A new offensive started in February to retake the west.

Gunman attack ISIS militants residences with grenades

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) A local source in Nineveh Province informed that the houses of three members of the Islamic State group were attacked with hand grenades in Tal Afar District, west of Mosul, Alsumaria News reported on Thursday.

The source said, “Today, unidentified gunmen attacked, using hand grenades, houses of three members of the Islamic State in a residential neighborhood in Tal Afar District, west of Mosul, resulting in the burning of two vehicles, as well as inflicting material losses on the houses.”

“The incident is the first of its kind,” the source added on condition of anonymity. “The Islamic State imposed a curfew in the area, and started extensive search operations in the residential neighborhood,” the source further explained.
Posted by: badanov || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Afghanistan
23 militants die in Logar
At least 23 insurgents were killed during a 20 day operation in central Logar province, the provincial governor's office said in a statement on Thursday.

In addition, 28 other insurgents were injured.

The operation was launched in Mohammad Agha, Barak-e-Barak and Charkh districts of the province and ended on Wednesday, the statement said adding that “during the operation the districts were cleared of insurgents.”

“Twenty other insurgents were also arrested during the operation,” it said.

However, the statement did not provide details about casualties among security forces during the operation.
Posted by: badanov || 03/31/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:



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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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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2017-03-31
  Mortars hit near Somali Presidential Palace, 2 hurt
Thu 2017-03-30
  503 militants surrender in Homs
Wed 2017-03-29
  Taliban commanders among 21 killed in Helmand airstrikes: MoD
Tue 2017-03-28
  33 ISIS troops die in Nangarhar airstrike
Mon 2017-03-27
  Leading member of Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis killed in North Sinai raid: Egyptian army
Sun 2017-03-26
  Police clash with anti-Christian mob in southern Egypt
Sat 2017-03-25
  ISIL withdrawing fighters from southern Syria to concentrate on Raqqa
Fri 2017-03-24
  Helmand’s Sangin district has reportedly fallen to Taliban
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

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