People in Roudbar, northern Gilan province, hastily tried to withdraw deposits from Bank Melli amid ongoing rumors of banking collapse. Video posted today; date uncertain. #IranProtestspic.twitter.com/QoWLc9ryzz
A Russian who offered stolen National Security Agency cyber weapons and compromising information on President Donald Trump bilked US spies out of $100,000 last year, the New York Times reported on Friday, citing US and European security officials.
The money was delivered to a Berlin hotel room in September and was intended as the first installment of a $1 million reward, according to US officials, the Russian and communications reviewed by the Times, the newspaper reported.
CIA spokesman Dean Boyd denied the story on Saturday, saying," "The fictional story that CIA was bilked out of $100,000 is patently false." It was more than $100,000?
This article from Oct 3, 2016 is background on the clone/copy of the Lockheed RQ-170 used by Iran in today's infiltration attack on Israel. It's the drone Israel shot down that started today's huge air battle.
Posted by: 3dc ||
02/10/2018
12:51 ||
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#1
Obumble's gift to world peace.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/10/2018 13:51
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#2
Oh no, we couldn't possibly have included explosives. Or considered the possibility of spoofing the GPS. I guess now we'll just have to develop a new one. Sigh.
#3
consider it a "donation from friends in high places"
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/10/2018 17:16
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#4
Ain't it funny... the demunists always say they're more intelligent than all of us non-believers, but they explain all of the stuff like this, or the OPM "hack," as "oops, we made a mistake."
#4
I like they deployed decoy flares: "OH SHIT!" . You know this wasn't a mass-production, albeit more advanced, version of their usual shit. Thanks Obama/ValJar!
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/10/2018 17:34
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#5
This is why the Israelis need the F-35 deployed and they need it deployed now. These are not your grandpappy's SAM batteries.
[AP] SAN SIMONE DI VALLEVE, Italy (AP) ‐ San Simone, a tiny village in the Italian Alps, once had a thriving ski trade. But financial issues kept the lifts closed this winter. The local hotel now houses about 80 African asylum-seekers who were assigned to live there when they arrived in Italy.
But restaurant owner Davide Midali saw promise in both his village and its new residents. To lure tourists back, he set out to build igloos that could be rented overnight, like ones he had seen in Sweden. That’s how a handful of immigrants unaccustomed to the cold picked up the art of igloo-making.
"When some of them saw me creating these blocks of snow, they voluntarily decided to give a hand to reach a common goal," Midali said.
Working with a small crew of volunteers, Midali built six igloos, each taking four or five days to complete. Omar Kanteh, a Gambian citizen who has been in Italy for nine months, is among the newcomers who embraced the construction project, as well as its friendly foreman.
#3
I just moved to Florida. The locals can't handle 45 Fahrenheit. How the F do these Africans deal with it? Easier when no one's shooting or something?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/10/2018 13:17
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#4
It looks like lovely mountain hiking in the summer. link
#5
Didn't stop Hannibal's (Iberian, Celtic, African) boys from getting to the area. [It may have been a 'bit' warmer back then, but don't even suggest that to the climate-nazis]
[AmericanThinker] Most associate the term "radicalized" with ISIS. But radical movements aren't limited to a religion. A jihad is a crusade for a principle or belief involving struggle" and "resistance."
The Washington establishment, the Deep State, and special interests have launched their own jihad, built on a battle cry to "resist." Today, calls to "resist!" echo through Congress as half of the House and Senate stage a mutiny against a duly elected president.
"Resist!" is the call to arms from Democrat leaders (Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama) and radical activist groups (Black Lives Matter, Antifa).
More than 50 organizations have formed to "resist!" the Trump administration.
Just as ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi calls on his followers to resist infidels, so this Washington cabal calls on its warriors to resist our government, to obstruct the president.
These machinations are not conducted in the shadows, not a secret plot carried out in the dead of night. It's all in our faces. Rush Limbaugh warns of a silent coup, Sean Hannity a "soft coup," Ambassador Bolton the "first coup d'état in [U.S.] history."
Wow ‐ a domestic plot to take down our government, and the best we can do is chronicle the uprising? How did we get to the place where we witness a coup and tacitly accept it?
In a word, the media, the left's super-soldiers, brought us to this point.
This powerful propaganda tool is utilized to take the state message into every living room, bedroom, workplace, and gym, anywhere there's a TV or internet, omnipresent, Big Brother.
Like Hitler's "Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda," the media control information, reporting only news that attacks our president and those working to exonerate him. They bury news of lawlessness that implicates Democrats ‐ Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, any member of the leftist cabal.
But why are the media protecting the bad actors? Is it their liberal bent, their far-left ideology? Well, yes and no. Yes, the media are radicalized, wholly devoted to the progressive dogma of the left, but it's more than that. These faux journalists couldn't spew their poison, advocate the overthrow of a president, without their boss's permission, without government approval.
Oh, I know: Time Warner, Comcast, and other private corporations, not government, own the media. Except corporate America and government are one and the same, partners in a corrupt merger.
The roots of this merger are in the iron triangle, a mutually beneficial three-way relationship among Congress, government bureaucrats (the Deep State), and special interests (corporate). No surprises here for those who have followed Rantburg for some time but interesting nonetheless. What would be interesting is who bought the MSM? Marshall McLuhan said: "Only puny secrets need protection. Big discoveries are protected by public incredulity." More at site.
#2
It'd be fascinating to watch some of the "living, breathing Constitution" Left's arguments against the Second Amendment applied to the press protections of the First Amendment.
h/t Instapundit
[FutureofCapitalism] An inner-circle aide to President Trump, Rob Porter, resigned earlier this week, and his two failed earlier marriages are now front-page news in the New York Times.
The story is sad for many reasons, starting with the reported treatment of the ex-wives and including the downfall of Porter, who had an impressive background as a Rhodes Scholar, former chief of staff to Senator Hatch, and son of Roger Porter, a big deal Harvard professor and former White House official who was Master of Dunster House.
It's resonating in part because it fits into pre-existing narratives. The "Trump is a misogynist" narrative is reinforced by the idea that the president kept an alleged wife-beater around the White House. The "Trump is a stumbling clown" narrative is reinforced by the idea that Porter wasn't properly vetted to begin with or that then his departure was prolonged and botched by a White House that first defended him and then dumped him overboard.
But there's a third possible narrative that the Porter story might fit into ‐ one that I haven't yet seen written about. That is the story of a too-powerful and potentially abusive FBI at war with a White House that is trying to rein it in.
[Breitbart] Former Obama State Department official Jonathan Winer, in an attempt to come clean and shape the narrative before being exposed, confirmed that he passed on a dossier from Clinton operatives to the author of the infamous Trump dossier.
In an op-ed in the Washington Post on Thursday titled "Devin Nunes is investigating me. Here’s the truth," Winer publicly confirmed reports that he had passed on a report he received from Clinton operatives to dossier author Christopher Steele in the fall of 2016, right before the election.
He also confirmed that those Clinton operatives were aware of the dossier effort ‐ making Hillary Clinton’s denials of knowing about the dossier even less credible than they were already.
Winer purported to tell "the real story" in his piece, in which he claimed his actions were taken because he was "so alarmed" by Russia’s role in the 2016 election.
#1
“I am in no position to judge the accuracy of the information generated by Steele or Shearer. But I was alarmed at Russia’s role in the 2016 election, and so were U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials,” he wrote.
"In no position to judge the accuracy"... but I disseminated the information anyway.
Nice cover story Mr. Winer. What took you so long to write it and get it to the WAPO ?
So facts or lack thereof be damned. The Oprah school of government...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/10/2018 13:38
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#4
Duh feelz in duh fields...
To liberals' deliberative squeals,
Mudwrestlers in faces and heels,
Producers of need-p0rn
Who serve up the seed corn,
Pay birdbrains to dibble for meals.
[Ynet] The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Friday it has embarked on a fund-raising campaign that will likely include a ministerial-level donors conference next month to fill the gap left by the Trump administration's sudden cut of tens of millions of dollars in funding.
Scott Anderson, the agency's West Bank operations director, said the US hasn't yet spelled out what reforms it is seeking to implement by withholding $65 million -- or possibly millions more in the future.
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees was notified on January 16 that the US was withholding $65 million of a planned $125 million installment and demanding a "fundamental re-examination" and changes to its programs, which have been heavily criticized by Israel. How about some baked goods sales? Or Palestinian handicrafts?
Two Israeli F-16 pilots were hurt Saturday morning after their plane was shot down and crashed in Israel following a retaliatory strike in Syria.
The pilots were able to bail out of the plane. One pilot was seriously wounded, while the other was only lightly hurt. They were taken to the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa for treatment.
The strike was in response to an earlier infiltration into Israel of an Iranian drone originating from an airfield near Palmyra, Syria, which was successfully intercepted by an IDF Apache helicopter. This is bad - one of Israel's major assets was Arabs' belief in IAF's absolute superiority.
Update at 11:00 a.m. ET:
According to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, during the attack on the site from which the drone was launched, carried out by eight Israeli fighter jets, the Syrian army retaliated with widespread antiaircraft fire. Pilots of one of the fighter jets recognized antiaircraft missiles locking onto their plane, prompting them to eject.
The fighter jet crashed in an open area near Kibbutz Harduf. The police said the crash caused no casualties or damage in the community.
Alarms sounded across northern and central Israel during the attack as a result of the antiaircraft fire, with several such missiles and their components landing in open territory.
Syrian television, meanwhile, quoted a military source in saying that, "Israel carried out new aggression early morning against one of the army bases in the country's center, and our air defense mechanisms resisted and hit more than one plane." The IDF rejected the report, saying only one plane was hit.
12 targets hit
The IDF said it launched a large scale attack against Syrian aerial defense systems and Iranian targets in Syria.
"Twelve targets, including three aerial defense batteries and four Iranian targets that are part of Iran's military establishment in Syria were attacked," the military said in a statement.
Syrian SA5 and SA17 missile batteries were targeted, the IDF said, adding that the Iranian targets to be hit were in the vicinity of the Syrian 4th Division.
Syrian media outlets reported that one of the sites targeted by the Israeli air force was an Iranian military base within the greater T-4 Syrian army base complex in the eastern Homs province, 60km east of Palmyra—the same airfield from which the drone took off towards Israel.
Militias affiliated with the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad confirmed the Israeli strike against the drone launching station at the T-4 base, which they claimed was used to collect intelligence on terrorist groups in Syria, including the Islamic State.
Al-Jazeera reported that as a result of the attack, air traffic at the T-4 base was shut down completely and that the airfield's control center was damaged, adding later that IDF "military implements" were directed to the Golan Heights.
Arab media further reported that besides targets in the T-4 airbase, Israel also attacked a military base in the a-Dimas region west of Damascus and near the Lebanese border, the Mezzeh Military Airport in southwestern Damascus, a base of the 104 Division of the Syrian Republican Guard, and a regime weapon storage facility south of al-Kaswa, which is south of Damascus.
A Syria war monitor said Israel struck targets in central Syria and the southwestern suburbs of the capital Damascus in two separate and successive waves of airstrikes.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the first round targeted in the central desert area where Syrian troops and their Iranian-backed allies including Hezbollah are known to maintain bases. It cited unconfirmed reports of casualties among Syrian government forces and allied militiamen.
The Britain-based Observatory, which monitors the Syria war through a network of activists on the ground, says the second round targeted outposts in the southwestern suburbs of Damascus.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru ||
02/10/2018
03:31 ||
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#1
G(r)om,
The law of averages is going to catch up with them sometime. Keep in mind as well that it may not have been Syrian AAA fire that brought them down -we've lost at least one F-16 over Afghanistan due to mechanical problems. The good news though is that the crew is safe at home and recovering.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/10/2018 6:11
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#2
one of Israel's major assets was Arabs' belief in IAF's absolute superiority.
#9
Don't send expensive aircraft and crew to do what surface to surface missiles can do.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/10/2018 14:12
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#10
Flak Trap? The IAF lost much of the 1967 War aura of invincibility during the early stages of 1973 Yom Kippur War for the same reason: predictability. Of course the F-16 could simply be one of those Golden BB random events that can happen to anyone.
h/t Instapundit
Oil prices slid below $60 a barrel, posting their biggest weekly slump in more than two years, as sharp swings in other financial markets spilled over and investors faced an onslaught of U.S. production.
h/t Instapundit
The #MeToo movement has brought many sexual abusers to justice, but it has also frayed working relationships between men and women, a new survey suggested. Unfortunately, it seems to have discouraged successful men from mentoring women.
"Almost half of male managers are uncomfortable participating in a common work activity with a woman, such as mentoring, working alone, or socializing together," LeanIn.org reported. Personally, I trace a lot of K-12 decline to discrimination against hiring male teachers
#1
I listened to a lefty commentator talking about #MeToo movement. What bothers me about this is the rush to judgement. The left is willing to toss people out of jobs and send them packing without a hint of evidence or any kind of due process.
#4
Moreover, if anyone doesn't pile on and condemn that individual who is being burned at the stake, they are guilty by association.
Exactly like members of a cult would do.
Not yet confirmed but a sly way of Russia attacking US Forces without actually using their military. Someone here the other day's post of the attack suggested this was a probe by Russia.
JUST IN: Russian contractors may have been involved in pro-regime attack on US military advisers and their partner forces in Syria that led to US counterattack with aircraft and artillery in east of Euphrates. No US wounded.
#2
I personally asked a Benghazi survivor if he thought Russian contractors were involved in the attack on the annex. He said "no, it was all Ansar al Sharia."
He was there, obviously I was not. I wish I could believe him.
[phys.org] The Pacific nation of Tuvalu‐long seen as a prime candidate to disappear as climate change forces up sea levels‐is actually growing in size, new research shows.
A University of Auckland study examined changes in the geography of Tuvalu's nine atolls and 101 reef islands between 1971 and 2014, using aerial photographs and satellite imagery.
It found eight of the atolls and almost three-quarters of the islands grew during the study period, lifting Tuvalu's total land area by 2.9 percent, even though sea levels in the country rose at twice the global average.
Co-author Paul Kench said the research, published Friday in the journal Nature Communications, challenged the assumption that low-lying island nations would be swamped as the sea rose.
"We tend to think of Pacific atolls as static landforms that will simply be inundated as sea levels rise, but there is growing evidence these islands are geologically dynamic and are constantly changing," he said. Can any prediction of global warmists survive examination?
#3
Atolls and reefs are former volcanic islands. Over time erosion and other natural forces wash all that volcanic soil into the ocean and the islands shrink. It has nothing whatsoever to do with global warming or rising sea levels. Hopefully the hot spots under the earth's crust at the bottom of the ocean create new volcanoes and new islands as tectonic forces pull the older islands away from the hot spot.
The Hawaiian Islands are prime examples.
The southwestern most island in the chain, the Big Island, is currently home to two active volcanoes and one of these has been in a constant state of eruption since 1983. Kilauea has been pouring lava down its slopes and into the ocean since then and making the island bigger as it does so.
To the northeast, past Kauai and Niihau, are a series of smaller reefs and atolls that were at one time millions of years ago probably as big as the Big Island but have since been eroded to their current state.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/10/2018 13:25
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#4
Our catastrophe isn't arriving on schedule. We will need more disaster aid...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/10/2018 13:41
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#5
This is definitely a sign of global warming. Like a wool sweater in a hot dryer, global warming is making the Earth shrink. This causes islands like Tuvalu to be more exposed and hence larger. It's Science, bitches!
[Daily Caller] Fox News’ Tucker Carlson revealed Friday that Carter Page sent emails to the Trump campaign after a FISA warrant was granted to spy on him.
"The question at this point is how many people in Trump’s orbit weren’t spied on by the FBI? Trump advisor Carter Page was placed under government surveillance in the fall of 2016 after the feds used uncorroborated claims from the Trump dossier to justify a FISA warrant," Carlson said. "We know from congressional testimony that page spoke with Trump advisor, Trump campaign manager Steve Bannon while he was being spied on‐meaning that Bannon was likely spied on, too."
"Tonight, based on our own reporting, we can tell you that Carter Page also sent email messages to members of the Trump campaign during that same period. Presumably the FBI intercepted those as well," The Daily Caller co-founder said.
"Suddenly it looks like the Obama administration may have spied on a significant portion of the Trump campaign team. Just how many people were surveilled and to what extent? How much did President Obama know about it? We still don’t have the answers to those questions, though we definitely have the right to them."
#1
How can effective communication surveillance take place if no one is communicating ?
Here's the list of targets but don't start until we have the FISA warrant approved. If you have any questions once we begin, save them to 'draft.' We'll be monitoring your account daily. You'll be contacted via the usual method.
#2
Just maybe Page was a mole for the FBI surveillance and deliberately contacted Bannon and various Trump operatives to help the FBI cast the net wider.
[FoxNews] A White House speechwriter, David Sorensen, is resigning amid domestic abuse allegations, Fox News has confirmed.
Sorensen's exit comes two days after another administration official, Staff Secretary Rob Porter, departed amid allegations by two ex-wives that he physically abused them.
"Before we were contacted by the media, we learned last night that there were allegations," said Raj Shah, principal deputy secretary. "We immediately confronted the staffer, he denied the allegations and he resigned today."
Sorensen, a well-known GOP operative in Maine, worked as a senior adviser to Gov. Paul LePage, according to a May 2017 article in The Portland Press Herald.
According to the White House, his position did not require a security clearance and his background check was ongoing.
The Washington Post, which first reported news of Sorensen's exit, said a former wife claimed he had been viollent and emotionally abusive during their two and a half years of marriage. The paper said he had vehemently denied the allegations, saying he was the victim of domestic violence in the marriage.
#1
Statistically some percentage of the guys you know slap their wives, cheat on taxes, kick their dog and so on. Statistically most of them don't work at the White House...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/10/2018 12:38
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#2
To quote Maurice in Blood Simple: "You get a lot of assholes in here, Marty..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/10/2018 12:40
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#3
a former wife claimed he had been violent and emotionally abusive during their two and a half years of marriage
Cuz we all know ex-wives are paragons of honesty and ethics
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/10/2018 12:57
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#4
All battered wives have one thing in common: They JUST DONT LISTEN!!!
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/10/2018 13:04
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#5
That's right Archie.
Most houses have two doors.
#7
Just saying: My future-ex was at her cousin's house with his wife and her own sister putting makeup on her to photograph like she'd been beat. He called me, I called my Attorney, and my Atty called them to let them know he knew what they were doing and the penalties for falsifying evidence.... Nothing was produced. But, if he hadn't called me....I'd have been screwed, no matter what. I have no sympathy for beaters and abusers of EITHER sex, and yes, it happens both ways. Guys don't wanna admit their SO hit/beat them
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/10/2018 17:24
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For the first time ever, every big missile shown has been flown and validated to some degree. And yes, the largest of Kim Jong Un's weapons, the first intercontinental ballistic missile ever fired by the country, the Hwasong-14 (HS-14) was on full display, as was its menacing bigger brother, the Hwasong-15 (HS-15).
Kim Jong Un, wearing all black with his signature fedora, was the center of attention as always. He gave a brief speech and then took in the display with his regime henchmen by his side. His wife Lee Seol-ju was also in attendance, which is a fairly rare occurrence for an event like this.
After the normal military parade ground pomp and circumstance, a formation of AN-2 biplanes—a seemingly innocuous aircraft that is actually a key weapon in North Korea's arsenal—made a fairly impressive flyover. The formation spelled out "70" and coordinated flare releases looked very nice, which also spelled 70 one after another. The picture doesn't do it justice, it looked very well done. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the party and the North Korean nation as we know it today. Later on a formation of Su-25 ground attack jets also did a large fan-break over the parade ground. Once again, for a country supposedly suffocating from fuel shortages, this was surprising.
These vehicles and their missiles were interesting. They look like KN-02 short-range ballistic missiles, or an evolution of that system, but mounted two per vehicle instead of one. The carriage layout is similar to that of Russia's Iskander tactical ballistic missile system. These smaller missiles don't get the same hype as their larger cousins, but they will be the ones that rain down en masse on South Korea during a conflict, and will be used to strike targets beyond the range of North Korea's traditional artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems arrayed along the DMZ. With this in mind, this could be a new system altogether which would be a troubling development.
Now we are getting into the heaviest hardware, the intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). The HS-14, North Korea's first ICBM that flew twice last July, made an appearance in the parade, but instead of being on a large TEL, the missiles were transported on the back of semi truck tractor-trailers.
Now to the finale, and the system most analysts were waiting to see, the massive HS-15. The ICBM was seen on its purpose-built nine axle TEL. There is no denying that the missile looked impressive as it was wheeled down the street, and it really does represent a new point in what has been a seemingly unbelievable arch in North Korean weapons development over the last two years.
Fact: Kim Jong Un no longer has to scare us with hollow missiles riding atop trucks, he now has the real thing.
The big takeaway here should be: "Underestimate the North Koreans at your own peril."
#1
The lesson from watching that video for a young North Korean male is very clear: Learn to play a trumpet, trombone, drum or tuba. If you can do that maybe they won't expect you to carry a gun and then you might be safe.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/10/2018 12:47
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[Daily Caller] Exporting companies are using Chinese ships, planes, and trucks to transport dead Americans across the world for research purposes, according to a Thursday report from Reuters.
A Hong Kong flagged cargo ship departed South Carolina in July carrying 6,000 pounds of human remains valued at $67,204. The container’s temperature was set to 5 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent the parts from spoiling. Relatives of the dead, meanwhile, did not realize their loved ones’ remains were being dismembered and sent to Europe and elsewhere, the report notes.
Body brokers like Oregon-based MedCure rely on lax regulations to export heads, shoulders, knees and toes to Mexico, China, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia, among several other countries. Plastic surgeons in Germany use heads to practice new techniques, while thousands of parts are shipped overseas annually.
"There are people who wouldn’t necessarily mind where the specimens were sent if they were fully informed," Brandi Schmitt, who directs a body donation system at the University of California, told reporters about the trade, which is still shrouded in mystery. "But clearly there are plenty of donors that do mind and that don’t feel like they’re getting enough information."
The FBI raided MedCure in November, which culminated in a federal investigation.
#2
transport dead Americans across the world for research purposes
Why? They're full of additives and god knows what contamination from drinking water polluted with disposed birth control chemicals. It's not like there's going to be a solid baseline to study from.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/10/2018 13:25
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#11
#7Don't they have enough of their own dead people? --Abu Uluque
The Communist Rationalist World-View still has to deal with millennia of Confucianism and messing with your relatives bodies is a big No-No (as in Death Penalty for Grave Robbing). Barbarians, , who cares?
[Daily Caller] At least four separate coincidences have emerged as the public learns more information about the unverified Steele dossier and how it was crafted.
The origin story of the 35-page document was pretty simple at the outset. Fusion GPS, which was investigating then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, hired former British spy Christopher Steele to write the dossier.
But as more details about the dossier trickle out into the public forum, connections have surfaced that raise questions about how information made its way into the salacious document.
Here are the four most significant "coincidences."
Trump Tower
The first coincidence to emerge from the dossier involved the June 9, 2016, meeting held at Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner and a group of Russians.
Two of the Russians in the meeting ‐ Natalia Veselnitskaya and Rinat Akhmetshin ‐ happened to be working at the time of that meeting with Glenn Simpson, the founder of the opposition research firm that commissioned the dossier. (RELATED: Revelations From Glenn Simpson’s House Intelligence Committee Interview)
Simpson, Veselnitskaya and Akhmetshin were working on behalf of a Russian businessman on a lobbying campaign to undermine a U.S. sanctions law called the Magnitsky Act.
Simpson met before and after the meeting with Veselnitskaya and Akhmetshin but says he was not aware of the Trump Tower meeting until it was reported in July. He has also denied telling the two Russian operatives about his work on the Steele dossier.
Trump Jr. accepted the meeting after an acquaintance offered to provide him with dirt on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. A Russian government attorney at the behest of Russia’s prosecutor general would provide the information, according to the acquaintance.
The offer matches up loosely with some of the allegations in the dossier, including that the Kremlin provided dirt on Trump’s political opponents.
Trump Jr. and others in the meeting say that it went nowhere and no meaningful information was exchanged. They also say that there was no follow up to the meeting, which lasted around 20 minutes.
Simpson himself appeared to acknowledge the odd overlap between his work on the two Russia-related projects ‐ the dossier and the work with Veselnitskaya and Akhmetshin.
"I mean, thank God I didn’t know anything about the Trump Tower meeting, or I would really have some explaining to do," he told the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence during a closed-door interview in November.
[LI] Earlier this week we wrote about the possible involvement of Clinton operative Sidney Blumenthal in feeding information to Christoper Steele, author of the infamous Clinton/DNC funded dossier. That dossier formed a key part of the FBI’s presentation to the FISA court to obtain a warrant to surveil Carter Page.
One of the key links in the Blumenthal-Steele stories was former State Department employee Jonathan Winer:
Devin Nunes has a new target: Jonathan Winer, the Obama State Department’s special envoy to Libya, and longtime Senate aide to John Kerry. Winer received a memorandum written by political activist Cody Shearer and passed it along to Christopher Steele, the former British intelligence official who had compiled his own dossier on Donald Trump.
The release of last week’s House Intelligence Committee memo accusing the FBI of surveillance abuses marked the end of the first phase of Nunes’s investigation into the probe of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election. Now, the committee chair told Fox News on Friday, the probe is moving into "phase two," which involves the State Department. His focus is on the dossier compiled by Shearer, and passed along by Winer, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
That Blumenthal was the source of the information passed on to Winer appeared to be confirmed by Trey Gowdy in an interview with Martha McCallum, Trey Gowdy suggests Clinton operative Sidney Blumenthal fed info to Steele weeks before election:
[Breitbart] The UK Daily Mail reports that rival hard boyz are mocking 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) for "fleeing to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... and leaving women to defend their honor" after footage surfaced of female jihadis fighting on the ISIS frontlines in Syria.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/10/2018
00:29 ||
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[War Zone] The U.S. Coast Guard’s only operational heavy icebreaker, the USCGC Polar Star, is still providing critical services to various U.S. government agencies in Antarctica despite suffering an engine failure and flooding. The incident is a worrying reminder of both how vital these types of ships are and the stark limitations of America’s capabilities in this regard, all as the service is struggling to move ahead with plans to buy all-new vessels.
According to a press release the Coast Guard published on Feb. 6, 2018, Polar Star departed her homeport in Seattle on Nov. 30, 2017 for a cruise that is still scheduled to wrap up in March 2018. The ship’s main mission during the trip has been to cut a path from the open ocean through the ice, which can be 10 feet thick or more, to an improvised ice pier that serves the U.S. Antarctic Program’s McMurdo Station. She has subsequently kept this channel clear of potentially dangerous ice so that other ships, including those under contract to the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command, can safely bring supplies to and from the frigid base.
"We had less ice this year than last year," U.S. Coast Guard Captain Michael Davanzo, said in the press release. But "we had several engineering challenges to overcome to get to the point where we could position ourselves to moor in McMurdo."
"Engineering challenges" is a euphemism that doesn’t do justice to the problems Polar Star had to deal with just getting to McMurdo and the work that the ship’s crew did to make sure the ship could continue its mission. The first issue cropped up on Jan. 11, 2018 when one of the icebreakers three main gas turbines failed. More, including videos, at link.
#4
The ship is over 40 years old and has crunched through a lot of ice in less than optimal conditions for its infrastructure. In addition to that, as P2k said, 'starved for upkeep'.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
02/10/2018 8:39
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"Hey, with all the global warming, who needs icebreakers, amirite?"
[NYTimes] Rachel L. Brand, the No. 3 official at the Justice Department, plans to step down after nine months on the job as the country’s top law enforcement agency has been under attack by President Trump, according to two people briefed on her decision.
Ms. Brand’s profile had risen in part because she is next in the line of succession behind the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, who is overseeing the special counsel’s inquiry into Russian influence in the 2016 election. Mr. Trump, who has called the investigation a witch hunt, has considered firing Mr. Rosenstein.
Ms. Brand, who became the associate attorney general in May, will become the global governance director at Walmart, the company’s top legal position, according to people briefed on her move. She has held politically appointed positions in the past three presidential administrations.
That makes good odds she loathes the current president...
Ms. Brand now oversees a wide swath of the Justice Department, including the civil division, the civil rights division and the antitrust division. She helped lead the department’s effort to extend a law that authorizes the National Security Agency’s warrantless surveillance program.
That does give an idea what we should think about her.
Ms. Brand’s assistant, Currie Gunn, has also left the department. Ms. Gunn could not be reached for comment.
#1
rus·ti·cate [ˈrəstəˌkāt] VERB
(BRITISH) suspend (a student) from a university as a punishment (used chiefly at Oxford and Cambridge).
In earlier years when a Court Official annoyed the monarch they were temporarily exiled 'in disgrace' to their country estates away from the halls of power.
In this case? A conniving courtier running for the border fleeing the wrath of the new sovereign.
Robert Higdon will most likely replace Brand. The Swamp is being drained of Obama/Hillary acolytes. Perhaps the "Rule of Law" will return and replace criminality and the cult of personality.
#5
Apparently, there is the DOJ line of succession which legal experts speak of. I did not know this. Trump does unexpected things, it wouldn't seem like he would be handicapped by such notions. See the Gateway Pundit for this discussion. Somewhere in the decision-making is Sessions.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/10/2018 11:21
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#7
Apparently, there is the DOJ line of succession which legal experts speak of.
Maybe that's what's wrong with DoJ. Is it gonna be a "constitutional crisis" if Trump ignores it so he can appoint some honest people?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/10/2018 11:38
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#8
Is said line of succession spelled out in the Constitution. If not, its just so much shinola.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/10/2018 13:33
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#9
It's good that they're getting rid of these people, but at this rate, half the political appointees will still be Obama holdovers when Trump is running for re-election.
[SABANEWS.NET] Army and popular forces have launched unique military operations, causing huge casualties and the destruction of sites , gatherings, and 18 military vehicles of the US-backed Saudi aggression coalition enemy and its mercenaries during one day, military officials told Saba News Agency.
In the northeastern border 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... province of Jawf, the army and popular forces launched a large-scale offensive against Saudi-paid mercenaries in Khab Washaaf district. The operation ended with the army recaptured Salabah valley, Habash mountain and surrounding hills, killing and wounding dozens of Saudi-paid mercenaries, while 21 others were nabbed Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! in the operation.
Furthermore,11 military vehicles of the enemy were burned and large quantities of weapons were seized in the operation.
Also in Jawf, commander of the border guards in the 1st Brigade, Brigadier Haykal Hantaf was seriously maimed along with the Brigade's operations commander. While the commander of the 2nd Battalion in the same Brigade Nafie Jarad was killed in the army's attacks in Yatamah front of Khab Wa Shaaf.
In southwestern province of Taiz, infiltrations attempts of Saudi-paid mercenaries were foiled toward sites in Osayfra, killing and wounding dozens of them.
In Moazea district of Taiz, two military vehicles were destroyed in the north of Khaled camp, killing their crews.
Also in Taiz, the army and committees carried out a surprise attack against mercenaries' sites in Salw district, resulting in dead and maimed in their ranks and destroying two military vehicles, while a bulldozer was burned by a guided rocket in northern Yakhtel of Makha district.
Furthermore, the mercenary leader, Faisal Hassan al-Makhlafi, deputy commander of the so-called Northern Front in Taiz, was killed fire of the army and committees.
In Marib province, the mercenary leader Captain Mohammed Hassan was killed by the fire of the army and committees in the front of Sarawah district.
In Bayda province, the mercenaries inflicted heavy causalities in attack that was carried out against their sites in Ajradi area of Zahir district.
In Hajjah province, artillery shelling of the army and committees targeted mercenaries gatherings in north of Medi desert.
In the border province of Asir, Saudi soldiers' gatherings were shelled by artillery in Majaza.
In Jizan border Saudi province, dozens of Saudi army were killed and injured by artillery shells that targeted their gatherings in the eastern Om-Qateb area, while a Saudi soldier was sniped in Khazan hill of Qewa village.
Also in Jizan, a military bulldozer was smashed by artillery in Khuba area.
In Boqea front, artillery shelling targeted gatherings of Saudi-paid mercenaries in front of Aleeb mountains and the desert of Boqea, while an offensive operation was carried out on Hamer-Said east of Ajasher, killing and maimed many of mercenaries.
Also in Boea front, a mercenary leader, Abdul Khubair Qaid Saad al-Redmani, was killed by fire of the army and popular committees.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2018
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#1
Ya know, I keep reading these articles about how the Saudis are getting whipped... Is Baghdad Bob accounted for?
[KhaamaNews] At least eleven gunnies affiliated with the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group were killed during the joint operations of the Afghan national defense and security forces in eastern Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province.
The 201st Silab Corps in the East said at least two local leaders of the terror group were also among those killed.
According to the Silab Corps, the operations were jointly conducted by the Afghan National Police, Afghan National Army, and Afghan Local Police forces in Deh Bala district.
At least two hideouts of the terror group along with a depot containing medicines were also destroyed during the operations, the Silab Corps added.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/10/2018
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Three more than last year, making it the highest in seven years. The Daily Mail is trying to scandalize the reader by using such a small sample size rather than giving the historical perspective of the last fifty or one hundred years. And since they are giving the years as April to March, they could have as easily done calendar years (January-December), and got nearly to the present day — surely British government statistics have been calculated through the end of the year, or very nearly.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Libyan officials say twin bomb kabooms at a mosque in the city of Benghazi have killed at least two people and maimed 75 others.
Motaz Agouri, an official at Benghazi security directorate's media office, said the kaboom took place during Friday prayers inside the Saad Ibn Ibada mosque in Benghazi's busy Berka district.
Agouri said the bombs were planted in separate rooms inside the mosque. The devices appear to have been activated remotely using a mobile phone, one military source said.
In January, a twin boom-mobileing near a mosque in Benghazi’s Salmani neighborhood killed at least 33 people.
Benghazi has seen often seen fighting between forces loyal to the self-styled Libyan National Army and Islamist militia opponents.
Libya descended into chaos after the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed ruler Muammar Qadaffy ...The late megalomaniac dictator of Libya, admired everywhere for his garish costumes, funny hats, harem of cutie bodyguards, and incoherent ravings. As far as is known, he is the only person who's ever declared jihad on Switzerland... . The country has been since split between rival governments and militias.
Earlier last month, Benghazi also witnessed a boom-mobile which led to the death of atleast 35 people and left more than 70 others maimed. The explosives-rigged vehicle blew up in front of a mosque in the central neighborhood of al-Sleimani, a security source said.
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02/10/2018
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Arab coalition’s Patriot air defense systems intercepted a ballistic missile fired by the Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... militia from Ras Kutayb area of Hodeidah province in the direction of al-Mukha city in Taiz province western Yemen.
According to local sources, the missile was destroyed before reaching the target.
The coalition fighters targeted by an air strike a location controlled by the militia in the city of Hodeidah, which is believed to be the launch site, the sources said.
The Yemeni army, backed by the Arab coalition forces, was able on Thursday, to eliminate six Houthi leaders, and 50 other krazed killers, during festivities in Tiba area near Saada.
A source confirmed to Al Arabiya that the coalition aircrafts destroyed vehicles and military machinery that the militias were using in the battles which lasted about five hours.
Earlier, on Thursday evening, the Yemeni National Army responded to an attack by the Houthis on Barat al-Anan in al-Jawf province.
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02/10/2018
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Anbar (IraqiNews.com) At least fifteen persons were killed and maimed in a suicide kaboom in Ramadi city, west of Anbar, a medical source has said.
"The terrorist attack, which took place in the evening on Street 40 in Ramadi left one victim and 14 others maimed from civilians and security personnel," the source from Ramadi Educational Hospital told Baghdad Today website on Thursday.
The emergency at the hospital, according to the source, who preferred anonymity, "recorded one victim from al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) and four others injured from the Tribal Mobilization Forces and the local police."
"Nine civilians including a woman and a child were maimed," he added.
Earlier this evening, the security media center said a suicide kaboom targeted security troops in Ramadi.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] An official source in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday said that Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... condemns and strongly denounces the attacks on Eastern Ghouta and the use of chemical weapons by Al Assad regime, which is a flagrant violation of the international laws.
The source clarified that this aggressive action is not aligned with the international efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis politically, in accordance with the principles of the Geneva 1 Declaration and the UN Security Council resolution (2254).
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2018
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[PRESSTV] The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says 25 Æthiopian refugees have gone missing after being forced into the sea as they approached the coast of Yemen.
The men were on one of the four boats that ferried Æthiopians to 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... on Thursday, Mohammed Abdiker, director of operations and emergencies at the UN migration agency, tweeted on Friday.
Abdiker further said that the people on the boat were dumped into the sea and "forced to swim to shore" as they approached Yemen's Shabwa province from Somalia.
No bodies have been recovered.
IOM front man Joel Millman said nearly 600 Æthiopian refugees, men and women, were aboard the ships. The figure is an unusually large number of refugees to arrive off the Yemeni province at one time.
According to International Organization for Migration figures, some 87,000 people risked their lives trying to reach Yemen from the Horn of Africa by boat in 2017.
At least 30 African refugees drowned when their boat capsized off the coast of war-torn Yemen last month with reports that their smugglers opened fire on those on board.
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02/10/2018
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#1
I've never been clear about why Æthiopian's go to Yemen. Anybody care to explain this too me?
[KhaamaNews] At least two members of the Haqqani terrorist network have likely been killed in a dronezap of the US forces in North Wazoo tribal region of Pakistain.
According to the local officials quoted by local media outlets, at least three peopl were killed in the latest dronezap conducted in the vicinity of North Waziristan close to Durand Line.
The officials further added that the US drones fired two missiles targeting a compound in Growek area, leaving at least three dead, including two Haqqani network members.
No further details have been given regarding the identities of those killed in the latest Arclight airstrike.
This comes as the US forces carried out a similar airstrike targeting a commander of the terror network in North Waziristan nearly three weeks ago.
The US forces have stepped up airstrikes against the terrorist networks including Haqqani and Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... leaders both in Afghanistan as well as the tribal regions of Pakistain since the announcement of the new US strategy by President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... The Afghan and US officials have long been saying that the Taliban and Haqqani network leaderships are having safe havens in the tribal regions as well as other parts of Pakistain from where they plan and coordinate attacks in Afghanistan, targeting the government and Afghan and coalition forces.
[RADIOSHABELLE] Security forces have repulsed an attack by suspected al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... Death Eaters at Special Forces Camp in Kutulo, Wajir County commander Stephen Ngetich has said.
Mr Ng’etich said the attackers invaded the Special forces camp at around 8pm, resulting into a one and a half hours shootout that ended with the assailants retreating.
"We are waiting for confirmation of the extent of the damage and also if there were any casualties."
The force is a combination of elite officers drawn from the Administration Police, mainly the Rapid Deployment Unit, and Regular Police.
Early last month, Shabaab destroyed a mast belonging to telecommunications firm Safaricom, paralysing communication.
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[DAWN] In a letter written to the secretary Sindh Home Department, provincial authorities have been asked to provide protection for two witnesses in the Naqeebullah murder case on court’s orders.
Both witnesses will be provided security under Section-4 of Witness Protection Act, according to which they will be given a security detail of three coppers each. In addition to this, the SSP Malir district has been asked to relocate the said witnesses to a safe location, preferably in the cantonment area.
However, death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate... the letter, a copy of which is available with Dawn, mentions that the witness protection programme is not fully functional yet due to non-allocation of funds.
Naqeebullah Mehsud, a South Wazoo resident, was among the four killed in what was later found to be a staged encounter led by then SSP Malir Rao Anwar.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Ynet] Ottoman Turkish police detained leading members of several Kurdish and leftist parties on Friday, the co-leader of the main pro-Kurdish HDP party said, describing it as an attempt to hamper preparations for the annual HDP congress on Sunday.
Co-leader Serpil Kemalbay herself was among the 17 suspects facing arrest over their opposition to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund.... 's military offensive in neighboring Syria, according to state-run Anadolu news agency.
Ankara prosecutors sought the arrests on accusations that the suspects sought to stir street protests and festivities under the guise of opposition to the Afrin offensive, Anadolu said.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/10/2018
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[Ynet] The United States said on Friday it had imposed sanctions on three people and three companies in the Philippines, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire.... and Somalia that supported 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.... hard boy group, including a business that procured parts for unmanned aircraft.
The US Treasury, in a statement, said it had imposed sanctions on Abdulpatta Escalon Abubakar for providing financial and material support for Islamic State and its network in the Philippines.
It sanctioned Yunus Emre Sakarya and his Turkey-based firm Profesyoneller Elektronik for procuring parts for unmanned aircraft for Islamic State. And it sanctioned Mohammed Mire Ali Yusuf and his firms Liibaan Trading and Al Mutafaq Commercial Company for activities supporting Islamic State in Somalia.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/10/2018
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#1
The US Treasury, in a statement, said it had imposed sanctions on Abdulpatta Escalon Abubakar for providing financial and material support for Islamic State and its network in the Philippines.
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Two turbans were killed and a large amount of ammunition was seized on Wednesday as Iraqi forces launched an operation against bad boy group in Tuz Khurmatu region in Salahuddin province, the Iraqi command has said.
The Iraqi Joint Operations Command said army, police and Popular Mobilization forces combed up to 12 villages in the region, confiscating ammunition from bad boys’ hideouts.
A statement by the command added that the operation also led to taking over two oil fields, noting that operations were still ongoing.
The Popular Mobilization Forces had declared the launch of an operation to clear Tuz Khurmatu from "outlaws". Earlier statements by field commanders had said that the operation was particularly targeting the "White Flags", a nascent entity composed of a number of separatist groups, most notably the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), a militia fighting for Iranian Kurds’ independence.
So that’s who they are. I’d wondered.
A home to a mixed Arab, Kurdish and Turkmen population, Tuz Khurmatu was among the disputed regions Iraqi forces seized back from Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces following a referendum the autonomous region held in September to secede from Iraq.
Kurdish politicians have accused Iraqi forces, most notably the PMF, of carrying out forced deportations and inducing a demographic change in Tuz Khurmatu for the favor of Arab ethnicities.
In december, the United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said its teams had observed signs of possible violations in Tuz Khurmatu, including destroyed homes and businesses in several primarily Kurdish neighbourhoods after Iraqi forces’ takeover in October.
Diyala (IraqiNews.com) The Central Criminal Court have sentenced three Islamic State members to life after they admitted transferring food commodities and money to families of the group members in Diyala, a judicial source said on Thursday.
Speaking to Alghad Press, the source said the court reviewed the lawsuit of the three IS members. “The suspects used to work with the group. Their mission was to deliver the food commodities and money to families of the group members in Diyala.”
“They confessed during investigations that they used to take the food supply from one person then from another after the first one was arrested. The other one was later arrested,” the source added.
The court, according to the source, “found enough evidence against the suspects and sentenced to life, in accordance with law provisions.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over the militant group, previously in December, however, observers warn that the group still poses a security threat with sleeper cells.
Late January, Diyala Criminal Court has sentenced a suspect, involved with Al-Qaeda, to death over taking part in kidnapping and execution of eight civilians in 2007. In the same month, the court sentenced an Islamic State militant to death over involvement in killing 47 civilians in 2006. Baghdad court sentenced a German female suspect of Moroccan origins to death over involvement with Islamic State militant group.
Diyala (IraqiNews.com) Nine people were killed and wounded as an armed attack targeted civilians in Diyala, the media security center said on Thursday.
“An armed attack against a barber shop in a region in Khanqeen, Diyala, left seven people killed and two others wounded,” the center said in a statement.
Earlier on the day, a security source told Baghdad Today website that ten people were killed and injured in an armed attack carried out by one terrorist in Khanqeen.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
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[DAWN] A LYNCH mob in a university was shocking enough.
But in the hours and days after Mashal Khan’s tragic and vile murder, the true dimensions of the horrifying crime became apparent ‐ a young man brutally murdered in an institution of higher learning after a lie was deliberately spread that he had committed blasphemy in alleged posts on social media.
The lie was invented by members of the university who were threatened by Mashal’s courageous activism on issues ranging from alleged corruption in the university to a hike in university fees.
Everything the public has come to learn about Mashal since the despicable murder has shown him to be an exemplary university student and an upright, morally conscious citizen. April 13, 2017, was a dark day in the country’s history.
So it is with some relief, though mixed with concern, that the first phase in the quest for justice for Mashal has concluded.
One death sentence, five life sentences, 25 three-year imprisonments and 26 acquittals are itself evidence of the sheer number of people involved in the crime and the difficulty of securing convictions in a case involving false but religiously motivated accusations.
It is encouraging that the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has declared its intention to file an appeal against the acquittals by the anti-terrorism court, but the retraction of statements by witnesses to Mashal’s murder will likely pose challenges.
KP police and prosecution were surely aware that pressure would be brought to bear on witnesses to deny statements implicating the murderers and others involved in the lynching.
Fear for personal safety and the security of family members of witnesses would have been an unfortunate reality for the witnesses in the highly charged trial.
The KP government should have taken steps to protect key witnesses and encourage full and accurate testimonies.
If in a case that sparked national outrage and scrutiny, the police and prosecution were unable to secure convictions of all the accused, what hope is there for cases that do not attract such intense media coverage and national interest?
Shocking though not surprising has been the response of some religious parties to the ATC verdict. The acquitted individuals have been greeted as heroes and hailed for their role in the murder of a man against whom accusations of blasphemy are demonstrably false.
With a general election on the horizon, all political parties are likely to try and gin up support among their respective bases.
But it is depressing that parties such as the Jamaat and JUI-F would take the violent death of an innocent young man and insist that it is those who had a part to play in his murder who have been wronged.
The state should consider instituting a scholarship or naming a centre of education after Mashal Khan.
There should be no ambiguity allowed on the fact that a tremendously brave young man was brutally killed by liars and bigots.
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[SABANEWS.NET] At last four Saudi-paid mercenary commanders were killed and injured in attacks by the Yemeni army and popular forces in Yemen's Jawf and Marib on Thursday, an army official told Saba.
In the northeastern border province of Jawf, commander of the border guards in the 1st Brigade, Brigadier Haykal Hantaf was seriously maimed along with the Brigade's operations commander. While the commander of the 2nd Battalion in the same Brigade Nafie Jarad was killed in the army's attacks in Yatamah front of Khab Wa Shaaf.
In Marib province, mercenaries' commander was killed in Serwah front.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[IsraelTimes] Defense secretary denies US being dragged into broader war, says Russia not involved in 'perplexing' overnight attack on US-backed fighters
The closer the US gets to its original goal in Syria of defeating 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, the murkier its end game. New layers of complexity are descending on a shifting battlefield, as demonstrated by a deadly barrage of American air and artillery strikes on a shadowy attacker.
Continued on Page 49
#3
When and how. I believe that a week after 9/11 we should have parachuted a couple 15 Mt nukes into Mecca while our diplomats explained that US technicians would visit the bombs weekly, and any interference or unauthorized approach would result in immediate detonation.
I'd recommend the same for Damascus.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/10/2018 14:33
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#4
" The end game is simple. We come home. They remain barbarians. Only thing uncertain is when we come home."
For some, this is home.
For the Lord, it is waste.
They had better Pray they have US. There has never been a better power. Ever.
[DAWN] THE notification by Pemra barring all satellite TV channels, FM radio stations, and cable operators from promoting the upcoming Valentine’s Day is the latest example of how reluctant the state is to allow the people an opportunity to enjoy themselves. As basis for the notification, the electronic media regulator reprinted an interim court order by the Islamabad High Court from February last year; the court had issued the instructions while hearing a petition in this regard. That petition was never taken up during the past year and remains pending ‐ hence Pemra’s reprinting of it in its notification that has disappointed those who might have been looking forward to joining the world in presenting their loved ones with a flower or two on Feb 14. This is both discouraging and disturbing, especially when we consider that Pakistain is a country that has had more than its fair share of tragedy and suffering ‐ on account of militancy, intolerance, crime, poverty and a host of other factors. In such a situation, the state should have been doing its best to open up new avenues of entertainment, instead of adopting a moralistic approach egged on by conservative elements for whom happiness in any form is anathema. By letting people indulge in harmless diversions such as Valentine’s Day, the state might even have given citizens a sense of shared bonhomie and street vendors selling flowers and balloons a chance to make some extra money. Instead, officialdom seems bent upon actively stamping out any avenues of light-heartedness to which this beleaguered citizenry might take recourse.
However, by candlelight every wench is handsome... it is not only about Valentine’s Day; a much larger and worrying trend is evident in the country. The centuries-old festival of Basant is just one of the many other examples of the regression we see. There was a time when this kite-flying festival earned Lahore millions in revenue and provided joy to young and old alike. It was banned ostensibly for reasons of safety as the kite twine could prove lethal and the risk of careless kite-flyers falling from rooftops was a concern. Instead of actively finding a way to make Basant safe, the state has imposed an outright ban on a festival that the right-wing lobby associates with ’Hindu’ traditions. Sadly, Pakistain is on its way to becoming an island with its face turned towards regression, isolation, and a complete lack of heed for future consequences. Deep introspection is required ‐ urgently.
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[IsraelTimes] Human Rights Watch calls for probe into allegations that Kurdish security forces executed 'perhaps hundreds' of male detainees one week last summer
Human Rights Watch on Friday accused Iraqi Kurdish security forces of carrying out mass executions of detainees alleged to be 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.... jihadist group.
The watchdog said the Kurdish peshmerga fighters detained Iraqis and foreigners at a school in Sahel al-Maliha, 70 kilometres (45 miles) northwest of second city djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , from which IS was expelled in July.
"The evidence suggests that Asayish (Kurdish) security forces conducted mass executions of captured ISIS (IS, or so-called Islamic State) suspects night after night for a week, perhaps killing scores or even hundreds of male detainees," said Lama Fakih, HRW’s deputy Middle East director.
"Iraqi and KRG (Kurdish Regional Government) authorities should urgently and transparently investigate the allegations of mass executions and hold those responsible to account," she said in a statement.
The executions allegedly occurred between August 28 and September 3.
Questioned about the report by HRW, Iraqi Kurd government official Dindar Zebari denied the accusations.
Zebari said that according to the head of the Asayish, the peshmerga were battling IS on a 71-kilometer (44 miles) front line as the jihadists attempted to flee to Syria.
During the festivities, many IS and peshmerga fighters died, and "the corpses of the killed ISIS members in this fighting were probably brought to one place to be buried," the Asayish chief was quoted as saying.
The front line is located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the site at which the bodies were found, said HRW, casting doubt on his account.
"This explanation does not match the state the bodies were found in, shot in the head" and buried "in a solitary desert area, far from where any fighting had occurred," said the watchdog.
[AmGreatness] Back in December of 2015, Dan McLaughlin wrote an excellent piece in The Federalist on the then-upcoming Republican primary race. It offers quite the window into the political decision making of Donald J. Trump. In it he accurately outlines Trump as the candidate employing the Observe, Orient, Decide, and then Act principles (the OODA Loop) of famed American fighter pilot and strategist John Boyd.
Unfortunately for McLaughlin, at the time of that writing he, like many, rather spectacularly misunderstood who Donald Trump is in actual fact. His entire piece examines as real the strategically erratic character Trump has clearly created for social, business and media consumption purposes.
Donald Trump is nothing if not crazy like a fox‐as unpredictable as Sun Tzu, and as fearsome like a boss.
Some have argued that President Trump’s recent State of the Union speech was designed primarily to troll Democrats. I disagree. The trolling effect (e.g., a steady stream of bad optics televised in prime time‐and subsequently easily turned around into an RNC ad‐showing Democrats behaving disrespectfully, rolling their eyes, shaking their heads, groaning, looking down at their cell phones, and even walking out in a huff) is real, but was a fully expected side-benefit of the address. No, the President is on something of a John Boyd "Destruction and Creation" mission.
Operating like a general giving the command for his massive political army to advance on the adversary, the State of the Union speech was the best political oration of my lifetime. I’ll try to quickly detail why by quoting a personal favorite, Richard Fernandez of the Belmont Club. In a piece he wrote in December 2016, just prior to Trump’s inauguration as our 45th President and in the context of Trump’s signaling with respect to what should be our posture with China, Fernandez wrote that:
The Democratic Party should stop underestimating Donald Trump. The good news is that he moves at nongovernment speed. The bad news is that, due to his outsider status, nobody knows exactly where he is going. Continues.
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy ||
02/10/2018
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#1
No, no, keep underestimating him. That's a good idea.
I think this writer just read about the OODA loop and wanted to write about it.
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 ||
02/10/2018 2:57
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#2
A truly radical approach was absolutely necessary to deal with the media/leftist industrial complex and with the newspeak of political correctness.
#3
Yes #1. Do do however believe Trumps education has given him a solid foundation to ooda. He is far more patriotic that anyone has given him credit for. The public sees it and responds. The only ones who refuse to see this are our elites and power hungry control freaks. They still believe it is their ballgame and so all have to play by their rules.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Islam did not forbid slavery. According to Islamic law, a Moslem can own slaves, buy them and sell them as he wishes. Despite this fact, Moslem societies have stopped practicing slavery and the slave market has been banned for a long time.
This is natural and logical progress, as human beings naturally respond to social and cultural development. Other nations and peoples have similarly given up many old practices because many of them are no longer in keeping with the times.
One of the most important evidence is that Moslem societies stopped Sharia punishments such as hand cutting or stoning, as well as criminalizing the narrow understanding of jihad because it contradicts humanitarian principles.
What about "religious institutions", which continue to actively propagate in other countries? Is propagation suitable abroad in today’s age, which requires non-interference in the affairs of other countries?
Stereotypical image
Does this activity fit the stereotypical image of Islam, which unfortunately has been tarnished and associated with terrorism, especially as aspersions have been cast against the funding of seminaries, which are believed to be promoting terrorism.
We may all recall here the ’preachers’ who incited the youth to join ISIS or those who flaunted their sins, their crimes and the killing of innocent people in Syria. Despite the proliferation of "preachers" around us, our societies did not know the concept of a "preacher" before the rise of the Sahwa movement as the title was coined for political purposes, particularly to promote divisive ...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled... ness and intolerance.
"Moslem" society does not need anyone to remind it about Islam. A few days ago, I witnessed a charity advertisement encouraging people to donate money to convert non-Moslems in China. Despite our "very, very, very" small size compared to China, which is a great nation, we seek to change the faith of its people, as if it is our legitimate responsibility to undertake this religious duties on behalf of Moslems in China.
We might end up inviting the wrath of the Chinese dragon.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2018
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#1
Saudi Arabia "banned" slavery in the 1960s. It's still unofficially practiced.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
02/10/2018 0:05
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#2
One imagines Harvey Weinstein clouting his forehead with the heel of his hand. "You mean if I'd been on the record opposed to what I was doing all that time, it'd been honky dory..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/10/2018 12:26
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Taqqiyah.
Slavery is legally banned, and actively — even avidly — practiced, throughout the Ummah and beyond. One might say it is a mark of the Third World, causing as well as reflecting the ills contained in such societies. Moslem societies, it has become clear, have not progressed at all on this subject, except temporarily here and there.
Perhaps the use of the English word preacher is new, but the giving of sermons encouraging much stricter observance of Muslim law and the support of jihad is not, whether in formal houses of prayer or in the street.
[AlAhram] U.S. forces in Afghanistan have attacked networks of anti-China forces of Evil in an action that is likely to please Beijing, which had called for Western cooperation in its fight against a group it says wants to split off its Xinjiang region.
The strikes in the northern province of Badakhshan destroyed Taliban ...Arabic for students... training camps which support bad boy operations in Afghanistan as well as operations by the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) in the border region with China and Tajikistan, Afghanistan's NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... -led mission said in a release on Thursday.
"The U.S. strikes support Afghanistan in reassuring its neighbours that it is not a safe sanctuary for bandidosbully boyz who want to carry out cross-border operations," it said.
The force gave no more details about the attacks or any estimate of casualties but it said the ETIM was behind attacks both inside and outside China and two of its members had been involved in a 2002 plot to bomb the U.S. Embassy in Kyrgyzstan.
"They pose a threat to China and enjoy support from the Taliban in Badakhshan and throughout the border region," the force said.
The group is drawn from members of China's mostly Moslem Uighur minority, who speak a Turkic language and live in Xinjiang in China's far west.
In Beijing, a Chinese foreign ministry front man said he did not have information about the issue, but that fighting ETIM was a "core counter-terrorism concern" for China.
"Striking against terrorism is the responsibility of all countries in the world," Geng Shuang told a news briefing on Friday.
In 2016, Beijing was angered at a U.S. State Department report that said there was a lack of transparency or information from China about incidents it called terrorism, and that cooperation on the problem was limited.
The United States has since urged China to play a bigger role in combating global terrorism.
In the past, some Western countries have been reluctant to share intelligence with China on terrorism issues, citing concern about possible human rights ...not to be confused with individual rights, mind you... abuses in Xinjiang.
China has long been worried that instability in Afghanistan could spill over into Xinjiang.
Hundreds of people have been killed in violence in recent years in Xinjiang. Beijing blames the bloodshed on Islamist forces of Evil and separatists, though rights groups say the unrest is more a reaction to repressive Chinese policies.
The United States, Britannia and the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... have listed the ETIM as a terrorist group.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/10/2018
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#1
"U.S. forces in Afghanistan have attacked networks of anti-China forces"
[DAWN] The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday handed over the custody of a minor Christian girl, who was allegedly kidnapped and forced into a marriage by a Moslem man, back to her parents.
According to a court order issued on Friday, the 12-year-old girl failed to convince the court that she had willingly converted to Islam in order to marry the man.
Earlier, the girl's parents had approached a local court with a petition stating that their daughter had been kidnapped by the Moslem man.
At the time, the lower court had ordered that the girl be sent to live in a Darul Aman while the accused, his father and the nikahkhwan (marriage officiator) be incarcerated ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... The girl's family had then petitioned the IHC with a request that their daughter be returned to them.
As a result of the petition, the girl was produced before the court on Thursday. When asked what her name was, the girl gave a Moslem name and she stated that she had embraced Islam "for the purpose of marriage only", the court order, a copy of which is available with DawnNews read.
The girl told the court that the Prophet Isa (Jesus) was her prophet and was unable to name any other prophet. She also said that she was not literate.
Records from the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) showed that the girl was born on May 20, 2005, meaning that she is currently below the age of 13, the order noted.
Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the IHC wrote in the order that he was not convinced that the girl had embraced Islam of her free will and in a secure environment; "rather it appears to be result of inducement and compulsion".
"I am constrained to observe that this sort of act of abduction and taking [the] shelter of Islam is totally uncalled for and unacceptable," the judge wrote, adding that Moslems, Christians and all other citizens are equal when it comes to constitutional guarantees.
Upon examination, it appeared prima facie that the accused Moslem man and his father connived with each other to abduct the girl, the judge observed, directing the police to investigate the matter further and arrive at a conclusion.
The court also ruled that the validity of the minor girl's nikah with the accused is questionable, and needed to be resolved by a family court.
In light of the facts, the judge handed over the girl's custody to her parents, who were warned by the court against inflicting any type of torture or harm on the girl. The girl subsequently agreed to accompany her parents to their home.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2018
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[PRESSTV] Scientists say our Sun will likely enter a cooldown cycle as soon as 2050, but the phase has almost no effect on global warming.
Physicist Dan Lubin at the University of Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, San Diego and two of his colleges managed to collect and observe relevant data for the past 20 years and came to the conclusion that the giant burning ball of gas in our planetary system might enter a "grand minimum" period of decreased ultraviolet radiation that would last for some 11 years by mid-century.
"The cooldown... [is] a periodic event during which the Sun’s magnetism diminishes, sunspots form infrequently, and less ultraviolet radiation (UV) makes it to the surface of the planet," researchers noted in a statement earlier this week, adding that "the event is triggered at irregular intervals by random fluctuations related to the Sun’s magnetic field."
The study, whose results were published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, said the Sun is likely to be 6.9 percent cooler than its usual lowest amount of activity in the grand minimum.
According to the researchers, the cooldown phase could echo those experienced in Europe ...also known as Moslem Lebensraum... in the mid-17th century, called the "Maunder Minimum," or the prolonged sunspot minimum, during which temperatures were low enough to cause London's River Thames to freeze over on a regular basis and to freeze the Baltic Sea to such an extent that Swedish troops were able to invade Denmark in 1658 on foot by marching across the sea ice.
Thank goodness for anthropogenic global warming. Imagine how impossibly cold it would have become without it!
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2018
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The development of plastic mats on the oceans to retain core heat are coming along nicely.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/10/2018 13:12
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#4
Dr. Rhodes Fairbridge (the guy who commissioned the original tree ring study) told them about this in the '90's. There's no way to scam money based on it, so the scientific community ignored it.
His conclusion is that it's a periodic event likely caused by orbital mechanics, i.e. the major planets exerting tidal effects on the sun, and the position of said planets in orbit being distributed evenly around the sun, making for less turbulence in the tidal bulges. IIRC
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/10/2018 13:20
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[AlAhram] A delegation from the Paleostinian group Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", led by the head of its political bureau Ismail Haniyeh ...became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank... arrived in Cairo on Friday to discuss with Egyptian officials security, reconciliation and humanitarian conditions in Gazoo.
The delegation was received by the head of Egyptian General Intelligence Abbas Kamel.
Barhoum said that the visit, which had been scheduled for some time, will tackle the tough humanitarian conditions [caused by the 10-year-old Israeli
...and on the Egyptian side only a few years shorter...
siege of the Strip].
"The visit aims at continuing the implementation of the Paleostinian reconciliation deal in accordance with the 2011 and 2017 agreements, and utilise Egyptian mediation efforts towards that goal," Barhoum added.
The negotiations between the two main Paleostinian factions Hamas and Fatah to achieve Paleostinian reconciliation, sponsored by the Egyptian General Intelligence, have led to an agreement to end the 10-year-old row between the two groups.
However, some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... the implementation of the agreement has since met setbacks.
Sources in Cairo said that this visit could involve setting a special timetable concerning reconciliation issues.
Egyptian General Mohammed Ibrahim, one of the architects of the 2011 reconciliation agreement, told Ahram Online that current problems in the reconciliation efforts relate to difficulties in deciding the mechanisms of the work of the regrouped Paleostinian ministries, and the absence of consensus on problems facing the employees of the Paleostinian Authority.
"The [recent] mutual negative statements between Hamas and Fatah leaders have largely contributed to the tension between the two groups; no efforts at reconciliation could succeed in such an atmosphere," Ibrahim added.
"The continuation of Egyptian mediation is important, despite all previous successful mediation efforts, because it is the only guarantee of the success of the reconciliation process, and the Paleostinian side should be aware that Egyptian efforts have their limits and expectations," Ibrahim said.
He added that it is important for Hamas and Fatah to "make all required compromises and show flexibility to achieve real reconciliation on the ground."
The Hamas delegation’s visit comes shortly after Cairo said that it foiled an attempt by 18 ISISbandidosholy warriors to infiltrate from Sinai to assassinate Haniyeh, reflecting a new level of security coordination between Cairo and Hamas, marked by joint security arrangements on the borders between Rafah and Gazoo.
Hamas has also incarcerated ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... a number of ISISbandidosholy warriors who had attempted to enter into Sinai.
While social media accounts affiliated with ISIS have broadcast statements and videos that showed activities by Paleostinian bully boys, some of them have joined the group in war-torn Syria.
Leaks of investigations into murderous Moslems by Egyptian investigation bodies have revealed that the head of the ISIS group in Sinai is the Paleostinian bully boy Rasem Abu Gazoor.
Cairo had started efforts to arrange a prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas, but tensions between Gazoo and Israel, which some observers say are nearing war levels, have cut this process short.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Egypt on Friday launched a major security operation involving the army and police against "terrorist and criminal elements and organizations" across the country, the army front man said.
The army front man said the operation covers areas in Sinai, the Delta and the Western Desert and it follows a three-month deadline set by President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi to crush a years-long Islamist insurgency.
"The law enforcement forces began this morning implementing the comprehensive confrontation against the terrorist and criminal elements and organizations in northern and central Sinai," an army front man said in a televised statement.
Operational and training maneuvers
The army front man said the operation will involve operational and training maneuvers to tighten state control on the country's crossing points with neighboring countries, and urged full cooperation with the law enforcement forces involved in the operation.
Residents reported hearing extensive air activities above the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, which is close to the area of operations in northern and central Sinai.
Security forces have for years battled an ISIS insurgency in North Sinai that has killed hundreds of soldiers and police. The gunnies have expanded their targets to include civilians over the last year or so.
Closing the Gazoo border
Egypt closed its border on Friday with the Gazoo Strip, Paleostinian officials said, after Cairo launched a major operation against jihadists in the Sinai Peninsula.
The head of Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",, the Islamist group which runs Gazoo, was however permitted to travel to Cairo for talks before the border was closed a day earlier than planned.
Friday was supposed to be the final of a three-day border opening for humanitarian cases from Gazoo, the first time the Rafah border crossing with Egypt had been open in 2018.
"The Rafah border was closed today due to the security situation in Sinai, we were informed by the Egyptian authorities," said Saleh al-Zaq, head of the civil affairs committee which controls the borders.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniya crossed the border to Cairo for talks with Egyptian leaders before Rafah was closed, Hamas front man Fawzi Barhum said.
He said the talks would include an Egyptian-brokered reconciliation deal between Hamas and rival Paleostinian movement Fatah that has faltered, with multiple deadlines missed.
It was believed to be Haniya’s first trip outside Gazoo since the United States included him on its terror blacklist last month.
19:30 Egyptian authorities have decided to close all schools in North Sinai until further notice starting Saturday. The Ministry of Higher Education is also suspending studies at universities and other institutions of higher education for one week.
17:15 Hours after the Egyptian army started Operation Sinai 2018 to fight terrorism this morning, the interior ministry said it killed three members of the banned Hasm terrorist group in a shootout in an under-construction residential building in Cairo.
The ministry said its comprehensive security plan to curb the group’s actions in Qalioubiya, Daqahliya, Beheira, Menoufiya, Sharqiya, Assiut, and Fayoum led to the arrest of 14 members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood following raids on their hideouts on Friday, the ministry said.
Anyone who owns a gun is being manipulated by the Russians. Online ads posted by entities with ties to the Kremlin are trying to get Americans to buy more guns so they, the gun owners, can kill each other off. All this is according to California Congressman Adam Schiff.
If owning a gun is tantamount to being in collusion with the Rooshuns, then Tovarishch, we need to talk.
One Russian Facebook acquaintance I have, Pavel Kukhmirov (Pavel Rasta) likes guns a lot, mainly because he is part of the militia that defends the People's Republic of Donetsk. Especially the M1911. The M1911 was shipped to Russia in large numbers during WWII.
His call sign is Shakespeare.
It didn't take the Kremlin's stupid ads for me to follow Pavel Rasta, Aleksandr Koffman and Aleksandr Kots.
I follow Kots because he is a military journalist for Komsomolaya Pravda, and has been in Syria as well as in Donetsk and Lugansk. He is prior service Russian airborne, and has a wife and at least one kid.
Koffman was the foreign minister of the DPR in 2014-2015, before he and a number of his allies were deposed and replaced. On his Facebook page he has discussed Russian films, his dawg and his son. In the new exchanges I have had with him, he never suggested I kill my countrymen, no matter what kind of loudmouth pricks they are.
Not even once.
All the Russians I have named are Russian patriots. They love their country, their language and their culture.
Why Schiff thinks that he needs to advise anyone about their contact with Russians is just weird.
It is simple in my mind. The state government of New York, once their prosecutions begin, will effectively declare war on its residents.
Loads
Rantburg's summary for arms and ammunition:
Pistol ammunition prices were mostly steady. Rifle ammunition prices were mixed.
Prices for used pistols were lower. Prices for used rifles were mixed.
New Lows:
Texas: .308 NATO (AR-10 Pattern Semiautomatic): Palmetto State Armory: $600
Florida: .223/5.56mm (AR Pattern Semiautomatic): American Tactical Imports: $350
Pistol Ammunition
.45 Caliber, 230 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2 weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Red River Reloading, Silver Bear, FMJ, Steel Casing, .22 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: East Carolina Trading, Own brand, FMJ, Brass Casing, Reloads, .20 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (4 Weeks))
.40 Caliber Smith & Wesson, 180 Grain, From Last Week: -.01 Each
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing .20 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: East Carolina Trading, Own Brand, CRN, Brass Casing, Reloads, .17 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (7 Weeks))
9mm Parabellum, 115 Grain, From Last Week: +.01 Each After Unchanged (3Q, 2017)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Wolf WPA, RN, Steels Casing .15 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Fedarm, Own Brand, RN, Brass Casing, Reloads .14 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (3 Weeks))
.357 Magnum, 158 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (3Q, 2017)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .23 per round
Cheapest Bulk: 1,000 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .23 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (3Q, 2017))
.38 Special, 158 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (7 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Highland Lakes Ammo, Own Brand, FN, Brass Casing, Reloads .24 per round
Cheapest Bulk: 500 rounds: Fed Arm, Own brand, TMJ, Brass Casing, Reloads, .19 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (4 Weeks)
Rifle Ammunition
.223 Caliber/5.56mm 55 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (4Q, 2017)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Able's, Wolf WPA, FMJ, Steel Casing, .20 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Wolf WPA, FMJ, Steel Casing, .20 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (4Q, 2017))
.308 NATO 150 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (3Q, 2017)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: LAX Ammunition, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .32 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: SG Ammo, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .30 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (5 Weeks))
7.62x39mm AK 123 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Red River Reloading, Wolf WPA, FMJ, Steel Casing, .22 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: True Shot Gun Club, Wolf WPA, Steel Casing, FMJ, .19 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (3Q, 2017))
.30-06 Springfield 145 Grain. From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Target Sports USA, Wolf WPA, Steel Casing, FMJ, .60 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: United Nations Ammo, Wolf WPA, Steel Casing, FMJ, .53 per round (From Last week: Unchanged (4Q, 2017))
.300 Winchester Magnum 150 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (4Q, 2017)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: LAX Ammunition, Prvi Partizan, Brass Casing, SP, .81 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Target Sports USA, Prvi Partizan, Brass Casing, SP, .85 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged 4Q, 2017)
.338 Lapua Magnum 250 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (5 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Ten Ring, Brass Casing, SP, 2.15 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 200 rounds: Cabelas, Prvi Partizan, Brass Casing, HPBT, 2.80 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (8 Weeks))
.22 LR 40 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Ammo King, Aguila, RNL, .04 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 5,000 rounds: Ammo King, Aguila, RNL, .04 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (2Q, 2017))
#1
New Lows: Texas: .308 NATO (AR-10 Pattern Semiautomatic): Palmetto State Armory: $600 Florida: .223/5.56mm (AR Pattern Semiautomatic): American Tactical Imports: $350
#4
trying to get Americans to buy more guns so they, the gun owners, can kill each other off.
Someone else said it first, but there are basically two Americas - one with a lot of guns and a low murder rate, the other with a few guns and an insanely high murder rate.
You can look at this partition a number of ways. Geographically, it is inner city vs rest of America. Racially, it is black and hispanic vs white. It is more insightful, IMHO, to look at it culturally but there is no money to be made in that. Right, Jesse "coin flippin' be racist" Jackson?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/10/2018 17:36
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Top||
#6
Why Schiff thinks that he needs to advise anyone about their contact with Russians is just weird.
The Democrats can't just out and out bad mouth the American people. So they replace the word American with Russian. Because to the Dem Communist run media and Democratic party, we are the deplorable foreigners.
#7
The cannibals' song, (shchi da kasha)
"Who knows what went wrong?" (pishcha nasha)
"Since of course we were right
When we bled their borscht white,
A conundrum remains: "Who lost Russia?"
[DailyStar] In April last year, the US military detonated a GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) dubbed the "mother of all bombs" on ISIS tunnels in Afghanistan.
Dramatic footage of the extraordinary attack ‐ the first time the large-yield 18,000-pound bomb had been used on the battlefield ‐ stunned the world.
Developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory, the MOAB was described by analysts as the largest non-nuclear weapon in the US arsenal at the time.
However, another colossal explosive called the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) has trumped the MOAB, according to Michael T Klare, a professor of peace and world security studies at Hampshire College.
The apocalyptic weapon, known as the "father of all bombs" (FOAB), is packed with 30,000 pounds of explosives ‐ heavier than two African elephants.
Initially, the Pentagon intended to use the FOAB to destroy underground nuclear facilities in Iran.
Now, amid simmering tensions on the Korean Peninsula, the "GBU-57 is being readied for use against North Korea", Mr Klare, a defence commentator, said.
Writing for The Nation, security expert Mr Klare considered the possibility the US military is planning to use the FOABs to destroy Kim Jong-un’s cache of underground nuclear weapons.
He wrote: "It is no secret that the Defense Department is preparing for possible preventive attacks on North Korean nuclear and missile facilities, supposedly intended to prevent the Kim Jong-un regime in Pyongyang from developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of delivering nuclear warheads to the continental United States.
"National Security Adviser HR McMaster has openly called for strikes of this sort, sometimes described as the ’bloody nose’ option."
The FOAB may be the "solution" to the problem of provoking "massive retaliation" by North Korea that could result in "vast numbers of civilian casualties", he said.
Three B-2 stealth bombers were sent to Andersen Air Force Base in the US territory of Guam ‐ just miles from North Korea ‐ in January.
The US Air Force regularly dispatches military aircraft to the island, in the Western Pacific, for routine displays of its firepower.
B-2 stealth bombers, however, are understood to be the only US war plane sanctioned to carry and discharge the 30,000-pound FOAB.
Referring to the deployment of the B-2s, Mr Klare said "it is impossible to view this move without considering possible plans for attacks on North Korea".
He added: "In any scenario involving a preemptive strike on North Korea, the B-2 would be expected to play a pivotal role, flying well into enemy airspace to deliver its payload on high-value targets, presumably underground nuclear and missile facilities.
"As the only bomber capable of delivering the GBU-57, their presence on Guam at this time is, to say the least, highly provocative."
The US Air Force has refused to comment on whether FOABs have been deployed to Guam.
But given the "rushed enhancement" of the FOAB, Klare said the prospect of a preemptive attack on North Korea should "have us all highly concerned".
Two US Northrop Grumman E-8 Joint STARS planes have been sent to the Korean Peninsula on a US Air Force mission, military aircraft trackers show.
The £175million ($244million) aircraft were deployed from Kadena Air Base, in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture, at around 7.32pm local time (10.32am GMT).
Details of the mission were not immediately available, but the state-of-the-art aircraft are designed to gather intelligence on enemy positions prior to an attack.
#9
Three B-2 stealth bombers were sent to Andersen Air Force Base in the US territory of Guam ‐ just miles from North Korea
According to Google, Guam is about 3430 KM, or 2100 miles. Of course, it is closer than flying from the US or Diego Garcia, but then, isn't anywhere in the world "just miles from North Korea"?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
02/10/2018 18:25
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One of a number of cases involving Arab Bank that we have been following over the years.
[Ynet] Arab Bank was found liable for knowingly supporting Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", terror attacks in Israel, but US appeals court throws out verdict, saying jury in case was instructed improperly about the 'international terrorism' element of one of the plaintiffs' claims.
A US appeals court on Friday threw out a 2014 jury verdict finding Arab Bank Plc liable for knowingly supporting terror attacks in Israel linked to Hamas, a decision that triggers a settlement agreement with some plaintiffs.
Friday's decision by the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals ends 13 and a half years of litigation over Arab Bank's liability, which the Jordanian lender has disputed, for 24 attacks in and around Israel in the early 2000s.
The appeals court said the Brooklyn jury were instructed incorrectly by the trial judge that under federal law, Arab Bank committed an "act of international terrorism" by knowingly providing material support to Hamas, which the Department of State designated in 1997 as a foreign terrorist organization.
In August 2015, 11 months after the verdict, Arab Bank had reached a confidential settlement with 527 victims or relatives of victims of 22 of the attacks, pending the bank's appeal of the verdict.
Both sides agreed to forgo a retrial if the verdict were thrown out.
"The plaintiffs will receive meaningful and very substantial compensation for their injuries," their lawyer, Gary Osen, said in an email. "Today's decision doesn't diminish the fact a jury found Arab Bank liable for knowingly supporting Hamas."
Sarri Singer, injured in a 2003 Hamas-linked bombing of a bus in Jerusalem, said in a statement about Arab Bank: "Families hurt by them are going to get the help they need."
In a statement, Arab Bank said "the district court's errors at trial all but dictated an adverse outcome. The bank is pleased to put this case behind it."
Arab Bank's settlement averted a trial to determine damages for 16 "bellwether" plaintiffs, concerning three of the attacks. Had the verdict been affirmed, they would have been entitled to at least $100 million, Friday's decision said.
The verdict had been the first in the United States holding a bank civilly liable for violating the Anti-Terrorism Act ("ATA"), which lets US citizens seek damages from international terrorism.
Arab Bank was accused of handling transactions for Hamas, and routing money to charities that supported the group or families of jacket wallahs.
The settlement averted a trial to determine damages that Arab Bank would have paid victims of three of the attacks.
In Friday's decision, Circuit Judge Reena Raggi said a jury properly instructed on the law might have inferred that Arab Bank had been sufficiently "aware" of Hamas' activities.
But she said "we cannot conclude that such evidence, as a matter of law," shows that the bank knew it was "playing a role in violent or life-endangering acts whose apparent intent was to intimidate or coerce civilians or to affect a government."
The litigation originally covered 24 attacks, but the trial judge, Brian Cogan, dismissed claims concerning two of them.
Congress' passage in 2016 of the Justice Against Terrorism Act extended ATA liability to those who aid and abet acts of international terrorism.
The case is Linde v Arab Bank Plc, 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals, Nos. 16-2098, 16-2119, 16-2134.
[AlAhram] Ottoman Turkish warplanes hit Kurdish YPG militia targets in Syria's Afrin region, the army said on Friday, after a lull in air strikes following the shooting down of Russian warplane elsewhere in Syria last weekend.
The air strikes destroyed 19 targets including ammunition depots, shelters and gun positions, the armed forces said in a statement without specifying when the raids were conducted. The raids began at midnight, state-run Anadolu news agency said.
The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund.... had halted air strikes as Russia worked on its air defence system in the wake of Syrian rebels shooting down a Russian warplane in Idlib province on Feb. 3, according to the Hurriyet newspaper's website.
Ankara launched an air and ground offensive in Afrin on Jan. 20 against the YPG, which it views as a terrorist group and an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) that has waged a three-decade insurgency on Ottoman Turkish soil.
Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... spoke by telephone on Thursday and agreed to strengthen military and security service coordination in Syria, according to the Kremlin.
The YPG and its allies have set up three autonomous cantons in the north, including Afrin, since the Syrian conflict began in 2011.
Their territory has expanded since they joined forces with the United States to fight Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... Death Eaters - although Washington opposes their autonomy plans, as does Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... 's government.
Ankara has been angered by U.S. support for the Kurdish-led forces has infuriated Turkey, which views growing Kurdish power as a security threat along its frontier.
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02/10/2018
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It couldn’t happen to a more deserving UN agency. Certain countries are donating directly to Hamas in Gaza, at least for the moment; as for the rest, nobody cares. It won’t be long until the 5th or so generation of Palestinian “refugees”and the 3rd or so generation of UNWRA employees have to take themselves off to seek gainful employment.
[AlAhram] One month after the Trump administration announced a drastic funding cut to the UN agency for Paleostinian refugees, only one country, Kuwait, has stepped forward to offer additional funding, senior UNRWA officials said Friday.
The United States announced in January that it would give $60 million to UNRWA -- a fraction of the more than $350 million annual contribution that it has provided to the agency's budget.
Kuwait stepped in to contribute $900,000 and about 15 donor countries including Sweden and Japan decided to speed up their donations to keep UNRWA afloat, said Peter Mulrean, UNRWA's representative in New York.
But Mulrean told news hounds at UN headquarters that the agency was facing an "existential financial crisis" as it seeks to fill the gap from the US funding cut.
The United States is the biggest single donor to UNRWA which provides schools and health clinics to 5.3 million refugees in the Paleostinian territories, Jordan, Leb and Syria.
US Ambassador Nikki Haley ...Trump administration's ambassador to the UN. 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 was the youngest governor in the U.S., a distinction formerly held by Jindal. She is a Republican, which really grates on the Dems... last month said the United States would not provide aid to the Paleostinians until they agree "to come back to the negotiation table" and reach a peace deal with Israel.
"The US has not yet explained to us the rationale behind its decision on the $60 million," Mulrean said, adding that Washington had not presented any concerns about reforms.
In an interview to Voice of America, Haley said UNRWA needed to be reformed, because they consider "any Paleostinian as a refugee" and "what they're teaching in schools is not necessarily the right way to have things run."
UNRWA has been repeatedly accused of promoting anti-Israel sentiment in schools, a charge it has flatly rejected.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will attend a ministerial-level donors' conference for UNRWA to be held next month in Geneva to fill the gap in funding, but it remains unclear if the United States will attend.
UNRWA's director for the West Bank, Scott Andersen, said all of the agency's services remain up and running for the time being, but that the decision had left many Paleostinians anxious.
"People are frightened and concerned about what this means for them, their families and their future," he said.
[engadget] Earlier this week, a Reuters report suggested that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) had halted its investigation into last year's massive Equifax data breach. Reuters sources said that even basic steps expected in such a probe hadn't been taken and efforts had stalled since Mick Mulvaney (pictured above) took over as head of the CFPB late last year. Now, 31 Democratic senators
Ah. It’s a party thing.
and one Independent have written a letter to Mulvaney asking if that is indeed the case and if so, why.
[DAWN] Khan Said ’Sajna’, the leader of a splinter group of Tehrik-e-Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... Pakistain (TTP), has been killed in a US dronezap in Afghanistan, officials said on Friday.
At least nine close associates of Sajna were also killed in the strike which occurred in Kharh Tangi area of Afghanistan on Wednesday, DawnNews reported.
The death has not yet been denied so far by the Mehsud faction of the TTP which Sajna heads.
Sajna, who is 36, is believed to be involved in the attack on a Naval base in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... and is also credited with criminal masterminding a 2012 jailbreak in which the Taliban freed 400 inmates in the northwestern city of Bannu.
"Sajna has no basic education, conventional or religious, but he is battle-hardened and has experience of fighting in Afghanistan," an official had said earlier.
Meanwhile, ...back at the comedy club, Boogie ducked another tomato... AP reported that seven forces of Evil were killed on Thursday in a dronezap in the Pak border village of Gorwak in North Wazoo, once a stronghold of local and foreign forces of Evil until the military cleared them out.
Also on Thursday, missiles fired from US drone slammed into a vehicle in Afghanistan's eastern Paktia province, killing four turbans, said Shah Mohammad Aryan, a front man for the provincial chief police.
The strike took place in the mountainous Barmal district of Paktia province, where fighters from both the Haqqani network and Pakistain's Tehrik-e-Taliban turban group are believed to operate.
Confirmation of the strikes came shortly before Afghanistan Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai arrived in Islamabad for talks with Pak officials.
Friday's visit came days after Pakistain's Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua travelled to Afghanistan and met with Afghan officials following series of turban attacks in Kabul that killed over 200 people. Janjua's visit to Kabul was part of a larger dialogue many Afghans saw it as a response to their accusations against Islamabad.
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] ISIS fighters battled Syrian Death Eaters in the northwestern province of Idlib on Friday, a monitoring group and a rebel commander said, accusing pro-government forces of opening a corridor for the Lions of Islam to reach the region.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government forces had allowed ISIS fighters to leave a besieged pocket of territory at the intersection of Aleppo, Idlib and Hama provinces, and then go to southern Idlib.
A military news outlet run by Leb’s Hezbollah, which is fighting on the side of the Syrian government, reported gains by the army and its allies against ISIS in that pocket, but made no mention of the Lions of Islam being allowed to leave.
A commander in the alliance fighting alongside Syria’s army said the ISIS Lions of Islam left the enclave. "The pocket is finished. A crossing was opened till they exited, and then it was closed," the commander said.
The Syrian army could not be reached for comment. A Syrian military statement said troops and allied forces had gained control of several towns in rural parts of Hama, Idlib, and Aleppo provinces.
"The strategic importance of this achievement is that it ends the presence of the terrorist ISIS organization in both Aleppo and Hama provinces," the statement said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS The advance also secures supply routes between Hama and Aleppo and links them to the southeast desert near the Iraqi border, it said.
The military said it had destroyed myrmidon targets, and made no mention of a corridor letting ISIS fighters depart.
"The regime started the operation against this pocket seven days (ago). Suddenly they were able to take 80 villages and towns after giving them a corridor," said Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Observatory, a Britannia-based war monitoring group.
Hasan Haj Ali, commander of the Free Idlib Army rebel group, confirmed the report. Ali said his fighters were taking part in festivities against some 200 ISIS fighters who had arrived in southern Idlib early on Friday.
"This morning at dawn we were surprised by the joint treachery by the regime and ISIS," he told Rooters. Clashes were under way in the village of Lweibdeh, he said. "They have six armored vehicles with them."
A source in the 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... faction said ISIS fighters had pushed into south Idlib from government territory.
"The rebel factions are repelling ISIS attempts to advance," the source said. "The regime’s militias opened a gap helping the besieged ISIS forces pass."
Idlib is the largest chunk of Syrian territory held by bad boy factions opposed to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... ’s government. Islamist factions, including al Qaeda’s former affiliate in the Syrian war, dominate the province.
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It’s Friday, so a diminishing number of Palestinian boys are being vicious idiots.
[IsraelTimes] 15-year-old incarcerated at entrance of Hashmonaim, hours after similar incident in Hebron; festivities along Gazoo border reportedly kill one Paleostinian
Security forces on Friday tossed in the clink Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! an armed Paleostinian teenager at the entrance to the West Bank settlement of Hashmonaim, police said in a statement.
Border coppers were called to the settlement east of Modiin and ordered the suspect to stop. When he ignored police orders he was overpowered, arrested, and searched. The officers found he was armed with a knife. There were no injuries.
The statement said the 15-year-old hailed from the nearby town of Bil’in and was detained for questioning.
Earlier on Friday, Border Police officers in Hebron
...Hamas Central in the West Bank...
arrested a Paleostinian man trying to enter the Tomb of the Patriarchs armed with a knife.
The 23-year-old raised the suspicions of officers at one of the checkpoints outside the holy site, and security forces uncovered the weapon under the man’s clothing. He was immediately detained for questioning.
Also on Friday, a Paleostinian protester was reportedly killed in festivities with security forces along the Gazoo border.
According to Paleostinian media, the teenager was shot in the head in Jabaliya in the Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,-controlled Gazoo Strip, near the border with Israel.
The festivities broke out at the end of Friday prayers in mosques, as Paleostinians heeded calls by the Hamas terror group and other organizations to wage yet another "day of rage" against Israel ‐ the first in a month but the tenth since US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... ’s December 6 announcement that his administration recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Hadashot television news reported that some 500 Paleostinians took part in the rioting at six West Bank flashpoints, and that Israeli forces used live fire on demonstrators at the village of Beita, near Nablus.
Hamas, Fatah, and other Paleostinian factions also called the day of rage to honor Ahmad Jarrar, the suspected ringleader of a terrorist cell responsible for murdering Rabbi Raziel Shevach in January. Jarrar was killed by security forces in a shootout on Tuesday.
Jarrar’s ability to evade capture for more than two weeks had turned him into a Paleostinian hero, and on the streets of Nablus, protesters could be heard shouting, "Allah, have mercy on Ahmad Jarrar."
#10
Rockets, my ass! There is nothing like a Really Big Gun.
Kinetic Kill weapons have a certain charm that the Navy is going to have to rediscover in a few years after their new love affair with guided missiles and, recently, lasers.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
02/10/2018 18:55
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#15
"The smart 'let's make sure' run. "
It is the breath the enemy gets while the Hog is climbing to come back... where they run and you can pick them off easily. And they are up because you never forget the Hog's descendant in-escapable sound as it BURRTS them again.
The raw fact of this is Everyone knows there is a Real live Human Being there making choices about their mortality and giving up their lives for you.
And it is comms real time and real eyes on the ground which is what I will always require for overwatch position.
[PRESSTV] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... has bombed US-backed Kurdish fighters in Afrin with impunity, just after Washington cited an alleged attack on the snuffies to target pro-government forces in Syria.
The Ottoman Turkish army said in a statement on Friday that the overnight strikes destroyed 19 targets, including ammunition depots, shelters and gun positions, state-run Anadolu news agency said.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said seven US-backed snuffies with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) as well as two non-combatants were killed in the attacks.
Turkey began the attacks on January 20, but halted them after Lions of Islam downed a Russian jet in the northwestern Syria province of Idlib, in order to allow Moscow to reinforce its air defense system.
The offensive is aimed at the YPG, which Turkey says bears ties with anti-Ankara holy warriors.
The Ottoman Turkish raid against Washington-backed forces comes two days after the US attacked pro-Damascus forces in the western Syrian province of Dayr al-Zawr, reportedly killing more than 100 of them as the fighters were engaged in an anti-ISIS operation.
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[FOX] Boston authorities said they seized more than 33 pounds of fentanyl‐enough to kill millions of people‐in connection with one of Massachusetts’ biggest drug busts ever.
In announcing the results of a six-month wiretap probe called "Operation High Hopes," prosecutors said the synthetic opioid was being sold on the street by a drug gang with links to Mexico’s notorious Sinaloa Cartel, the drug organization once led by Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán.
"I want to be clear about the size and scope here," District Attorney Daniel Conley said at a news conference Thursday. "Massachusetts’ fentanyl trafficking statute covers quantities greater than 10 grams. That threshold represents less than 1/1000 of the quantity we’ve taken off the street."
He said the number of overdoses the seized fentanyl could have caused "is truly staggering."
"Individuals who buy and sell at this level aren’t users," Conley said. "They’re not small-time dealers, either. They’re certainly not selling to support a habit. They’re trafficking in addictive substances that claim more lives in Massachusetts than all homicides, all suicides, and all car crashes, statewide, combined."
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) A civilian was killed, while two others were wounded in a bomb blast, north of Baghdad, a security source was quoted saying on Thursday.
“A bomb went off, today, near a market in al-Taji district, north of the capital, leaving a civilian killed and two others injured,” the source told Alghad Press.
“Security troops cordoned off the blast spot and conducted investigations, while the wounded were taken to nearby hospital for treatment,” the source added.
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) An embargo has continued for a third day in a northern Baghdad region as security entered a second week in search for a sniper who had killed security members, a security source was quoted saying.
The source told Baghdad Today on Thursday that “a terrorist sniper in Tarimiya, north of Baghdad, had killed two soldiers, one near Ibin Sina and the other near ak-Houra, both in the same precinct”.
“Security forces have been chasing the sniper for two weeks, but have not apprehended him yet due to the region’s geography,” according to the source.
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Seven people were killed and injured as two bomb blasts took place in Baghdad, security sources were quoted saying on Friday.
“A bomb went off near a market in al-Nahrawan region, southeast of Baghdad, leaving one person killed and two others wounded,” a security source told Baghdad Today website.
Earlier on the day, another source said, “four persons were killed and wounded as a bomb exploded in west of Baghdad.”
The blast took place in Abu Ghraib region, west of Baghdad, according to the source, “One person was killed, while three others were injured.”
The wounded were taken to hospital for treatment, while the victims were taken to forensic medicine department, the source said.
We rebuilt it once already. But then they ran away, leaving it all for ISIS to destroy.
[PRESSTV] US and Western officials say Washington has no plan to allocate money to the reconstruction of Iraq, ravaged by the war against the Takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed... ISIS terror group, at an upcoming international fund-raising conference in Kuwait.
The officials told Rooters on Thursday that Washington does not plan to contribute any money at the conference in Kuwait next week to fund the rebuilding of the war-ridden country.
"Absolutely nothing," said a Western official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... , when asked whether Washington would announce any financial contributions at the conference to fund long-term reconstruction projects.
A US official also said, "We are not planning to announce anything" at the conference, which will be attended by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
The official, however, said Tillerson could still decide closer to the time to announce a contribution.
Commenting on the issue, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said, "I’m not aware of any announcements that we will be making."
Former head of the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance, Jeremy Konyndyk, said by not contributing to reconstruction, especially in combat-ravaged areas, the Trump administration could help set the stage for new militancy.
"We’ve seen this movie before. There is a very real risk if the US doesn’t put money into reconstruction, that having just won the battle, you lose the peace," said Konyndyk, who now works for the Center for Global Development think tank.
James Jeffrey, a former US ambassador to Iraq said, "The fact that we’re not putting any money up will weaken our case, and that’s unfortunate."
An unnamed US official in Baghdad said, "What we are trying to do in Kuwait next week is to put together companies that want to look at Iraq ... and possibly also talk about ways to finance projects."
US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... said during the 2016 US presidential campaign that if elected "the era of nation-building will be ended."
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said his country needs up to $100 billion to rebuild territories that have been torn apart by ISIS.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[DAWN] The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday, while hearing a case on the Faizabad sit-in that took place last year, expressed its displeasure over a lack of follow-up on directives issued to various parties and warned that it would serve officials concerned contempt of court notices if they do not comply with orders by Feb 12.
The court had earlier ordered the Deputy Attorney General Arshad Kiyani to submit a copy of the Raja Zafarul Haq committee report which sought to fix responsibility for the introduction of a controversial amendment to the Khatm-e-Nabuwwat declaration for electoral candidates in the Elections Act, 2017.
Additionally, Defence Secretary retired Lt-Gen Zamirul Hassan Shah and Director General (DG) Intelligence Bureau (IB) Aftab Sultan were also ordered to submit reports on the Faizabad sit-in.
The changes to the Khatm-e-Nabuwwat declaration ─ despite being reversed soon after they came to light last year ─ were protested by members of various religious parties, including the Tehrik-e-Labbaik (TLY), which led a sit-in at Islamabad's busy Faizabad Interchange for 22 days in Nov 2017, hindering daily life in the twin cities.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) The military intelligence department has announced arresting two members of Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... ’s so-called Kirkuk State.
In a statement on Thursday, the department said "depending on accurate intelligence information, an operation was carried out by the department. Troops managed to arrest two members of Islamic State’s so-called Kirkuk State."
According to the statement, the two suspects are wanted as arrest warrants were issued against them by court.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
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[Washington Examiner] The U.S. intelligence community spent $100,000 in the past year during an operation to recover stolen, classified National Security Agency documents from Russian operatives, according to reports Friday.
In early 2017, American intelligence officials opened a communications channel with a Russian operative who agreed to sell documents stolen from the NSA and also insisted on including damaging material gathered on President Trump, the Intercept reported Friday.
Intelligence officials reportedly made it clear that they were not interested in the material regarding Trump. However, after handing over $100,000 of the $1 million dollar deal they had struck with the Russian, the officials were given unverified information about Trump, including bank records, emails, and what appeared to be Russian intelligence data, according to the New York Times.
The American officials then cut off the deal, skeptical of the Russian operative and fearful of political fallout if it was reported that they were buying damning information about Trump.
The CIA declined to comment to the Washington Examiner. We'll leak our comments when we get good and ready.
During the early stages of the negotiations, an American businessman based in Germany acted as a liaison between America and the Russians. Officials spent months tracking the Russian's moves and the NSA used their official Twitter account to send coded messages to the Russian, the New York Times report said.
The Russian reportedly had a history of money laundering and owned a close-to-bankrupt company that sold portable grills as a cover-up.
#1
an operation to recover stolen, classified National Security Agency documents from Russian operatives
Does the CIA/NSA employ imbeciles? Because only an imbecile could come up with a cover story as lame as this one. "Sure, we'll sell you back your documents. Fortunately for you we never made any copies. Swearsies. Oh, by the way, here's some free dirt we made up, er, I mean, found, on Trump."
#5
The Daily Caller article now contains this update:
Update: The CIA is contesting The Times story and a similar one that appeared in The Intercept.
“The people swindled here were [Intercept reporter] James Risen and [New York Times reporter] Matt Rosenberg. The fictional story that CIA was bilked out of $100,000 is patently false,” CIA spokesman Dean Boyd told The Daily Caller News Foundation after this article was published. Boyd was unable to provide additional details because of the sensitivity of the topic.
[PRESSTV] Lebanese Energy Minister Cesar Abi Khalil says there would be full exploration in an offshore oil and gas field, which lies in Mediterranean waters disputed by the Tel Aviv regime.
"Today, we announce that we have started our petroleum path ... after signing the agreements and launching the exploration activities," he said at a ceremony in the capital Beirut.
Abi Khalil’s remarks came as the Lebanese government announced on Friday it had signed gas exploration and production contracts for two energy blocks, including the disputed Block 9, with consortium of La Belle France's Total, Italian Eniand Russia's Novatek oil and gas companies.
Last December, the cabinet of Prime Minister Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... has him bumped off, too. granted licenses to a consortium of the three international companies to carry out exploratory drilling in Leb’s Block 4 and Block 9 territorial waters and determine whether they contain oil and gas reserves.
Israeli officials, who claim illusory sovereignty over Block 9, reacted angrily to the announcement.
"When they issue a tender on a gas field, including Block 9, which by any standard is ours ... this is very, very challenging and provocative conduct here," Israel’s minister of military affairs, Avigdor Lieberman, said at the time.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Once they get some boats, and drills...and pipe.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[TheDrive]
[phys.org] The Pacific nation of Tuvalu‐long seen as a prime candidate to disappear as climate change forces up sea levels‐is actually growing in size, new research shows.
[War Zone] The U.S. Coast Guard’s only operational heavy icebreaker, the USCGC Polar Star, is still providing critical services to various U.S. government agencies in Antarctica despite suffering an engine failure and flooding. The incident is a worrying reminder of both how vital these types of ships are and the stark limitations of America’s capabilities in this regard, all as the service is struggling to move ahead with plans to buy all-new vessels.
...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...
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Arab coalition’s Patriot air defense systems intercepted a ballistic missile fired by the 
Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda....png)
Wazoo
[DAWN] THE notification by Pemra barring all satellite TV channels, FM radio stations, and cable operators from promoting the upcoming Valentine’s Day is the latest example of how reluctant the state is to allow the people an opportunity to enjoy themselves. As basis for the notification, the electronic media regulator reprinted an interim court order by the Islamabad High Court from February last year; the court had issued the instructions while hearing a petition in this regard. That petition was never taken up during the past year and remains pending ‐ hence Pemra’s reprinting of it in its notification that has disappointed those who might have been looking forward to joining the world in presenting their loved ones with a flower or two on Feb 14. This is both discouraging and disturbing, especially when we consider that Pakistain is a country that has had more than its fair share of tragedy and suffering ‐ on account of militancy, intolerance, crime, poverty and a host of other factors. In such a situation, the state should have been doing its best to open up new avenues of entertainment, instead of adopting a moralistic approach egged on by conservative elements for whom happiness in any form is anathema. By letting people indulge in harmless diversions such as Valentine’s Day, the state might even have given citizens a sense of shared bonhomie and street vendors selling flowers and balloons a chance to make some extra money. Instead, officialdom seems bent upon actively stamping out any avenues of light-heartedness to which this beleaguered citizenry might take recourse.
[PRESSTV] Scientists say our Sun will likely enter a cooldown cycle as soon as 2050, but the phase has almost no effect on global warming. 
...also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
...became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank...
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
...Trump administration's ambassador to the UN. 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 was the youngest governor in the U.S., a distinction formerly held by Jindal. She is a Republican, which really grates on the Dems...
[DAWN] Khan Said ’Sajna’, the leader of a splinter group of Tehrik-e-
...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed...
[Washington Examiner] The U.S. intelligence community spent $100,000 in the past year during an operation to recover stolen, classified National Security Agency documents from Russian operatives, according to reports Friday.
Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if 
