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9 abducted civilians found dead in Afghanistan
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
13:42 3 18:37 Otto the Rash4373 [7]
12:14 5 21:07 Sock Puppet of Doom [11]
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02:48 10 16:34 charger [8]
02:37 9 12:08 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [4]
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Southeast Asia
Ship Crew Uses Boiling Water to Fend Off Pirate Attack in Philippines
Piracy, Arrrrrrr.....hat tip: gCaptain.
Some quick thinking by the crew of a Philippine-flagged cargo ship helped fend off a pirate attack last Friday after they used boiling water as a weapon against the pirates.

According to the Philippines Coast Guard, the MV Kudos was underway in the Celebes Sea about 5 miles south east of Sibago Island on February 16 when it came under attack by a group armed pirates.

After issuing a distress call, the Master of the vessel reported that during the attack the suspects attempted to board the vessel but they were driven off after the crew threw boiling water and oil at the attackers, causing the the pirates to open fire but retreat.

The Philippines Coast Guard responded to the incident and a medical team rendered first aid to one crew member who sustained injuries to one of his hands as the result of broken glass.

The MV Kudos has since been safely anchored in Davos City.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 02/20/2018 13:42 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under: Pirates

#1  (Checks to see what Current Year this is.)
Posted by: charger || 02/20/2018 16:27 Comments || Top||

#2  ...several years after people forgot what Western Civilization was.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/20/2018 17:17 Comments || Top||

#3  "Now, go away before I taunt you again!"
Posted by: Otto the Rash4373 || 02/20/2018 18:37 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Mueller Indicts Another Foreigner
[TheHill] Special counsel Robert Mueller is charging a man who communicated with former Trump campaign adviser Richard Gates with making false statements to the FBI.
What about the FBI guys making false statements to the FISA court?
Attorney Alex Van Der Zwaan is charged with making "materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements and representations" to the special counsel’s office and FBI agents, according to a court filing released Tuesday morning.

Van Der Zwaan allegedly lied about his last communications with Gates and then deleted emails requested by the special counsel’s office, according to the indictment.
Work for Hillary, didn't it?
He allegedly did so as part of his work for a firm hired by the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice to prepare a report on the trial of Yulia Tymoshenko, a former prime minister of Ukraine.
Posted by: Bobby || 02/20/2018 12:14 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The meeting referenced in the 'false' statement occurred in 2012, as I understand.
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/20/2018 13:47 Comments || Top||

#2  That Ukraine coup is the center of a vast amount of dodgy dealings.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/20/2018 15:06 Comments || Top||

#3  I can't remember what I said this morning much less any thing I said in 2012
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 02/20/2018 17:49 Comments || Top||

#4  Exactly why is this not being referred to the DOJ for them to handle? Other than the obvious that Mueller is on a fishing expedition and doesn't want to quit before he reels in the elusive Trump-fish -- even if it is for an overdue library book from the 60's...
Posted by: magpie || 02/20/2018 18:42 Comments || Top||

#5  I kinda miss the good old days when the media would get their panties in a wad over a ten year old DUI.

Of course Zero ruined that with all of his drug use.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 02/20/2018 21:07 Comments || Top||


Economy
U.S. Energy Production and Exports Surge
[Manhattan Institute] From 1984 to 2000, energy exports grew from 264 million barrels to 380 million barrels. This rate of growth would be impressive in its own right, if it were not so dwarfed by the massive increase that followed. From 2000 to 2016, exports grew from 380 million barrels to 1.9 billion barrels in 2016. Put another way, total exports finally broke through the 500 million barrel in 2007, and they might reach 2 billion a decade later.

Moving to the individual destination countries offers yet more insight into how the U.S. energy sector has developed. U.S. neighbors Canada and Mexico were the top two destinations for crude oil and petroleum product exports. In the early years of the 2000s Mexico accounted for more than 34 percent of these exports, and Canada another 11 percent. Even as the total number of exports increased significantly over time, Mexico and Canada only accounted for 35 percent of these exports in 2016. Canada finally surpassed Mexico to become the biggest destination for these exports in 2013 and remains there today.

Below the top two spots, the rest of the top 10 countries for exports showed a higher variation. In part this dynamic is due to the substantial total growth. The second-largest export destination in 2000, Canada with about 40 million barrels would be 13th in terms of export amount in 2016. Looking at the top 10 destinations for 2016 reveals the truly global reach of U.S. crude oil and petroleum product exports. Aside from the two U.S. neighbors, the list is rounded out by the Netherlands, Brazil, Japan, China, Chile, Colombia, Singapore, and India. The mixture of emerging and developed countries around the globe underscores the importance of trade agreements that open those markets to U.S. energy exports, and the corresponding development of energy transportation infrastructure that will help domestically-produced oil and petroleum products get to their final destination.

While the growth of the U.S. energy industry is a success story, it is easy to look to other countries and see the price of mismanagement and poor public policy. Venezuela, which has some of the most abundant natural resources in the world, has seen its oil production decline to the lowest point in three decades, aside from a brief dip during a failed coup attempt disrupted operations in 2002. The country has had to resort to importing crude oil from Russia for its refineries due to a lack of domestic production.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/20/2018 09:44 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:


-Short Attention Span Theater-
No, I Don't Look Good Naked Anymore (video)
"Well it all happn'd kinda slow. I guess I let myself go."
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/20/2018 09:26 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I didn't mean to get fat, it was a snacksident.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 02/20/2018 10:15 Comments || Top||

#2  That was cute. Although I'm willing to bet that some of those young ladies would look good naked. Of course, most of them are probably young endough to be my granddaughters.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 02/20/2018 17:38 Comments || Top||

#3  They said the Universe was expanding. I was just trying to keep up.
Posted by: SteveS || 02/20/2018 20:36 Comments || Top||


Jesse Brown, Thomas Hudner, and the Brotherhood of Man
[OpsLens] Ensign Jesse Brown was the first black aviator in the United States Navy, and the first African-American to have a ship named after him. He was college educated, a self-made man, and had beaten incredible odds to become a Navy pilot. When Jesse Brown crash-landed in North Korea, behind enemy lines, his wingman and best friend, a wealthy white Naval Academy grad, crash-landed next to Brown to try to save him.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/20/2018 09:12 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
USGS Reports Yellowstone earthquake activity spiking, but no worries
[Daily Mail] A new swarm of earthquakes has cropped up at the Yellowstone supervolcano, with more than 200 small temblors detected in the last 10 days alone.

According to experts with the US Geological Survey, the latest swarm began on February 8 in a region roughly eight miles northeast of West Yellowstone, Montana ‐ and, it’s increased dramatically in the days since.

But for now, scientists say there’s no reason to worry.

While the earthquakes are likely caused by a combination of processes beneath the surface, the current activity is said to be ’relatively weak,’ and the alert level at the supervolcano remains at ’normal.’

According to the USGS, the new swarm is occurring in about the same location as the Maple Creek swarm last summer, which brought roughly 2,400 earthquakes in a four-month span.

The University of Utah Seismograph Stations picked up the first quakes just over a week ago, counting more than 200 as of February 18.

But, the experts say there are likely many more that have gone undetected.

’The present swarm started on February 8, with a few events occurring per day,’ according to USGS.

’On February 15, seismicity rates and magnitudes increased markedly. As of the night of February 18, the largest earthquake in the swarm is M2.9, and none of the events have been felt. All are occurring about 8 km (5 mi) beneath the surface.’
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/20/2018 09:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
Dem Senator To Mueller: Don't Release Findings Around The Midterms
[Hot Air] Oh, why not? Wouldn’t that be hilariously ironic, no matter how Robert Mueller’s report turns out for Republicans and Democrats? Presumably, the special counsel has learned that lesson from his good friend James Comey, but beleaguered incumbent Democrat Robert Casey Jr wants to make sure of it:
Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) on Sunday warned special counsel Robert Mueller against issuing a report on his findings in the ongoing investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election near the upcoming 2018 midterm elections.

Speaking to radio host John Catsimatidis on New York radio station AM 970, Casey said he couldn’t make any assumptions about where the Mueller investigation is going in light of indictments issued on Friday. But he added that he would recommend Mueller not release a report on his findings near the midterms, when it would distract from elections or cause people to question the election’s integrity.

"I don’t think we’ll know anywhere near the full story until [Mueller] issues his report," Casey said. "But once you get into the summer, and you get close to the election, I think it’s a mistake for him to release it late. I think you should wait until after [the election]" Casey said.

Why would Casey worry about it? Casey has to run for re-election in Pennsylvania, a prospect that probably seemed safe enough ... until Donald Trump flipped the Keystone State in 2016. Much of that has to do with Hillary Clinton’s lack of talent for campaigning and the baggage she carried into the election, but it also speaks to the distancing of the Democratic Party from the working-class voters outside the urban-coastal cores.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/20/2018 08:39 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It could also have to do with dragging it out forever and allowing the Dems to spin it through the election cycle.

So I'm a pessimist.
Posted by: Bobby || 02/20/2018 9:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Yeah, Cast may be the dumbest person in either side of Congress, so any analysis he's making is worrisome
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/20/2018 10:32 Comments || Top||

#3  Casey. I give up, I just turned off autocorrect on this dumbass tablet.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/20/2018 10:33 Comments || Top||

#4  Yep, as long as the truth is even partially concealed and the final conclusions on the "collusion" are delayed, the leftists can spin the collusion narrative awhile longer.

What is the MSM going to talk about once this collusion BS is put to rest once and for all. AND when the stuff hits the fan on the Zero antics with the IRS, State, Justice and FBI/FISA malfeasance...how can they bury that story?

Lots of stories about the homeless and stray dogs in 10...9...8...or crickets?
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 02/20/2018 14:04 Comments || Top||

#5  Since Mueller dragged this out to help the Dems this long they can suck it if it screws with their midterm dreams.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 02/20/2018 15:03 Comments || Top||


Economy
Why Americans should thank President Trump.
[American Spectator] I did not support Donald Trump for president. I recall arguing with some of my pro-Trump Consumer Technology Association (CTA) board members in 2016 ‐ smart business leaders who were convinced that as president, Trump would drive U.S. economic growth. I was skeptical and focused on Trump’s personal, divisive attacks.

But within hours of Trump winning the election and the Republicans holding on to the Senate, I went on record saying Trump would grow the economy by "knowing when to step back, cut burdensome rules and let businesses innovate and thrive." I also believed ‐ correctly ‐ that he would view the stock market as a "real-time measure of his economic success." Since then, I have remained bullish, based on a growing global economy and the actionable steps President Trump has taken to make the U.S. economy better.

President Trump’s plan is working. Despite recent stock market volatility, the economy is strong and the stock market has experienced growth. During President Trump’s first year in office, the Dow Jones Industrial average gained 31 percent and the S&P 500 grew 23 percent. Unemployment is down to 4.1 percent. The number of Americans working full-time has grown to a record 154 million, and we just added 200,000 jobs in January. Consumer confidence is high. Inflation and gas prices remain low.

It is a commonly held belief in Washington that the president gets too much blame and too much credit for the health of the economy. But in this case, I believe President Trump deserves much of the credit for the nation’s economic success. Here’s why:
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/20/2018 08:28 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But beware the programmed traders and the market analysts with their algorithms.

It is odd but all during those dismal economic years, Wall Street was in bed with Zero. And they gave millions to Shillary (the well connected, odious, malevolent, sadistic sociopath). I never understood why wall street would support a regime that wanted to clobber economic growth and promoted socialism?

Anyway, all it takes is some of these Wall Street democrats to tweak a program trading methodology and send the market into a tailspin. I think the recent downturn was a sign of that but when several really astute market watchers called BS on their program trades they had to pull their horns in...now that the SEC is watching.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 02/20/2018 10:27 Comments || Top||

#2  Wall street traders generally make money on the up and the down as they get a slice of each trade.

Plus, zero bailed them out when they got themselves in trouble in 2007-8 so naturally they were loyal.

Wallstreet is not the entire economy.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 02/20/2018 13:10 Comments || Top||

#3  I’m waiting for Soros and the globalists to kill the market at the opportune moment. September, say.
Posted by: KBK || 02/20/2018 22:19 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Former FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force Member: Director Wray Must Resign
[FOX] Former FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force member and Navy veteran Steven Rogers said Monday that FBI Director Christopher Wray should resign in the wake of a reported missed tip about the Florida school shooting suspect.

Rogers said there was a failure in intelligence sharing by the bureau, after a tip was received about suspect Nikolas Cruz, but apparently not acted upon, after Wray took charge of the FBI.

"The director of the FBI should not only resign, but the entire leadership [and] executive officers should resign," he said.

Rogers said that if Wray, a former attorney for 2016 presidential candidate Chris Christie (R-N.J.), does not resign, he should be fired.

"The priorities of the FBI should be [the] protection of the American people," Rogers, also a former police lieutenant in Nutley, N.J., said.

Rogers said that a "blue wall of silence" has apparently been constructed at the FBI, and that the bureau must "tear that wall down."
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/20/2018 08:16 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  totally disagree since this set mindsets connecting the malfeasance of the lowest worker to a CEO.
Posted by: Jack Salami || 02/20/2018 8:42 Comments || Top||

#2  So what action is Wray taking? Anyone appointed to conduct an internal investigation? Any changes in Miami Field Office leadership? Suspensions? Firings? Reprimands? Admonishments? Voluntary resignations? Shameful adminssions ?

Any explanations or reasons given for the inaction ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/20/2018 8:48 Comments || Top||

#3  Any explanations or reasons given for the inaction ?

There is this Russian Collusion thing the FBI has loved and adored for almost two years.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 02/20/2018 10:52 Comments || Top||

#4  When somebody trumpets as loudly and repeatedly as possible his intention to shoot up a school it is a threat that needs to be taken seriously. The FBI did not take it seriously and people died. So now we have all this gun control bullshit. That's enough to make a reasonable person wonder what the hell is going on.

Yesterday was a holiday so I'll give Wray a pass on that but I'm surprised I have not heard about his resignation yet today. If he won't resign then Trump should fire him. Let the Democrats scream all they want. When a failure is this big and it's only the most recent in a whole long string of failures it's time for some heads to roll.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 02/20/2018 11:54 Comments || Top||

#5  Wray's departure may take a little of the pressure off, but the entire organization needs a 'top down' overhaul.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/20/2018 12:18 Comments || Top||

#6  Wray's departure may take a little of the pressure off, but the entire organization needs a 'top down' overhaul.

Won't work - their problems are that (i) they're too big, and (ii) have no competition.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/20/2018 13:27 Comments || Top||

#7  Too big + no competition = GOVERNMENT
Posted by: DooDahMan || 02/20/2018 15:34 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Radio (show?) conversations of presumably Wagner contractors say 200+ dead
On Febuary 10, 2018, Telegram channel WarGonzo admistered by military journalist Semen Pegov (in Syria, reports w/ life.ru pro-Putin TV channel) published radio conversations of presumably Wagner contractors.

The youtube vid is submitted by a pro-Ukranian site.

Posted by: Winky the Ruthless3340 || 02/20/2018 04:43 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under:


-Land of the Free
Ohio Sheriff Offers Free Concealed Carry Classes to Teachers
[Townhall] On Sunday afternoon, Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones announced that he will be offering an opportunity for educators to learn how to defend themselves and potentially protect the lives of their students.

Sheriff Jones tweeted that he will offer free concealed carry classes to teachers in Butler County, OH. Jones emphasized that there will be a limited number.

On Thursday, he shared a Facebook video, saying, "the current way we do things in the school system needs to be changed." He also called for "armed guards in the schools, we need to look at metal detectors. This is not going to stop or go away, but we need to be prepared and not have our heads in the sand."
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/20/2018 03:43 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [13 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Nice gesture and perhaps a good start. But the average CC permit training mostly covers legal carry regulations. Rarely do any of those half-day classes even adequately cover self-defense. Ideally, they should have forceable tactics training.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 02/20/2018 11:20 Comments || Top||

#2  A damn site more than the FBI is doing.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/20/2018 12:13 Comments || Top||

#3  Butler County and Hamilton Ohio have had a string of strong chiefs who have kept the area from “going Chicago” since industry collapsed in the late 70’s through the current opioid crisis. Both departments are splendid examples.
Posted by: Tzsenator || 02/20/2018 19:03 Comments || Top||

#4  My part of the world. I’m very pleased, though I didn’t realize the history, Tzsenator. I’m glad you do.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2018 22:00 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Victor Davis Hanson: Understanding the California Mind
h/t Instapundit
[AmGreatness] Nancy Pelosi gave a marathon speech on illegal immigration the other day. But how would she know much about the realities of open borders, given her palatial retreat in Northern California and multi-millionaire lifestyle that allows wealthy progressives like herself to be exempt from the consequences of her own hectoring? In the end, the House minority leader was reduced to some adolescent racialist patter about her grandson wishing to look more like his Mexican-American friend.

I was thinking of the San Francisco Democrat’s speech last week, during a brief drive into our local town, in a region that is ground zero of California’s illegal immigration experience.

Illegal immigrants are neither collective saints nor sinners, but simply individuals who arrive from one of the poorest regions in the Americas, without legality or much in the way of English, or high school education.

They encounter an American host that has lost confidence in its once formidable powers of assimilation and integration as well as its ability to mint Americans from diverse races, religions, and ethnicities. Instead, American culture has adopted an arrogant sense that it can ensure near instant parity as redemption for supposed past ‐isms and ‐ologies. That may explain the immigrant’s romance for Mexico to which he fights any return, and the ambiguity about America in which he fights to stay.

...In California, civilization is speeding in reverse‐well aside from the decrepit infrastructure, dismal public schools, and sky-high home prices. Or rather, the state travels halfway in reverse: anything involving the private sector (smartphones, Internet, new cars, TV, or getting solar panels installed) is 21st-century. Anything involving the overwhelmed government or public utilities (enforcing dumping laws, licensing dogs, hooking up solar panel meters to the grid, observing common traffic courtesies) is early 20th-century.

...Why is this so, and how do Californians adjust?

They accept a few unspoken rules of state behavior and then use their resources to navigate around them.

1) Law enforcement in California hinges on ignoring felonies to focus on misdemeanors and infractions. Or rather, if a Californian is deemed to be law-abiding, a legal resident, and with some means, the regulatory state will audit, inspect, and likely fine his property and behavior in hopes of raising revenue.

...2) Elite progressive virtue-signaling is in direct proportion to elite apartheid: the more one champions green statutes, the plight of illegal aliens, the need for sanctuary cities, or the evils of charter schools, so all the more the megaphone is relieved that housing prices are high and thus exclusionary to "them."

...3) California is no longer really a single state. Few in the Bay Area have ever been to the southern Sierra Nevada foothill communities, or the west side of the Central Valley, or the upper quarter of the state. Coastal California is simply far more left-wing than other blue states; interior California is far more right-wing than most red states; increasingly, the former dictate to and rule the latter.

...4) The postmodern 21st-century state media in its various manifestations is committed to social justice, not necessarily to disinterested reporting. Few read about environmental lawsuits over the planned pathway of a disruptive high-speed rail project; not so in the case of planned state nullification of offshore drilling.

...Californians, both the losers and beneficiaries of these unspoken rules, have lost confidence in the equal application of the law and indeed the idea of transparent and meritocratic government.

Cynicism is rampant. Law-abiding Californians do whatever is necessary not to come to the attention of any authorities, whose desperate need for both revenue and perceived social justice (150,000 households in a state of 40 million residents pay about 50 percent of California income tax revenue) is carnivorous.
In short, California is the preview of how the entire country will look a generation from now, unless the Left is stopped - for good, not for a time as happened in Reagan's era.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/20/2018 02:48 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Isn't "Stretch" originally from Baltimore? California and Baltimore...two basket cases in their own way.
Posted by: DooDahMan || 02/20/2018 6:42 Comments || Top||

#2  unless the Left is stopped

Bloody civil wars are good at that. Seems to be a historical correlation between severe pain and social adjustment.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/20/2018 7:58 Comments || Top||

#3  California is a house of cards waiting to collapse. If just one bond rating company would seriously call BS on these Ponzi scheme bonds Calfornicate issues every year to churn the debt, you would see a very interesting situation as they try to figure out how to continue these nonsense special interest programs.

When it finally reaches a tipping point and the house of cards collapses, it will be very interesting.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 02/20/2018 10:36 Comments || Top||

#4  Carnivorous is the perfect description of priorities for state government. One tiny example in my own life. Annual registration for my 2013 F-150 Ford XLT truck arrived yesterday. $478....
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 02/20/2018 10:57 Comments || Top||

#5  My family has been in California since the gold rush, and I'm completely bewildered regarding our present and future state of affairs. At least the scenery is good.
Posted by: AuburnTom || 02/20/2018 10:58 Comments || Top||

#6  Carnivorous is the perfect description of priorities for state government. One tiny example in my own life. Annual registration for my 2013 F-150 Ford XLT truck arrived yesterday. $478....

Think what you'd be paying to drive a Lexus, Bentley or MB. In Georgia you'd be hammered. Keep the Ford and smile.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/20/2018 11:02 Comments || Top||

#7  Here in Tennessee it's about 29 bucks no matter what you are driving. Some counties have a wheel tax that can be as much as 40 bucks per vehicle though.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 02/20/2018 11:23 Comments || Top||

#8  Too late. I'm already on the Franchise Tax Board's official shit list.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 02/20/2018 11:44 Comments || Top||

#9  Always stay in the middle or the rear of the formation, and do not ask any questions.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/20/2018 12:15 Comments || Top||

#10  They encounter an American host that has lost confidence in its once formidable powers of assimilation and integration as well as its ability to mint Americans from diverse races, religions, and ethnicities.

IOW, the principle of Proposition Nation has become a bad joke that is only honored in the breach, anyway.

Another thing we'll have to come to terms with, along with what P2K said.
Posted by: charger || 02/20/2018 16:34 Comments || Top||


Economy
Reckoning at Hand for General Electric?
[American Thinker] If your hackles are not yet up concerning the outlook for highly indebted multinational companies such as GE in a possible looming crisis of 2018, they ought to be. From September 2008 until recently, we operated in a new world without traditional controls, prepared to believe everything and happy to own almost anything. Skeptics were mocked, as markets rocked.

However, in recent months, benchmark interest rates in the United States ‐ the largest market in the world ‐ are trending upward after ten years at historic low levels. As interest rates rise, most asset values will fall. Declining asset values are especially worrying for complex borrowers like GE.

Now, investors are, again, agonizing, trying to assess how rising interest rates will affect the values of companies. It is no wonder that GE and its stock price should be back in the spotlight.

Awaiting Crucial GE Details

GE's comprehensive annual report for 2017 will emerge soon. Meanwhile, selling pressures have accentuated following the disappointing fourth quarter 2017 "earnings call" on January 24, 2018.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/20/2018 02:37 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Could get interesting...as a component of the Dow 30, could bring down some index fund/ETFs.
Posted by: DooDahMan || 02/20/2018 3:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Supporting write-offs like NBC and obamas fake energy policy will come back to bite you.

You have not brought good things to life since the 60's.

You are now a pariah and I will think you as such.

What do you think of them light bulbs?
Posted by: newc || 02/20/2018 3:25 Comments || Top||

#3  All that slavish simpering in support of The Won didn't buy any relief from the iron laws of the market. Rometty at IBM and Barra at GM are going to join Immelt in that sad club.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/20/2018 7:48 Comments || Top||

#4  That would be the GE who's Obama loving management got the Royal Decree issued to kill the old inexpensive light bulbs in order to force Americans to buy the more expensive substitutes with mercury in them?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/20/2018 7:56 Comments || Top||

#5  as a component of the Dow 30

I was reading something (probably Zero Hedge) that GE won't be part of the Dow 30 in the near future. It's a shithole company now, and like P2K, I will not forgive a company who helped kill off the incandescent light bulb. I still have a bunch of them, but holy mother of god, how fucking PC do you have to be to make a certain kind of light bulb illegal?
Posted by: Raj || 02/20/2018 9:59 Comments || Top||

#6  Of course the whole goal was make it a government revenue stream for the disposal of all of those CF with mercury. Imagine, mercury has been banned and blacklisted for years and the environazis use it like crazy without consequence.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 02/20/2018 10:44 Comments || Top||

#7  Bought a GE dishwasher once, an oven too. Never again.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 02/20/2018 11:36 Comments || Top||

#8  GE's railroad locomotives put GM's Electromotive Division out of business, but now the GE locomotive business is up for sale. Supposedly, the locomotive business doesn't make 'enough' profit for GE.
Posted by: Bobby || 02/20/2018 12:05 Comments || Top||

#9  There is no such thing as 'enough' profit. Profits must grow to the sky, or else.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 02/20/2018 12:08 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Quad-City queer, or busted in Bettendorf
[Daily News] An Iowa therapist was arrested Monday after allegedly sexually exploiting a female patient by kissing and touching her in a hot tub in her home.

Aracely Schutters, 45, invited a female patient through text messages to talk about her problems in her Bettendorf home, KWQC-TV reported.

The victim arrived at Schutters’ home on Dec. 4 before getting in the hot tub, an affidavit says.

Schutters tried to get the woman drunk and "engaged in unwanted kissing and touching of the victim’s inner thigh, breast, and groin," the station reported.

She admitted to cops she kissed the woman in the hot tub, according to police.

Schutters was charged with sexual exploitation by a counselor but was released Tuesday after posting $5,000 bail.

She faces up to five years if convicted. Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 2, according to the Quad-City Times.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/20/2018 02:30 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  She has been watching too much on line p0rn. It's a fantasy gal, done by professionals on a close circuit. Do not attempt at home.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/20/2018 8:05 Comments || Top||

#2  A Bettendorf therapist, Schutters,
Massaging her customers, utters:
"Their mental disease
Leaves me weak in the knees
And compulsively rutting with nutters!"
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 02/20/2018 15:44 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Trump Endorses Romney in Utah Senate Race: ‘He Has My Full Support'
[PJ] President Donald Trump endorsed Mitt Romney on Monday in his bid for the U.S. Senate in Utah, calling a man who once lambasted him as a fraud to be a "worthy successor" to Sen. Orrin Hatch (R., Utah.).

"@MittRomney has announced he is running for the Senate from the wonderful State of Utah. He will make a great Senator and worthy successor to @OrrinHatch, and has my full support and endorsement!" Trump wrote.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/20/2018 02:22 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But what's the point?
Posted by: newc || 02/20/2018 3:00 Comments || Top||

#2  The Don believes that Romney is trainable?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/20/2018 3:03 Comments || Top||

#3  LOL
He is fungible.
Posted by: newc || 02/20/2018 3:17 Comments || Top||

#4  He's a shoe-in. Trump's actions are simply pragmatic.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/20/2018 3:31 Comments || Top||

#5  #4 - Exactly. Kinda like California voting for HRC. The Donald knows that's a no-brainer.
Posted by: DooDahMan || 02/20/2018 5:48 Comments || Top||

#6  No Bannon there whispering in DJT's ear to support the next Roy Moore.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/20/2018 7:50 Comments || Top||

#7  Mia Love is no Roy Moore.
Posted by: Clyde McGurque9342 || 02/20/2018 9:24 Comments || Top||

#8  Mia Love isn’t running against Mr. Romney. And she’s only been a Representative since 2014 — she needs a good deal more experience before moving up to the Senate.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2018 10:30 Comments || Top||

#9  Romney will be conservative on social issues, there is that at least.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 02/20/2018 15:02 Comments || Top||

#10  Hopefully his definition of "societal issues" is not another version of ObamaCare; or, RomneyCare.
Posted by: DooDahMan || 02/20/2018 15:33 Comments || Top||

#11  Mittens is champing at the bit to fill ol' Maverick's shoes. He'll have the same battered wife relationship with the press and routinely allow himself to be used in the manner of a hollow vinyl thing filled with hot air.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/20/2018 16:57 Comments || Top||


Economy
Smucker's Announces $1000 Employee Bonuses, $20M Added to Employee Pensions
[PJ] The J.R. Smucker company announced last week that 5000 employees will be receiving $1000 bonuses as a result of the Republican tax plan. They also plan to add $20 million to the employee pension program and donate an additional $1 million to charity.

"We had a strong third quarter, with sales growth for key brands in every business and strong earnings per share growth fueled by the benefits of U.S. income tax reform and ongoing cost discipline," said Mark Smucker, chief executive officer, in a press release. "These results reflect our commitment to delivering top and bottom line growth and supporting our portfolio of iconic and emerging brands. In addition, the benefits of income tax reform provide incremental fuel to invest in our growth initiatives and support our employees and communities as well as opportunities to increase cash returned to shareholders."

Smucker's also updated its fiscal year 2018 forecast to reflect the company's optimistic outlook.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/20/2018 02:18 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That will buy a lot of pentobarbital. Smuckers recalls products after they tested positive for euthanasia drug.

“If they don't like the explanation that it's coming from animals that have been euthanized, what is their explanation as to how it gets in there?"
Posted by: Woodrow || 02/20/2018 5:27 Comments || Top||

#2  what is their explanation as to how it gets in there? The Russians. The FBI needs to investigate this.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 02/20/2018 11:59 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
It'd The Alpaca Lips I mean the Apocalypse
[DallasNews] If you're still looking for your lost shaker of salt, better pick up the pace ‐ you might not need it much longer. We're facing a global tequila shortage.
Heavens to Murgatroid!!
It's not just a rumor. As a trained journalist with a keen consumer interest in the aforementioned commodity, I did some poking around. The stories, alas, are lamentably accurate.
Jimmy Buffett, Margaritaville, and Parrotheads hardest hit.
Tequila is drying up because the slow-growing succulent used to make it, agave tequilana ‐ the renowned blue agave cultivated in the Mexican state of Jalisco ‐ is in short supply.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Can those east coast limp wristed wienies go back to their precious little single malted scotch and leave the bourbon and tequila drinkers of the world alone?

Tequila snobs?? Same crowd that ruined chili and barbeque.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 02/20/2018 0:07 Comments || Top||

#2 
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/20/2018 2:05 Comments || Top||

#3  Hey SPoD, keep your grubby paws off my single malts. That stuff has gotten too expensive as it is.

Millenials can craft distill their own bourbons that taste like Caro syrup.
Posted by: AlanC || 02/20/2018 8:36 Comments || Top||

#4  Alan,

You have to admit these trendy pinkie curling dilatants go from one thing to another based upon something they read in the New Yorker. They make single malted scotch more expensive because they suddenly have to drink it, then it was avocados and avocado toast. Then it was cauliflower, and on to bourbon and making those silly-assed sweet things that made Southern Comfort look like lemonade. And need I mention how they have screwed up red wine to taste like tannic acid with their precious Cabernet Sauvignons? I wish they would go back to just drinking stuff to get a buzz instead of this phony connoisseur stuff...they ruined cigars too for a while. These fucking east coast snob-assed trend followers need to stop and give us normal drinkers a break.

Who on earth in NYC or Chicago has any business drinking tequila anyway? I've been drinking tequila since the first time I sneaked across the border into boys town in Reynosa. I like the stuff its just that I like to drink tequila. I'm not trying to appear hip or trendy or part of the in crowd.

Keep you damned hands off my tequila. Its enough to make you want sit down with a jar of crunchy peanut butter and a spoon.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 02/20/2018 10:21 Comments || Top||

#5  Below freezing, night, naked in backyard.

That was the last time I drank like a Russian.

Near to killed me.
.
Posted by: OregonGuy || 02/20/2018 13:31 Comments || Top||

#6  What is the fuss all about? if Tequila is not available, use Gin instead. Margaritas mad with Gin is pretty good, give it a try!

Heck, even Vodka will work just fine, with all that flavoring, no one can taste the alcohol subtle flavors anyway. (if any)
Posted by: Seeking cure for ignorance || 02/20/2018 14:52 Comments || Top||

#7  Oh my goodness

Perchance you should continue your search for that cure
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 02/20/2018 17:47 Comments || Top||

#8  At #7. LOL!
Posted by: Sneting Turkeyneck2915 || 02/20/2018 17:56 Comments || Top||

#9  Mescal.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 02/20/2018 18:21 Comments || Top||

#10  Friend of a friend brought friend some hand-made mescal. He had people tracked down to share, including myself. Boy howdy. I think it would be lost on the pajama bois.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/20/2018 19:33 Comments || Top||

#11  Mescal???

Now you're talking.

If you like tequila, you will love Mescal.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 02/20/2018 21:02 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Rantburg Exclusive: 2/19/2018 SDF Battle Field Combat Report, Afrin Canton, Syria
1- Afrin: with the arrival of the vanguard of the public delegations to Afrin coming from Aleppo, the Turkish occupation army and the terrorist factions have began to shell the city center of Afrin by heavy artillery, the shelling is still ongoing until writing this report, where the shelling is focused on Tranda neighborhood in Afrin.

2- Raju: Raju township was a target of a brutal bombardment by the Turkish war-jets since yesterday at 3 pm until the midnight accompanied by artillery shelling.

Also, Khalilka village and its vicinity were arenas for fierce engagements between our forces and the Turkish occupation army and its terrorists factions (Daesh/Al-Nusra). The clashes started last night, where our forces confirmed the death of 7 enemy soldiers. Later, the clashes expanded to Hajika village accompanied by artillery shelling lasted to the midnight.

3- Sharra: last night at 7 pm, the Turkish occupation army and its terrorist factions had bombed Alika village by heavy artillery. The bombardment lasted to the midnight.

Since last night and even the moment of preparation of this report, the Turkish jets did not calm down, where Deir Sawan village down to Nabi Horri castle and Halobiyah village in addition to Maydanki village, were targets of the Turkish air strikes and artillery, coincided with the outbreak of fierce clashes between our forces and the invaders which was ongoing until writing this report.

4- Jinderes: the villages along the border were targets for the Turkish raids and artillery accompanied by heavy clashes between our forces and the terrorist invaders. The sporadic shelling is still ongoing until writing this report.

5- Mabatah: the Turkish invasion army and its terrorist allies (Daesh/Al-Nusra) shelled indiscriminately on the downtown of Mabatah and the surrounding villages. The bombardment is continuous until the preparation of this report.

6- Basutah: Basutah and the surrounding villages were exposed to a brutal bombardment by the Turkish invasion army and terrorist factions. The bombardment targeted the populated neighborhoods, which accordingly, several civilians got martyred and wounded including women and children.

SDF Media Center
19-Feb-2018


A thirteen year old child was killed by NATO member Turkey via heavy and indiscriminate artillery and air strikes against civilian areas. YPG had warned civilians two days ago to move out of those areas as if they anticipated an increase in indiscriminate bombing due to their frustration with Olive Branch.



Erdogan has responded to word that Syria may support the YPG in the Afrin Canton by warning Syria that they will be attacked if they do.

The street in front of the US Embassy in Turkey has been renamed Olive Branch.
The kind of insult so meaningful to the Byzantine mind of the Ottoman Turk, and seen as so childishly uninteresting by Americans.
Posted by: Ulaigum Ebbineng7056 || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [13 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte

#1  After seeing a longer version of this video that would not post I could only find this shorter version on YouTube.

This is an ISIS groomed child soldier captured in Idlib, Syria who is confessing to having fought with ISIS for two years to an interrogator.

At the end of the video after answering the interrogators questions, the child asks as cool as a cucumber, "Are you going to shoot me?" at the end of this video. The longer version that I could not post from elsewhere has the interrogator responding, "Shoot him."

Posted by: Ulaigum Ebbineng7056 || 02/20/2018 0:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Statement of Hediye Yusuf, Co-chair of the Council of the Federation of Northern Syria, given to InfoCenter Afrin Resistance

20 febrero, 2018
icafrin

EXCLUSIVE/IC Afrin Resistance – Afrin, 19.02.2018

“Untill now, the Syrian State keeps silent against the occupation of its territory. Before this current situation Turkey already occupied Syrian territory in Jerabulus, Bab and Ezaz. Against this occupation the Syrian state had given some very coward statements. The Syrian state hasn‘t played its role as a state that would defend its borders against occupation.
This is also the case for the agreement between Turkey, Russia, the [Syrian] Regime and Iran concerning Afrin. Turkey approached with the will to occupy the area of Afrin. Turkey`s plan was to occupy Afrin within 3 hours. That‘s what Turkey had announced, what Erdogan had anounced. First they had said 3 hours, then they said three days, then one week. Everybody was watching and kept silent. The Syrian state stayed silent against this as well.

The plan was based on the occupation of Afrin. But what happened instead was that the people of Afrin were starting an historical resistance. The people of Afrin stood up against the occupation. Today, the people of Afrin have been resisting for 31 days. They did not allow the occupation plan to reach its goal. The people as well as the fighters of YPG, YPJ and SDF have shown an historical resistance against the occupational attacks. With this the resistance foiled the calculations that were made [by Turkey] and made the plan of occupation fail. At the same time this resistance still continues.

Against this the Syrian state remained silent. Against the occupation attacks against this territory [in the region of Afrin] it remained silent. As we have already stated before, the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria is a part of a united Syria. So we had made clear that the Federation is a geographical federation and Northern Syria is a part of Syria.

Therefore our position has always been, if there is a possibility for a dialogue that helps to open the way for a democratic solution in Syria we would use this and support this. On the base of a federal system like we have announced in Northern Syria, we think that Northern Syria will play an important role in the democratic solution process for Syria: We are open for dialogues with the [Syrian] regime. The basis of any dialogue is to reach the aim of a democratic solution. Therefore, we had made these declarations already before. Now there is the current situation:

The resistance of Afrin is a historical resistance. It is the resistance of the century. It has created public attention and thwarts the plans that had been made before. At the same time all people of Syria know the existing reality of occupation. Therefore, now there is a dialogue between the military forces on the base that the Syrian Regime as a state gets involved inside the frame that it should play its role in preventing its ground from occupation. If these existing dialogues bring any results, then the Syrian army should keep with its tasks as a state in the meaning that it would protect the airspace over Syrian ground. But these are only dialogues. If it comes to a military agreement, there will be an official statement made by the YPG. Untill the YPG doesn‘t give an official statement, we can‘t say anything about if a contract has been made.

Apart from that, in the frame of this resistance and on a political ground, there is no dialogue with the Syrian regime. Therefore, for the future of Northern Syria and as we said already before, we are ready for dialogues. But to the present time there is no such discussion. There is nothing like the things that are being said such as handing over Afrin to the regime. These things are not true and have never been for discussion. What is existing right now is a dialogue for coming to a military agreement, so that the plan of occupation through the Turkish state will be thwarted. It is in that frame.“
Posted by: Ulaigum Ebbineng7056 || 02/20/2018 5:18 Comments || Top||

#3  The kind of insult so meaningful to the Byzantine mind of the Ottoman Turk, and seen as so childishly uninteresting by Americans.

Nice.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/20/2018 9:54 Comments || Top||


Syrian army to help Kurds repel Turkish offensive
[DAWN] Syrian Kurdish forces and the Damascus government have reached an agreement for the Syrian army to enter the Afrin region to help repel a Ottoman Turkish offensive, a senior Kurdish official said on Sunday.

Badran Jia Kurd, an adviser to the Kurdish-led administration in north Syria, said army troops will deploy along some border positions and could enter the region within the next two days.

The agreement underscores the increasingly complex situation in northern Syria where Kurdish groups, the Syrian government, rebel groups, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund....
, the United States and Russia are tangled in a complex web of enmities and alliances.

The complex relationship between the Damascus government and the Syrian Kurds, which each holds more territory than any other side in the war, will be an important element in determining the future course of the conflict.

Turkey launched an air and ground offensive last month on Syria’s Afrin region, opening a new front in the multi-sided Syrian war to target Kurdish fighters in the autonomous canton in the north.

The Kurdish YPG militia, which has received arms from the United States, has seized swathes of northern Syria from the holy warrior 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 during the conflict, and has a rival vision for the country’s future to that of the Damascus government.

But while the United States has a military presence in the much larger area of Syria the YPG and its allies control further east, it has not given any support to the YPG in Afrin.

Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Terror of Aleppo ...
’s government has had a complex relationship with the YPG during the conflict. They have mostly avoided direct conflict and both sides have at times suggested a long-term agreement between them might be possible, but they have also sometimes clashed and espouse utterly different visions for Syria’s future. Assad has said he wants to take back control of the whole country.

Posted by: Fred || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [12 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Africa Subsaharan
Nigeria Releases More Boko Haram Suspects
[AnNahar] Nigeria has freed another 51 Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
suspects in the latest round of dropped cases for lack of evidence, the justice ministry said Monday.

Over the course of last week, hundreds of suspected Boko Haram snuffies appeared before a court at the Kainji military base in central Niger state.

A total of 526 suspects have been released from custody after it was found there was not enough evidence to prosecute them, underscoring concerns from human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty...
groups that the Nigerian military has been arbitrarily arresting and detaining civilians during the Islamist insurgency.

"Among the reasons for setting the 526 suspects free are want of evidence, under aged (minor) and persons suffering from mental illness," ministry front man Salihu Othman Isah said in a statement.

Only one suspect, Modu Maina, was discharged and acquitted by the judge, Isah said.

"Maina confessed that he was forcefully initiated into the Boko Haram group but relocated to Lagos to avoid being locked away
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
in Bama," Isah said.

"He said that all the confessional statements he made to Joint Task Force (JTF) was under alleged torture."

Isah added that "about 205" detained suspects were convicted and sentenced to imprisonment, with jail terms ranging from three to 60 years.

The remaining 73 cases have been adjourned until the next hearing.

In total, over 1,000 people have been processed in a string of mass hearings which began in October at four specially-constituted civilian courts inside the facility.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram (ISIS)


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israeli gas company announces $15b export deal with Egypt
[IsraelTimes] Israeli energy company Delek Drilling announces a $15 billion deal to supply natural gas to Egypt.

Delek and its US partner, Noble Energy, sign a deal to sell a total of 64 billion cubic meters of gas over a 10-year period to Egyptian company Dolphinus Holdings.

Yossi Abu, chief executive of Delek Drilling, says in an interview that the deal is the largest-ever export agreement for Israel’s nascent natural gas industry. He calls it "great news" for both countries.

He says he expects most of the gas to be used for Egypt’s domestic market. But he says it could help pave the way toward turning Egypt into an export hub for Israeli gas.

The gas is expected to start flowing next year.
Update from Al Ahram at 11:30 a.m. ET:
Egypt MP requests petroleum minister be summoned to explain reports of gas deal with Israel

Egyptian leftist MP Abdel-Hamid Kamal, who represents the governorate of Suez, has submitted an urgent information request on Tuesday asking that Petroleum Minister Tarek El-Molla be summoned to parliament as soon as possible to explain to MPs reports that Israel has signed two agreements to sell gas to Egypt.
Kamal's request, submitted to parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Aal, said "importing natural gas from Israel would be in violation of Article 139 of the constitution, which states that the main job of the president of the republic is to preserve the people's interests and maintain the independence of the state and the integrity and safety of its land."

"Any gas deal with Israel goes against this article, as Israel is still an enemy of Egypt in practical and de facto terms," argued Kamal, who is affiliated with the leftist Tagammu Party.

Kamal told Ahram Online that "gas deals with Israel pose a big threat to Egypt's internal security and national economy… It gives Israel, an enemy to Egypt, a hand to manipulate Egypt's economy, as dependence on gas imports from the Jewish state for a long period of time will surely be very risky," said Kamal.

In response, the Egyptian Natural Gas Regulatory Authority said it is not aware of the signing of such an agreement.

Authority chairman Karem Mahmoud told Al-Ahram Arabic news website that companies have the right to sign agreements to import or export gas, but such agreements must be presented to the authority for approval.

The authority has said in a statement that “there is no certainty” that the deal will go through given that the legal conditions for such an agreement have not been met yet."

Egypt passed a new natural gas law last year that allows for competition in the market by granting licenses to import gas for private companies.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That's quite a deal after Egypt just announced the east Nile field.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/20/2018 3:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Tells us Egypt is going to fight Iran on Saudis behalf - what, you thought Egypt has $15 billion?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/20/2018 4:42 Comments || Top||

#3  Do the Saudis still have $15 billion to spare, g(r)omgoru?
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2018 7:52 Comments || Top||

#4  ...be like Congress, just print more.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/20/2018 8:14 Comments || Top||

#5  #3 They've considerably more invested abroad.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/20/2018 8:59 Comments || Top||

#6  Egyptian leftist MP Abdel-Hamid Kamal:
"Where's our cut?"
Posted by: Frank G || 02/20/2018 15:16 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Yemeni army, committees achieve great victories in battlefronts over Sunday
[SABANEWS.NET] The 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...
army and popular forces have achieved great victories in the battlefronts against Saudi-led aggression collation soldiers and its mercenaries over Sunday, according to military reports combined by Saba News Agency on Monday.

In the border province of ASir, an offensive was carried out against positions of Saudi army in Um-Riyah hill in Thaban area, which resulted in several dead and maimed among the Saudi soldiers.

In Alab crossing of Asir, a Saudi-paid mercenaries was rubbed out and mercenaries’ gatherings were shelled by artillery.

In Najran border province, the army and committees repelled an infiltration of Saudi-paid mercenaries in al-Ajasher area off al-Khadra outlet, inflicting losses in lives and gear upon them.

In Jizan border province, a military Saudi bulldozer was smashed in Hamidha village by a guided missile, while four Saudi soldiers were sniped in Qewa village.

Also in Jizan, artillery force of the army and popular committees targeted Saudi soldiers’ gatherings in Nashaw and beyond Bojan sites, causing direct causalities.

In Taiz province, 12 United Arab Emirates soldiers were killed and destroyed eight military vehicles in an attack in Mouza district.

Also in Mouza district, The army and committees set a tightened siege on the remaining UAE troops and mercenaries , while warplanes of Saudi aggression dropped cluster bombs on its mercenaries, killing dozens of them during they tried to escape.

Furthermore, 4 Emirati armored vehicles and 4 others of Saudi-baked mercenaries were destroyed in the army and committees mik4litary operation in Mouza district.

Also in Taiz, attacks were carried out on Saudi-paid mercenaries' locations in Mawza district and broke an attempted infiltration into al-Salw district, inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy.

In Marib province, a missile, Zilzal-2, was fired toward Saudi-paid mercenaries’ gatherings, killing and injuring dozens of them in Nehm district.

In Saada province, the air defenses of the army and popular forces shot down a reconnaissance plane belonging to Saudi forces in Boqa district.

In restive Lahj
... a Yemeni governate located in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula. It is the stomping grounds on the southern secessionist al-Harak movement
province, The army and committees took control over Sabih and Sharara valleys of Qabayta district killing and injuring dozens of the mercenaries.
also in Lahj, an infiltration of the mercenaries was foiled in Karish area, inflicting them heavy losses.
Posted by: Fred || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Iraq
Seven Islamic State members arrested in operations in Mosul: Ministry
djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
(IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi Interior Ministry has announced arresting seven Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
members during several operations launched in Mosul.

In a statement issued on Monday, Saad Maan, the ministry spokesperson, said "the Rapid Response police in Nineveh tossed in the clink
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
seven IS members who are involved in several terrorist cases."

"One of them was sentenced in absentia to life," he added. The seven members "were arrested in several places across Mosul."
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


India-Pakistan
Senior police officer, constable held for alleged involvement in 'encounter'
[DAWN] A senior police officer believed to be close to absconding police officer Rao Anwar was detained along with a constable over their alleged involvement in the extrajudicial killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud at an abandoned farmhouse outside 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...
on January 13, it emerged on Monday.

Two senior coppers on condition of anonymity told Dawn that former DSP Malir Qamar Ahmed has been taken into custody as part of the probe into Mehsud's killing.

They said DSP Ahmed had "confessed" that he was present during the ’encounter’ in Shah Latif Town, while call data records also corroborated the same.
Posted by: Fred || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Convoy of Aleppo residents arrives in Afrin amid reports of YPG-Syrian gov’t deal (video)
[ALMASDARNEWS] A convoy of residents of Aleppo was greeted by thousands of people in Afrin on Monday, in a show of unity amid an escalation of Ottoman Turkish shelling of numerous villages in the Kurdish-dominated region.

A significant number of convoy members reportedly hailed mostly from the Kurdish area of Aleppo.

The convoy arrived in Afrin following Syrian State TV reports of a deal between pro-Syrian government forces and the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) to allow forces loyal to the Syrian government in the Afrin region. Authorities have not confirmed these reports.

According to local media, armed troops are due to enter the city imminently, following an YPG-Syrian government agreement to deploy pro-Syrian government fighters on the Ottoman Turkish border.
Posted by: Fred || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Three Iranian police officers killed in clashes with protesters
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Three coppers were killed on Monday in festivities with protesters in northern Tehran, police front man Saeed Montazer al-Mahdi said on state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
The festivities were between security forces and dervishes of the Gonabadi denomination who had gathered in front of a cop shoppe, demanding the release of some members of their Sufi religious order, according to video footage posted on social media.

Some local news agencies reported the death of a number of police forces during the festivities.

A video of was posted showing a bus trampling a number of coppers involved in suppressing the protesting Sufis..

According to security sources, the bus driver was placed in durance vile
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
, and investigations are underway to find out his identity.
Posted by: Fred || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Malaysian rapper probed over ‘insulting Islam’ in lunar new year dog video
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A rapper in Moslem-majority Malaysia is under police investigation for allegedly insulting Islam with a Lunar New Year video that features dancers wearing dog masks and performing suggestive moves, reports said Monday.

The video features controversial rapper Wee Meng Chee, known by his stage name Namewee, sitting on a chair in front of a domed building and mimicking barks of canines from around the world.

Several black-clad dancers wearing masks of dogs -- an animal considered unclean in Islam -- gyrate around him.

The video, which marks the start of the Year of the Dog currently being celebrated across Asia, generated accusations that it was filmed in front of a mosque in the administrative capital Putrajaya.

National police chief Mohamad Fuzi Harun reportedly said a probe had been launched into the artist -- who is from the country's ethnic Chinese minority -- for hurting religious feelings and "transmitting offensive communications".

Namewee, who is reported to be abroad, faces up to a year in jail if found guilty.

In a YouTube video, the rapper denied having insulted Islam and said that the domed building visible in the background was the prime minister's office, not a mosque.

"The reports saying I insulted Islam are not true," he said. "We did not film the music video at any place of worship. It was done in an open area."

The probe was launched after complaints from Moslem groups and public criticism from the deputy prime minister over the video, which has more than 700,000 views on YouTube since being released on February 10.

Posted by: Fred || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Flatulent wind blows Dubai flight to emergency landing
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A passenger’s continuous flatulence forced a Dubai Amsterdam flight into an emergency landing, a Dutch paper reported.

The irritated bowel ridden passenger onboard Transavia Airlines’ flight HV6902 from Dubai peeved passengers causing a fight onboard.

The captain of the budget airline flight was forced to land the plane early after passengers attacked the elderly man who refused to check his flatulence, De Telegraaf reported.

The pilot told the man to cease breaking wind, but the passenger either was unable to hold back or simply refused to do so.

Finally an emergency landing in Vienna was made to remove the elderly Dutchman and the unhappy passengers who caused the fight, including one Dutchman and two young women.

Transavia said that all four passengers are now banned from traveling with the airline in the future.

None of the individuals were tossed in the slammer
Please don't kill me!
by the police, as they had not broken any Austrian laws.

Posted by: Fred || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  'Check your privilege' to 'check your flatulence' - that's progress!
Posted by: Raj || 02/20/2018 1:06 Comments || Top||

#2  Flying just ain't what it used to be:

Passenger Films Woman Shamelessly Drying Soggy Underwear On Plane Air Vent, Leaves Passengers Puzzled


Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 02/20/2018 8:13 Comments || Top||

#3  Having flown on a flight or two next to someone who apparently hadn't bathed in the last trimester, I understand.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 02/20/2018 20:23 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Daily Mail names ISIS killer in Dagestan Orthodox church massacre
And has photos and videos as usual. More on this and this from yesterday.
[DailyMail]
  • Gunman screamed 'Allahu akbar' as he opened fire at church in Kizlyar, Russia

  • Khalil Khalilov killed five female worshippers before being shot dead by police

  • Footage shows 22-year-old walking to the church and a woman fleeing the scene

  • ISIS claims that one of its 'soldiers of Islam' carried out the massacre on Sunday
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [12 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


India-Pakistan
Allah strikes Pir Sialvi
[DAWN] SARGODHA: Pir Hameeduddin Sialvi had a brain haemorrhage and he was shifted to a Lahore hospital on Sunday.
Still time for repentence...
Mr Sialvi was going to Chiniot from Sial Sharif to participate in a Khatm-i-Nabuwat conference when he fell unconscious. He was shifted to a local private hospital. Earlier, the doctors thought Pir Sialvi had suffered from a cardiac problem but the CT scan revealed that he had a clot in brain. He was referred to Lahore where the phones of his associates did not respond. He had had a heart bypass about two years back and these days he was reportedly under stress due to differences between his son Qasim Sialvi and nephew Nizamuddin Sialvi.

Hameeduddin Sialvi remained senator from PML-N ticket and got prominence recently after a launching movement against Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah over a controversial statement by him.

Posted by: Fred || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Op. Sinai: Egyptian army kills 4 'takfiris,' arrests 417 'criminal elements' in north and central Sinai
[AlAhram] Four "takfiri
...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed...
s" were killed by the Egyptian Armed Forces in northern and central Sinai, the army said in a statement on Monday, as comprehensive Operation Sinai 2018 enters its second week.

The term "takfiri" refers to Sunni Moslems who accuse other Moslems of being infidels, often as a justification for using violence against them.

Military front man Tamer El-Rifai said that one non-commissioned officer and two soldiers were killed, while another two other officers were maimed.

Forces also tossed in the slammer
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
417 wanted criminal elements and destroyed 27 vehicles, four hideouts and 224 weapons caches.

Army engineers also uncovered and diffused 101 IEDs, which were planted to target security forces during operations, the army said.

Law enforcement forces also released a number of suspects after ascertaining their non-involvement in any open investigation cases or violence.

El-Rifai’s statement is the 10th military communiqué on the sweeping counter-terrorism operation since it began on 9 February.

Since the beginning of the operation, a total of 65 takfiris have been killed and hundreds of criminal suspects have been arrested, according to military statements.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (IS)


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Palestinians slam Facebook for removing pages glorifying attacks on Israelis
A great deal more antisemitic and anti-Israel content produced elsewhere is left intact, but this is something,
[IsraelTimes] Journalists and activists accuse the social media giant of 'waging war on the Paleostinians,' Israel has long accused it of not doing enough to combat incitement.

Paleostinian activists and journalists on Monday launched a campaign to protest against Facebook after the social media giant removed dozens of pages in recent weeks, saying they incited and glorified terrorism.

"Facebook is waging war on the Paleostinians," the activists and journalists complained in a statement as they launched a Twitter hashtag entitled "#FBfightsPaleostine" to protest the Facebook measures.

According to the Paleostinians, the Facebook crackdown intensified after the killing of Ahmed Jarrar, the Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, terrorist who was part of a cell that killed Rabbi Raziel Shevach in the northern West Bank last month.

Israeli security forces killed Jarrar in a shootout on February 6 in the village of al Yamoun, near Jenin.

IDF troops operate in the Jenin area in pursuit of Ahmed Jarrar, the Paleostinian who murdered Raziel Shevach, on February 3, 2018.
Since then, the Paleostinians said, Facebook has temporarily suspended or permanently removed more than 50 private and public pages and posts, most of which were dedicated to glorifying Jarrar. One of the deleted pages belonged to the Jarrar clan in Jenin.

During 2017, Facebook took action against 200 Paleostinian accounts, the statement said. The measures also included the removal of posts and photos deemed inflammatory and supportive of terrorism.

Earlier this week, Facebook removed the Hamas-affiliated "Paleostine.net" page, which had more than 180,000 likes.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Like"
Posted by: Frank G || 02/20/2018 7:03 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
2 Indian soldiers killed after eight-year-old Pakistani boy dies in cross-LoC firing: ISPR
[DAWN] In a tit-for-tat action, Pakistain Army on Monday destroyed an Indian army post across the Line of Control and killed two soldiers hours after a Pak minor boy lost his life in Indian firing on a border village.

"Pakistain Army troops neutralised [an] Indian post which targeted a minor along [the] LoC," killing two soldiers, the military's media wing said in a brief statement.

Nearly two hours earlier, Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor had said in a tweet that an eight-year-old boy named Ayan was killed due to Indian firing in Janjot Bahadar village of Azad Jammu and Kashmire's Kotli district.

"Use of Pellet guns in Indian Occupied Kashmire and blatant targeting of innocent unarmed civilians across LoC exposes [the] true Indian face," he wrote along with a photo of the dear departed boy.

Abid Hussain, an official at Khuiratta cop shoppe, told Dawn by telephone that Ayan Zahid, son of Chaudhry Muhammad Zahid was in the courtyard of his house when a bullet fired from across the LoC hit him in the head at about 5pm.

Posted by: Fred || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Botox for camels: Saudi breeders fined over $100,000 under new law
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Big lips, long necks and prominent humps are the greatest attributes of a beautiful camel showcased at 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...
’s annual camel beauty pageant.

The camels compete for a whopping prize money of $57 million. These luring sums have pushed some camel breeders to inject the desert animals with Botox.

"When it comes to rare beauty, not everyone will have the financial means to participate in the auction and compete. People pay large sums of money up to 6-7 million, and more without exaggeration. However,
there's no worse danger than telling a mother her baby is ugly...
it all depends on the rare beauty. The rarer, the more expensive.", Says head of panel of judges, Fawzan al-Madi.

Authorities in Saudi Arabia have imposed fines up to $109,000 against owners enhancing their camels’ features with Botox.

"The camel is considered an old symbol of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is a source of pride for the sons of the peninsula. In the past, it represented food, clothing and transportation. It represented everything.", adds al-Madi.

Saudi Arabia recognizes that such procedures violate animal rights and compromises with the camels’ identities.

Posted by: Fred || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No wonder Pelosi avoids going to the magic kingdom!
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/20/2018 0:23 Comments || Top||

#2  are her humps real?
Posted by: Snilet Brown4492 || 02/20/2018 3:48 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
9 abducted civilians found dead in Afghanistan
[DAWN] An Afghan official says that bodies of nine civilians kidnapped by forces of Evil early last year have been found in the country's eastern province of Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
A district governor says the bodies, including three of tribal leaders, were found dumped in a common grave over the weekend.

Sayed Rahman Mohmand of Kot district says the locals found the bodies in neighbouring Achin district.

The nine were kidnapped by forces of Evil in early 2017 in Kot and nothing was known about their fate till now.

Mohmand says 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....
(IS) group was behind the abduction and the killings, though the turban group has not grabbed credit for the deaths.

Posted by: Fred || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Qatari envoy abused, thrown out of hospital in Gaza
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
i ambassador in Paleostine was kicked out from a hospital by the staff and public images and video shared on Monday revealed.

The video showed angry staff at the Shifa hospital in Gazoo showing Qatari envoy, Mohammed al-Emadi, being forced out, throwing shoes at him and tearing up the flag of Qatar while chanting slogans against Qatar.

Ambassador al-Emadi planned to hold a presser at the hospital before being attacked and thrown out by staff.

The assailants justified their act by saying that Qatari aid was not genuine and aimed at strengthening the Paleostinian divide.
Posted by: Fred || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Qatar (MB)

#1  Palestinians - making friends and influencing people.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/20/2018 1:58 Comments || Top||

#2  A Paleo hospital? They might have been doing the guy a favor.
Posted by: Raj || 02/20/2018 9:44 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Celebrities Rally Behind Student March for Gun Control
[BREITBART] Another march, more celebrities. Are you excited?
Posted by: Fred || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/20/2018 2:11 Comments || Top||

#2  Will they give up their walls and armed guards?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/20/2018 6:28 Comments || Top||

#3  You mean the kids who are eating Tide pods?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/20/2018 7:52 Comments || Top||

#4  Celebrities... never a freedom stealing cause that they didn't love.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/20/2018 10:28 Comments || Top||

#5  How did they get to be celebrities anyway? I didn't vote for them.
Posted by: jpal || 02/20/2018 11:09 Comments || Top||

#6  I had no previous opinion of Justin Beiber but he has hit my shit list now. As a Canadian he should shut up.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 02/20/2018 13:12 Comments || Top||

#7 
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 02/20/2018 13:43 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Zimbabwe: Tensions Between Mnangagwa and Army Commanders Grow
[All Africa] Tensions are gradually intensifying between President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the military clique surrounding him, amid revelations that the army is exerting overbearing influence on the executive.

Official sources say the military is even exercising veto power in some instances, while also influencing the operations of government and other security organs.

Senior government officials told the Zim-bob-we Independent this week that the military element in Zanu PF has serious political ambitions, to the extent that they want Mnangagwa to serve one term, if he wins elections, before handing the baton over to Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, who is also in charge of the ministries of defence and war veterans.

Chiwenga was the commander of the Zim-bob-we Defence Forces when the military embarked on Operation Restore Legacy in November last year. The operation -- widely seen as a coup -- catapulted Mnangagwa to high office, ending former president Bob Muggsy Mugabe
Nonagenarian President-for-Life of Zim-bob-we who turned the former Breadbasket of Africa into the African Basket Case. Dumped in November 2017 when the Missus decided she wanted to be president, and opposed heer might against Crocodile Mnangawa Important safety tip: If your opponent goes by the name Crocodile andf your title is Shopper in Chief let him win....
's 37-year grip on power.

Chiwenga was then appointed vice-president, while retired Lieutenant-General Sibusiso Moyo, who announced the military intervention on state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
, was appointed Foreign Affairs minister. Former Air Force of Zim-bob-we Air Marshal Perence Shiri was appointed Agriculture minister, while retired Lieutenant-General Engelbert Rugeje was appointed head of the Zanu PF commissariat.

Government officials say the military is now exerting pressure on the executive, making the civilian component of government uncomfortable in some instances.

"Tensions and mistrust are certainly building up in government, although things may appear rosy on the surface. The feeling is that the military clique is making too many demands both in government and the party (Zanu PF)," an official said. "The military has been so strong that they have veto power in some cases. For instance, Mnangagwa had initially appointed Oppah Muchinguri as one of his deputies, but the military demanded that the position be given to Chiwenga, who also insisted on being in charge of defence.

Posted by: Fred || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:


-Land of the Free
While you were focused on … Republicans kept moving judicial nominees through pipeline
This, the tax bill, Hillary Clinton will never be president, the embassy in Jerusalem, ever more bureaucrats taking themselves off the government payroll, turning the military loose to start winning, President Trump returning his salary again, rolling revelations about the Russia dossier that have begun to embroil even former president Obama... what have I forgotten, dear Reader?
Posted by: E. Borgia4718 || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'd prefer the forcible removal of government bureaucrats from the government payroll - kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy, build on the momentum kind of thing. Trump should've shitcanned every political appointee in sight whether or not they managed to 'burrow' their way into the Federal hackerama and let them sue their way out.
Posted by: Raj || 02/20/2018 0:55 Comments || Top||

#2  Since you keep asking what Sessions has been up to,
His first priority was the corrupt Judiciary. The Muller thing and the rest were added to his docket. I say he is moving quite fast and giving me some unexpected gains.

Not losing ground is a new feeling for me as the last 8 years were of turmolt.
Posted by: newc || 02/20/2018 2:56 Comments || Top||

#3  OK, this unexpected optimism (yesterday Besoeker, today newc) is beginning to scare me.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/20/2018 3:02 Comments || Top||

#4  Just because the guy dots his I's and crosses his t's does not mean he is slow. From my vision, he is thorough.

It has been but one year, and mush of his time has been spent challenging democrat treachery as an additional duty to his job.

One may say democrat treachery is his primary job. Not so. These Institutions matter more than a passing investigation by a long shot.

I see what they are doing down there and I like it.
Posted by: newc || 02/20/2018 3:22 Comments || Top||

#5  A little maskirovka for your dining enjoyment!
Posted by: DooDahMan || 02/20/2018 5:50 Comments || Top||

#6  Take all those bureaucrats and teach them to grow agave.
Posted by: AlanC || 02/20/2018 8:38 Comments || Top||

#7  A little pessimism, from the article -

As Jared Samilow noted in two posts, there is no guarantee Trump can accomplish the goal of reshaping the judiciary in his first term:

(Part 1 – Appellate Courts)
(Part 2 – District Courts)

So speed it up, please. McConnell needs to ensure we start getting more floor votes.
Posted by: Bobby || 02/20/2018 9:05 Comments || Top||

#8  We also have to hope that a critical mass of those judges don't "grow in office" or become subject to Deep State pressures.

I'd like to see more actual dismantling of the Left's infrastructure.
Posted by: charger || 02/20/2018 16:38 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Blast near popular Baghdad market leaves four civilians killed, injured
Baghdad (Iraqinews.com) ‐ Four non-combatants were killed and injured Monday in a kaboom near a popular market in northern Baghdad, a security source was quoted as saying.

Speaking to Alghad Press, the source said, "An explosive charge went off near a popular market at al-Taji rural district in northern Baghdad, leaving one civilian dead and three others injured."

A security force cordoned off the blast site, while ambulances carried the victims to a nearby hospital, the source added.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Taylor Harkins deals with Aspergers (video)
[Orange County Register] The doctor who diagnosed Taylor Harkins told his parents not to expect much.

The boy was dyspraxic, which means he had a brain disorder that made him extremely clumsy. He had Asperger Syndrome, which is what doctors once called a form of autism that described Taylor’s difficulty reading social cues and anti-social behavior. He was hyperactive. He had a low I.Q. score. Later, he would be diagnosed with epilepsy.

His disabilities would prevent him from attending typical school classes, from driving a car, from connecting with people, from participating in so much of life.

"Do not," Dr. Martin Baren, a behavioral pediatrician, told Taylor’s parents in the early 1980s, "expect him to take care of himself."

Link to the Orange County Register story
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
ISIS ambushes, murders less than 30 paramilitaries in Kirkuk

IS claims responsibility for killing 20 Iraqi security personnel in Kirkuk

Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militant group has announced killing twenty Iraqi security personnel in an ambush in southwest of Kirkuk.

According to Amaq website, the group’s media arm, “IS members killed 20 Iraqi security personnel and burnt five vehicles in an ambush on Sunday evening, southwest of al-Riyad town in Kirkuk.”

In related news, Ali al-Husseini, commander of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) in the northern axis, said some PMFs are likely to be alive hiding.

Earlier today, the troops announced murder of 27 personnel in the wake of an attack by IS militants at al-Saadouniya village in Riyad.

“The region is completely cordoned. Searching efforts are ongoing. The accident took place while it was raining. It was in the dark. We need more hours to know if there are personnel still alive. Maybe some of them are captured or hiding,” Husseini told Shafaq News without giving details on the number.

Most of the signs, according to Husseini, “indicate that some elements are still hiding without being captured by IS.”

He also added that the militant group did not announce captivating any of them.

PMFs, along with Federal Police, launched on Monday an offensive near Kirkuk.

Islamic State’s attack in Kirkuk leaves 21 paramilitary personnel killed

Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Number of paramilitary personnel killed by Islamic State members in southwest of Kirkuk have reached 21 victims, sources were quoted saying on Monday.

Troops of the Federal Police and al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) raided, early today, al-Saadouniya village after combing the region, the sources told DPA. The forces then withdrew after finding more victims, reaching 21. Most of them were beheaded. Seven military vehicles were burnt.

Iraqi troops, according to the sources, are still looking for the militants in order to reach the abducted personnel in Hawija.

Speaking to Baghdad Today website, a security source said IS members disguised as Federal Police personnel in a fake checkpoint.

On Sunday evening, news reports said security troops lost communication with 24 paramilitary personnel in addition to losing track of eight vehicles in Hawija. Other reports indicated confrontations between PMFs and Islamic State members in southwest of the province.

24 paramilitary personnel likely abducted by IS Sunday, west of Kirkuk

Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Security troops have lost communication with more than twenty paramilitary personnel in addition to losing track of eight vehicles in west of Kirkuk, a security source was quoted saying.

“Communication with 24 personnel of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) on board of eight vehicles was lost in the wake of confrontations with Islamic State members in al-Riyad region in Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk,” the source told Baghdad Today website.

The source added that the operation was likely to have been carried out “setting up a trap for the fighters.”

Meanwhile, Ali al-Husseini, PMFs spokesperson in the northern axis, told Baghdad Today, that “troops cordoned off the region and are waiting until the morning to get to know more details and invade it.”

Earlier today, news reports indicated confrontations between PMFs and Islamic State members in southwest of Kirkuk.

“Clashes took place between PMFs and Islamic State members near al-Shahriya bridge in Riyad town,” the source added.

Last week, Kirkuk Governor Rakan al-Jabouri warned that Islamic State still poses a serious threat to the security of the province, saying that the militants are still active in Kirkuk’s remote areas and farms around villages.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran has 10 military bases in Syria, two near Israel border — analyst
[IsraelTimes] Up to 20,000 fighters trained by Tehran are in country, now focused on Israel, after neutralizing IS threat, NY Times reports

Iran operates 10 military bases in Syria and is training militias loyal to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Despoiler of Deraa...
’s regime for a possible battle with Israel, with two key facilities located near the border with Israel, an analyst for an American think tank said in an article published Monday.

Up to 20,000 fighters from various militias throughout the war-torn country have been trained by Iranian military personnel, giving Tehran its "true muscle" in Syria, according to the Monday report in The New York Times

...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...

Israel has been warning for years that Iran is seeking to entrench itself militarily in Syria. According to Israeli political and military assessments, Tehran, which has shored up Assad in the Syrian civil war, has been working to create air and naval bases in Syria, from which it can arm the Leb-based terror organization Hezbollah and other Shiite groups, as well as carry out attacks of its own against the Jewish state.

In November, Israeli satellite photos appeared to strengthen a BBC report that Iran was building a permanent military base in Syria, just 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Israel’s northern border.

The ImageSat International pictures, published by Hadashot News, showed that renovations and alterations had been recently undertaken at the site at al-Kiswah, some 13 kilometers (8 miles) south of the Syrian capital of Damascus.

Iran has repeatedly rejected the claim, with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif telling news hounds on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Monday that Iran has no military bases in Syria.

At least two Iraqi militia leaders have toured Leb’s border with Israel in recent months, The New York Times also said, quoting militia members as saying plans were made for "collaboration" in a possible conflict in the future.

Monday’s report said hundreds or thousands of Iranian military officials are in Syria and that about 6,000 of the Iran-trained combatants in the country are members of Hezbollah, with the rest coming from Leb, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistain, and other countries. Most of them view the battle against non-Shiite Moslems and against non-Moslems in the region in religious terms, the report added.

After neutralizing most of the threat posed by the Sunni 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....
terror group, militias loyal to Assad are now shifting their focus to the Israeli front, Ali Alfoneh, a researcher at the US-based Atlantic Council told The New York Times.

Alfoneh said in his research that he had identified 10 Iranian military bases, seven of which are tactical bases and located near active front lines, and three "main" bases overseeing activities throughout the country. Two of those main bases are located south of Damascus, near the border with Israel.

"Iran has realized that it is actually possible to maintain a front against Israel where there is no war, but also no peace," Alfoneh was quoted as saying.

On February 10, Israel struck what it said was a number of Iranian installations in Syria after an Iranian drone infiltrated into Israel, in what some analysts saw as the first direct confrontation between the two countries.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would continue to protect itself against Iranian activities in Syria, including striking Iran directly.

"Israel will not allow Iran’s regime to put a noose of terror around our neck," he added. "We will act without hesitation to defend ourselves. And we will act if necessary, not just against Iran’s proxies that are attacking us, but against Iran itself."
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [14 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Iran is moving on multiple fronts - against KSA through Yemen, and Israel through Syria, and still working deeper into Iraq. Where an when will Egypt come in - against Iran and soon? Russia has lined up with Iran, but that may be more for arms sales than politics - they can't trust the mullahs any more than we can.
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/20/2018 1:34 Comments || Top||

#2  GOG and MAGOG.
Posted by: newc || 02/20/2018 3:28 Comments || Top||

#3  Where an when will Egypt come in

As far as I can tell, Egypt doesn’t really want to repay Saudi Arabia by providing her sons as cannon fodder.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2018 10:37 Comments || Top||

#4  ^They've something else to sell to buy food, etc...?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/20/2018 13:34 Comments || Top||

#5  TW, I was more thinking about Egypt being concerned about keeping Iran at a distance rather than risking expansion into Egypt. I would not expect any overt military involvement unless the SHTF but perhaps covert or political involvement?
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/20/2018 13:39 Comments || Top||

#6  They've something else to sell to buy food, etc...?

Not really, no. You’re right about that, g(r)omgoru.

Glenmore, I don’t think Iran would get much traction in 90% Sunni, 10% Christian (almost exclusively Coptic) Egypt. Some of their spies were caught a few years ago watching traffic in the Suez Canal a few years ago, but I don’t recall more than that. It seems to me Egypt would be more concerned about Sunni jihadi groups in Libya and Gaza, but I can’t claim more than a surface understanding of such things. And you’re no doubt right that Iran would be very happy to find a wedge to cause trouble in Egypt...
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2018 22:14 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Man held for killing child after rape
[DAWN] GUJRANWALA: Police on Sunday tossed in the slammer
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
a taxi driver for allegedly killing a nine-year-old boy after rape in Nosheran Virkan.

On Friday afternoon, ’Ta’, a resident of Chan Colony, went out for playing but did not return home, His parents approached the Nosheran Virkan police on Saturday after a search. Police had started the paperwork but haven't done much else.

On Saturday night, someone told the police that he had seen the boy lying unconscious in a cab. A team conducted a raid and arrested the driver, a resident of the same locality. During investigation, the suspect confessed to have killed the boy after rape. On his indication, police recovered the body from Nokhar drain. The autopsy confirmed rape. The body was handed over to the family.

Later, the locals placed the body on the road and staged a demonstration.

After the protest, the body was taken to Dogranwala village where Assistant Commissioner Naveedul Islam, DSP Khalid Husain and MNA Azhar Qayyum Nahra also attended the funeral.

Man arrested for ‘raping’ six-year-old stepdaughter in Karachi

[DAWN] KARACHI: A six-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her stepfather in the Sachal area on Sunday, police said.

Sachal SHO Abdul Ghaffar Shah said the police had locked away
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
the suspect on a complaint of the girl’s mother.

The officer said that the woman had married the suspect around two years ago. She had a six-year-old daughter from her first husband who was living with her.

The mother had gone somewhere on Sunday morning and while her daughter and husband stayed at home in Qazzafi Town.

When she returned, she saw her daughter bleeding and at death's door.

The girl was taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

Dr Seemin Jamali, executive director of the hospital, told Dawn that the girl was shifted to the National Institute of Child Health for treatment.

The SHO said they were waiting for the doctor’s report to proceed further. He said the girl underwent an operation because of her serious condition.
Posted by: Fred || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Were any Moslems involved? Just asking.
Posted by: Threlet Grundy8315 || 02/20/2018 5:29 Comments || Top||


Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Very modern looking photo because most people did not smile for photos which were regarded as "instant Portraits" in the 19th century.
As Brownies proliferated then more casual approach to photos took shape of more out of studio work and personal photos which allowed people to start smiling when picture was taken.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 02/20/2018 1:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Molly looks like the kind of kid who's gonna smile regardless.
Posted by: Fred || 02/20/2018 21:18 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
IAF destroys Gaza Hamas tunnel in overnight blitz
No word on the fate of those who were in the tunnel at the time...
[Ynet] Defense minister confirms Israeli jets took out a Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", attack tunnel near strip's southern tip; fresh strike comes in wake of rocket fired Sunday into Israel.

Israeli jets attacked overnight Sunday a Hamas attack tunnel in southern Gazoo near the Kerem Shalom crossing after a rocket fired from the Strip went kaboom! Sunday evening in an open area in the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council.

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman confirmed Monday afternoon that the jets had destroyed the tunnel.

A statement issued by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit shortly after the Israel Air Force (IAF) struck the target indicated that the fresh attack had been launched in response to Gazoo’s rocket fire.

"Hamas is responsible for everything that happens in the Gazoo Strip, above and below ground," the statement read. "The army will continue to act to ensure security for the citizens of Israel using all means at its disposal."

According to Paleostinian officials, the attack was carried out in the area where a destroyed airport is located in Dahaniya, close to the Israeli border.

The strikes homed in on an open area, where a comparatively large number of missiles were fired by the IAF. One official in Gazoo told Ynet that more than ten missiles were fired in the area.

A Code Red alert sounded Sunday evening in Sderot and several towns in the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council after rocket fire from the Gazoo Strip was spotted, only hours after an earlier rocket landed on the roof of a residence of the region. There were no casualties and no damage was caused.

In addition to sporadic rocket fire that has plagued southern Israel in recent months, tensions were further heightened on the border when two soldiers were maimed Saturday afternoon when an bomb was set off near an IDF patrol around the border fence in the southern Gazoo Strip, opposite the Ein HaShlosha kibbutz.

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Sunday that the Popular Resistance Committees organization was behind the bomb set off near an IDF force on Saturday on the Gazoo border, which left four soldiers maimed.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


-Lurid Crime Tales-
More Sexual Misconduct Claims Launched Against #MeToo California Assemblywoman
[LEGALINSURRECTION] A former employee has come forward with a new sexual misconduct allegation against California Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, who gained fame for speaking out against sexual harassment and became a face of the #MeToo movement. David John Kernick claims that Garcia fired him because he refused to play “spin the bottle” and questioned why she would make staffers play the game.
"Spin the bottle?" This is a joke, right?
AKA: Her only chance to cop a feel.
Posted by: Fred || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  became a face of the #MeToo movement

Still is.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/20/2018 2:08 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian warplanes launch huge attack across east Damascus as ground offensive looms
[ALMASDARNEWS] Syrian warplanes have carried out a massive air assault against holy warrior defenses across rebel-held areas of east Damascus, delivering dozens of Arclight airstrikes within a matter of hours.

According to military-affiliated sources, the Syrian Air Force has kicked-off large scale operations over the skies of East Ghouta. So far, Sunday has witnessed Syrian jets hit holy warriors with thirty plus airstrikes.

Syrian warplanes reportedly struck holy warrior tactical positions, gathering points and movements in and around the district towns of Shifounyah, Douma, Hamouriyah, Sakba and Masraba.

The bombing raids by Syrian airpower are being reinforced by non-stop rocket and howitzer shelling by artillery forces of the Syrian Army.

The heavy bombardment of holy warrior defenses across East Ghouta comes as the Syrian Army is makes its final preparations for a massive ground offensive against armed rebel factions ‐ to be the largest ever conducted within the vicinity of the Syrian capital ‐ from multiple directions.

Syrian Army commander vows to ‘wipe the floor’ with militants in the East Ghouta

[ALMASDARNEWS] The commander of the Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) Tiger Forces division, Major General Suheil Al-Hassan, was videotaped delivering a new speech to his soldiers in the East Ghouta. In the speech, the Tiger Forces commander vows to “wipe the floor” with the militants in the East Ghouta, adding that if they are going to play with fire, he will bring hell to them.
More "gonnas" there than "dids."

Islamist rebels hit Damascus city hard in retaliation for Syrian Army attack

[ALMASDARNEWS] The tit-for-tat attacks continued in east Damascus today, as Islamists fired several rockets and mortar shells towards the government-held districts in response to the Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) overnight attack.

According to an al-Masdar field correspondent in Damascus, the Salafist tough guys fired tens of mortar shells and missiles into the capital city’s residential areas, causing several casualties in the process.

The field correspondent stated at least ten shells hit Dhahiyat al-Assad, while another twenty missiles and shells struck Bab Touma and Bab al-Salam.

The military would also strike the Jaramana suburb, which is located directly of the East Ghouta region.

As a result of this Islamist rebel attack on Damascus, more than ten civilians were maimed, including three children.

Syria: 77 civilians killed in regime bombardment

[Al Jazeera] At least 77 civilians have been killed near Damascus in less than 24 hours in heavy bombardment by Syrian government forces as they prepare a ground operation to recapture the opposition-held enclave, a war monitor group said.

Air raids and artillery fired on Eastern Ghouta - a suburb of the Syrian capital - have killed at least 20 children since Sunday, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported.

Some 300 people have been maimed during the attacks, according to the monitor.

"The heavy shelling targeted mainly all residential areas in Eastern Ghouta," Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the SOHR, told dpa news agency.

Government forces are preparing to launch a major ground assault on Eastern Ghouta following the heavy bombardment, which began on Sunday, SOHR said.

Posted by: Fred || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [16 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Africa Subsaharan
Police Accused of Killing Boko Haram Founder Reinstated
[AnNahar] Five Nigerian coppers who were accused of killing Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
's founder Mohammed Yusuf while in their custody have been reinstated, a police oversight body said on Monday.

The officers were charged with committing a terrorist act and unlawfully killing the Islamist group's spiritual leader during days of unrest in the northeast city of Maiduguri in July 2009.

The festivities, in which about 800 Boko Haram followers were killed, prompted an escalation in violence that has since left at least 20,000 dead and made over 2.6 million more homeless.

A judge in Abuja in late December 2015 acquitted the police on the grounds the prosecution could not establish a case against them. The ruling attracted little publicity at the time.

A front man for the Police Service Commission, Ikechukwu Ani, confirmed a report in the Daily Trust newspaper that the officers were now back on the beat.

"It is true. They have all been reinstated. The Police Service Commission acted upon a memo sent to it by the inspector general of police," he told AFP.

"The memo was accompanied with the court orders that they should be reinstated. The court acquitted them of all the charges and we have no choice but to obey the orders of court."

Amaechi Nwaokolo, a Nigeria security analyst at the Roman Institute for International Studies in Abuja, said the acquittal and reinstatement was "a source of concern."

Boko Haram has long used the fact that no-one has been prosecuted or convicted for Yusuf's death as a reason for its armed struggle, he argued.

"This development will further give Boko Haram a tool for recruitment and radicalization of its ranks by using it to show the lack of justice it has been preaching," he said.

"Extra-judicial killings by state security apparatus give terrorist groups the needed tool and justification to recruit others and carry out terrorist acts as retaliation.

"It was the killing of Yusuf that led to the escalation of the violence and the degeneration of the conflict to the level we have today."

Nigeria's security services have been repeatedly accused of abuses against civilians during the insurgency, including arbitrary arrests and extra-judicial killing.

Many civilians have been held for years without access to lawyers or being brought to court.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram (ISIS)


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Kurdish media publishes names of 100 Turkish-backed rebels killed in Afrin
[ALMASDARNEWS] The pro-YPG ANF News Agency published the names of 103 Ottoman Turkish-backed rebels that were killed during the one month long battle for Afrin.

Among the 103 Ottoman Turkish-backed rebels killed in Afrin, almost all of them were allegedly from the Aleppo Governorate.

The claims by ANF cannot be verified by al-Masdar.

ANF’s list of dead Ottoman Turkish-backed rebels comes just days after the Ottoman Turkish media published the names of some 450 Kurdish YPG killed in Afrin.

Posted by: Fred || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte

#1  That should be interesting.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/20/2018 16:03 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
2 Afghan-based TTP terrorists killed by security forces in Bajaur: ISPR
[DAWN] Two Afghan-based Tehrik-e-Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
(TTP) bully boyz were tracked down and killed by security forces in Bajaur Agency, aka Turban Central
...Smallest of the agencies in FATA. The Agency administration is located in Khar. Bajaur is inhabited almost exclusively by Tarkani Pashtuns, which are divided into multiple bickering subtribes. Its 52 km border border with Afghanistan's Kunar Province makes it of strategic importance to Pakistain's strategic depth...
during an intelligence-based operation (IBO), an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) blurb said on Monday.

The suspected gunnies entered Bajaur Agency via the Kagha Pass. They were tracked down by security forces and surrounded by a cordon near the Ghatki Kaga area, the ISPR said, and were killed when they attempted to escape.

Suicide jackets, anti-tank mines, magnetic mines, prepared remote-controlled Improvised Explosive Devices, remote-controlled receivers, detonators and communications equipment "bearing [an] Afghan mobile company's signature" were recovered from the possession of the myrmidons, ISPR said.

The ISPR added that, through the IBO, the security forces had foiled a major terror bid in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Islamabad.

Posted by: Fred || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under: TTP


International-UN-NGOs
Oxfam says former Haiti director admitted hiring sex workers
[DAWN] The former Oxfam official at the centre of a prostitution scandal admitted to paying for sex at his charity-funded residence during an internal inquiry into the allegations, a report released Monday by the British organization said.

The report also said three Oxfam employees physically threatened a witness in the investigation into alleged sexual misconduct in Haiti following the devastating 2010 earthquake there.

The charity fired fired four staff members for gross misconduct and allowed three others, including former country director Roland van Hauwermeiren, to resign over allegations they hired young sex workers.

The 68-year-old Belgian has denied organising orgies or visiting brothels on the Caribbean island, saying he told Oxfam he had engaged in "intimate relations some three times" at his home but did not pay for these liaisons.

A redacted copy of the 2011 report made public by the charity said Van Hauwermeiren offered to resign after admitting to Sherlocks that he had hired sex workers at Oxfam-funded accommodation.

"During the interview the CD admitted to using hookers in his OGB (Oxfam Great Britannia) residence," the report said.

Posted by: Fred || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Paying for sex is not illegal in the UK
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/20/2018 6:27 Comments || Top||

#2  ...its always illegal to the matriarchy. Government control of supply and demand is essential to power.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/20/2018 8:01 Comments || Top||

#3  Well, someone has to distribute all the funds the Clintons donated.
Posted by: AlanC || 02/20/2018 8:16 Comments || Top||


Europe
Denmark is reluctant to take back its jailed Daesh terrorists in Syria
And so they should be.
[ALMASDARNEWS] Several hundred ISIS fighters are currently imprisoned in Syria, where the terrorist movement has gradually been subdued in recent years. A group of them are Danish and may be taken back for prosecution, despite that fact that the Danish Defense Minister would rather have them tried in the Middle East.

Following a US-led coalition meeting in Rome, during which US Defense Secretary, James Mattis urged the coalition partners to "provide relief" to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Danish Defense Minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen argued that his country might be forced to "take back" Danish jihadists for prosecution, Danish Radio reported.

By Frederiksen’s own admission, the Danish authorities were currently trying to establish the concrete number of the captured jihadists and examine their cases. However,
some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go...
Frederiksen himself made no secret of the fact that he would prefer them to go on trial in the respective countries where their crimes were committed.

"They have beheaded people, raped women and kiddies and sold people. For me, it is paradoxical for those murderous Moslems to now claim Western norms regarding the protection of rights," Frederiksen told Danish Radio. "I think it’s pathetic for those people to ask to be given safety in the Western countries that they so despicably wanted to defeat," he added.

While stressing that the "imported muscle" must be prosecuted where they have committed their crimes, Frederiksen also stressed that the US-backed SDF should not be left with the sole responsibility of dealing with the panful issue.

"We must not let down an ally by trying to leave everything at their door. We must therefore examine the cases specifically," Frederiksen said.

By contrast, the UK, a fellow coalition member, has previously refused to bring British jihadists "back home." Defense Minister Gavin Williamson stressed that they "turned their backs on Britannia and everything it stands for," calling them "the worst of the worst."

While seemingly more docile compared with his British counterpart, Frederiksen nevertheless stressed Denmark’s preparedness to go for the "maximum possible punishment."

Around 150 Danish citizens have joined bad boy Death Eater movements in Syria and Iraq since 2012, above all ISIS (ISIS/ISIS). An unknown fraction of them, whom Frederiksen described as a "little group," ended up incarcerated by the SDF.

Previously, Copenhagen had made it clear that "imported muscle" are not welcome back in Denmark. Since March 2015, the Nordic nation’s Immigration Service has been able to revoke the residence permits of the suspected jihadists who went to the Middle East from Denmark, but were not Danish citizens.

Posted by: Fred || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Perhaps the Danes could chip in for a wood chipper.
Posted by: Winky the Ruthless3340 || 02/20/2018 8:15 Comments || Top||

#2  I do get that technically having a (legitimately issued) passport from nation X makes one "a citizen of nation X," but in cases like this what is actually being described is "a piece of muzz trash with a nation X passport."
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/20/2018 10:43 Comments || Top||

#3  Since Denmark abolished capital punishment in 1930, the war crimes trials '45-50 the exception, Europe's liberal chickens are coming home to roost.
Posted by: One Eyed Speaking for Boskone7919 || 02/20/2018 10:52 Comments || Top||

#4  Perhaps western nations should pass a law saying that if you leave to fight on behalf of ISIS you automatically renounce your citizenship and will be treated as a spy upon return.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 02/20/2018 14:59 Comments || Top||

#5  I suggest ejection over the North Sea, but I'm a deplorable or something.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 02/20/2018 20:25 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Iraqi court will deport French female jihadist after serving jail term
Baghdad (Iraqinews.com) ‐ An Iraqi criminal court ordered on Monday deporting a French female jihadist to her country after she serves a seven-year jail term.

Melina Bougedir was locked away
You have the right to remain silent...
last year in djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
city along with her four children, three of whom have already been repatriated to La Belle France, as she stood trial for entering Iraq illegally, according to La Belle France 24.

Bougedir, who appealed veiled at the court, said that she had entered Iraq in October 2015 after spending four days in Syria, along with her husband, who was later killed in Iraq.

Last week, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in Baghdad that suspected jihadists should be tried in the countries where they committed their "crimes", while reiterating La Belle France’s opposition to the death penalty

Earlier in the day, the Iraqi court sentenced a Ottoman Turkish woman to death and 10 others to life in jail for belonging to IS.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Turkish-backed rebels nearly in control of strategic town in northwest Afrin
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Ottoman Turkish-backed rebels are on the verge of capturing the strategic town of Rajou in northwestern Afrin, pro-opposition activists are reporting via social media.

Based on the photos that have been released, the Ottoman Turkish-backed rebels have secured the hilltops overlooking Rajou, which has basically given them fire control over the town.

Meanwhile,
...back at the shootout, Butch shot Black Bart's gun out of his hand......
in southern Afrin, the Ottoman Turkish-backed rebels scored another big advance at the Jandaris axis, seizing Tal al-Qillah, Diywan Tahtani, and Biyout Sattouf after a short battle with the YPG forces.

Led by the al-Sham Regiment of the Free Syrian Army
... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund...
(FSA), the TUrkish-backed rebels are attempting to clear the area around Jandaris in order to secure this imperative front near the Idlib Governorate.

Posted by: Fred || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Africa North
Calls in Tunisia to hold minister accountable for financing terrorism with Qatari funds
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A Tunisian parliamentary bloc called for holding Tunisian defense minister accountable for the issue of financial transfers attributed to a retired Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
i officer.

The case against Abdel Karim al-Zubaidi also involves opening an account in a bank branch in Tataouine in 2014, and the use of these suspicious funds by several associations and personalities accused of supporting terrorism.

In this regard, Sahbi Ben Faraj, the leader of the Tunisian Project Movement parliamentary bloc, said that accountability will revolve around the identity of the associations benefiting from these funds and the history of remittances, stressing that the bank account contained money that came from an account in the name of the Qatari armed forces, which is part of a bank account in the name of the Embassy of Qatar in Tunisia.

The suspicious funds were estimated at around 4.5 million Tunisian dinars (about 1.8 million dollars). The Financial Analysis Committee has identified a major suspicious transaction that included military personnel who have benefited from these sums.

The case dates back to 2014, when the competent authority at the Ministry of Defense questioned the Qatari general, and the whole file was referred to the military judiciary. The relevant bank accounts were suspended based on an order by the magistrate of the judicial court on July 24, 2015. The frozen amount was estimated at around 3 million Tunisian dinars (about 1.2 million dollars), but in return, the identity of the parties involved with the retired Qatari general has not been disclosed.
Posted by: Fred || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Qatar (MB)


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
One dead in fighting in SE Ukraine
One unidentified Ukrainian soldier was killed and another four were wounded in rebel held Donetsk according to Russian language news accounts.

According to a news story posted on the website of lb.ua, a Ukrainian combat unit was hit with an explosion while on a combat mission, killing one and wounding three. The pro Russian Russkaya Vesna said the wounded totaled four. Neither side said where in Donetsk the incident took place.

In the same report lb.ua said that rebels struck Ukrainian positions at Peski with 82mm mortar fire. Peski is due west of Donetsk city.

Rebel 120mm and 82mm mortars hit Ukrainian positions at locales in southern Donetsk near the coast of the Sea of Azov, including at Lebedinsky, Vodyanaya and Shirokino.

Lugansk

Lugansk defense spokesman Lt. Colonel Andrei Marochko said on Sunday that Ukrainian artillery fire struck rebel positions at Nizhniy Lozovoye, Kalinovo, Veselogorovka and Sokolniki.

The pro Ukrainian news outlet reported on Monday that rebel mortar fire was reported in northern Lugansk at Crimenskoye, Troitsky, Novolugansk and Zaitsevo.

Posted by: badanov || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That's an overnighter, and a slow one, in Chicago.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/20/2018 7:59 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Anbar Antix: ISIS hideouts and caches destroyed, ISIS 2.0 secretly planned

Iraqi troops destroy IS arms depot, three missile launchers in western Iraq

Anbar (Iraqinews.com) – Iraqi troops launched on Monday a wide-scale military operation, targeting hotbeds of the Islamic State (IS) group at desert areas in western Iraq, a source from the Anbar Operations Command was quoted as saying.

Speaking to Basnews, the source said, “A joint force from the Iraqi army and police started a military operation Monday, targeting Islamic State hideouts scattered at desert areas near Al-Qa’im and Ar-Rutbah districts in western Anbar, and on the country’s border with Syria.”

“The troops destroyed an Islamic State (IS) arms depot, four trenches and three missile launchers,” the source said, adding that three other caves that were used by IS militants for hiding were destroyed in the crackdown as well.

Newspaper: Senior IS leader eyes forming new militant group in Iraq
Shhhh — don’t tell anyone, it’s a secret!
Baghdad (Iraqinews.com) – A senior Islamic State (IS) leader plans to form a new militant group in western Iraq in retaliation for last year’s defeat at the hands of the Iraqi army, a Jordanian paper reported Monday.

Quoting well-informed sources, the Jordanian Ad-Dustour newspaper said, “Abu Yehia al-Iraqi, a senior IS leader, started to form a new militant group in Anbar’s Wadi Hauran, depending on remaining IS militants who suffered a crushing defeat throughout their strongholds in Iraq last year.”

The sources pointed out that militants of the new terrorist group are “secretly working as shepherds, waiting for the right moment to emerge and recapture cities they lost in their fight against the Iraqi army.”
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Newspaper: Senior IS leader eyes forming new militant group in Iraq

First glance I thought they were writing about the NY Times.
Posted by: Winky the Ruthless3340 || 02/20/2018 8:19 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Turkey denies reports Syria will help YPG in Afrin
How on earth would they know? Until afterward, that is...
[Al Jazeera] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
's deputy prime minister has dismissed as "false" media reports that Syrian government forces were poised to enter a Kurdish enclave in Syria's Afrin.

Bekir Bozdag, however, warned any move by Syrian soldiers to help the Kurdish People's Protection Units, or YPG, repel a Ottoman Turkish offensive in northwestern Syria would be a "major disaster" for the region.

Turkey will continue its air and ground offensive against the YPG "with determination until the last terrorist is rendered ineffective", Bozdag told news hounds after a weekly cabinet meeting on Monday.

He was responding to a report by the Syrian state-run SANA news agency earlier in the day that said pro-government forces would enter Afrin "within a few hours to support its people's stand against Ottoman Turkish regime's attack".

The report by SANA raised fears of a potential clash between Ottoman Turkish troops and Syrian forces, which are backed by Russia and Iran.

SANA said the planned deployment followed an agreement between the Syrian government and the YPG.

But a front man for the YPG denied agreeing on a deal with Damascus.
Posted by: Fred || 02/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte



Who's in the News
32[untagged]
7Islamic State
4Sublime Porte
3Govt of Syria
2Boko Haram (ISIS)
2Govt of Qatar (MB)
2Govt of Iran
2Govt of Pakistan
1Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (IS)
1TTP
1Hamas
1Houthis
1Pirates

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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2018-02-20
  9 abducted civilians found dead in Afghanistan
Mon 2018-02-19
  Syrian Army deploys entire artillery division of howitzers, field guns, mortars and Grad rocket launchers for east Damascus battle
Sun 2018-02-18
  Drone strike kills 2 al-Qaeda suspects in Yemen
Sat 2018-02-17
  Senior IS Leader Returned to Iraq from Turkey
Fri 2018-02-16
  Syria's Idlib IS-Free after 'Surrender' Tuesday
Thu 2018-02-15
  Rebels strike western Syria’s primary power grid to leave millions without electricity
Wed 2018-02-14
  'White powder' sent to Pres.Obama's DC office just 24 hours after Don & Vanessa Trump got similar package
Tue 2018-02-13
  Drone strike kills six Al Qaeda suspects in Yemen
Mon 2018-02-12
  Sword-wielding man injures 4 worshipers at Indonesian church
Sun 2018-02-11
  Jaish-e-Mohammad targets sleeping families at Sunjuwan Army camp, kills two soldiers
Sat 2018-02-10
  TTP splinter group chief Khan Said ‘Sajna’ reported killed in US drone strike in Afghanistan
Fri 2018-02-09
  Houthi leader killed in precision strike along with 35 others
Thu 2018-02-08
  US kills more than 100 Assad regime fighters in largest deliberate strike against Syrian government forces
Wed 2018-02-07
  Israelis kill Ahmad Nasser Jarrar, terrorist behind murder of Rabbi Raziel Shevah
Tue 2018-02-06
  Chlorine gas dropped in rebel-held territory of Idlib, Syria

Better than the average link...



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