[FOX] Michigan State Police report at least two individuals were shot Friday morning at Central Michigan University.
The city of Mt. Pleasant has locked down all city buildings. The suspect is allegedly an armed, black male, reported WILX 10.
Central Michigan University police have initiated a campus "shelter in place." Shots were reportedly fired on the fourth floor of campus dorm Campbell Hall and the school has canceled classes for the remainder of the day.
"There has been a report of shots fired at Campbell Hall on campus," said the school on Twitter. "Suspect is still at large, police advise all to take shelter. If you see something suspicious, call 911."
At least two people have been killed in a shooting in a Central Michigan University dorm, according to troopers with the Michigan State Police post in Mount Pleasant, Michigan.
The university, in a tweet, said those killed were not students and "police believe the situation started from a domestic situation."
According to the city of Mt. Pleasant Twitter account, the suspect is a 19-year-old black male standing 5 feet 9 inches tall and wearing yellow mustard jeans and a blue hoodie. He's considered armed and dangerous.
The shooting happened near the 4th floor of Campbell Hall, a co-ed residence building.
#4
Oppressed by a dreadful concurrence
And tested beyond all forebearance:
A mom's bad enough
When a brother gets tough,
And James Davis was cursed with two parents!
[Newsmax] Former Bush administration secretary of state Condoleezza Rice on Thursday urged House Intelligence Committee member and ranking Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff to "wrap it up" on the panel's probe of Russian meddling because "the country needs to get back to business."
In remarks on ABC's "The View" ‐ on which the California lawmaker was a guest as well ‐ Rice, who also served as a national security adviser to former President George W. Bush, was sympathetic to the job the intel panel was doing.
"I spent a lot of time in Washington and I know you got a really hard job and I appreciate what you're doing for the country," she said. "But I really hope you can wrap it up. The country needs to get back to business. So that's my greatest hope. This gets done."
"I just want to say on Robert Mueller this is somebody I know, I worked with him. He was FBI director when I was national security adviser. I have enormous respect for him and he is going to do this in a very fair way and so I just hope we can get it done," she added.
Beforehand, Schiff had told Rice and "The View" co-hosts that the country needs "a whole government response" to Russia's interference.
"There are still bipartisan sanctions sitting on the president's desk that he refuses to implement," Schiff said. "We need to send a clear message to Russia that any further meddling won't be tolerated."
[FOX] The town of Canandaigua is nestled in the Finger Lakes region of central New York State, five hours and a world away from New York City. It is here, in a nondescript, unmarked warehouse that Tom Fargnoli runs his small gun fabrication business, Just Right Carbines.
As the child of a father who was vehemently anti-gun, Tom saw firearms as a forbidden fruit. His profound curiosity about them may be one of the reasons the 67 year old is today regarded as a gifted designer, fabricator and assembler of them. His 6 1/2 pound semi-automatic carbine has just 44 parts. He sells 75 of them a week on average. Tom speaks in the same way that buyers describe his carbines ‐ simple, reliable, and accurate.
"In 2013, I was at the shot show in Las Vegas, and everything was fine on Monday. Tuesday morning, when I woke up, my gun was illegal in New York State," he said.
New York State's passage of the SAFE Act ‐ the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act of 2013 ‐ was heralded as one of the strictest in the country. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's comments at the time, coming in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, might have well been spoken today after yet another mass shooting.
[Townhall] "We got China wrong. Now what?" ran the headline over the column in The Washington Post.
"Remember how American engagement with China was going to make that communist backwater more like the democratic, capitalist West?" asked Charles Lane in his opening sentence. But, but, but that's what Henry Kissenger told us !
America's elites believed that economic engagement and the opening of U.S. markets would cause the People's Republic to coexist benignly with its neighbors and the West.
We deluded ourselves. It did not happen.
Xi Jinping just changed China's constitution to allow him to be dictator for life. He continues to thieve intellectual property from U.S. companies and to occupy and fortify islets in the South China Sea, which Beijing now claims as entirely its own.
Meanwhile, China sustains North Korea as Chinese warplanes and warships circumnavigate Taiwan threatening its independence.
We today confront a Chinese Communist dictatorship and superpower that seeks to displace America as first power on earth, and to drive the U.S. military back across the Pacific.
Who is responsible for this epochal blunder?
The elites of both parties. Bush Republicans from the 1990s granted China most-favored-nation status and threw open America's market.
Result: China has run up $4 trillion in trade surpluses with the United States. Her $375 billion trade surplus with us in 2017 far exceeded the entire Chinese defense budget.
[10News] An armed attack currently underway in Burkina Faso's capital of Ouagadougou is centered on the French embassy, according to a post on the embassy's Facebook page. Formerly known as Upper Volta. NOT a garden spot
"The attack is ongoing at the French embassy and the French Institute," the post said, adding that people should remain "confined" to where they are. The French Institute is a cultural organization.
France's ambassador to Burkina Faso, Xavier Lapdecab, urged people via Twitter to act with "absolute precaution" as the attack is ongoing. Burkina Faso's national police have warned people to move away from areas around the "vicinity of the Prime Ministry -- and the United Nations roundabout."
"The specialized units of the defense and security forces are in action," the force said on its official Facebook page.
The US Embassy in Burkina Faso also warned US citizens to seek shelter amid reports of gunfire.
A tweet from the US Embassy read: "@Usembassyouaga has received reports of gunfire in downtown Ouagadougou. Avoid the area of downtown Ouagadougou. Seek secure shelter. Monitor local media for updates. Check back here for more updates from the embassy."
An attack by gunmen last year on a restaurant in Ouagadougou left at least 18 people dead, including two attackers.
That assault echoed a similar one in 2016 on a cafe in the same district of the city that left 29 dead. Responsibility for that attack was claimed by the jihadist group al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
Later that year jihadist attackers launched an assault on the Grand-Bassam beach resort in Ivory Coast, killing 16.
Update at 3:35p.m. ET: It’s over and the good guys won, averting what was no doubt intended to be a jihadi massacre.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/02/2018
07:13 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
#2
From Skidmark’s article (a Daily Mail article, so there are photos):
The violence will trigger fears of a renewed round of Islamist violence in the West African nation that has been rocked by incursions made by jihadist groups based in neighboring Mali.
This is as close to confirming Frank G’s article’s suggestion of Al Qaeda in North Africa as can be done before tracking the contacts in their electronic devices
Rev. Louis Farrakhan gave a Saviours' Day 2018 Address on Sunday in which he declared that "the powerful Jews are my enemy," and "white folks are going down."
The Chicago speech went widely unnoticed at first, but garnered more traction on Wednesday when excerpts were tweeted out.
Posted by: lord garth ||
03/02/2018
07:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/02/2018 11:51
Comments ||
Top||
#2
And CNN and the rest of the so-called media will strongly condemn these racist, hateful, and threatening remarks in 3,...2,...1,....
Not.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
03/02/2018 12:04
Comments ||
Top||
[TimesofSanDiego] A Tijuana man pleaded guilty in federal court in San Diego Thursday to masquerading as a U.S. citizen for 37 years to illegally enter the country and steal hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal, state and local government benefits.
Andres Avelino Anduaga, 66, admitted during a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Schopler that he stole the identity of an American citizen in 1980, using the victim's birth certificate to apply for a Social Security number and, later, for disability benefits in his name.
From 1989 until 2016, Anduaga received almost $250,000 in Supplemental Security Income benefits and over $100,000 in health benefits in the name of his victim, according to prosecutors.
Anduaga also conceded that during an interview with federal agents in 2015, he falsely claimed to be living in the United States, as required for an individual receiving Supplemental Security Income benefits, when in fact he was residing in Baja California.
Anduaga also admitted to illegally seeking CalFresh/Supplemental Nutrition Assistance benefits from San Diego County by impersonating the same victim and thereafter fraudulently taking more than $12,000 in additional government benefits.
As a part of his plea, Anduaga admitted that he is not an American citizen and that he has been deported from the United States on at least two prior occasions under yet another name.
Anduaga admitted that despite being deported from the country, he was able to travel freely between the United States and Mexico using the U.S. passport he had applied for in the name of his victim, using the same birth certificate and fraudulently-obtained Social Security number he used to defraud the government for decades.
"The programs that this defendant stole from ‐ for decades ‐ provide benefits to America's most needy," U.S. Attorney Adam Braverman said.
As a part of his plea agreement, Anduaga agreed to pay full restitution to the Social Security Administration, the California Department of Health Care Services, and San Diego County for the roughly $360,000 in government benefits he fraudulently obtained by his crimes.
Anduaga faces up to 12 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $971,800 at his sentencing, scheduled for May 29.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/02/2018
06:29 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
when in fact he was residing in Baja California.
Baja, Alta, its all pretty much the same anymore. If the Trunks had any brains, they'd fund the registry of PRI was a legit political party in CA, for diversity sake.
Anduaga faces up to 12 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $971,800 at his sentencing, scheduled for May 29
3 hots and a cot still from the American taxpayer. You think he has the means to repay? I got a bridge in San Francisco I want to sell you
Democrats still playing the race game [WashingtonTimes] The Senate confirmed one of President Trump’s judicial nominees Thursday despite Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer’s attempt to foil the nominee because of his race.
Marvin Quattlebaum was confirmed to the U.S. District Court in South Carolina by a vote of 69 to 28.
Mr. Schumer said Mr. Quattlebaum was taking the seat on a court which had been left vacant after Republican senators halted two African American nominees picked by President Obama.
The New York Democrat said Mr. Trump’s federal bench is lacking the diversity that America symbolizes.
"Eighty-three of President Trump’s were male, 92 percent white. That represents the lowest share of nonwhite candidates in three decades," Mr. Schumer said on the chamber floor Wednesday. "The Trump administration...is taking a giant step backward, this time when it comes to diversity of their nominations. I’ll be voting no," he said.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, pushed back, saying Mr. Schumer should judge nominees based off their character, not the color of their skin. When you offend a RINO...
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/02/2018
06:11 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Chuck 'The F*ck' Schumer
Will say no more.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
03/02/2018 7:49
Comments ||
Top||
#2
The New York Democrat said Mr. Trump’s federal bench is lacking the diversity that America symbolizes.
Has Schumer looked at the make-up of the court? Schumer's just being Schumer stirring up trouble and making problems where none exists.
Now if someone were critisizing the lack of diversity in the Dem Party in government because they have too many morons and idiots, people might notice.
#6
I am told that the search for a black female presidential candidate has become so intense that Elizabeth Warren is now re-looking her own genealogy.
#8
"There once was a house in New Orleans,
An ancestral crib of us Warrens --
Squaws, Okies, and balls;
Octoroons and 'you alls' --
Full of sparkly-eyed, high-cheekboned chorines!"
[WAPO] Fewer high school seniors in the District are expected to receive diplomas in June than in the year before, a sharp reversal for a school system that had celebrated a 20-point increase in its graduation rate since 2011.
Data released Thursday by D.C. Public Schools shows that 42 percent of seniors attending traditional public schools are on track to graduate, while 19 percent are considered "moderately off-track," meaning they could still earn enough credits for a diploma.
The likely drop in the graduation rate is the latest fallout from an investigation that cast doubt on the validity of diplomas awarded last year. The graduation rate in 2017 was 73 percent, but the probe revealed that one in three graduates received their diplomas in violation of city policy. Those students had walked across graduation stages despite missing too many classes or improperly taking makeup classes. Emphasis added.
#5
$19,396 per pupil. Why are democrat controlled cities such underperforming cesspools?
Contrast this to a private high school in DC.
St. John's College High School is an elite, private, Catholic school located in Washington, DC. It has 1,113 students in grades 9-12 with a student-teacher ratio of 12 to 1. Tuition is $18,465 for the highest grade offered. After graduation, 99% of students from this school go on to attend a 4-year college.
#8
Could decades of Democrats ruling
And radical cultural "cooling"
Make graduates mulish
And ign'ant and ghoulish,
With useless degrees from more schooling?
[HOT AIR] I’m trying to locate this on the spectrum between "take him seriously but not literally," as his supporters do, and "take him literally but not seriously," as the media does. I think it falls somewhere in the gray zone of stuff he’d like to do and would do if American norms were different. But since they aren’t, he’s left musing wistfully about how much better things would be if law enforcement could just take the gloves off with the bad guys, a theme he’s returned to occasionally as president.
It’s also a point he’s reportedly made in private. The fact that we’re hearing it now fits with POTUS’s drift recently towards "letting Trump be Trump," to borrow a phrase from Corey Lewandowski. He was enthusiastic about gun control yesterday; he declared a trade war on steel and aluminum imports this morning; now here he is fantasizing about a Duterte-type solution to America’s drug problem. All of those positions are what you’d expect from a nationalist strongman. Maybe the days of POTUS rubber-stamping conservative policy pushed by Ryan and McConnell are over.
#2
Honestly I am fine with any participation in the drug trade being punished by death. I am tested constantly in my job because druggies get people killed or maimed and it's not always just them paying the price.
#4
And yet we do hit jobs via drones or commando raids against financiers of terrorism. They're not pulling a trigger, setting off the bomb, or are in the front lines either.
#6
Comparisons to Duterte won't sway those like me; hell we were talking about him at Wednesday's campfire. Probably because we are tired of watching nice places turn into shitholes.
However.
There are a number of countries where drug dealing is the death penalty, and has been for a long time.
#7
Trump often puts out controversial comments. As #1 said, he likes scratching at and trolling the opposition. I watched a panel with the head of DHS and other agencies and it sounded like the Trump admin. has a fairly comprehensive program to deal with a complex opioid problem which has many dimensions.
Part of the problem is addiction that results from the medical treatment of acute and chronic pain. Without thinking too hard, I can think of a number of friends, neighbors and relatives who been affected by opioid addiction as the result of both legal and illegal drugs. This goes across all socio-economic strata. The neighbor across the street lost a son, a WWII vet down the street lost a grandson, a friend, a retired cop is dealing with his son's addiction who was injured in an IED explosion in Iraq. I could mention others and I suspect others here probably could similar stories. My great nephew is a 1st responder and about 50 percent of their calls are for drug over-doses.
Addiction is a serious and complex problem. I hope an impact can be made by Trump's program. Wish Mueller's Russian-Trump collusion probe would go away. It is a waste of time and money and nothing has been found in over a year. It has become an instrument for obstructing justice of the real criminality and collusion. Time to get on with more important things like the opiod addiction problem.
[hbtvGhana.com] Zimbabwean farmer Robert Smart inspects irrigation pipes for a potato crop after returning to his family farm. Smart last year had been evicted at gunpoint under Robert Mugabe’s programme to force white farmers to hand over their land.
When the riot police arrived, Zimbabwean farmworker Mary Mhuriyengwe saw her life fall apart as her job and home disappeared in the ruthless land seizures that defined Robert Mugabe’s rule.
Mhuriyengwe, 35, watched as police carrying AK-47 rifles released teargas to force white farmer Robert Smart off his land in June 2017 ‐ perhaps the last of 18 years of evictions that helped to trigger the country’s economic collapse.
A widow and mother of two, Mhuriyengwe relied on her work as a general labourer at Smart’s Lesbury Estates farm in Headlands, 160 kilometres (100 miles) east of the capital Harare.
"It’s the only job I had and I had no husband to turn to," she said, her voice breaking with emotion. "I found myself with nothing."
To her shock and amazement, Mhuriyengwe is now back at work on the farm and back living in her modest house, after Mugabe was ousted in November and Emmerson Mnangagwa became president.
#2
I recommend the following book, the title says it all. “The Fate of Africa; The History of the Continent Since Independence.” Meridith, Martin. Zimbabwe was a food exporting country until the white farms were redistributed. South Africa has just declared that it’s white farms will be returned to the native populations without any compensation.
#3
"Get it back into shape, White Dwvil so we can reappropriate it"
/Farmin B. Hard
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/02/2018 5:50
Comments ||
Top||
#4
or Devil, even
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/02/2018 6:02
Comments ||
Top||
#5
I suggest we refer to Smart's farm as a 'Peace Farm.' Tours can be held. Media interviews conducted. The success of a modern, progressive, post-apartheid government heralded.
Hitler wanted to use the 1936 games to present a peaceful Germany to the world. The Olympic village was part of that plan and boldly called the "village of peace" - a name could not have been more misleading (graphic depicts a model of the Peace Village).
#7
What sort of damage did the new owners looters do to the property in the interim? Are there even faucets left on the water fixtures? Probably everything that can be carried off is already sold on the black market.
#9
Here's a local paper with a lot of back and forth among black and white Zimbabweans. Some of the ostensibly black commentators want whitey to come back. Others want whitey (i.e. the remaining 200 farms still owned by whites) completely expropriated.
Re getting expropriated whites back on 99 year leases, the problem, as might be expected, is regaining the trust of the people who have left. I think that trust is history. People who moved have probably set down roots. Why go through the whole wrenching experience again, without sizeable carrots? IMO, a 99-year lease is not a sizeable carrot. Compensation for their losses might be acceptable, but I suspect they'd need more on top of that. And the treasury isn't exactly flush with cash.
#10
Interestingly, one of the white-leaning black commentators was grousing about being ripped off by the Chinese. Of course, blacks have a tendency to feel they're being ripped off, regardless, so it's hard to know how seriously to take that claim. Still, having the Celestials serve as a foil for the eevvvillll murungu (the Shona expression for whitey) is kinda amusing.
A special prosecutor is long, long overdue. Rep. Devin Nunes Memo dated 1 March, 2018 to AG Sessions, DOJ OIG Horowitz and FBI Director Wray articulating numerous Criminal statutes the FBI may have violated in the Carter Page FISA Application matter. These appear to be very substantial Allegations by Chairman Nunes.
#1
The keys to this puzzle lie in the FISA court, which remains silent. I suspect they were in on the deal as well. A 95% or higher warrant approval rate might be an indicator. The recent congressional renewal of the now, highly suspect process.... might be yet another.
At the macro, what we are witnessing appears to be the end of the 'rule of law.'
#3
A while back we learned that most of the current FISA judges were Zero appointees. What do you expect? This appears to be a set up to a kangaroo court to approve anything the FBI wanted to do.
Of course that was in preparation for the well-connected loathsome sadistic sociopath to be elected POTUS.
[Daily Caller] Planned Parenthood announced it will spend $20 million dollars in states with upcoming Senate and governor races where Democrats are likely to win, in order to make its spending as effective as possible.
"Reproductive rights and health is at stake in this country and has been at stake for years, but especially this year," Planned Parenthood Action Fund Director Deirdre Schifeling said Thursday, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Schifeling’s statement comes after Planned Parenthood announced the launch of an aggressive initiative intended to expand abortion access across every state in America. "Today, we’re going on the offense. We’ve been marching, mobilizing, and organizing ‐ and now we’re channeling that into real policy change," Planned Parenthood Executive Vice President Dawn Laguens said, officially announcing the abortion organization’s initiative launch in mid-February.
When it launched the campaign, Planned Parenthood indicated most of its time would go toward energy and money in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.
#2
Interesting because the leftists think of the black vote as a captive constituency. Because they are killing off that constituency in record numbers, that is why they need to import large numbers of illegal aliens from other demographics.
Given ole Margaret's feelings about race, I wonder when Planned Parenthood will shift their focus to Hispanic, sub continent and southern Asian groups???
#3
I recently taught a class where one of the students was a young black woman. She had a Planned parenthood mug. I wanted to point out to her that L.P. was one of the major killers of blacks. Far more than police, and even more than gang bangers. Of course, if I had said anything, she probably would have gone to BE, and I would have been fired.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
03/02/2018 13:00
Comments ||
Top||
[Daily Caller] The FBI states it will not expedite the release of documents about secret meetings between FBI Director James Comey and former President Barack Obama, according to a letter the bureau sent to The Daily Caller News Foundation.
Such information is not "a matter of widespread and exceptional media interest in which there exists possible questions about the government’s integrity which affects public confidence," David Hardy, the Section Chief for the bureau’s Record/Information Dissemination Section, told TheDCNF in a Feb. 26 letter.
TheDCNF, under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), requested records of all meetings between Comey and Obama and sought an "expedited process" as provided under the act when issues are of great interest to the media and the records address issues pertaining to government integrity. TheDCNF FOIA request was filed Feb. 16, 2018.
The issue prompting the FOIA request was the disclosure Comey held a secret Oval Office meeting with Obama on Jan. 5, 2017. Comey never divulged the meeting to Congress.
The FBI states it will not expedite the release of documents about secret meetings between FBI Director James Comey and former President Barack Obama, according to a letter the bureau sent to The Daily Caller News Foundation.
Such information is not "a matter of widespread and exceptional media interest in which there exists possible questions about the government’s integrity which affects public confidence," David Hardy, the Section Chief for the bureau’s Record/Information Dissemination Section, told TheDCNF in a Feb. 26 letter.
TheDCNF, under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), requested records of all meetings between Comey and Obama and sought an "expedited process" as provided under the act when issues are of great interest to the media and the records address issues pertaining to government integrity. TheDCNF FOIA request was filed Feb. 16, 2018.
The issue prompting the FOIA request was the disclosure Comey held a secret Oval Office meeting with Obama on Jan. 5, 2017. Comey never divulged the meeting to Congress.
#3
Why deny access if they are of no interest to the press?
The only obvious reason to deny access is that they are of great interest to the press but interest of a kind that makes David Hardy unhappy.
Government officials are generally unwilling to respond to FOIA when the information involved makes them look bad.
Posted by: Daniel ||
03/02/2018 0:56
Comments ||
Top||
#4
My guess (and only a guess) is that Soetoro and Comey had things wired with the FISA court. The Bureau's reluctance is little more than a lame attempt at damage control.
#7
AG Sessions couldshould force the release and fire the stone-wallers
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/02/2018 6:16
Comments ||
Top||
#8
Just send in the Marines. Clear out the top 3 levels of management. They're SES anyway for the most part. If they squabble, reassign them to Grand Forks and an empty office.
#11
But it was OK for Comey to leak documents about his meeting with Trump?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/02/2018 11:43
Comments ||
Top||
#12
Such information is not "a matter of widespread and exceptional media interest in which there exists possible questions about the government’s integrity which affects public confidence," David Hardy, the Section Chief for the bureau’s Record/Information Dissemination Section, told TheDCNF in a Feb. 26 letter.
The spokesperson managed to say that with a straight face? Impressive.
I am with #8. Fire them all now as a warning to those that follow.
[PJ] There are few names as associated with modern Christianity as Reverend Billy Graham. For decades, the pastor has served as an advisor to presidents regardless of party. He was a living embodiment of how people should act toward those who may disagree with them.
As the day of the funeral fast approaches, past presidents and other dignitaries are paying their respects: former President George W. Bush did on Monday, and former President Bill Clinton did the same on Tuesday. President Donald Trump will be attending Graham's funeral on Friday.
Yet former President Barack Obama will be skipping it, according to the Associated Press: "Former President Barack Obama is not planning to attend memorial services for the late evangelist Rev. Billy Graham this week."
Obama did tweet that Graham was "a humble servant who prayed for so many," but the former president is still opting to skip the services. The message sent by this drops any pretense that Obama actually respects what Graham stood for.
None of this is overly surprising, at least for many American Christians. Obama, despite his claims of sharing their faith, routinely acted in a manner that showed disdain for the faithful. He rarely made an effort to reach out to Christians during his presidency, and actively targeted them with his policies and actions: See his stance on Hobby Lobby, and his never-forgotten feelings on rural Americans being simpletons clinging to guns and religion.
Obama worked to be divisive during his presidency, efforts that ran contrary to Graham's outreach to politicians of both parties, so it's not surprising Obama won't be there. It's not surprising that the best the former president can muster is a tweet for the fallen spiritual leader.
Yet Graham wouldn't harbor ill will toward Obama because of the slight. It's not the Christian way, after all.
If the former president wants to know why our nation is so divided these days, perhaps he would do well to look at this and remember his role in those divisions.
[FOX 5] WASHINGTON (AP) - Several NBA teams have played what is known as the "negro national anthem" at games during Black History Month thanks in part to the urging of a retired Howard University professor.
Eugene Williams, a 76-year-old retiree in Clinton, Maryland, has made it his goal to get professional and collegiate teams to play "Lift Every Voice and Sing" during February. He has been calling and writing teams for the past six months.
The Washington Wizards became the fourth NBA team to play the song at a game, doing so during a timeout midway through the first quarter against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night. As the song played, a video was shown with on-court highlights and Wizards players engaging in community activities.
The Oklahoma City Thunder played it in January, Williams said. The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Warriors played "Lift Every Voice and Sing" in February.
Williams attended the Warriors-Wizards game on the last day of Black History Month to hear the song played.
[DAWN] A German national believed to be a military adviser to the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... in Afghanistan has been incarcerated Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! in the insurgency-racked province of Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... , officials told AFP late Wednesday. Ach! Mein Gott! Er ist... Helmut von Helmand!
"A man with a long beard, wearing a black turban who identified himself as a German citizen and speaks Dutch,
...possibly he said Deutsch, like the Pennsylvania Dutch, who also are German...
was taken along with three other suspected Taliban on Monday night in Gereshk district of Helmand province," said Omar Zwak, the provincial governor's front man.
Gereshk police chief Ismail Khplwak (Gesundheit!) said the man ─ who was detained by Afghan Special Forces during a night raid ─ was the "military adviser of Mullah Nasir", commander of the Taliban's elite "Red Unit" in Helmand.
Photographs taken by the Afghan military show a man who looks to be in his 40s with a long reddish-brown beard speckled with grey, and wearing a black turban.
He is flanked by two members of the Afghan Special Forces dressed in combat gear and with night vision goggles pulled up onto their helmets.
The man is dressed in traditional Afghan dress worn under a khaki military jacket.
Much of opium-rich Helmand in Afghanistan's south remains controlled or contested by the Taliban who are heavily reliant on the proceeds of drug trafficking to fuel their insurgency.
The Taliban's Red Units serve as the Lion of Islams' special forces and have carried out many fatal attacks on the Afghan army and police.
"The German national calls himself Abdul Wadood, and he was taken to Kandahar for further investigation," the Afghan army corps statement said.
If confirmed it would be one of the few incidents in which a European has been captured fighting among the turbans.
Foreigners do fight alongside the Taliban ...Arabic for students... but citizens of Western nations are rare and most hail from Pakistain, Central Asia or Arab nations.
"They were in a mine-making centre when they were detained. Weapons and ammunitions were also confiscated from them," he said, adding that several Taliban were killed in the fighting.
Late last year sources told AFP of the presence of French fighters for the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group in northern Afghanistan, as analysts suggested foreigners may be heading for the war-torn country after being driven from Syria and Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
[RADIOSHABELLE] A combined joint task force of the Somali National Army (SNA) and Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) AMISOM contingent killed 23 members of al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... terror group in Fahfahdun town situated in the South West prefecture of Gedo Province of Somalia.
KDF conducted an assault targeting the new base of the Lions of Islam in the outskirts of Fahfahdun town, reports say.
The holy warriors withdrew from the positions they held in the area. An exchange of heavy weaponry that lasted four hours left 23 holy warriors dead, three tactical vehicles with mounted machine guns destroyed, and light machine guns seized by the army.
The holy warriors were planning to use the base to conduct ambushes and attacks targeting the SNA and KDF troops in pacification mission in the region.
On Sunday, unknown KDF personnel were maimed when an armoured personnel carrier they were travelling in ran over a roadside explosive in Gedo region region on Sunday.
The victims were flown to Nairobi. Local residents said the incident happened between El Wak town and Busar village, both located near Somalia’s border with Kenya.
The region is an al-Shabaab hot-spot area where security vehicles have run over bombs in the past. KDF, which is part of Amisom troops in Somalia has started withdrawing from there as part of plans to leave some operations to Somali troops.
KDF went to Somalia in October 2011. Kenya’s incursion into southern Somalia started after the kidnapping of two Spanish women, who were working for MSF at the Dadaab refugee camp.
The abductions were carried out by the holy warriors who the troops said planned to push away under the Operation Linda Nchi.
Two years later, the troops managed to take control of Kismayo ...a port city in the southern Lower Juba province of Somalia, at the extreme southern end of the country (assuming Somalia can be called a country). It is the commercial capital of the autonomous Jubaland region... port under Operation Sledge Hammer. Initially a team of about 2000 troops had been engaged in the operation but the number doubled when Kenya joined UN’s AMISOM.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)
[HERALD.CO.ZW] THE Zim-bob-wean nurse working in a South African hospital, who caused a stir when a picture of her posing next to the late MDC-T president Mr Morgan Tsvangirai during his final days went viral on social media, has died, amid fears she could have been murdered.
Ms Nomsa Ncube, who worked at the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre (WDGMC) in Johannesburg, South Africa, was reportedly found dead at her flat in Johannesburg on February 18, four days after the former Prime Minister succumbed to cancer of the colon.
Mr Tsvangirai, who was buried at his Buhera rural home last Tuesday, was diagnosed with the cancer in 2016. The opposition politician had been visiting the hospital for two years for what his aides called ’routine treatment’.
He died on February 14 after a month-long admission. Ms Ncube came under the spotlight when a picture of her posing next to the ailing politician during his final days went viral on social media. There are different versions on the cause of her death.
A family member who spoke on condition of anonymity said she may have been killed, while some online sources alleged that she did away with himself following public condemnation when her picture with the late politician started circulating.
Zim-bob-we’s consul general to South Africa Mr Batiraishe Mukonoweshuro confirmed that Ms Ncube had died. He said investigations were underway.
"I am told that the South African Police Service is still dealing with the case and ascertaining the circumstances around how she passed on," said Mr Mukonoweshuro. "No information has been available as to how she died, purportedly on Sunday 18 February in the evening."
Mr Mukonoweshuro said his office was yet to get details on the issue. WDGMC manager Ms Sue Tager told our Bulawayo Bureau that she was not in a position to comment on the incident.
"I am so sorry because we do not comment on media reports, hence I cannot say anything," she said. "I will not be able to help you."
A source in Ms Ncube’s family who spoke on condition of anonymity alleged that she was killed as she was found in a pool of blood.
"We suspect that she was killed because her body was found lying in a pool of blood," said the source. "At first we believed that she had did away with himself, but we are certain of foul play though we cannot really say why she was killed or who did it."
A Zim-bob-wean nurse registered with the South African Nursing Council (SANC) allegedly wrote to the professional body demanding action against the nurse after her picture with Mr Tsvangirai went viral. In the complaint, the nurse, identified only as S. Masawi, demanded that Ms Ncube be charged with misconduct.
"May I bring to your attention the attached image showing one of your nurses posing for a picture with a patient who is clearly on his final days," wrote Masawi.
"The patient is a well known Zim-bob-wean politician Mr Morgan Tsvangirai who passed away today (Wednesday) 14 Feb 2018 at the well-known hospital in Africa WDGMC (Wits Gordon, South African Hospital).
"I am a fellow registered nurse myself and, sadly, l find the actions of your staff member, a fellow professional colleague to be grossly inappropriate, unprofessional and in breach of the nursing profession’s code of conduct. I would like to assume a breach in the local hospital policies as well."
In response, a spokesperson for the hospital said disciplinary measures had been taken.
"It is with regret that we note recent posts on social media showing a photograph of Mr Tsvangirai with a nursing staff member," the official was quoted as saying. "We have investigated the matter and, according to the nursing staff member, the photograph was taken with the permission of Mr Tsvangirai.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
[Al Jazeera] French authorities have filed preliminary charges against far-right politician Marine Le Pen on Thursday for the "distribution of violent images" on social media website Twitter. Better if the public doesn't know, y'see...
If convicted, Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front party, could potentially face three years in jail and a 75,000 euro ($90,000) fine. Keep 'em entertained...
The tweets, written shortly after the 2015 Gay Paree attacks, showed executions carried out by Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS, also known as ISIS) members.
They included an image of the body of American journalist James Foley, who was decapitated in a widely circulated video by a member of ISIS. Another depicted a captured Jordanian pilot being burned alive in a cage.
Another image showed a man in an orange jumpsuit being crushed by a tank driven by an ISIS fighter. A caption read "ISIS is THIS".
Le Pen, who lost the 2017 presidential elections to Emmanuel Macron, later removed the image of Foley after his family condemned the tweet.
Authorities started an investigation into the social media posts in 2015, shortly after Le Pen wrote them.
However, today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... as a member of the French parliament, Le Pen had some immunity against prosecution.
But that immunity was stripped in November 2017 after an investigation by a cross-party committee, paving the way for Thursday's charges.
"I am being charged for having condemned the horrors of ISIS," Le Pen told AFP news agency. "In other countries, this would have earned me a medal."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
a farce
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/02/2018 6:49
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Like the Democrats want to control the internet.
[DAWN] Ceasefire violations at the restive Line of Control (LoC) continued on Thursday, claiming the life of an elderly man in Kotli district, Azad Jammu and Kashmire (AJK), local officials said.
"Shelling started at about 7:30am with Indian troops firing volleys of mortar shells at civilian populations," said Assistant Commissioner Nakyal Waleed Anwar.
"Splinters of a mortar shell hit 70-year-old Nazeer Hussain Mughal in Dheri village at about 10:30am, leaving him dead on the spot," he said.
Anwar said that Indian troops were targeting educational institutions where elementary board exams were being held since Tuesday.
"Today’s exams have been cancelled in most vulnerable schools due to the targeted shelling from across the divide," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Yemeni Coalition for Monitoring Human Rights Violations revealed that the Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... militias in several cities and governorates have forced more than 3 million people to flee since the coup in 2014.
The head of the executive unit of the displaced, Najib Saadi, said that the Marib topped the list of provinces that received large numbers of displaced people, followed by the temporary capital Aden, Taiz, Mahara, Shabwa, Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... and Hadramout ...the formerly independent Qu'aiti state and sultanate, annexed by Communist South Yemen in 1968, encompassing a region along the Gulf of Aden, extending eastwards to the borders of the Dhofar region of Oman. The people are called Hadhramis and speak Hadhrami Arabic. The city Tarimis is estimated to contain the highest concentration of descendants of the Prophet Muhammad (PTUI) anywhere in the world, approximately seven in every square yard... "The number of displaced people is 25 percent higher than in 2017 due to the recent events in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa in December and the battles near Hodeidah," he said.
The Yemeni Coalition presented the report on the forcibly displaced by the Houthis in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... at the 37th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
According to the documented data from the monitoring coalition, the Houthi militias caused the forced displacement of 184 families from 8 rural villages in the second displacement operation witnessed by the Directorate of Jabal Habashi, in Taiz governorate, south-west of Yemen in 2017.
He explained that the number of these displaced families has gone up to 980 individuals, including 451 children and 262 women who were deported under the force of arms, leaving behind all their belongings and property and livelihoods to save their lives.
The Human Rights Coalition stressed that the "displacement" of the inhabitants of these areas has caused a real disaster that no one could imagine, especially in a rural society that depends entirely on its traditional agricultural work and on raising livestock.
He noted that the Houthi militias did not allow the displaced to take anything with them from their homes, which contributed to the aggravation of their poor living conditions.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Houthis
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Pentagon on Thursday brushed off Russian President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... ’s boast of developing "invincible" missiles, claiming the United States was fully prepared for anything that might come its way.
In his state of the nation address, Putin described several advances in missile technology, including a hypersonic weapon that can fly at many times the speed of sound and evade existing missile defense systems.
"We are not surprised by (Putin’s) statement, and the American people should rest assured that we are fully prepared," Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said.
White said she was "very confident" in America’s ability to react to "anything that may come our way." "We are prepared and we are ready," she said.
Hypersonic weapons under development by Russia and China -- as well as by the United States -- can beat regular anti-missile defenses because they are designed to switch direction in flight and do not follow a predictable arc like conventional missiles, making them much harder to track and intercept.
But despite the Pentagon’s claims, America is far from capable of stopping any type of missile attack, a fact it has lived with since the Cold War.
While it has had some limited success in developing interceptors capable of stopping one or two missiles from a rogue regime like North Korea, a barrage of nukes from Russia or anywhere else would be unstoppable and trigger the "mutually assured destruction" of both nations.
Still, US officials increasingly are turning attention to trying to develop some sort of defense against hypersonic missiles.
In its proposed $9.9 billion requested budget for 2019, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is asking for $120 million to develop hypersonic missile defenses, a big increase from the $75 million in fiscal 2018.
[HERALD.CO.ZW] Formerly First-World South Africa took a step on Tuesday to hasten the transfer of land from white to black owners when parliament backed a motion seeking to change the constitution to allow land expropriation without compensation. ... because it worked so well in Zim...
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) has long promised reforms to redress racial disparities in land ownership and the subject remains highly emotive over two decades after the end of apartheid.
“We must ensure that we restore the dignity of our people without compensating the criminals who stole our land,” he said.
Whites still own most of South Africa’s land following centuries of brutal colonial dispossession.
Tuesday’s motion was brought by the radical left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, but was supported by the ANC, which controls almost two-thirds of the parliament compared with EFF’s 6 percent.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said after his inauguration two weeks ago that he would speed up the transfer of land to black people, although he stressed that food production and security must be preserved.
Launching a debate on the motion in parliament, EFF leader Julius Malema said "it was time for justice" on the land issue.
"We must ensure that we restore the dignity of our people without compensating the criminals who stole our land," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Well, they can always eat each other, I suppose.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Following fierce battles with the Yemeni Army and Arab Coalition, 17 Houthis were killed and dozens injured on Wednesday in Nahm, in Yemen’s capital Sanaa.
In a statement, the Yemeni army said, "National army forces fought fierce battles with the Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... militia in Nahm, east of the capital, and killed 17 militiamen, and maimed dozens."
They added that the militia was trying to sneak into the al-Tabab mountains in the last two days to control this vital location.
Among those killed were three Houthi field commanders. According to the army’s statement, 33 Death Eaters were captured, including four field commanders.
The army was able to retrieve large amounts of weapons and ammunition following the battles in Nahm.
Hundreds of Death Eaters were killed and injured following several battles in the last weeks, in addition to air raids carried out by the Arab Coalition in Sanaa.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Houthis
[RADIOSHABELLE] An official says Somali security forces in Beledweyne, the regional capital of Hiran province received intelligence information regarding an exploding car in the region.
Hussein Osman Mumin, the deputy governor of Hiran on the security affairs told Radio Shabelle that the government troops were put on high alert to prevent the potential attack.
Mumin added that they have launched a search operation to seize the would-be suicide boom-mobile and urged the local residents to be more vigilant and notify Police immediately if they see something suspicious.
This comes after Somali government forces captured a truck laden with bomb-making materials and suspects during an operation at Buundo-weyn village in Beledweyne on Wednesday.
The security of the city has been beefed up in recent weeks amid reports that Al-Shabaab ... the personification of Somali state failure... was planning to carry out attacks against military bases and regional offices in the town.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)
[RADIOSHABELLE] A mortar attack in the Somali capital Mogadishu, claimed by Islamist group al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... , killed a child and maimed two civilians and injured two others on Thursday, the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... peacekeeping force AMISOM said.
The mortar rounds were fired near a stadium, Lieutenant Colonel Wilson Rono, AFRICOMfront man, told Rooters.
Earlier on Thursday, al-Shabaab murderous Moslems set off a suicide boom-mobile at a checkpoint about 15 km (nine miles) outside the capital. At least five people were maimed including soldiers, police officer Ali Roble told Rooters.
A second police officer, Abdullahi Nur, told Rooters that many vehicles had been parked at the checkpoint for inspection when the blast occurred.
Al-Shabaab frequently carries out bombings in Mogadishu and elsewhere in Somalia in their effort to bring down the Western-backed federal government and drive out the AMISOM forces defending it.
On Friday, twin boom-mobile blasts in Mogadishu ‐ claimed by al-Shabaab ‐ killed 45 people.
Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shabaab’s military operations front man, told Rooters the group was responsible for both the mortar attack and the boom-mobileing.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)
[ALMASDARNEWS] For the third night in a row, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has launched a big assault at night, targeting several areas around the East Ghouta region.
Led by the Elite Republican Guard, the Syrian Arab Army stormed the small town of Hawsh al-Zarqiyah from their positions at the recently captured air defense base.
The Syrian Army attack would prove too much for the Salafist tough guys of Jaish al-Islam ...Liwa al-Islam (Brigade of Islam) was established by Zahran Alloush, the son of Saudi-based religious scholar Abdullah Mohammed Alloush, after Syrian authorities released him from prison in mid-2011 where he had been serving time for his Salafist activism. The group claimed responsibility for carrying out the July 2012 Damascus bombing that killed Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha, Deputy Defense Minister Asef Shawkat, and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani. It was a driving force behind actions in the Damascus region. It cooperated and conducted joint operations with al-Nusra. In Sptember 2013 Saudi Arabia engineered Liwa al-Islam's merger with fifty other more or less Salafist groups as a counterweight to al-Nusra, which the Learned Elders of Islam considered was growing too powereful... , as they were ultimately forced to withdraw east to the nearby town of Utaya.
According to a military source, the Syrian Army is now heavily shelling the southwestern and northwestern flanks of Utaya; they are expected to attack the town in the coming hours.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[TheDrive] Russia and its lineup of thrust vectoring fighters‐namely modern Flanker derivatives like the Su-35‐have certainly stolen the show when it comes to displaying extreme slow-speed maneuverability and other post-stall aerobatic feats. But the F-22, with its high thrust-to-weight ratio, huge control surfaces, and especially its two-dimensional thrust vectoring, can holds its own in this regard as well.
Case in point, this pretty damn amazing clip of an F-22 executing a big belly-first somersault at altitude. The jet seems to defy physics as its nose quickly changes from pointing one direction to the other. Check out the vid. As someone who has done aerobatic flying, all I can say is "wow."
#9
My@#3: My take is that the plane of rotation is a little aft of the cockpit. ZG most of the way around, but the last few degrees appear to be 'roid squishers.
The timing of the vector/power must be amazing and done, in this vid, by a real pro! Makes my Split-S' appear rather pedestrian.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Emirati singer Ahlam AlShamsi is causing online outrage after tweeting that fans in the Arab world should not ask for God’s mercy on the late Sridevi Kapoor as the Bollywood icon "is Buddhist".
Ahlam was responding to Emirati Author Abdullah Alneaimi’s tweet paying tribute to Sridevi, who recently passed away in Dubai, using the Islamic phrase "May God have mercy on her".
"May God have mercy on her [sic] May God forgive," Ahlam tweeted in reply to Alneaimi using an emoji to describe her shock.
Ahlam then used verses from the Koran as proof of why she thought so.
A forensic report from the Dubai Police showed that Sridevi died as a result of accidental drowning in her hotel room’s bathroom after losing consciousness.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
[Lifezette] Talking heads in the mainstream media think attorney general is in president's doghouse again, but maybe both men know exactly what they are doing.
I think that what we saw on Wednesday from the president and his AG is a bit of Kabuki theater. That exchange was designed to produce exactly the reaction in the Establishment news media that ended up taking place, i.e., a knee jerk among all the Democrat talking heads to defend and praise IG Horowitz as an upright and impartial arbiter of the facts.
Why? Well, because it’s likely that we are about to see the release of the IG’s report related to his 14-month investigation, and by that, I mean within the next week. It is likely that that report is going to contain numerous findings of criminal wrongdoing, not only related to the FBI’s fake investigation of the Clinton email server, but to related scandals like Uranium One and the Clinton Foundation. The report will likely also include numerous referrals to the attorney general and his staff for prosecution of Obama-era officials.
The news media, which is just the propaganda arm of the Democrat Party, will have an initial knee-jerk response to go after Horowitz and try to destroy him personally, but that’s going to be pretty hard to do, given that they will have just spent a week praising him to the rafters in their never-ending efforts to try to harm Trump.
That’s a lot of expectations out of a single tweet and a one-paragraph response, but as I said above, the president really doesn’t just toss stuff like this out onto his Twitter account for no reason. There is a method here, and we will find out soon enough what it is.
#1
It would be helpful if we actually saw some progress happening in the Trump swamp-draining efforts. That is why he was elected. In the face of all the apparent criminality committed by swamp denizens it would seem there is much low-hanging fruit to be picked.
#2
The media has no idea what they are dealing with. Trump is way out in front of them on this.
A great rope a dope to get the media to go all in on Horowitz...and then the IG report hangs all of the media heroes in the FBI and AG office out to dry as felons and traitors.
The mental somersaults and logic gymnastics of the left will leave most rational people with a nose bleed or a migraine headache.
It is going to be fun to watch Shiff(less) and Charles Microphone Shumer flip flop to debunk the report.
It will be even more fun to watch all of the conspirators being put into police cars in handcuffs.
#1
Its sentimental. Nevertheless, it IS true, for all of that. He did get old. And he did get boring. And he may have been your old Dad, and you bore with him even when he was boring , which he was. But you understood his stories after you came home from VietNam yourself. And you got old yourself and he is long gone now. So yu hold your tongue when you see a young man who has an earring in ear and a rainbow T-shirt.
And you see what NBC says about vets and the newsreels about the Iraq War. And the vets who have done two and sometimes three deployments and their families live in trailers and their wives struggle to raise the two little kids alone while their father is in Afghanistan. And these men are so few, and the families suffer so much. And sometimes they come home and have lost everything because the young wife just couldn't bear up. And they have to adapt to coming a civilian again and stacking cartons of Coke in a Supermarket when they used to Command a Platoon. And they remember too much hurt and can't talk about it to anyone. And their own children don't know who that are even though they love they love those children very much. And love that wife who is no longer is a wife and they and she are alone now Separated...nothing is more profound than ordinary hurt.
Serving the Flag. All those years and ...sentimentality isn't the right word. And you got old and never got any of it back, you still hurt. And your kids need the insight of heroes to see it in you. And to understand.
He got a govt. headstone and was buried in family graveyard in a small community churchyard and I go down once a year and mow the lawn and sit in the truck alone, myself. I am all those men. going back to the generation of 1835, every generation. One Flag. At a cost.
Posted by: Andy Bumble5704 ||
03/02/2018 6:16
Comments ||
Top||
#2
50th anniversary of the 82nd deployment to Vietnam. All the way airborne..
[Al Jazeera] In late December 2017, General Valery Gerasimov, head of Russia's General Staff, told the Russian daily Komsomolskaya Pravda that the "destruction of Jabhat al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... fighters" was a priority task in Syria for 2018.
About a week later, Syrian regime forces with Russian and Iranian support launched an offensive on rebel-held Idlib province. Syrian state media claimed they were fighting al-Qaeda.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[15 views]
Top|| File under: al-Nusra
[Al Jazeera] Yemenis have launched a social media campaign with the hashtag #BringDevBack - or Bring Development Back to Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... - highlighting how years of war have destroyed the opportunity for development.
The campaign shows the people of Yemen are already thinking about rebuilding their country despite the ongoing conflict.
Wesam Qaid, executive director at Sanaa-based economic developmental organization SMEPS, told Al Jazeera the goal of the campaign is looking towards a hopeful future.
"I am so proud to be part of this campaign #BringDevback in Yemen, it's an important message. It means ending the war, it means thinking about the future, it means hope and jobs for young people," Qaid said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Houthis
[Al Jazeera] US politicians have submitted a draft resolution calling for an end to US military support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen's war.
The draft resolution, unveiled on Wednesday, is being pushed forward by Senators Bernie Sanders ...The only openly Socialist member of the U.S. Senate. Sanders was Representative-for-Life from Vermont until moving to the Senate for the rest of his life in 2006, assuming the seat vacated by Jim Jeffords. He ran for the 2016 nomination for president, to be cheated by Hillary, then went back to being a socialist... , Mike Lee and Chris Murphy.
The bill intends to exploit a powerful but rarely activated provision in a 1973 law - the War Powers Act - that gives Congress the authority to overrule the president and withdraw troops if the former believes the conflict is not authorised.
"We believe that, as Congress has not declared war or authorised military force in this conflict, the US involvement in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... is unconstitutional and unauthorised and US military support of the Saudi coalition must end," Sanders said at a news conference on Wednesday.
Sanders stressed that under the Constitution, Congress is the only authority that can declare war, alluding to divisions in the US government between congressional power and the president's role as commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
A similar bid to end US support for the war in Yemen was launched in November 2017 in a draft resolution sponsored by Congressman Ro Khanna. And while the resolution was passed, it was not implemented.
"Many Americans are unaware that the people of Yemen are suffering today from a devastating civil war with 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... and their allies on one side and Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... rebels on the other," said Sanders.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Houthis
#1
"Many Americans are unaware that the people of Yemen are suffering today from a devastating civil war with Soddy Arabia and their allies on one side and Houthi rebels on the other," said Sanders.
Notice our red commie socialist doesn't mention the Iranian/Hezb'allah/Al Qaeda participation? Willfully ignorant or just obtuse? Why not both..
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/02/2018 5:43
Comments ||
Top||
#2
How about this:
A nation totally addicted to a drug similar to crystal meth in its effects, has a multiparty civil war with external parties supporting various drug gangs.
How much of this war is really political & religious and how much is just khat addicts higher than a kite?
Should we care?
[RADIOSHABELLE] The Kenyan police on Wednesday launched an investigation into the killing of two suspected al-Shabaab ... the personification of Somali state failure... returnees in the coastal county of Kwale.
Kwale police commandant Tom Odera said bodies of the two with multiple gunshot wounds were found dumped at forest by unknown people.
"The bodies were found dumped at Shimba Hills forest with gunshot wounds on the head," said Odera. He said the two bodies were found decomposing in the forest and had no identification documents.
A preliminary police report indicated that they might have been tortured before they were rubbed out at close range.
"Detectives are relying on fingerprints lifted from their bodies to identify the two," a senior officer, who sought anonymity, said.
"An autopsy will be conducted once we get the families of the two to assist in the investigation," the officer added.
Sources within the National Intelligence Service and criminal investigations agency said the two might have been on police terror watch.
The Kenyan authority has maintained that despite a decline of terror activities in the country, terrorism remains a major security threat in the region.
This month security agents recovered over 36 grenades, 18 improvised bombs, and five AK-47 rifles from suspected murderous Moslems in Merti, Isiolo County.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)
[RADIOSHABELLE] Somalia’s Federal Government forces took over a town in Hiran region on Wednesday morning after al-Shabaab ... the personification of Somali state failure... forces of Evil withdrew from the area.
The Somali army backed by Æthiopian troops under AMISOM attacked the district from different directions during the night, forcing al-Shabaab fighters to pull out from their bases.
The local residents reported heavy exchange of gunfire erupted early in the morning as the armored vehicle and the tanks of the allied troops have been rolling into the town.
The Somali and AU forces encountered a heavy resistance during the take over of the key area in central Somalia, but, the number of casualties in the shootout is still unclear.
The town has been under al-Shabaab control since 2016 and was the main operations hub for the forces of Evil fighting against Somali government and the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... forces [AMISOM].
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)
[PowderedWigSociety] Vladimir Putin has an election this month, so he is putting on a grand show of badass bravado, announcing via Twitter today that Russia now has nuclear-powered cruise missiles with неограниченный unlimited range.
I don’t know what good unlimited range is when we have a defensive capability that can shoot anything out of the sky, and I believe much of that capability is space-based, but I’m sure Putin’s cocksure machismo plays well in Moscow.
Watch for the tired pics of a shirtless Putin on horseback flooding the interwebs between now and March 18.
#3
All it takes is a little creative hacking of their guidance software and you could have a jolly time watching all the fun and they frantically began pushing self destruct/abort buttons on a zillion rubles worth of hardware.
#10
A nuclear aircraft would work like a jet engine instead of heating air with petrol combustion it would use the heat from the reactor. Quite a bit of work was done on it in the 1950's. My dad worked at the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Division (ANPD) of General Electric and said that at the end it would still have needed a runway as long as Nevada to take off. Until a family tour day, I thought he worked at a food store. Then we got to go in and look into the reactor. Surprised I could have children. Seems like you could get away with a lot less shielding in a missile, but it would still need to be kept in a lot of lead until used. Knowing Russian safety concerns, I wouldn't want to one of the guys loading it on an aircraft or the pilot.
#11
Rumor was we built a nuke powered bomber in the late 40s. Rumor went on that it only had shielding facing the crew cabin. I flew once the crew got off and it was too radioactive to approach again. It's supposed to be in a hanger with other mistakes on a Idaho desert.
[Al Jazeera] Taliban ...Arabic for students... fighters have killed at least six coppers in an attack on a checkpoint and kidnapped dozens of bus passengers in two separate incidents in southern Afghanistan, officials said.
A group of fighters wearing army uniforms kidnapped 30 people, including 19 coppers, after stopping a bus on Tuesday night at the border between Kandahar and Uruzgan provinces.
"There were civilians in the bus as well and we are trying to identify the people kidnapped in the attack," Qudratullah Khushbakht, a front man for the Kandahar governor, told Al Jazeera.
In the second incident, a police checkpoint in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province came under attack by the Taliban fighters leaving six coppers dead and wounding five others, General Abdul Razik, Kandahar's police chief, told local media.
The Taliban grabbed credit for both attacks saying they kidnapped coppers "alive".
The Afghan army and the US-led coalition forces continue to battle the Taliban for the control of areas in the country but the security situation has been deteriorating.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
[DAWN] A report submitted to the Supreme Court on Thursday regarding television anchor Dr Shahid Masood's claims about 6-year-old Zainab's killer states that all 18 of the revelations made by Masood were false and baseless.
The anchorperson had claimed during a late night show that Zainab's rapist and murderer, Imran Ali, was a member of a pornography gang, which also includes a Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... minister. During earlier hearings of the case, Masood had also told the court that the suspect has 37 foreign accounts.
His claims about the bank accounts, however, were rejected by the State Bank of Pakistain (SBP) in its report to the joint investigation team (JIT) that was formed earlier by the Punjab government to probe the rape and murder of Zainab.
A JIT, separately formed by the SC to investigate Masood's claims, said in the report submitted to court today that Masood was unable to support any of his claims with evidence.
The report said that Masood's allegations regarding the killer belonging to an international ring connected to child pornography are false and that there is no evidence regarding the existence of any international bank accounts in Ali's name.
"The convict is a poor man and there is no evidence of any international bank accounts in his name," the report said, also ruling out any influential politician backing Imran Ali.
The JIT report also said that Masood's claim that someone would try to prove Ali to be clinically insane during trial was also false.
"Shahid Masood has failed to substantiate his claims with proof," the JIT said.
While hearing the case earlier, the chief justice had warned Masood of dire consequences if his claims proved to be false.
"If your news turns out to be untrue, [then] you cannot even imagine what will happen," the chief justice had warned the TV anchor.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The self-declared Republic of Somaliland is looking to the Gulf secure its borders within the horn of Africa due to the regional instability.
The autonomous state is also looking to deepen its economic and security ties with Arabian Gulf countries, Foreign Minister Saad Ali Shire told Al Arabiya English’s exclusive #TheUnrecognizedRepublic.
In February 2017 the Somaliland parliament voted to provide the United Arab Emirates a military and naval base in the port city of Berbera.
The vote followed an agreement between Dubai Ports World and the Government of Somaliland to acquire the port of Berbera over a 30-year period.
"More than 30 thousand ships pass through the red sea every year and into our seas and we see it important to keep that important maritime route open and free from piracy and we hope that the presence of the UAE military will add to the security of the region," the foreign minister said on #TheUnrecognizedRepublic.
Despite the country’s 800-kilometer-long shores on the Indian ocean they were able to free it from the threat of piracy.
"Piracy is a land base crime and we have managed to ensure that pirates do not have that base in Somaliland, we have a coasties that is efficient and is developing and we hope that it will be further developed with the United Arab Emirates which is taking care of the security of the seas"
Shire insisted that the presence of the UAE in Somaliland will strengthen the stability and security in the region.
"There is a lot of contention in this region at the present time and unfortunately we are being brought back to the bad cold war days and we believe that the presence of the United Arab Emirates will bring stability in the region," he said.
The country is facing a number of threats, the minister said, therefore making a security partnership with the UAE vital.
Threats include extremism, piracy, illegal immigration, human trafficking, as well as the unstable situation in Somalia and the war in Yemen.
"We have given a security facility to the United Arab Emirates and people have raised concerns regarding this being destabilizing to the region, however we view this as a stabilizing factor in the region," he said.
Deepening relations with the Gulf
Economically, the foreign minister Shire said that Somaliland would like to deepen its relations with the Gulf countries.
"We would like to get more investors from the gulf countries and we would like to see more trade flows from the region and I would like to see our economies more integrated," he said.
Currently 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... is the country’s main export destination.
The main exports are livestock as well as commercial ties and relations with Oman and Kuwait, he said.
"We have a lot of opportunities for investments in different areas, in agriculture in livestock, minerals, tourism, and services."
The Somaliland government is also planning to set up an investment company with in the Dubai International Financial Center to facilitate investment in Somaliland.
"Its role will be to create, joint venture companies with investors from different parts of the world and it will be a facilitating company basically where the companies would be working in Somaliland but the formation will take place here in Dubai," Shire said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
They are doing better by the year and more secure too.
[Teslarati] In statements provided to the Brownsville Herald, a Texan paper dedicated to a South Texas region that includes SpaceX’s Boca Chica launch site, state representative René Oliveira hinted that SpaceX’s plans for the region could go “well beyond conducting launches.”
Dale Ketcham, Space Florida: people who worked on LC-39A and SLC-40 here for SpaceX now working on their Brownsville site. Georgia will be offering a spaceport site just as attractive to launch customers as Brownsville.
3dc: I put the SpaceX story here today as the factory will be building the world's largest rocket ever. It's next to what will soon be one of the world's largest LNG ports (about 1.5 miles away) and the mouth of the Rio Grande (about 1 mile away) The LNG is important as the rocket runs on LOX and LNG. The scale of this effort is right out of StarTrek. The rocket will be able to carry over 100 passengers at a time. Brownsville is a poor city. This might turn its future around. One other point: US Navy aircraft carriers go to be scrapped about 2 miles from this site. Currently the USS Saratoga and USS Independence are being scrapped.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The United States mission in Saudi Arabia is primarily to fight terrorism and support Saudi Arabia, a statement from the Pentagon said on Thursday.
The statement also reiterated how Saudi Arabia has been attacked by Iranian-backed Houthi militias using ballistic missiles in the past.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire.... ’s military advance in the Kurdish-dominated area was launched on January 20 and continues amid the UN Security Council’s recent resolution 2401, calling on all parties to immediately cease hostilities in the area to secure safe and unhindered humanitarian aid supplies, as well as medical evacuations.
On Thursday, Turkey’s Central Command sent parts of the country’s special police forces and the gendarmerie to the area of Afrin in Syria, aiming to support the Olive Branch operation, the Ottoman Turkish Yeni Shafak media reports.
According to the outlet, special forces have already started their duty in their new location, which includes de-mining and search operations, primarily in the city. The special forces are also tasked to counteract night attacks by terrorists.
In addition, these units can be used in battles in the central part of Afrin.
The media outlet recalled that the special operations forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkey and the gendarmerie gained considerable experience in counter-terrorism operations in the cities of Silopi, Idil, Yuksekova, Nusaybin and Shirnak in the south-east of Turkey in 2016.
Olive Branch
The report follows the recent resolution unanimously adopted by the UN Security Council on February 27, which urges all parties to the Syrian conflict to immediately stop all festivities and adhere to a long-term humanitarian truce ..The purposes of a truce are twofold: 1.) bring up more arms, ammunition, and reinforcements; and 2.) get the enemy to relax his vigilance. A truce is not the same thing as a ceasefire, and a ceasefire doesn't mean you have to stop shooting... on the entire territory of Syria in order to ensure safe and unhindered humanitarian aid supplies, as well as medical evacuations for those injured.
The document, however, specified that the ceasefire does not apply to military operations against ISIS, al-Qaeda, and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly known as the Nusra Front) terrorist groups.
Thus the Ottoman Turkish side, which has been accused by US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert’s of violating the Syrian truce, stressed that Ankara’s military operation against Kurdish forces in Afrin had been aimed against terrorists.
Turkey has been conducting its military operation code-named "Olive Branch" in the Kurdish-dominated area of Afrin for over a month. The advance was triggered by Washington’s announcement that it would begin training a 30,000-strong border security force, comprised of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which Ankara considers affiliates of the Ottoman Turkish Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey.
Reacting to the Ottoman Turkish military advance, Damascus has expressed its opposition to the Ottoman Turkish operation, saying that such actions violate Syrian illusory sovereignty.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
"The loudest voices are echoing for limiting the ownership of guns to those Americans who are 21 years of age, or older.
"And here's the conundrum.
"When my boys turned ten years, I bought them B-B guns."
--snip--
"So, let us confront the conundrum.
"In Oregon, to hunt big game, you need a Youth License. At age 12. To hunt upland game and waterfowl, youth 13 and younger need to answer HIP validation, and that license is free.
"To hunt small game, youth 11 or younger do not need a license."
My kids have the same Constitutional Rights as any other American.
Except for the unborn. We've taken their rights away.
.
#1
If you are willing to draft them or conscript them and have them roll into war at 18, I would say they are also able to become personally responsible for their own lives and the lives of their Brothers in combat with their own expertise.
All their narrative of arguments are stupid.
This Tragedy was the government not protecting their people and had nothing to do with guns.
All their ideas are stupid.
Why do we always get sucked into their stupid narrative? Talk past those idiots. They are not listening anyway.
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
-
§311. Militia: composition and classes
(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are—
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.
Only the blind, deaf, or mentally impaired can not connect the dots. Its those bent on evil themselves who refuse to see the connection.
#7
(1) If your gun is used in a crime and you haven't reported it stolen or somehow proved you had it adequately secured, you are considered an accomplice to that crime. Do that and the vast majority of gun deaths (suicides mostly) would disappear.
If you commit a crime with a gun you get life in prison without possibility of parole. Doesn't matter if anyone was injured during the crime or if the perp was a minor. Do that and gun crimes will drop dramatically.
#8
My problem is the fast grip squeeze.
Different weapons, different grips with two fingers or three.
A changeout of the EDC and I always roll the first rounds down and to the right...what?
#9
Age is not a factor in these shootings. If 18 year olds are old enough to go to war and vote, they are old enough to own a firearm.
The statists here will be trying to grab guns long after all of us have gone on to greener pastures. That has not worked out well for people where it has been actually been done.
[DAWN] Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last say on all state matters, on Thursday praised Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now... for his "resistance" after seven years of war.
"Syria is on the front lines today; it is our duty to defend the Syrian resistance," Khamenei was quoted on his official website.
"Bashir al-Assad, the Syrian president, appeared as a great example of resistance and a fighting image; he never hesitated and stood strong: this is extremely important for a nation," he added.
Khamenei also hailed Iran's survival as it enters the 40th year since the revolution. "From day one, all major world powers united and acted against us: the United States, USSR, NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and structure.... , Arab and regional reactionaries ‐ they all united. But we survived and prospered."
Addressing Assad, he said, "If you and we, and other elements of resistance stay determined, the enemy cannot accomplish a single thing".
The resistance, according to Iran, is made up of Iran, Syria, the Lebanese hard boy group Hezbollah, Iraqi militias and Paleostinian groups. Iran is the main regional ally of the Syrian regime, which is also supported by Russia.
Khamenei's statement comes a day after the EU urged Iran, Russia and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... to do what they can to get the Syrian government to halt its offensive in the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta to let aid enter and civilians evacuate.
On Saturday the United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... Security Council passed a resolution calling for a 30-day ceasefire across Syria without delay, but it has yet to take effect. Russia and Syria set up a humanitarian corridor for the entry of aid and for civilians to leave Eastern Ghouta for five hours each day, but violence has continued with the regime and rebels blaming each other.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] In all probability, Iran will eventually succumb to popular demonstrations and protests, simply because it doesn’t have the solutions to its growing economic problems, unless it abandons its costly expansionist practices. Most of Iran's revenues are siphoned off by militias raised in pursuit of its expansionist goals.
Furthermore, a large portion of this funding is spent on developing advanced weapons’ programs, particularly ballistic missiles. When it finally gives up these programs, it will become clear that all of its political and expansionist agendas ‐ be they in Iraq, Syria, Leb and 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... have been complete failures.
The IRGC are as brutal as the ISIS militia, the only difference between the two being their sectarian divergence
Mohammed Al Shaikh
Thus, I truly believe that Iran will have no choice but to snuff out protests, which subside in one place but erupt somewhere else, via the Revolutionary Guards and by adopting the practices of the SAVAK which the deposed Shah utilized to govern the country with. Such practices may be successful only for some time, but eventually they would yield to the will of the protesters, just like they protested against the Shah and toppled him.
More pernicious than Shah’s repression
The difference between the revolution against the Shah and the revolution against the theocracy is that the claws of the repressive holy manal power, in the form of the Revolutionary Guards, are far more pernicious and dreadful than those used by the Shah’s army and security forces in their time.
The Shah’s security and army were not ideologically driven and their military tactics had nothing to do with religion. Their aim was to defend Iran, the nation. However, some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go... Iranian Revolutionary Guard militia are religiously driven, are deeply embedded in Vilayat-e-Faqih doctrine and by what the holy mans say.
ALSO READ: Israeli satellite pictures allegedly show new Iranian military base in Syria
They do not ponder for a second before striking down anyone who faces them, and remain adamant even if they may have to wipe out half of the Iranian people. In fact, they are as brutal as the ISIS militia, the only difference between the two being their sectarian divergence.
Plagued by hunger, poverty and corruption, the floundering economy of Iran and the ineptitude of the regime in improving economic conditions gives me the confidence to firmly predict that Iran will, in the next two to three years, witness a civil war, especially if the United States persists with its sanctions against the regime and diminishes Iran’s ability to become part of the global economy.
Such measures are tantamount to adding fuel to fire. This would worsen Iran’s domestic situation and would stoke the flames of popular resentment which will spread until it exhausts the Revolutionary Guards.
The IRGC will make it violent
In contrast, the Revolutionary Guards will never tolerate the downfall of the 1979 revolution, which they deem their doctrinal duty to protect and preserve. Hence, they will certainly try to suppress protests at all costs.
Therefore, all the objective indicators point that if hungry people revolt en masse, the Revolutionary Guard can only confront them with the force of arms. If we look at Bashar's experience in Syria as a case in point, then we can see that he was only able to withstand the ire of Syrian masses with the help of Russians.
If the hungry masses come out to revolt, their revolution will likely turn into a bloody civil war, just as the one that took place in Syria. All I want to say is that economic failures that stare in the face of the theocracy will always be the cause and trigger for civil wars.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
a smug opinion piece from a Saudi national
the Saudis have more money than Iran but they are losing it faster
Posted by: lord garth ||
03/02/2018 1:43
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Insert your state here:
Plagued by hunger, poverty and corruption, the floundering economy of California and the ineptitude of the regime in improving economic conditions gives me the confidence to firmly predict thatCaliforniawill, in the next two to three years, witness a civil war, especially if the United States persists with its sanctions against the regime and diminishesCalifornia’s ability to become part of the global economy.
#6
Tarantino has said he will stop directing films after his 10th movie – a declaration he reaffirmed in November 2016, at the Adobe Max creativity conference in San Diego.
One step closer--his 9th. Can we trust him to stop?
[DAWN] A social studies teacher barricaded himself inside a classroom at a Georgia high school on Wednesday and fired a handgun, sending students running outside or hunkering down in darkened gym locker rooms, authorities said.
No Dalton High School students were in the classroom when the teacher fired the weapon, and despite the chaotic lockdown and evacuation, the only injury was a student who hurt her ankle running away.
It wasn't immediately clear why the teacher, 53-year-old Jesse Randal Davidson, had the gun. Under questioning by detectives, he refused to discuss what led to the shooting.
The gunfire erupted with a nation on edge two weeks after a Florida school shooting left 17 students and faculty dead and ignited a new debate over gun control in America.
Within minutes of the Dalton shooting, students there took to social media, calling for restricting gun rights.
In the afternoon, President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... , who has advocated for arming teachers, convened a bipartisan group of politicians at the White House to address gun violence.
The teacher was taken into custody without incident after a 30 to 45-minute standoff with officers, police front man Bruce Frazier said. A teacher since 2004, Davidson also serves as the play-by-play announcer for the high school's football team.
Police noted that Davidson didn't appear to want to hurt the students or faculty. He fired the gun at an exterior window when the principal tried to enter the classroom.
"I don't know whether he was just firing the gun off to let people know to back off or what," Frazier said.
The shooting happened about 11:30 am during Davidson's planning period. At first, students tried to get into the classroom, but they couldn't. The students told the principal, who tried to enter.
"I didn't get the door open very far, but he slammed the door and hollered 'Go away, don't come in here.' He had some nonsensical noises that were made as well," Principal Steve Bartoo said.
Bartoo returned a short time later and put his key in the door "and again he slammed the door before I could open it and he said, 'Don't come in here, I have a gun.'" That's when Davidson fired and the school was placed on lockdown, authorities said.
Davidson faces six charges, including aggravated assault involving a gun and terroristic threats and acts, jail records showed. Other charges include carrying a weapon in a school safety zone and reckless conduct. It's not clear if he has an attorney.
Chondi Chastain told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named she was supposed to have Davidson's class at 2:30 pm.
"My favorite teacher at Dalton high school just blockaded his door and proceeded to shoot. We had to run out the back of the school in the rain. Students were being trampled and screaming. I dare you to tell me arming teachers will make us safe," she tweeted in a post that was retweeted 15,000 times within hours.
She said Davidson himself had commented that arming teachers was a bad idea.
"I feel like there just shouldn't be guns at school at all," she said. "It's our basic student right to feel safe at school and if (teachers were armed), I wouldn't feel safe."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Within minutes of the Dalton shooting, students there took to social media, calling for restricting gun rights
[AlAhram] The Egyptian military and police potted 13 "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" and enjugged Please don't kill me! 86 high-risk "snuffies and criminal elements" as part of the ongoing counter-terrorism operation in Sinai, an army communiqué said on Thursday.
Military front man Tamer El-Refai said in the statement on Thursday that two army officers were killed, and one officer and an NCO were maimed during operations.
"Air forces targeted and destroyed nine targets used to shelter terrorist elements, as well as two booby-trapped vehicles that were prepared to attack forces in the field of operations," the statement added.
"Army engineers uncovered and diffused 10 IEDs which were planted to target security forces during operations," it added.
The military also destroyed 100 hideouts, tunnels, trenches where large amounts of weapons and logistical material were discovered.
Betcha the Israelis have pictures of the secondaries...
[Ynet] A Paleostinian man was lightly maimed when a mortar fired during fighting in Sinai between the Egyptian army and the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... fell on his home in Rafah, in the southern Gazoo Strip.
[DAWN] Air strikes killed nine civilians and maimed at least six on Wednesday in two separate attacks in north and west 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... by the Saudi-led coalition fighting against the Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... movement, residents said.
The Saudi-led coalition, which has intervened in Yemen’s war since 2015 to try to restore president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power, has conducted frequent air strikes and has often hit civilians, although denies ever doing so intentionally.
The Houthis, a movement derived from northern Yemen’s Zaidi Shia Moslem community, have controlled much of Yemen including the capital Sanaa since driving Hadi out three years ago.
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... and its Sunni Moslem allies ‐ including the United Arab Emirates ‐ say the Houthis are aligned with Shia Iran and pose a threat to the region.
Residents said four civilians had been killed in an air strike in the suburbs of the northern city of Saada, the main Houthi stronghold.
Five girls were killed in another Arclight airstrike that targeted a field in the west of the country, in the western Hodeidah district.
On Tuesday, airstrikes killed five civilians in north of the country.
The war has killed more than 10,000 people, displaced more than two million and driven the country ‐ already the poorest on the Arabian Peninsula ‐ to the verge of widespread famine.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Houthis
[MassLive] Daniel Frisiello, the 24-year-old Beverly man who is accused of sending letters containing a suspicious white powder to Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... Jr. and other public figures, was described by his lawyer as an "overwhelmed young man."
Frisiello appeared in federal court in Worcester on Thursday, where Judge David Hennessy ordered that he remain in jug until a hearing on Monday. He is charged with five counts of mailing a threat to cause injury and five counts of making hoax threats.
Authorities say Frisiello sent the letters containing the powder to the president's eldest son, Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, U.S. Attorney Nicola T. Hanna, Stanford University Professor Michele Dauber, Sen. Deborah Stabenow and California Republican Congressional candidate Antonio Sabato Jr.
The white powder found inside all five letters was deemed not hazardous.
The Beverly man accused of mailing letters with a suspicious white powder to Donald Trump Jr. and other high-profile people across the country will remain in federal custody until a hearing scheduled for Monday.
Frisiello intends to plead not guilty, Gleason said. He did not enter a plea in court on Thursday because the hearing was an initial appearance.
Outside of the courthouse on Thursday, Frisiello's attorney, Scott Gleason, said his clients' parents were not aware that their son sent the letters.
Frisiello's parents declined to comment.
During Frisiello's court appearance, the government expressed a concern regarding medications the defendant may be taking to combat suicidal thoughts.
"He's on medication. That's as far as I'll go with that," Gleason said. "He's been on medication his entire life."
Gleason would not elaborate on what the medication was for or if his client had mental health issues.
Frisiello's parents are overwhelmed, the attorney said.
"It certainly is extraordinarily traumatic for them," he said. "They seem like absolutely wonderful people with an incredible support system and that's why we're very optimistic of getting through this without much more difficulty."
Frisiello is scheduled to return to court Monday. He was tossed in the calaboose Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! Thursday morning.
Additional information about the self-described Massachusetts Democrat and graduate of a school for the learning disabled from the busy people at Heavy.com.
#2
Apply the Law. This is not a Crime worthy of leniency. And , also, it is nota crime that can be ignored and ALLOWED to enjoy Liberal political justifications of any sort.
This is an example of Liberal hubris and threatening the family of the Person of the President of the United States' FAMILY.
A Free People must take critical notice and deal with it accordingly. This attack is a cowardly attack aimed at the entire American people by an individual acting in Liberal HUBRIS.
Liberals are NOT smarter than the majority of Americans with "Values" superior to that majority. And we can not excuse their willingness to Threaten the people of the United States by threatening our majority choice of administrator, duly elected, by a COWARDLY threat to that man's innocent family.
He has exhibited classic Liberal coercion by cowardly force of the rules of our Constitutional judgement and the institutions of Lawful society. We cannot afford to tolerate him or his despicable values.
Posted by: Andy Bumble5704 ||
03/02/2018 5:51
Comments ||
Top||
#3
His parents are "overwhelmed", he's "overwhelmed", his attorney is overwhelmed!
They're the victims, apparently
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/02/2018 5:56
Comments ||
Top||
#4
Shut off all his social media, email, tv and radio access and he will recover quickly.
#9
Time to make *ssholetusetts. An offer: Contract DoD to nuke Bahsten and Woostah and we'll let the rest of em stay right where they are at. Otherwise, showtime.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/02/2018 14:34
Comments ||
Top||
#10
Shut off all his social media, email, tv and radio access and he will recover quickly..
On the internet, no one knows you’re a dog.
He’s a physically large Special Ed. kid as grown up as he is ever going to be, and his parents can’t keep him from believing what he reads on the internet (some of it, no doubt, originally sourced in Russia) and acting on it. I hope airandee is right.
#4
The melanin-rich clientele at stateside dollar stores seem to have no problem with their condoms. It's possible Zimbabweans are getting condoms sized for local endowments. By which I mean the thickness of their wallets, of course.
[AnNahar] A man who supplied a radicalized teenager with a gun to shoot dead an Australian police employee made an 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 salute as he was placed in durance vile ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... for 44 years Thursday.
Raban Alou admitted obtaining and giving a handgun to 15-year-old Farhad Mohammad
...the bullied basketballer who is also in our archives as Farhad Jabar and Farhad Khalil Mohammad Jabar...
at a Sydney mosque in 2015.
The teenager then shot Curtis Cheng in the back of the head outside the New South Wales police headquarters.
Mohammad, who authorities at the time said was born in Iran of Iraqi and Kurdish background, was shot and killed in an exchange of fire with police special constables soon after.
Alou, 20, was sentenced to a maximum of 44 years behind bars, with a non-parole period of 33 years, at the NSW Supreme Court after pleading guilty to aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring a terrorist act.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation said he gave an Islamic State salute -- with one finger pointing skywards -- and shouted "this is only the beginning" as he was led away.
In his sentencing remarks, Justice Peter Johnson said Alou had shown no remorse.
"The offender's response is devoid of basic humanity," he said, ABC reported.
"The offender was a very active planner and participant in this offence.
"Unless the offender had obtained the firearm and supplied it to Farhad Mohammad, this crime would not have been committed."
Canberra is concerned about the prospect of lone-wolf attacks by individuals inspired by groups such as Islamic State, and lifted its terror threat alert to high in 2014.
Since then, 85 people have been charged as a result of 36 counter-terrorism related operations around the country, police said earlier this month.
At least 14 attacks have been prevented in the past few years, although several have taken place.
[DailyMail] Alou was in trouble with the law for much of his teenage life, with several convictions including for robbery, armed robbery, possessing a knife in a public place and a raft of driving offences. He was supervised by the Department of Juvenile Justice at Blacktown, New South Wales since 14 March 2014.
In January 2015, the department lauded the fact he had become more dedicated to Islam. A report praised Alou for 'getting more involved in his religion, stopping his cannabis use and disassociating himself from his negative peer group'.
Just nine months later he aided an ISIS-inspired terror attack which saw father-of-two Mr Curtis shot in the back of the head while leaving work.
The sentencing report also reveals that Alou was a member of an ISIS supporters' WhatsApp group where he posted sick messages praising the terror cell's recent atrocities. The group was called 'The Bricks' and used the ISIS flag as its icon.
The judge's report also details how Alou manged to procure the Smith & Wesson .38 revolver before handing it over to Jabad at Parramatta Mosque on the day of the attack. He tried two different contacts before a third eventually agreed to source the weapon for him. In one chilling message with an unnamed friend, Alou asked to borrow $100 to buy the gun.
Handwriting analysis found the note found in Cheng’s pocket after he was murdered was written by Jabad's older sister Shadi Mohammad, 21, who played a major part in radicalising him. Before Jabad's attack, she fled to Turkey where she made her way to Syria to marry an ISIS fighter before being killed in an air strike in 2016.
This article starring:
Curtis Cheng
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[AlAhram] President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi inaugurated the East of the Canal Command Centre, on 25 February, days before the end of the three-month deadline he had given to eradicate terrorism from Sinai.
The new command centre is part of an ambitious drive to upgrade and modernise the Armed Forces, said Presidential Spokesman Bassam Radi.
The new facility is a meeting and visitor centre constructed by military engineers 27 metres underground.
An interesting choice. Against whom do they seek protection by going that deep?
It is not an operations control headquarters, says General Nagi Shuhoud of the Higher Nasser Military Academy. "The operations control facility is situated in another area and it is reserved for military personnel and operations management."
The centre was first mooted two and a half years ago when the eastern commands ‐ the first and second field armies ‐ were unified and the site has been visited by leading officials.
During the inauguration al-Sissi listened to a presentation by General Hassan Abdel-Shafi, director of the military engineers’ corps, who explained the structure of the command centre’s military and administrative units.
The president lauded recent successes in eliminating terrorist operatives, lairs and arms depots and securing the borders of the peninsula, severing terrorist supply lines and smuggling routes for weapons, ammunition and terrorists.
Appearing in uniform for the fourth time since he was elected president, al-Sissi said: "The Egyptian people trust the ability of their Armed Forces to protect Egypt."
After concluding a presentation on the progress of COS 2018, General Mohammed Farid Hegazi requested an extension of the three-month deadline for the eradication of terrorism.
"We started to prepare for the comprehensive military operation from the moment we were assigned the mission. We have now begun to carry it out," he said.
"The Armed Forces have discovered that Death Eaters prepared installations and planted bombs throughout the areas in which they operate in Sinai, including some residential quarters."
"The original deadline was an expression of the desire to eliminate any threats as quickly as possible, especially after attacks on al-Rawda Mosque at Beir al-Abd and at Arish airport during the defence and interior ministers’ visit in November," says Brigadier General Khaled Okasha, a member of the National Counter-terrorism Council. But from a security standpoint the timetable has proved too short to execute all the required tasks.
In requesting an extension the chief of staff was being objective and honest, says Okasha.
"Goals are being accomplished and the way is being paved for development plans without any falsification of facts on the ground or precipitous haste.
Development is core to our long stern strategy, which is why we saw the president at the command centre not just with military leaders but also with ministers who oversee public services, utilities and investment. The development dimension of the operation could not be clearer."
Okasha’s words echoed those of the presidential front man who said: "A comprehensive development process in Sinai began in 2014 and will continue until 2022." Noting that the process will cost some LE275 billion, he urged Egyptians to work together to facilitate the financing.
The president appealed to citizens and the business community to contribute to the Long Live Egypt Fund, saying funding development in Sinai has become a national security question of the first order.
In a press briefing for military news hounds, army front man Colonel Tamer al-Rifaai said COS 2018 will continue until north and central Sinai are free of terrorism.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] According to Israeli satellite pictures, Iran has built another permanent military base in Damascus with hangars used to store short to medium range missiles, Fox News reported.
The news channel obtained the images from the Israeli company, ImageSat international, which show two white hangars, about 30 meters by 20 meters each.
According to Fox news, the base is operated by the Quds Force, an Iranian faction operating in Syria under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
A similar Iranian base was destroyed in Syria by the Israeli military in December.
Meanwhile, ...back at the bunker, his Excellency called the chief of staff and complained that the artillery was keeping him awake... an official from Russia’s Security Council said on Thursday that the US has set up around 20 military bases in Syria on territory controlled by the Kurds, the RIA news agency reported.
The official, Alexander Venediktov, an aide to Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, also said Washington was supplying the Kurds with the most advanced weapons, according to RIA.
The comes amidst wide criticism of Russia and Iran’s continued support for the Assad regime, and their raids of eastern Ghouta which has killed hundreds of civilians, including women and kiddies.
The duo has received backlash from UN officials and security council members, including Kelley Currie, the US ambassador for economic and social affairs.
"Russia, Iran and the Assad regime are not even trying to hide their intentions," Currie told the council in their last meeting. "They are asking civilians to leave eastern Ghouta on the false premise that they can then attack anyone left in the area as much as they would like."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that Israel will not tolerate an Iranian foothold on its northern border with Syria.
Earlier this month, an unmanned Iranian aircraft was shot down by Israeli forces after entering Israeli airspace.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
According to Fox news, the base is operated by the Quds Force
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the U.S. military’s top research arm, is looking into whether it might be possible to exploit fish, shellfish, and other marine organisms as unwitting sensors to spot and track submarines and other underwater threats. The idea is create a low cost means of persistently monitoring naval activity beneath the waves across a wide area, but it could be hard to get the sea life to reliably perform their new jobs as discreet undersea spies.
DARPA first announced this project, which it calls the Persistent Aquatic Living Sensors, or PALS, earlier in February 2018. The month before it had unveiled a broader concept for an "Ocean of Things," which would also incorporate a large number of small, low cost, and environmentally friendly sensor nodes, either on the sea bed or floating up above, to monitor ship and submarine movements, as well as gather data about changing environmental conditions and other scientific information.
"The U.S. Navy’s current approach to detecting and monitoring underwater vehicles is hardware-centric and resource intensive," Lori Adornato, the PALS program manager, said in an official statement. "If we can tap into the innate sensing capabilities of living organisms that are ubiquitous in the oceans, we can extend our ability to track adversary activity and do so discreetly, on a persistent basis, and with enough precision to characterize the size and type of adversary vehicles."
At the most basic level, DARPA envisions developing a system that records marine animal activity, or the sounds they produce, and decodes that data to determine whether they’re just swimming along as normal or dodging an enemy submarine. This would not require actually implanting or otherwise "modifying" any fish or crustaceans.
#1
Dr. Evil in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery: "You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads!..."
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... suffered heavy losses on Thursday during its offensive against a Kurdish militia in northwest Syria, with the military announcing that eight soldiers were killed and 13 more maimed.
The corpse count, released by the Ottoman Turkish military staff in two separate statements, makes Thursday one of the deadliest days for Ankara since launching its cross-border operation against the People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria's Afrin region on 20 January.
"As part of the operations in Afrin, five of our heroic comrades fell as deaders and seven were maimed" on Thursday, said the staff in a first statement.
Shortly after, it issued a second statement in which it announced that three more soldiers had been killed as well as six maimed, without giving details of the circumstances.
"May God grant peace to our martyred soldiers in Afrin, all my condolences to their loved ones," front man for the Ottoman Turkish presidency Ibrahim Kalin said on Twitter.
The day's toll brings the number of Ottoman Turkish soldiers killed since the launch of operation "Olive Branch" to at least 40.
Ankara considers the YPG a "terrorist" organization closely linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a group that has been leading a bloody guerrilla war on Ottoman Turkish soil since 1984.
However, nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits... the YPG is supported by the United States and have been spearheading the international coalition fight against the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) group in Syria.
The situation was complicated further 10 days ago following the deployment of pro-regime elements in the enclave of Afrin, with observers warning of an increased risk of collision between the forces of Ankara and Damascus.
On Monday, Turkey deployed some 600 members of the police and gendarmerie special forces in the Afrin region, indicating it was preparing for urban fighting.
The Ottoman Turkish authorities have rejected a call by the United States this week to implement the humanitarian truce ..The purposes of a truce are twofold: 1.) bring up more arms, ammunition, and reinforcements; and 2.) get the enemy to relax his vigilance. A truce is not the same thing as a ceasefire, and a ceasefire doesn't mean you have to stop shooting... , called for by the UN Security Council in Syria, with Ankara saying the UN resolution did not concern its operation.
The International Committee of the Red Thingy said a humanitarian aid convoy entered the Afrin region on Thursday for the first time since the start of the Ottoman Turkish offensive, which has had a severe impact on civilians.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), 141 civilians, including 27 children, have died since the beginning of the Ottoman Turkish military campaign, a claim which Ankara denies.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
#1
turkey's deployment of extra police probably means that their FSA and other allies (some of which are ex al queda under a different brand name) are taking a considerable beating
Posted by: lord garth ||
03/02/2018 10:24
Comments ||
Top||
[DAWN] Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif on Thursday extended support to Kabul's proposed political process seeking to recognise the Taliban ...Arabic for students... as a legitimate political group, and said Pakistain is ready for one-on-one talks with the Afghan Taliban.
Asif's statements come a day after Afghanistan's Caped PresidentAshraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. at the second Kabul Process conference offered recognition of the Taliban as a political group and asked the group to take part in peace talks "to save the country".
The offer adds to a series of signals from both the Western-backed government and the Taliban suggesting a greater willingness to consider dialogue.
The Afghan president said the process would be accompanied by coordinated diplomatic support including a global effort to persuade Pakistain, which Kabul has regularly accused of aiding the Taliban, of the advantages of a stable Afghanistan. Ghani also renewed an offer of talks with Pakistain, which Islamabad welcomed.
"The talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government are actually discussions between two political forces, and Pakistain will support it," Asif told a group of China-Pakistain Economic Corridor investors today.
"Pakistain is also ready for one-on-one mediation with the Afghan Taliban," he added,
The foreign minister observed that "some institutions" portray their own interests as being in the greater national interest, and that "this habit will also be changed soon".
"The effects of the 80s and the Musharraf era still exist, Pakistain will not make the same mistakes now and keep American interests above its own," Asif asserted.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies
Such an elevated diplomatic term, entente — in French no less! — for a peace processer whose motor has ground to a halt. But Al Ahram will inform you of all the details nonetheless, dear Reader.
[AlAhram] Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, and Cairo are trying to salvage the reconciliation agreement with extended talks and a roadmap.
[DAWN] KARACHI: The joint interrogation team (JIT) probing the murder of 19-year-old Intizar Ahmed in Defence has decided to record the statement of the father of a former class-fellow of the victim following new disclosures made by the lone witness to the incident in her video statement, it emerged on Wednesday.
Madiha Kayani ... four star general, Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani was the former Director General of ISI... , a TV show host and the only eyewitness to the Jan 13 murder, alleged that the killing was "planned" and now she also felt threatened for her life as she recognised one of the key characters of the deadly episode.
In a video statement, which went viral on social media platforms, a visibly nervous and shaken Kayani appealed to the Rangers and other law enforcement agencies to provide her security.
"It was a planned murder," she said of Intizar’s killing. "Since I am the only eyewitness to the incident and I reported that a man sporting moustache is the murderer, I am feeling insecure for my life," she added.
As the new video raised certain questions about the murder, the JIT on Wednesday invited the victim’s father, Ishtiaq Ahmed, his lawyer and Ms Kayani for investigation.
The JIT head, Counter-Terrorism Department chief Sanaullah Abbasi, told Dawn that they were invited since the video fuelled speculations about the murder.
The JIT advised the girl and the victim’s father not to indulge in "speculations", he said, adding: "A private investigation is prejudicial to the police investigation."
The CTD chief said all witnesses in the Intizar murder case would be given protection under the Witness Protection Act.
He said a formal meeting of the JIT would be held on Thursday (today).
Another member of the JIT, on the condition of anonymity, told Dawn that they decided to record the statement of Sohail Hameed, father of Mahrukh who was a former class-fellow of the victim, via a remote video link as he was in the United States.
Meanwhile, ...back at the mall, Clarissa suddenly spied Mr. Bartlett at the checkout counter. He was buying Grecian Formula!... sources familiar with investigations said that Inspector Amir Hameed, brother of Sohail Hameed, recorded his statement before the JIT.
He told the JIT that his brother, Sohail Hameed, had once called Intizar’s father Ishtiaq over the phone complaining that his son was frequently calling his daughter Mahrukh in the US.
The sources said that the dear departed’s family had sent a marriage proposal to Mahrukh’s family which they turned down before moving to the US.
They said that Mr Ahmed had "apologised" to Mr Hameed and told him that he had sent his son to Malaysia for further studies.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[10News] An armed attack currently underway in Burkina Faso's capital of Ouagadougou is centered on the French embassy, according to a post on the embassy's Facebook page.
[WashingtonTimes] The Senate confirmed one of President Trump’s judicial nominees Thursday despite Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer’s attempt to foil the nominee because of his race.
[WAPO] Fewer high school seniors in the District are expected to receive diplomas in June than in the year before, a sharp reversal for a school system that had celebrated a 20-point increase in its graduation rate since 2011.
I suggest we refer to Smart's farm as a 'Peace Farm.' Tours can be held. Media interviews conducted. The success of a modern, progressive, post-apartheid government heralded. 
[Daily Caller] Planned Parenthood announced it will spend $20 million dollars in states with upcoming Senate and governor races where Democrats are likely to win, in order to make its spending as effective as possible.
[DAWN] A German national believed to be a military adviser to the 
the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
...a port city in the southern Lower Juba province of Somalia, at the extreme southern end of the country (assuming Somalia can be called a country). It is the commercial capital of the autonomous Jubaland region...
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Yemeni Coalition for Monitoring Human Rights Violations revealed that the 
...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...
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
North Korea
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Following fierce battles with the Yemeni Army and Arab Coalition, 17 Houthis were killed and dozens injured on Wednesday in Nahm, in Yemen’s capital Sanaa.
the personification of Somali state failure...
the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
...Liwa al-Islam (Brigade of Islam) was established by Zahran Alloush, the son of Saudi-based religious scholar Abdullah Mohammed Alloush, after Syrian authorities released him from prison in mid-2011 where he had been serving time for his Salafist activism. The group claimed responsibility for carrying out the July 2012 Damascus bombing that killed Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha, Deputy Defense Minister Asef Shawkat, and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani. It was a driving force behind actions in the Damascus region. It cooperated and conducted joint operations with al-Nusra. In Sptember 2013 Saudi Arabia engineered Liwa al-Islam's merger with fifty other more or less Salafist groups as a counterweight to al-Nusra, which the Learned Elders of Islam considered was growing too powereful...
...The only openly Socialist member of the U.S. Senate. Sanders was Representative-for-Life from Vermont until moving to the Senate for the rest of his life in 2006, assuming the seat vacated by Jim Jeffords. He ran for the 2016 nomination for president, to be cheated by Hillary, then went back to being a socialist...
the personification of Somali state failure...
[DAWN] A report submitted to the Supreme Court on Thursday regarding television anchor Dr Shahid Masood's claims about 6-year-old Zainab's killer states that all 18 of the revelations made by Masood were false and baseless.
[Teslarati] In statements provided to the Brownsville Herald, a Texan paper dedicated to a South Texas region that includes SpaceX’s Boca Chica launch site, state representative René Oliveira hinted that SpaceX’s plans for the region could go “well beyond conducting launches.”
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[IMAGES.DAWN] Who is playing the notorious murderer? Find out here
...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...
[MassLive] Daniel Frisiello, the 24-year-old Beverly man who is accused of sending letters containing a suspicious white powder to 
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] 
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..
[DAWN] KARACHI: The joint interrogation team (JIT) probing the murder of 19-year-old Intizar Ahmed in Defence has decided to record the statement of the father of a former class-fellow of the victim following new disclosures made by the lone witness to the incident in her video statement, it emerged on Wednesday.
