Hi there, !
Today Wed 05/15/2019 Tue 05/14/2019 Mon 05/13/2019 Sun 05/12/2019 Sat 05/11/2019 Fri 05/10/2019 Thu 05/09/2019 Archives
Rantburg
531689 articles and 1855967 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 54 articles and 156 comments as of 11:30.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix    Main Page
Security guard killed as terrorists storm Pearl Continental Hotel in Gwadar: ISPR
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
10:07 3 22:48 Beau [3]
07:41 16 21:49 Alaska Paul [3]
07:06 19 21:42 Alaska Paul [1]
06:54 4 11:35 JohnQC []
06:33 10 15:31 Ebbavirt Clunk4147 []
05:57 4 17:09 Herb McCoy []
05:53 1 10:02 chris [1]
02:49 3 08:07 Procopius2k [2]
01:18 1 05:16 M. Murcek [1]
00:56 4 09:18 M. Murcek [1]
00:39 4 17:49 Big Chomoque4543 []
00:00 14 19:22 Woodrow []
00:00 1 07:57 Herb McCoy []
00:00 2 07:45 Dron66046 [2]
00:00 0 []
00:00 0 [1] 
00:00 0 [] 
00:00 0 [] 
00:00 0 [] 
00:00 0 [1] 
00:00 1 05:10 M. Murcek []
00:00 2 00:34 Dron66046 [2] 
00:00 6 21:27 gorb [2] 
00:00 2 08:12 Dron66046 [1]
00:00 8 17:55 Bobby []
00:00 3 07:49 Dron66046 []
00:00 0 []
00:00 4 13:35 M. Murcek []
00:00 11 19:30 Anomalous Sources [1]
00:00 4 15:08 JohnQC []
00:00 3 09:21 M. Murcek []
00:00 5 15:37 Tyranysaurus Clavith3514 []
00:00 1 07:41 M. Murcek [1] 
00:00 0 [1] 
00:00 0 []
00:00 0 [1]
00:00 0 []
00:00 0 [1]
00:00 1 21:20 USN, Ret. [3]
00:00 0 [1] 
00:00 0 [] 
00:00 2 11:46 DarthVader []
00:00 1 08:52 lord garth [] 
00:00 0 [] 
00:00 0 [1]
00:00 0 [] 
00:00 0 [1]
00:00 5 16:42 trailing wife [1] 
00:00 0 [1] 
00:00 0 []
00:00 1 04:58 M. Murcek [] 
00:00 4 22:26 trailing wife []
00:00 3 10:19 SteveS [2]
00:00 3 10:12 Skidmark []
The Grand Turk
China's persecuted Uyghurs live 'freely' in Turkey
[CNN]
Sultan Erdogen I, the much beloved, started welcoming Turkics from abroad, including Uyghurs, as a substitute population for the babies the native Turks were not having... only to discover that they brought their jihadi connections with them. CNN carefully does not mention that in this article about the colourful refugees from Chinese abuse.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/12/2019 10:07 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Hats off to China though. Double that if they're successful in offloading those zombies onto someone else.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 05/12/2019 13:05 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm sure China is fine with this result.
Posted by: gorb || 05/12/2019 21:28 Comments || Top||

#3  Live freely + Islam. Yeah.
Posted by: Beau || 05/12/2019 22:48 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Rush Limbaugh: Is the Democrat Primary Race Over?
RUSH: Do you realize it may well be the Democrat primary race is over? In New Hampshire, Joe Biden is blowing out Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders was up 30 points nationally, he was up 25 or 30 points in New Hampshire, the last poll, and Biden has just launched over Bernie Sanders.

This may not be bad, by the way. Don’t misunderstand. When I say "us," meaning the Trumpster, may not be a bad thing. A bunch of mad Bernie voters might end up voting for Trump before the end of the day, but nevertheless ‐ and Trump’s even tweeting: "It looks like it’s gonna be SleepyJoe over Crazy Bernie."

Now, who would have thought, you got 18, whatever it is, number of Democrats running and all those women and all these new, fresh socialist leftists, and here comes the old brontosaurus from Jurassic Park, Plugs Biden, wiping out the field. He’s not just 30 points ahead of Crazy Bernie, he’s 50 points ahead of the rest of them, which we’ll break this down as the program unfolds. This tells us so much about the Democrat Party.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2019 07:41 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Plugs, somewhat like the late John McCain, is a throw away, notional candidate. The dems know they don't have a snowball's chance in hell. Unable to get anything to stick on the Orange Man, why waste a good leftest candidate on a losing race.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2019 7:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Here's a thought - most Antifa types are Bernie Bros, right? What's preventing them from not only voting for Trump (which, now that I think about it for two seconds, I don't believe at all) but going to DNC events, protesting, raising hell and kicking the crap out of other Democrats?
Posted by: Raj || 05/12/2019 7:58 Comments || Top||

#3  What's preventing them from...going to DNC events, protesting, raising hell and kicking the crap out of other Democrats?

Not me. Chicago '68 V2.0, baybaeeee :-)
Posted by: Frank G || 05/12/2019 9:03 Comments || Top||

#4  I think #5 mis spelled UNREALISM, but the spelling he chose said a lot anyway...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2019 10:30 Comments || Top||

#5 
#1 Plugs, somewhat like the late John McCain, is a throw away, notional candidate. The dems know they don't have a snowball's chance in hell. Unable to get anything to stick on the Orange Man, why waste a good leftest candidate on a losing race.
Posted by: Besoeker 2019-05-12 07:52


Beo,

You might be on to something here. What if the thinking at the very, very top is to concede that none of their candidates is going to make it, especially if the economy keeps going great guns? Let Trump have it...because in 2024, Mike Pence is likely to be the candidate. By their way of thinking, an old Christian white man with no record would be a lot easier to defame and beat.

Mike

Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 05/12/2019 10:31 Comments || Top||

#6  Atlanta Urinal-Constipation
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2019 10:31 Comments || Top||

#7  I'm really not a Pence fan, but by 2024 the dems may need someone who makes Butt-edge-edge look like Ward Cleaver. It could be interesting.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2019 10:33 Comments || Top||

#8  It's hard to imagine AOC fans feeling the fierce moral urgency of electing Joe Biden. I would recommend that she form a third party.
Posted by: Matt || 05/12/2019 10:39 Comments || Top||

#9  It's a little sooner than I expected but.................HERE COMES HILLARY!!
Posted by: AlanC || 05/12/2019 10:51 Comments || Top||

#10  Lessons learned:
1. Don't believe the polls.
2. Remember this is early and the Dem candidate is probably not even in the mix yet, hence Obama...
3. Don't believe the media.
The Dems have a long way to go, they will see what they have to offer right now will not win. They will find someone that comes in near the end to start a popularity wave. Someone like Opra...
Posted by: 49 Pan || 05/12/2019 11:56 Comments || Top||

#11  #9 Alan's, you might be correct. Hillary has been making noises in NH. HRC at Dartmouth.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/12/2019 15:03 Comments || Top||

#12  someone who makes Butt-edge-edge look like Ward Cleaver. It could be interesting.

The other night one of the late night comedians, or perhaps it was Saturday Night Live — I really wasn’t paying attention — played the entire bit President Trump did at the Florida rally about Sleepy Joe Biden and Butt-edge-edge, et al... The audience laughed, but that’s gong to stick in people’s minds.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2019 17:04 Comments || Top||

#13  If any of you have the idea that the Democrats have even the slightest idea of allowing a free and fair election, you're crazy.

It's going to be rigged, rigged, rigged from day 1. In their minds Trump is enough of a threat to disable democracy.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 05/12/2019 17:15 Comments || Top||

#14  I'm in my fifth decade of watching the American political scene, and every decade has shown that the center, as the overall electorate sees is, has shifted leftwards almost steadily. There were stutters like Reagan, but this moments also saw fierce leftist vehemence to claw back the drift. Nothing, ever, in my lifetime has been as vicious, ruthless, dishonest or wicked as the assault on Trump and his policies. The velocity of the drift under Champ was rapidly accelerating, and the importation of vast millions of low wage, entitlement-expecting foreigners coupled with really ignorant youth from our propaganda mills educational system, produced their expected omno-party moment. Unfortunately, their candidate was a vile, grifting plutocrat who couldn't win even with every advantage. SO now, what are they to do? The energy on their side is from the communist/socialists/social justice tribes, and the media almost exclusively carries ridiculous ad hominem attacks over actual news 24/7. SO they will keep making Trump seem some kind of dangerous monster, absent actual facts, and keep tacking left to get polling datum and let the horde suckup money, then if Biden can't get out of his own way, the Wookie, Oprah, or another "moderate will ride to the rescue. The center left of today's Democrat party was pure socialism in the 1960's, but few know that anymore...and we are increasingly dismissed as haters and unworthy of holding a genuine opinion...
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 05/12/2019 19:05 Comments || Top||

#15  if Biden can't get out of his own way, the Wookie, Oprah, or another "moderate will ride to the rescue.

Michelle Obama is even a worse campaigner than Hillary Clinton, and openly loathes politics and politicians (and the common run of voter) besides. And Oprah, though incredibly rich, has been losing viewers for years since she moved to her own channel on cable — and her viewers are female, not a mixed audience.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2019 21:35 Comments || Top||

#16  Dems will lie cheat gerrymander and keep losing until they go kinetic. Then all bets and gloves are off. It won’t be pretty. They are putting themselves in a corner.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 05/12/2019 21:49 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Sports Illustrated ‘Shatters Perceptions' Schools Readers, & Sets Stage for Upcoming Stacey Abrams Cover
[Red State] Do you ache for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue the way the high-waisted yellow guy hankers for a hunka cheese? Do you lie in wait in a creepy way at the supermarket, just waitin’ to get your sneaky mitts on the skimpy rag as soon as it slaps against the metal rack?

Well, this year, you’re gettin’ more for your money. Dig it ‐ it’s heavy.

In October, the UK pulled TV ads because it deemed the model too slim (here). Nobody’ll have that gripe with SI newcomer Hunter McGrady.

Hunter’s the magazine’s brand spankin’ new "obese" model. And why? Because "Exposure to diversity is the catalyst that will ignite tolerance, acceptance and understanding":
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2019 07:06 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ewwue... SI, Have you no decency?
Posted by: Ebbenter Sliting2005 || 05/12/2019 7:28 Comments || Top||

#2  She's athletic if chewing and swallowing is athletic.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2019 7:32 Comments || Top||

#3  Sponsored by Burger King!
Posted by: Raj || 05/12/2019 7:35 Comments || Top||

#4  SI beaching alert ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2019 7:38 Comments || Top||

#5  Sports Illustrated ‘Shatters Perceptions' Schools Readers, & Sets Stage for Upcoming Stacey Abrams Cover

Is that a euphemism for doing something stupid?
Posted by: gorb || 05/12/2019 7:55 Comments || Top||

#6  Why don't thinking people just boycott such products and publications ? This and Gillette and so much of this PC shit forced on us by these state pandering corporate rascals and pressure group loonies ?

This actually insults so many people apart from readers; including sportspersons, healthcare pros, trainers and models - people who work hard to achieve beautiful physiques, only to be shat upon by ugly people with ugly ideas.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 05/12/2019 7:57 Comments || Top||

#7  I've always thought that WI models, by and large, would look better with a few extra pounds.

This is ridiculous.
Posted by: AlanC || 05/12/2019 8:14 Comments || Top||

#8  Wait, this isn't a parody? OMG.
Posted by: John Frum || 05/12/2019 8:49 Comments || Top||

#9  Not the Babylon Bee? Just the Burg messing with people's heads?
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/12/2019 9:01 Comments || Top||

#10  I bet Max Kellerman and Stephen A(hole) Smith are all in...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2019 9:03 Comments || Top||

#11  First 6 page foldout cover...evah!
Posted by: Frank G || 05/12/2019 9:18 Comments || Top||

#12  Buh bye, SI.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 05/12/2019 9:43 Comments || Top||

#13  Why does every magazine and news outlet reach the point where executives attempt to become that dead parrot on Monty Python?
Posted by: 3dc || 05/12/2019 9:56 Comments || Top||

#14  Now THAT is a woman I can admire for her Mind. Sort-of.
Posted by: Unump Therens9551 || 05/12/2019 9:57 Comments || Top||

#15  For some reason, the word 'beluga' comes to mind.
Posted by: SteveS || 05/12/2019 10:15 Comments || Top||

#16  Stacey Abrams BMI is at least twice that of a Beluga
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 05/12/2019 10:47 Comments || Top||

#17  Hunter McGrady (the actual SI model) looks different depending on the year. Only about 6 years ago she weighed 120# which is pretty unhealthy for someone who is almost 6 feet tall.

Recently she weighed about 220# which may also be unhealthy but in the other direction. I'm guessing she will be below 200 for the wedding.

Her marriage is scheduled for June this year.
Posted by: lord garth || 05/12/2019 16:26 Comments || Top||

#18  SI has already ordered industrial-strength magazine racks to properly support this issue. No word from Nebraska or Iowa about flood-damaged road weight limits for the area distributors.
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 05/12/2019 21:15 Comments || Top||

#19  Free association.
Last time I saw Ahab he was stuck on the whale
That was married to the deputy sheriff of the jail
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 05/12/2019 21:42 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Roger Stone May Have Just Exposed A Major Issue With Mueller's Report
[Red State] No one has ever accused Roger Stone of being bright, but his legal team seem to be a bit sharper.

Skipping down to the BLUF:

Did Mueller actually rely on Crowdstrike, a DNC sourced investigative outfit who basically did a CYA on the server, as his evidence the hacking took place? If he did, that means a major conclusion of his report is based on unverifiable, biased sources. It also means that a big part of the prosecution against Roger Stone starts to fall apart.

In the bigger picture, it would also show that Mueller’s report was largely a rehash of what we already knew. As it sits, it already appears to be that. There’s almost nothing new in the section on Russian interference and collusion. Essentially every major fact was laid out two years prior. So what exactly what Mueller doing besides spending $35M to write an oppo hit on Trump over obstruction?
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2019 06:54 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Nothing is quite as funny as leftoid tech sites like Thurrott and Arse Technicon selling Crowdstrike as some kind of objective broker. L O S E R S. . .
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2019 7:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Wrestling with Roger Stone and a pig have much in common.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2019 8:01 Comments || Top||

#3  2017 article on Crowdstrike and the DNC servers.

The DNC and FBI seems to have never really wanted to do a serious analysis of the servers. Part of the cover-up.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/12/2019 11:34 Comments || Top||

#4  2017 article on Crowdstrike and the DNC servers.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/12/2019 11:35 Comments || Top||


Retail Giant PetSmart Names PETA in Spying Lawsuit
[Free Beacon] PetSmart says PETA paid operative to gain employment, illegally record conversations

Pet superstore PetSmart has filed a lawsuit against PETA, claiming a former employee who illegally filmed internal operations was being paid by and acting with orders from the animal-rights group that aims to fully eradicate pet ownership.

PetSmart had already filed a lawsuit against the employee, Jenna Jordan, for lying on her job application and proceeding to transmit secretly recorded audio and video to PETA. The newly filed lawsuit, however, names both Jordan and PETA as the defendants.

The lawsuit alleges that Jordan was on the receiving end of both "funding and logistical support" from PETA while she was employed by PetSmart. It says Jordan lied on her job application by omitting her employment with PETA, as well as the fact that she had previously been fired by a zoo for secretly collecting information on its operations for PETA.

"When Jordan applied to work at PetSmart in March 2017, Jordan deliberately concealed from PetSmart that she was a PETA agent and operative with a clear and obvious conflict of interest preventing her from discharging her duties and honoring the common law and contractual duties that she owed to PetSmart as a PetSmart employee," the lawsuit says.

It says Jordan began to record conversations with her manager, Justine Glassmoyer, on her first day of employment. Glassmoyer is a plaintiff along with PetSmart in the lawsuit.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2019 06:33 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The FBI - Carter Page model. It's really not 'spying' if animals or republicans are involved.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2019 6:39 Comments || Top||

#2  Just how warped and fucked in the head do you have to be to support / advocate for 'fully eradicate pet ownership'? Do you really have nothing better to do?
Posted by: Raj || 05/12/2019 7:49 Comments || Top||

#3  They're not stupid, Raj. They are a mercenary pressure group just like Amnesty and greenpeace. In truth their actions have resulted in more animal deaths and misery than they claim to prevent.



Posted by: Dron66046 || 05/12/2019 8:10 Comments || Top||

#4  https://www.whypetaeuthanizes.org/photos/
Posted by: Dron66046 || 05/12/2019 8:11 Comments || Top||

#5  Evidently PetSmart doesn't have a ....'Right to Choose.'
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2019 8:15 Comments || Top||

#6  A Monastery of a Religious Order in South Carolina had 20,000 chickens killed when a Hurricane hit the coast, the Monks of the Order raised chickens for a livelihood, you see.

PETA sued the Monks for not protecting the chickens adequately and "causing" their deaths. The average chicken shed is rarely hurricane proof architecture. Not to mention the loss in egg production...the poor little baby chickens. Those evil Monks.
Posted by: Unump Therens9551 || 05/12/2019 8:55 Comments || Top||

#7  Honestly surprised she didn't just abuse animals and claim it was company policy.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 05/12/2019 9:32 Comments || Top||

#8  [PETA,] the animal-rights group that aims to fully eradicate pet ownership.

These people are totally bonkers. PETA members should seek professional help.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/12/2019 9:59 Comments || Top||

#9  These people are totally bonkers.

Prolly from a lack of meat in their diets. Meat is a great source of protein and B vitamins.
Posted by: SteveS || 05/12/2019 10:47 Comments || Top||

#10  Critter Worship.
Posted by: Ebbavirt Clunk4147 || 05/12/2019 15:31 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Trump to US companies: make products at home
Washington (AFP) ‐ Amid rising fears over US-Chinese trade tensions and mounting tariffs, President Donald Trump said Saturday that firms could easily avoid additional costs by producing goods in the United States.

"Such an easy way to avoid Tariffs? Make or produce your goods and products in the good old USA. It’s very simple!" he said Saturday on Twitter, echoing a similar message he sent Friday ‐ and even retweeted.

Trump had accused Beijing of reneging on its commitments in trade talks and ordered new punitive duties, which took effect Friday, on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, raising them to 25 percent from 10 percent.

He then cranked up the heat further, ordering a tariff hike on almost all remaining imports ‐ $300 billion worth, according to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer ‐ from the world’s second-biggest economy.

Those tariffs would not take effect for months, after a period of public comment.

The developments came as two days of US-Chinese talks ended Friday with no deal ‐ but no immediate breakdown either ‐ offering a glimmer of hope that Washington and Beijing could yet find a way forward.

Only a week earlier, the two had seemed poised to complete a sweeping agreement.

Washington wants Beijing to tighten its intellectual property protections, cut its subsidies to state-owned firms and reduce the yawning trade deficit; China wants an end to tariffs as part of a "balanced" deal.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2019 05:57 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But if we enable them to bugger the entire world with cheap labor and Walmart-Target junk, they will soon discard communism and become the capitalist, democratic beacon of the world.

Think of your legacy Mr. President, and my new Family Foundation.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2019 6:07 Comments || Top||

#2  It was worth a try. They decided they didn't want to play by the rules, so they'll have to be removed from the game.
Posted by: Blossom Stalin3940 || 05/12/2019 6:41 Comments || Top||

#3  IIRC Old Sam Walmart focused on American made. The kids, not so much.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/12/2019 8:02 Comments || Top||

#4  China wants to fuck us over as usual; the State Department is going to wait Trump out so they can go back to their fantasy of creating democracy in China by making them rich on the backs of our working class.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 05/12/2019 17:09 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran may attack Israel if U.S. standoff escalates: Israeli minister
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli cabinet minister warned on Sunday of possible direct or proxy Iranian attacks on Israel should the stand-off between Tehran and Washington escalate.

The United States has increased economic and military pressure on Iran, with President Donald Trump on Thursday urging its leaders to talk to him about giving up their nuclear program and saying he could not rule out an armed confrontation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which supports Trump’s hard tack against its arch-foe, has largely been reticent about the spiraling tensions.

Parting with the silence, Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said that, in the Gulf, "things are heating up".

"If there’s some sort of conflagration between Iran and the United States, between Iran and its neighbors, I’m not ruling out that they will activate Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad from Gaza, or even that they will try to fire missiles from Iran at the State of Israel," Steinitz, a member of Netanyahu’s security cabinet, told Israel’s Ynet TV.

Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad are Iranian-sponsored guerrilla groups on Israel’s borders, the former active in Syria as well as Lebanon and the latter in the Palestinian territories.

Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2019 05:53 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  well, that would be a good reason too kick the shit out of them finally.
Posted by: chris || 05/12/2019 10:02 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Detention cells at Mexico border so overcrowded US authorities resort to moving migrants by plane
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/12/2019 02:49 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Con-air. A crappy movie with some great moments...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2019 5:01 Comments || Top||

#2  Time to test the new software on those MAX 737s.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 05/12/2019 7:42 Comments || Top||

#3  Because cattle cars are really a bad image.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/12/2019 8:07 Comments || Top||


Government
Shanahan says military won't leave until border is secure
MCALLEN, Texas (AP) ‐ Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan visited a border city in Texas on Saturday and said he intends to accelerate planning to secure the border and bolster the administration’s ability to accomplish that without the Pentagon’s continuous help.

He also offered assurances to perhaps two dozen Border Patrol agents and other officials at the McAllen Border Patrol Station that the Pentagon would not withdraw its military support prematurely.

"We’re not going to leave until the border is secure," he said, adding, "This isn’t about identifying a problem. It’s about fixing a problem more quickly."

Shanahan told Congress this past week that there are 4,364 military troops on the border, including active-duty and National Guard. They are erecting barriers, providing logistics and transportation service and other activities in support of Customs and Border Protection. The troops are prohibited from performing law enforcement duties. Troops have been deployed on the border since last October and are committed to being there through September.

While flying to Texas, he dismissed any suggestion that active-duty forces will extend their mission for the long haul. "It will not be indefinite," he told reporters traveling with him.

Shanahan also said he has instructed a two-star Army general, Ricky Waddell, to develop a plan soon that will answer this question: "How do we get more badges back to the border?" ‐ a reference to ensuring Homeland Security Department is fully capable of securing the border, its core mission.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2019 01:18 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If it can't secure our immediate borders, the military is to an extent useless. Why have an acronym like CONUS in mildocs if it doesn't mean anything?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2019 5:16 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Judicial Watch: Records Obtained in Court-Ordered Discovery Reveal Obama White House Tracking FOIA Request for Clinton Emails
[Judicial Watch] Washington, DC - Judicial Watch announced today that it obtained 44 pages of records from the State Department through court-ordered discovery revealing that the Obama White House was tracking a December 2012 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking records concerning then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of an unsecure, non-government email system. Months after the Obama White House involvement, the State Department responded to the requestor, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), falsely stating that no such records existed.

Judicial Watch’s discovery is centered upon whether Clinton intentionally attempted to evade the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by using a non-government email system and whether the State Department acted in bad faith in processing Judicial Watch’s FOIA request for communications from Clinton’s office. U.S District Court Judge Royce Lamberth ordered Obama administration senior State Department officials, lawyers, and Clinton aides, as well as E.W. Priestap, to be deposed or answer written questions under oath. The court ruled that the Clinton email system was "one of the gravest modern offenses to government transparency."

The State Department’s Office of Inspector General issued a report in January 2016 saying "At the time the request was received, dozens of senior officials throughout the Department, including members of Secretary Clinton’s immediate staff, exchanged emails with the Secretary using the personal accounts she used to conduct official business." Also, the IG "found evidence that [Clinton Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills] was informed of the request at the time it was received ..."

The State Department produced records in response to court-ordered document requests that detail Obama White House involvement in the Clinton email FOIA request.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2019 00:56 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This gets more and more interesting nearly every day.
Posted by: Raj || 05/12/2019 7:46 Comments || Top||

#2  She'll be on a drip and oxygen at age 103 and we'll still be talking about somehow bringing her to justice.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2019 7:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Ditto Besoeker.

The most infuriating thing these days is the lack of consequences.
Posted by: AlanC || 05/12/2019 8:41 Comments || Top||

#4  Lack of consequences?

Wear a MAGA hat and see instant consequences. Yeah, one sided for sure, but lefties aren't complaining...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2019 9:18 Comments || Top||


DOJ inspector general found Carter Page FISA extensions were illegally obtained, Joe diGenova says
[Washington Examiner] The Justice Department inspector general has determined the three Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant extensions against onetime Trump campaign aide Carter Page were illegally obtained, attorney Joe diGenova said on Thursday.

In an investigation that began last year, Inspector General Michael Horowitz is examining the Justice Department's and FBI's compliance with legal requirements as well as policies and procedures in applications filed with the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court related to Page as part of a larger counterintelligence probe into Trump's campaign.

The inspector general inquiry is expected to be completed in either late May or June, and diGenova, a former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said Democrats on Capitol Hill are working overtime to investigate and discredit President Trump.

"They are doing that as a diversionary tactic away from the inevitable conclusions of the DOJ inspector general, Michael Horowitz, who, by the way, we have learned has concluded that the final three FISA extensions were illegally obtained," diGenova said on Fox Business. "The only question now is whether or not the first FISA was illegally obtained."

He pointed to memos, obtained by conservative group Citizens United through open-records litigation, that suggest the FBI might have misled the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in the first warrant application about an unverified dossier.

Horowitz "apparently, as a result of those disclosures ... which he was unaware of ‐ the bureau hid those memos from Horowitz ‐ as a result of that they're doing additional work on the first FISA. It may be that all four FISAs will have been obtained illegally," diGenova said.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2019 00:39 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Who are these mysterious FISA judges, who appointed them, and why are they not speaking out ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2019 6:12 Comments || Top||

#2  The incredible timing of Obama packing the FISA court with his appointees only a couple of months before all of this crap began. I say that the appointments are coordinated with the spying on Trump and this scandal began in planning even earlier.
I sometimes think the Obama white house knew early on that Hillary was going to lose and began their planning much earlier...around the time DJT won his first primary.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 05/12/2019 10:44 Comments || Top||

#3  Ref #2: I agree SPOD, a very convenient backstop for a soon-to-come weaponizing effort. BTW, where are these so-called judges? Why do we not hear from any of them (I always attend what is not seen or said).

Ok, so what is it? Alien abduction? Have they all passed on? Experienced a selective group rapture ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2019 15:10 Comments || Top||

#4  When a judge doesn't rule in the night,
It can cast on a case quite a light.
Is some son of a b----
Always scratching an itch?
Check the bank for the size of his bite.
Posted by: Big Chomoque4543 || 05/12/2019 17:49 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Federal Police forces discover IS hideout in Hawija
Kirkuk (IraqiNews) Iraqi Federal Police Forces announced, on Saturday, discovering a hideout belonging to the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group in Hawija District, while pointed out that the hideout contained food and blankets.

The Federal Police Command said in a press statement, "Based on the instructions of the Commander of the Federal Police, the security forces carried out a proactive operation and searched al-Azaybiyah Village in Hawija Dstrict."

"The operation resulted in the discovery of a hideout belonging to the Islamic State terrorist group and containing food and blankets," the statement added.

"The hideout was destroyed completely," it further explained.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


High-level PKK leader Altun says he wasn’t in Qandil when Turkish jets struck
“Nyaa, nyaa, ya missed me!”
[Rudaw] A prominent Kurdistan Workers (PKK) leader who was reported to have been severely maimed by Ottoman Turkish media in an Arclight airstrike on Mount Qandil in the Kurdistan Region, dismissed the claims on Friday, saying he was not present when the spot was targeted.

State-run outlets like Anadolu Agency reported on March 27 that on March 21 Ottoman Turkish jets using precise coordinates supplied by the country’s intelligence community "seriously injured Altun, who is close to PKK founding member Cemil Bayik and serves as the party’s foreign relations liaison.

Ibrahim Kalin, an advisor and spokesperson to the Ottoman Turkish president, also shared an Anadolu video of the operation that the media organization said was obtained from the Ottoman Turkish military.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Caribbean-Latin America
Hunger in Cuba as economy in full crash!
[AP] The Cuban government announced Friday that it is launching widespread rationing of chicken, eggs, rice, beans, soap and other basic products in the face of a grave economic crisis.

Commerce Minister Betsy Díaz Velázquez told the state-run Cuban News Agency that various forms of rationing would be employed in order to deal with shortages of staple foods. She blamed the hardening of the U.S. trade embargo by the Trump administration. Economists give equal or greater blame to a plunge in aid from Venezuela, where the collapse of the state-run oil company has led to a nearly two-thirds cut in shipments of subsidized fuel that Cuba used for power and to earn hard currency on the open market.

“We’re calling for calm,” Díaz said, adding that Cubans should feel reassured that at least cooking oil would be in ample supply. “It’s not a product that will be absent from the market in any way.”
"Si, there's nothing to cook in it, but at least you'll have the oil"
Cuba imports roughly two thirds of its food at an annual cost of more than $2 billion and brief shortages of individual products have been common for years. In recent months, a growing number of products have started to go missing for days or weeks at a time, and long lines have sprung up within minutes of the appearance of scarce products like chicken or flour. Many shoppers find themselves still standing in line when the products run out, a problem the government has been blaming on “hoarders.”
Posted by: 3dc || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  "We'll trade 5 kilos of beans for each American Terrorist or Criminal you extradite"
Posted by: Frank G || 05/12/2019 9:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Any chance Cuba may slide into the same future as Venezuela? And the American Millennials can vote for Bernie, they seem so confident about getting their "fair share" anyway.

After all, Bernie IS sure getting HIS.
Posted by: Unump Therens9551 || 05/12/2019 9:51 Comments || Top||

#3  Damn! And here I was hoping someone had *finally* done Socialism right.

Call me skeptical, but I'm starting to think there is some inherent structural problem with the whole idea.
Posted by: SteveS || 05/12/2019 10:19 Comments || Top||


Europe
Germany: Migrants attack police probing death at refugee center
[DW] A group of migrants colonists have pelted officers with stones as they tried to investigate the death of a woman at the migrant center in the southern German city of Regensburg. A three-hour operation ensued to remove her body.

A large-scale police operation was launched involving 20 patrol cars and 50 coppers, but no one was placed in durance vile
You have the right to remain silent...
The woman's body was only recovered around noon and taken to a funeral home.

For tactical reasons, the migrants colonists were allowed to carry the woman's coffin from the facility to an awaiting vehicle, the police statement said.

An investigation has been launched into her death. Police said there was no initial evidence that she had been attacked.

A separate probe is underway into the violence.

The woman leaves behind three children, aged nine, five and three, who are now in the care of social services.

The facility in question is a so-called anchor center, which in German is an acronym standing for arrival, distribution, decision and repatriation.

The institutions were set up to speed up the processing of asylum applications. Moslem colonists Migrants are accommodated in the often crowded centers for the entirety of their asylum case.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  A mini-riot against law enforcement that they got away with. Lovely!
Posted by: Raj || 05/12/2019 0:27 Comments || Top||

#2  no initial evidence that she had been attacked

She died of migrant fever.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 05/12/2019 0:34 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Islamic State Claims It Killed 11 Soldiers In Nigeria
[Jpost] Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(IS) killed 11 Nigerian soldiers in an attack on the northeastern town of Gajiganna, the group claimed through its news agency AMAQ on Saturday.

The Jihadist organization said the attack on the soliders took place in the town in northeastern Borno state on Friday. It published pictures of burned barracks and dead bodies it claimed belonged to the soldiers.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Trump's fault, no doubt...

/sarc
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2019 4:58 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Two more polio cases confirmed taking year’s total to 15
[DAWN] While the polio
...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set...
programme achieved a major success in removing the anti-polio content from social media, two more polio cases from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa were on Friday confirmed after which the tally for the current year reached 15.

Immunisation campaigns have suffered due anti-vaxxers who launched a campaign on social media across the globe claiming the vaccines were causing a number of diseases and should not be administered to children.

In Pakistain, a malicious campaign was also started that not only declared vaccines Haram but also said it made children impotent.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Arabia
Saudi security forces kill 8 people in flashpoint Shi'ite area
[Jpost] Saudi security forces have killed eight people during an operation in the predominantly Shi'ite eastern al-Qatif region, state news agency (SPA) said on Saturday.

The oil-producing province is a regular flashpoint between the Sunni-dominated government and minority Shi'ites who complain of discrimination and marginalization.

Saudi authorities deny mistreatment.

The operation occurred on Tarout island, just off the city of Qatif, and targeted a newly formed "terrorist cell," SPA said in a statement, adding there were no casualties among civilians or coppers.

Security forces were still at the site, it said.
Saudi security services regularly carry out operations in the area, with fatalities reported during operations in January and September, according to Saudi media.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia


Afghanistan
Taliban bomb kills eight children in Ghazni province
[KhaamaPress] At least eight children were killed in a roadside kaboom kaboom in South-eastern Ghazni province of Afghanistan, security sources said.
UN Translation: "Peaceful Moderate Taliban. This is Trump's Fault"
The incident took place at around 8:00 am local time in Muqer district of the province.

The provincial government media office in a statement confirmed the incident and said the kaboom also left two other children maimed.

The statement further added the children were busy playing in Chambaran area of the district when they struck an Improvised Explosive Device planted by Talibs.

The anti-government armed murderous Moslems including Taliban
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
have not commented regarding the incident so far.

Talibs frequently use improvised bomb as the weapon of their choice to target the security forces but in majority of such incidents ordinary civilians are targeted.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian Army scores big advance in northwestern Hama, 5 towns captured
[MOBILE.ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) scored a big advance in the northwestern countryside of the Hama Governorate on Saturday after launching another wide-scale assault in this area.

Led by the Tiger Forces, the Syrian Army began the day by storming the krazed killer-held towns of Midan Ghazal, Arimah, and al-Shari’ah; this resulted in a heavy battle with the jihadist rebels that were defending this part of northwestern Hama.

Ultimately, the Syrian Army’s attack proved too much for the krazed killer forces as they were forced to retreat towards the Idlib Governorate’s border.

The Syrian Army then fully secured these three towns and began sending in reinforcements from the National Defense Forces (NDF) to setup new checkpoints in this area.

Following this advance, the Syrian Arab Army attacked the towns of Bab al-Taqa and Mustariha in northwestern Hama.

According to a military source near the front-lines, the Syrian Arab Army managed to crack the jihadist defenses at these two towns, resulting in their subsequent capture after a short battle.

Since capturing these five towns, the Syrian Army has restarted their bombardment of Tal Sakher and al-Hobeit in northwestern Hama.

Thus far, the Syrian military has been unable to penetrate Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham
’s lines at these two areas, despite nonstop artillery and missile strikes.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


Iraq
Bomb explosion kills Iraqi child, wounds two others in Baghdad
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) ‐ An Iraqi child was killed and two others were maimed Saturday in a kaboom in southeastern Baghdad, a security source was quoted as saying.

Speaking to Alsumaria News, the source said that "a roadside kaboom went kaboom! in Jisr Diyala neighborhood of Baghdad on Saturday afternoon, leaving a child dead and two others maimed."

"The maimed children were moved to a nearby hospital for treatment," added the source.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


-Lurid Crime Tales-
U.S. charges Ex-Fugees rapper, Malaysian businessman Low over funding in 2012 election
[Reuters] The U.S. Justice Department announced on Friday it had charged former Fugees rapper Prakazrel "Pras" Michel and wealthy Malaysian businessman Low Taek Jho, popularly known as "Jho Low," for conspiring to steer illegal foreign campaign funds into the 2012 presidential election.

According to the unsealed indictment, between June 2012 and November 2012, Low directed the transfer of approximately $21.6 million (£16.6 million) from foreign entities and accounts to Michel to be funnelled into the U.S. election while disguising it as legitimate campaign contributions.

Low faces separate criminal charges in the United States in connection with a multi-billion-dollar scandal at Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Low has been identified by Malaysian and U.S. investigators as a central figure in the alleged theft of about $4.5 billion from 1MDB.
Posted by: Omomong Omique2579 || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Low Tech Joe

An acoustic band?
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/12/2019 1:31 Comments || Top||

#2  Foreign contribution for a foreign president? I don't see the issue.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2019 7:17 Comments || Top||

#3  If it was Trump, we'd hear about nothing else for weeks.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 05/12/2019 7:30 Comments || Top||

#4  Yeah, no chance Blankfein gets touched...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2019 7:46 Comments || Top||


#6  Dims seem to find ways to funnel crooked money into their campaigns.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/12/2019 10:01 Comments || Top||

#7  Pizza!
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2019 10:38 Comments || Top||

#8  The indictment did not reveal the identity of the presidential candidate.

Not that it matters - it's illegal, after all - but anybody wanna guess the candidate?
Posted by: Bobby || 05/12/2019 17:55 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
1,000 New Recruits Join Afghan Army In Herat
[ToloNews] under the 207 Zafar Corps in Herat
...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns...
province in the west of Afghanistan.

Commander of Zafar Corps Gen. Noorullah Qadiri said the new forces will be deployed to different districts to ensure the safety of the provinces.

"The enemy plans to close the main roads, destroy the bridges and hospitals but they will not be able to reach to their goals," Qadiri said.

A battalion commander of the 207 Zafar Corps Nazir Ahmad Salik said the new soldiers will undertake short-term training and will be deployed to different provinces.

"They will be trained for 12 weeks in Herat Training Center," Salik said.

The new members of the Afghan National Army said they joined the Army to take part in security and stability of the country.

"We joined the Army to fight against those who want to target our people and destabilize our country," said Sarajuddin, an Army soldier.

"We joined the Army to defend and serve the country," said Kefayatullah, a soldier.

Figures by the 207 Zafar Corps show that at least 3,000 people have joined the Army in western provinces last year.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  To get the uniform, pay and a chance to shoot a coalition trainer. Boosh!
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2019 5:10 Comments || Top||


International-UN-NGOs
Iranian judo agrees to end decades-long boycott of Israeli athletes
[IsraelTimes] Historic commitment comes after talks with International Judo Federation over ’disturbing phenomenon’ of Iranians throwing matches.

In a historic move, Iranian judo officials have agreed to stop boycotting Israeli athletes on the mat, ending a practice that had drawn criticism against Tehran in the sporting world.

In a letter to the International Judo Federation published Saturday, Iran’s Olympic Committee and local Judo Federation agreed to "fully respect the Olympic Charter and its non-discrimination principle."

In a statement, the IJF said the letter came after several rounds of talks regarding the "disturbing phenomenon, which involves the sudden ’injury’ or failure of weigh-in of Iranian athletes," which it said was related to Iran trying to avoid meeting athletes from certain countries.

Neither Iran nor the IJF specifically mentioned Israel, but Iranian athletes have on several occasions forfeited matches to avoid facing Israelis, who have become increasingly relevant in the sport on the world stage.

Iran’s sports policy is an outgrowth of the country’s official refusal to recognize Israel. Its leaders routinely encourage the demise of the Jewish state and the countries are considered arch foes.

The IJF has in recent years stepped up pressure on Moslem boycotts of Israeli athletes, including refusals to host them or shake hands.

In 2018, the body stripped international competitions from the UAE and Tunisia over their refusal to allow Israelis to compete as Israelis.

The UAE later relented, resulting in the anthem Hatikvah being played in the country for the first time last year after Muki won the gold in the under-81 kg category.

In the letter to the IJF, the Iranian sports officials said they were negotiating with Iran’s parliament "to identify proper legal resolutions," seemingly in order to rescind the unofficial ban on competing against Israelis.

Iranians athletes have increasingly found themselves caught between domestic officials, who may punish them for competing against Israelis, and international officials, who will punish them if they forfeit matches. In recent years, an increasing number of Iranian athletes and coaches have spoken out against the policy.

The last competition between Iranian and Israeli teams on the international level dates back to a wrestling match in 1983 in Kiev, Ukraine.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Teacher’s 1-on-1 Transgender ‘Lessons’ Leave 9-Year-Old Boy Suffering from Anxiety
[WESTERNJOURNAL] Most people understand that kids just want to be kids. While adults run around squabbling over politics and careers, the childhood years are a time to develop and grow free of the complexities of adulthood.

But at an elementary school in Oregon, a teacher is being accused of trying to push her sexual views and politics onto a student, all hidden from parents. To make matters worse, the student was only eight years old at the time.

"Parents in Woodburn said their 8-year-old son was held back from recess multiple times for one-on-one conversations about his gender identity," reported KPTV News in Oregon.

What began as conversations quickly changed into full-on lessons about trangenderism, according to the lawsuit. The Nellie Muir Elementary School teacher allegedly held the boy back from second-grade recess multiple times to have inappropriate conversations about his sexual identity in April 2018.

"The parents said the teacher asked their son if he thought he was a girl multiple times," KPTV explained. "They say the teacher held the boy back from recess several times to watch videos and read books about being transgender."

Remember, this wasn’t part of any school curriculum. The parents say the teacher singled out the boy for "lessons" after he had a bathroom issue, and pushed transgender material such as non-explicit videos onto him after assuming he questioned his gender.

As you might imagine, elementary school can be a confusing enough place for young kids to navigate. So when the boy ‐ whose name is being protected ‐ was singled out by a teacher and essentially told that he should question who he was, he was impacted.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That teacher needs to be suffering from a real good whipping, tarring and feathering and a few other punishments to remain nameless.


Posted by: AlanC || 05/12/2019 8:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Unfortunately, probably more destined to become HR/Diversity Head
Posted by: Frank G || 05/12/2019 9:26 Comments || Top||

#3  AlanC, Rotorooter comes to mind.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 05/12/2019 10:53 Comments || Top||

#4  Grooming is now a protected activity.

But hey, at least the stock market is doing well!

After all, what is a society but it's stock market?
Posted by: charger || 05/12/2019 13:30 Comments || Top||

#5  Bring back lashing.
Posted by: Tyranysaurus Clavith3514 || 05/12/2019 15:37 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Three priests ‘involved’ in bride trafficking scam also arrested
[DAWN] A Senate committee was on Friday informed that besides Pak marriage bureaus and Chinese nationals, three priests were also involved in the scam of Chinese nationals’ illegal marriages with Pak women.

The Senate Standing Committee on Interior, which met at Parliament House with Senator Rehman Malik
Pak politician, Interior Minister under the Gilani government. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Nawaz Sharif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. He had to give up the interior ministry job because he held dual Brit citizenship.
in the chair, discussed the issue of illegal marriages of Chinese nationals with Pak women. The committee members expressed concerns over reports of human trafficking in the name of marriages.

The chairman of the committee told the participants that officials of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had informed him that three priests were also involved in contracting the marriages. The priests have been incarcerated
Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages!
, he said.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Human Trafficking


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Israel vows to eliminate Syria’s S-300 system if they use it
[ALMASDARNEWS] Israel has the full arsenal needed to take on Hezbollah in Leb and eliminate the Iranian threat in Syria, the outgoing IDF Northern Command chief boasted, warning Damascus against using S-300s to protect its illusory sovereignty.

"If our freedom of movement is threatened, we will remove the threat. We know how to do that," General Yoel Strick told Ynet News, adding that Israel will soon introduce "advanced weapons systems" to ensure it can continue to violate neighboring states’ airspace and to strike targets in Syria with impunity

If the Syrians employ Russian S-300s against our planes, and we take them out, it will be seen as a legitimate move on our part.

While acknowledging that such a drastic move might damage Tel Aviv’s relations with Moscow, Strick expressed hope that it wouldn’t come to that.

Moscow had supplied the Arab Republic with S-300 air defense systems following the downing of a Russian Il-20 reconnaissance plane with 15 airmen on board in mid-September, during an Israeli raid.

Moscow also warned Israel that it will suppress all satellite navigation, radars and communications systems of combat planes over the Mediterranean Sea if their maneuvers threaten Russian forces.

Since then, Israel has been staging its intrusions via Leb, where the Jewish State is trying to keep Hezbollah in check.

Hezbollah is inseparable from Leb as a country, due to the bad boy group’s strong political presence, the general argued.

Thus, he claimed, "if it were up to me, I would recommend declaring war on Leb and Hezbollah" ‐ not out of bloodlust but only to thwart the group’s alleged plot to "invade"Israel.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Moscow also warned Israel that it will suppress all satellite navigation, radars and communications systems of combat planes over the Mediterranean Sea

Ve vill uhh ... launch ze giant ion-dampers in ze atmosphere over mediterranean that ve have ... uhh, made in giant lab at Irkutsk !
Posted by: Dron66046 || 05/12/2019 8:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Given Israel's track record against Soviet era SAMs and AAA, I wouldn't turn the S-300 on.

Good way to get it destroyed.
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/12/2019 11:46 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
19 Taliban militants killed in Special Forces operations in Kunduz and Khost provinces, 10 innocents freed
[KhaamaPress] At least 19 Talibs were killed in separate operations of the Afghan Special Forces which were conducted in South-eastern Khost and northern Kunduz provinces.

"Afghan Special Forces conducted an operation in Chahar Darah district of Kunduz killing 15 Taliban
...Arabic for students...
fighters and wounding 5 others," the military officials said Saturday.

The officials further added that the operation also led to the discovery and destruction of 4 pressure plate IEDs and 20 pounds of homemade explosives.

The Afghan Special Forces conducted a similar raid in Sabari district of Khost province
... across the border from Miranshah, within commuting distance of Haqqani hangouts such as Datta Khel and probably within sight of Mordor. Khost is populated by six different tribes of Pashtuns, the largest probably being the Khostwal, from which it takes its name...
leaving 4 Taliban fighters dead while 4 others were detained.

The anti-government armed murderous Moslems including Taliban have not commented regarding the operations so far.

10 Civilians Rescued From Taliban Prison In Kunduz

[ToloNews] At least 10 civilians were rescued from a Taliban
...Arabic for students...
prison in Kunduz province in an operation by Afghan forces, the Pamir Corps said in a statement on Saturday.

The civilians were kept in a Taliban’s jail in Chahar Dara district, the statement said.

During the operation, 10 Taliban fighters were killed and 15 others were maimed, the statement added.

No more details were provided in the in the statement regarding the operation or possible casualties among the security forces.

Taliban has not commented on this report so far.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


India-Pakistan
56 more people test positive for HIV in Ratodero
[DAWN] RATODERO: As many as 56 more suspected cases of HIV were detected after screening of 1,118 people at Ratodero taluka hospital and one-day screening camps set up in villages near the town on Friday, raising the total number of infected persons to 331 in 13 days.

Of the 56 suspected cases, 39 were children and 17 were adults.

In a camp in Tayab village, as many as 198 people were screened (63 male, 47 female and 88 children) and of them a six-year-old boy tested HIV positive whereas in Subhani Shar village, 250 cases were screened and six were detected HIV positive.

Provincial health secretary Saeed Ahmed Awan said during his visit of the camps that over 3,000 people had been screened out of which 226 tested HIV positive. When they were rechecked 113 cases were confirmed, he said, adding that treatment of 88 infected children was under way. He blamed malpractice by quacks and some qualified doctors for the spread of HIV in Ratodero and said the disease spread within a short period due to lack of awareness.

He said that a joint strategy was being prepared by health department, National AIDS Control Programme, international donors such as Global Fund, WHO, Unicef and others to control the virus and provide treatment to the affected people.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel Police remove worshipers from Temple Mount - Palestinian report
[Jpost] Clashes erupted on the mount, during which the Israeli police fired tear gas, according to the report. One arrest and multiple injuries were reported as well.

Israel Police removed Paleostinians from the Temple Mount, followed by confrontations in the Old City of Jerusalem on Saturday night, according to reports by Quds, an Paleostinian news agency.

According to the report, a large amount of Israeli coppers entered the complex and started removing Paleostinians from inside.

Clashes erupted in the area during which the Israeli police fired tear gas, according to the report. One arrest and multiple injuries were reported as well.

Israel Police have not confirmed the reports.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "OK! That's IT! Everyoen out of the pool! If you can't behave, everyone suffers. THIS is why you cn't have nice things"
Posted by: Frank G || 05/12/2019 8:24 Comments || Top||

#2  We visited the wailing wall on the first day of a Ramadan a few years ago. The isle to the temple was barricaded on both sides to prevent Muslims from disturbing the worshipers at the wall and vise versa. After the exit from the temple, the barricades were removed. we walked up a narrow lane and were inundated by Muslims. I walked on the men’s side of the street and my wife was by my side on the woman’s. We were truly “untouchable”. The men pushed with hands on their chest and elbows out. After 1/4 mile of this we got out of the crowd. No trouble was had.
Posted by: Angavirt Thrinese8225 || 05/12/2019 13:38 Comments || Top||

#3  After leaving the old city, we walked into an area of traditional Jews. A bill board stated something to the effect “people not of the faith should be directed out of the area”. We were by a butcher after several traditionally dressed Jews left the store. It is an interesting town. That being said, I am glad that the Jews control the holy sites of all religions.
Posted by: Angavirt Thrinese8225 || 05/12/2019 13:43 Comments || Top||

#4  As they should. We prefer it to be called The kotel
Posted by: newc || 05/12/2019 15:21 Comments || Top||

#5  Thank you for that report, Angavirt Thrinese8225. I’ve not yet got to Israel — with all the travelling Mr. Wife did for his career, we generally didn’t go far beyond his general rounds. And we would have had to get a second passport just for Israel because some other countries can be stupid about such things. Sadly, now my health isn’t up to the combination of going halfway round the world plus all the walking I’d want to do, so we await the next medical breakthrough.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2019 16:42 Comments || Top||


Gaza Border Crossings To Open Tomorrow
[Jpost] The Erez and Kerem Shalom border crossings into Gazoo will be opened on Sunday.
To remain open until the next blow up in Gaza. The timer is running.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian Army reaches southwestern border of Idlib
[MOBILE.ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian military has made a significant advance through the northwestern countryside of the Hama Governorate recently, seizing more than 15 sites in this region of northwestern Syria.

As a result of this advance, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has managed to reach the southwestern border of the Idlib Governorate.

The Syrian Arab Army was last in control of southwestern Idlib in 2014; however, a large-scale jihadist offensive in this region resulted in the military’s subsequent withdrawal to the northwestern countryside of Hama.

On Saturday, the Syrian military managed to reach the Idlib border after they captured at least five towns from the jihadist rebels in northwestern Hama.

According to al-Mayadeen TV on Saturday, the Syrian military had managed to destroy a command center and several warehouses.

Earlier in the day, the Syrian troops had thwarted the jihadist offensive at the key town of Kafr Naboudeh in northwestern Hama, eliminating more than 40 Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham
members.

The military operation the Syrian Arab Army launched on May 6th is aimed at securing the government towns in northwestern Hama and retaking the al-Ghaab Plain areas that are currently under the control of the jihadist rebels. Furthermore, the Syrian military is seeking to capture the remaining jihadist-held areas in northeastern Latakia.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


Europe
Saudi ship leaves France without arms cargo
[DAWN] A Saudi vessel that had been due to load weapons at a northern French port on Friday set sail without them and headed for Spain, a day after a rights group tried to block the cargo on humanitarian grounds.

French rights group ACAT argued in a legal challenge on Thursday that the consignment contravened a UN treaty because the arms might be used against civilians in Yemen.

A French judge threw out that legal challenge but the Bahri-Yanbu set course for Santander shortly after minus the weapons, officials said and ship-tracking data showed.

The saga is an embarrassment for President Emmanuel Macron, who on Thursday defended arms sales to 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...
Riyadh leads the pro-government military coalition in the four-year civil war that has devastated Yemen, killed tens of thousands and left much of the population on the brink of famine.

Macron said on Thursday Riyadh, which he called a key ally in the fight against terrorism, had assured him the weapons the ship was to load were not to be used against civilians.

An official working for Jean-Paul Lecoq, the opposition Communist member of parliament for port city Le Havre, confirmed the vessel had left without the consignment.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia

#1  so tough guy Macon has the official white flag in his office?
hidden under his desk where he also resides.
pathetic pos
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 05/12/2019 21:20 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Afghan Special Forces conduct operations in 8 provinces leaving 20 Taliban militants dead
[KhaamaPress] The Afghan Special Forces conducted counter-terrorism operations in eight provinces of the country in the past 24 hours leaving at least 20 Talibs dead.

Informed military sources said Friday that the Afghan Special Operations Forces conducted a raid in Garm Ser district of Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
province and destroyed 240 pounds of homemade explosives, 20 pressure plate IEDs and a small cache of IED components.

This comes a month after 12 civilians, including six children, were severely maimed by a magnetic bomb in southern Helmand province.

The Afghan Special Forces conducted similar operations in Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar and Tarin Kot district of Uruzgan province, killing 1 Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
fighter and detaining 8 others.

Two days ago three Taliban commanders were killed in Tarin Kot as pressure on fighters in Uruzgan province continues, the source said.

The Afghan Special Forces conducted a clearance operation in Chahar Darah district of Kunduz province, discovered and destroying 4 IEDs and a house-borne IED, the sources said, adding that a similar operation was conducted in Baraki Barak district of Pashtun-infested Logar province in which 1 Taliban fighter was killed and 3 others were detained.

In the meantime, 8 Taliban fighters were killed in Gomal district of Paktika
...which coincidentally borders South Wazoo...
province, 3 others were killed in Deh bala district of Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
province, and 7 Taliban fighters were killed, 4 more were maimed in Farah city, the bustling provincial capital of Farah province.

The sources also added that the the 203rd Corps conducted route clearance along Highway 1 to enable military convoys and civilian traffic to pass safely. The clearance operation resulted in destroying 12 roadside kabooms, killing 4 Taliban fighters and wounding 2 others.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Government
Trump overhauls crucial U.S. appeals courts at record pace: 'It's a generational change'
[WASHINGTONTIMES] The Senate confirmed Michael Park to be a judge on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday, making him the 39th circuit court judge to be confirmed under President Trump in a process on a record pace that is steadily reshaping the bench.

Judge Park joins Joseph Bianco, confirmed earlier this week, on that bench, bringing the number of Republican-appointed active judges on the chief 2nd Circuit panel to six.

With two more vacancies by this summer as judges take senior status, Mr. Trump will soon have a chance to flip control of the circuit, which currently has seven Democratic appointees.

Mr. Trump flipped the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this year, taking it from a 7-4 Democratic edge in judicial appointees in 2017 to a 7-6 Republican edge among active judges.

The circuit courts are below the Supreme Court but, because so few cases end up before the justices, the circuits are where many consequential cases are decided.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's almost like one party is tending to the day to day mechanics of governance and the other party is after today's latest media-manufactured bright shiny thing. Not that there aren't waaaay too many GOPe types saying "Why do they get to have all the fun" under their breaths...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2019 4:55 Comments || Top||

#2  The Dims have redefined their party as the sanctuary party for craziness.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/12/2019 10:12 Comments || Top||

#3  Provided the judges don't "grow in office" or get compromised (hi, John Roberts!) or get Scalia'd.

We'll see.
Posted by: charger || 05/12/2019 13:27 Comments || Top||

#4  Profound observations all, charger...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2019 13:35 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
9 Dallas airport employees admit to drug smuggling plot
[FoxNews] Nine airline employees at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport were arrested about a year ago for plotting to smuggle drugs out of the airport. Since then, they’ve admitted to being willing to smuggle anything on board a commercial airline for money including drugs, weapons and plastic explosives.

The nine employees included a baggage scanner, baggage handler and other employees who could monitor bags being placed on and off Spirit Airlines and Envoy Air aircrafts. A tenth employee involved in the ring is a fugitive.

"These folks... sold their positions, betrayed the public's trust, abused their positions at the airport to make a dollar and put everybody at risk," Assistant U.S. Attorney George Leal said during a detention hearing in the case, according to the Dallas News. "They put the safety of the public in danger."

The nine employees believed they were smuggling methamphetamine into commercial airlines for Italian organized crime located in other states from 2016 to 2018. In actuality, the nine employees were part of an FBI undercover operation. The methamphetamine was fake.

During the detention hearing, Ray Harrison, lead FBI agent in the case, said, "On each transaction the undercovers, who were Italian and portrayed themselves as Italian organized crime figures, pulled out the kilos, showed it to them, counted it, told them it was crystal methamphetamine, and told them if they were tampered with they would not be paid the second half payment once it landed at its destination."

At one point, Nelson Pabon, 47, the ringleader, even considered having a fellow airline worker involved in the smuggling killed because he thought the man was working with law enforcement.

"He had actually reached out to his brother down in San Antonio to act as a hit man," Harrison said.

When FBI agents discovered that Pabon offered to smuggle C-4 onto a flight, all nine employees were arrested, concluding a two-year sting operation.

The airline workers agreed to plead guilty to drug conspiracy charges in a Dallas federal court. The ringleader, Nelson Pabon, 47, faces up to 40 years in sentencing.

As for the safety of DFW Airport, spokeswoman Cynthia Vega says that some changes have been made. For instance, secure areas are now manned by the Department of Public Safety security officers with full-body scanners. "Safety is our primary goal," she said. "It is paramount that we stay on top of those potential threats."

TSA also reassured the public of DFW airport's commitment to safety. "Over the last year, DFW has implemented a number of additional technologies and procedures to further strengthen already robust employee-screening protocols," TSA said in a statement. "TSA, in partnership with the airport and airlines, continues to employ multiple layers of security throughout the airport. TSA also has strong partnerships with intelligence and law enforcement agencies and cooperates fully in any criminal investigations."

It’s not clear yet how the other men in the case will be sentenced, though Gabriel Reyes, an attorney for Luis Gaston-Rolon said that his client regrets his actions.

"Our hope is that the judge makes allowance for the fact that many of the individuals wrapped up in this operation, Mr. Gaston included, were young men without criminal histories and were lured by the promise of easy money," Reyes said.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yea! More of Jeb's imported love.
Posted by: Omomong Omique2579 || 05/12/2019 0:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Not a blond in the bunch.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/12/2019 1:14 Comments || Top||

#3  Sort of like Narcos meets Undercover Boss ? Great.

Yeah, did notice they're all varying shades of other.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 05/12/2019 7:49 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
2020 Democrat Julian Castro calls Trump a 'grade-A idiot'
[WASHINGTONTIMES] Trump beat out seventeen other well-qualified contenders and then beat Hillarity. I'm guessing Trump will be president in 2021 and Castro won't..
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I. Am. Corn Julio!
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2019 7:33 Comments || Top||

#2  Ah, Yes. Corn Julio.

We'll leave it at that.


The entire Democrat Party is filled with profound Insight and deep thinkers WISDOM.

Corn Julio, Indeed.

Why don't you get back to us all the Morning AFTER the 2020 Election, Castro. We will be looking for 'ya. You can call the Election ? Try calling the ELECTORATE a bunch of Grade A Idiots. See how that works for 'ya.
Posted by: Unump Therens9551 || 05/12/2019 9:36 Comments || Top||

#3  Wait til Julian Castro gets invited for a TV interview other than on The View. Can he even speak English?
Posted by: jpal || 05/12/2019 12:58 Comments || Top||

#4  #1 & 2. Naughty lads.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/12/2019 15:08 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Australian-Lebanese dual national out on bail in Sydney plane bomb plot
[IsraelTimes] Lebanese authorities accuse Amer Khayyat of planning to blow up Etihad flight from UAE to Australia; Khayyat released on bail after being held in detention since 2017.

The lawyer of an Australian-Lebanese dual citizen on trial for an alleged plot to bring down a passenger plane says her client has been ordered released on bail by a Lebanese military court.

Joceline Adib al-Rai, lawyer of Amer Khayyat,
...the only one of the family to spell the name with two Ys, he was supposed to be the innocent dupe of his loving, ISIS-connected brothers. So it is unclear why he’s been held in Lebanon for two years...
said Saturday the court’s decision was delivered a day earlier. Prosecutors can appeal.

Lebanese authorities have held Khayyat in detention since 2017. They have accused him of planning to blow up an Emirati airline flight that was supposed to travel from Sydney to the United Arab Emirates.

Khayyat has rejected the charges.

Two of Khayyat’s brothers are on trial in Australia for plotting to blow up the plane with bombs hidden inside a Barbie doll and meat grinder.
That would be Khaled and Mahmoud Khayat. The loving Khayat brothers prepared the bomb at the behest of third brother Tarek Khayat, a senior ISIS emir in Syria.
Australian authorities say Amer Khayyat had no knowledge of his brothers’ plot.
What was he arrested for, then?
Australian police alleged last year as part of the plans, a senior 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....
commander directed a group of Australian men to build a bomb destined for an Etihad Airways flight out of Sydney.

The improvised bomb was due to be smuggled onto the July 15 flight, but the attempt was aborted before they reached security.

Police said they had also foiled a second alleged plot involving a "chemical dispersion device," designed to release hydrogen sulfide, but this was in the early stages.

The second plan was hatched after the first one failed, police said, and was not necessarily targeted at a plane.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  released on bail

But he promises to return.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/12/2019 1:16 Comments || Top||

#2  The entire Khayyat clan looks like a sleeper cell.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 05/12/2019 7:45 Comments || Top||


Iran secretly delivers 1 million barrels of oil to Syria
[ALMASDARNEWS] At a moment the Persian Gulf is heating up given the highest tensions and exchange of threats in years between the US and Iran, Tehran is running the high risk gambit of restarting its crude transfers to Syria.

A new CNBC report finds, "Tanker-tracking firms believe Iran is once again shipping crude oil to Syria, resuming the illicit trade as tensions with Washington rise and the Islamic Theocratic Republic faces increasing international isolation." Specifically a one million barrel delivery was reportedly made through the Syrian port of Baniyas in early May, the first since the end of 2018, according to TankerTrackers.com and ClipperData.

Washington has in recent months ramped up targeted sanctions against Syrian oil imports, causing the worse fuel crisis in Syria’s modern history, resulting in a "lifeless" and "decimated economy" with cars lined up for miles, sometimes waiting for days for a simple gas fill-up, as one Bloomberg on the ground report recently described.

Ironically even after seven years of massive bloodshed, as the government has emerged victorious, it is only now with relative stability and ensuing calm over most of the country that an "economic siege" has hit the population with full force.

Damascus even during some of the worst years of war was always a bustling traffic-packed economic center for its six million inhabitants, but as we noted previously the country has been plunged into a fuel crisis that is the result of new US-led oil sanctions targeting Damascus and Tehran. As one recent WSJ report put it, Iranian oil deliveries to Syria have "fallen off a cliff" since January.

Given that Iran said Wednesday it now plans to stop compliance with key parts of the 2015 nuclear deal, citing that it’s running out of patience with European signatories of the JCPOA as its economy faces decimation by US sanctions, its close ally Syria will be a remaining key offload point for Iranian crude, along with Iran’s neighbor Iraq, as Tehran has also stated its intent to flout US sanctions.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  given the Iran has subsidized Syria for many years (and subsidizes Hezbollah also) Syria will be paying for the oil with funds Iran sent them last year or with promissory notes of dubious worth
Posted by: lord garth || 05/12/2019 8:52 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
2020 hopeful Gravel blasts 'off the rails' Biden, 'out-of-step' Buttigieg
[WASHINGTONTIMES] ... and both soon to return to obscurity.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Gravel is also ancient, white and essentially unknown. You could say he is trying to climb on Biden and Butt-boy's shoulders...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2019 4:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Gravel, former Senator of Alaska. He is now 88. Got into the marijuana business in 2015 assuming the leadership of a company called Kush. He has been a Dem and a Libertarian.

What are the chances he would live long enough to fill out a first term even if he had a snowball's chance in hell of becoming POTUS. How many stoners are there in the U.S. that give a flip about voting?
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/12/2019 9:20 Comments || Top||

#3  Doper protest poster: I got baked and forgot to vote!
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2019 9:21 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Why US troops ‘flattened' Raqqa and Mosul, and why it may herald an era of ‘feral city' warfare
A response to this editorial from a few years ago.
[MilitaryTimes] The U.S. military’s biggest successes against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria involved uprooting the militants first from Mosul, Iraq, and then Raqqa, Syria.

But those operations are also catching the most flak for what many human rights groups and international organizations viewed as a callous use of artillery and air power that killed too many civilians.
Or - a message that human shields are the responsibility of the assholes holding them
The battles, as terrible as they were, serve as an important bellwether that may mark a new era of urban warfare involving mega-cities, according to retired Army Maj. John W. Spencer, chair of Urban Warfare Studies at West Point’s Modern War Institute.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: 746 || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Raqqa, Mosul and Baghdad got off lightly. They should study pics of Berlin and Tokyo (among many hundreds of cities in that WAR). Look to non SDF parts of Syria for the future of urban destruction.
Posted by: Omomong Omique2579 || 05/12/2019 1:17 Comments || Top||

#2  Maybe they can test out their theories on Baltimore.
Posted by: Blossom Stalin3940 || 05/12/2019 6:26 Comments || Top||

#3  Afghanistan should have been handled thus: No electricity or clean water until bin laden was turned over, then only dribs and drabs until all taliban higher-ups were turned over. Iraq should have been no electricity or clean water until the entire Hussein clan was turned over along with their henchmen. Then a slow return for those who agreed more sectarian violence was off the table. Maybe tater on a spit as a gesture of good will.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2019 7:04 Comments || Top||

#4  possibly worsened by the effects of global climate change,


Soon as I saw this I knew this wasn't serious.
Posted by: AlanC || 05/12/2019 8:47 Comments || Top||

#5  No mention of fighting opponents who seek to maximize civilian casualties and mask their forces as civilians so that useful idiots oppose actions taken against them?
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 05/12/2019 9:35 Comments || Top||

#6  Had we listened to these human rights groups during WWII, Churchill, Roosevelt and Truman would have been war criminals and we would have lost the war. We'd be speaking German or Japanese if they didn't exterminate us first.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/12/2019 10:30 Comments || Top||

#7  possibly worsened by the effects of global climate change,

I read that as the beginning of the retreat from Obama-era boilerplate. It is now only possible instead of definite, and soon enough won’t be mentioned at all — no point in ruffling the feathers of the current powers-at-be with concerns that distract from the military’s job of killing people and breaking things.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2019 12:10 Comments || Top||

#8  Allowing the vermin to aggregate in several cities means flattening a handful of cities instead of an entire country to two. I do not appreciate the slowness of the destruction.
Posted by: Airandee || 05/12/2019 12:30 Comments || Top||

#9  Maybe we shouldn't be murdering civilians? In countries that have never declared war on is and are no threat? Just a crazy idea, thought I'd throw it out there.

Nah go ahead and order the B52s in to commit mass killings. Because that worked SO well in Vietnam.

Ever think maybe we shouldn't be involved in these wars in the first place? We ga9n no benefit for our people and with every civilian we kill we create dozens of new enemies.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 05/12/2019 15:08 Comments || Top||

#10  I agree Herb, but we've got to stop looking back and start looking forward. I don't think the Orange Man is keen on conflict. He's just like us, he's been watching this meddling and 'endless wars' bullshi* for nearly as long as we have. Exit strategies and solutions are what we need now.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2019 15:17 Comments || Top||

#11  I've said it before, the only reason we should go to war is someone attacks us or we have treaty obligations to defend them. Otherwise, we should be keeping any territory we 'pacify'.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 05/12/2019 15:41 Comments || Top||

#12  But if we don't bomb countries like Syria and Venezuela, they might raise an army and invade America.

Yup. We had better commit war crimes now, rather than allow it to become a worldwide conflagration like World War II. Yup, I read it on Rantburg.

Hooray for war crimes! Let's bomb civilians with the B52s! Bring back the arclight strikes! Murder murder murder! Because those are the values that Americans stand for. Don't let those Venezuelans invade the US! Pull those weeds now!
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 05/12/2019 17:22 Comments || Top||

#13  If someone attacks America, I have no issue with that nation turning into a poisoned, radioactive wasteland. None. Once we do that, everyone will have a concrete example of why pissing us off is stupid.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 05/12/2019 17:28 Comments || Top||

#14  Go to the source. Mecca next.
Posted by: Woodrow || 05/12/2019 19:22 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
No casualties reported as bomb goes off in 5th Police District of Kabul
[KhaamaPress] The Kabul Police confirmed that a bomb went off in the vicinity of Qambar Square in the 5th Police District of Kabul city earlier tonight.

According to a statement released by Kabul Police Headquarters, the incident took place at around 8:20 pm local time.

The statement further added that the kaboom did not cause casualties or damages to the properties.

No individual or group has so far grabbed credit for the incident.

This comes as a group of faceless myrmidons launched a coordinated attack on a U.S. aid group’s office in Kabul city on Wednesday leaving at least 9 people dead and 20 others maimed.

The Talibs group had grabbed credit for the attack.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
B-52s, Patriots, F-35s and more: America’s MidEast deployment rundown
[Jpost] In the last several days the US has announced the deployment of a wide array of military power to the Middle East as tensions grow with Iran. On May 10 the Department of Defense approved the addition of the USS Arlington and a Patriot battery to US Central Command to fill a request last week. It comes as tensions with Iran are on the rise and the US has warned Iran that any attack by Iranian forces or their proxies will be met with retaliation.

The following is a list of the known forces that the US has deployed.

THE USS ARLINGTON
A 24,000 ton, 680 foot ship commissioned in 2013 it is a San-Antonio class amphibious transport vessel. It is designed to transport US Marines, vehicles and aircraft to be used to support amphibious assaults. It can carry up to 800 troops with a dozen vehicles. Although with the 6th Fleet, which operates in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, it was ordered to join the deployment, according too the United States Naval Institute News.

THE 22ND MARINE EXPEDITIONARY UNIT
Elements of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) were also dispatched. They transited the Strait of Hormuz with the amphibious ship Kearsarge.

THE KEARSARGE ARG
The amphibious ready group (ARG) led by the Kearsarge entered the 6th fleet’s area of operations in December with the MEU and over the last months has been deployed to the Persian Gulf, steaming around various countries. It has up to 4,500 sailors and marines aboard its various units. These include, according to Naval Today, the USS Arlington which is mentioned above, the dock landing ship USS Fort McHenry, a helicopter squadron, a tactical air squadron and a naval beach group.

USS MCFAUL AND USNS ALAN SHEPARD
The destroyer USS McFaul and the ammunition ship USNS Alan Shepard were photographed in the Straits of Hormuz on May 7. They had been in the Red Sea in April.

B-52 BOMBERS
Two B-52s landed Thursday in Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
, part of four B-52s sent to the region. They flew from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana and were supported by two KC-10s from McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey, according to reports. They form part of a bomber task force of Barksdale’s 20th Bomb Squadron.

THE USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike force passed through the Suez Canal last week on the way to the Persian Gulf. It included the USS Leyte Gulf and destroyers.

PATRIOT MISSILES
US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan also sent a US Patriot missile battery to bolster Central Command.

F-35S
In Mid-April the US sent several F-35s to the United Arab Emirates. These included maintenance and support units from the 388th Fighter Wing and Air Force Reserve 419th Fighter Wing.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  ammunition ship USNS Alan Shepard

In case I'm not the only one who snickers like an idiot reading that.
Posted by: Threarong Tojo1809 || 05/12/2019 1:46 Comments || Top||

#2  Look like fat targets, you ask me...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2019 4:59 Comments || Top||

#3  The dry stores ships, that is...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2019 5:00 Comments || Top||

#4  Sure is a lot of stuff. Someone planning a party?
Posted by: SteveS || 05/12/2019 10:42 Comments || Top||

#5  Gonna' be interesting to see if/when/how Iran blinks. And how Putin reacts, although he knows war could be destabilizing to his personal wealth. Can his ego and self-interest withstand his "Hawks?"

Moldavite can be pleasing to the eye, but that of possibly soon-recent provenance will be "hot" for awhile.
Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 05/12/2019 19:28 Comments || Top||

#6  In response, Iran is duct taping radial engines onto its plywood copy of the F-5. They'll be able to wipe out our air power with it in a lazy afternoon after their single magical missile sinks our entire naval force.
Posted by: gorb || 05/12/2019 21:27 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
This Week in Books, May 12, 2019
Naval Warfare Under Oars
William Ledyard Rodgers, Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy
Naval Institute Press, 1967

Originally published in the late 1930's, Vice Admiral Rodgers spent years accumulating the knowledge for his study of strategy, tactics, and ship design from the 4th to the 16th centuries. That is, from the Romans to England vs. Spanish Armada.

Vice Admiral Rodgers is concise in his conclusions, and includes a number of diagrams and illustrations which support his conclusions.

Page 73

From this survival of the old Norse ship and many incidental allusions in the contemporary sagas we are able to derive a fairly clear idea of the much larger ships which were built by the end of the tenth century, and the number of men they carried. The largest ship named in the sagas is one which King Canute of Denmark, England, and Norway built and which had, so it is said, 60 rowers' benches. But this tale may be rejected with little consideration, for until wooden ships were strapped with iron less than a century and a half ago, they lacked sea-going strength if over 200 feet long, and 60 benches would have needed a craft of over 200 feet. The most celebrated ship of the Norsemen was the Long Serpent of King Olaf Tryggevesson, built just before the close of the tenth century, and on which he met his death at the battle of Svold in 1000 A.D. She was remembered for several generations as the standard for comparison, and was said to be the most costly ship ever built in Norway.

Interestingly, the book was written and published right at the cusp of further-than-sight detection and the age of the aircraft carrier. Not knowing this, he includes Alonzo de Chaves preparing the Spanish navy for conflict with the Turks with his statement of orders.

Page 146

The commander in chief must keep record of all. After battle, having assembled his fleet he takes care of the wounded and makes a list of dead, and the distribution of booty. He must make port and get supplies and repairs.

But I have said enough, and yield to those who know more, for every day there are new things. (Like ourselves, former generations thought themselves quite modern.)

Wise advice from hundreds of years ago.

The book concludes with a study of Spain vs. England, the infamous Spanish Armada, so callously covered in all of my history classes — one teacher being just about, "Spanish Armada, ha ha storm, sail around Britain." There was a lot going on there. As for the fleet, here is Spain attempting to kit out their ships:

Page 269

As for the ships, there was not great difference in the build of merchantmen and men-of-war at that time. They could be changed from one class to the other by adding or removing a few pieces of artillery and this at first thought might seem an advantage for the sovereign, as he did not need to maintain a permanent navy, having only to requisition ships and man them with his own subjects or any foreigners who happened to be in port. Really the advantage was not great. In these merchant ships impressed for the royal service it was necessary to make many alterations to fit them for war. The guns had to be placed aboard and emplacements built for them and many fittings and sometimes an extra temporary deck had to be built in to accommodate the soldiers. Storerooms for powder and shot were also built in and there was loss of charter money while the ships were fitting out.

It is a scholarly book, but not without a bit of flair. For instance, I do not think Vice Admiral Rodgers had a favorable opinion about Queen Elizabeth. The explanations are clear, the math understandable, the diagrams perfect in that old school drafting sense.

In a sense this is the sequel to his book Greek and Roman Naval Warfare, but this book stands alone.
Separately, Joe of the Jungle stopped by the O Club (to which all are invited, not just whatever passes for officers here at Rantburg) to say, “Please read Tom Pecora’s book, Guardian, 49 Pan and I worked with him for 20+ years. He did a good job without discussing anyone or anything. An impressive job with a defined tribute to Col. Nick Rowe.”
Posted by: swksvolFF || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Culture Wars
Anti-Israel Hamas-Linked CAIR Pressures Charities to Blacklist Conservative Nonprofits
[PJMedia] On Monday, the first day of the Islamic holy season of Ramadan, the Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",-linked anti-Israel Council on American-Islamic Relations
... the Moslem Brüderbund's American arm ...
(CAIR) released a report condemning mainstream charities and philanthropic groups for allowing donors to contribute to conservative organizations CAIR and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) have accused of being "hate groups" comparable to the Ku Klux Klan. This is particularly rich, as CAIR was an unindicted co-conspirator in a terror-funding case involving the Paleostinian terror group Hamas.

The report, "Hijacked by Hate: American Philanthropy and the Islamophobia
...the irrational fear that Moslems will act the way they usually do...
Network," lists "philanthropic foundations, many of them mainstream, that were used by anonymous special interest donors to funnel almost $125 million to anti-Moslem hate groups between 2014 and 2016." CAIR found 1,096 organizations funding 39 groups they accused of fomenting "anti-Moslem hate," to the tune of $1.5 billion.

The funders include Fidelity and Schwab Charitable as well as faith-based charities such as the Jewish Communal Fund and the National Christian Charitable Foundation. CAIR followed the lead of the SPLC in accusing various conservative organizations of being "hate groups," including ACT for America, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), the Center for Security Policy, the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and others. The SPLC is currently struggling with a racism and sexual harassment scandal that dealt a critical blow to its credibility.

CAIR National Research and Advocacy Manager Zainab Arain claimed that the report aims to "make it easy auto identify connections and empower decision makers to make informed choices about who they partner with." In other words, the report aims to blackmail charitable foundations into blacklisting conservative organizations on the spurious grounds that they are terroristic "hate groups."
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood


India-Pakistan
Govt bans 10 more organisations for alleged affiliation with proscribed outfits
[DAWN] The interior ministry on Saturday announced that it has placed 10 more organizations on the list of proscribed outfits.

According to a blurb issued by the ministry, the action was taken in pursuance of the National Action Plan (NAP).

The newest additions to the list of banned outfits are Al Anfal Trust (Lahore), Idara-e-Khidmat Khalaq (Lahore), Al Dawatul Irshad (Lahore), Al Hamd Trust (Lahore and Faisalabad
...formerly known as Lyallpur, the third largest metropolis in Pakistain, the second largest in Punjab after Lahore. It is named after some Arab because the Paks didn't have anybody notable of their own to name it after...
), Mosque and Welfare Trust (Lahore), Al Madinah Foundation (Lahore), Muaz bin Jabal Education Trust (Lahore), Al Eesar Foundation (Lahore), Al Rehmat Trust Organisation (Bahawalpur) and Al Furqan Trust (Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
).

The entities were designated as proscribed organizations for their alleged affiliation with banned Jamatud Dawa (JuD), Falah-e-Insaniyat
...the current false nose and mustache of Jamaat ud-Dawa, which was the false nose and mustache of Lashkar e-Taiba...
Founda­tion (FiF) and Jaish-e-Mohammad
...literally Army of Mohammad, a Pak-based Deobandi terror group founded by Maulana Masood Azhar in 2000, after he split with the Harkat-ul-Mujaheddin. In 2002 the government of Pervez Musharraf banned the group, which changed its name to Khaddam ul-Islam and continued doing what it had been doing before without missing a beat...
(JeM).

In March this year, law enforcement agencies had intensified its ongoing crackdown on JeM, JuD, FIF and other banned outfits, and had tossed in the slammer
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
more than 100 activists. Nearly 200 seminaries besides hundreds of other facilities and assets associated with them across the country were taken over by the government.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Iraq
Iraqi security arrest senior Islamic State member Kirkuk
Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi security forces arrested a senior Islamic State member in Kikruk province, north of the country, local media reported Saturday.

Almaalomah website quoted a security source saying a security force arrested the terrorist at a residential building in the town of Hawija, a former group stronghold.

The forces found communication sets with the arrested member, according to the source.

Iraq recaptured all territories occupied by Islamic State militants in 2017, but security continue to hunt for remnant cells.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Suspected Colorado School Shooter's Dad Was Deported Twice: Report
[DailyCaller] The father of a Colorado school shooting suspect was deported twice and had a history of domestic violence, according to records obtained by Daily Mail.

Jose Evis Quintana, father of shooting suspect Maya "Alec" McKinney, is a Mexican national and was deported on April 21, 2017 and on Dec. 9, 2010, Daily Mail reported.

McKinney, along with Devon Erickson, are suspected shooters at STEM School Highlands Ranch, which left one dead and eight students with injuries Tuesday.
Posted by: Omomong Omique2579 || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This story just keeps getting worse and worse from the MSM / LIE perspective. It's going to get memory holed at a hypersonic rate.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2019 4:41 Comments || Top||

#2  There we go.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 05/12/2019 8:12 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
60 Starlink sats in first launch. Photo
[Twitter]


Posted by: 3dc || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  New satellites could save Americans $30B on monthly Internet bills, report says
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/12/2019 8:47 Comments || Top||




India-Pakistan
Security guard killed as terrorists storm Pearl Continental Hotel in Gwadar: ISPR
[DAWN] Three bandidos bandidos Death Eaters stormed the Pearl Continental (PC) Hotel in Gwadar on Saturday and killed a security guard, according to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military's media wing.

The ISPR said that the bandidos bandidos Death Eaters attempted to force their way into the hotel and were challenged by the security guard, who was fired at and lost his life. A clearance operation was launched following the incident.

"Security forces have cordoned off the area and encircled the bandidos bandidos Death Eaters on the stairs leading to the top floor," the ISPR further said, adding that "guests have been safely evacuated" from the hotel.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  GWAR...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2019 7:41 Comments || Top||


Britain
Backed by Corbyn, hundreds march for ‘free Palestine’ in London
[IsraelTimes] Protest icon Ahed Tamimi
...the blond, blue-eyed Arab-Israeli maiden who along with siblings and young cousins in the boisterous village of Nabi Saleh has made a hobby of being filmed screaming at and physically attacking Israeli soldiers, urged on by well-known Fatah activist Bassem Tamimi, her papa...
leads procession; Labour leader calls for condemnation of Israel following last week’s Gazoo flare-up, doesn’t mention rocket barrages.
Historically such marches get tens or hundreds of thousands, not mere hundreds. I wonder what changed?
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: PLO

#1  I guess freeing Britain first was too much to ask.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 05/12/2019 8:27 Comments || Top||

#2  "Free Palestine!" with purchase of similar-sized imaginary country
Posted by: Frank G || 05/12/2019 9:28 Comments || Top||

#3  ^ LMAO
Posted by: Matt || 05/12/2019 10:26 Comments || Top||

#4  The Times of Israel updated the article tonight —it was 3,000, not several hundred, but that’s still pathetic.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2019 22:26 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
History: The ultimate shadow strike to safeguard Israel
[IsraelTimes] Yaakov Katz writes a page-turning account of the never-before-told story of how Israel took out Syria’s nuclear reactor

"Daddy, how do you know that Israel won’t die?" my 8-year son recently asked me, looking very scared and worried. He had come home from school that day, where he’d heard about rockets raining down from Gazoo into Israeli cities. He was grappling in his own way with the fragility of Israel’s existence. I told him that Israel would always be here for us because of the countless people who would give their soul and life to protect the Jewish state and the values it holds dear.

Yaakov Katz, the Israeli-American editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post, provides an extremely clear answer to my son’s question in his latest book, Shadow Strike: Inside Israel’s Secret Mission to Eliminate Syrian Nuclear Power. This exposé provides the full story behind Israel’s operation to destroy the al-Kibar nuclear reactor, which was built under the veil of secrecy and ultimately destroyed by the IDF in September 2007. Full of espionage, political courage and psychological warfare, this book is sure to thrill both the casual James Bond fan and the most serious followers of Middle Eastern politics.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  an existential threat to Israel and the entire Western world.

Nah, pretty much just Israel.

Oh right, the Samson Option. Where they hold the capitals of Europe hostage with nuclear weapons.

https://wikispooks.com/wiki/Israel/Samson_Option

Who here just heard of the Samson Option today? An interesting topic I just found out about. Be sure to check the extensive list of footnotes and citations. Never trust anything you read unless you verify the sources by yourself.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 05/12/2019 7:57 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
Chick-fil-A likened to 'pornography' as university's faculty push for chain's campus ouster
[WASHINGTONTIMES] The anti-Chick-fil-A protests that started in 2012 have taken a new twist ‐ this time with the restaurant chain being likened to "pornography."

Left-wing activists condemned the popular company seven years ago due to Dan Cathy, the company’s president and CEO, supporting the traditional definition of marriage. Ironically, faculty at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo are likening the Christian-friendly business to sexually explicit films.

"We don’t sell pornography in the bookstore and we don’t have a Hooters on campus ‐ we already pre-select those kind of things based on our existing values," Academic Senate Vice Chair Thomas Gutierrez told a campus publication, the the Socialist paradise of San Francisco
...where God struck dead Anton LaVey, home of the Sydney Ducks, ruled by Vigilance Committee from 1859 through 1867, reliably and volubly Democrat since 1964...
Gate reported Wednesday.

Faculty held a vote on Tuesday to oust the chain from campus.

Thirty-eight of 44 members voted in favor of ending the restaurant’s presence at the Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, school.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  In that case, I'll have two large breasts and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo can eat dick.
Posted by: Omomong Omique2579 || 05/12/2019 2:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Yeah, that's the point. They can have all the e coli and Hep-A/C garbage that Chipotle can sell. Eat up boyz n girrlz...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2019 4:50 Comments || Top||

#3  ....we don’t have a Hooters on campus

I believe the problem has now been identified.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2019 6:27 Comments || Top||

#4  Unlike any university Chik-fil-a welcomes anyone who wants to dine in their restaurant.
Posted by: Airandee || 05/12/2019 6:53 Comments || Top||

#5  LBGTQ reflects the values of Cal Poly? What about the values of other people at the institution? This small group of faculty are telling people what they can eat? Academic tyranny is what it is? This group of faculty elites needs to get their collective heads out of their collective arses.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/12/2019 9:41 Comments || Top||

#6  People who sign on to collectives deserve whatever they get... or don't...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2019 10:40 Comments || Top||

#7  A few months ago, I saw a graphic of the favorite fast-food joints for each state. Chick-Fil-A was the favorite in at least 75% of the states.

Looks like the Cal-Poly folks are swimming upstream. Changing the world, as it were.
Posted by: Bobby || 05/12/2019 10:44 Comments || Top||

#8  No more Federal student loans.
Posted by: Ebbavirt Clunk4147 || 05/12/2019 14:34 Comments || Top||

#9  My guess is, and just a guess, neither Dan and Bubba Cathy have lost a millisecond of sleep over any of this.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2019 15:03 Comments || Top||

#10  Chic-fil-A sell franchises to individuals. The owner of this franchise should sue the University for harassment on religious grounds.
Posted by: magpie || 05/12/2019 16:41 Comments || Top||

#11  Carnal Sanders?
Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 05/12/2019 19:30 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Remand of 11 Chinese nationals extended in fake marriage, human trafficking case
[DAWN] A Lahore court on Saturday extended the remand of 11 Chinese nationals into the Federal Investigation Agency custody for a probe into a transnational gang allegedly involved contracting fake marriages between Chinese men and Pak women who are later forced into prostitution and the illegal organ trade.

The cases of alleged trafficking of Pak girls on the part of Chinese nationals have been making headlines for several days after the FIA stepped up its crackdown against such cases. Nearly two dozen Chinese nationals have been tossed in the clink
Into the paddy wagon wit' yez!
from different Pak cities so far. The Chinese government has also taken a notice of the situation and said that Beijing will extend support to local authorities looking into the matter. However,
a clean conscience makes a soft pillow...
a statement from the Chinese embassy rejected media reports and said that there was no forced prostitution or sale of human organs for those Pak women who stay in China.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Human Trafficking



Who's in the News
26[untagged]
5Govt of Iran
4Islamic State
3Taliban
2al-Nusra
2Govt of Saudi Arabia
2Human Trafficking
2Commies
2Govt of Pakistan
1Sublime Porte
1Moslem Colonists
1Muslim Brotherhood
1Govt of Syria
1Hamas
1PLO

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
Comments Spam
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
RSS Links
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio
Sink Trap

Alzheimer's Association
Day by Day
Counterterrorism
Hair Through the Ages







On Sale now!


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

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

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

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

Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2019-05-12
  Security guard killed as terrorists storm Pearl Continental Hotel in Gwadar: ISPR
Sat 2019-05-11
  B-52s in Al Udeid AB Qatar
Fri 2019-05-10
  U.S. revokes citizenship of Portland mosque's imam for ties to ObL
Thu 2019-05-09
  Rotherham abuse scandal: 40 arrests made in last two months
Wed 2019-05-08
  Pompeo suddenly in Iraq
Tue 2019-05-07
  400-strong Christian mob attacks Muslim shops in Sri Lankan town hit by Easter bomb
Mon 2019-05-06
  19 killed in Gaza, four in Israel in Sunday’s escalation, say officials
Sun 2019-05-05
  Iran money man zapped in Gaza
Sat 2019-05-04
  Israel strikes Gaza targets in response to heavy rocket fire Saturday
Fri 2019-05-03
  Taliban militants blow up one of the oldest shrines of Ghazni city
Thu 2019-05-02
  Iran, Turkey criticize US plan to designate Muslim Brotherhood a terror group
Wed 2019-05-01
  Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated businessman Malek sentenced to 25 years in prison
Tue 2019-04-30
  Gunmen kill pastor, worshippers in Burkina Faso church
Mon 2019-04-29
  Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi seen in new video for first time in five years
Sun 2019-04-28
  Father, brothers of alleged Sri Lanka bombing mastermind killed

Better than the average link...



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.
44.211.243.190
Paypal:
WoT Background (12)    Non-WoT (13)    Opinion (5)    (0)    Politix (7)