President Obama is an avowed fan of the Chicago Bulls, but their most famous player ever probably won't be invited out to the links with the commander in chief any time soon.
Michael Jordan is calling the commander in chief a "shitty golfer."
In an interview for the Back 9 Network, Ahmad Rashad -- who's teed off with Obama on more than one occasion -- asks Jordan who he would play in his ideal golf foursome.
"I've never played with Obama, but I would," the basketball Hall of Famer says before quickly appearing to change his mind. "But nah, that's okay. I'll take him out. He's a hack. Man, I'd be all day playing with him."
"Do you really want to say that?," Rashad replies, looking into the camera recording the sit-down. "The president of the United States is a hack?"
"Don't worry about it," Jordan says, in the playful conversation. "I never said he's wasn't a great politician, I just said he's a shitty golfer." I don't think you ever said he was a great politician, either.
Rashad quickly comes to the defense of Obama's putting prowess: "No, he's not a bad golfer."
Obama, an avid golfer, has often been a favorite target of critics for his affinity for picking up his clubs. Earlier this month, CBS News noted that he had reached a golfing milestone, having played 200 rounds since becoming president in 2009.
#5
I'm in favor of him spending 24/7 on the green concentrating on golf. We'll all be better off that way.
Posted by: James ||
11/06/2014 18:10 Comments ||
Top||
#6
This just in Michael Jordan clarifies his comment: Obama's a 's----y golfer'
He issued this statement late this afternoon
"I was misquoted in my characterization of His Highness, President Barack Hussein Obamas' ability at playing golf. What I said and related was our experience recently in playing golf.
His Highness, President Barack Hussein Obama and I were playing at new course and he was having a very bad day.
He was on the 18th hole, and he saw a lake.
He said to me "I think I'm going to go drown myself in that lake".
And I said "I don't think you can, you can't keep your head down that long."
Now, I know the media and they misquoted me, I further said - "Your Highness, if you do manage to do this, your tombstone might be inscribed," Here, Lies HRH President BHO, The Shittist Golfer who ever lived."
To enable planning, and with thanks to all who stepped forward to make the world a safer place.
[TheMilitaryWallet] Veterans Day is soon approaching and there are many restaurants and companies who want to thank our veterans by providing them with discounts or a free meal. To those companies offering veterans a free meal or discount, the military community gives a collective thanks!
[AnNahar] Australia stepped up its response to the Ebola crisis Wednesday in announcing Aus$20 million (U.S.$17 million) to help staff a 100-bed British-built treatment center in Sierra Leone.
It is the first targeted help Canberra has agreed to give to fight the outbreak in West Africa where the deadly disease has killed almost 5,000 people, although it has previously donated cash.
Despite increasing domestic political pressure, Canberra has until now refused to send medical professionals to tackle the epidemic, arguing there was no way to get them home safely.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the government would not directly deploy health workers to west Africa but would contract a private medical services firm, Aspen, to staff the center. Some of those working for Aspen are expected to be Australian.
He said Australia had won assurances that Britannia would help if any Australian becomes infected.
"The government has said consistently that it would not deploy Australians to Ebola-affected countries without a credible plan for their treatment or medical evacuation," Abbott said.
"In recent weeks, the government has discussed the evolving situation, including measures to treat health workers, with the United Kingdom, the United States and others.
"Australia has now received credible assurances for in-country treatment and medical evacuation for Australian volunteers who provide health care in West Africa."
Abbott also announced plans to further ramp up Australia's domestic preparedness, including extra screening at airports of people arriving from west Africa.
[AnNahar] Thousands of people in Sierra Leone are being forced to violate Ebola quarantines to find food because deliveries are not reaching them, aid agencies said.
Large swaths of the West African country have been sealed off to prevent the spread of Ebola, and within those areas many people have been ordered to stay in their homes.
The government, with help from the U.N.'s World Food Program, is tasked with delivering food and other services to those people. But there are many "nooks and crannies" in the country that are being missed, Jeanne Kamara, Christian Aid's Sierra Leone representative, said Tuesday.
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has killed nearly 5,000 people, and authorities have gone to extreme lengths to bring it under control, including the quarantines in Sierra Leone. Similar restrictions have also been used in Liberia and Guinea, the two other countries hardest hit by the epidemic.
Some efforts have begun to show progress. The situation is Guinea is improving, as is the quality of care for Ebola patients, thanks to international aid, said Aboubakar Sidiki Diakite, an official with the country's Health Ministry, who was visiting Gay Paree on Tuesday.
But more treatment centers and medical teams are still needed, the World Health Organization said at a news conference in Geneva on Tuesday. There are currently 16 treatment centers up and running and 58 more planned. To staff those centers, 500 foreign health care workers and 4,000 national ones are still needed.
In an address to politicians in Sierra Leone, President Ernest Bai Koroma said ordinary people also have to do more. He defended the stringent measures he has imposed and called on all citizens to stop dangerous behavior that has fueled Ebola's spread, such as secret burials where corpses are washed or even people touching the sick.
"We have to take the sick out and take the responsibility with firmness," he said. "We must end Ebola now."
While public health authorities have said heavy restrictions may be necessary to bring under control an Ebola outbreak unlike any other, the Disasters Emergency Committee, an umbrella organization for aid organizations, warned on Monday that they were cutting off food to thousands of people.
"The quarantine of Kenema, the third largest town in Sierra Leone, is having a devastating impact on trade -- travel is restricted so trucks carrying food cannot freely drive around," the committee said in a statement. "Food is becoming scarce, which has led to prices increasing beyond the reach of ordinary people."
Because services are not reaching them, people who are being monitored for signs of Ebola -- and should be staying at home -- are venturing out to markets to look for food, potentially contaminating many others, said Kamara of Christian Aid.
When houses are put under quarantine, teams are supposed to go to them to identify their needs, she said: How many people are living there? Are there pregnant women or sick people with special needs?
But Kamara said that with the infections still increasing quickly, it was difficult for the government to keep up with the number of people being monitored for the disease. The outbreak in Sierra Leone has been shifting in recent weeks, with the number of new cases ballooning in the country's western and northern districts, far from where the outbreak began, in the country's east.
In October, the World Food Program fed more than 450,000 people in Sierra Leone, including people who are under quarantine or being treated for Ebola, said Alexis Masciarelli, a front man for the agency in Dakar, Senegal ... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees... . The distribution of food has been difficult, he said, since it has required bringing food to remote areas by poor roads.
He acknowledged that getting good information about where people need help is difficult, but he said WFP asks smaller organizations, with deep connections to the communities, to help them keep track of a fast-moving situation.
Also as part of the effort to control the epidemic, Liberia has ordered that the bodies of all Ebola victims in and around the capital be cremated. Ebola is transmitted through the bodily fluids of infected people, and secretions from dead bodies are among the most infectious.
But the neighborhood around the crematorium on the outskirts of Monrovia, called Boys Town, is now demanding that the government move the facility elsewhere. Residents say the ash is polluting the area and the stigma surrounding Ebola is rubbing off on them, with people pointing them out in the market.
The residents are threatening to hold a protest Thursday that would block cremations if the government doesn't move the facility.
#1
This is a preview of what we can expect if a lock down is put in place here due to Ebola; not that we will ever know since according to reports today the media was requested by Champ to not report anything Ebola related until positive tests results are available.......
time to lock and load to protect your own stash?
#2
I think we can self-organize quite a bit better than that. We have more infrastructure to do it with. The government of Sierra Leone makes ∅ look competent.
Posted by: James ||
11/06/2014 18:14 Comments ||
Top||
#3
time to lock and load to protect your own stash?
Do you have at least three weeks worth of food and other supplies to protect, USN, Ret.? ;-)
But I agree with James about self-organizing -- that's bedrock to the American culture. Nor does it sound like there's much of a problem with robbery in Sierra Leone but rather with people venturing out to forage.
#4
TW @3: Yes, but with our Just In Time supply chain and the low information, EBT totin' urban dwellers that just KNOW it is the gov't's job to care for them, I really suspect them that ain't got it are going to try to take from them that do.
Coupled with veiled comments I get from Mrs. Ret. as it relates to the information she brings home (NHOH) I do believe that when the SHTF it will not be a drizzle, but a bonafide frog-strangler.
#5
Fair enough, USN, Ret. For this issue it looks like I might be the overly positive foil against those who know more, like you and RandomJD, so you can explain exactly why you are concerned.
In the meantime, I stock my pantry. I was a child in Buffalo, NY during the blizzards of '77 and '78. I always stock up my pantry as winter approaches, as a matter of principle.
Teresa Romero said she had clung to memories of family when she thought she was dying and still does not know how she caught the disease. She had treated two returning Spanish missionaries who later died.
She vowed to donate blood to other Ebola victims until she "ran dry".
She added: "I don't know what failed, or if anything failed. I just know that I don't hold any grudges."
She vowed to donate blood to other Ebola victims until she "ran dry".
Ms Romero recovered after being given a variety of treatments including blood plasma from survivor Paciencia Melgar. Ms Romero said that she wanted to meet the nun and "give her a big hug".
"I can never be grateful enough," she said.
An antiviral drug was also given to Ms Romero but the hospital was unable to say which method had been successful.
Ms Romero no longer posed a risk and could lead a normal life, said Jose Ramon Arribas, the head of the Carlos III hospital's infectious diseases unit.
#1
"...still does not know how she caught the disease. ...
An antiviral drug was also given to Ms Romero but the hospital was unable to say which method had been successful."
The science is settled and any deviation from the CDC's holy scripture scientific teachings proves anti-science thoughtcrime.
</sarc>
Isaac Yacouba Zida, who was appointed by the Burkina Faso army to be the incumbent leader of the transitional government after former President Blaise Compaore was forced to resign, promised a "short" transitional period that "respects constitutional provisions."
He also said the executive power will be handled by a transitional organ that will be led by "a consensual personality" appointed by all concerned stakeholders.
Although he did not give the timetable for setting up the transitional organs, Zida reiterated that the army was not there to "usurp" power.
"We want to do it very fast. We expect to do this within the shortest time possible," he said.
Zida also met with the Mossi tribe King, Mogho Naba, the most influential traditional chief in Burkina Faso.
"They came and told us that they will hand over power to civilians. We have encouraged them to do so," said Mogho Naba at the front porch of his palace after the meeting.
Normalcy appeared to be returning to Burkina Faso following the army's promise of a "transitional body".
Posted by: Fred ||
11/06/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
For a map, click here. You can enlarge the map, if you open it separately.
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
Artillery exchanges between pro Russian Donbas rebels and Ukrainian military units in several locations in southeast Ukraina have killed a number of civilians, according to Russian language press reports.
Several news outlets detail increased artillery fire missions inside Donetsk city itself where one strike killed two and wounded three youths as they were playing soccer just before school.
According to Igor Strelkov (Igor Girkin) on a VKontacte (Russian Facebook) posting, an artillery strike, reportedly from Ukrainian artillery units hit at a school in northern Donetsk city killing two and wounding four others. One of the dead was said to be an 11 year old male. Other Donbas militia reports say as many as 12 civilians were killed in Tuesday's artillery strikes across the entire region.
Donbas rebels report that artillery fire has increased coming from Peski, southwest of the Donetsk airport and from Avdeyevka to the northeast. Both locations have Ukrainian artillery units and both locations are being used to support Ukrainian defensive operations at the Donetsk airport. Donbas rebels have attempted repeatedly to take the final building at the airport, the terminal, with little success.
Russian military analysts have pointed out that unless and until the supporting forces at Avdeyevka and Peski are eliminated -- or forced back -- the Ukrainian occupation at the airport will continue, as will artillery strikes inside Donetsk city itself.
Donbas rebels say their counterbattery artillery fire destroyed four Ukrainian artillery pieces in Donetsk city.
Elsewhere, artillery and small units battles have started up again in three other locations in the region.
At Mariupol, Donbas rebels claim that they have eliminated a number of Ukrainian checkpoints leading into the city, this after a previous report by Russian military journalist Dmitri Steshin claimed Mairupol had been virtually abandoned.
Monday Ukrainian president Piotr Poroshenko announced that reinforcements were being sent to Mariupol, so it is unclear how accurate Steshin's reports were.
According to a post from Strelkov's VKontacte page, small units battles were reported in locations north of Mariupol, including at Volnovakha. Ukrainian small arms fire were reported at Novoazovsk, which is near the Russian border. Ukrainian mortar attacks were also reported there.
According to a news account in regnum.ru, small arms exchanges were reported at Mikhailovka and Avdeyevkan around Donetsk city.
Northwest of Lugansk, Donbas militias report that a Ukrainian police unit about the size of a rifle company is surrounded near Frunze, near Checkpoint 31. A number of skirmishes between Donbas rebels and Ukrainian military units have been recorded since last week, but apparently these are the most intensive engagements to date.
The area in contention is directly west of Schastye, yet another location that Donbas rebels have failed to capture since September. Both sides are using artillery against the other as Donbas rebels push slowly the take the Northern Donetsk River crossing. Schastye is located behind the river line, and has presented a challenge since the Ukrainian units abandoned Lugansk in late August.
Also Donbas rebels have reported that a large armor column consisting mainly of BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, supply trucks and five BM-21 Grad rocket artillery launchers were reported near Lisicansk heading towards Lugansk city. That area is also near where Checkpoint 31 is, and may represent at least some of the forces the Ukrainian could use to relieve the police unit.
Donbas rebels also say that a number of small unit fights and artillery strikes were reported all along the Northern Donetsk River.
Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com
[AnNahar] U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... on Wednesday warned Russia that sanctions pressure could be intensified over the Ukraine crisis but urged Kiev not to get drawn into "tit-for-tat" measures.
Speaking to news hounds in Gay Paree after holding talks with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, Kerry said "the choice is Russia's" as to whether to implement the Minsk agreement that was supposed to bring peace to Ukraine's restive east. "restive east". I love it. That's what the writer calls full on artillery duels. Restiveness.
Donbas Militia Commander to artillery commander: Did you fire the counterbattery mission?
AC: Yes, comrade commander. The enemy artillery was being restive, so we fired back.
"The president and I have repeatedly said that if the Minsk agreement is fully implemented, sanctions can be rolled back and if it isn't, pressure will only increase," said Kerry.
Kerry said he had spoken to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko earlier and discussed the "need to continue to take the high road" in terms of sticking to the ceasefire.
It was important "not to fall into the possibility invited by measures taken by Russia to engage in a tit-for-tat process," added the diplomat.
The ceasefire in Ukraine was hanging by a thread after Poroshenko accused pro-Russian rebels of endangering the grinding of the peace processor and ordered troops back to cities in the east of the country ravaged by months of unrest.
Authorities in Kiev also announced they were cutting off central government funds to the rebel-held Donetsk and Lugansk regions, so as not to fund "terrorists."
On the ground, authorities said there had been "intensified" shooting incidents with two soldiers killed and nine maimed in the past 24 hours.
For what we may soon be receiving
In answer to what we are heaving --
The flashes so festive,
The rhythm, suggestive --
We thank thee, Lord; now we are leaving!
Russia annexed Crimea. Why shouldn't the US annex or threaten to annex Guantanamo Bay?
That would be a symbolic move that would humiliate Cuba and put its weakness on display.
Something must be done about Iran anyway so why not take out Iran's nuclear assets to eliminate or delay an existential threat and send a message to Russia at the same time?
#3
He's correct. It was a master stroke for Stalin and Molotov. It gained precious land (they used that later to absorb the German punch). It ensured, they thought, that the Germans would be tied down fighting the West. And it fit with Stalin's belief that the West was corrupt, venal and would exhaust itself in such a fight so that the Bolsheviks then could take over in a walk.
Stalin's only mistake? He trusted Hitler...
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/06/2014 14:28 Comments ||
Top||
#6
The main thing wrong with the pact was its provision that Germany and the USSR together attack Poland, actions which brought on the Second World War.
#7
I'd suggest that Suvorov was wrong: Stalin was completely surprised by Barbarossa, and in fact delayed the initial Soviet response several critical days because of his shock.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/06/2014 16:13 Comments ||
Top||
#8
I'd suggest that Suvorov was wrong: Stalin was completely surprised by Barbarossa,
#10
At the start of Barbarossa, the Red Army had five million men under arms staged on the western frontiers, the largest standing army on the planet. Read John Ericksen's take on the matter. Stalin knew, because all the signs were there, but he wanted to ensure that while he rebuilt his army, he would not be charged with provoking any attack. So he deliberately ordered his generals not to take common sens e precautions until it was just too late to do anything about it.
About eastern Poland: The German Army sliced through that area and encircled Minsk in five days. The only thing the additional territory did was to provide good roads for the invader in the early going.
At the time since much of their own advocates for mobile warfare were murdered, it would take nearly 18 months before Soviet generals could mount a similar operation, and then with massive losses, i.e. Stalingrad.
Recall Putin's view of Soviet history is filtered through the way the security services saw things, then the NKVD, later the KGB, and now the FSB. I would bet that Russian commanders see things differently than Putin.
#11
Treachery is a lot like panicing. You don't want to be the last one to do it.
If you're gonna, go early.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
11/06/2014 19:06 Comments ||
Top||
#12
Putin, Obama's Brother by Another Mama. He has crossed into Obama Land - 'Acts Like There's No Other World Out There' - No counter weight to anything he says or does - Nuts to you, Humna (<- Russian Word for SH*T)
[AnNahar] The Portuguese Navy escorted a Russian oceanographic ship out of its waters Wednesday in response to the latest in a series of territorial incursions by a Russian vessel or plane.
Portugal identified the ship in the section of sea it has exclusive resource rights over and then guided the vessel back into international waters, Portugal's Defense Minister Jose Pedro Aguiar-Branco told Portuguese press agency LUSA.
The incident comes just a week after Portuguese fighter jets intercepted on two separate occasions Russian military planes in international airspace that was under Portugal's jurisdiction.
Russia denied its planes had violated Portuguese airspace.
Russian military jets have significantly increased their activity over Europe since the crisis in Ukraine erupted last year.
NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... has intercepted Russian aircraft on more than 100 occasions so far this year, three times more than all of 2013, its new head Jens Stoltenberg said in October.
H/T Instapundit.
The link is a Forbes article concerning a possible Ebola case at Duke University. The last paragraph mentions the news embargo:
The Associated Press and other press outlets have agreed not to report on suspected cases of Ebola in the United States until a positive viral RNA test is completed. But I’m covering tonight’s announcement of a potential Ebola case because it has been reported in my area, and at Duke University Medical Center, an institution where I hold an unpaid adjunct associate professor appointment in their Department of Medicine. In some cases patients test negative for Ebola until days after the onset of symptoms. Plus there are other newsworthy and dangerous infectious diseases that start with flu-like symptoms like Ebola.
As the election returns came in on November 4 one thing was evident—the Second Amendment crushed gun control candidates in Senate and gubernatorial races around the country.
In so doing, the Second Amendment annihilated the left's relentless claim that 90 percent of Americans support more gun control.
On the gubernatorial level, in Arizona, pro-Second Amendment candidate Doug Ducey (R) beat gun control candidate Fred DuVaul (D). And in Florida, pro-Second Amendment incumbent Rick Scott (R) beat gun control candidate Charlie Crist. These victories were enhanced by the fact that Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly endorsed DuVal and Giffords' gun control PAC gave $100,000 to Crist's campaign.
The Second Amendment trumped their endorsement and their money.
In Texas, NRA-endorsed gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott (R) won. In Maryland, NRA-endorsed gubernatorial candidate Larry Hogan (R) won. In Alabama, NRA-endorsed Governor Robert J. Bentley (R) won. In Wisconsin, NRA-endorsed Governor Scott Walker (R) won. In Michigan, NRA-endorsed Governor Rick Snyder (R) won. In Nevada, NRA-endorsed Governor Brian Sandoval (R) won. In Ohio, NRA-endorsed Governor John R. Kasich (R) won. In Oklahoma, NRA-endorsed Governor Mary Fallin (R) won. In Wyoming, NRA-endorsed Governor Matt Mead (R) won. In Idaho, NRA-endorsed Governor Bruce Otter (R) won. In Kansas, NRA-endorsed Governor Sam Brownback (R) won. And in Maine, NRA-endorsed Governor Paul R. LePage (R) won against gun control candidate Michael Michaud (D). (On August 8, Breitbart News reported that Michaud was supported by Gabby Giffords.)
In Senate races, gun control Senator Mark Udall (D-CO) was defeated by NRA-endorsed Cory Gardner (R) and gun control Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) was defeated by NRA-endorsed Thom Tillis (R). In Kansas, NRA-endorsed Senator Pat Roberts (R) won. In Georgia, NRA-endorsed Senatorial candidate David Perdue (R) won. In Arkansas, NRA-endorsed Tom Cotton (R) won. And in West Virginia, NRA-endorsed Shelley Moore Capito (R) won, marking the first time that state has sent a Republican Senator to Washington DC in over five decades.
The spotlight was also on the race between NRA-endorsed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and pro-gun control challenger Alison Grimes (D). McConnell won handily.
NRA-endorsed Senatorial candidate Joni Ernst (R-IA) also won.
On November 3—the day before the elections took place—Breitbart News reminded red state and pro-Second Amendment voters to vote like their guns depended on it. They did. And as result, the Second Amendment won the day, Republicans won the Senate, and gun control took a beating.
#2
Under normal circumstance it wouldn't be an issue, but with the courts filled with black robed vermin, I suspect it will instead be met with massive non-compliance.
#3
unfortunately both the anti-gun governors of Connecticut and Colorado squeaked thru for re-election and they were the two you'd like most to see tossed out on the street.....
Despite millions spent to make climate change a wedge issue during the midterms, environmentally friendly candidates didn't fare well on Election Day.
Green groups funneled an unprecedented amount of money into top Senate races that determined control of the upper chamber but fell short.
The nation's top environmental groups including the League of Conservation Voters, the Sierra Club, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and billionaire Tom Steyer's NextGen Climate spent at least $85 million on six Senate races.
Out of those six races, only two candidates willing to take action on climate change won their races.
In Michigan, Rep. Gary Peters (D) won, and in New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D) held on to her seat. But Republicans picked up crucial Senate seats in Colorado, Iowa and North Carolina.
The results are still out for the final Senate race greens collectively spent on, Sen. Mark Begich's (D) reelection bid in Alaska.
"Despite the climate movement's significant investments and an unprecedented get-out-the-vote program, strong voices for climate action were defeated, and candidates paid for by corporate interests and bolstered by sinister voter suppression tactics won the day," Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, said on Wednesday.
But Brune said that the climate fight isn't over.
"This election marked a pivotal change in how candidates confront the climate crisis," he said. "We're not backing down.
"Public support is solidly behind action to tackle the climate crisis. While we have lost friends in Congress, we are gaining them in the streets, as our movement grows stronger and broader," Brune added.
Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said greens will continue to back leaders on climate on both sides.
"Whatever may have driven individual races, the American people want action on climate change," Beinecke said.
"They didn't vote to roll back foundational environmental safeguards for the sake of polluter profits. We will empower the voice of the people," she said.
Greens will have to gear up to help the administration defend the president's signature carbon pollution rules for existing power plants, which are high on Republican's hit list.
"Lawmakers on Capitol Hill, and in state capitols across America, are prepared to take on the administration's misguided, overreaching regulatory climate crusade," Mike Duncan, CEO of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, said in a statement Wednesday.
With the new GOP majority, President Obama's agenda will be under fire. While Republicans might be able to push through votes blocking the administration's climate regulations, they are sure to be vetoed by the president.
The White House said on Tuesday that Obama would continue to take executive action on climate change and will not look to Congress for approval.
[DetroitFreePress] A Chicago Arab activist deceived U.S. officials for years, getting citizenship in 2004 without disclosing that she had spent a decade in an Israeli prison for bombings that damaged the British consulate and killed two people at a supermarket, a prosecutor said at the start of the woman's trial Wednesday.
Rasmieh Odeh answered "no" when asked if she had ever been charged, convicted or imprisoned, first when she applied to enter the U.S. from Jordan in 1995 and then in 2004 when she sought citizenship in Detroit.
Odeh, associate director at the Arab American Action Network in Chicago, had many opportunities to come clean, especially in an interview during the citizenship process, but repeatedly lied, prosecutor Mark Jebson told jurors in federal court.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
President Obama is an avowed fan of the Chicago Bulls, but their most famous player ever probably won't be invited out to the links with the commander in chief any time soon.
[AnNahar] Australia stepped up its response to the Ebola crisis Wednesday in announcing Aus$20 million (U.S.$17 million) to help staff a 100-bed British-built treatment center in Sierra Leone.
[AnNahar] Thousands of people in Sierra Leone are being forced to violate Ebola quarantines to find food because deliveries are not reaching them, aid agencies said.
[Pak Daily Times] 
[AnNahar] U.S. Secretary of State 
Speaking to 
As the election returns came in on November 4 one thing was evident—the Second Amendment crushed gun control candidates in Senate and gubernatorial races around the country. 
Despite millions spent to make climate change a wedge issue during the midterms, environmentally friendly candidates didn't fare well on Election Day.
"Despite the climate movement's significant investments and an unprecedented get-out-the-vote program, strong voices for climate action were defeated, and candidates paid for by corporate interests and bolstered by sinister voter suppression tactics won the day," Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, said on Wednesday. 
[DetroitFreePress] A Chicago Arab activist deceived U.S. officials for years, getting citizenship in 2004 without disclosing that she had spent a decade in an Israeli prison for bombings that damaged the British consulate and killed two people at a supermarket, a prosecutor said at the start of the woman's trial Wednesday.
