Hi there, !
Today Mon 09/14/2020 Sun 09/13/2020 Sat 09/12/2020 Fri 09/11/2020 Thu 09/10/2020 Wed 09/09/2020 Tue 09/08/2020 Archives
Rantburg
533612 articles and 1861739 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 68 articles and 283 comments as of 19:20.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Opinion        Politix   
Nineteen Years. Never Forget.
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 3: Non-WoT
8 17:52 rjschwarz [2] 
6 22:02 swksvolFF [7] 
1 11:46 Skidmark [2] 
6 17:54 rjschwarz [2] 
1 11:17 Skidmark [2] 
3 16:12 charger [2] 
0 [7] 
2 15:34 Old Patriot [4] 
9 15:52 Skidmark [6] 
9 21:44 Clotle Ebberetle5668 [8] 
1 09:53 Mike Kozlowski [7] 
0 [19] 
1 01:12 Gerthudion Untervehr7162 [11] 
6 15:46 Shutle Jones3986 [9] 
3 10:28 SteveS [9] 
4 16:34 magpie [6] 
0 [2] 
6 12:05 Bobby [8] 
2 10:41 USN, Ret. [4] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
11 23:36 swksvolFF [3]
2 09:35 g(r)omgoru [7]
5 14:35 Clem [5]
16 21:49 no mo uro [9]
0 [23]
0 [8]
0 [8]
0 [9]
0 [19]
0 [7]
0 [2]
3 07:26 Procopius2k [2]
0 [7]
16 19:08 Rex Mundi [2]
6 21:58 AlmostAnonymous5839 [4]
2 11:03 Bob Grorong1136 []
0 [4]
0 [3]
0 [8]
1 02:10 newc [9]
Page 2: WoT Background
3 17:06 Mike Kozlowski [3]
3 07:21 Skidmark [5]
0 [2]
0 [6]
1 11:20 NoMoreBS [1]
0 [3]
0 [4]
0 [3]
5 21:39 Nero Lumumba3657 [7]
23 21:55 AlmostAnonymous5839 [7]
Page 4: Opinion
0 [2]
6 12:34 Dave D. [6]
4 10:44 SteveS [10]
7 15:00 Thing From Snowy Mountain [9]
0 [6]
10 15:57 NoMoreBS [12]
9 18:45 CrazyFool [5]
4 07:43 Bobby [6]
7 10:37 Procopius2k [9]
9 18:01 rjschwarz [8]
4 11:03 Skidmark [13]
Page 6: Politix
3 15:28 Matt [8]
4 23:37 CrazyFool [6]
14 18:02 rjschwarz [4]
4 16:47 Old Patriot [6]
11 22:05 swksvolFF [4]
4 13:04 Rob Crawford [3]
1 11:56 Abu Uluque [1]
18 23:59 Whinetch Hatfield1481 [3]
-Lurid Crime Tales-
Some PPP Loans Were Used To Buy Rolexes, Rolls Royces, Report Finds
[DAILYWIRE] As expected, a government loan program that quickly issued money during a crisis ended up getting defrauded.The Paycheck Protection Program, which was supposed to help small businesses stay afloat during the coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
pandemic, was allegedly used by some to purchase expensive luxury items such as Rolex watches and new homes, Politico reported. So far, the apparent fraud is just a small portion of the loans given out, but it still shows how easily government-run programs can be abused.

"The Justice Department has brought more than 40 cases involving false applications for more than $170 million from both the Paycheck Protection Program and another federal lending vehicle. And the Small Business Administration’s inspector general’s office says it has ’initiated hundreds of cases involving potential fraud’ in the two programs," the outlet reported. "Officials are targeting people who submitted false applications with the SBA — mostly through the PPP, which offered loans to employers that can be forgiven if they agreed not to fire workers. Prosecutors are also focusing on the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, which relies on funds directly from the government, not private banks."

The Justice Department has opened a reported 40 cases involving false applications — totaling more than $170 million from the PPP and another federal lending program. On September 1, Politico reported, House Democrats said they found "red flags in nearly $3 billion in Paycheck Protection loans after checking the information that borrowers provided against a federal business registration database."



Posted by: Fred || 09/11/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Old news.... I mean really old. When I was a kid, I remember a story about some farmer who was given Federal money not to plant his crop (price supports), so he spent the money on a Cadillac.
Posted by: Mercutio || 09/11/2020 8:20 Comments || Top||

#2  Is anyone surprised?
Posted by: Iblis || 09/11/2020 9:49 Comments || Top||

#3  Nope. I'm sure a lot of it got plowed into the stock market, too.
Posted by: gorb || 09/11/2020 12:20 Comments || Top||

#4  Former New York Jets and Chicago Bears wide receiver Josh Bellamy was charged with federal wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy Thursday for allegedly participating in a scheme involving $24 million in fraudulent Payroll Protection Program loan applications.

According to the Justice Department, Bellamy participated in seeking PPP loans on behalf of himself, family and close associates. Among 90 fraudulently prepared applications, most were submitted, securing payouts of at least $17.4 million, the department said.
Posted by: Shutle Jones3986 || 09/11/2020 13:48 Comments || Top||

#5  Although a "former player", the reputation of the National Felons League continues unabated.
Posted by: Clem || 09/11/2020 13:56 Comments || Top||

#6  Mr. Bellamy was a "current" player when he committed those crimes: On September 8, the New York Jets announced it had released Bellamy, making him a free agent.

Released on Tuesday, arrested on Thursday. With 2 days warning, he could have done an OJ with a white Bronco.
Posted by: Shutle Jones3986 || 09/11/2020 15:46 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Hold That Tiger
[Twitchy] The Knox County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Units, Animal Control, Air Watch, TWRA, KPD’s Animal Control Unit and Representatives with Tiger Haven are working to locate a tiger that was spotted by a KCSO Deputy in the Forks of the River Industrial Park tonight.

There has been no other sightings at this hour. We will keep you updated as more information becomes available. If anyone has any information on a missing Tiger or locates the Tiger, please contact the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.
Murder hornets, COVID-19, fires, earthquakes, what next?
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 09/11/2020 10:06 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:



More than 3.1 million acres have burned in California and 12 people have died as a result of wildfires
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 09/11/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Are the wildfires driving the crazies away? Rioting in NY, DC, Rochester, etc?
Posted by: Bobby || 09/11/2020 8:04 Comments || Top||

#2  I am hearing from my liberal family and friends in the area that Trump and the Federal government are doing nothing to help (and of course made it happen in the first place because of global warming.)
What is the government doing? I have to think the entire Forestry Service is fully engaged.
Posted by: Glenmore || 09/11/2020 13:49 Comments || Top||

#3  CalFire has the lead and most resources
Posted by: Frank G || 09/11/2020 14:45 Comments || Top||

#4  Here is Portland daughter's latest missive:
"Trump was so eager to send “help” when there were trash can fires around a federal building. But now, as huge fires are burning up and down the west coast and 500,000 people have been evacuated and almost one million acres have burned in Oregon alone, there is radio silence from the White
House.
I’m furious and feel sick over it.
People are more than welcome to copy and paste or screenshot, but I don’t want to make it public because most of my posts are hidden from my conservative family members, and I will 100% lose every last ounce of my shit if any of them try to argue with me about this."
I honestly never thought I’d see a worse federal response to a natural disaster than Louisiana experienced after Hurricane Katrina, but Trump has proven that he is incapable of being a leader to all Americans. As long as he is in office, he will continue to punish those who dare to deny him the adoration he believes he is owed."
Posted by: Glenmore || 09/11/2020 16:40 Comments || Top||

#5  Are those the fires Blamtifa started?

So, is she saying she wants Federal Troops in Oregon?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 09/11/2020 16:46 Comments || Top||

#6  Sorry Glen. She's a lost cause
Posted by: Frank G || 09/11/2020 18:54 Comments || Top||

#7  100% lose every last ounce of my shit if any of them try to argue with me about this.

Hold onto your butt.

*The western mountainous states have a certification program to qualify as mountain forest fire capable. They call it a Green Card (snicker). Basically it certifies the person is in shape, understands how to use the tools and techniques, and understand the command structure. The rule can be suspended but the wisdom built by the bodies of dead firefighters cannot.

*Sending into mountain roads scores of trucks not built for the mission by people not from the area in conditions not trained fore is a great way to jam up the roads. Also, the increase demand for food, shelter, and gasoline especially could drown out local supplies needed for those evacuating.

*The locals can evacuate with what they want to take and have a place to go. Feds would load people up in trucks with only what they are carrying and take them to an ad hoc shelter.

*The State Guard and Wildland Fire Fighters are well practiced and in some form or another do this year after year. Throwing a bunch of noobs into that mix is quite dangerous. Especially if those noobs think they are in charge when really the fire is.

*What they can do through the FMCSA is suspend restrictions on truckers such as hours driving per day....which was done back in March I believe as a Covid 19 deal; so The Feds are actually 6 months ahead on that game. The Feds can offer financial relief which can be used by firefighters to repair equipment, purchase supplies such as foam, food, and water, help in the use of aerial platforms expenses, so forth. Also, a refugee area can be declared and supported outside the area of operations so as to not interfere with the pros.

This is first and foremost a State operation and they own the successes - the safe evacuation of so many people, the air rescue of 200 campers, the emergency evac through fire roads - and failures - BLM feeling it is a legit move to start additional fires - and I'd guess that the governors have a wormtongue suggesting that if Federal Troops were invited, some would be tasked with stomping out the fires of Blamtifa.

*The emergency is still on-going; to compare Trump's response to Katrina is not legit - it would be like comparing Bush's response to Katrina before the storm is even over.

To be fair to Portland Daughter, this reads like a political hit piece boilerplate message to be copied and pasted.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 09/11/2020 21:29 Comments || Top||

#8  What she can do is advocate for the disbandment of Wheeler's Stealers who are tying up resources which could be used to further support evacuees and fire operations.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 09/11/2020 21:33 Comments || Top||

#9  AZ has barely 1/10th the acres burning as CA despite being barely 1/3 as large geographically.

AZ is hot - hotter than CA.

CA and OR's problems are of their own making. FOAB.
Posted by: Clotle Ebberetle5668 || 09/11/2020 21:44 Comments || Top||


-War on Police-
Four Houston police officers are fired for shooting a mentally ill father-of-three 24 TIMES while was on his knees when he pointed a stun gun at them
Posted by: Skidmark || 09/11/2020 11:43 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Alas, no Darwin Award for him.
Posted by: Glenmore || 09/11/2020 12:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Number of shots is immaterial. Number of children is immaterial. Posture is immaterial.

Did he or didn't he point something at the police?
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 09/11/2020 13:03 Comments || Top||

#3  ...hurls profanities at the officers and repeatedly tells them he wants to die tonight.

Well, why the moaning and groaning? The punk got his wish. Dead as a door nail.

And, so like, are cops supposed to know that a person is "mentally ill" when they respond to a situation? Come on.
Posted by: Clem || 09/11/2020 13:38 Comments || Top||

#4  Sometimes I wonder why they don't stop firing when it must be pretty obvious that they're down... But I don't care that they took them down in the first place. That just is an issue of trigger control, and it's a stressful job, especially when somebody already pointed a weapon at them. Guy definitely wins a Darwin Award in my book. Screw whoever fired them.

Don't take the police's side instinctively. Local cops are frequently dirty and poorly trained. But it is absurd that they were fired, unless there were other major circumstances that aren't listed here.
Posted by: Vernal Hatrick || 09/11/2020 14:22 Comments || Top||

#5  /\ I'm with you, VH. There are pigs and there are fine police officers. But nowadays, it's in vogue to summarily fire cops without reviewing any of the facts in any depth.
Posted by: Clem || 09/11/2020 14:40 Comments || Top||

#6  How much range time does the average policeman have before they are placed in this situation? Combat simulation, not perforating paper targets every six months or so...
Posted by: magpie || 09/11/2020 16:36 Comments || Top||

#7  When do they get R&R out of the war zone?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/11/2020 17:45 Comments || Top||

#8  If the cops knew he was mentally ill it would probably make the cops more nervous rather than less. I blame Hollywood.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 09/11/2020 17:52 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
Decorated Iraq War veteran denied community supervision, facing 5 years in prison for pot possession
Posted by: Skidmark || 09/11/2020 11:12 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If he'd burned a building instead of weed, he'd be in the clear...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 09/11/2020 12:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Oooooooooooo, pot possession. Such a violent, heinous act upon humanity.

It is f**king disgusting and an absolute miscarriage of justice. And, gee, from the same state Jeff "Refer Madness" Sessions is from. It's times such as this where cries for "smash the state" are justified.
Posted by: Clem || 09/11/2020 12:45 Comments || Top||

#3  The 80's called. They want their headline back.
Posted by: Iblis || 09/11/2020 14:12 Comments || Top||

#4  Iblis, that is so true it could make you choke, except I don't think we had ever fought in Iraq yet. It would have been a Vietnam vet.

Freaking pot. Here in Michigan, it's essentially legal. The world hasn't ended. Yeah, we have a B**tch for a governor, but that's not because of pot, nor pot heads (of my friends who use pot, two of the three vote Republican). But no. Five years in prison for having a plant on your person. And then wonder why I feel conflicted when somebody burns down your police station.

If the rioters had only attacked hardened, "legitimate" targets like police stations and courthouses rather than neighborhoods, I think my opinion of them would be pretty different, to be honest.
Posted by: Vernal Hatrick || 09/11/2020 17:06 Comments || Top||

#5  Must be a very, very bad person!
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 09/11/2020 21:49 Comments || Top||

#6  Are there health issues associated with pot, yes.

From what I understand though, is a lot of these war vets having mental issues are doing much better after switching from booze to pot.

I have two examples: one got off the whiskey, got motivated, went to school, and is successfully helping other combat vets. The other one is dead because he finally drank enough, as the song goes he put the bottle to his head and pulled the trigger. He is survived by wife and kids who had to live with that until the morning they didn't.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 09/11/2020 22:02 Comments || Top||


Arabia
News circulating about the death of Kuwait's Amir, Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 09/11/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...I'm sure he is just pining for the fjords.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 09/11/2020 9:53 Comments || Top||


Britain
Shetland Islands Council votes to explore breakaway from SNP-run Scotland
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 09/11/2020 07:31 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It isn't tribalism. It's clans.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 09/11/2020 12:31 Comments || Top||

#2  Secession for me, but not for thee...
Posted by: magpie || 09/11/2020 14:14 Comments || Top||

#3  Great for the Shetland Islands....hope they go through with it. On the other hand, there's also the old saying, "sometimes you get what you ask for".
Posted by: Clem || 09/11/2020 14:38 Comments || Top||

#4  Shetlands located in a weird place to be run from Scotland. Geographically and ethnically should be run from Britain and breakaway would screw Scotland's exclusive economic zone (fishing rights) north of Britain.
Posted by: Shutle Jones3986 || 09/11/2020 16:42 Comments || Top||

#5  (fishing, oil rights)
Posted by: Shutle Jones3986 || 09/11/2020 16:48 Comments || Top||

#6  What does that do to Scottish North Sea Oil claims? Is Shetland making a grab for it? Or helping English claims?
Posted by: rjschwarz || 09/11/2020 17:54 Comments || Top||


DISMAL NHS Record 2.2m patients faced wait for ration of NHS treatment
[The Sun]
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 09/11/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
Iranian Tankers Taking Long Route to Venezuela as Gas Shortages Grow
[gCaptain] Angry Venezuelans are once again stuck in long service station lines due to rationing by President Nicolas Maduro’s government, which is awaiting fuel tankers on their way from Iran to the oil-rich but fuel-starved South American nation.

Venezuela’s refineries have nearly halted operations due to years of under investment while U.S. sanctions meant to force the ruling Socialist Party from power have severely restricted fuel imports, leaving Maduro dependent on ally Iran for gasoline.

Three tankers that left Iran in August are en route to Venezuela but are expected to take a long route around the horn of Africa, where it is easier to keep satellite tracking systems off to avoid U.S. authorities, according to two shipping industry sources.
Sounds like an exercise in trailing the tankers with US attack submarines might be a good exercise for the boats' crews.
In Venezuela, fuel lines are snarling for blocks and irate drivers are waiting hours or even days. Many leave empty-handed because gasoline runs out before they can fill up.

Some drivers said sales were being rationed at 20 to 30 liters per person.
Roughly 5 to 8 gallons.
“We have improvised bathrooms here and brought food from home,” said Esperanza Gonzalez, a 51-year old engineer in the Caracas suburb of San Antonio de los Altos. “Gasoline never arrived at the station yesterday, so we closed the street to see if authorities would come. Without gasoline, how do you move? How do you work?”
Got to ditch Maduro.
Venezuela needs 50,000 to 70,000 barrels per day (bpd) of gasoline during coronavirus lock-down, according to independent estimates.

But state oil company PDVSA is capping distribution at 30,000 bpd, with one-third going to the central region that is home to the capital, Caracas, according to union leader Ivan Freites and two industry sources who asked not to be identified.

The information ministry and state oil company PDVSA did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

AFRICA
The three tankers carrying around 820,000 barrels turned their transponders off before setting sail and have not passed the Suez Canal, according to Refinitiv Eikon.

“It’s likely that these three Iranian tankers will go via Africa,” said Omer Primor of maritime intelligence company Windward. “It is not likely that they will go through the Suez Canal. The Canal authorities are pretty strict when it comes to AIS transmissions.”

Completing that route would take at least another month, according to the vessels’ trajectory and size.

The shipment would meet Venezuela’s fuel needs for about a month under the current rationing scheme, but less than two weeks if it were sold without restrictions.

Four tankers carrying Iranian fuel bound for Venezuela in defiance of sanctions ended up transferring their cargoes last month to other vessels in response to a warrant for seizure obtained by the U.S. Department of Justice.

While waiting for more imported fuel to come, PDVSA is trying to restart key processing units at its refineries to produce motor fuel after receiving parts and equipment from Iran this year, but the effort has only been enough for producing low-octane gasoline intermittently.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 09/11/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Be a shame if those tankers got hijacked off Somalia.
Posted by: Bobby || 09/11/2020 10:09 Comments || Top||

#2  Waters off Horn of Africa can be pretty treacherous; submerged objects and all; including cylindrical high speed ones...
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 09/11/2020 10:41 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
The Trump Administration Revokes 1,000+ Visas For Chinese Students, Researchers Deemed Security Risks
[NationalPulse] Chad Wolf, the acting head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, noted that the ban is “for certain Chinese graduate students and researchers with ties to China’s military fusion strategy to prevent them from stealing and otherwise appropriating sensitive research.”
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/11/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Not nearly enough.
Posted by: gorb || 09/11/2020 8:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Keep 'em all outta here.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 09/11/2020 12:32 Comments || Top||

#3  All overseas Chinese have families that can be threatened by the CCP.

Plan accordingly.
Posted by: charger || 09/11/2020 16:12 Comments || Top||


Massive Explosion at Hotel in Zhuhai, China many injured
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]





Posted by: 3dc || 09/11/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Zhuhai is a city in China’s southern Guangdong province, on the border with Macau.
Posted by: 3dc || 09/11/2020 1:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Someone failed to pay their gambling debts in Macau.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 09/11/2020 15:34 Comments || Top||


Cyber
Former NSA chief Keith Alexander has joined Amazon's board of directors
Harvested yesterday from a comment from our own CLEM.
[The Verge] Gen. Keith Alexander is joining Amazon’s board of directors, the company revealed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing today. (Alexander has also been added to the company board’s official site.) A former director of the National Security Agency and the first commander of the US Cyber Command, Alexander served as the public face of US data collection during the Edward Snowden leaks, but he retired from public service in 2013.

Alexander is a controversial figure for many in the tech community because of his involvement in the widespread surveillance systems revealed by the Snowden leaks. Those systems included PRISM, a broad data collection program that compromised systems at Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Facebook — but not Amazon.

Alexander was broadly critical of reporting on the Snowden leaks, even suggesting that reporters should be legally restrained from covering the documents. "I think it’s wrong that that newspaper reporters have all these documents, the 50,000-whatever they have and are selling them and giving them out as if these — you know it just doesn’t make sense," Alexander in an interview in 2013. "We ought to come up with a way of stopping it. I don’t know how to do that. That’s more of the courts and the policymakers but, from my perspective, it’s wrong to allow this to go on."

Alexander’s board spot will also give Amazon new expertise in defense contracting, an area of particular focus for the company in recent years. Amazon was a leading candidate for a recent $10 billion cloud computing contract with the Pentagon, but it ultimately lost out to Microsoft. The company is currently engaged in a lawsuit against the federal government in connection with the contract, alleging that President Donald Trump’s personal statements against Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos biased the process against Amazon.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/11/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Like I've suggested before, the deep state (really globalist) has alternative non-taxpayer funding mechanisms (some of their companies are named (1nt3l) and some of the tech companies kit is mass surveillance spin offs (googol) and the "winners" were picked by them after illegally spying on their own citizens.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 09/11/2020 5:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Alexander’s board spot will also give Amazon new expertise in defense contracting

Primary reason why folks like Alexander are hired by the private sector, a harvesting of the rolodex. Alexander has been described as an 'idea a minute' guy. He's extremely intuitive and also a contemporary of Mike Flynn. He led the early efforts at streamlining (or making flat and accessible) the intelligence community networks.

If I were Amazon, I pay him whatever he asked.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/11/2020 7:14 Comments || Top||

#3  Like public career is just a preparation for the real career with some people?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/11/2020 8:49 Comments || Top||


#5  the public face of US data collection

Perhaps Amazon wants more customer data than 'often bought with this' contact linkage analysis.

FB finds 'who you like'.
Amazon knows how you live.
Posted by: Skidmark || 09/11/2020 10:57 Comments || Top||


#7  Amazon to assume the role of primary military supply and logistics company?
Posted by: Glenmore || 09/11/2020 12:56 Comments || Top||

#8  Geeesh, how much more "customer data" can Amazon really need? Don't they have enough already?

"Alexander! Ooops, I mean, Alexa...."
Posted by: Clem || 09/11/2020 13:43 Comments || Top||

#9  When you want a cellphone to explode...
Posted by: Skidmark || 09/11/2020 15:52 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Russia Russia Russia: Nat’l sec’ty adviser Robert O’Brien denies ordering intel report altered
[NYPOST] National security adviser Robert O’Brien denied accusations from an alleged Department of Homeland Security whistleblower that he ordered intelligence about Russian influence in the US to either be downplayed or removed from a report and said he had never heard of the person making the allegations.

The complaint, filed Tuesday by Brian Murphy, former head of the intelligence branch in Homeland Security, alleges that brass hats moved to alter intelligence findings on Russia and white supremacists to appease the views of President Trump.
Supposedly Reliable Steele Acted 'Crazy,' His FBI Handler Says
[REALCLEARINVESTIGATIONS] The previously unreported testimony of FBI agent Michael Gaeta is found on page 900 of the fifth and final volume of the Senate committee’s probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election. It raises new questions about the basis of the FBI’s investigation of the Trump campaign, Crossfire Hurricane, and the declarations it made to the FISA court in four separate applications submitted to spy on American citizens.

Gaeta had a long history with the London-based Remington Christopher Steele, who had started his own firm, Orbis Business Intelligence, after leaving the British spy service MI6 in 2009. Between 2013 and 2016, the bureau had paid Steele $95,000 to pass along tidbits on Eurasian organized crime; Gaeta was his contact at the bureau. It was Gaeta whom Steele approached in July 2016 with wild and depraved stories of collusion and kompromat. Gaeta became the "handling agent" for Steele’s participation in Crossfire Hurricane. Among his tasks was to get Steele paid (a process that came along slowly) and to see to it that Steele didn’t violate the FBI’s rules on confidentiality.

This requirement for discretion created a conflict of interest for Steele, who was also being paid for the same information by the Washington-based firm Fusion GPS. Fusion, in turn was being paid by the Democratic National Committee and the Crooked Hillary Clinton
...former first lady, former secretary of state, former presidential candidate, Conqueror of Benghazi, Heroine of Tuzla, formerly described by her supporters as the smartest woman in the world, usually described by the rest of us as The Thing That Wouldn't Go Away. Politix is not one of her talents, but it's something she keeps trying to do...
campaign for opposition research on Trump. The Democrats wanted Steele’s information spread far and wide. They also wanted to be able to claim that the FBI was investigating the allegations. Paid FBI informants, however, are not allowed to tell anyone of their work for the FBI or of the bureau’s investigations.

Gaeta was astonished, then, when shortly before the 2016 election an article appeared in Mother Jones titled "A Veteran Spy Has Given the FBI Information Alleging a Russian Operation to Cultivate Donald Trump
...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons......
." The sub-headline asked, "Has the bureau investigated this material?" Gaeta was convinced Steele was the source for the article and confronted him about it. Steele readily admitted he was behind the Mother Jones story.

The conversation that followed and its aftermath have been described before, but in bloodless ways that fail to capture the importance of that confrontation in determining Steele’s reliability and credibility. For example, a Justice Department inspector general report says "Handling Agent 1 advised Steele that he must cease collecting information for the FBI, and it was unlikely that the FBI would continue a relationship with him."

'LISTEN, IS IT ABOUT THE MONEY?'
Here’s how Gaeta recounted that conversation to the Senate: "Listen, is it about the money?" Gaeta asked Steele. "Because we have the money now. Is it about the money?" The FBI had promised, but had yet to deliver to Steele, $15,000 for one meeting with Crossfire Hurricane agents. The bureau had further promised Steele he would be paid "significantly" for his Trump-Russia research.

Gaeta assumed at first a delay in payment had made Steele go rogue.

"Yes, I'm owed the money, but that's secondary," Steele told Gaeta. "I'm very upset about — we’re very upset — about the actions of your agency." By the "we" in "we’re very upset" one can reasonably infer that Steele was speaking about himself and his client, Fusion GPS head Glenn Simpson (whose client, not counting cutouts, was Hillary Clinton’s campaign).

The handling agent was shocked: "I had no idea what he was talking about." Before Gaeta could inquire further, Steele started railing about ''your Director" and his "reopening of the investigation." This was an apparent reference to former FBI Director JamesThe spine of the FBI is the rule of law Comey
The disgraced, except in his own mind, former head of the FBI...
’s decision to reopen the probe into Hillary Clinton’s private email server after 340,000 copies of State Department emails between Clinton and her close personal aide, Huma Abedin, were discovered on a laptop used by Abedin and her husband, Anthony Carlos Danger Weiner
...aka Hot Dog Tony, the remarkably offensive sex maniac six-term New York congressman who resigned in 2011, then decided everybody had forgotten by 2013, when he decided to run for mayor of New York City...
. He was a disgraced congressman under investigation by the bureau’s New York office for sending sexually explicit messages and photos to an underage girl.

At which point it all became clear to the handling agent: "I'm now understanding that he did this because he was upset that the Director's reopening of the investigation was going to negatively affect the election for Hillary Clinton."

The handling agent described his reaction to Steele’s behavior as "surprise and disbelief." Gaeta told the Senate that Steele’s actions and attitude weren’t just "crazy source-related stuff," but "one of the craziest" the veteran agent had seen in two decades of handling sources. The words are significant: Steele’s behavior with the FBI has been characterized as a sort of professional disagreement, uncomfortable perhaps but not unreasonable. Gaeta’s blunt assessment casts things in a much harsher light and undercuts subsequent efforts by the FBI’s brass hats to rehabilitate Steele in order to justify using his "reporting."

Although it has been downplayed until now, Steele’s acting out — and his overtly declared partisan motivations -- constituted a crisis for the bureau, so much so that the handling agent describes it in violent mostly peaceful terms: "After that point — after everybody digests what happened," Gaeta told the Senate committee, "[p]hones were ringing at that point; people's ears were bleeding."
Posted by: Fred || 09/11/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  More sedition.
More Deep State redirects & bullshit.

Clean these stables. Clean house on November 4
Posted by: Gerthudion Untervehr7162 || 09/11/2020 1:12 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
12 suspects arrested for allegedly raping woman on Lahore motorway
[DAILYTIMES.PK] Police have arrested 12 suspects for allegedly raping a woman near a motorway in Lahore.

As per the notice taken by Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....

Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, two separate special teams headed by SSPIA and Divisional SP were formed while DIG Investigation Lahore is overseeing all matters related to the investigation of the case.

The chief minister had called for a report from the IG Punjab and directed that the culprits involved in the serious crime be arrested as soon as possible and justice be provided to the victim.

Shahbaz Gul said that CCPO Lahore was leading the investigation team on the direction of Buzdar while role policing techniques were being used in the investigation. The investigation is being carried out with the help of detectives, CCTV footage, and DNA.

The woman, a resident of Gujranwala, was returning home with her children around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday night via Lahore’s Ring Road when their car ran out of fuel near the Gujjarpura locality. The police report states that while she was waiting for her husband to come with aid, she called another relative who advised her to call the Motorway Police.

The victim said she was informed by the emergency helpline that the Motorway Police could not help her because no had been assigned to the beat as yet.

While stranded, reads the report, the woman’s car was approached by two faceless myrmidons who smashed the window of the vehicle and forced the woman and her children to exit it at gunpoint. They, then, cut through the fence lining the motorway and raped the woman in the presence of her children in the nearby fields.

The woman said that after the rape, the men had also robbed her of Rs. 100,000 in cash, some jewelry and her ATM cards, before fleeing the scene.


Motorway Rape incident: Lahore CCPO blames victim for choice of route, travelling late at night
[DAILYTIMES.PK] Lahore CCPO Umar Sheikh, who has been tasked to probe the rape of a woman on the motorway, has started his investigation by questioning the choices of the rape survivor, saying the woman should have taken a different route –a less deserted one– and checked her petrol tank before embarking on her journey.

Talking to Dunya News on the matter, Sheikh said that the woman had left Lahore’s Defence area at 12:30am for Gujranwala.

“I am surprised that a mother of three, a lone driver […] after leaving Defence should have taken the straight route from GT Road — a generally well-populated area,” he said.

Two “robbers” allegedly raped the woman at gunpoint in Gujjarpura area on Wednesday while she was waiting for help on the motorway after her car developed a fault.

While authorities sleep amidst this crime, a woman becomes a target of the cruelest form of brutality known to mankind. It just proves that no one is safe, regardless of their age, gender or caste.

A police official said as the woman crossed the toll plaza on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway, her car stalled either due to shortage of petrol or some fault.

Meanwhile, she got a call from a relative of Gujranwala, who asked her to call the police helpline for help, Motorway Police could not help her because no had been assigned to the beat as yet. while he also left from home to reach her. When he reached the location, he found the woman terrified with her clothes stained with blood.

The social media users flew into a rage and demanded CCPO Lahore resignation along with severe punishment for the culprits involved in the disturbing Motorway incident – that has jolted Pakistan and has raised serious questions on the law and order situation on the highway.

Posted by: Fred || 09/11/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [19 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Coronavirus lockdown: What are the details of Israel's upcoming closure?
[JPost] - The coronavirus cabinet on Thursday voted in favor of a three-stage plan to help manage the coronavirus crisis, on a day that more than 4,000 new patients were diagnosed.

The decision will be submitted to the government on Sunday for approval.

First stage: Lockdown
September 18 > October 1

> Restrictions on movement of 500 meters from one's place of residence
> Closure of education institutions (except for special education; grade five and up will learn remotely), restaurants (except delivery), places of recreation, businesses, commerce and domestic tourism
> Shuttering of public and private sector, except essential services and working from home
> Prayers in open spaces according to an agreed upon outline

Second stage: Tightened restraint
October 2 > October 15

> Restrictions on movement between cities
> Gatherings according to the red zone outline (10 inside, 20 outside)
> Closure of education institutions (except for special education; grade five and up will learn remotely), restaurants (except delivery), places of recreation, businesses, commerce and domestic tourism
> Public sector will run according to an emergency outline
> Private sector will work at 30% to 50% capacity at places that do not receive the public (offices, factories, etc.), with work from home as much as possible
Third stage: Traffic light plan
> Transition to activity according to the traffic light plan upon the conclusion of the first two stages

Notes:
> The resumption of classes after the Sukkot holiday will be evaluated by the coronavirus commissioner
> The transition from stage to stage will be done following an assessment and provided that a picture of the situation indicates a prominent and continuing trend of decline in morbidity
> Public transportation activity will be adapted to the scope of activity in the economy, according to the format used by the Transportation Ministry during the March-April 2020 restrictions
> The Finance Ministry will — together with the Prime Minister's Office and the head of the National Economic Council — work to formulate an economic safety net for business owners and citizens that are expected to be further hurt economically as a result of the foregoing decision
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/11/2020 06:18 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:



Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Beirut Port Fire Reignites
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: 3dc || 09/11/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


-PC Follies
U. of Michigan Dearborn Hosts Racially Segregated 'BIPOC' and 'Non-POC' Events
Another step toward Jim Dove...
[BREITBART] The University of Michigan-Dearborn hosted racially segregated events on Tuesday, one for "Non-POC," and the other for "BIPOC" (Black, Indigenous, and People Of Color) students. During the two racially segregated "cafes," the groups were encouraged to "discuss their experience as students on campus." The university now says that it "sincerely regrets" describing the cafes as "Non-POC" and "BIPOC" events."The Non-POC (People Of Color) Cafe is a space for students that do not identify as persons of color to gather and to discuss their experience as students on campus and as non-POC in the world," read the event description on the university’s website. Although the university has since pulled the relevant pages off their website, archives of the information pages exist.
If they put signs over the water coolers that say "Colored Only" that would be pretty nifty, wouldn't it?
"Feel free to drop in and discuss your experiences as non-persons of color and hopefully brainstorm solutions to common issues within the non-POC community," added the description.
And they could reserve the front thirteen and a half percent of the seats on their buses for blacks.
The school’s website went on to explain that the "non-POC" event will not be the only of its kind, and will appear as a bi-monthly event, occurring on the first Tuesday of every other month.
As long as everything's separate but equal it's fine, right?
"The Cafe will be facilitated by a non-POC faculty/staff member to ensure that discussions are kept safe and respectful," the description added.
Posted by: Fred || 09/11/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  sign saying "nein blankes"?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 09/11/2020 5:50 Comments || Top||

#2  When their funding evaporates, they're going to call us anti-intellectual. Lease them the buildings, security and janitorial services, and make them face the free market. Sell your product unsubsidized.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/11/2020 7:34 Comments || Top||

#3  I'm sure the BippiePOCers are serious, but the Non-POC thing sounds like master level trolling.
Posted by: SteveS || 09/11/2020 10:28 Comments || Top||


Columbia Medical School Cancels Its Own Founder
[BREITBART] Columbia University recently announced that its medical school will change the name of a residential building due to the namesake’s slave ownership. The building was named for Samuel Bard, the founder of Columbia’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons who also served as George Washington’s doctor. The move comes shortly after the school eliminated a professorship also named in Bard’s honor.

According to a report by the College Fix, Columbia University announced recently that it will rename Bard Hall, a residence hall for medical students that was named after the medical school’s founder, Samuel Bard. The name was removed over concerns about Bard’s ownership of slaves in the late 1700s.

In a statement, Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger announced the administration’s decision to remove references to Bard. Bollinger claimed that Bard owned at least three slaves in 1790. In 1776, Bard reportedly promised a reward for the return of a runaway slave.

"Bard was a significant physician in the 18th century, a pioneer in obstetrics and treating diphtheria, who served as George Washington’s doctor," Bollinger wrote. "He also owned slaves (the country’s first census in 1790 lists their number as three). We know about at least one instance, in 1776, in which he advertised, with a promised reward, for the return of a runaway slave."

"Of course, we cannot, indeed should not, erase Samuel Bard’s contributions to the medical school. But we must not recall this history without also recognizing the reason for our decision to rename Bard Hall," Bollinger finished. "As the fall term advances, I will share how we will honor this building with a name that represents our University’s values."

The decision came in response to a petition signed by over 1,000 members of the community that called on administrators to end references to Bard. "No University can claim it values Black lives while forcing Black students to live in a building named for a slaveowner," the petition read.

The university also announced at the beginning of September that a professorship named after Bard will be "eliminated."

Breitbart News reported in May 2017 that the University of Oregon spent $23,000 to rename buildings on campus that students found objectionable. Dunn Hall, for example, was renamed after students discovered that it was named after a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
Posted by: Fred || 09/11/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Given the Constitution was written and ratified in part by slave owners, why not tell them, they have no Constitutional rights.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/11/2020 7:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Procop, they'd use your logic to cancel the Constitution.
Posted by: Glenmore || 09/11/2020 12:53 Comments || Top||

#3  ^Like they haven't already..
Posted by: Warthog || 09/11/2020 13:25 Comments || Top||

#4  MinTrue has declared that the new old name is LoveTeachHome #3. Praise Big Brother!
Posted by: magpie || 09/11/2020 16:34 Comments || Top||


Science
COVID – why terminology really, really matters
[Dr Malcom Kendrick]
COVID — why terminology really, really matters

[And the consequences of getting it horribly wrong]

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Beavis || 09/11/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Israel needs steps up its testing game
It seems that the government has finally realized that the key to defeating coronavirus lies in testing; this is an opportunity to further target one of the pandemic's main drivers, the asymptomatic super-spreaders who create mass infection without knowing
Prof. Zeev Rotstein is the CEO of Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem

Ministers opt for two week nationwide lockdown pending government approval

It's better to light a candle then sing paeans to the dark.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/11/2020 3:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Lockdown is snuffing out ALL candles by law.

To save the stub of candle by a window.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 09/11/2020 6:29 Comments || Top||

#3  Good read. Thanks.
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 09/11/2020 7:29 Comments || Top||

#4  How many times can he repeat the same paragraph? Ten? Twenty?

He might he mentioned that different countries use different testing protocols. He might have mentioned excessive PCR amplification causing overly sensitive tests.

He might have mentioned the instances of Covid getting into a nursing home and killing thirty percent of the occupants, including staff, which caused a bit of a panic, for some reason.

He might have mentioned that treatment protocols have changed as experience developed.
Posted by: KBK || 09/11/2020 8:29 Comments || Top||

#5  Narrative KBK, narrative
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/11/2020 8:46 Comments || Top||

#6  He might have mentioned Sweden is the Comeback Kid
Posted by: Bobby || 09/11/2020 12:05 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
35[untagged]
9Antifa/BLM
6Sublime Porte
5Islamic State
2Commies
2al-Nusra
1Govt of Iran Proxies
1Govt of Iraq
1al-Qaeda
1Govt of Syria
1Hezbollah
1Narcos
1Govt of Pakistan
1Arab Spring
1Govt of Iran

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











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
Fri 2020-09-11
  Nineteen Years. Never Forget.
Thu 2020-09-10
  Donald Trump nominated for 2021 Nobel Peace Prize
Wed 2020-09-09
  Centcom: ‘The US has decided to reduce our troop presence in Iraq from about 5,200 to 3,000 troops during this month’
Tue 2020-09-08
  Turkish lira has hit a record low against the dollar
Mon 2020-09-07
  BLM protesters in DC are calling for the White House to be burned down, cops killed.
Sun 2020-09-06
  Jihadists net $140 mn from Burkina gold mine raids
Sat 2020-09-05
  Thousands Antifa/BLM Flood Rochester, Threatening and Smashing Restaurants, Customers Flee in Terror
Fri 2020-09-04
  Federal Officers Reportedly Kill Michael Reinoehl
Thu 2020-09-03
  ICE puts detainers on 10 associates of MS-13 in connection with sex trafficking of 13-year-old girl
Wed 2020-09-02
  DHS Chief: Feds ‘Targeting And Investigating’ Heads Of BLM, Antifa And Those Who Fund Them
Tue 2020-09-01
  Sheriffs say they won't help governor's plan to stop Portland protest violence
Mon 2020-08-31
  Ten militants and five civilians killed in east Congo violence: army, local leader
Sun 2020-08-30
  Antifa sets police union building on fire again, 600-car pro-Trump caravan, deadly shooting near rally
Sat 2020-08-29
  Portland: Mayor besieged in his condo
after refusing Trump assistance
Fri 2020-08-28
  Antifa and BLM attacking people leaving the Whitehouse after RNC end.


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.
13.59.34.87
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (20)    WoT Background (10)    Opinion (11)    (0)    Politix (8)