[DAWN] Monster storm Dorian came to a near stand-still over the Bahamas on Monday, prolonging the agony as surging seawaters and hurricane winds made a shambles of low-lying island communities and spurred mass evacuations along the US east coast.
Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said reported "devastation is unprecedented" in the Abaco Islands, which on Sunday received the full brunt of Dorian as it came ashore as the most powerful storm ever to hit the archipelago. "Our focus right now is rescue, recovery and prayer," Minnis said on Twitter.
The storm’s toll was still untallied nearly 24 hours after it made landfall as a Category 5 with sustained winds of 290 kph (185 mph).
It weakened slightly on Monday to a still-devastating Category 4 storm, punishing Grand Bahama Island with "catastrophic winds and storm surge," the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said in its 1500 GMT bulletin.
It was grinding its way westward on Monday at a speed of one mile per hour (2 kph), laying siege for hours to Grand Bahama Island, with sustained winds of 250 kph (155 mph).
[Politico via Right Scoop] Here’s some good news on Trump’s plans to build the wall. Apparently his administration is about to transfer a few billion from military projects toward the building of the wall:
POLITICO ‐ The Trump administration is executing its plan this week to divert $3.6 billion from military construction projects to build the border wall, calling lawmakers whose districts will take a hit, according to multiple House aides.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper called Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday to detail the cash grab, explaining that about half of the funding will come from military construction projects outside the United States and half will come from projects within the country.
This stems from Trump’s emergency order earlier this year that allowed him to transfer funds toward the building of the wall. And it’s a welcome sight to see it finally going into action. From all the reporting we’ve seen recently, it sounds like Trump is really pushing hard to get much of the wall built before the election or thereabouts.
The media keeps suggesting that no ’new’ wall is being built but that simply isn’t true, as we’ve pointed out. The Trump administration has to build the new border wall in place of the ineffective old wall, and that is indeed new wall. What hasn’t happened yet, but should happen soon according to reports, is the building of new border wall where there was no border wall before. And that is truly something to get excited about.
#4
Previous administrations have done little except diddle this dog. Glad to see Trump follow through on his promise. If we don't have border control, we don't have a country and the problems continues to fester.
#7
Seems like a good idea P2K. A secure border would get rid of a lot of human and narcotics trafficking. I don't know that it would curb cartel money laundering. 2012 article on money laundering in U.S. banking system by cartels. A wall would curb the flow of illegal Dem voters.
[Sudan Tribune] The International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI), a report conducted between December 2018 and May this year, said while some members of the warring parties visited refugee settlements to reunite with their families, others tended to target their political opponents.
Speaking during the launch of the report in Kampala last week, IRRI’s executive director, Achieng Akena, said parties involved in the South Sudanese conflict should be held accountable for their actions.
The report, among others, recommended thorough investigations into recruitment and abuses against refugees by the warring factions to ensure that individuals involved are arrested and prosecuted.
It further recommended that the Ugandan government increases police presence in refugee settlements, support training on refugee and host community relations, and strengthen community policing.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Senate, the partisans of Honorius went for their knives and the partisans of Stilicho went for the doors... the head of refugee integration and legal affairs in the Office of Prime Minister, Innocent Ndahiriwe dismissed IRRI’s findings.
"Let anyone challenge me on this with evidence because we have never come across cases of recruitment of refugees from settlements," he told Daily Monitor.
There are reportedly more than 800,000 South Sudanese refugees in camps just inside Uganda.
South Sudan descended into civil war in mid-December 2013 and the ongoing conflict has created one of the fastest-growing refugee crises in the world.
In September 2018, South Sudan’s conflicting parties signed a final peace deal in Addis Ababa after negotiations brokered by the Sudanese government and mandated by regional nations.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/04/2019 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] The pound plunged against the dollar and euro on Tuesday after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson ...pro-Brexit British prime minister, succeeding no-Brexit Theresa May. BoJo is noted as much for his sparkling personality and his hair as for his Conservative policies.... threatened to call a snap election to push through Brexit, with analysts warning the currency could fall even further.
Johnson's warning that he will call a poll for October 14 if rebel politicians in his Conservative party vote to force another delay to Brexit raised the possibility of an extended period of uncertainty in Britannia, where the economy is already struggling.
"We are leaving on October 31, no ifs or buts," he said in a statement outside 10 Downing Street.
Sterling ‐ which sank around one percent Monday ‐ dropped briefly to $1.1959, its weakest level since January 2017.
The euro was also sitting around levels not seen since the second half of the same year, as investors prepare for a huge day in Westminster with anti-Brexiteers planning to hold a vote on their return from the summer break.
#5
EC - I'm a Brexit fan and an EU critic. Just to let you know where my snark is coming from in the future. No secrets. I HATE bureaucratic bullshit inventions with pinstriped pinheads creating regulations. Unelected, unrestricted. Should be run out in tumbrels
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/04/2019 19:29 Comments ||
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HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Wednesday withdrew an extradition bill that triggered months of often violent protests so the Chinese-ruled city can move forward from a "highly vulnerable and dangerous" place and find solutions.
The announcement, live on television, came after Reuters reports on Friday and Monday revealed that Beijing had thwarted an earlier proposal from Lam to withdraw the bill and that she had said privately that she would resign if she could, according to a leaked audio recording.
"Lingering violence is damaging the very foundations of our society, especially the rule of law," Lam said in her address on Wednesday.
The Hong Kong leader, Carrie Lam, is expected to formally withdraw an extradition bill on Wednesday that has sparked month of protests and plunged the territory into its biggest political crisis in decades, according to media reports.
The South China Morning Post reported that Lam was expected to meet pro-establishment lawmakers at 4pm local time before a possible announcement that the bill will be withdrawn. The Chinese-backed news outlet HK01 said Lam was going to meet with lawmakers and they expected the bill to be withdrawn.
Reuters later said it had confirmed the reports with a government source.
Lam shelved the bill in June and in July again insisted it was "dead" after weeks of protest but refused to withdraw it entirely, a key demand of protesters. She was hoping the tanks would roll in and make it easier to ram the bill down throats.
The bill would allow the extradition of suspects to mainland China's opaque legal system. The protests it sparked have since turned into a broader democracy movement that has challenged Beijing's authority over the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.
In recent weeks, protest have escalated and become increasingly violent on both sides, with protesters making use of petrol bombs while Hong Kong police have begun to deploy water cannon in addition to rubber bullets and teargas.
Earlier this week, Reuters published a recording of Lam speaking to a group of business executives in which she said she would step down if she were able to - suggesting Beijing has forced her to remain in office.
On Tuesday, however, Lam told reporters she wanted to remain in office for as long as she can
to see Hong Kong through such a difficult period.
[DAWN] Hong Kong's embattled leader insisted on Tuesday she had no intention of stepping down after an audio recording emerged of her saying she wanted to quit over three months of unrest in the southern Chinese city.
Hong Kong has endured dozens of sometimes violent pro-democracy protests triggered by opposition to Chief Executive Carrie Lam's bid to push through a law allowing extraditions to mainland China.
The protests have evolved into a wider democracy campaign involving festivities between protesters and police, in the biggest challenge to China's rule of Hong Kong since its 1997 handover from the British.
"I told myself repeatedly in the last three months that I and my team should stay on to help Hong Kong," Lam told a presser on Tuesday morning.
Lam said she had "not even contemplated" discussing her resignation with the Chinese government, which gives Hong Kong a restricted form of autonomy.
[Bloomberg] The numbers are mind-boggling: $70,000 per minute, $4 million per hour, $100 million per day.
That’s how quickly the fortune of the Waltons, the clan behind Walmart Inc., has been growing since last year’s Bloomberg ranking of the world’s richest families.
At that rate, their wealth would’ve expanded about $23,000 since you began reading this. A new Walmart associate in the U.S. would’ve made about 6 cents in that time, on the way to an $11 hourly minimum.
Even in this era of extreme wealth and brutal inequality, the contrast is jarring. The heirs of Sam Walton, Walmart’s notoriously frugal founder, are amassing wealth on a near-unprecedented scale ‐ and they’re hardly alone.
The Walton fortune has swelled by $39 billion, to $191 billion, since topping the June 2018 ranking of the world’s richest families.
Other American dynasties are close behind in terms of the assets they’ve accrued. The Mars family, of candy fame, added $37 billion, bringing its fortune to $127 billion. The Kochs, the industrialists-cum-political-power-players, tacked on $26 billion, to $125 billion.
So it goes around the globe. America’s richest 0.1% today control more wealth than at any time since 1929, but their counterparts in Asia and Europe are gaining too. Worldwide, the 25 richest families now control almost $1.4 trillion in wealth, up 24% from last year.
To some critics, such figures are evidence that capitalism needs fixing. Inequality has become an explosive political issue, from Paris to Seattle to Hong Kong. But how to shrink the growing gap between the rich and the poor?
#5
Profiting from the inexpensive labor of Chinese imports. Call it modern retail or the changing of times if you will, but the huge box stores killed the small town hardware store, butcher shop, and grocer.
Selling soy beans to China is the backspin. But you must do it on a grand scale, a corporate scale.
Just for the record: Wiki - Samuel Moore Walton (March 29, 1918 – April 5, 1992) was an American businessman and .... He launched a determined effort to market American-made products. Included in the effort was a willingness to find American manufacturers who ...
Of course the "American-made" thing died with Sam.
#6
What again is the point exactly? That the author coasted through some 3rd rate college and oozed into the Bloomberg gig, while Sam Walton worked like a fiend to set up an now international commercial network?
Golly, could there be a more explicit example of inequality?
#7
I suspect the Sears family did very well for a while too.
Ironically, biggest problem for the super wealthy is figuring out what to do with the money. Capitalism has generated so much wealth that the world is running out of things to buy.
#11
Hush, magpie. You can't criticize the Muslims! Besides, they inherited their money and never worked a day in their lives, as God meant it to be.
But in all seriousness, the only part about Walmart's fortune that is scummy is the part where they use what is essentially Chinese slave labor to produce goods more cheaply than people in free countries (or even better, here in the US) ever could.
[Breitbart] A "servant class" that serves the needs of the country’s top one percent is among one of the fastest-growing job markets in the United States, economic analysis finds.
As about 1.2 million mostly low-skilled legal immigrants are admitted to the U.S. every year to take primarily low-wage jobs, an underclass of servants for the wealthy has boomed over the last decade compared with overall job growth.
Research by MIT’s David Autor reveals that servant class jobs like manicurists and pedicurists have grown 114 percent between 2008 and 2018. Meanwhile, all U.S. jobs have grown just seven percent in that same time period.
Likewise, massage therapist jobs have grown 105 percent over the last decade, family therapist jobs have grown 98 percent, skincare specialist jobs have grown 93 percent, and animal caretaker jobs have grown nearly 60 percent.
Tally up all the highly-aid professionals who are in essence guarding the wealth of the billionaires:
- the private wealth managers, tax lawyers, and accountants;
- the private schools and private tutors and private athletic coaches, trainers, grooms, sailboat skippers, etc for the kids;
- the thousands of family nonprofit foundation officials, grant administrators, PR flacks, and others on the payroll of tgeee multi-million (or even billion) $$$ vanity vehicles...
Every billionaire in this country has probably a few hundred or more people on his payroll earning over $100k each.
That's at least another 200,000 workers you can add to our oligarchs' servant class.
#2
I know an ex-officer who settled in Virginia to be a Yoga and fitness instructor to some very private bigwigs. He now earns double of what his superiors could hope to collect on superannuation.
#4
Ref #1: Tally up all the highly-aid professionals who are in essence guarding the wealth of the billionaires: - the private wealth managers, tax lawyers, and accountants; - the private schools and private tutors and private athletic coaches, trainers, grooms, sailboat skippers, etc for the kids;
Don't forget the politicians whose pockets are greased from oligarch donations. Little wonder support in the Congress for the Orange Man is lagging. Butter, meet thy bread.
#5
...well when one party screams constantly about stealing what the wealthy have, it shouldn't come as a surprise the rich utilize their resources to protect their resources. How much corruption of our government has been just because of that? /rhet question
[Dallas News] Businesses say Trump's China tariffs on apparel, other Christmas presents ignore realities "And now, a word from your Chamber of Commerce 'Sky is Falling' Media Division"
Ed V. has been trying for three months to hire someone in Dallas who can sew, just one person. He’s not trying to find skilled seamstresses for a whole factory.
"I have one lady who is retiring and another one who would, but I can’t find anyone to fill their jobs," the CEO of a Dallas-based women’s apparel company said.
"We now have had two generations in the U.S. who don’t know how to sew," he said. Hmmmmm.... Interesting. I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that China has loads of people who know how to sew? President Donald Trump's trade war with China, including the latest round of taxes imposed on U.S. companies Sunday, has created uncertainty for suppliers of apparel, shoes, accessories, sporting goods and smartwatches ‐ all things people buy as gifts during the Christmas season. Unless ... maybe they bought American goods? Swiss watches? Belgian chocolate? Japanese radios? German tools?
With Sunday’s new tariffs, 69% of the consumer goods Americans buy from China will face Trump’s import taxes, up from 29% last week. I wonder if the ChiComs are feeling the heat yet. [rhetorical question]
Tariffs on another batch of Chinese products go into effect Dec. 15. By then, 99% of the products Americans buy from China will be taxed, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
Farmers are receiving subsidies from the federal government for their lost business, but there’s no assistance to U.S. retailers, apparel makers and shoe and luggage companies that are paying more for goods. Interesting news. The Feds are easing the pain? I thought the farmers were all destitute and desperate. Or maybe the retailers are fishing for a subsidy?
In less than two years, Bown said, Trump will have increased the average tariff on Chinese imports from 3% in 2017 to more than 24%. The Chinese have devalued their currency, which has the impact of lowering prices some, but not enough to erase the tariffs. Devaluing their currency also raises the value of the dollar, amirite, making American imports more expensive. Very clever, these Chinese!
Some estimates put the cost of tariffs to an average U.S. household as much as $1,000 a year. That’s on the high end of most Americans’ holiday spending budgets. Consumers have led the U.S. economic expansion in recent months as corporate spending has waned. Americans are worried about tariffs, according to a new report released Tuesday by Coresight Research:
• Almost 60% of holiday shoppers are concerned about tariffs causing prices to rise on holiday gifts.
• The majority of shoppers will not increase spending to absorb any price hikes. Only 16% said they would spend more than they planned. That's what they say. In four months, we'll know for sure.
• Others said they will buy fewer items (25.5%), switch to cheaper retailers (22%)
or buy cheaper products (22%). I wonder if "Buy American" was one of the options on the survey?
The timing is bad for many retailers that were already struggling with issues such as leveraged buyout debt and the higher costs of running tandem store and online businesses. Next administration would be better. Not Trump II, but the one after that. Macy's said it tried to pass along increases in housewares, luggage and furniture this year but its customers balked. Target told suppliers it will not accept any cost increases related to the tariffs. Fewer products on the shelves, I suppose.
Plano-based J.C. Penney said in a letter to the Office of U.S. Trade Representative in June that driving up costs will hurt Penney's core customer, middle-class working women.
"The disproportionate impact of the proposed List 4 tariffs on women is striking," Penney said in the letter. The journalist or JCP did not provide any examples of this dire impact on middle-class working women, some of whom were unemployed three Christmases ago.
Tuesday will be the first day U.S. companies pay the new tariffs. As soon as buyers take delivery, the shippers will pay the extra tariff when goods are released and the accounts of U.S. brands and retailers will be automatically charged for it. The money goes straight to the U.S. Treasury. Excellent! Reducing the deficit, or eliminating the need for new taxes! Every cloud has a silver lining!
"The apparel industry has always been tough. It’s difficult enough in normal times because nobody really needs clothes, they go out and buy some when they feel good and cut back when they’re nervous," Ed V. said. "But it’s really difficult when someone takes control of your business." You want to talk taking control of your business? Talk to Bernie or AOC. They can help you out. Otherwise, you're worrying about an unplanned expense all of your competition will endure as well.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/04/2019 00:00 ||
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#1
Verging on Bee-style satire.
Are these morons seriously arguing that Americans can't cobble and stitch and weld and bolt and, you know, make stuff?
Or that we have a shortage of people willing to work for a living? Really?
Stop importing illiterate peasants from Central America and the fourth-world parts of Mexico.
Start training Americans to do skilled jobs, and pay them a living wage.
And cease with your f---ing lies and fairytales about how "we need" illegals' shit labor for shit wages.
#2
If a skilled labour deficit is really the case, it's even better news. More trade-school applications than college loans. More American workers top to bottom. More jobs and less activism. The wins should just keep adding from there.
Until the left strikes with unionism ! But blow that bridge when you get to it.
#4
More trade-school applications than college loans.
Times 10, please.
My now 32 year old son, the baby, got a small scholarship to Emerson College from our local auto dealer because it was the closest thing to a trade school that they could find.
#5
"We now have had two generations in the U.S. who don’t know how to sew," he said. BS. Nearly every woman of age who has arrived in the United States from Central America knows how to sew.
#7
The cosmic-level chutzpah is amazing when you see a seamless pivot from sneering at "underbred 'Deplorables' shopping cheap Chineses knock-offs at WalMart" to "Gracious! Tommy won't get his Christmas 'Holiday Season' plastic truck!!!11!!!"
#8
Maybe we should take the hint as a country to quit buying great quantities of $h!t every December and calling it Christmas.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/04/2019 12:59 Comments ||
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#9
It is disgusting the way the department stores and other retailers have hijacked and perverted Christmas. And, for the past several years, the Chicoms have hitched a ride on Santa's sleigh. It's time to kick 'em off.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
09/04/2019 15:04 Comments ||
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#10
First of all, Christmas sales should be much smaller. It is a ridiculous, disgusting trend that encourages people to spend six months of their annual income in a single month (hopefully with credit cards from various stores).
Second of all, I'm sure it would be much worse for Christmas sales if the American workforce had lower wages and lower employment levels.
Third and finally, addressing the issue of sewing, there are plenty of people who can sew. A number of my middle class friends can sew (perhaps not well enough to be a seamstress, but they can still sew). But they aren't going to do it for a living because they have much better jobs already. I have a sneaking suspicion that businesses who say "I can't find anybody to hire" almost always mean "I can't find anybody to hire at the poor wages/inadequate benefits I plan on offering them".
#14
I have to throw the bullshit flag on that one. Lots of sewing machines still being sold.
I know a little store in Indiana that has several seamstresses to make their custom historical clothes and they have to keep expanding and hiring more to fill demand.
There are lots of 3rd world people already here that can sew just fine.
Sewing isn't that fucking hard. Just takes practice.
#15
..used to be part of Home Economics in junior high school (and the boys got shop). Not aligned with the college track installed by, guess who?, the College of Education at most universities. So guess what's been cut. /rhet question
[DAWN] Six coppers, including a sub-inspector, were nominated in a criminal case for allegedly torturing a man, identified as Amir, to death in Lahore, it emerged on Tuesday.
According to a first information report (FIR) lodged on the complaint of the victim's brother, Amir ‐ who worked as a gardener in Lahore's P.F Colony ‐ was summoned at North Cantt cop shoppe by Sub-Inspector Zeeshan on August 28. He was then taken to an unknown location, where he was subjected to torture.
According to the victim's brother, Amir had been called by Zeeshan in connivance with a civilian, Rana Mohammad Hanif, who has also been nominated in the FIR.
Meanwhile, ...back at the buffalo wallow, Yellow Wolf clutched at his chest and fell from his horse... Amir's family approached the cop shoppe after they were told that Zeeshan had called the dear departed, but could not meet the sub-inspector. On September 2, Zeeshan and two unidentified officers handed over Amir, who was suffering from serious injuries, to his family. He was taken to the Services Hospital, where he passed away, the FIR stated.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) 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.... Arif Nawaz Khan took notice of the incident and ordered that a case be registered against SI Zeeshan, Investigation Officer Nasir Baig and four other officers and asked for a detailed report to be submitted within a day.
Police have arrested Baig and North Cantt cop shoppe's Station House Officer Khurram Gul, while Zeeshan is on the lam.
This is the third such case that has come to light in the past week. On Sunday, a man who was said to be mentally disabled, had died in police custody in Rahim Yar Khan. On the same day, a middle-aged man had passed away in Lahore after allegedly being tortured by Gujjarpura police in an illegal torture cell that was unearthed last month.
IGP Punjab had expressed his displeasure and released a handout on Monday with clear instructions to all the field officers that "no officer will be spared if such crime was reported in any part of the province".
[DAWN] The National Press Club (NPC) in Islamabad on Tuesday placed a temporary ban on the entry and coverage of Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid in its premises after he allegedly used "insulting" language for a journalist who is undergoing treatment for cancer.
The decision was taken after NPC President Shakeel Qarar met Geo TV video journalist Nasir, who is receiving treatment for cancer at Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... Hospital in Rawalpindi, a blurb issued by the press club said.
It said Nasir had informed Qarar that during a recent visit to the hospital by Rashid, a local journalist had directed the minister's attention towards Nasir's illness. At this, the railways minister "uttered insulting sentences which deeply hurt Nasir's sentiments", the blurb added.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/04/2019 00:00 ||
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#1
This oaf was recently giving a speech somewhere and got a minor jolt from the obviously chinese stage mic. He recovered in a moment and declared bravely;
"Just an electric shock, friends ! That Modi cannot stop this meeting ! "
Twitter, needless to say did not spare him for days.
[DAWN] The issue of alleged forced conversion of a 19-year-old girl from Sikhism to Islam has been "amicably resolved to the satisfaction of the concerned families" after negotiations between a high-level government delegation and a 30-member committee of the Sikh community, Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar announced on Tuesday.
In a tweet from his official account, Sarwar thanked the families of Jagjit Kaur — the girl who was allegedly forced to convert — and the man who had been accused of abducting and forcibly converting her, for coming to the Governor House in order to sort out the matter.
"Great news for Pakistani and Sikh communities across the world. Issue of Nankana girl was amicably resolved to the satisfaction of the concerned families. The girl is safe and in touch with her family. We shall continue to ensure the rights of minorities in Pakistan!" the governor tweeted.
In a video posted on Sarwar's Twitter account, the father of the man who allegedly forced Kaur to convert and marry him declared that they "will not approach any court for the girl's custody".
"If she wishes to go with them (her family), we have no objections. They are her guardians," he said.
A representative of the girl's family and the Sikh community also thanked the government, Prime Minister Imran Khan and the Punjab governor for intervening and resolving the matter.
Earlier in the day, Indian Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh took to Twitter to claim that the girl has returned to her family in Nankana Sahib. However, the claim has yet to be verified.
The matter came to light last week, when a first information report (FIR) was registered in the Nankana police station against six people who were accused of abducting and forcefully converting 19-year-old Kaur. Police had traced the nominated persons to Lahore and had arrested one of them, while three others had obtained pre-arrest bail. The remaining two were at large.
After the FIR was lodged, the police were contacted by Sheikh Sultan, who said he was Kaur's advocate and told officials that she had embraced Islam and contracted marriage with Mohammad Hassan of her own free will.
[Townhall] Earlier today Walmart CEO Doug McMillon officially announced a number of firearms and ammunition will no longer be sold at stores nationwide. The statement was quite incoherent, but here it is.
WAL-MART ANNOUNCES SUPPORT FOR LOCAL GUN SHOPS BY HALTING SALES OF AMMUNITION
"Yeah, it'll cut into our bottom line, but it seems like the moral thing to do; a lot of these stores are struggling with competition from big-box stores like ours," said CEO
#4
Reason #12,345 Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Preemptive Lawsuit Prevention by the risk-averse gnomes in legal. Avoid a future lawsuit as a co-defendant by just not selling things.
#6
...if they make it a gun free zone, its only a matter of time when they'll be held accountable $$$$$$ for not providing adequate security.
Of course they could cover themselves by posting next the the "all guns prohibited" sign another notice that patrons take their own lives and safety in their hands by visiting Wally's establishments.
[The Hill] Kroger, the country’s largest grocery chain, has asked its customers to no longer openly carry firearms in its stores.
"Kroger is respectfully asking that customers no longer openly carry firearms into our stores, other than authorized law enforcement officers," Jessica Adelman, who serves as group vice president of corporate affairs, said in a statement to Reuters on Tuesday afternoon.
"We are also joining those encouraging our elected leaders to pass laws that will strengthen background checks and remove weapons from those who have been found to pose a risk for violence," she continued.
Prior to the change in policy, Adelman told the news agency that store locations adhered to local gun laws.
The announcement comes just hours after Walmart said it will formally end handgun sales and asked customers not to openly carry firearms following a mass shooting that took place at one of its stores in El Paso, Texas, last month.
#4
I like guns, they are useful. But open carry is just giving people you don't even know information they just don't need.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
09/04/2019 8:33 Comments ||
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#5
Open carry can be useful, especially if you are wanting to project a protective force (armed guard, armed Koreans defending store, etc.).
Other than that I find the benefits aren't worth the negatives that open carry produces. Concealed is better for most situations in my not so humble opinion.
#8
I understand why people should have the right to open carry, and I don't generally object to other people doing it. But it doesn't seem like a smart thing to do unless you're trying to intimidate people or project authority. However, I find it incredibly weird how many people find it terrifying. What a bunch of ninnies. If people are going to start shooting, in all likelihood they would have started before you saw them/as soon as they walked in the door. The people you see open carrying are the good guys.
#9
Re #8, a common ingredient of mass shootings seems to be the gun is invisible until the shooting starts. Not because the perps are tacticool geniuses but because the sheep are oblivious.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
09/04/2019 18:53 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
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.
[DAWN] Monster storm Dorian came to a near stand-still over the Bahamas on Monday, prolonging the agony as surging seawaters and hurricane winds made a shambles of low-lying island communities and spurred mass evacuations along the US east coast.
[Politico via Right Scoop] Here’s some good news on Trump’s plans to build the wall. Apparently his administration is about to transfer a few billion from military projects toward the building of the wall:
...pro-Brexit British prime minister, succeeding no-Brexit Theresa May. BoJo is noted as much for his sparkling personality and his hair as for his Conservative policies....
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Wednesday withdrew an extradition bill that triggered months of often violent protests so the Chinese-ruled city can move forward from a "highly vulnerable and dangerous" place and find solutions.
On Tuesday, however, Lam told reporters she wanted to remain in office 
[Bloomberg] The numbers are mind-boggling: $70,000 per minute, $4 million per hour, $100 million per day.
[Breitbart] A "servant class" that serves the needs of the country’s top one percent is among one of the fastest-growing job markets in the United States, economic analysis finds.
President Donald Trump's trade war with China, including the latest round of taxes imposed on U.S. companies Sunday, has created uncertainty for suppliers of apparel, shoes, accessories, sporting goods and smartwatches ‐ all things people buy as gifts during the Christmas season.
Macy's said it tried to pass along increases in housewares, luggage and furniture this year but its customers balked. Target told suppliers it will not accept any cost increases related to the tariffs. 
