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Hazim Al-Halafi, a senior commander of Saraya Al-Salam dead
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 6: Politix
10 22:13 trailing wife [8] 
17 21:40 Blossom Glesh7427 [10] 
7 11:42 49 Pan [11] 
4 18:06 Blossom Glesh7427 [3] 
3 13:50 Tom [5] 
9 20:22 Barbara [11] 
4 13:48 Mullah Richard [1] 
3 13:53 Abu Uluque [4] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
3 10:39 lord garth [8]
4 21:59 Whiskey Mike [6]
2 12:27 Ho Chi Ebbith1658 [7]
0 [9]
2 21:54 Blossom Glesh7427 [9]
0 [10]
3 17:15 g(r)omgoru PB [6]
0 [25]
3 22:50 trailing wife [15]
6 10:29 Alaska Paul [8]
Page 2: WoT Background
2 13:42 Abu Uluque [15]
4 22:15 trailing wife [15]
2 13:27 Lex [7]
1 19:17 Procopius2k [12]
0 [14]
2 19:52 Barbara [5]
Page 3: Non-WoT
4 17:30 swksvolFF [7]
0 [9]
14 21:51 Glenmore [9]
7 17:19 swksvolFF [6]
2 10:11 Skidmark [11]
3 17:25 Woodrow [8]
0 [9]
1 09:30 Procopius2k [4]
2 08:18 Clyde Whesing6325 [10]
3 18:05 Lex [1]
2 10:17 Skidmark [6]
7 15:16 g(r)omgoru [1]
14 11:11 Abu Uluque [3]
0 [3]
4 12:32 Skidmark [9]
15 17:22 swksvolFF [3]
0 [11]
0 [3]
2 09:36 DarthVader [7]
7 23:50 Blossom Glesh7427 [10]
10 11:37 DarthVader [1]
7 20:26 Lex [10]
Page 4: Opinion
10 13:54 g(r)omgoru [7]
25 20:34 Lex [11]
11 17:57 Lex [9]
24 23:05 Lex [10]
2 11:21 Skidmark [9]
9 17:24 Frank G [8]
19 13:21 Lex [4]
-Short Attention Span Theater-
Nancy Pelosi was caught on camera PRACTICING 'the rip"
Posted by: Woodrow || 02/06/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Trump formally handed the SOTU from his hand to her hand to the House Speaker as the original Congressional Record document and she destroyed the formal document.


18 U.S. Code § 2071. Concealment, removal, or mutilation generally
U.S. Code
(a) Whoever willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, or destroys, or attempts to do so, or, with intent to do so takes and carries away any record, proceeding, map, book, paper, document, or other thing, filed or deposited with any clerk or officer of any court of the United States, or in any public office, or with any judicial or public officer of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

(b) Whoever, having the custody of any such record, proceeding, map, book, document, paper, or other thing, willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, falsifies, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both; and shall forfeit his office and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States. As used in this subsection, the term “office” does not include the office held by any person as a retired officer of the Armed Forces of the United States.
Posted by: Varmint Splat1454 || 02/06/2020 1:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Amusing thought, but unless she penciled notes on it (Remember "document in the pants" Sandy Berger?) they are only information copies like all of the others in the room.
Posted by: magpie || 02/06/2020 1:59 Comments || Top||

#3  And the Shitshow... keeps rolling... along...
Posted by: Lex || 02/06/2020 2:33 Comments || Top||

#4  On the beach, but disbarred? Yes, it's Sandy,
Who likes to keep paperwork handy.
Don't ask him to jump
Or he'll document dump
As he cleans up the dirt on some grandee.
Posted by: Blossom Glesh7427 || 02/06/2020 18:06 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
House To Vote On Bill Designed To Nullify Right To Work Laws
[HotAir] House Democrats are preparing to force a vote on what’s known as the PRO Act (Protecting the Right to Organize) today. This giveaway to labor unions contains all manner of goodies on the Democrats’ wish list, including some that appear to be blatantly in defiance of previous Supreme Court rulings. The Competitive Enterprise Institute has published a summary of the major provisions and what it would mean to workers, particularly those in right to work states. Here are a couple of the worst parts of the bill.

Essentially nullifies 28 states’ right to work laws. In these states, workers at a unionized workplace may choose whether or not they want the union to represent them. The PRO Act would require non-union workers to pay union dues as a condition of employment, even when they opt out of union representation.

Force employers to provide unions with employees’ personal information, including home addresses, working hours, phone numbers, and email addresses. Unions have already used such information before to pressure workers to support unionization campaigns. As Kovacs writes: "In one example, the Communication Workers of America Local 1103 used a workers’ personal data to sign her up for unwanted magazine subscriptions and consumer products. She was billed thousands of dollars and had to spend hours each day unsubscribing herself."

The first item on the list dealing with the collection of dues from workers who opt out of union membership appears to directly fly in the face of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Janus v AFSCME, at least in spirit. Workers around the country have been winning one battle after another in court when seeking to have their union dues and fees refunded to them. Yet somehow the Democrats appear to believe they can just turn back the clock on all of this.

As for mandating that employers turn over the personal contact information of their workers to union representatives, the risk there should be obvious. That’s just an invitation for union thugs to dox or otherwise harass people who don’t go along with unionization schemes.

On top of that, the bill would also change the definition of "joint employer" to make it easier for unions to force themselves on franchise operations like the majority of McDonald’s restaurants. This has been on the wishlist of Democrats for a long time.

Heather Greenaway of the Workforce Fairness Institute sent a letter to the leadership of both parties in the House this week, informing them that they will be scoring this bill for their Congressional Labor Scorecard in the runup to this year’s elections. Here’s the introductory passage.

On behalf of the Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI), I am writing to share our organization’s vehement opposition to H.R. 2474, the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act). WFI has serious concerns with the broad, overreaching nature of this legislation and the many ways in which it would undermine worker freedom and privacy, while simultaneously threatening businesses and entire industries that keep America’s economy thriving.
Gotta get back that sweet, sweet union due money and keep those pesky Union workers from going off the reservation.
Scratch a demoncrat, you'll find a tyrant and crook underneath.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/06/2020 11:20 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  States right issue. Wont get past the court review...
Posted by: 49 Pan || 02/06/2020 11:40 Comments || Top||

#2  More sleazy proposed legislation coming from the Dems. Forced dues as a condition of employment even though the worker might want to opt out of the union? Reads like the Tax Penalty for not having health insurance under ObamaCare. That doesn't seem like it would pass Constitutional muster.

Having to pay dues that go to supporting the union candidate--usually a Dem is coercive. Suppose you don’t support the union political candidate? This legislation should be strongly opposed.
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/06/2020 11:58 Comments || Top||

#3  State's Rights. Dog Whistle!!
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/06/2020 12:03 Comments || Top||

#4  Mussolini smiles. A partnership of labor, business and the (Fascist) government will be imposed on all levels of the economy to promote "Progress".
Posted by: magpie || 02/06/2020 13:04 Comments || Top||

#5  A virtue signaling symbolic gesture that is certain to be vetoed.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 02/06/2020 13:46 Comments || Top||

#6  Do you remember the Orwellian NewSpeak titled Employee Free Choice Act of 2009 ?

First they make union membership compulsory. Then: Mussolini smiles as everything is a “partnership of government, unions and business”. They tride one way in 2009 and they are trying a different tactic now.
Posted by: magpie || 02/06/2020 13:50 Comments || Top||

#7  Dunno about States Rights defense. Feds have expanded power greatly using the Commerce Clause. I can see them using it here. (Assuming the Senate passes it and Trump signs it - better be a non-starter in both cases). Now with a Donk win in 2020 it'll be done by ukase.
Posted by: Mercutio || 02/06/2020 14:54 Comments || Top||

#8  Senate won't pass it.
Posted by: Crusader || 02/06/2020 18:30 Comments || Top||

#9  Borders really close on involuntary servitude to the unions.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/06/2020 19:13 Comments || Top||

#10  Senate won't pass it.

That’s the bottom line — Abu Uluque and Crusader nail it. And the House Democrats know this, so it’s just kabuki theater for the rubes — the same nonsense we used to get excited about when House Republicans passed similar no-go legislation back when Barack Obama was president.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/06/2020 22:13 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Warren Campaign Pulls Back On Ad Spending, soon returning to reservation
[Hot Air] Elizabeth Warren’s campaign has some money problems and after the debacle in Iowa this week, she has decided to dial back on some ad spending in two states:

Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s campaign is trying to conserve cash and pulled down TV ads in Nevada and South Carolina after a disappointing third-place standing in Iowa that failed to provide a fundraising bump...

On Tuesday, Warren’s campaign canceled a flight of advertisements that were going to run on TV in Nevada and South Carolina from Feb. 17 to 23 at a cost of about $375,000, according to Advertising Analytics.

Warren still has TV time reserved in those states over the next month, according to the company. She has roughly $2 million worth of ad time set aside for those two states this month and will not be entirely dark anywhere...

Asked about the decision, Warren told the Post, "I just always want to be careful about how we spend our money."
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/06/2020 08:27 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No more wampum?
Posted by: charger || 02/06/2020 9:23 Comments || Top||

#2  These pelts mangey! No whiskey for you!
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/06/2020 11:18 Comments || Top||

#3  Goodbye, you fake fuck.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/06/2020 11:19 Comments || Top||

#4  Is it just me or is there something about presidential election candidates being permitted to vote in an impeachment trial that just doesn't pass the smell test ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/06/2020 11:50 Comments || Top||

#5  So it's Mini Mike or Crusty the Clown?

No wonder Pelouse-y done gone crazy.
Posted by: Lex || 02/06/2020 11:57 Comments || Top||

#6  Fauxcahontas: Trail of Tearz in her beerz
Posted by: Lex || 02/06/2020 13:18 Comments || Top||

#7  We in SC are grateful.
Posted by: Tom || 02/06/2020 13:47 Comments || Top||

#8  Is it just me or is there something about presidential election candidates being permitted to vote in an impeachment trial that just doesn't pass the smell test ?

I believe I did hear a suggestion that they should have recused themselves. But, hey, it's OK for Dims to dig for dirt on their opponents.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 02/06/2020 13:48 Comments || Top||

#9  Time to retire the War Dance

Posted by: Lex || 02/06/2020 13:52 Comments || Top||

#10  at the 0:15 mark she seems to making a cryptic (smoke) signal to her tribe by forming the White Man's letters A-Y-B as in All your base...

But then at the 0:25 mark Spouting Bull makes a different sequence: B, Y, A, B.

What does B-Y-A-B signify? Inquiring minds want to know.

Posted by: Lex || 02/06/2020 14:00 Comments || Top||

#11  Botch Your Ancestry Bullshit?
Snark O'The Day
Posted by: Frank G || 02/06/2020 14:23 Comments || Top||

#12  Folding her tee pee and joining Biden...
Posted by: crazyhorse || 02/06/2020 14:26 Comments || Top||

#13  #11 Frank for the win! Snark o' the day.
Posted by: Lex || 02/06/2020 14:31 Comments || Top||

#14  I guessed Bring Your @ss Back.
Posted by: BA || 02/06/2020 15:08 Comments || Top||

#15  "I just always want to be careful about how we spend our money."

Just not others people money...
Posted by: Thorong Grundy1520 || 02/06/2020 15:51 Comments || Top||

#16  Much tougher when its your own money, and only so much of it.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/06/2020 18:52 Comments || Top||

#17  Elizabeth "Dances with Donks,"
Red queen of the moderate honks:
"Me ride over prairie,
But nowhere too scary
Like Bighorn, Vermont, or the Bronx."
Posted by: Blossom Glesh7427 || 02/06/2020 21:40 Comments || Top||


McConnell Triumphant: Immediately After Impeachment Acquittal Files Cloture On More Judges To Remake Judiciary
h/t Instapundit
[Daily Wire] - On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wasted no time after the Senate acquitted President Trump in his impeachment trail, immediately filing cloture on a number of judges as he continued his relentless march toward remaking America’s judiciary with a conservative bent. The judges included Andrew Lynn Brasher to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Eleventh Circuit, Joshua M. Kindred to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Alaska, Matthew Thomas Schelp to be U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri, John Fitzgerald Kness to be U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois, and Philip M. Halpern to be U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/06/2020 02:04 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Stupid f---ing Dems wrongfooted again.

"But hey, we had all the great Twitter memes!"
Posted by: Lex || 02/06/2020 2:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Brasher will replace Edward Earl Carnes, a Bush appointee. After that there is one circuit vacancy on the 5th. That's it. There are many 70 and 80 year old Clinton appointees still on the federal circuit courts. They are no doubt holding out until after the election. If Trump wins, we will likely see another wave of retirements.

There are also 72 district court vacancies, but these are less exciting. The Senate is still honoring blue slip[s for district court nominees, which means blue state judges must be acceptable to Democratic Senators.
Posted by: Iblis || 02/06/2020 9:14 Comments || Top||

#3  Nope. Still not tired of winning.

Feels very good after decades of the stupid party (R) fucking shit up.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/06/2020 9:42 Comments || Top||

#4  "Of course you realize, this means war!"--Bugs Bunny.
Push Mitch McConnell too far and the gloves come off.
Posted by: magpie || 02/06/2020 10:03 Comments || Top||

#5  Just for fun, current vacancies include:

NY – 8
CA – 16
IL – 5
NJ – 6
WA - 5

That's 40 (out of a total 72) in deep blue states. These will be hard to fill. Hard core ideologues would rather they stay empty than be filled by Trump.
Posted by: Iblis || 02/06/2020 11:01 Comments || Top||

#6  blue slips are were a courtesy. Feinstein and Harris were bypassed last round
Posted by: Frank G || 02/06/2020 11:34 Comments || Top||

#7  This will be his legacy that changes America.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 02/06/2020 11:42 Comments || Top||


Grassley, Johnson Seek Hunter Biden's Travel Records From Secret Service
The hounds are closing in. Can you hear them baying in the distance?
[SaraACarter] Two top Republican Senators are expanding their probe into potential conflicts of interest "posed by the business activities of Hunter Biden" as the Senate investigative committees continue to probe former Vice President Joe Biden’s son’s business activities overseas during his father’s tenure in the Obama Administration.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, Chairman of the Finance Committee, and Sen. Ron Johnson, who already have an ongoing investigation into numerous White House meetings during the Obama Administration with senior Ukrainian officials, sent a letter Wednesday to Secret Service Director James M. Murray requesting information "about whether Hunter Biden used government-sponsored travel to help conduct private business, to include his work for Rosemont Seneca and related entities in China and Ukraine."
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/06/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He'll be at a Pizza place in Woking
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/06/2020 3:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Has Lindsey done anything yet in the Senate Judiciary other than to make promises of investigations to come?
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/06/2020 11:30 Comments || Top||

#3  He does have to face a primary here in SC in June. So far 7 people have filed to run against him, but I have never heard of any of them. He looks to be a shoo-in for the next 6 years.
Posted by: Tom || 02/06/2020 13:50 Comments || Top||


'Voted to betray': Clinton slams Senate Republicans after Trump acquittal
[Wash Examiner] Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ripped Senate Republicans after they voted to acquit President Trump on two impeachment charges of obstruction of Congress and abuse of power.

"As the president's impeachment trial began, Republican senators pledged an oath to defend the Constitution," Clinton tweeted. "Today, 52 of them voted to betray that oath‐and all of us. We're entering dangerous territory for our democracy. It'll take all of us working together to restore it."

Clinton, 72, lost to Trump, 73, in the 2016 presidential election and has spent much of the time since repeatedly claiming she actually won because of the popular vote. Last week, she said attacks from Sen. Bernie Sanders's supporters were part of the reason she was unsuccessful in 2016.

Clinton faces a $50 million defamation lawsuit that Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii is bringing against the former first lady after she called Gabbard a "Russian agent" in 2019.

As the president's impeachment trial began, Republican senators pledged an oath to defend the Constitution.

Today, 52 of them voted to betray that oath‐and all of us.

We're entering dangerous territory for our democracy. It'll take all of us working together to restore it.
‐ Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton)
Posted by: Frank G || 02/06/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Clinton, 72, lost to Trump, 73, in the 2016 presidential election and has spent much of the time since repeatedly claiming she actually won because of the popular vote.

She blamed everybody else under the sun for her loss - Senate Republicans get a pass on that count!
Posted by: Raj || 02/06/2020 8:27 Comments || Top||

#2  "A Vast Right Wing Conspiracy"...right?
Posted by: magpie || 02/06/2020 10:05 Comments || Top||

#3  'Voted to betray'

Is that the name of the new Uranium One documentary?
Posted by: Clyde Whesing6325 || 02/06/2020 10:19 Comments || Top||

#4 
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/06/2020 11:25 Comments || Top||

#5  Go get drunk, pass out and leave the adults alone.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/06/2020 11:29 Comments || Top||

#6  Have another box of Chardonnay, Granny.
Posted by: charger || 02/06/2020 18:26 Comments || Top||

#7  She must have really enjoyed watching Rush Limbaugh revive the Medal of Freedom in front of 100m viewers.

"Have some bile with your Chardonnay, ma'am?"
Posted by: Lex || 02/06/2020 19:52 Comments || Top||

#8  *receive
Posted by: Lex || 02/06/2020 19:52 Comments || Top||

#9  "We're entering dangerous territory for our democracy."

No wonder you're a loser, Shrillery; you don't even know we have a representative republic, not a democracy.

Idiot.
Posted by: Barbara || 02/06/2020 20:22 Comments || Top||


And there it is. The single largest donor of Shadow Inc., the company behind the failed Iowa Caucus app, is George Soros.
Actually, the SuperPAC associated with Shadow, Inc. See the replies below the tweet
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/06/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Shadow Government
Shadow Cardinal
Shadow Master
Posted by: Lex || 02/06/2020 2:35 Comments || Top||

#2  ...campaign and technology veterans who have built and implemented technology at Hillary for America From their website.


A couple of failures under their belts.

Bloomberg seems to be following suit. He has thrown a ton of money on ads--promoting himself and bashing Trump. It seems that he has thrown his money down a black hole.
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/06/2020 10:37 Comments || Top||

#3  VP Stacey Abrams?
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/06/2020 11:15 Comments || Top||

#4  Interesting tidbit of info on the app over at C/Net with a link to a video that cybersecurity company Blue Hexagon put together on what they found.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 02/06/2020 13:48 Comments || Top||


Trump has top news anchors over for lunch - and eats them alive
[DailyBeast] The Daily Beast learned that Trump’s off-record Tuesday lunch with prominent news anchors was surprisingly “chill,” with the president mocking his chuckling guests.
But not CNN, which is being Alinsky’d.
Posted by: Elminemp Gloluque6261 || 02/06/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I first thought this had to be a Bee™ article... cannibalism, ya' see.
Posted by: magpie || 02/06/2020 1:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Really getting hard now to distinguish Bee from Not Bee. I'm still not sure which category this one falls into.
Posted by: Lex || 02/06/2020 2:41 Comments || Top||

#3  Tell 'em to come on in for the big win!
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 02/06/2020 13:53 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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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.

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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2020-02-06
  Hazim Al-Halafi, a senior commander of Saraya Al-Salam dead
Wed 2020-02-05
  Trump acquitted by Senate on articles of impeachment for abuse of power
Tue 2020-02-04
  8 Turkish personnel, 13 #Syrian troops killed in north Syria festivities
Mon 2020-02-03
  Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula claims December shooting at Florida naval base
Sun 2020-02-02
  Iraq’s President Barham Saleh assigns Mouhammed Tawfiq Allawi with forming a new government
Sat 2020-02-01
  Qassim al-Rimi, the head of al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen tits up.
Fri 2020-01-31
  Senate Votes 51-49 Against Witnesses and Documents
Thu 2020-01-30
  #Hamas rejects ‘conspiracies’ as #Trump unveils Mideast plan
Wed 2020-01-29
  Turkish tanks and troops have just arrived at the port of Tripoli. In violation of the arms embargo
Tue 2020-01-28
  Iran foreign minister calls Trump peace plan for Middle East 'delusional'
Mon 2020-01-27
  USAF E-11A down in Taliban area.
Sun 2020-01-26
  JeM’s Kashmir chief among 3 killed in Pulwama encounter: Army
Sat 2020-01-25
  AlSadr orders his followers to withdraw from #TahrirSquare and dismantle the tents
Fri 2020-01-24
  PLA mobilized to deal with Wuhan
Thu 2020-01-23
  UN calls for strengthening international support for the Palestinians


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