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Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Bush the Elder dies at 94
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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Heavy rain turns Tijuana asylum seeker camp to mud
[Al Jazeera] As heavy downpours Thursday night flooded the already unsanitary encampment in Tijuana's northern side where thousands of Central American asylum seekers are being housed, authorities began moving small groups to a new government-run indoor shelter, 20km east of the US-Mexico border.

A total of 700 out of the 6,000 people sheltered at the Benito Juarez sports complex were transported in buses to the new facility.

Buses arrived on Friday morning to transport others, but many expressed scepticism due to the distance the new shelter is from the border.

The rain had turned most of the camp to mud, flooded tents and forced some migrants colonists and refugees to move out of the shelter and onto neighbouring streets where concrete floors made for better sleeping ground.

Living conditions for migrants colonists and refugees are getting worse and wait times for the asylum process are increasingly drawn-out, exasperating Tijuana officials and migrants colonists.

Mirna Contreras was sitting in her tent waiting out the rain on Thursday afternoon. She said she was sad because she didn't have enough money to rent a room in a local hotel.

"My tent is slowly flooding. It's really cold at night and I have a bad cold," she told Al Jazeera.
Posted by: Fred || 12/01/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Light rain again overnight. Must be the US's fault
Posted by: Frank G || 12/01/2018 6:35 Comments || Top||

#2  More specifically, Frank, it's Trump's fault.
Posted by: AlanC || 12/01/2018 7:33 Comments || Top||

#3  He alone caused Global Warming, you know.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 12/01/2018 7:34 Comments || Top||

#4  "He'll soon be gone" or at least that's what I've heard everyday from the left since his inauguration.

The conjuring effect of TDS. There must be something they could take for it.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/01/2018 7:50 Comments || Top||

#5  She travels north during winter and is surprised it's cold? Lady, it just keeps getting colder the farther you go.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 12/01/2018 9:21 Comments || Top||

#6  She travels north during winter and is surprised it's cold?

They were promised there would be no wait at the border. Much to everyone’s shock, not only must they wait indefinitely, but the wait is becoming increasingly uncomfortable, accompanied by the concern that ultimately almost all of their asylum requests will be rejected.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/01/2018 11:59 Comments || Top||

#7  If an invading army finds the weather inconvenient then I am grateful for the weather.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 12/01/2018 14:27 Comments || Top||

#8  Welcome to the field boys and girls. Some of America's finest get to do that all too often.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/01/2018 16:01 Comments || Top||

#9  ...a clearer visual.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/01/2018 16:04 Comments || Top||

#10  more light rain tonight and dropping temps to the 40's

The horror. The horror .
Posted by: Frank G || 12/01/2018 17:16 Comments || Top||

#11  Today's Spanish Phrase:

Mi hermana tiene pulgas - My sister has fleas
Posted by: SteveS || 12/01/2018 22:59 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
UN Confirms 23 Civilians Killed In Helmand Airstrike
[ToloNews] Preliminary findings by the United Nations
...an idea whose time has gone...
Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) show that at least 23 non-combatants were killed and three others were maimed in an Arclight airstrike in Garmsir district in Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
province conducted by pro-government forces against Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
in the area on Tuesday.

"Initial findings indicate that the vast majority of the victims were women and kiddies," UNAMA said in a statement on Friday.

The Mission is actively working to verify information indicating up to 10 children were killed along with eight women, and three children were maimed, including an eight-year-old boy, the statement said.

The incident took place during an operation involving Afghan and international military forces, when international military forces conducted an airstrike following engagements between the forces on the ground and Taliban, the statement added.

The statement said that in addition, three days earlier, during fighting between Taliban and pro-government forces, three civilian homes were struck by explosive ordnance in Nad Ali district in Helmand, killing two civilians and injuring at least 14 more, including 10 children, reportedly after Taliban initiated an attack from the vicinity of civilian homes against an Afghan National Army convoy returning to its base.

UNAMA said it welcomes indications that relevant authorities have initiated investigations into the civilian casualty reports, and it that will continue its independent enquiries to establish additional facts, sharing the findings with parties as part of advocacy efforts for improved mitigation measures in their future operations to prevent civilian casualties.

UNAMA has this year recorded a sharp increase in civilian casualties from aerial attacks in the first nine months of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017.

The 649 civilian casualties recorded between 1 January and 30 September 2018 is more than the number of civilian casualties from aerial operations recorded over every entire year since UNAMA began systematic civilian casualty documentation in 2009.

In the two incidents in Helmand province this week, UNAMA notes with particular concern that children were disproportionately impacted, comprising 55 per cent of the civilian casualties.

The statement said that UNAMA reminds all parties to the conflict to uphold their obligations to protect civilians from harm, and holds that all parties to the conflict must strictly adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law to take all feasible measures to protect civilians.

This comes after a number of Garmsir districts on Wednesday claimed that at least 30 civilians ‐ all members of one family ‐ were killed in an airstrike carried out a group of Lions of Islam in the district.

Helmand governor Mohammad Yasin on Wednesday confirmed the airstrike and said that Taliban as well as civilians have suffered casualties in the operation.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/01/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Arabia
Houthi video shows children being trained to ‘fight America and Israel’
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A video purportedly showing schoolchildren being trained by Houthis to take up arms has gone viral, showcasing the mindset of the militias who can go to any extent in pursuit of their objectives.

"In the name of Allah, the Merciful, these are the students of Imam al-Nasser School. They went for training today and the exercises were very tough. God willing, these are the ones who will fight America and Israel," says the man who is seen speaking in the video.

He further says that these children are the ones who will fight in the name of Allah "Because they are practicing now and they are still a young generation that is willing to fight the enemies of Allah".

The video ends with the battle cries of "Allah the Greatest, Death to America, Death to Israel, curse on Jews, the triumph of Islam".

On Thursday, Prince Khalid bin Salman, Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
’s Ambassador to the United States, had said that Iran-backed Houthis "desecrate the sanctity of childhood by recruiting them to the battlefield and brainwashing them with the Lion of Islam ideology of the Iranian regime".

Posted by: Fred || 12/01/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Saudi Arabia inks $15 bln deal for Lockheed’s missile defense system
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
will buy Lockheed Martin’s $15 billion missile defense system, a US Department of State front man said on Wednesday.

The State Department said the Saudis and US officials signed the letters of offer and acceptance documents on Monday, formalizing terms for Saudi’s purchase of 44 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) launchers, missiles and related equipment.

In recent weeks the Trump administration and the US defense industry worked to save the few actual deals in the $110 billion arms package for Saudi Arabia. The THAAD deal had been under discussion since December 2016 and is now completed, the spokesperson said.

Trump and King Salman
...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Lord of Most of the Arabians....
discussed in a late September phone call the THAAD missile defense system deal, a Saudi official told Rooters in October. The official said at that time that the deal could well be closed by the end of the year.

The State Department front man said the deal, first reported by CNBC, supports the "long-term security of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region in the face of the growing ballistic missile threat from the Iranian regime and Iran-backed bad boy groups."

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stressed that the kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a powerful force for stability in the Middle East.
Posted by: Fred || 12/01/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia

#1  ....THAAD works.

And the Iranians know it.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 12/01/2018 6:40 Comments || Top||



US says seized weapons show that Iran is a regional threat
[IsraelTimes] Washington accuses Tehran of violating arms export ban to Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
and Afghanistan, says it is ’relentless’ in its efforts to arm proxies


US officials on Thursday displayed military equipment they said confirms that Iran is increasingly supplying weapons to bully boyz across the Middle East and is continuing its missile program unabated.

At a military hangar in Washington, Brian Hook, the US special representative for Iran, showed news hounds a collection of guns, rockets, drones and other gear. Some of these had been intercepted in the Strait of Hormuz en route to Shia fighters in the region while others had been seized by the Saudis in Yemen, the Pentagon said.

Hook showed images of a Sayyad-2 surface-to-air missiles with the words "The Hunter Missile" in Farsi on its side, which he said was intercepted in Yemen by Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
this year.

The advanced weapon, Hook said, was exported to aid the Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ...
rebels, marking a violation of a UN resolution ban on exporting weaponry to the besieged country.

"The conspicuous Farsi markings are Iran’s way of saying they don’t mind being caught violating US resolutions," Hook said. He added that the material shows Tehran’s "relentless commitment to put even more weapons into even more of hands of even more of its proxies."

Hook also showed news hounds a display that included anti-tank missile systems that Iran was exporting to Yemen and Afghanistan, which he said revealed that the Islamic Theocratic Republic’s intention to "undermine regional instability has expanded."

The US special envoy recently returned from a trip to the Middle East, when he visited Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

According to an Axios report, Israeli officials told him in meetings they were incensed that the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency was not looking into findings Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released over the summer that revealed the extent to which Iran has tried to build a nuclear arsenal.

Hook reportedly said the administration would pressure the agency to look into the disclosures, with State Department officials saying that America’s new ambassador to the IAEA, Jackie Wolcott, would "work aggressively to make sure the IAEA seriously addresses all information provided by Israel, the US and other countries regarding the Iranian nuclear program."

Hook’s publicizing an intelligence finding that was the result of US-Saudi cooperation also comes amid controversy over the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and an inflamed debate over America’s oldest ally in the Middle East.

Israel has long accused Iran of trying to destabilize the region. Iran has repeatedly denied these allegations.

Hook on Thursday stressed that Iran’s missile exports were increasing the possibility of a larger conflagration.

"The Iranian threat is growing, and we are accumulating risk of escalation in the region if we fail to act," Hook said. "We are one missile attack away from regional conflict."

US Shows New Evidence Of Iranian Weaponry In Afghanistan

[ToloNews] The United States on Thursday displayed pieces of what it said were Iranian weapons deployed to hard boyz in Afghanistan and Yemen.

The second presentation of Iranian weapons by the Pentagon, many of which were handed over by Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
, coincides with growing concern in Congress over US military support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen's civil war, which has led to a deep humanitarian crisis, Rooters said in a report.

Brian Hook, the US Special Representative for Iran, told news hounds the Iranian threat is growing and warned of an "accumulating risk of escalation" in the region if the United States fails to act.

"Today we are unveiling Iran's Sayyad-2 C surface to air missile which you see behind me. This missile was designed and manufactured in Iran and the writing in Farsi on its side translates as 'the hunter missile.' The conspicuous Farsi markings is Iran's way of saying they don't mind being caught violating UN resolutions," Hook said.

"Fajr rockets have also been added to the display and are located next the anti-tank guided missiles. These weapons were recovered in Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
, near Kandahar Air Field, by the Afghan National Army from the Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
. Iran has been providing materiel support to the Taliban since at least 2007. These same rockets have been used by Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", in the past," he added.

Giving more details on the weaponry, he said: "To my left is a new unmanned aerial system: the Shahed 123. We have debris from a Shahed which was recovered by coalition forces in Afghanistan after it crashed, as well as Shahed components that were interdicted in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
in early 2018."

The presentation, the second such one in the last year, is part of a government-wide effort to follow through on Trump's policy to take a far harder line toward Tehran.

The US president pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions, in part for its "malign" regional activities.

Iran has often denied any aid to the Taliban in Afghanistan. Meanwhile,
...back at the palazzo, Count Guido stepped from behind the suit of armor, rapier in hand. Ciccolini snarled and reached for his own weapon...
Iran has denied supplying the Houthis in Yemen with such weaponry and described the Pentagon's previous arms display as "fabricated."

Iran’s Embassy in Kabul in a statement meanwhile rejected the remarks by Brian Hook and called them "baseless".

The statement said that these remarks are aimed at justifying some "hurriedly and non-transparent" attempts by US in Afghanistan and damaging the growing relations of Iran and Afghanistan.

Taliban in a statement has labeled the US findings as "baseless"
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/01/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies


Economy
Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown leaves Indian techies in limbo
Sorry guys, wonderful as y’all no doubt are, you are not entitled to the jobs you have been accustomed to getting.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] With Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
swearing up and down that rules for employment-based visas would be tightened by January next to protect the interests of local Americans, Indians dreaming to make a fast buck in the Land of Liberty are in limbo.

The United States (US) President has been walking the talk in tune with his election campaign promise of visa reforms but the crackdown has knocked the daylights out of some 550,000 starry-eyed Indians ‐ 200,000 techies fighting for 65,000 H-1B work visas every year, 300,000 H-1B visa holders employed in the US, their 70,000-odd spouses working on H-4 visas and 165,000 bright-spark students boasting master’s degrees from American universities.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 12/01/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I think we have more enough of third worĺd, anti-American, H1B1 geeks working at FatawaBook and Twit!
Posted by: Ebbavirt Clunk4147 || 12/01/2018 1:46 Comments || Top||

#2  "...have already started taking more and more local Americans on board... "

I thought there were no Americans capable of doing these jobs.

Having seen outright fraud from Indian staffing companies -- up to sending a different person than the one interviewed -- and increasingly lazy management letting them do it, I welcome these new limits.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 12/01/2018 6:51 Comments || Top||

#3  I had one of my clients get trapped back in India because of this. He was back there vising relatives and ran into 'visa problems' when he tried to come back stateside. A few months later he became schizophrenic and lost his job. Guess I'm not doing his U.S. tax returns for a while...
Posted by: Raj || 12/01/2018 6:52 Comments || Top||

#4  Worked with many of these folks in my years as a consultant. A few of them were first rate, a few were the dregs, most of them were in the middle.

The one thing they all were polite and deferential... except the East Europeans some of them were nasty and lazy.

One company brought in a dozen Indians and let a dozen US employees go. All of the petty shit you've heard about is true somewhere but not everywhere.
Posted by: AlanC || 12/01/2018 7:42 Comments || Top||

#5  Have been far enough up the food chain to be shielded from this for a while, but I never, ever, had any satisfaction talking to Gupta or Sati on the phone. Script readers.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/01/2018 8:40 Comments || Top||

#6  It would be nice to have techs that speak a clear concise ENGLISH, EVEN if they are from new yaark. You should try it being partially deaf? Sorry charlie no tuna ?
Posted by: ranture || 12/01/2018 10:21 Comments || Top||

#7  If Google, Facebook, Cisco, Oracle, Amazon, Microsoft and IBM want to hire Indian workers they can move all their fucking companies to India including headquarters, presidents and CEOs like Bill Gates, Sergie Brin, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, Jeff Bezos, etc. Or maybe they can move to China if that's where they manufacture their hardware. Let them deal with Indian and Chinese bureaucrats and infrastructure. Buh bye, weasels.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 12/01/2018 12:28 Comments || Top||

#8  Remember when Disney laid off American workers for 'imports' and tied their severance package to train them and not talk about it?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/01/2018 16:00 Comments || Top||

#9  IME Lots of indian "techies" are fakes and indians hate to say they cant do something preferring to lie....

A non technical PM leading a project full of indian techies could easily run into problems.

Mate worked at a bank that outsourced dev work to india, it came back so badly done they had to rehire folks on more pay to sort it out and the backlog.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 12/01/2018 18:17 Comments || Top||


Europe
Anger over pork sausages at Germany Islam event
[BBC] Germany's Interior Ministry has said it regrets serving pork sausage at a conference on Islam in Berlin earlier this week.

The ministry said the food selection had been designed for the "diverse religious attendance" at the German Islam Conference in Berlin.

But it apologised "if individuals felt offended in their religious feelings".

The event was led by Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, who in March said Islam "does not belong in Germany".

Most of the attendees at the Islam conference were Muslims, local media reported. Under Islamic law, Muslims are forbidden to eat pork.

The type of sausage on offer was blutwurst - or "blood sausage" - which is made of ingredients including pig's blood, pork and bacon.

German journalist Tuncay Özdamar wrote on Twitter: "What signal does Seehofer's interior ministry want to send? A little respect for Muslims, who don't eat pork, is needed."
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/01/2018 00:44 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  Go to moslem country you invading asshole worthless fucks. You are not in Germany but to sack it and turn it into another shithole. Go home.
Posted by: newc || 12/01/2018 1:05 Comments || Top||

#2  Muslims offend me, so they all need to leave. Isn't that how this offense thing works?
Posted by: Silentbrick || 12/01/2018 6:53 Comments || Top||

#3  I always wanted to see a conference like this, then let loose about twenty or so crazed pigs, covered in slop, onto the floor. Merry Fucking Christmas, assholes!
Posted by: Raj || 12/01/2018 7:05 Comments || Top||

#4  A little respect for Muslims, who don't eat pork, is needed."

Nobody forced them to eat it, idiot
Posted by: Frank G || 12/01/2018 7:10 Comments || Top||

#5  And an IM underling somewhere smiles and chuckles at the merriment brought about by the food order he/she made under the boss's name.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 12/01/2018 8:05 Comments || Top||

#6  Were there any non-muslims present, who maybe didn't want to eat halal stuff?
Posted by: Bobby || 12/01/2018 11:13 Comments || Top||

#7  A tummy ache for ann-hell-a burka is a good day for me.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/01/2018 12:20 Comments || Top||

#8  Were there any non-muslims present, who maybe didn't want to eat halal stuff?

The muslims would be offended by such a question.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 12/01/2018 14:32 Comments || Top||

#9  Looks like the islamics have a lack of acceptance and tolerance for German cultural values and history.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 12/01/2018 18:20 Comments || Top||

#10  Something about muzzies not eating anything reminding them of the pagan pig moon goddess.
Posted by: Woodrow || 12/01/2018 22:30 Comments || Top||


Syrian refugee sentenced for bomb plot in Germany
[AlMasdar] A 20 year old Syrian refugee
...who is quite probably neither Syrian nor so young as twenty, nor even a proper refugee...
has been cconvicted of planning a kaboom in Germany, DW reported on Friday.

According to the DW report, a German court handed the Syrian refugee a six-and-a-half year long prison sentence for planning to carry out a kaboom.

The Syrian refugee was identified as Yamen A;
...which may or may not be his real name, though if he really is Syrian, it’s actually a good deal longer...
he was locked away
Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages!
inside the northern Germany city of Schwerin in late 2017.

Initially, the prosecution was seeking a five-and-a-half year long sentence for the Syrian man because he was planning to kill and injure over 200 people with a boom-mobile.

However,
there's no worse danger than telling a mother her baby is ugly...
the judge ultimately handed down a harsher sentence because of the Syrian man’s ’determination’ to carry out the kaboom.

"You wanted to take lives, and in doing so endanger the security of the state," presiding Judge Ulrike Taeubner told the defendant.
Deutsche Welle adds:
Prosecutors told the court that the accused had discussed bomb-making methods in online chatrooms, and had tried several times to concoct triacetone triperoxide (TATP)
...a.k.a. Mother of Satan for reasons that quickly become obvious...
— an unstable explosive that has been used in several attacks in Europe, including at a concert in Manchester in 2017, in Brussels in 2016 and in Paris in 2015.

The suspect arrived in Germany in September 2015 after fleeing Syria. He was granted asylum in February 2016. He initially shared a flat with other young refugees in Schwerin before moving into his own place.

According to authorities, he was radicalized over the internet, and by mid-2017 had become a supporter of the so-called "Islamic State."

Friday's verdict is not yet legally binding and can be appealed.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/01/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists


The Grand Turk
Turkish court keeps Selahattin Demirtas in jail despite ECHR
[Al Jazeera] A Ottoman Turkish court has rejected an appeal to release a former leader of The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund....
's pro-Kurdish opposition from pre-trial detention, despite a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

The court on Friday turned down the release application of Selahattin Demirtas who was detained two years ago on "terrorism-related" charges, which he denies.

Demirtas, 45, is a former co-chairman of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).

Last week, the ECHR urged Turkey to swiftly process Demirtas's legal case, saying his pre-trial detention had gone on longer than could be justified.

Although the ECHR accepted that Demirtas, who has been in jail since November 2016, was tossed in the slammer
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
on "reasonable suspicion" of having committed a criminal offence, it said Ottoman Turkish authorities extended the politician's imprisonment on grounds that could not be regarded as "sufficient" to justify its duration.

In its ruling on Friday, the Ottoman Turkish court said the ECHR decision had not been finalised and unanimously rejected the appeal for Demirtas's release.
Posted by: Fred || 12/01/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Home Front: WoT
Convicted killer, gang member from caravan arrested after crossing U.S. border
Apparently, Jim Acosta and the MFM are lying once again. Surprise?
[SD Union Trib] A convicted killer in Honduras and an MS-13 gang member also from Honduras were arrested in California last weekend after crossing the border illegally, Border Patrol said Friday.

The two are being held up by federal authorities as examples of some of the criminals who have traveled through Mexico to the border with Central American caravans hoping to enter the U.S., many through the asylum process.

Both arrests occurred last Saturday.

Around 11 p.m., agents detected three people crossing the border about one mile east of the San Ysidro Port of Entry, authorities said. The trio was arrested and taken to a Border Patrol station for processing. There, documents indicated that one of the men had been recently released from prison in Honduras after serving 10 years for homicide and three years for robbery.

The man, 46, admitted he'd been released four months ago and traveled with the caravan to Tijuana.

The man's record was confirmed with the Honduran Consulate in Los Angeles.

The two other men with him, ages 22 and 38, are also from Honduras. One had been previously deported, authorities said.

All three are being held in Department of Homeland Security custody pending deportation proceedings, officials said. It was unclear why they weren't being charged criminally with illegal entry under the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy.

Earlier in the evening near the Calexico Port of Entry, Border Patrol agents encountered a 29-year-old man suspected of being in the country illegally, authorities said. The man told agents that he was a Honduran citizen who had traveled with the caravan, and that he was an active gang member with MS-13, a notoriously violent group.

He also was being held pending immigration processing and repatriation to Honduras, with no criminal charges filed.
Posted by: Frank G || 12/01/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Narcos


India-Pakistan
Armies can't conquer Kashmiris' passion for freedom, says information minister
[DAWN] Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Friday advised the Indian government to accept that the Kashmire issue has no military solution.

Chaudhry was addressing a seminar of the All Parties Parliamentary Kashmire Group in Islamabad.

"[Indian Prime Minister] Narendra Modi just announced that [his government] will give a package of billions of rupees to [Indian Occupied] Kashmire," Chaudhry said. "But independence cannot be bought with money. Independence is a sentiment felt in the heart, a narrative of the heart."
Posted by: Fred || 12/01/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Iraq
‘No man’s land’ between Peshmerga, Iraqi forces allows ISIS to linger
[Rudaw] Nearly a year after Iraq’s declaration of the defeat of ISIS, the western face of Qarachogh Mountain that overlooks Qaraj Plains is just one example where the bandidos Death Eaters remain holed up.

"This is 100 percent true. ISIS has a presence. It is very active in the area, especially in areas populated by Arabs," said one villager from the Qaraj Plains who preferred to remain anonymous out of fear.

In the area’s villages ISIS is sleeping comfortably and they are on guard at all times.

"They get assistance, food from there, or they are their family members. People see them in the villages at night. My evidence is they stop by some houses, asking for food, and assistance," added the villager.

Peshmerga have been stationed on the mountain since pulling out of Makhmour itself in the wake of the October 16 events, when Kurdish forces withdrew from the disputed or Kurdistani areas claimed by both Baghdad and Erbil.

ISIS remains active along the demarcation lines between the Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi forces creating a de facto void.

"There is a lot of movement by ISIS in Qaraj, Hilwat and all the way to western Kirkuk,
... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time...
Hawija, Shirqat, Qayyarah, and all the way to the back of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
. There are some Federal Police positions there. ISIS can freely move around the right and left side of the road," said Maj. Gen. Ziryan Sheikh Wasany, Peshmerga deputy commander of the Makhmour Front.

Mount Qarachogh lies near the town of Makhmour, around 60 kilometers southwest of Erbil.

Qarachogh Mountain, the Qaraj Plains, and the Zab area to the north of Hawija are areas connecting Erbil, Nineveh, Kirkuk and Saladin provinces.

The coalition has conducted dozens of air strikes ‐ in coordination with the Iraqi Security Forces and/or Peshmerga ‐ against ISIS remnants in the areas this year, but locals still do not feel safe.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/01/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
The war against Hamas tunnels
[Ynet] IDF predicts that Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood, will rely on its tunnels in the next military round in Gazoo, in an attempt to draw soldiers to an underground city located deep beyond enemy lines; to thwart the tunnel threat, IDF's Combat Engineering Corps has acquired groundbreaking technologies capable of locating and dismantling Hamas's tunnel capability.

The IDF's Combat Engineering Corps has undergone a transformation in recent years in an attempt to locate and thwart Hamas's tunnel threat. In addition to increasing military personnel in IDF's Special Operations Engineering Unit, the army also acquired advanced technologies that can locate and dismantle Hamas's offensive tunnels.

In the absence of a ground maneuver in Operation Pillar of Defense and with very limited access to the border in Operation Protective Edge, Hamas has been using the last decade to transfer its entire army to an extensive underground network located under houses, streets, hospitals and educational institutions.

The IDF estimates that thousands of Hamas fighters will hide beneath the surface in the next war in Gazoo. Avoiding direct conformations with IDF soldiers, Hamas's army will attempt to draw IDF forces deep into their offensive tunnel network located underneath densely built-up areas.

Therefore, IDF's Combat Engineering Corps has been significantly upgraded. However,
a clean conscience makes a soft pillow...
the question of whether the military is preparing for a next war in Gazoo still remains.

Most of IDF's weapons against Hamas's offensive tunnels are still banned from publication, and even some of the military maneuvers that were used during Operation Protective Edge against some 30 tunnels are still under military censorship.

Some of newly acquired special anti-tunnels technologies ‐dubbed "voyeur", "bird of paradise" and "pitchfork" to name a few‐ can scan tunnels' routes, locate tunnel shafts, and collect data from the bottom of the earth‐all in order to turn Hamas's underground city into an underground cemetery, without having to deploy ground forces.

In addition to acquiring technology to locate tunnels, IDF has acquired new night-vision technologies, advanced communication devices, underground navigation tools, and advance military robotics.

Some of the military solutions developed after Operation Protective Edge were upgraded in the past year, and for this purpose, equipment worth hundreds of millions of shekels was purchased. For instance, the army acquired dozens of Caterpillar D9 bulldozers; tiny "worms" cameras, and unique sealing bags that can instantly close tunnel shafts. Low-tech means, such as TNT sacks and anti-tank mines were also purchased.

In addition, the Combat Engineering Corps maintains its classic capabilities: breaking walls and doors, blowing up traps, and opening dangerous routes deep inside built-up areas.

"We want every platoon commander in IDF's infantry corps to have the basic skills required to operate these new technologies, not only during orderly ground operations but also during battle. In the same manner, the Engineering Corps should know how to operate infantry corps's tanks," a senior engineering officer explained.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/01/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Israel has state of the art barrier technologies. My hope is these two administrations can mutually benefit in cooperative efforts. Israels wall systems are working spectacularly. Now with new tunnel technologies an added safety development. Evolve and adapt a constant process. Beyond those efforts portend even more death eater attempts whose choices will always be to deliver maximum damages. Live for today and die for tomorrow. Modern day slavery.
Posted by: Dale || 12/01/2018 4:55 Comments || Top||


Olde Tyme Religion
Kurdistan's Jewish community still fears persecution
[Rudaw] A small group gathered at Erbil’s Shanadar Gallery on Friday to commemorate 73 years since Jewish Kurds were exiled first to Baghdad and then on to the state of Israel, once it was founded in 1948.

"More than 126,000 Jews were exiled and left their properties behind," Nawzad Polis told Rudaw. He is general coordinator for the exhibition that displayed a Star of David handmade from old photos of Jewish families and artwork.

A table was also set up with 73 candles, one for each year.

"We have a letter which we will present to the Kurdistan parliament, which concerns the right of religions in Kurdistan which should be protected by the law," Polis added.

One attendee of the event, David*, said "Jewish families, many of my own family members, were expelled from Erbil 73 years ago for no reason."

"We want to remember this day to show everybody what has happened to us," he added. "Also many people who arrived in Baghdad were killed there. They did not reach Israel."

David said that approximately 700 families still remain in the Kurdistan Region according to Sherzad Mamsani, leader of the Jewish community in Erbil.

"They call us 'Ben Jews' or 'Sons of Jews' because we are mixed Jews, Kurds, or other ethnicities," he explained.

They keep their Jewish identity hidden for fear of persecution. They meet for Shabbat ‐ the holy day ‐ at a different home every week. Religious celebrations like Hanukkah and Passover are often celebrated privately inside the home of someone within the community.

The event on Friday was organized by many people from the community, but "they didn't want to give their name or picture because of the dangerous situation," explained David.

He was born in Erbil's citadel. Prior to 1946, more than 85 percent of the citadel's residents were Jewish, he said.

Although he says he doesn't feel threatened now in Erbil, he has faced problems in the past after an American journalist wrote about him and posted his photo online.

"When the article was translated into Arabic, they saw my article in Baghdad," David said. "When Baghdad knew there were Jews living here, they accused me of working with Mossad, Israeli intelligence, and issued an arrest warrant against me."

"Orders came from Baghdad that if they catch me, they will cut off my hands and behead me," he said, adding that he fears traveling to Sulaimani because it borders Iran which has a frosty relationship with Israel.

Coordinator of the event, Polis added, "We will try to establish a new experience in Kurdistan that respects all religions."

"It is their right to return to their holy places."
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/01/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq

#1  They can move here and vote for democrats to outlaw Israel...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/01/2018 17:01 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hundreds of residents of eastern Qalamoun join Syrian Army ranks
[AlMasdar] Hundreds of residents of the eastern Qalamoun region in western Damascus joined the ranks of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported on Friday.

According to the SANA report, hundreds of residents of the eastern Qalamoun town of Nabk joined the Syrian Arab Army; they will be serving primarily in the Qalamoun Shield forces (3rd Division) that primarily active in this region.

The report did not provide anymore details.

Recently, the Syrian Arab Army has been reaching out to reconciled towns to recruit new members to the military.

Similar to prior agreemets, residents wanted for service in the armed forces can fulfill their military obligation by serving in local defense forces.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/01/2018 00:55 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Iran duped Pakistan into Israel nuke threat as tiny part of huge fakery campaign
“Let’s you and him fight.”
[IsraelTimes] Investigation by Rooters finds over 70 news sites in 15 countries, with over a million online followers, have been disseminating pro-Tehran misinformation and propaganda for years

An incident in 2016, when Pakistain’s defense minister threatened Israel with nuclear attack in the wake of what turned out to be a fake news story, has been revealed to be just one small instance of an Iran-based global disinformation campaign that has been running for six years and has included dozens of news and media outlets.

According to an extensive Rooters investigation published Friday, over 70 news sites have been spreading disinformation and pushing a pro-Tehran narrative in 15 countries, as part of a widespread and sophisticated online campaign to influence public option all over the world.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/01/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies


Syrian regime and allies downplay 'airstrikes' after wild night in Damascus
Oh. Never mind.
[Jpost] On Thursday night social media accounts that follow Syria lit up with reports of Arclight airstrikes south of Damascus. SANA, the Damascus state media, claimed that "air defenses of the Syrian Arab Army responded to an aggression on the southern region" and had prevented the attack from achieving objectives. However Syrian state media and allies of the Syrian regime have downplayed the incident in the twelve hours after it happened. From wild claims that the air defenses had down rockets and even a plane, Syria’s allies now appear to want to sweep the incident under the carpet. This may be to protect the regime from embarrassment.

A variety of social media accounts that support the Syrian government were active Thursday night, but many now seem disinterested in the aftermath. This is also true of Iranian media, which supports Syria, and media that tends to be pro-Hezbollah. On Thursday night some of these outlets, such as Al Mayadeen, showed images purportedly of air defenses over Damascus. Reports began around ten in the evening and continued for more than an hour. By midnight it was all over and what appeared to be a serious incident had gone quiet. Most of these reports followed the message from Damascus. "Our air defenses met hostile targets over the area of al-Kiswah" and had intercepted the attack.

What’s particularly interesting is that none of the media sought to point fingers at who the aggressor was. In the past the Syrian regime has blamed Israel and the US. One of the only major accounts that have kept on the story is Sputnik News in Arabic, a Russian channel. Russia supports the Syrian regime. On Friday Sputnik claimed that shrapnel from Syrian air defenses was found on the Golan Heights. It based its report on an announcement from Israel. Sputnik also noted that Syrian air defense had used the S-200, not the more advanced S-300 system that Russia supplied to Syria in October and which the Syrians are still being trained to use. Sputnik also reported that Syrian officials told them the S-300 was not used.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/01/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Spoofing Syria's defenses by the Israelis? As for the S-300 I would think the Ivans are behind it's use at present with Syrian "onlookers" in training?
Posted by: Roger Smith || 12/01/2018 15:25 Comments || Top||

#2  DEBKA SO SALT:
Link
Largest-ever surface missile attack on Syria targeted 15 Iranian/Hizballah sites

For 75 minutes on Thursday night, Nov. 29, the IDF blasted Iranian, Hizballah and Syrian targets in its biggest ever surface missile attack on Syria, DEBKAfile’s intelligence and military sources can now reveal. This was not an Israeli air force strike such as those conducted for two years against Iranian targets in Syria. Two kinds of ground-to ground missiles were used in this cross-border offensive: a Long-Range Artillery Weapon system known as LORA which has a range of 400km; and the guided, short range Tamuz. They raked across at least 15 sites, most of them belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), pro-Iranian militias and Hizballah. They covered an area ranging from the Syrian Hermon slopes in the north, down to the Iranian command center at Izra north of Daraa in the south (See attached map.)

Among the locations targeted was Al-Zabadani, a town on the Damascus-Beirut highway near the Lebanese border in the west, which Hizballah has taken over and established there its command posts, training camps and ammunition and rocket depots. At Al Kiswah south of Damascus, the IDF missiles struck Iran’s central command post in Syria, which is known as the “Glass House.”

Blasted too were the command posts and structures of two Syrian brigades which are structured for Syrian officers to command a hodge-podge of Hizballah, pro-Iranian Shiite and Palestinian militias. Israeli missiles also struck the Syrian Army’s 90th Brigade which rules the area north of Quneitra and 112h Brigade which is stationed south of this Golan town.
The massive Israeli cross-border assault inflicted heavy casualties on the Iranians, their militias, Hizballah and the Syrian army, including fatalities. Up until Friday night, neither Iran, Syria nor Hizballah had disclosed the precise targets smashed by the IDF 24 hours earlier. The Russian military in Syria was also silent.

Posted by: 3dc || 12/01/2018 16:58 Comments || Top||

#3  "We blowed em up! Murderized em. What's that? Ummm. We're investigating further..."
Posted by: Frank G || 12/01/2018 17:08 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
38[untagged]
4Islamic State
3Houthis
2Taliban
2Govt of Iran Proxies
2Govt of Saudi Arabia
2Govt of Syria
2Hamas
2Moslem Colonists
1Narcos
1Sublime Porte
1Commies
1Human Trafficking
1al-Qaeda in North Africa
1Govt of Iran
1al-Nusra
1Govt of Iraq
1Govt of Pakistan
1Muslim Brotherhood

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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.
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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2018-12-01
  Bush the Elder dies at 94
Fri 2018-11-30
  Around 70 militants killed, wounded in 4-day operations in Kunduz
Thu 2018-11-29
  28 ISIS-K, Taliban militants killed in Afghan and U.S. forces operations
Wed 2018-11-28
  Over 200 TLP activists booked under sedition, other charges in Rawalpindi
Tue 2018-11-27
  Somali Muslim Arrested for Attempting to Mow Down Jews With Car in Front of L.A. Synagogue
Mon 2018-11-26
  ISIS-K spokesman killed in Afghan Special Forces operation in Nangarhar
Sun 2018-11-25
  Federal officials close border into Mexico amid migrant protests
Sat 2018-11-24
  U.S. Airstrikes Kill 50 Al-Shabaab Jihadis in Somalia
Fri 2018-11-23
  Terror attack on Chinese Consulate in Karachi foiled; 2 policemen martyred
Thu 2018-11-22
  PA court sentences Palestinians to 15 years hard labor for selling land to Jews
Wed 2018-11-21
  US military says strikes killed over 30 suspected militants in Somalia
Tue 2018-11-20
  Daesh suffers devastating defeat as Syrian Army liberates entire Al-Safa region
Mon 2018-11-19
  Key Taliban commanders among 7 detained by Afghan Commandos in Takhar
Sun 2018-11-18
  43 civilians killed by anti-ISIS coalition strikes in east Syria
Sat 2018-11-17
  Taliban kill 30 policemen in Farah province

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